So, I've been reading this book for over 3 years... but that's because it contains 10 novels within its covers. Each of the stories are laid out below with their individual ratings and links to their reviews.

Overall, however I felt the book contains some very good books, and some not so good books, but the collection left me feeling mostly glad to have read the whole lot.

My favourite of the collection would definitely have to be The Narrowing Path closely followed by Stitch. This appears to no longer be available to buy from Amazon so if you're interested in any of these books you'll likely need to purchase them separately.

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn ★★★★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Moon Dwellers, by David Estes ★★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Prison Nation, by Jenni Merritt★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Daynight, by Megan Thomason★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Stitch, by Samantha Durante ★★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Annihilation of Foreverland, by Tony Bertauski ★★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Girls from Alcyone, by Cary Caffrey ★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Narrowing Path, by David Normoyle ★★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Rain, by Joseph Turkot ★★★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Virulent: The Release, by Shelbi Wescott ★★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

**Note: I received an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review**

Stitch is the opening book for the Stitch Trilogy. It begins along the same lines as many young adult dystopian type of books: the parents get removed from the picture (as painfully as possible), the protagonist spirals into severe depression (the blackest you've ever seen), and gets placed in a new town/school/planet to deal with their loss and try and move on.

Samantha does a good job of adhering to those tropes. But, then she does something magical. She breaks the mold and doesn't have the protagonist fall instantly in love, she doesn't make the supporting characters weak and useless... No, she slowly reveals an insidious plot and backstory that I was so not expecting.

One part ghost story, one part young adult, one part dystopian, one part mystery and historical, and one part sci-fi. This story delivers on variety. And, it melds well for the most part.

Alessa (who I kept calling Alissa in my head) is a reasonably level-headed character. Things go crazy and she tries to deal with them rationally, so that worked.

Where things fell down for me was the repetition of Alessa's history and emotional growth, I recall it being info-dumped three times in the last half of the book. That's probably twice too many times.

It was an engaging and well written story and I will be getting the second book in the series so I can answer some of those unanswered questions.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book as part of the compilation What Tomorrow May Bring in exchange for an honest review**

Prison Nation is a fantastic idea.

What would America be like if it sealed its boarders and the punishment for crimes (and even suspected crimes) became so harsh that the Nation needed massive prisons, large enough to house thousands and thousands of people?

You can find out, just by picking up this book.

Millie, our female protagonist experiences a significant personal journey throughout the book, but she does start out a little flat. I quite liked how things progressed, but I'd have liked a little more spunk from her early on.

The supporting cast was quite diverse, which was a welcome change from a lot of YA books, however, I was looking for a strong female role model for Millie and that was seriously lacking.

So, so far that's quite a lot of positives, so why only 3 stars?

Well, the writing isn't polished. There were a lot of adverbs and adjectives being used, a lot of scenes were overwritten, and could do with a cull, as well as quite a lot of repetition.

The formatting was also off, including sentences that ran together, missing words, added words, the spacing was off in parts and there were even some instances of homophone misuse!

With a hefty edit, this book would be a solid addition to the YA, Dystopian genre. As it is now, it's an enjoyable read, but it feels unpolished and a little rough around the edges.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of What Tomorrow May Bring, that included this book, in return for an honest review.**

Picture The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner smooshed together, in a slightly fantastical world... that's a good description of The Narrowing Path.

But this story does go deeper than either of those two books/movies into the silo structure of Arcandis' society. Like Divergent, the population is divided into segments. Four ruling houses, the ascor, and a second-class citizen class called escay. There's even secret societies and factions and plotting between the ascor houses that comes into play throughout the book. All the political and social nuances of a thoroughly thought out world.

The book sees a 13-year-old Bowe Bellanger enter Arcandis' version of the Hunger Games (one that's held every - sexennium - six years.) the Green Path. Not unlike The Hunger Games, the Path sees the young men aged between 12 and 18 from all the ascor houses forced to fend for themselves and kill each other to secure one of six positions of safety with the ascor houses. The safety is sought because every six years, the moon takes their planet too close to their sun and everything on the face of the planet will perish, unless hidden within the caves cooled by the ocean - this is called the Infernam, but, there's only limited room.

So, we've got our protagonist and our plot, what about the cast of supporting characters? Well they're rather diverse and varied. This was a strong plus for me. Some were stereotypes like The Hunger Games, the fighter, the weakling etc, but others were strong characters in their own right.

I liked Sorrin, the peg legged, Master better. His ability to call a fight thoroughly enjoyable, and his skills were used well to further the story. Sindar was another I liked, the thief, while somewhat stereotypical, was still a good quality character within the story line. The plot held plenty of twists and turns, some I guessed, others I didn't. All in all, it was an enjoyable, quick read with interesting tweaks on the Dystopian young adult story format.

Some other reviewers have commented on the brutality and gore of the book. To me, it felt right. The brutality is a result of the society, where brutality and death is a normal part of their life. If David had of shied away from the brutal killings, I feel he would have done the story a disservice. This is certainly aimed at Young Adult audiences, but if you are going to give this to a young, young adult, perhaps read it first to ensure they could handle the death scenes.

This is only the first book in a trilogy, one that I intend to complete.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review as part of What Tomorrow May Bring**

Given we’re heading into the winter months here in Australia; I could certainly picture what the world Joseph created in 'The Rain' would be like. Imagine, though, what it would be like if it didn't stop raining for a month, or a year? Sounds positively horrible doesn't it?

Well, what if it didn't stop raining - EVER?! Comprehending the amount of water that we're talking about here is almost impossible. I ended up thinking along the lines of the Kevin Costner movie - Waterworld.

The scene is set, and you're introduced to your main characters, Tanner and Russell.

At first, I thought there might be something 'dodgy' going on with that relationship, given the whole 'the world is going to hell in a hand basket' but I'm happy to say, my initial thoughts were wrong. At least about Russell.

Age is an interesting concept. In the story, age is simultaneously important and not important. People don't seem to know/share their ages with people. Tanner herself doesn't seem to know just how old she is nor how old Russell is, yet she uses her own and Russell's ages as measuring sticks for other characters she meets. Neatly done by Joseph, to allow for people of a wider age bracket to enjoy.

This story will probably not end up with a massive following; this is not because it's not well written. In fact I thoroughly enjoyed it and its lack of grammar/spelling issues (there were a few minor ones pointed out below), but primarily because of a few themes/subjects that run throughout the book:

1. It is written mostly as a narrative about the past, with only a small amount of the book in the here-and-now with Tanner and Russell.

2. It has aspects of horror/gore

3. It is not a very 'positive' book

4. It doesn't shy away from some hard truths about human nature

5. Joseph is also not shy about exploring those truths about human nature in some rather interesting detail.

All these points will impact potential readers, but for those who push through them, they'll likely come out the other side with a mind full of possibilities.

Just how much would you have to go through before you gave up all that it means to be a human?

I intend on reading the rest of the series. I hope there are some more happy moments for the characters, but I fear that Joseph may make their journey fraught with danger, death and destruction.

Some things I noticed (sorry no % locations as it was part of a collection):

That's what they'll have to(o), if they're not dead.

...as of they're (their) appearance of having...

Chapter 11: I pull the pull the (remove second pull the) flap of blanket...

...tinkering with (the) radio again.

**Note: I was provided with an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review.**