Gateway Reviews

WE ARE THE FIRE Ripped from their families at a young age and conscripted into the army of Vesimaa, Pran and Oksana have undergone a horrifying alchemical process to transform into Tuliikobrets--the Emperor's monstrous, fire-summoning soldiers. This process has not left them undamaged, both physically and mentally. They dream for a better life. Oksana wants to return home to the family she lost. Pran dreams of revolution, a new age where all Tuliikobrets can be free. Together, they wrestle the horrific reality of the empire they serve: pyres and pillaging, death and fire. When the emperor's demands grow more cruel by the day, Pran and Oksana realize they cannot continue to live in his service. But their goals differ drastically, and in freeing themselves from the emperor, they might lose each other along the way. PROS High Fantasy Alchemy and monstrous antlers, reluctant fire-breathing s...

THE PROJECT Five years ago, Lo Denham lost everything: her parents, herself, and most of all her sister. Lo barely survived the horrific car accident that took her parents' lives. The road to recovery was long, and when Lo finally found some semblance of normal, she did so only to find that her beloved older sister, Bea, was farther away than ever before. Bea wasn't in the accident that nearly took all of her family away from her, but she was at the hospital when Lev Warren arrived to pray over her sister. Bea knew that Lev and his faith brought Lo back from the dead, and she will do anything to repay her debt to God--and to Lev. Bea joined the Unity Project, Lev's group of followers who do good works unto the world, and she vowed to follow him faithfully, even if it meant cutting off contact with her little sister Lo. In the five years since the accident, Lo has grown. No longer a child, she starts to wonder what happened to h...

INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD In the Gwydden's Wood, the tree sirens lure men and women to a grisly end. The Gwydden has eight daughters, each a powerful and gruesome monster--merciless, soulless. Owen Merrick lives right at the edge of the Wood, closer than any others dare to live. If his father's job didn't depend on it, they would have left long ago--when his mother was lured into the trees to die. Owen fears the Gwydden and her daughters, but when his toddler sister Awela wanders into the Wood, he heads in after her. Owen knows, if they are caught, they will die. But what Owen finds isn't a monster at all. Instead, he finds Seren, the youngest daughter of the Gwydden. Seren rescues Awela and Owen from her sisters, returns them to their cottage by the Wood, erases their memories. But Owen can't entirely forget, not with the siren song in the air and the scent of violets on the wind, and he begins to realize that the monstrou...

A BETTER BAD IDEA Evelyn Peters is trapped. She lives in the dying, dead-end town of McNair Falls, South Carolina. Her mom is distant and disconnected. Her mom's boyfriend Dane is an abusive alcoholic. The girls at school think she's a lost cause. The boys at school don't notice her--or they notice her entirely too much. And Reid Brewer, the only spot of life and hope in the whole town, is dead. When Dane gets drunk and hits Evelyn's six-year-old sister Kara, Evelyn decides enough is enough. Drinking her sorrow away in the woods, Evelyn meets Ashton Harper, ex-boyfriend of the dead girl Reid, and together, they hatch a plan of attack. They escape their dead-end lives together, fleeing in the night, but the mistakes they want to leave don't stay dead and buried long... PROS Strong Opening Laurie Devore sets an unforgettably grim tone at the very beginning. This book opens with...