this was a dnf for me.it just wasn't what I was hoping for and it was hard for me to follow.i wanted to love it and I tried really hard but I put it down around 50%

I had a really great time reading these books! I'd previously read Gravity and Hover, but that was over a decade for the former, and 8 months under for the later, so I'd basically forgotten everything that happened, so it was basically like reading it for the first time. And then I finally read Collide, and see how things end!

Ari has known, and has been trained since she was little, to become the Commander. But what she doesn't know is that Earth doesn't intend on keeping their promises to the ancients, that they believe there can only be one dominant species on Earth, and they intend on it being them. Though my question would be, isn't the ancients keeping the plants and such that provide normal food going? I know there's the artificial stuff that the scientists are coming up with, but would that really sustain humanity?

Man, the complicated politics of it all! These are really high stakes, the survival of the species, and both sides are taking it pretty seriously. Both sides where going about it wrong, but Ari and her group seemed to be the only ones who wanted to find a better path forward.

There is a prequel novel coming out soon, which is pretty exciting, because it seems to be set before the arrangement was made between humanity and the ancients. That it has some characters with familiar last names is very exciting!

I loved reading these books, and I can't wait to read more by Melissa West!

I'll just show some of the thoughts I had while reading instead of writing a long review:

- The H Jackson is a creep. He keeps hanging out in Ari’s room with no good reason and he even sees her naked (without her consent).
- The Goodreads blurb states “But Ari isn't just any girl” and can we just stop with that “not like other girls” thing?
- Ari is willing to work with the aliens within minutes. Where’s her loyalty to humanity?
- This books is what I categorise as “trashy” ya books. It's not a bad category per se, but in this case the book actally wasn’t good.
- The ending seemed far too convenient.
- I’m not invested enough to read another book from this series.
- I could point out the parallels between aliens exploiting humans and humans doing the same with animals, but I don’t think anyone wants me to overanalyse this book.
- There are a lot of logical errors. For example: shouldn’t there have been an extra Patch thingie for Ari? I mean there has to be a plan B for situations like this.
- Aliens have skin that is “almost golden”. Do they also sparkle? Because *Twilight vibes*.
- Ari is a nepotism baby. She’s supposed to become the next commander in succession to the current commander, aka her dad. I’m not a fan of people inheriting leadership positions, and Ari also isn't clever enough for a position like that. She trusts Jackson within minutes when she should’ve talked to her dad.
- All side characters are bland and have no personality.

One of the best ya dystopia books I've read in a long time.

The story is set in the future. Earth has gone through a lot and there are aliens among people. Feeding on them each night.

It's almost that time and Ari can't find her device. So she decides to take her chance and just try to stay very, very still. She shouldn't peak. But she can't help herself.

The popular boy at her school is hovering above her. She expects the worst, but instead, Jackson asks for help. Something big is about to happen and he needs all the help he can get. Together they set on uncovering secrets that will change it all.

It's an intense, fast pace story, that I just lost myself in. The world, the characters, the setting, it's all so so good! I can't wait to read more.

I listened to an audiobook and the narrator is just perfect for the story!

_received from NetGalley, all thoughts are my own_

I’m not really sure what to think about this one. I usually like dystopian novels, but this one was lacking.
I didn’t care for any of the characters, grew bored often and only finished because I want my feedback ratio to increase.
The best part of this story was the audio performance (minus the metallic sound from the app).
I appreciate the chance to listen.
Thank you NetGalley.

Gravity (The Taking #1)
Melissa West
This tale begins by introducing the Taking. When a child turns ten years old, they are given a blindfold and told they have no choice but to allow the Taking. Each night for the rest of their life when they go to bed, they will put on the blindfold. “then the patch suction around my eyes as though laced into the bone, and I feel it against my temple, pressing, digging in.” Then they wait and an alien from an ancient race comes to them and take what they need, vitamins, antibodies, and nutrients.
So, you may ask why would Earthlings form such a pack with an Ancient race; Earth has pretty much destroyed their resources and the Ancient race can restore some of what Earth has lost. It seems the Ancient race travels back and forth through trees. The Ancient race has a lot of power and the Earthlings do not like that.
Our main character and heroine is Ari, the Commanders daughter. He is training her for the military, and he pushes her hard; she will become the next Commander. Jackson is a hunky schoolmate and her alien; he arranges for her to discover who he is. Ari and Jackson work together to attempt to stop a war between the two races. The Earthlings so not put their best foot forward.
The aliens are very interesting in this tale. At first, I thought the Ancient race seemed threatening but as the book progressed they seemed less threatening. I would have liked more details. The Taking thing seemed very important in the first part of the book and then it was just dropped.
Ari is the key to the success of this tale; she is an incredible character. Jackson is an interesting character but he could have used a bit more fleshing out. Then there was the romance between Ari and Jackson it needed more development.
I enjoyed this book especially knowing it is the first of a new series and I hope more of my questions are answered in the next installment.

Quick Summary: Outstanding!

My Review: Why has this not been turned into a movie or a television series? This story was incredibly unique. It was thrilling on so many levels. It had action, it had drama, and it had suspense. It had family conflict, crossing of species, and teen angst. It had betrayals, battles, and near death experiences.

What I Loved the Most:
1) It had a seemingly forbidden love.
2) It had a dynamic cliffhanger.
3) There were numerous characters of interest and fantastic storylines.

My Final Say: I'm all in with this series. Surely, the more that I seek is near. Bring it on!!!

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA to A
Re-read: Yes
Keeper: Yes
Favorites Shelf: Yes
Series: Yes
Status: Clean
Level: PG-13

Sincere appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher, and to NetGalley, who provided access to this title in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own.

* A Goodreads review has been posted.

Gravity is your typical YA dystopian sci-fi romance - if you like the genre, you'll love this book.

We're in the year of 2140. The Earth is still healing after the brutal World War IV and its aftermath. An alien race, the Ancients helped the humanity to restore the planet so it's liveable again - but in exchange they ask to coexist; they want to live on Earth with humans. The Ancients need some antibodies to stay alive in our planet, so every night an Ancient visits a human for the Taking, to receive the antibodies. While the Ancient takes the antibody from the human, the human is required to use a patch to cover their eyes. The problem starts when one night our heroine, Ari doesn't find her patch and during the Taking she finds herself face to face with her Ancient - who happens to be her schoolmate. Jackson tells Ari some things that human leaders are hiding from people and ask her (as the future military leader and the daughter of the current Commander) to help him to prevent a war between the Ancients and humans.

I liked that the entire book is action-packed, I never felt like it's slowing down. On the other hand, I could raise a few questions about the world-building, some events or the decisions the characters make. I could raise questions but I won't, because this book isn't a full blown adult novel. It's a young adult story, and for a YA, having these flaws is completely fine.

About the audiobook: It was my first book by this narrator and I liked her work.
Only two minor things: In some scenes, the characters are whispering (according to the text), still, the reading was like they were almost shouting at one another; and then there were the scenes where the characters were actually shouting or screaming. Imitating those shouts were actually comic(ally bad) rather than making me feel the tension of the scene.
Apart from these few small moments, I really liked the narration.

This was actually a re-read for me, as I already read the novel back in 2013 - and I wanted to finish the series ever since. So I was really happy to receive an ARC of the audiobook, thank you so much for the opportunity. This was a great start to finally finish the trilogy.

Started: 8/9/22
Finished: 8/12/22
ARC: yes
Format: audiobook
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Synopsis: this book follows Ari, a teenage girl from future earth who peeks during “the taking” one night after her sleeping patch mysteriously vanishes. Her “ancient” draws her into a plot to save his kind as well as her own on planet earth from almost certain war.
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💭my thoughts 💭

Listen. I wanted to like it. I really did, ok? The premise sounded SO unique and interesting and pulled me in to requesting it.

Well then, what happened Sara?

Allow me to tell you.

First, let’s start off with the narration. Good god, it was awful. It was like nails down a chalkboard each time this lady opened her mouth. I literally had to fight to continue listening each time I opened this audiobook up. Her inflections are weird..almost robotic? It was very strange.

Now let’s move on to plot. Where did it go? It was there right? I could have sworn it was…then it just..vanished before my very..ears? Teenager who knows nothing about virtually anything suddenly because a lady spy/expert fighter for the cause of aliens who suck her water from her every night? Ok then…

Lastly, let’s discuss our “romance” between our heroin and our water-sucking alien boyfriend. It’s weak at best, forced at its worst. The lines are disgustingly cheesy. Not to mention..homegirl has a boyfriend?! But it’s ok that she isn’t interested in him anymore, because it’s an arranged boyfriend. Like, what? There’s so many holes in this..I can’t pick just one. It’s just weird.

Lastly, what does the name of the book have to do with literally anything? She mentions gravity once, fleetingly, when describing her rushed alien boyfriend, but that’s about it.

So, did I finish it? Yes. Would I recommend it? No. Just..no.

Hmm I requested this audiobook because the synopsis let me think that this book was closer to the 5th Wave but while I did like the 5th wave this one left me annoyed, the main character Ari is like a super hero, while looking fragile and small she is the best at everything, she is supposed to be the next commander because it passes in the family… I don’t like my characters to be absolutely perfect, in the first chapter 7 years after the prologue, she discovers that the only boy that is her rival in her school is one of the aliens of course she will start to have feelings for him.. And things get more dire…

Humans do the best that they always do, that is lie and go back in their word.. I don’t really want to give spoilers, but I guess this book is perfect for young girls that believe in magic and super powerful main characters, its not badly written, is just not for everyone, there’s no sex scenes, there’s a bit of violence and fighting mentioned, so I will guess that it is OK for a 14 years and older teens.

The person reading the audiobook reads at a good speed, and tries to make different kinds of voices for each character and that keeps things interesting, I give the audiobook 4 stars and the story of the book 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I listened to this audiobook and it brought me back to the peak 2010's dystopians, and then I realized that is exactly when the book was published.
Overall, if you want to go back to your comfort book of dystopian books (Hunger Games, Divergent, the Selection, etc.) you should add this book to the list. It was an intriguing concept and overall was a good story. A bit slow or dragged on at times, but it happens.

This had a very intriguing premise, but this mostly just felt like a of other YA dystopians that came out in the 2010s.

The characters felt a little flat for me, and I thought there could have been a tad more worldbuilding and character development.

I started reading this because I saw it on NetGalley, thinking it was a new release, and immediately got that 2010s dystopia vibe, so I wasn't surprised when I realized it was actually originally published in 2012.

It was still an interesting read, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it when it were first published, but at this point in my life, I've read too many YA dystopian novels that it takes a lot to stand out in this genre.