Explosive 18 (Stephanie Plum #18)
by Janet Evanovich

Summary
Stephanie Plum has plenty of FTA’s to catch after returning from her trip, but her capture ratio is low! While this should be a top priority since rent needs to be paid, Steph’s far more concerned with all the interested parties wanting to question her about a missing photograph.  Yet, all her family and friends seem to care about is what exactly happened on her Hawaiian vacation. And that’s one thing she does not want to talk about! Meanwhile a problem with the bonds bus forces Vincent Plum Bail Bonds to seek yet another location. Now Steph has to sort out this photo mess without getting killed and still earn enough money to make ends meet.

Review
Picking up shortly after the (small) cliff-hanger at the end of Smokin’ Seventeen, Explosive Eighteen changes things up a bit by having two fun mysteries that don’t even involve the bonds office. And those are on top of Steph and Lula’s hilarious adventures in Bounty Hunting! I personally found this deviation from the normal formula to be fun and refreshing. I also really liked that we got a direct continuation of the story from the last installment. Often the Plum books are fairly self-contained, but I’m a fan of the continuing arc.

I’ve read complaints about Steph’s back and forth between Morelli and Ranger, and the fact that she hasn’t improved much as a Bounty Hunter in all these years. While both these issues are still present, what was different in book 18 is that Stephanie seems to have realized that it’s time to make a choice and some improvements. Yay for progress! And it wouldn’t be a Plum novel without the many laugh-out-loud moments, which were in full supply in Explosive Eighteen. I found Lula was especially hilarious this time around, and would like to petition Janet Evanovich to make Lula’s “Hell yeah. I’m a big Tweeter” comment a reality! Because @Lula would definitely be a Tweeter worth following!

Verdict
With some fun mysteries and hilarious antics, Explosive Eighteen is one of my favourite Plum adventures in quite a few numbers!

BONUS!  The hardcover edition of Explosive Eighteen contains the cutest tear-out 2012 Plum calendar!

*I received this book for review from the Publisher.

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1)
by Patrick Ness

Summary
Life in Prentisstown is tough. Being the last settlement in the New World, and having lost all their women to the terrible Noise Virus, life can seem very isolated for the men (and one boy) who remain. Except that no one is ever really alone when everyone else can hear your every thought.  And that is the curse that the men of Prentisstown bear – their “Noise” is always out there for everyone to hear. Todd is the last boy left in Prentisstown, but less than a month remains until he will finally be a man. He’s sure things will be better once he can be counted among the men in town, but when he discovers a strange silent spot amongst the Noise in the swamp, suddenly everything Todd knows is thrown into question. His family sends him away, telling him to run for his life and never look back. Angry and confused, Todd has no choice but to flee the only life he believes exists. As he makes his way into the unknown, he discovers that everything he once thought to be true was a lie. Now he must uncover the truth, and hold onto hope in a world where there seems to be none.

Review
The premise of The Knife of Never Letting Go is fantastic! The idea of being able to hear the thoughts of everyone around you is original and unique. There’s plenty of non-stop action to keep the reader flipping pages. The characters are believable, well developed, and grow throughout the course of the novel. And once you get used to the strange grammar and horrific spelling, the dialogue is interesting. So really, it’s got all the factors that make up a great book right? Right. Except that I hated it. I mean I read the whole book and have no complaints about the quality of the writing, but everything that happens to the characters throughout the course of the story is AWFUL. There might be one or two brief moments of happiness, but that’s it. I almost stopped reading 2/3 of the way through because something so terrible happens that I didn’t think I could take any more. I managed to soldier on, but there was definitely no happy reward for my efforts. And don’t even get me started on that ending – or rather complete lack of an ending. I’m all for a well-done cliff-hanger, but this book just stops (at yet another horrible thing) a few pages short of an actual ending. I actually wondered if my digital copy was missing some bits the ending was so abrupt.

Verdict
If you’re OK with a really dark and unhappy story, then The Knife of Never Letting Go is a great read. If you want to feel a little bit good while reading, then skip this one.