Ignorance is bliss, until it’s not. In Stealing Embers, Emberly has spent most of her life feeling like a freak. She can run faster than normal and heal faster. She can even cross into a spectrum world of bright light and colors—and monsters that chase her with renewed force. Author Julie Hall’s first book of the Fallen Legacies trilogy captures the immature and sometimes cruel nature of teenagers. Emberly’s story explores personal differences among societies and people who should be family. This well-told tale grabs the reader’s attention with romantic tension and action that swoops in from the start and rushes unyielding to the very last page.

Best for: Older teens and adults, fans of supernatural and modern fantasy.

Discern: Instances of mild language, crude humor, and some violence as well as heavy romantic tension; readers sensitive to increasingly graphic violence and especially to sensual content should read with caution, especially when both elements intensify in later Fallen Legacies books.