Review: Alienation by Jon S. Lewis

Alienation by Jon S. Lewis
(C.H.A.O.S. #2)

4 out of 5 stars

Published by Thomas Nelson
This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the series
Review copy received through Netgalley

The next instalment in the C.H.A.O.S. series, Alienation is definitely action-packed. And with action-packed I mean PACKED. One moment we're flying around with jetpacks, trying to evade a tank-size wasp. Just moments later we're attacked by some scary shapeshifting assassin.

I had this whole nice long and thoughtful review planned out, but Goodreads decided this was a perfect moment to start some maintenance. So it was deleted. I will thus be making a nice pro-con list!

Pro:
- Tons and tons of action. If I had a little brother, I would immediately recommend this book to him
- Will appeal to lovers of super-hero stories and comic book readers
- Imaginative creatures and technologies. It has a cool futuristic feel. Who doesn't love shiny gadgets?
- It has a super cool grandpa that can kick ass
- Very clean action. There is some blood, but definitely no ripping out entrails here
- Even though the book is published by Christian literature publisher Thomas Nelson, Alienation is not preachy at all

Con:
- You get thrown into the action right away. At times I wondered what the connection was with the actual plot
- I sometimes missed an emotional connection with Colt. At times he just feels cold and distant
- I was looking forward to some character development in this book, but I wasn't completely satisfied.

All in all, Alienation is a great fast-paced book that I would recommend.

Blurb

The invasion was only the beginning . . .

After his parents were killed in a car accident, Colt McAllister was drawn into a world he thought only existed in comic books-one where mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles don't even scratch the surface.

Along with his best friends Oz and Danielle, Colt is now training at the secret Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural academy. But strange accidents seem to follow him. . . even with the security of the school grounds. What first seems random soon turns deadly. But who is targeting Colt?

As the alien invasions increase in frequency and force, C.H.A.O.S resources are taxed to the limit and they're forced to utilize the new recruits. In the midst of battle, Colt will discover some startling revelations . . . about himself, his friendship with Oz, and why he has been chosen to defeat this alien attack against earth.

Other reviews you might be interested in

• Review: Invasion by Jon S. Lewis (+Interview) (5/5 Stars)
• Review: Bumped by Megan McCafferty (2/5 Stars)
• Review: Celebrity Space by Alain Gomez (3/5 Stars)

More links

• Author page
• Press
• Goodreads

Release Day: Alienation by Jon S. Lewis

The invasion was only the beginning . . .

After his parents were killed in a car accident, Colt McAllister was drawn into a world he thought only existed in comic books-one where mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles don't even scratch the surface.

Along with his best friends Oz and Danielle, Colt is now training at the secret Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural academy. But strange accidents seem to follow him. . . even with the security of the school grounds. What first seems random soon turns deadly. But who is targeting Colt?

As the alien invasions increase in frequency and force, C.H.A.O.S resources are taxed to the limit and they're forced to utilize the new recruits. In the midst of battle, Colt will discover some startling revelations . . . about himself, his friendship with Oz, and why he has been chosen to defeat this alien attack against earth.

> Read my review of Alienation
> Read my review of Invasion (part 1 of this series) including a mini interview with the author

Goodreads | Author | Publisher | Amazon | Book Depository

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Pick Your A Thon: Wrap Up

Everything has to come to an end, and today that is the case for the Pick Your A Thon, hosted by The Book Monsters.

It was quite a successful readathon for me, even though I might not have participated as much as I usually do at readathons. I did participate in the Get Organised Challenge, which was definitely good for my planning skills!

In the end I finished City of Bones, read a big chunck of Feed and started a third book, Alienation. All in all it was a pretty fun!

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Busting the Newbie Blues

Busting the Newbie Blues is BACK! After a very successful event last year, Small Review is hosting it again throughout the month of January. It's a great way for new bloggers to connect with more established bloggers, and to get some new followers. Last year I participated as a new blogger (my post). This year I will be answering the established blogger questionaire.

If you want to participate, you can still sign up.

When did you start your blog?

I started my blog a long time ago, in April 2010. I'll be celebrating my two-year anniversary this year.

Do you ever still feel like a newbie?

Yes, totally! I still feel so puny compared to the other big blogs out there. I feel like I still have a lot to learn, even though I've been around for a while. Especially on HTML, I'm still such a newbie at that. I tried to change my blog header the other day, and managed to multiply my header into the posts body. Oops. With some help from other bloggers, I luckily did get that fixed.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from?

Don't try to do too much. That's something I can't stress enough. I tried to post every day, even though I really shouldn't. After a while blogging was something I wasn't looking forward to, eventually leading to a burn out. I had to leave my blog for a few months. I'm back now, and doing way better. Nyx Book Reviews is now more how I want it to be, than what is expected.

What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How did you deal with this?

The low follower count. I wanted to blog to interact with people, to get them to read my reviews. It's very discouraging when you know there are just 7 people in the whole wide world that are interested in your view. It was pretty easy to deal with in the end. I got out and tried to meet people. Comment on their blogs. I participated in events, like Busting the Newbie Blues. It felt good to see people were interested in what I have to say, you sometimes just have to go out and meet them.

What do you find most encouraging?

The help of the blogging community. If you have a question, there is always someone that's willing to help you. I'm very glad for the people I met through blogging.

If you could go back in time and speak with your newbie self, what five bits of wisdom would you tell yourself?

Five bits! I'll have to think on that one. First, don't worry about the followers count. Second, you don't have to review all the new books. Old books are just as fine. Third, don't accept every review request that gets your way! I'm still stuck with 50 ebooks you accepted! Fourth, participate in more events. Just posting reviews gets boring after a while. Fifth, just have fun with your blog (:

What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?

I like blogs with clear navigation, with handy lists of what they've read. I tried to do this myself too. I also really like extensive reviews that tell you what the story is about. I just can't do anything with a review that says "This book was awesome! And the guy is HOTTT! Read it.". I need more info. I try to make my reviews as clear as possible.

What do you dislike about blogs you’ve seen? Do you try to avoid this?

Arghh, music on a blog! What's up with that? I know you like the music, but I sure as hell don't want to get blasted away by Beyonce the moment I open your blog. You can add a music widget in your side bar if you want to. But don't make it auto-play. I want to decide for myself if I want to hear it or now. I generally don't post music on my blog, but if I do, it's a Youtube video. People can see for themselves whether or not they're interested.

How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people? 

Blood, sweat, tears and a lot of blogging! I try to keep my content of good quality, while also participate in some fun things once in a while. Like last year, I participated in three readathons. Readathons are great ways of meeting people with similar interests. Also, have a nice giveaway once in a while. People will definitely appreciate that.

When and how did you get your first ARC (or first few ARCs)?
I still don't get many ARCs. I get them almost all from Netgalley. I would definitely recommend Netgalley to every newbie blogger, especially when you're international. You might not get accepted for all the galleys, but I can assure you you will be for some. Sometimes I request ARCs from the author, and it has worked a few times. It's harder for me to get ARCs because the publisher more often than not thinks shipping is too expensive. I'm still looking into ways for me to get to the ARCs I want (:

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Happy New Year! & 2011 Wrap Up

First off I would like to wish all of you a Happy New year!! I hope you all have a healthy year filled with wonderful books.

As I did last year, I will make a big list with a lot of numbers for the year of 2011. But first, I would like to compare where I am now to my resolutions of last year. Try to post more regularly, check. At least one review up every week, check. Get 250 blog followers. Okay, I'm still working on that one. I'm currently on 218, which I'm still very proud of.

For 2012 I hope to get my blog to continue growing. I'll be reading more of my books for review and try to post them closer to the publishing date. Maybe get some more interviews/guest posts with authors if possible. And get 400 followers! I'm planning to take over the world, you know.

2011 in numbers:
Books Read: 90
Pages Read: 26298
Average Pages a Book: 292
Most Books Read By One Author: 4 (tie between Karen Marie Moning & J.K. Rowling)
Books Reviewed: 67 (74% of books read)

Blog Posts: 195
Followers: 218
Comments: 620
Total Page Views: 12636 (8,5x more than last year)
Most Viewed From: 5829, United States (46% of all page views)
Most Views in a Month: 2249, December (18% of all page views)

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Netgalley Month December: Wrap Up

I also participated in Vicky's event Netgalley Month December hosted at her blog Books, Biscuits & Tea. It was a very nice way to stay motivated and to read some ARCs that really need reading. I put my goal at two to three books. In the end I read two, which I think is a pretty decent amount! Here's what I read. Click the covers to go to their Goodreads page.

Vicky was also able to interview Lindsey Rudnickas from Netgalley! It's very interesting. When you're wondering why your requests aren't being accepted, or other Netgalley issues, be sure to take a look.

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Harry Potter December: Wrap Up

As the year ended, so has my little event Harry Potter December. I have to say; I truly enjoyed it. It was nice to reread these books I read so often when I was younger. I didn't get through them all sadly, but I will read the remaining three books soon. Maybe I'll even write a proper review of those.

So, here is my final update. You can find all of my previous updates by clicking the Harry Potter December header. It will be missed in my sidebar!

• Pages read (total): 1427
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Order of the Peonix (#5)
• My thoughts: The Goblet of Fire is another solid five-star read. It has everything you could wish for in a Harry Potter book. Spooky villains, best friends, mystery, lots of magic, and in this one even a little touch of romance. A great book to end the year with.