This book was addicting, to say the least. The beginning might be a bit misleading, 13/14 year old best friends, one with a love of horses and the other with a love of books and knowledge. But this book definitely surprised me and exceeded my expectations! This book is a mix of mystery, contemporary, and paranormal, which is a mix i'm starting to really warm up to! The novel opened up with Renee getting into an accident and losing a large percentage of her blood, therefore a blood transfusion is needed. However, her blood does not match any other blood type, even some of the rare ones. When her neighbor, Dr.Dawson tells the hospital he has some of her blood stored in his house from a science fair project.. a project that Renee has never participated in. This begins the detective work of Renee and her best friend Sam. Renee and Sam seemed mature for their age, at times i would forget they're only 13 and 14, I was so engrossed in the story and following the duo during their search and attempted house break ins and science jargon, specifically about solar eclipses. The climax of the story happened towards the end, and let me just say that I did NOT expect it at all! throughout the book you get a glimpse of journal entries of a woman accused of murdering her daughter in the 1960s. You have no idea how this is related to the story and whatever you will have in mind? yea it won't be that. Pleasantly surprised with the ending, though a tiny bit predictable, but the story ends with the beginning of a new mystery, which is what I will definitely be looking forward two in the second installment of Cycles by Lois D. Brown! Cycles is the story of Renee, a 13-year-old girl who, after a fall from a horse, discovers that there is something strange about her and everyone around her is keeping secrets. Renee and best friend Sam decide to do some investigating of their own, only they don't realize just how deep the deceptions go. I hadn't heard of Cycles until I was fortunate enough to receive a review request by the author. As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I was interested. Cycles is told from three character's points of view: Renee, Sam, and someone named Helen that we aren't introduced to right away. The majority of the book alternates chapters between Renee and Sam while only on a few occasions do we have insight to Helen's thoughts through journal entries. I always enjoy books that have more than one character telling the story. I always connect with the characters more if I am able to hear directly from each of them. This also gives us the opportunity to see what is going on in two places at once when Renee and Sam aren't together. You know within the first few pages that this is going to be a page turner. Right away we are thrown into the action and wondering just who the enemy is. I had a very hard time putting this down and even when I had to I was still going over it in my head trying to think of what was going to happen next. I thought I had it figured out a few times but I was wrong. There is nothing I love more than being wrong when it comes to books. So many times I can see where a story is going and with Cycles I was happily surprised. The writing was solid and the idea completely original and new. Sadly, I think a lot of books are too focused on what is "in" these days and are starting to repeat themselves. I have yet to come across another book like Cycles. I would have liked to see more interaction between Renee and her parents and even Sam and his family, but thankfully this is the beginning of a series and I have high hopes for the next book. While Cycles may not be a very long book , about 200 pages, it is definitely not lacking. I recommend this to all YA fans and to everyone else who is looking for a fresh, new kind of story.
What do You think about Cycles (2012)?
A very good young adult novel. I enjoyed the storyline and the character development.
—Anuri
Easy book to read. It kept my interest as it had mysteries of what was going on.
—nherxrer
Enjoyed this. Will look into the next in the series.
—lindagendron_55
