Gravity

The Taking #1

by Melissa West

From Book 1:

In the future, only one rule will matter: Don't. Ever. Peek. Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed -- arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die. Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she's been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she's falling for him. But Ari isn't just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She's a military legacy who's been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know--especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Aliens, Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal

284 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2012

About the author

Melissa West is the USA TODAY bestselling author of swoony Southern romance and YA sci-fi romance,
all with lots of kissing. Because who doesn't like kissing?. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University.


Connect with Melissa at www.melissawestauthor.com.

Reviews

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Let me make sure I understand—you want me to lie to my dad, turn my back on my species, my people? Do you really expect me to trust an Ancient over my own family?”
“No, but I hope you’ll surprise me.”
I fix my gaze on Jackson. “Consider it done.”

I have no words.

This is your typical teenaged-heroine-saves-the-world book that really doesn't have anything new to add the standard range of YA tropes:

- The main character is really smart (but makes tremendously dumb choices)
- Her love interest is a stalker (but it's ok, because he's just protecting her while she's taking off her clothes)
- There's no point in kicking some ass when you have a boy there to protect you (even if you're more than capable of doing it)
- The human race is full of assholes
- There's going to be a love hexagon triangle
- Evolution doesn't work, because futuristic humans are really, really stupid
- Aliens are horrifying dumb despite their supposed age, technology, and sagacity

For example, this is how they disguise themselves:

“But they aren’t like us. If you look closely you can see their skin is neither white nor brown, neither light nor dark. See,” she says, tapping the screen, “it’s almost golden."

According to that definition, I'm pretty sure 90% of my Goodreads friends are aliens. Oh, but they have swirly blue/green eyes. WHY NOT JUST UN-SWIRLY THEM THEN? They can make themselves look human but they can't get fucking normal eyes? Maaaaan.

The Summary:

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to think. All I know is that I’m in trouble, maybe even we’re in trouble, yet all I can think about is the way he just said my name. Ari. He says it like I’m more than just a girl who everyone recognizes but no one sees.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ari Alexander. One day, she will be your military leader.

Lock your doors. Hide your children. Fear for your lives.

Let's start at the beginning. It's the year 2140, World War IV has passed, and humans are pretty much fucked because everything went BOOM during a nuclear war (always the nuclear war. Always). Thanks to radiation and shit, the earth is pretty much a wasteland; Mother Nature doesn't really have much in her womb anymore. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN. Enter the aliens, or, as we call them, Ancients. The Earth's remaining population is suffering from all sorts of evils like famine, disease, and Justin Bieber (there's one in every generation); instead of letting us rot in our own shit, the Awesome Ancients decide to help us out! They're gonna fix the earth, make it so that we can plant again, give us time and space to grow and rebuild. All we have to do is let them go on top of us for a few hours a night.

Wait, what?

Get your mind out of the gutter, it's just a simple exchange of bodily fluids, ok?

Wait, what?

OK, LET ME REPHRASE THAT. They're sucking out our antibodies. There's nothing sexual about it. But MAN, their bodily fluids taste awesome!

A single drop of liquid hits my lip, and reflexively I lick it away. My taste buds explode with flavor. A perfect mixture of sweet and sour, warm and cold.

ALIEN SEMEN, YUM! I'm just kidding. Really.

Ok, time to get back on track.

Ari Alexander is 17. She is going to be a Commander (military-type thingy) when she grows up. It's a position that will pass onto her through the current Commander, her father. Ari has been raised her entire life to be a fierce combatant, a future leader, one who will serve and protect her country.

And she totally sells out to the aliens in about 5 minutes. One night, Ari couldn't find the Patch that'll make her unconscious before the aliens go on top of her, and as a result, she remains awake. She sees the Alien, only...she knows this alien. He (it?) goes to her school.

It—he—hovers above me as light as air. A bright glow encircles him. His eyes are closed. A sweet smile rests on his perfect face.
My Ancient is Jackson Locke.

Jackson goes to her school. This isn't good, BECAUSE THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. There are rules about this, the aliens are not supposed to be on Earth without permission. They're sure as fuck not supposed to be in school with her.

This is a HUGE security breach. Ari should notify her dad, the Commander, who will then notify the Prime Minister, who will notify the world's leaders, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. But Jackson's not a bad person (or so he says). He's just trying to prevent war from happening between humans and aliens. In order to do that, he needs to enlist Ari's aid.

What is Ari going to do? Is she going to tell her dad, the experienced military man? Or is she going to take the word of someone who's lied to her all along?

Wanna guess?

And is she going to be able to save two entire species while falling in love? ;_;?

"Did you completely allow your feelings to overcome your logic?”
I grasp the wall to keep from falling.

The Aliens: Also known as: DUMBASSES.

Ok, as I mentioned above, the humans and aliens are at war. Secretly. Neither side knows that the other side is planning to annihilate each other, except for Jackson and Ari, who are trying to be the middleman (it took me awhile to figure out, this book made it really, really confusing). Apparently, the aliens need Earth because it has water, and they need human antibodies in order to go down to Earth and get water, with the caveat that one day they will Coexist with us on earth.

Uh, so why not just kill us earlier, and be done with it. Seriously, why the fuck not?

I don’t know if Jackson overestimates the Ancients or underestimates us, but I do know they have abilities and advanced technology far beyond anything we’ve even considered.

The aliens SAVED humans when we were falling apart, why not just, you know, take our antibodies and then KILL EVERYONE. Easier, right? You can't tell me that these aliens developed all this technology, all this intelligence, all these skills while being completely peaceful people. And now they're apparently willing to kill the people of Earth in 2140 because we're rebelling, so why not just save the trouble and kill us off while we were at our weakest? What's the fucking point of allowing us to rebuild and improve our technology, give us back our food, clean our water, etc? You don't want your food putting up a fight, man.

Dumb fucking aliens.

The Humans: Also known as: THE OTHER DUMBASSES. It's 2140. There's hardly any food, you have to eat food pills instead. An actual meal can cost a normal person a month's salary. Yet we've got advanced technology so that we can aspire to Bite The Hands That Feed Us. We don't have countries anymore, we have continents, and a Presidential position for each of the continents. African President, European President, Asian President, etc (no idea how that happened). Forget about States in the US, those are, like, poof!

And apparently we've regressed (somehow) to a hereditary system. We have three major sectors, the Chemists, the Parliament, the Engineers (no idea how that got established), basically the people who make shit, the people who rule over shit, and the people who protect the people who rule over shit. Leadership positions, such as the President and the Commander are hereditary, meaning they're passed on from parent to child (irregardless of sex). Ok, that kinda works, except for...

The Australian Trinity has since been dissolved, thanks to the last leader being unable to have children to continue the legacy of the founding Australian leader.

What. The. Fuck?

Are you telling me that we're so fucking stupid in the future that YOU CAN'T JUST ELECT ANOTHER PRESIDENT? Hell, they did it in Medieval times? A king dies without children, EVERYONE FIGHTS FOR THE FUCKING THRONE (so sorry, Joffrey). And a thousand years in the future, WE'RE LETTING AN ENTIRE CONTINENT PRETTY MUCH GO TO PICES BECAUSE WE CAN'T SIMPLY ELECT AN HEIR?

I have no words for this stupidity. PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE, YOU FAIL ME.

Trust a Pretty Face:

"I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you, but at least wait until I can explain.” He bends down in front of me so we’re eye to eye. “Can I count on you to keep this a secret? Just please—”
“All right,” I say.

For someone who's been spoonfed military strategy and combat skills with a tough-as-nails dad her entire fucking life, Ari is a fucking moron. Why the fuck does she trust Jackson 5 minutes after she discovers that he's an alien who's been hiding under her nose?! Her dad is the military expert, where's the loyalty? Where's the family trust? Why the fuck are you choosing to believe in someone who's supposed to be your potential enemy, the source of much fear and suspicion? Someone from a species you're been scared of your whole life? Don't be a fucking idiot. In the real world, would you trust a spy? Someone from an enemy nation? Someone you KNOW is capable of killing the entire human race, if not just you? No!

The Characters: Are without character. Really, they're so fucking bland. Jackson's kind of an asshole, except he's not really. He uses his "I'M AN ALIEN" excuse to be in her room all. the. fucking. time. He's kind of a playboy, but not really. He's kind of nice, but not really. Ari is kind of kick-ass, except she falls in love a lot, and then she keeps having these awkward moments with Jackson when they're supposed to be having secret spy meetings. I can't even find much to mock about them because they're both just so insufferably fucking dull.

The Romance: *takes a deep breath* Ari is engaged to Lawrence, who likes Ari a lot, but might have a crush on Gretchen, who's Ari's best friend, who can't really help the way she feels, but Ari is secretly in love with Jackson, who is supposed to be dating MacKenzie, who has loved him but he doesn't return her feelings.

That's a mouthful. I can't even mock the romance because, once again, it is so DULL, like the characters. There's no spark whatsoever. There's a halfhearted hint of a love triangle between Ari and Jackson and Lawrence but I don't give a flying fuck because they were so boring. Honestly, there's more chemistry between me and the 70-year old retiree who hogged my machine at the gym today.

Overall: A book with a questionable settings, really boring characters, and an action-packed second half that somehow manages to bore me out of my mind.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTE: I read the early arc version - not the finished arc.

I was never really into aliens (until I read Obsidian!) and then I became quite obsessed with them. When I came across Gravity during it's cover reveal, I thought it was the perfect book. I mean helloooooo, have you seen the cover? The summary? The killer line 'DON'T. EVER. PEEK.'?? How can I NOT want this book? Obviously I was dying to get my hands on this. I had a hell lot of expectations for this book and lemme tell you, it exceeded my super high expectations and more!

Don't. Ever. Peek. This book was addicting. Like, seriously can't stop reading and can't go to sleep addicting. I started this on Saturday night, read 42% and then finished it in the morning. That's how good this book was, in my opinion. From the very first chapter, I was captivated. This book starts out with a bang. I like how we were thrown in and didn't waste time explaining lots of information and boring us with it all. Though I did have a bit of a problem with the explanation of the Ancients later on and the world-building but fortunately that didn't take it away from the enjoyment of the book. (Found out after I read the book that the author and her editor is changing a few bits about the book - so I think these issues will be resolved. Keep in mind that I read the very early ARC version, not the finished ARC.)

I did NOT expect to like Ari as much as I did. In fact, I adore her so frigging much! You ALL know how very picky I am of female characters, and more than half of them annoy me to death, but NOT Ari. She's smart and brave and one of those girls you kinda want to be and want to be friends with. She's very layered and interesting. And you can't help but feel sorry for her obligations and duties that she has to fulfill since she's the Commander's daughter. And I really like that her upbringing is different from the rest of YA that I read. She's rich, kinda spoiled but she doesn't abuse her family's power. I just lurve this girl.

Jackson. He's now one of my newest book boyfriends (notice how the numbers keep going up?;) ). I didn't really expect all that character development on him. He's very complex. Oh, but one thing I have to say is that the summary tells you that Jackson is 'arrogant' and you kinda think that he'll be a delicious bad boy. Well, I think he's not really a bad boy. He's more of a good guy than a jerk (I love both) but that's not necessary a bad thing. He's funny, sexy, sometimes sweet, which I think people will find refreshing after all the big alpha males out there.

This will definitely be in my top five of 2012! I loved loved loved this book and I already pre-ordered it as soon as I finished! Woot! :)

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free on Kindle today!
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gravity-Takin...
US - http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-Taking-...



I don’t want to do this. Please don’t make me do this.
And then the smooth cloth slides over my eyes, blinding me. I relax for only a moment, then the patch suctions around my eyes as though laced into the bone, and I feel it against my temple, pressing, digging in. I want to pull away. I scream out for Mom to help me and hear her say over and over that it’s okay, everything’s okay.




This was a really good Sci-Fi / Alien / Dystopian story, and even though this is the second time I’ve read it, I really liked it!

Each night I wait by my window, my curiosity almost too much to stand, while I scan the trees hoping to see one of them emerge.



I liked the characters in this, and I felt sorry for Ari and the way her father expected so much from her. No matter what she did it seemed like it wasn’t good enough, and the things he expected her to not only agree with but to go along with later in the book were nothing short of horrific.

“I jolt backward, my hands covering my mouth. Five lives just disappeared before my eyes. This isn’t happening. I fight to remain calm. I can’t get shaken, not now, not when I’m this close to learning the strategy.”



The storyline in this was pretty good, and I liked the little twists we got. It seemed like every time Ari thought she knew what would happen next, things just got totally turned on their head again!

There was some romance in this book, and it was kind-of in the form of a love triangle, but it seemed clear who Ari actually liked!

“He brushes my hair from my face, and then before I can say another word, he kisses me, ignoring the crowd of people in the hall.”



The ending to this had plenty of twists and plenty of action! I really need to read books 2 and 3 now to find out how this story ends!

“Hold on. Please just hold on,” he says, his voice rattling. He calls my name over and over, but it sounds distant, a cacophony against the peaceful chorus I hear, like birds. I try to fight off the sound, fight off the heaviness of my eyelids, but the sound is too beautiful, sleep too peaceful. My body surrenders, relishing in the birds’ melody. I smile.



8.5 out of 10

[Emily Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gravity was such an addicting read! I finished the book in one day, two sittings. When I picked it up at my bookstore I thought it sounded intriguing and noticed it had a gorgeous cover, with a praising quote from Jennifer L. Armentrout I might add. Basically, I had high expectations and they were met.

The beginning started with such a unique bang I couldn't help but be pulled in. The taking is kind of creepy and different enough to make anyone want to know more. I truly felt sympathy for all the children who had to endure knowing that an alien was walking around their room at night, while their eyes were sealed shut. For those who haven't read the book, The Taking is a event happening every night, to every human. Don't. Ever. Peek. I will leave you at that!

Anyway, as the synopsis says, Ari peeks one night and find Jackson standing over her. So, yeah, he's an alien. Let me delve into both the characters. Ari was such a well done character! She is realistic, and definitely has character growth. She is strong, and thoughtful. Finally a dystopian(ish) main character who didn't annoy me! You could tell she had a realistic struggle within herself, but was tough and smart enough to examine ALL the sides! To me, she learned to be open to new possibilities such as aliens... And she loved her family and her friends. She didn't whine, and she learns to "act for herself", as her dad tells her. And she was smart! (did I mention she was smart?) She took her time safely getting info, and doesn't get foolishly caught!

Jackson was a pretty good character, although I hope we get to see more development in his character for the next book, Hover. There was a twist about him in the end, which I wasn't expecting. Also, I loved how he talked about his (alien/ancient) homeland though. He made me want to go there, and his loyalty to the place gave him an extra layer. Other characters included Law and Gretchen. Both of them were fun and developed characters and I hope they are in the next book!

The plot was unique and different... I do love different takes on Aliens (Obsidian, The Host, The 5th wave etc.) Is it just me or are Aliens getting more and more popular? The new vampires perhaps. *sighs* At least this one beat any crowd that might come after the 5th wave, which was really good! Plus, the taking, the fabulous war, and the SMART main character make this stand away from any sort of crowd out there.

Overall, this was a great read. I loved Jackson! I loved the plot and the addictive writing! Gravity is definitely a book I will recommend over and over again...

5/5 stars

[equilibri · Rating 1 out of 5]

- Incoherent plot, the premise lacks believability, the events and circumstances are never properly explained
- No resolution to the story
- Lack of proper background or world-building
- Incredibly dull, weak characters
- Cheesy, nausea-inducing insta-love

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear Ari,
You better live up to my name!!! (^.^)



FULL REVIEW:

Oh, it felt so good, so personal to read my name in this story.
Ari.. Ari.. Every time I read this name it filled me with joy and my heart started to beat a bit faster. It was like the book had been written just for me.
Well, you can’t blame me for all this excitement, because it’s not like it rains all the time with characters that share my name (and if you’re wondering – which you are totally not, but I don’t care – “Ari” is a girl (finally!), as I was starting to get tired and pretty much annoyed to see so many boys named like me).

And now that I’m done with contemplating about my love for my own name (which might start to bore you to tears any minute now), I’ll get back to the book.

The Concept:

The first thing that grabbed my attention – except for the character’s name, that is – was the beautiful cover (because, yeah.. I choose books based on their covers. What? Don’t you do the same?), and then the synopsis really made me want to read this story. You can’t just ‘peek’ and then not want to know more, to see what’s the story really about.
On the other hand, I didn’t get to read many books about aliens and such, so I was eager to see how the author imagined this other world.

Well, this book is more about Earth and humans and their behaviour, so don’t hold your breath for too many aliens (as the cover seems to hint), but still I liked the uncertainty regarding “good” vs. “bad” in this story.
I kept wondering if humans were good or bad, if the Ancients (aka. aliens) were trying to take over the world or just cohabit in peace, I wanted to understand the mystery around our alien boy and how Ari and him wanted to save both words.

Sometimes you can understand a story better after you read the second book in the series, and this one seems to be like that.
The story was fast-paced and action packed, but there were still many questions that haven’t been answered and also there were some things that you get to understand better only near the ending.

The Good:

Ari’s voice made me dig into this book and keep it close until the last page.
I liked her strength, her courage and her need to save both worlds.
The storyline was entertaining and I liked how it got to surprise me by the ending – with a few turnarounds so different than what I had in my mind.
It’s good to read a book that has the main characters trying to stop a war, rather than trying to fight against the system (any change in a dystopian book gives is refreshing). I was glad as well about the fact that there was no insta-love (even though it happened all a bit too quick) and there was no real love-triangle, because I was about to worry about it at some point.
Also the characters were pretty great (not sure if I can say the same about the main male character – you see, I got to realize that I know nothing about him after all this time, so my connection with him was lost between the lines) and it gets more bonus point for friendship and family relation (as strange as it was it was well defined – loved the mother, by the way).

“I don’t know. Okay? That’s the truth.
It’s like gravity disappears when he’s around and I’m lost, no longer sure of anything.”

The not so good:

This gets me to the things I didn’t quite understand.
Like how and why did Ari trust our boy Jackson and decided to help him. She didn’t have many reasons to do so, and I am not telling you that she didn’t make the best decision (because at this point the aliens are better than the humans in my eyes – I’ll be waiting for something to make me change my mind though.. I feel it in the air), it’s just that I needed her to have stronger reasons for this story to work better for me.

During the book there were some things that seemed not to add up, but by the ending I got the whole picture and so they made sense. So overall, this was a good start to a new series and I am eager to see how things progress from here.

Happy midnight reading!

* This review can also be found at ReadingAfterMidnight.com
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[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this book. Think HUNGER GAMES meets the television show "V" with a hint of MATCHED and you'll have a pretty good feel for Melissa's series.

[Stacia (the 2010 club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This cover. It invokes the theme of 2001 : A Space Odyssey (the music intro), doesn't it?

Uh yeah...the book wasn't quite that epic. Boo.

Even so, I was still kind of vibing on Gravity, in spite of there being a severe loss of interplanetary stuffs (traveling across worlds through the use of trees doesn't quite give off the same "what a massive galaxy to traverse" feel). I actually liked this book quite a bit. It was fun! My not-super-high rating is only reflective of me wishing for more sci-fi and not at all due to a lack of enjoyment!

But first, a gripe. Why have most recent YA space and/or alien books been showcasing like paranormal romance instead of sci-fi? Even though I like The Lux series, it's always bothered me that the books read like pnr and not sci-fi. Why use aliens for your creatures if you're going to write pnr?

Granted, I think that Gravity tried a lot harder than Lux did at incorporating sci-fi elements. There is something of a dystopia factor actually happening here. There was a definitive use of alternate/futuristic technology (moreso in the second half of the book), even though we aren't getting many of the technical explanations for how it all works. I'm honestly less concerned about the plausibility of it all than some other readers might be. What I mainly care about is that the author would choose to incorporate some ideas which make me feel like I'm reading the genre I had anticipated. I think we have a hit-and-miss thing happening here.

If I were to gauge the greatness of Gravity as a space or alien-themed sci-fi, the number would be low. Using the same gauge to determine dystopia or generalized sci-fi, this wouldn't be so bad (it's not like most current YA dystopia is well sketched-out these days anyway).

What works : There's a big conflict revolving around which side (humans vs. ancients) is to be trusted. Natural instinct would put the reader siding with the humans initially (go home team!), but soon enough, you start to wonder if staying loyal to the human race is the way to go.

I like the potential for what is to come. The universe has been opened up and we might get a chance to see more of the alien opinion; we might even be able to sympathize with them.

The entertainment factor is good. There are a variety of elements which keep the story moving at a decent pace - everything from romance to danger, which is leading up to a point where a showdown is bound to eventually happen.

And for the record, I did end up liking the romance element, even though I didn't think I would at first because it was handled very pnr-obsessive at the start (although I liked the way that the author chose to throw the two lead characters together). It's that darn forbidden love angle which gets me every time and makes me start to root for the characters! Jackson's a cutie with a hidden soft side.

What doesn't work : The book is split into two very distinct halves which aren't woven together as well as I'd like to see. The first half is very pnr-romancey, with a huge focus on the 'hot guy' who is hanging around Ari. Readers who were looking for sci-fi will probably put the book down before they get to the actual sci-fi part. Then, the second half starts wandering off into politics and intrigue, and the readers who were caught up in boy-meets-girl spin of the first half might end up feeling alienated (pun intended) by the second half.

The verdict : While I would have preferred less pnr and more sci-fi, I liked the book for what it was, and that's what matters most. The romance is cute and the potential is there to showcase real conflict in the future. I'll definitely be reading on to see what happens next for Ari and Jackson.

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁]

11/19/15 - I haven't read this one yet, but it's been on my TBR forever (b/c ALIENS, I love 'em). Anyway, it's been a FREEBIE for several days now. FYI.



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q1ZIZ3W/?...

[Giselle · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I do love and enjoy sci-fi novels, I have rarely come about any that involve Aliens. I can actually only recall 2: I Am Number Four, and Obsidian. Both were good and a great change from the same old. In Gravity, we get another unique addition into the genre. The world Melissa has created has some holes and grey areas, but overall, the mix of dystopian and aliens is a great way to create an original post-apocalyptic world with very neat, but also very scary, aspects.

We begin this book with a prologue that occurs during Ari's childhood, when she has to face for the first time the very real fact that aliens are among them now, and what it means to live in this world with them. This chapter sets a great intriguing tone for the book. Making it instantly exciting, while heightening our curiosity of the journey we're about to embark upon. Then when we meet Ari again as a teenager, it's during a very stressful evening where, immediately, secrets are unraveling. We are off to a great start!

Like I said, there are some grey areas in the world building when it comes to learning about these aliens. The Ancients are a fascinating bunch, although they have some key differences--like changing eye color and flawless beauty--they look like humans and have a neat way of traveling to our planet. We also get some greatly interesting biological detail. What we don't get that I wish we had is a lot more about the history of these aliens coming to earth. I'm not saying we don't get any information, we do, but I wanted more than the basics. When I think of a post-war world like this, I like to be able to imagine its history unfolding, and this was more like a hop. Bits and pieces that give a passable explanation, but not enough to really throw me into this world convincingly.

Nevertheless, the idea for the world is both alarming and exciting, and I loved it. We are in the brink of a war with these beings. Things start to get tense when the first attack is seen early on in the book, and it keeps a great steady pace throughout. I did, however, feel a little underwhelmed with the romance that develops from the very beginning. I understand that it's an unusual situation since Jackson has been developing feelings for Ari his whole life, but from her side, she's only just met him, yet she trusts him immediately. This, to me, seems like a way to try to play in insta-love without ramifications. Although mild in this case, there will never be a "good way" to play in insta-love. It lacks connection and chemistry, and without these key elements I never feel very interested in the love story--which does come to the forefront for a big part of the book.

What kept me rolling through despite not liking the romance is Ari herself. I loved her narration, especially that it's in first person. She is a character who is brave and independent; she's tough as nails and her training has made her a true fighter. I love nothing better than a strong female protagonist who can hold her own.

With that said, my issues do lay mostly with the romance. It's a rather large part of the book so no matter how much I loved the plot--which was a lot--I couldn't get truly wrapped up in it as the romance kept getting in the way of my enjoyment. If I would have rated this on everything BUT, it would have gotten a solid 4!

--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may sound cliche, but GRAVITY is one of those special books that hooks you from the first page and just doesn't let you go.

The only world that Ari Alexander has ever known, is one in which humans are forced to play host to the Ancients. This alien race has such a powerful and frightening control of Earth, that nobody is allowed to know what they look like, where they came from or in what dark corners of the planet they hide. Most people are fine with that, but not Ari. Of course, she'd never admit that to anyone. Humans are assigned an Ancient in childhood, and every night since Ari can remember, her Ancient has silently slipped into her bedroom and made 'the connection' -- leaching vitamins, antibodies, nutrients and anything else it needs to survive on Earth. Then one night, everything changes. She peeks. And her Ancient isn't frightening or hideous or violent. He is Jackson Locke. Gorgeous, intelligent and driven Jackson Locke. Her arch-enemy at school Jackson Locke. How can he be an Ancient?! Technically, he could kill her on the spot, but instead, he keeps Ari's secret, forcing her to challenge everything she's ever known about her family, her friends and her future.

GRAVITY examines the concept of truth and life as we know it in a way that gives you chills. If you are looking for a book with both a kick-ass heroine and off-the-charts romantic intensity, then this is it!

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are very few books that truly make me want to bail, hinting that there is no redemption to be found in later pages. This was one of them. I got it off of Amazon's Daily Deals push, and for me, it was awful.

Everything happens at once, there's absolutely no build, which means everyday logic gets totally bizarre: there's a war on! But also school! But things are blowing up! But we still have to go to training! Things just don't connect, it all flies in the face of logic, ESPECIALLY when you consider that the heroine of the book is meant to be a 17 year old Commander-in-training. Ari should have cold military logic in her bone marrow, and yet she's inclined to say stuff like "I don't know why, I just trust him". Oh, well, great. I'm sure the rest of humanity is delighted their future leader is a hormonal idiot. (Not that this futuristic society makes a lick of sense, by the way. It doesn't. At all.)

Everyone's very firmly wearing a black hat or a white hat, or in Ari's mom's case, a lame hat. None of the characters have any shading, and their moves are telegraphed like blows to the head. There is no foreshadowing: Ari looks at a guy, and the next line is "Ooooh, you like him!". And this happens throughout the book. Every single character is two-dimensional and flat. No showing, all telling.

Then there's the "tactical" side of things, which is just insulting. The merry band of morons run around saying they need to find "the strategy", as though there's going to be a binder lying around labeled THE STRATEGY that they can just steal. Any tactical operation these highly-trained teenagers undertake is similarly dim-witted; no one seems to have thought through the repercussions of their actions. And for those who've read the book, spoilers:

I had no idea that Ari was discovering new abilities when she moved fast or flipped off of a tree limb. She's been described as basically being a ninja who can flip over herds of children, so having Gretchen walk in and go "whoooa!" was just confusing. And then they raid a highly-fortified secret base to free very sick people and give them one hour's worth of serum? So these grandmothers can hoof it to the treeline? And Ari is just STUPID. She really is.

I also don't get what "Gravity" has to do with anything. There's no space travel in the book, no one floats, there is absolutely no connection. As for "Don't. Ever. Peek."? Well, why the hell not? Nothing bad happened to Ari because she "peeked". Also? SHE DIDN'T PEEK. Peeking implies an intentional impulse to look at something you're not supposed to see. But I guess "Don't. Ever. Have a reflexive reaction to liquid splashing into your face." is not as catchy. And the entire Taking thing is just gross and insane, and dropped almost instantly for good reason, because if you put any thought at all into the likelihood of parents giving their 10 year olds a device that will plunge them into immobilized darkness while an alien comes into their bedroom and drips on them and does Other Things, you will understand how little thought was put into MOST of this damn book. Anonymous aliens climbing in the windows of paralyzed 10 year olds, and their parents are totally cool with this. Come ON.

Initially I thought this book might be good for preteens based on the lack of sophistication of the plotting and writing, but then there's content in there (sexiness, torture, death) that implies the author was trying to write for a YA audience. Total miss, in my opinion. I wouldn't give it to a teenager because it's too simplistic, I wouldn't give it to a child because it's too gory/objectifying. Add on top of that a truly weird way with vocabulary words (prying a bowl into someone's mouth? Craving to get an answer to a question?) that implies an unusual relationship with verbs, this really was one of the worst reads I've come across. Bad characterization, bad plotting, bad english, bad logic, bad time had by me.

[Melissa West · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Jasprit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gravity had the promise and potential to provide a fired-up action packed read, but unfortunately fell flat in a lot of places. Ari has always known she’s going to go to great places; she’s legally born to be a commander and has been training nearly all her life to get there. Her life’s been practically set up for her, she will marry best friend and the president’s son Law and through her training the end is within her sights. But things come crashing down around her, when she soon discovers things aren’t as what they seem in her little planned out life.

Gravity started out great with an interesting premise about Ari’s world being shared by two different species; Ancients and human, but the ancients aren’t obviously identifiable amongst humans, they have certain characteristics which may make them stand out from the rest but again ancients aren't normally the ones who want to stand out from amongst the crowd. The ancients first became in this world through mutual agreement, but now they’re clashing over what they’re doing here and it looks clear that there is no other way around but this is through a war.

You would think that Ari would know whose side she’s on but after the curveball her classmate Jackson’s delivers, she’s not so sure. With her delving and learning more about the ancients, it looks like the people clearly on the wrong side here are her own.

Not being a huge sci-fan I did find this story fascinating, learning about the ancients and waiting for Ari to make her decision, would she stand by her parents who had brought her up into this world or the ancients who were deemed the enemy? The pace was great too, but did fall quite flat in the middle that I found my attention wavering quite a lot. Also the romance which emerged which I was all for at the beginning, kind of fizzled out in my eyes after a while. I’m all for a cute romance, but the way one of the characters started behaving really began to get on my nerves. I’m glad the last 30% of the book did manage to capture my attention again, but by that point I’m not sure if it was enough to encourage me in picking up the next book.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great alien book; I’m now actively searching for more to read. After the awesomeness that was the incredibly popular Lux series (Hi Daemon!), I was a little nervous about reading Gravity because no matter how much you want to enjoy a book if it’s similar to another series that you love, it’s sadly nothing in comparison. However I can happily say that Gravity was able to completely stand out on it’s own and rarely gave me the feeling of it being too similar to other books.

In Gravity humans and aliens are completely aware of each other’s existence, in fact they are even heading towards co-existing. Each night humans must wear a ‘sleep mask’ that results in temporarily paralysis while an alien: ‘Ancient’ performs The Taking, basically feeding off the human. Ari the protagonist has been used to this ritual for years although her dislike for it hasn’t lessened, she would much rather think that her Ancient is some hot dude protecting her than a creepy alien that crawls through her window each night. One night is all is takes for Ari’s world to come crashing down because one night she loses her sleep mask minutes before she’s due for The Taking and must rush into bed and close her eyes…. Pretty obvious what happens next, I think we’d all peek? Yes? She does but she doesn’t expect to see her fellow 'supposedly human' classmate Jackson Locke above her.

Ari should report Jackson to her father but first she needs some answers. How long have the Ancients walked among humans? Why isn’t the government aware? More importantly, are they here to take over? Ari’s plans of turning Jackson in comes to a standstill when he begs her to help save his people although it will come at a grave cost; she must betray her friends, family and country. Confused and longing for more answers Ari goes along with the plan for now in hopes to finding an alternative solution that doesn’t end in a war between the two species.

Ari was a great heroine to read about, her father: the Commander has rigorously trained her since she could walk to be mentally and physically fit and ready to take over his position when she comes of age. Ari has also been betrothed to the President’s son: Lawrence, her good friend to ensure a strong leadership for humans in the future, so not only does Ari face the pressure of becoming what her parents wants her to be but she’s also forced into a marriage and title with huge responsibilities. Jackson was so mysterious throughout this book, always keeping his secrets close and expecting a lot from Ari with the little information he provided her. However what I loved more was that he wasn’t a bad boy, he was trying to protect his people and it doesn’t hurt that even though he was this jacked up alien with abilities, Ari could still kick his ass, ha!

The romance was lovely; it took center stage when it needed to but was also left in the background when the action came closer which I appreciated a great deal. It was also interesting to have all of my basic assumptions be completely wrong, nothing is what it seems, there's a constant mystery to everyone's motives. Gravity was pretty plot driven and managed to keep my attention from start to finish. Although I would have liked a bit more background on Jackson, his people and The Taking, I still flew through this book and from the ending I’m almost certain that I’ll get all those answers in Book 2.

Overall Gravity was a brilliant debut by Melissa and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the series takes me... hopefully to a galaxy far, far away. Sorry, I had to.

Literary-ly Obsessed

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't ever peak. In 2140, aliens, called Ancients, have come to earth. Well actually they travel through portals. Each night, Ari, as well as everyone else, must put on their patch blindfold that paralyzes them, and allow the Ancient assigned to them to enter their bedroom for The Taking. One night Ari loses her patch and opens her eyes to see her classmate Jackson hoovering above her. Ancients are not supposed to be living undercover and she knows she should report him to her father, The Commander, but first she wants to get answers from him. Jackson he explains that he needs her help because his people are ready to acclimate and live among the humans, and if earth does not agree, war will ensue.

The world building was very intriguing but still sometimes I was lost with some unanswered questions. I was a little confused why the Ancients needed to take the nutrients from humans every night? Did they not eat? The Ancients did say they needed to come to earth because they were out of water but I wasn't sure why they have to take nutrients every night. The humans began studying the Ancients and performing horrible experiments on them. The Ancients don't need water since their bodies are made of xylem so the humans believe they were lying and are trying to take over earth. I wondered why Ari never once really sat down and discussed these things with her father, The Commander. She is supposed to be learning to take over his job and one day but I felt like she was in the dark with everything happening. I never fully got an idea of why the aliens wanted to live on earth or why the humans didn't trust them. I do hope to learn more in the next book.

As the daughter of The Commander, Ari was raised with a lot of pressure to follow in his footsteps. She has had the best of training so she is very kick ass. Ari is supposed to marry the President's son, Lawrence, to enable a very strong leadership/partnership. They have a very important future planed protecting earth from the Ancients but Ari can't stop thinking of Jackson. Her dad's entire life is based on protecting the earth from his kind. Jackson was witty, kind of cocky, and sweet, but I felt things moved a bit fast. I guess part of that was that Ari always fantasized about the Ancient assigned to her for the Taking which was kind of surprising to me because I think I would be scared about anal probing and other weird alien mojo! Since the alien comes into my room at night while I'm out of it. lol That part was a bit freaky! The alien just hoovers above the person but does have the potential to take until death. It didn't feel too love triangley but I felt like Lawrence really cared about Ari and that they had potential but Ari sees him as a friend only. Ari spends most of her time with Jackson trying to help him stop a war.

Jackson held back some important information and I thought Ari trusted him way too much. I just don't think I personally would have helped him get so much insider information. Once again I would have at least questioned my dad about his plans. The romance wasn't perfect but it did have it's swoony moments. I am a romance junkie but it was the plot that was really keeping my attention. All the things the aliens were willing to do to get to earth versus everything the humans were trying to do to stop them. There were some unexpected twists and very exciting action scenes. I did not want to put the book down. The ending has a little cliffhanger, just enough to leave you pondering and wanting to know what will happen next.

---
"No one talks about it. No one talks about them at all. "The Ancients prefer discretion," Mom once told me. But some say it's because they're so freakish we'd drop dead of fright. Others say they're too attractive, too tempting.
I prefer this theory."

"Well go ahead, try it on," Jackson says as he leans against the wall beside my window, his arms crossed. "I won't watch. Much."

"You shouldn't love me, but assuming you ignore me, like always, know this: I am absolutely, mind-bendingly in love with you. In every way. Every ounce of my body. My entire being...it belongs to you."

---
*I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted on A Reader of Fictions.

I am, of course, inextricably drawn to all dystopias, but the gorgeous cover on this one bumped it up my TBR pile. Plus, the fact that it's about aliens intrigued me. A straight up science fiction plot line sounded refreshing and like it left room open for serious originality. Gravity did not turn out to be quite what I was hoping for, but still proved an engaging read.

The world building of Gravity left me with copious amounts of questions. For example, I would dearly love to know what the first contact between the Ancients and the humans was like. Surely, this would be remembered. However, what I do know is pretty cool. The Ancients are fascinating. Driven from their home world as it dries up, they have been moving to Earth slowly in exchange for keeping peace there. They have the ability to look human, although oddly tanned, beautiful and with strange eyes that shift from blue to green (my eyes totally do this, so if I ever tanned, I would totally look like an Ancient...minus the insanely beautiful thing). I would also love to know more about how they gave themselves a human appearance.

Well, there is one other weird thing about the Ancients. Their bodies consist largely of a different substance than water. As one might expect, they are biologically different. Per the deal with the leaders of Earth, the Ancients obtain their nutrients by taking them from humans every night. People put on immobilizing masks and sleep and Ancients come in the windows and leech nutrients. If they wanted to, the Ancients could kill via this same method. This process is called 'the taking.' Criminals must love this society, since everyone's got their windows unlocked and is lying immobile in bed, but whatever.

Ari is studing to be an Operator, sort of like a police officer/soldier/special agent, so far as I understand it. Her father is the Commander, the second most powerful man in the United States' government. She will inherit this role. Though she's only seventeen, she is engaged to be married to the President's son, Lawrence. She likes him, but not romantically; their engagement is solely political. Ari's training involves a lot of fighting and she does kick butt.

While all of that stuff makes a captivating premise, Gravity sticks much too closely to the standard romance formula. Ari falls into the category of gorgeous heroines that feel average and that every guy wants, complete with a less attractive and talented best friend to envy her success with menfolk. The two most popular guys want to be with Ari. Go figure.

The book opens with Ari unable to find her sleeping mask. As such, she is awake when her Ancient comes for 'the taking.' She discovers that he is just as attractive as she imagined, and also that he goes to her school, none other than the gorgeous Jackson. Now that they have this bond, they have no choice but to instalove. In a matter of weeks, they go from never having conversed to being in love forever, despite the disapproval of their parents. Pardon me while I hurl. Even worse, Jackson does that thing where he tries to end things because he's no good for her. This trope makes me crazy!

My other issue was that, though I read everything, it felt as though I had missed things. For example, Ari and Jackson were working together to try to figure out a way to prevent war between the Ancients and the humans, and Lawrence (nicknamed Law apparently, which is stupid) was jealous of this guy (who had a girlfriend) edging in on his lady. Then, all of a sudden, Lawrence is part of the plan and calling Jackson 'Jack.' When did they bond? Some things just felt like they came out of the blue.

This first book of The Taking reads quickly, and whets the appetite for some darker books. I hope to see more world building and less of a focus on romance in the next installment.

[Melanchallina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Еще один случай, когда аннотация такая заманчивая и буквально кричит «это-то-что-ты-искала», но в итоге начиная читать, ты получаешь совершенно кое-что другое. И это «другое» мне совершенно не понравилось.

Вот честно, некоторых авторов хочется схватить за шкирку и тыкать в их произведения носом, крича «кто это сделал!?». Я имею в виду, Боже правый, Мелисса с такой задумкой и идей ты могла написать захватывающий приключенческий роман, полный эмоций и действий…. Но…. Но… вам это было не под силу.

У меня просто нет слов. Я была уверена, что данная книга на уровне моей любимой «Легендой» Мари Лу. И автор явно так и старался сделать. Тут вам и героиня одаренная и боевая, способная надрать зад и горячий герой по другую сторону баррикад. Тут вам противостояние двух разных видов, запретная любовь. Но все при этом совершенно не так… Главная героиня вся такая одаренная и умная, но совершает удивительно глупые вещи и не видит очевидных вещей. Герой непонятный кисель, мировой спаситель, хотя не понятно с чего бы это. Люди – полные придурки, а типичный любовный треугольник превращен в любовный шестиуголник (а че, треугольники слишком типично нынче). Несмотря на то, что время действия в книге – будущее, эволюции нет и, хотя у людей есть технологии и помощь Высших существ – настоящая еда это редкость (И НЕПОНЯТНО ПОЧЕМУ!?), и неизвестно, что представляют собой инопланетяне.

Но давайте по порядку.

2140 год. История людей следующая – в прошлом злоба, жадность и прочие человеческие пороки привели нас к очередной Мировой Войне. Войне, во время которой было использовано мощное ядерное оружие, отравившее всю планету. Земля больше не дает плодов, большинство населения Земли уничтожено, поэтому люди обращаются к инопланетянам (ли, как их называют в книге Древним) за помощью. «Спасите нас, мы умираем!». И добрые Древние, вместо того чтобы позволить людям пожимать плоды собственной глупости, сжалились и помогли. Вот вам плодородная еда, вот вам силы и средства для выживания. Только позвольте нам проводить процедуру Лишения (обмен жидкостями, ничего сексуального и пошлого). Итак, люди согласились. Но потом земляне вдруг решили, что Древние зажрались, охренели и обнаглели (а они еще и попросились к нам на Землю, так как их планета умирает), так что нужно их уничтожить, стереть в порошок. А почему? Напоминаю, Древние – зло. Они нас используют, они хотят нашу планету (и плевать, что они эту планету из дерьма вытащили, в которую людишки ее и втянули)! Короче плохие они. Понятно? Завидую, если вам понятно, потому что будучи человеком, я охрен��ла от такой логики людей.

Окей, такова история. Теперь вернемся к героям.

Дамы и господа, перед вами Ари Александр. В недалеком будущем – военачальница. Та, кто будет защищать человечество любой ценой. Она одаренный боец, которого воспитывали надлежащим образом с самого детства. Она должна быть жестоким бойцом, прекрасным лидером. И ей хватило пяти минут, чтобы довериться чужаку и предать все человечество. Все потому что ОН добрый, сексуальный и предлагает ей остановить войну. WTF??? Девушка явно не обладает большим умом и обычной логикой. Это вам не Джун, совершенно НЕТ. "Я не знаю, почему, я просто ему доверяю". Ну, здорово. Я уверена, что остальная часть человечества в восторге от того, что будущий лидер является гормональной идиоткой. Помимо прочего, узнав, что ее главный школьный соперник и самый популярный мальчик в школе – чужак, она налетает на него с криками «Почему ты мне не рассказал?». И вместо того, чтобы сказать «Ох.ела, что ли? С какого перепуга?», Джексон начинает извиняться и говорить следующее «Прости, прости. Я хотел, но не мог. Но теперь, когда ты все знаешь, давай прекратим войну? Расскажи мне планы твоего отца, всего человечества, чтобы я передал их своему начальству». И та-да, она соглашается!

Окееееееей. Да, люди придурки, наглые и зажравшиеся существа, но героиня не в том статусе, чтобы предавать свой народ. С таким строгим, преданным своему делу отцом, героиня удивительная идиотка. Где ее лояльность? Преданность семье? Нет, она просто доверилась симпатичному мальчику, основываясь лишь на его словах. Вы в реальной жизни доверились бы потенциальному врагу? Я имею в виду так быстро и легко? Врагу, способному уничтожить все человечество! Пусть и с лучшими намерениями, но мозги то быть должны!!! И ладно, я понимаю мотивы спасти Землю от очередной катастрофы и несправедливой Войны. Но они планируют это сделать вдвоем! Два подростка, с которыми никто не считается, планируют спасти мир, даже не подумав поискать помощи и поддержки! Что за черт? У кого-нибудь в этой книге есть мозги!?

Насчет человечества в целом, помимо того что я уже сказала? Еда - роскошь. Фрукты, мясо, сласти – все это может выйти вам в месячную зарплату. Поэтому люди питаются разработанными специальными таблетками. При этом да, у нас есть передовые технологии и мощное оружие, и мы собираемся идти на войну с Древними, благодаря которым еще не сдохли. Мы кусаем руку, которая нас кормит. В самом прямом смысле.

Наша политика и география? Больше нет стран. Есть континенты, в каждом из которых назначен свой лидер – президент. Стать следующим президентом можно лишь по наследству. И да, наша система, словно какое-то Средневековье.

«Австралийская Троица позже была распущена, из-за того, что последний лидер был не способен иметь детей, чтобы продолжить династию первого Австралийского лидера».

Простите!? То есть нельзя организовать выборы? Мы что дикари??? И да, межнациональные браки запрещены. Вот такие вот мы пещерные людишки.


Джексон. Скучно. Такое ощущение, что автор, создавая его, не могла определиться, каким же он должен быть. Он вроде и хороший, а вроде и нет. Он вроде и бабник, а вроде и нет. О Боги. Скучно. Скучно. Скучно.

Романтика в книге? Ари обручена с Лоуренсом, который любит Ари, но в тоже время любит Гретхен, которая тоже любит его и при этом лучшая подруга Ари. НО Ари влюблена в Джексона, в которого влюблена Маккензи, но да, не взаимно. Почему? Потому что Джексон любит Ари. Понятно? Прочь любовные треугольники! Такая банальщина не для нас!

Нет никакой искры между героями. Совершенно. Не было ни грамма переживания за героев, я ни на секунду не прониклась их чувствами. СКУЧНО.

В целом: книга с хорошей идеей, плоскими и глупыми героями, непонятным будущим и с какой-то стати отличным рейтингом. Буду ли я читать продолжение? Не уверена.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah I couldn't even finish it and I take finishing books prettttty seriously so that's saying something. The premise really caught my eye and I was excited to see where it was going but then it crashed and burned not so magnificently and imploded on itself and a little all over me too. The concept of the the taking was fantastic but then it fell into the realm of insta love which I can sometimes handle but here it was forced, awkward, not believable at all, and not to mention about as steamy as your grandmother's nipples. The initial deal breaker for me however was the sentence structure. A lot of books can't pull off first person present tense and that would be an understatement where gravity is concerned. The sentence structure is short, choppy, redundant, and overall really interferes with the flow of the book. Obviously I don't read paranormal/sci fi/fantasy young adult for the beautiful prose so if it gets in the way of me actually reading the book its pretty effing bad.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical YA dystopian book, earth has been destroyed , humans have become harder , meaner, willing to do things they wouldn't do before , aliens have taken over , we can't beat them but we will try .... but oh wait 2 teenagers can change the whole world , stop the world and fall in love at the same time .... ohh an wait the girl has another love interest. Anyway the story is entertaining enough if you don't take all the aspects mentioned above very serious . It's a fast read and it is a trilogy so at least that means you have more to read .this was a 3 1/2 stars for me . Sorry for the sarcasm in the opening sentence but come on.... sometimes it all becomes so repetitive.

[Christina (Ensconced in Lit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book on my to read list for a while, so when it went on sale on Amazon, I knew it was time.

Gravity by Melissa West is about Ari, a teenaged girl, who lives on an Earth that has been taken over by an alien race called Ancients. Every night, an Ancient goes into each human room and takes antibodies from them so they can co-exist on earth. There has been a treaty between species that allows this to happen. Ari loses her mask that sedates and paralyzes her during the Taking, and she realizes that her Ancient is none other than a classmate, Jackson, who goes to her school. Because she is the Commander's daughter, this discovery is dangerous to both of them-- but Jackson needs to convince Ari that all she has been led to believe may not be true. Can the two of them work together to save both species and the planet from destruction?

What I liked: Ari is a good protagonist-- she is a strong girl who tries to do what's right. The premise of the Ancients is interesting, and I like that she has to go through training to eventually replace her father as Commander. The choice of first person present is a good one and keeps the reader in the midst of the action. There are some unexpected plot twists that I didn't see coming, which I always respect.

That said, I had a lot of issues with this book. First, what's up with the masks that basically make you feel like you're suffocating? It basically gave me a sense that the Ancients were just sucking their faces, which actually, it's just the mask that does that. No wonder humans hate the Ancients, even though the unpleasant part is actually made by the human race. And how does that transfer actually work? I found myself wondering that. This idea of Ancients is similar to vampires sucking blood. So why didn't they come up with an Antibody bank where people donate blood/serum or whatever on a regular basis? Why assign specific Ancients to specific humans? And this puts the whole relationship between Jackson and Ari in question-- if you have a parasite feeding on you every night for its survival, how can you fall in love with it? It would be similar to saying that Bella fell in love with Edward but the only way he could survive would be off of her blood specifically. Just doesn't work.

Overall, a good start with an interesting premise, but I can't get past some of the basic elements of the plot that don't make sense to me.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.


Well I have to say that after I first opened the book and read the first 3 pages, I was HOOKED! Ohhhh my lord was that beginning creepy as heck! The rest of the novel wasn't horrish, but the sci-fi factor was high and I loved it all. Not quite 5 stars but a very good story. Can't wait to read the next two and I'll be anxiously awaiting the release of the brand new, FULL LENGTH, prequel!

[shre ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*A copy was provided for review purposes*

Gravity literally made me feel like I was floating; it made me lose my breath at certain points, and had me squealing like a love-struck girl. Everything from the out-of-this-world plot to the witty dialogue was able to hook my interest. It had me ADDICTED. I really loved how the beginning of the book didn’t start off slow but just delved into the juicy parts and got even more interesting from there onwards. As for the plot, like I said before, it was AH-MA-ZING. Alien’s are a once-in-a-few-months kind of genre for me, and even then, they have to be very well written and thought out to get me into it, and Gravity accomplished just that. The idea of there being two separate worlds somehow interconnected to each other with portals, as well as there being an ‘ancient’, who comes from another realm, assigned to a blindfolded human…is just...you have to read it to comprehend how marvelously composed this book was. Did I mention that these particular extraterrestrial beings also happen to want to take over the world? Hmmm…It’s WAR OF THE WORLDS baby!

Characters like Ari are the reason why I pick up YA books and love them to death. She was one kick-ass, strong, smart, kind, and funny heroine who made me want to hug her really tightly for being so awesome. Engaging? A definite check! From sentence one to the torturous last period, Ari had me so captivated that even a sumo wrestler couldn’t have snapped me out of my state. Her character was a very interesting one as well. She grew up with a commander for a father and was raised to follow in his footsteps, reason being why she’s so kick-ass. When I think of Ari, I instantly think of Dru from the Strange Angels series by Lili St.Crow. Both of them are independent and not irritating in the bit. Ari’s also engaged, surprise, surprise, another love triangle, this one being between her betrothed Lawrence, and her ancient Jackson. Let’s just say she has intimate feelings for both of them, and both of them are great guys. End of story, case closed. So as Ari tries to basically figure out her past, the present, and what’s to come in the future for Earth, she discovers many dangerous secrets and threatening consequences. All throughout the book, she creates an adrenaline pumping sensation for the reader, and that’s what I most enjoyed about her character, that you never get tired of her.

Both Jackson and Lawrence were honestly sweet and great guys. Let me make this clear, Jackson is NOT a jerk. I’ve seen this come up in other reviews, and I want to make it clear that even though he’s described as being an arrogant bad-boyish character, he is actually kind, with a rakish kind of charm. Lawrence isn’t much different from him aside for the fact that both of them come from very different backgrounds. Ari has a very down-to-earth and wonderful relationship with both of them, and I feel like this is one of the rare love triangles in which the guys aren’t tearing up each other’s throats. I hope to see more of a development between these characters in the next book, but for now, this is all I can offer about the romance as it wasn’t the main interest in the book, thank god!

Sooo, from my review, you guys can probably tell how much I loved it. I’m dying to read the next book RIGHT NOW, and this book hasn’t even come out yet! Honest to god, this book was a magnificent mix of a unique plotline, heart-pumping action, engaging characters, and flowing dialogue! I highly recommend this book!

[Jodi Meadows]

This was a lot of fun. And surprisingly violent!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Stars: A thrilling, heart pounding beginning to a series.

Ari panics, she can't find her patch. Her Ancient is coming for the Taking and if she doesn't have the Patch over her eyes, serious repercussions will follow. It is too... late he is coming. She flings herself on her bed, terrified to move or breathe. The Ancients come every night to take the necessary nutrients from their human counterparts. As he takes from her body, she can't resist a peek, and she is shocked to find the handsome
Jackson Locke hovering over her. Instead of turning her in, he shushes her and promises to explain everything tomorrow. But tomorrow brings a tumult of problems. Soon Ari finds herself mired in a treacherous situation. Who does she trust? Jackson the Ancient or her father? Is everything she has been taught her entire life a lie? Are the Ancients out to destroy humanity, or will humanity destroy itself?

What I Liked:
*I loved that this book took me on a terrifying, heart pounding adventure. We are thrust into a future society in America that has rebuilt after the fourth world war. This civilization has a strange symbiotic relationship with the Ancients an advanced species on another planet who need Earth's water to save their dying world. The Ancients bailed out Earth after the last world war and in return humans must enable them to habituate their bodies to Earth so they can cohabit the planet. Of course, having two different species vying for the same resources creates a whole host of problems. Ari finds herself forced into opening her eyes and questioning everything she knows. Are the Ancients really the bad guys or is her father and the rest of the leaders at fault? Do you go against everything you know to be true and betray your friends and family or trust the boy who stole your heart? I loved that this book presents so many hard decisions.
*This book shows us the dark side of the human nature. How we are so quick to mistrust and hate people who are different. We are exposed to some horrible situations where the Ancients are tortured and experimented on and abused. My heart hurt for these victims and as I tried to reassure myself that it was just a story, I knew it was a lie. For as much as we want to deny that their is much darkness in the human heart, there is and situations like the ones in the book have occurred countless times in history. Ms. West forces us to face the evil nature of man and reminds us the consequences of our actions. The humans so quick to destroy the Ancients may instead end up decimating their own population. I appreciated that this book is thought provoking.
*I liked that this book presents a strong, capable and intelligent main character in Ari. She has trained her entire life to be a warrior so she is quick and deadly. Yet, she takes time to think things through and realizes that not everything falls into the category of right and wrong. She finds herself questioning all of her father's teachings. Ari shows tremendous courage in going against all she knows. Would you be brave enough to step up?
*The romance in this one is difficult...It is a forbidden romance and so that makes it all the more sweet. Of course, it is fraught with complications and the reader is left teetering wondering whether it will work out from one chapter to the next.
*I enjoyed the suspense and edge of your seat feel in this one. It isn't one where you are clutching your book in fright, but it does put you on edge and you have a subtle sense of anxiety throughout the book. I love books that keep me eagerly turning the pages and this one does just that!

And the Not So Much:
*I was perplexed that there was not more explanation regarding the Taking. In the beginning, the reader learns that the humans are subjected to this ritual every night. They must lie on their bed with a special Patch over their eyes while the Ancients come and draw nutrients from their bodies. What are they taking and why? Is it to help acclimate them? Do they need to do this every night? Do the humans feel anything after this event? Are they weakened by the Taking? What happens if The Ancients don't take? This event was confusing and definitely needed more detail.
*The other area where the story was lacking was in the details on the Ancients. So little is known about this species and their world. I kept thinking that details were forthcoming and was disappointed that there was so little to go on. It was apparent at the end of the story that the next book would give us more information on The Ancients. It is frustrating, though when it is missing in the first book.
*The villain, Zeus, remains a mystery. He plays such a little part in the book and I wanted to know more about him.
*Finally, this book ends on a cliffhanger so I was left with a bunch of questions after a nerve racking ending. After a violent episode, I didn't even know the repercussions and who survived. I detest cliffhangers and this definitely lowered my final opinion of the book since that is the last impression I had of the story.

Gravity is a compelling dystopian book that forces us to examine the evil side of humanity. Would you have the courage to stand and fight against popular thinking, against your family and friends and push to do the right thing? Ms. West thrusts us into a world where a girl is forced to make these difficult decisions. It is a thought provoking and suspenseful read. I enjoyed Ms. West's debut and can't wait for the continuation of this story!
Favorite Quotations:
"Now...I’m not sure how I feel. While fear is part of it, if I’m honest, completely honest, there is something deeper than fear inside me for this thing that climbs in my window."
“Danger lies with those who ignore the signs.”
"I don’t know. I feel like I’m losing myself. He’s all I can think about. It’s like gravity disappears when he’s around and I’m floating, lost. I think...I think I might be...” I tug at my ponytail, twirling it around my finger again and again."
"I’ve never understood why we send our future into the fight, but that’s how it has always been, and how it will always be...if we survive this."
"I try to look anywhere but at him, knowing that if I allow myself to look into his eyes, I’ll melt. The reservoir will spill over, exposing just how wrecked I am inside."
"I’m sure going to training today will be hard, but that’s what being an adult is, dear. We have to face things that frighten us head on."
"Real is loving someone with so much passion that they anger you as much as they excite you. Real love grips you in a way that never releases, and while you may hate that person in one breath, one look from them melts your heart."
"Sweetie,” she says, taking my hand, “there is a lot of gray between life and death. Life isn’t worth living if you aren’t with the ones you love."
"Another time, I would have called them cowards, but I was ignorant then, not understanding that war is about a lot more than courage. It’s about what’s right, separate from expectation or orders."

A big thanks to Entangled Publishing for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@ Rainy Day Ramblings

[Tee Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so I was really excited when I first saw this absolutely gorgeous cover, and when I read the synopsis I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! That "Dont. Ever. Peek." gave me the chills!!! I'm not big on alien stories per se, but this one really intrigued me and I had high hopes for it. I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint!!

Gravity is set in the 2100s, post WW IV destruction of earth via nuclear bomb and post-Treaty with the Ancients. The treaty that would require humans to help these beings based on something our bodies have and theirs needed. The story opens with a prologue about Ari's preparations for her first Taking (it's not what you're thinking it is) at the young age of ten, and I was cringing through the pages despite even knowing what exactly was going to happen to her. The ominous sense of foreboding that shrouds what the Taking is just ties your stomach into knots, especially when Ari realizes that she's going to have to break their one rule that they are required to obey while it's done. When fate steps in and finds her staring face to face with someone she never expected was one of THEM, the handsome and in all ways perfect Jackson Locke, she's shocked to realize that what she's known of this species is not all that it seems. But as Ari gets to know the real Jackson, more and more untruths are revealed and Ari isn't sure who's side she should be on as war looms in the distance.

The plot behind this series is really unique, it's such a neat spin on the whole alien abduction/hot aliens visit the earth (hello, Daemon!!) concept. I was impressed with the originality behind the Ancients and their makeup, and the advancements that the humans had made played into the futuristic theme smoothly. The Ancients themselves were captivating, I wanted to know more about them and their history with the humans every step of the way. I actually wish more was revealed about them at times just to give a bigger picture, but I'm hoping the next book will get a chance to dig deeper into their world because it's fascinating!

Ari was a fantastic heroine in this story, I always love a bad-ass LL and she more than fit the bill! After being trained by her father the Commander since she was a young girl, Ari knows her way around guns, fist fights, and basic ops like nobody's business!! Her father was a cold piece of work most of the time, but seeing as how his attitude towards being Ari's father is what helps her survive, I forgive him! As she goes through her testing and training all the while trying to figure out what exactly the leaders are hiding about their relationships with the Ancients, Ari was determined and never faltered from her goal. I wanted to strangle her for not trying to do something to stop what she was witnessing in some of the testing chambers, it made me ill picturing the scenes she watched unfold. But I understood why she had to, what it would mean for the Ancients if she could get deep enough into the layers of research. Ari's growing feelings for Jackson were subtle and not the key focus of the story, but the chemistry between them was great. Jackson kept secrets from Ari along the way that kept him pushing Ari away, but deep down it was obvious he cared for her. I really liked Jackson's character and would have loved to see some of this from his POV or gotten more about his life from their moments together. I can tell there's a log going on in that mind of his!!

As Gravity came to an end, what I hoped would happen turned out to be the case, so I'm now very anxious to see where it will lead in the sequel. It's going to give Melissa West a whole new canvas to paint her incredible story on, so I'm hoping some of the holes can be filled in and we can see Ari and Jackson really get close. It looks to be a very fascinating follow-up for this series!!

[Turquoise]

Seriously, people, authors are just taking this dystopian thing a bit too far now.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got Gravity as an offer. One of those days when Amazon randomly decides to lower book prices and the Kindle edition of this one was literally 1€ so I just had to buy it. I didn't know if I would like it but it sounded cool and gave it a try. Expectations met!

THE WORLD: We are situated on a dystopian world where after World War IV (yeah fourth, I don't know what happened in the third one) Earth was destroyed because of the nuclear weapons. The remaining humans were then invaded by an alien species and in the end they made a pact: the aliens would help rebuild the world as well as providing food while humans would give their antibodies to the aliens (otherwise they wouldn't be able to survive on Earth) as well as water. Also, Earth was then divided in nations such as American, African, Asian, European, and Australian but each nation has a central president and the presidency is passed down by blood... much like a kingdom actually. It's a bit weird. Anyway, the aliens have to take human antibodies so each human is assigned a certain alien when the humans are 10 years old. When they reach this age they have to put a patch over their eyes so that they won't move or see while the alien is performing The Taking. This has to go on for all their lives, everyday at midnight. No exception. Humans wear this patch because they're not allowed to see the alien therefore very few know how the aliens actually look like, some say they're just like a light without a body, other that they look human, etc...

Ah, wait also there are only few "careers" for people. If you're a poor just forget about everything and concentrate on surviving and doing some manual work while if you're rich you can choose between being a Chemist (they provide food pills, medicine, weapons...), Militant (the military obviously whose leader is the Commander), Government (bureaucracy) or if you were born in the President family then you have to be President, no choice there.

CHARACTERS: The main character is Ari Alexander, a 17 year old girl daughter of the Commander (her father) and a Chemist (her mom). Since Ari is the daughter of the Commander she has had to train in combat and military tactics all her life because she is supposed to be the next Commander. Ari is introduced as a responsible character, the type who would never break the rules and would never ever disobey orders from her father until one night she loses her patch and guess what? she sees the alien, Jackson Locke. The most popular boy at her school even though he's a peasant. Ari freaks out quite a bit obviously because she would have never thought that Jackson could be an alien. Jackson has a proposal though which is helping him (and his species) or otherwise there would be a war between aliens and humans and aliens would win because they're just better. I can't say much more without giving the book away but let's just say that everything was built in lies.

LOVE: Hmm there is an striking similarity between the character dynamics of this book and the character dynamics of Legend by Marie Lu... if you have read it you can probably guess what is going on.

PLUS: I really liked the plot because, although is not the most original, it does have a really nice build up of the aliens and their stories, their planet, their everything! I have a theory of what these "aliens" actually are and where they came from and I am pretty sure I am either right or the author failed me completely.

Hint: plant anatomy.

MINUS: Sometimes there were too many descriptions or character thoughts that I found a bit unnecessary... with this kind of plot it is nicer to have a fast paced story and that gets compromised when too much stuff is added between important paragraphs/conversations/chapters.

OVERALL: 4 stars. Overall I really enjoyed it and at the end I was left wanting more! It ends when the most interesting part starts so you can imagine my frustration when I reached the end and all I could think was "whaaaaat?"

—P.S. I Love That Book!

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. Quotes have been pulled from an ARC and may be subject to change.

Sydia is the city where our main character Aria lives in what happens to be North America. The world has been broken up into sectors, and people live with the alien race called the Ancients. Aria’s world is one of strict order, governed by her father, the military commander. She has to follow rules, abide by them or suffer the consequences. So when her Ancient comes to take her, and she realizes it’s her nemesis, Jackson, the handsome and popular boy from her school, her normal life is swept out from under her.

I did have the funniest notion that Aria was falling for an alien. AN ALIEN. Not of your species. I found it odd, but then again love is never simple. The heart wants what it wants, and Aria wanted Jackson. It obviously complicated matters since Aria is set to marry the president’s son Lawrence, but rest assured, this isn’t a love triangle. (So overdone). I liked Aria, she had strength as a character, but was as vulnerable as a kitten, and when her decisive actions were needed she quickly took the spot to lead. Her mistakes had consequences, but that’s what the teen years are for right? Make mistakes and learn from them. And Aria learns a lot. Her best friend Gretchen is feisty and loyal. More into fashion than Ari, she would dress her up in the prettiest outfits. And when they dress up in the future, they don’t go to brick and mortar stores. I found the option to dress so fascinating. I hope they invent this in the future!

“Gretchen selects another category of dresses. The program pulls a virtual version of her body and then crosschecks the perfect dress color, length, and shape, making sure not to duplicate any purchases in the last two years, then gives her fifty options. Each dress appears on the virtual Gretchen, and within a second she’s clicking for the next to appear.”

Humanity is still the same as ever. There’s still the same superiority of the classes. The rich, and the poor. The educated, and the non-educated. It felt rather realistic to an extent. I also found it fascinating that humans weren’t able to produce food at massive proportions anymore. They had food pills. Like what astronauts eat. (I hope that doesn’t come true..)

Gravity is just wonderfully plot driven, that you don’t get all your info dumped in the beginning, which I rather enjoyed. You’re constantly wondering, “Why are the Ancients on earth? What’s their purpose? Why does Jackson need Aria’s help? Who can she trust? Etc.” The best way to describe this is Alias meets Roswell. Spies, and aliens mashed together into one sci-fi adventure. I really enjoyed it.

Pick this one up if you’re into science fiction, dystopia, and aliens. Oh and the romance isn’t as cheesy as others, even though it was rather quick.

[Atmika Singh]

I was a little confused in the beginning. There were too many details and not enough explanation but don't give up on the book. Read on and it does get better. Once the story picks up there is no looking back. I got the book quite late for the tour and wasn't really sure that I could do a review but once I started reading I was hooked. I needed to know what happened next and I need the next book in the series NOW!. Ahh......the ending. I have so many questions. Please Melissa, if you could send me the next book too I will be forever in your debt. I can't stand not knowing!!! Okay, enough with my drama.

Let's talk about the characters. I loved Ari. She is smart, self-less, caring, kickass, so in short, she's awesome. I am a little picky when it comes to female protagonists. I generally hate them and the whole "damsel in distress" stuff just gets on my nerve. So it's refreshing to read about girls that can fight for themselves. Ari cared about people, even strangers. She risked her life to save them. How can you not like her?
I thought that she made a brave choice when she decided to help Jackson and go against everything she believed in order to avoid a war that will just lead to destruction and loss of lives. I was really angry at Ari's dad and Cybil. They were so arrogant that they refused to see reason. They are complex characters and hopefully in the next book we will see a softer side to them.

Jackson is an ancient. Humans are not allowed to see ancients but Ari sees him and it turns out that he needs her help to save humanity but for that she has to tell him secrets and lie to her father. Jackson was sweet, cute and totally swoon worthy. I think I have a crush on him.
He genuinely cared about Ari and I am a little ashamed to say that I doubted him a little but I guess that just proves how invested I was in the story.
I liked Lawrence too. He was a great friend and so was Gretchen. All the characters are well developed. I am excited to learn more about Zeus, who is the leader of the Ancients. I think he will be quite a complex and interesting character in the coming books.

The plot is different and unique. Though I did feel that the romance was a rushed. Ari fell for Jackson too soon. I liked the story, the characters and the writing. I definitely recommend it. READ IT!!


Favorite Quotes

"I am absolutely, mind-bendingly in love with you. In every way. Every ounce of my body. My entire being…it belongs to you."

He cradles my face with his hands and kisses me with such passion it takes my breath away. He pulls away and looks into my eyes. “ I've never been happier in my life than I am right now, here, with you."

“There is a lot of gray between life and death. Life isn't worth living if you aren't with the ones you love."

I read an early version of the book. Their may be some changes in the finished book. Sorry for the confusion. :)