108. We're Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

listened on Libby

narrated by Dani Martineck

Unabridged audio (6:56)
2019
256 pgs.
Middle Grade SciFi
Finished 7/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 1362 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: planet Choom, relocated from Earth

First line/s: "The first time I heard anything about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year."

My comments: Told from the point-of-view of a middle schooler, one of about 1,000 that are in another galaxy trying to be accepted on the planet of Choom after Earth was destroyed.  The planet is currently inhabited by three species, huge mosquito-like beings, enormous marshmallow-like beings, and smaller, also bug-like beings.  Emotions are heralded by smells.  A swarm mentality seems to be easily transferred from being to being.  The humans have to figure out a way to get past the fake news and anger that it manifests to a place where they are accepted and trusted.  Half of the book is angry fighting, which I really didn't enjoy.  The premise of the story was thoughtful, and I always enjoy a good scifi.

Goodreads synopsis:  Imagine being forced to move to a new planet where YOU are the alien! From the creator of the Tapper Twins, New York Times bestselling author Geoff Rodkey delivers a topical, sci-fi middle-grade novel that proves friendship and laughter can transcend even a galaxy of differences.

          The first time I heard about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year. But life on the Mars station was grim, and since Earth was no longer an option (we may have blown it up), it was time to find a new home.
          That's how we ended up on Choom with the Zhuri. They're very smart. They also look like giant mosquitos. But that's not why it's so hard to live here. There's a lot that the Zhuri don't like: singing (just ask my sister, Ila), comedy (one joke got me sent to the principal's office), or any kind of emotion. The biggest problem, though? The Zhuri don't like us. And if humankind is going to survive, it's up to my family to change their minds. No pressure

69. The Lying Planet by Carol Riggs

read on my iPhone
2016, Entangled Teen
285 pgs.
YA SciFi
Finished 12/11/2017
Goodreads rating: 4.03 - 103 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Future on a faraway planet

First line/s:  "Right after morning sessions end on Friday, the scavenger team brings a charred body into the safe zone."

My comments:  A perfect YA Syfy, lots of suspense, creepy aliens, and hormonal teenagers (although the hormonal teenager stuff is pretty limited compared to everything else that's going on).  This is one of those once-I-got-into-it-I-couldn't-put-it-down books.  The main character, Jay, is a responsible, smart, well-liked young man who is the first to realize that something is not right ith the adults in his community.  His community happens to be on another planet in another galaxy, but one on which humans can not only live and survive, but thrive.  I highly recommend this thriller - suspenseful, otherworldly, and quite well written.

Goodreads synopsis: Promise City. That’s the colony I’ve been aiming for all my life on the planet Liberty. The only thing standing in my way? The Machine. On my eighteenth birthday, this mysterious, octopus-like device will scan my brain and Test my deeds. Good thing I’ve been focusing on being Jay Lawton, hard worker and rule follower, my whole life. Freedom is just beyond my fingertips.
          Or so I thought. Two weeks before my Testing with the Machine, I’ve stumbled upon a new reality. The truth. In a single sleepless night, everything I thought I knew about the adults in our colony changes. And the only one who’s totally on my side is the clever, beautiful rebel, Peyton. Together we have to convince the others to sabotage their Testings before it’s too late. 
          Before the ceremonies are over and the hunting begins.

28. The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

read on my iPhone
2016 Scholastic
 416 pgs.
YA Dystopia/Fantasy
Finished 5/10/2017
Goodreads rating: 3.98 - 3921 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Canaan...on another planet, though residents are from earth...in the future

First line/s: "I'm going to be flogged and I don't know why I'm so surprised about it."

My comments:  There are some reviewers that didn't like the book at all.  That's certainly not me.  I was mesmerized from the opening page.  I tried to savor it slowly, not wanting it to end, not even trying to figure out what direction it would go in next.  It was a true dystopia and mystery with excellent world building and even a little bit of the love-dovey stuff that didn't go far and worked for me.  A great young adult novel, as far as I'm concerned.  Hopefully there will be a second in the series!

Goodreads synopsis:  What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes.
          Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.
          In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.
          But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

43. Cinder - Marissa Meyer

#1 The Lunar Chronicles

Listened in the car on the way to the east coast, summer 2014
Audio read by Rebecca Soler

2012 Macmillan Audio

390 pgs.

YA Dystopia/SciFi

Finished June, 2014

Goodreads Rating: 4.11

My Rating: 4 - Liked it a lot

TPPL

Setting: "New Beijing" sometime in the future

My comments:  This was an interesting YA dystopian/scifi novel, unlike most I've read before.  Nasty neighbors living on the moon, partial cyborgs/bionics (think million-dollar-man) who are the lowest "caste" of society, a deadly virus that hits unexpectedly and kills fast, and a 16-year-old girl that is the best mechanic in New Beijing.  This certainly does NOT sound like something I'd pick up and read.  I enjoyed it a lot, though, once I kept going.....

Goodreads Review:  Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 
          Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future