I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

                                             🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it.
He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.
He's obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.
Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat---and to appreciate what that difference means.
Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.

I was in love with this book for about the first 100 pages or so but then things took a turn. It felt as if the author switched genres on me which threw me for a loop. Let's just say that it remains a thriller but there is an element of the book that is unrealistic and more on the paranormal side of things. I had to make myself get used to that element and then I was still able to enjoy the book. This was made easier because of the writing style. It remained amazing making me want to know what John would do next. I really enjoyed being inside of his head. It was such an interesting place to be. John reminded me of Jazz from I Hunt Killers even though this book was written first. I feel like John was even darker than Jazz though which made me like him more. I loved the tone of the book. I enjoy dark, gritty thrillers where even the narrator has a darker side. For me, it makes the story edgier and more intense to have an anti-hero narrate the book than an actual hero. I will definitely be reading the next book because I just cannot get enough of John Cleaver!
 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

                                                🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
How far would you go for revenge if someone killed your father?
   If someone destroyed your city?
   If everything you ever loved was taken from you?
   David Charleston will go to any lengths to stop Steelheart. But to exact revenge in Steelheart’s world, David will need the Reckoners—a shadowy group of rebels bent on maintaining justice.
   And it turns out that the Reckoners might just need David too.
   Look for book two in the Reckoners series, Firefight, available now. 

First of all, I thought that this book sounded amazing! I have read books wherein a government agency experimented to make super-powered humans and/ or super hero are fighting super villains. However, I haven't read anything where the people with super powers are the ones killing and essentially enslaving humanity. The premise sounded fascinating and seemed as if it would be an action packed story. 

The author hooked me from the first page with sentences like "I've seen Steelheart bleed.". Sadly, this did not continue throughout the book. I began to get bored at about the halfway point of the book. The whole book was essentially the main character along with the Reckoners planning the demise of Steelheart. I wanted to see more action and suspence! I felt like this book was one big tease. It hinted at action but then the big confrontation wasn't until the last 40 pages or so and this book was 394 pages. 

I hated the romance in this book if you can even call it that. Why did the author have to put it in the book? Why? The main character sounded like such a girl at times!? I read my husband one of the lines from the book and he said that a guy that age would never say something like that! The juvenile dialogue aside...if David wasn't thinking or talking about destroying Steelheart he was obsessed with the girl. I don't see why it was needed for David to love the one girl in the book that was his age.

This story had good bones to it and I loved the reveals at the end of the book. A few of them were hinted at but weren't totally given away which I loved. I think that leading into the second book the author is working with some good material both from the world building in this and the ideas towards the end of the book. I think that I might attempt to read the next book but I'm afraid that it will be just like this one where nothing happens until the end.

Dreamfall by Amy Plum

                                          🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
A Nightmare on Elm Street meets Inception in this gripping psychological thriller from international bestselling author Amy Plum. Seven teenagers who suffer from debilitating insomnia agree to take part in an experimental new procedure to cure it because they think it can’t get any worse. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
When the lab equipment malfunctions, the patients are plunged into a terrifying dreamworld where their worst nightmares have come to life—and they have no memory of how they got there. Hunted by monsters from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, these seven strangers will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

This book was amazing! I loved everything about it! It is easily my favorite book of 2017 thus far!
Dreamfall reminded me a lot of Inception without the whole trying to implant thoughts into someone's head and having to go through dream layers. I loved all of the characters and enjoyed getting to know each of them better as the story progressed. They were all so different which made sense because they were a part of a experiment of sorts. Amy Plum had an interesting way of delving deeper into the backstories and personalities of each of the characters. She did this through the nightmares that are introduced as the book progresses. I  felt like the nightmares were able to show a deeper hidden side to each character as well as how they react to the fear that they experience. It also showed how their life experiences shaped their dream world because it was how they perceived the things that happened to them. 
I thought that the author's use of Jaime (the medical intern) as one of the points of view was brilliant! Through his point of view we are able to know what is going on in reality and how events in the dream world effect the seven teenagers enduring the treatment. It was also a great way to give a more thorough background on each of the characters as well as the science behind the experiment. Jaime reads each of the files and then Cata and the others experience how the person's background shapes the dream world. 
The nightmares in this book were horrendously creepy! I loved how dark and twisted they were because there had to be a reason why Cata, Fergus, and the others weren't sleeping.  It would only make sense if the nightmares were something so awful that they would make these characters not be able to sleep. Some of the nightmares actually reminded me of ones that I have had which automatically made the book more relatable to me. 
The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger which I normally hate but I loved this book so much that I don't even care. I want to read the sequel so bad now and it's not even coming out until next year. 

Trust Me by Romily Bernard

                                              🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Trust Me is the thrilling conclusion to the Find Me trilogy, in which loose ends come together and chilling plot twists complicate Wick Tate’s life more than ever.
With all of Wick Tate’s secrets—who can she really trust? Wick is used to relying on only herself, but when she has nowhere left to turn, she’s going to have to learn to trust someone if she’s going to finally escape her demons. . . .

This is by far the best book of the Find Me trilogy! The connections between the books are shown and everything comes together to make sense. This book felt like it was more mystery than thriller to me but I still really enjoyed it!
I worried about how I would feel about Wick in this book considering she took such a dark turn in the second book. I have to say that she really redeemed herself in my eyes in this book. She didn't make a huge change in her personality or anything but she made the ultimate sacrifice in her eyes for the people that she loved. I was also a huge Griff fan in this book. He really showed what he was made of and was brave despite the fear that he felt for himself and Wick. It was interesting for me to see the character growth in this book. There were a few characters that I found to be weak that surprised me with their strength in Trust Me. I did not see one of the main villains coming in this one but thankfully it all made sense. It felt good to know that the majority of my predictions were correct but the author did manage to fool me on the one villain. I loved that I wasn't able to predict everything.

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith

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Synopsis:
Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.

Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, all while learning to embrace the power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart

I thought that this book was good but not great. I felt like the book was drawn out. It would have been easier to get through if I didn't feel like the author was spending so much time on events or choices the main character made that could have been summed up in a few pages. I didn't really like many of the characters in the story and felt that they were not very supportive of Eden. I mean how do so many people not realize that someone is struggling the way that she was. Her actions seemed to make it clear as day. Don't even get me started on her parents, especially her mother. How did these people not see the bruises on her body after the rape takes place!?! Eden was the only character that had any amount of depth. I know that the book was about her but I feel like the other characters should have been a bit more fleshed out.

False Memory by Dan Krokos

                                                    🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn''t at all surprised by Miranda''s shocking ability. Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn''t easy—especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can''t remember loving. Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn''t seem to matter...when there may not be a future.

I think that this book had a good idea behind it but I don't think that it was executed as well as it could have been. I thought that the powers that Miranda and the others had were unique. I have never read a book where the main character releases energy that incites a fight or flight response in "normal" people. Although the whole genetically engineered people who a team of scientists want to create to do their bidding is not a new idea I was not opposed to it because it made sense in this context. However, I don't think that certain elements needed to be added to the story. 
The only thing that I keep thinking is that the book was so convoluted. Why did the author choose to reveal things that made no sense? I know that I am probably making no sense but I can't really explain what I mean without spoiling the book. Let's just say that the title is appropriate because I have no idea who is who and my head starts to hurt when I attempt to figure it out.

Remember Me by Romily Bernard

                                            🌟🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 Synopsis:
In this edge-of-your-seat thrilling sequel to Find Me, Wick Tate, sarcastic teen hacker, is back. Wick had thought her troubles were over. But she should’ve known better.
Now, Wick is once again dealing with criminals and corrupt cops . . . and a brooding new love interest.
The pressure might be too much, as secrets—including Wick’s own—climb to the surface. Will Wick persevere like she has before?

This book was different from the first one in the sense that it was much darker. Over the course of the book the author shows what lengths Wick is willing to go to to protect the people that she loves and also to find the truth.  I can understand why the next book is called Trust Me because at the end of this book I'm not sure who she should trust either.I do have a few observations though. 
I know that I question Milo's motives. Frankly, I don't trust what he says about 80% of the time. I'm not sure that he really likes Wick. I think he likes the power that she represents. We don't really see much of Griff in this book but I like his actions in this because it's easy to tell he is a good person who cares about Wick. Carson is still Carson which means that I hate him like usual but I'm left wondering about what information he hasn't told Wick by the end of the book. I wish Bren would get a clue and stop trying to act like a Disney character. She really angered me in this one. Who tells someone that was beat up to try harder to get along with them and do what they want!?!
I'm not sure how I feel about Wick in this one. I think I'm starting to dislike her. I understood why she did the things that she did in this book but it made me feel like I didn't know her anymore. Her actions have me questioning if she is really hacking in order to protect people or if she wants to hurt people. I feels like she spends so much time protecting everyone around her that she forgets to protect herself not just from outside forces but from the darker side of herself. 
I thought that the plot of the book was good but it was hard to follow at times. I wasn't sure where the author was going with it and I'm honestly still not sure that it makes sense to me. The killer and the killer's motives made partial sense to me. I'm not sure if Romily Bernard was trying to make the killer less obvious in this book in order to improve on the first book but I'm not sure that it worked out for her. Plus, the most important points about it didn't come to light until the end.