Loss review

Description: Fifteen-year-old Billy Ballard is the kid that everyone picks on, from the school bullies to the teachers. But things change drastically when Death tells Billy he must stand in as Pestilence, the White Rider of the Apocalypse. Now armed with a Bow that allows him to strike with disease from a distance, Billy lashes out at his tormentors...and accidentally causes an outbreak of meningitis. Horrified by his actions, Billy begs Death to take back the Bow. For that to happen, says Death, Billy must track down the real White Rider—who is lost in his memories.

In his search, Billy travels through White Rider’s life: from ancient Phrygia, where the man called King Mita agrees to wear the White Rider’s Crown, to Sherwood Forest, where Pestilence figures out how to cheat Death; from the docks of Alexandria, where cartons of infested grain are being packed onto a ship that will carry the plague, to the Children’s Crusade in France—all the way to what may be the end of the world. When Billy finally finds the White Rider, the teen convinces the man to return to the real world.

But now the insane White Rider plans to unleash something awful on humanity—something that could make the Black Death look like a summer cold. Billy has a choice: he can live his life and pretend he doesn’t know what’s coming, or he can challenge the White Rider for his Crown. Does one bullied teenager have the strength to stand his ground—and the courage to save the world?

My thoughts: 

I figured that if Famine was about an anorexic girl, and Rage was about a girl filled with rage who cuts herself, then something similar would happen with Loss. For me, being bullied wasn't the obvious choice, but the correlation ended up working based on how Billy ended up becoming Pestilence.

A main reason I enjoy this series is because it involves an awesome fantasy story revolving around the Horseman of the Apocalypse. But it also addresses some serious issues. And now that I think about it, bullying was a perfect issue to use, especially with the amount of suicides that have been happening.

One thing that got me really excited about this third book in the series is that the main character is a male this time. Sometimes I feel like guys are forgotten about in certain situations, so I was happy for the change (although I liked both girls in Famine and Rage).

This time around, there was a lot more fantasy, which I was initially happy about. At the present, I'm torn between whether I liked the extra fantasy or not. A majority of the story were flashbacks, and those flashbacks were from the previous pestilence instead of Billy.

While some of it was definitely interesting (and surprising), I was somewhat disappointed because I felt like Billy went through a change in the midst of those flashbacks that I barely got to see. Even so, what I did get to know about Billy was pretty awesome. Mainly because the author has the ability to make you (better) understand getting bullied, or being anorexic, or wanting to cut yourself, whether or not you’ve ever gone through those things.

The next book is titled Breath, but I have no idea what it’s going to be about since all the “positions” have been filled. Hopefully the next book will have a better balance between getting to know the main character and moving forward with the plot. Either way, Loss was still a good addition to the riders series.

Perception review

Description: When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

My thoughts: 

This series continues to be (just about) the only one I'm excited about that involves people who can talk to ghost/do other Miss Chloe related things. I normally try to avoid them, especially because they often include a dead loved one who can't move on, but neither Perception nor the first book Clarity is anything like that.

This time around, the stakes have been raised with Clare's love life, and the new killer has 

different targets, which still affect Clare personally (even more than last time). While I will 

admit that there was something about the plot in Clarity that was more appealing than the 

second time around, there was enough excitement to keep me interested in what would happen

in the second book. I was especially interested in the killer, because it appeared that Clare might 

be a future target.

Of course the mystery is solved by the end of the book, but what was really exciting was that

Clare finally chose a guy. I can't wait for the backlash/consequences of her choice in the next

book (I hope there’s a third one)! Plus, I'm excited for whatever new problem the author creates 

for Clare to solve... I also wonder if she'll end up solving crimes for a living after she graduates 

from school (although the series might not go that far.)