Strange Chemisty continues to show that they will be a leader in YA sci-fi with The Almost Girl.
Teenage girl/soldier/warrior/general, Riven, is on a mission. It will take us awhile to figure out what, precisely the mission is, but that’s part of the charm of this book…learning the back story as we move forward. What we do understand is that Riven comes from somewhere other than our current earth. Another dimension, it seems, though the science of this is not explained and not important to the story.
Riven, under cover as a normal teenage girl in high school, shows signs that being a teenage girl is the same no matter what dimension you are in: jealous girlfriends, demanding teachers, and cute boys who make the cheeks blush (even when you don’t want them to). Add being a warrior on top of the regular pitfalls of being a teenage girl, and Riven has her hands full … keeping those teachers and jealous girls at bay, along with undead warriors sent to disrupt her plans.
Complicating Riven’s plans are the fact that she’s falling for her target, Caden, and the fact that she’s slowly learning that everything she was taught, might just be a lie. Who does a teenage warrior girl trust, when she can’t trust anyone?
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that this book is full action, romance, and that necessary YA ingredient…brooding. All done quite well. There were moments when I wished the brooding would make way for the story, and moments when the story seemed to be there just to create more mood for Riven, rather than actually furthering the plot. A little tightened editing would have helped.
Overall, though, this was intriguing, exciting YA sci-fi! And while I don’t typically comment on the cover art as it can change before publishing or with future editions, this cover will definitely draw people to picking up the book and reading the jacket copy. If it does this to you, consider making the purchase…it’s worthwhile!
Looking for a good book? This YA sci-fi has everything you’ll want to keep you turning the pages!
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The Almost Girl
author: Amalie Howard
publisher: Strange Chemistry
ISBN: B00DXKJO0Q
paperback, 416 pages
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