Soul's Gate by James Rubart

It's been thirty years since the tragedy- the tragedy that was his fault. And yet God calls Reece to visit the battle again. To battle inside of a person's soul. The pieces of an old prophecy begin falling into place, and Reece knows he cannot hold on to fear any longer, he must face it.

That is one cool cover, don't you think? Well perhaps it is a little too cool, because it pulled me right in. Yes, that's right, on some degree I do judge books by their covers and that's just how it is. And maybe it is also my fault for not reading the back of the book, but I wanted to be completely surprised by the story for once, not knowing what to expect. Maybe these things added to my experience, but overall, I have to say I was very disappointed in this book. So much so that I wasn't even able to finish it, which is pretty rare for me since I usually try to give a book as many chances as I can to redeem itself.

One of my biggest issues with this book is that it is nothing I haven't read before on some plane. It was quite monotonous with the other books I've read by James Rubart, with the story essentially consisting of a character or characters that had a painful past, and they must face it and become healed by supernatural means. Which, don't get me wrong, can be an interesting story, but not over and over with no break.

Even with the reasons stated above, I may have been able to pull through, but two more things kept nagging me. This first, I felt this book was saturated with the artificial "let's all pray together before we breath, talk, worship, or pray" mentality. And while I am all for prayer, I believe you have to be a little more realistic than that. You are never going to reach out to people if you freak them out too much to have a conversation. This book also, albeit partially fictitiously, seemed to extract select scriptures and morph them to prove such things as the Bible says you can turn invisible, transport yourself, and also travel inside other people souls. Uh...

Partials by Dan Wells

Humanity hangs by its final thread. Genetically engineered beings called Partials brutally demolished much of the human population. And then the virus RM was unleashed, reducing the humans down to about 25,000 who were immune. And while peace withe the Partials seems to ultimately have been achieved, a much larger issue is slapped on the plate of a race facing extinction. Every one of their offspring is dieing of the same virus to which they are immune.

Kira, in training to become a medic, can no longer stand to watch baby after baby die without a chance. In a desperate tumble to find the cure for the malicious disease, Kira discovers the slightest hope of a chance for a cure. But to even tread down this path will mean betraying everything she stands for.

Partials is a book I stumbled upon by accident. When a bookstore did not cary the books I was looking for, I searched the shelves for anything seeming interesting, and ultimately decided upon this book. I am so glad I did. Partials achieves what most books strive for, but few attain. While distopian to the core, this novel instantly draws you in to a world completely alien yet oddly attractive and bestows a sense of awe. I instantly connected with the characters' distinctive personalities, and cheered for them from the beginning. I felt this book held a great balance of suspense. The plot twisted often, and I always wanted to read just one more chapter. This book does have a sense of creepyness. It is not particularly scary, but it may get the adrenaline going a little. Absolutely 5 stars; I look forward to reading the next novel in the Partials Sequence.