Willow reviewed by Molly Varney

By Julia Hoban *****

"It's hard to keep a secret when it's written all over your body" After a horrible accident killed Willow's parents, she was forced to live with her brother, David, and his wife and daughter. She soon found out after living with David and not feeling any love from him because of what happened, that she could numb herself to any more feelings by cutting herself. After a while, she met Guy, who found out about her secret. When Willow finally made him promise not to tell David he decided to stay with her and try to help her. Willow at first tried to reject any help from him, but after a while she couldn't help but start to have feelings for Guy. As Willow tried to sort out her feelings for Guy she also tried to get her relationship with her brother back to normal.

I loved this book. I thought that Guy's character was realistic because he acted like almost anyone would if they found out someone they knew was cutting themselves. I gave it five stars because I really liked how the story was set. It wasn't a perfect ending because in real life it never is, but it never lost my attention. There were a few parts that I didn't really like because of the cutting but there wasn't too much. Over all I really liked it and I enjoyed reading it.

Ashes, Ashes--reviewed by Nallely S.

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
***** Stars

"The world has ended....What come's next?"

Lucy Holloway saw her loved ones leave her behind forever...Now sixteen, she lives alone in the ruins of her beloved New York City. She struggles on a daily basis for her life. Hunting and hiding have become pure instinct and her sixth sense. For a year she has been isolated from humans out of fear of becoming infected, with the sickness that took away her family. But then when she becomes the hunted....she has no choice but to trust Aidan, a mysterious boy she met while on the run. Then an army of Sweepers terrorize Aidan's home...and they suspect it's because of Lucy...what makes her so special?
Why do the Sweepers want Lucy? What do they want from her? Will she give up on her emotions or will she fight for them? Well...read Ashes, Ashes!

I gave Ashes, Ashes 5 stars because the cover is nice and promising, plus who doesn't want to read a book about the after effects of "the world's end"? When I first started reading this book I thought "it sure is taking forever to get to the action" but patience if key and it is very interesting and promising(like the cover). I enjoyed reading it because I like action-romance novels. Plus Lucy is a strong-willed girl who even though she struggled she still wanted to live and she fought for her freedom. But I didn't like Del and some of the parts were just too descriptive and pointless but other than that it's pretty much become one of my favorite books.

-Enjoy.
Nallely S.