Review: Furyborn by Claire Legrand

A story crossing two lifetimes and centuries apart, Furyborn is a thoroughly engrossing read. Claire Legrand creates a world with a rich history that we see playing out simultaneously as the future unfolds. The twists lead you questioning everything you thought you knew to be true.  A prophecy binds our two heroines across these centuries that they both struggle against. These two are at once very similar and yet completely different. They have different backgrounds because of how the history of one leads to the future of the other. Yet they are both fighting to protect the ones they love and try to bring about a better future than the one prophesied.
A good story for older teens and young adult types, not so much for the younger set. There is a lot of violence as the title might suggest, but it doesn't overwhelm the story. A very enjoyable read.

Review: Ghost Boy by Stafford Betty

Stafford Betty's Ghost Boy starts out like your typical supernatural YA book. Boy sees ghosts; boy tells people he sees ghosts; trouble ensues. Although there were some plot twists that made the story interesting, overall it seemed to lack a defining story arc and instead became a series of loosely connected short stories. It is a better fit for a young middle school audience than older teenagers. The lead character, Ben, is 12 so that might be a suitable reading age. There were many elements of the story that are appealing to me, but it was a difficult read. The transitions were practically non-existent and the characters were a little too flat. Ben was the only one who had any sort of development and even that was slight. Still, it was a good story with lots of potential.