Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton - 390 pages

Long ago, the town of Three Graces made a deal.  Every seven years during the Slaughter Moon they must sacrifice a young man of the town to the devil in the forest.  In exchange, the town suffers no ill -- illness, famine, premature death.  But something has changed.  It's only been three years since the last Slaughter Moon.  Now sacrifice Rhun, witch Mair, and outcast Arthur will learn the secrets behind the deal and what must be done to restore balance.

I was surprised to enjoy this book.  When I started it I didn't think I would like it.  But about halfway through I discovered I couldn't put it down.  I was invested in the characters and wanted to know what happened to them.  I would highly recommend this book to teens who enjoy fantasy or even dystopian fiction. 

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill - 448 pages

This book is Game of Thrones, faerie style.  Two children, Ewan Thatcher and Colby Stevens find themselves embroiled in palace intrigue from the faerie realm of the Limestone Kingdom.  Ewan is snatched from his parents to be raised in faerie and replaced with an evil changeling.  Colby Stevens is a neglected child of a single mom who meets a djinn who can make all his wishes come true, but at what terrible price?  The two cross paths and face the challenge of whether or not destiny is something to be accepted or something to rail against.  The gritty realism transposed with the paranormal / faerie elements makes this book stand out from the crowd.

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - 518 pages
A Beautiful Creatures Novel - book 3

Lena's choice at the end of Beautiful Darkness, to be half Light and half Dark, has caused some major repercussions for them, the town of Gatlin, and in fact the whole world.  There is the unbelievable heat, drought and swarm of locusts.  The Caster's powers start to become unreliable.  Ethan is losing memories.  And Amma has decided to go seriously dark and start consorting with evil Voodoo priests.  To top it all, the balance has to be restored by a terrible sacrifice or the world will end.
This was definitely a better book than Beautiful Darkness.  I liked it as much as the first book, although I thought the identity of the "One Who Is Two" was pretty obvious from the beginning.  I am definitely looking forward to reading book four (the concluison) to the series as I'm not sure how they are going to go forward from here.