LILA SHORTCUTS by Sarah Alderson

Short Stories set in the Hunting Lila world
Publication date: October 1st, 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Number of pages: 128
Date read: September 30th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Short Stories, Romance
Source: ARC from Sarah Alderson
Format: Ebook
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(Description source: Goodreads)

Five compelling new short stories based in the world of HUNTING LILA.
Told from the perspectives of Alex, Jack, Demos, Amber and Suki - fans of this thrilling series now have a chance to delve into the minds of other characters, and see what they really think!

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This set of short stories should not be read without first having read both books in the Lila series - otherwise some of the context will not be understood. Besides, it's no burden at all having to read Hunting Lila and Losing Lila, it's the best use you can find for several hours of your time. Trust me, I know from experience!

Turning Amber is set when Amber is seventeen. She sees auras and doesn't have many friends because of it. Life gets interesting when she meets a boy with a strange aura of his own. The short story on Amber is really interesting, I love how descriptive the way Amber sees auras is written. We also find out how Amber met Ryder, it's cute.

With plenty of humour and some charming dialogue on Ryder's part, this is a nice and insightful story. Turning Amber also introduces several characters and instances that Lila series readers will recognise. 

Everybody is a liar.

Redeeming Demos is told as though Demos is telling someone a story, you'll learn who at the end. He describes his feelings for Melissa (Lila's mother) and his thoughts on love.

Demos's narrative picks up where Amber's finishes - with a prison break of a certain someone.

This story holds a more serious note and adds a few small details not previously known about Hunting Lila's back story.

 I was collecting as many of us as I could find, that is people with exceptional skills, none as exceptional as mine, of course, but exceptional none the less

Catching Suki is set at the start of Hunting Lila and is told from the point-of-view of our favourite, fashionable mind-reader, Suki. I have previously reviewed Catching Suki - you can check out the review here!

“There they are. Lieutenant Jack Loveday and Lieutenant Alex Wakeman. I’ve only seen their photos so far and the pictures that are in Demos’s head, but the truth is Demos did not do them justice. In fact, Demos’s head needs a tune up or a reboot or an entirely new operating system altogether.”

Recruiting Jack is where we get to learn a little about Jack and Alex when they were in college, and how Jack feels about his and Alex's reunion with Lila. We also see how Jack feels about Alex's presence in his life.
Jack's attitude and perspective is funny, as is his protective older brother routine.


The Moment is told from Alex's point of view and tell how he felt being reunited with Lila after several years and just how much things have changed in that time.
Alex is loyal sexy and will go to any lengths for Jack and Lila.
I have read this story at least three or four times (so far) and I love the look inside Alex's head.


Overall, Lila Shortcuts is an amazing lot of short stories, enjoyable and insightful: written superbly and with a doubt exactly what Lila series readers want!

I rate Lila Shortcuts Four out of Five!

UNDONE by Elizabeth Norris

An Unravelling Novella (Book #1.5)
Publication date: March 5th, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray 
Number of Pages: 120
Date read: June 1st, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Romance, Contemporary, Short Stories
Source: Bought 
Ebook



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(Description Source: Goodreads)

Before the accident. Before their universes collided. Before they fell in love.

Riveting and romantic, Undone: An Unraveling Novella contains three short stories set in the world of Unraveling, the first book in the gripping sci-fi duology by Elizabeth Norris.

Before Ben Michaels saved Janelle Tenner’s life, Janelle saved Ben when he stumbled through an interuniverse portal into a completely new world. That day, he fell in love with the girl of his dreams. And he never forgot her.

Through three stories told from Ben’s point of view, learn how Ben and his friends discovered their ability to travel between worlds, how Ben first met Janelle, and how he pined for her for years before he actually got the chance to meet her, save her life, and capture her heart. And find out what happens to Ben between the cliff-hanger conclusion to Unraveling and the beginning of its heart-stopping sequel, Unbreakable.

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“The pivotal moments in your life are always made up of smaller pieces, things that seemed insignificant at time, but in fact brought you to where you needed to be.” 

Undone is a novella that further explains events in Unravelling, while also bridging to the sequel, Unbreakable. This novella is told from Ben's point of view and helps to expand on his and his friends back story. Undone begins with Ben leaving his home world through an accidental portal and landing in the ocean to be saved by Janellle. He covers how he and his friends try to assimilateto the new world they find themselves in.

Ben's point of view is interesting, you get to hear his internal dilemmas as well as his inner thoughts. Getting to know Ben's character better is pretty awesome, you learn about how responsible he feels for his and his friends' situation, how he pines for Janelle and his friends are all to aware of it.Ben has difficult decisions to make and they are easier  to understand.

The best part of this novella is the part set when he is back in his home world, what his family is really like compared to how he remembers them, what happened to Eli's family as well and the state that their world is now in.

This novella, comprised of three stories, is amazing and leads into Unbreakable so, so well. It is entertaining, explanatory and also has some action in it.

“Certain moments in my life are imprinted in me memory.

They're easy to recall with perfect clarity, whether I want to remember them or not. Any small thing can trigger them: a phrase, a smell, a thought. It brings everything back like I'm reliving that moment, a brief scene in the movie of my life, complete with how horrible I felt at the time. And I usually felt horrible in those moments that I want to forget that stick around.”

I rate Undone Five out of Five!