Gateway Reviews

THE GIRL WHO FELL BENEATH THE SEA Deadly storms have ravaged Mina's home for generations. Each time the storms come, the villagers pick a girl to sacrifice to the sea, a bride for the Sea God. But each sacrifice has lasted fewer months than the one before. This year, they know they have found the Sea God's "true bride," beautiful and smart and ethereal: Shim Cheong. The problem? Mina's brother is in love with Cheong, and sacrificing Cheong will mean losing Joon, too. Mina isn't about to let her brother get swallowed by the sea, and so she does the unthinkable. She sneaks aboard the sacrificial vessel, and when the Sea God's dragon rises up to inspect the bride, she throws herself into the sea instead. Mina wakes in the Spirit Realm, foggy and shifting, and she finds a red ribbon tied around her wrist. She follows this ribbon to the palace, to the Sea God himself--and he is fast asleep, lost to the world. With

ONLY A MONSTER Joan's family is full of monsters. They can do things that nobody else can do. Things appear out of thin air around them. Things disappear, too. Joan has spent every summer with the "monster" half of her family since she was little, and she has some small talent in this disappearing gift herself. This summer, she's back at her grandmother's house in London, surrounded by the monsters she loves. She loves her eccentric cousins, loves her job at the historic Holland House, and just might love one of her coworkers, too--or at least like him enough to think about him all the time. And Nick likes her back, too. But then everything changes. Joan learns the truth about her "monster" relatives, and they're not just eccentric. They don't just have the ability to slip object in and out of existence. They're truly monsters, as they've always claimed, with abilities that exceed anything she would

THE RUMOR GAME Everything changed for Bryn after the accident. She lost her friends, lost her boyfriend. She's going to lose her role as class president if the special election her classmates are calling for goes through. But Bryn has a plan to change all of that. For Georgie, things are different. She's got friends now, new friends, and she's getting attention like she hasn't ever before. That might be thanks to all the weight she lost over the summer. When rumors start circulating about Cora's boyfriend and Georgie, Cora isn't sure what to believe. And without her best friend Bryn in the social good graces, she doesn't know where to turn when jealousy starts getting the best of her. THOUGHTS As much as I wanted to like it, this book was ultimately bland and forgettable. Sure, there will be people who like it. There's nothing wrong with

ECHOES AND EMPIRES Josslyn Drake has everything going for her: the status, the wardrobe, and the queen's ear. And she's got a lust for vengeance, too, ever since the wicked warlock Lord Banyon had her father assassinated. It's the one-year anniversary of her father's death, and she's determined to hold her head high at the annual Queen's Gala while paparazzi snap pictures and the country watches. Lord Banyon will be brought to justice. But when Josslyn gets caught in a robbery gone awry, her night takes a very different turn. She finds herself suddenly infected with illegal magic, the very magic the thief meant to steal. Suddenly a fugitive, Josslyn finds herself with no choice but to trust the thief himself with her life--because he wants the magic back, whatever that might cost. And he might be the only one who knows how to save her from it. THOUGHTS