Barry Sutton is a New York City cop. He's learning that memory makes reality as he's investigating False Memory Syndrome - a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. Neuroscientist Helena Smith believes the same thing. It's the reason she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. Only Barry and Helena, working together, stand a chance of defeating a force that not only attacks minds but the very fabric of the past. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi, but oh my god Dark Matter was so good! So of course I was excited for this one. Everything was great except for the repetition. I get that it's part of the theme, but it was just slow going and felt like a chore to get through. Overall though, very interesting stuff that not only makes you think but also makes you feel. I can't wait to see where Blake Crouch takes us next! Thank you to Netgalley and Cr...

Zen Starling and Nova have travelled all over the Network Empire, but they've never passed through a new gate - one that should not exist at all. They've been through a lot and can't go back so their only option is to go through.  There is a new Empress of the Great Network who has just chosen to take a criminal named Chandni Hansa out of the freezer and into her world to help find Zen Starling. But railwar erupts and they're running for their lives.  Everyone ends up at the mysterious Black Light Zone - a world no longer in use with secrets to uncover. This is the sequel to Railhead and it picks up where book one left off. The creativity is still strong and we have some of the same characters we saw in the first book. This is action-packed as Zen and Nova race through new worlds, avoiding bad trains and bad people, and hoping to make it home alive. I found this book just a teensy bit long, but overall it was really good. And like the first book there is a glossary in t...

Zen Starling is a petty thief. He thinks he has just been caught stealing but instead he has been chosen for a mission by a mysterious stranger named Raven. Zen has to infiltrate the Emperor's train and steal something Raven desperately wants. He has always wanted to traverse the Great Network - a vast place of a thousand gates leading to very different places, of Station Angels, drones, maintenance spiders and many different trains all with their own personalities. Zen Starling jumps at the chance to see the worlds and steal something big. I'm not really into made up worlds and stuff like that but this book sounded interesting enough to give it a go. And I must say it was really good! There is a very helpful glossary at the back. I really enjoyed going into these weird new worlds and meeting different types of creatures and trains. I was fond of Uncle Bugs. He is a Hive Monk which is a million bugs clinging together to form a human-shaped skeleton by using old junk like a cloa...

Sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum and her classmates are visiting Germany. When she spots a red balloon, she tells her best friend to take a picture so she can show her grandfather when she returns to the United States. But by grabbing that red balloon Ellie is taken back in time to East Berlin in 1988. There she meets members of an organization who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the wall to West Berlin. But to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. Eventually it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history and Ellie wants to do everything she can to stop them, even if it means never returning home again. There are three points-of-view: Ellie's when she briefly travels to Germany in present time then travels back to 1988 where the rest of her story is told, Kai's who is a Runner, someone who helps people get over the wall, and Benno's back in the 1940's in a Polish ghetto. This is such an interesting concept - using balloo...

In four years Prime Space will put the first humans on Mars. Helen Kane, Yoshi Tanaka, and Sergei Kuznetsov are going to spend seventeen months in the most realistic simulation ever created in order to prove they're the crew for the job.  Helen is retired from NASA. This is her last chance to return to where she feels at home, where she can be her best self. Even if that means leaving her grown daughter behind.. again. Yoshi wants to prove himself worthy of his wife, even though he loves her completely but maybe he doesn't love her in the right way. (this is weird.) Sergei is going to Mars so he can be tested beyond the point of exhaustion. He wants to prove to his father and to himself that he is not meek. He wants to set a good example for his sons. Days turn into months and even though the astronauts are busy, the lives and people they left behind have a way of seeping into their minds. I was so excited when I won this. And I was so excited when I finished it. Sadl...

Off the coast of Mauritius, the ocean floor is collapsing at a rapid rate. Carrie Anderson is a world-champion free diver and a marine biologist and she's going down there to find out what's happening and how to stop it. But what she uncovers is terrifying. She doesn't know exactly what it is, but she knows it's big, it's hungry and it's cold. The pressure builds for Carrie and her team to figure out what to do with this new sea creature as they must contend with a corrupt corporation - one that doesn't mind killing to keep things quiet.  Wow. This was interesting. At no point was the story boring. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I either loved the characters or loved to hate them. I loved the setting - a gorgeous island with an underwater waterfall - why not put a monster down there?! 5/5.