Mini Reviews: Covet by Melissa Darnell and Flash Point by Nancy Kress

From Goodreads: Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart. Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake. Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for. A reckoning is coming… and not everyone will survive.

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Covet by Melissa Darnell picks up where Crave leaves off and continues the romance of Tristan and Savannah as he tries to convince her to stay with him despite everybody’s objections. While I didn’t necessarily love their romance in Crave by any means, I found the story interesting enough that I decided to give the sequel a try. However, the plot of Covet wasn’t that entrancing, and I became irritated by the characters assuming that people were dating each other and feeling hurt and/or jealous about it. For the entirety of the novel, I was pretty much waiting for the story to end; but, the twist at the end has me thinking about at least skimming – if not reading – Consume to see how things wrap up.

Covet was released by Harlequin Teen in September 2012. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Harlequin Teen) for free via NetGalley.

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From Goodreads: Amy had dreams of going to college, until the Collapse destroyed the economy and her future. Now she is desperate for any job that will help support her terminally ill grandmother and rebellious younger sister. When she finds herself in the running for a slot on a new reality TV show, she signs on the dotted line, despite her misgivings. And she’s right to have them. TLN’s Who Knows People, Baby—You? has an irresistible premise: correctly predict what the teenage cast will do in a crisis and win millions. But the network has pulled strings to make it work, using everything from 24/7 hidden cameras to life-threatening technology to flat-out rigging. Worse, every time the ratings slip, TLN ups the ante. Soon Amy is fighting for her life - on and off camera. 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Since Flash Point by Nancy Kress was available as an automatic download on NetGalley, I snagged a copy without knowing much about it or having any sort of expectations. Although I found the novel easy to get through, I also thought the worldbuilding was severely lacking – we’re never given any information as to how something akin to the Great Depression 2.0 comes about – and the challenges quite boring for reality TV. As well, the characters were ridiculously flat and the main character hard to like. All I came away with about Amy was that she loved designer labels (as evidenced by her multiple ramblings about them), had phantoms – a concept that wasn’t well-explained, fell in love way too easily, and barely got along with her sister because both were jealous of each other. 

Flash Point was released in November 2012 by Viking Juvenile. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Penguin) for free via NetGalley.