Divergent by Veronica Roth

In which a 16 year old girl makes a decision to determine her future, and deals with her choice.

Emily already wrote a good summary of Divergent, so I won't go into the plot much here.  Divergent is about a girl in a dystopian Chicago confronted with life defining choices, love, conspiracies and adventure.  Divergent is one of the best young adult books I've read because of the exciting story and compelling heroine.  I highly recommend it!

Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn

In which an attack on a space station leads to an investigation into an interplanetary conspiracy.

Mass Effect: Revelation is related to the Mass Effect video games.  I'm not sure about how close it is to the video games, because I haven't played them.  Revelation stands completely on its own as an exciting story in a well-developed setting

Foster Me Up by Rhonda Zimmer

An autobiography about life going through foster care.

Rhonda is a friend of mine, so I can't be disinterested reviewing her autobiography!  I can say that this is a really unique perspective from someone inside and outside the foster care system.  Rhonda managed to beat the odds of a difficult youth bouncing from home to home and become a successful adult.  This book describes her childhood with her twin sister, alcoholic father and confused mother and how she managed to prevail against all of it.  This would be a quick and edifying read for someone interested in a uncensored look at the life of a teenager in foster care.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

In which a young girl must survive and perform a difficult task to save her brothers' lives.

 

 I feel like this is a perfectly good book that just didn't appeal to me very much for a number of reasons.  So this review will probably be inordinately harsh, and will contain spoilers because it wasn't good enough for me to recommend!  If you think you'd like this book, I recommend you read some other fantasy book instead.