Out of Darkness (The Starborn Saga #1) by Jason D. Morrow

What happens when you cross a zombie apocalypse and mutant super powers...anyone, anyone? The results are equal to but no greater than The Starborn Saga.
Mora's village seems to be in real trouble against the gray skins (yet another word used instead of zombies). She leaves her village to ask for help from a warlord type of character--imagine the president in The Hunger Games.

Jerimiah is the leader of the Screven, and the Screven's home base is yet again familiar as the Capital in Panem (if Panem had been involved in a zombie war, and didn't have all their hip toys and weapons). He will send his soldiers to protect villages, but he expects large sums of payments in crops and other items (Hunger Games anyone).

Along the way, Mora just happens to find out that she can move a large crane to help her escape from a horde of zombies. Yep, she has superpowers and can move items with her thoughts, which would be cool for us mere mortals if the remote lay on top of the television.
She meets a young man who takes her to his village that is controlled protected by Screven. She meets others who have mutant abilities, and finds out their secret codeword name--Starborn.

Then a considerable amount of silliness ensues, she likes Connor, she likes Connor's brother, she decides not to ask for help for her village, she asks Jerimiah for help with her village, she decides to help Jerimiah to find hidden Starborn, she refuses to help Jerimiah find hidden Starborn. Make-up your mind!

I know that I've delivered some harsh words against this book, but on the bright side, I honestly liked it, and I have started the second book called If It Kills Me.

Mutants and zombies combine for an interesting mix, and what better way to protect loved ones than to send zombies flying away or throw rocks at their heads with superstar powers. l look forward to the entire series.

Departure by A. G. Riddle

I knew by reading the synopsis of the book that the essential characters are involved in a plane crash, which forces the passengers into a different time period or world than the one they left. At this point, the book takes a plunge into a surprising turn of events.

After the disaster, Nick organizes a rescue to save people from the sector of the plane that landed in the water. He's forces survivors to remain calm and help each other stay safe. They wait for the rescue that never comes and place calls on phones that reach out to emptiness.

Soon, five of the survivors endure a future they're not prepared for, and while a few meet their ghosts-- others meet their older selves. Only a handful of people lingers on earth, and Nick and all the survivors learn that they helped create a plague that forced people to age and die in mere hours.

Can they emerge back to their time, and once there, will they remember enough of what happened to fix their mistakes before they occur in real time?

Time travel always creates a perplexing puzzle that boggles my mind to an extraordinary degree. Several dimensions may be created by a person's merely existing in the wrong moment, which can influence the life of the world.

I genuinely liked this book and hope to read new books from the author.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I love Goodreads, and keep a record of all my books there--those I've read or want to read. I also look at several reviews before starting a new book. So basically, what I was saying to myself while reading this book  is "why, why, why didn't I believe all of the reviews with one star."
I should have put out a restraining order that this book should not come within a thousand miles of me, but what I actually did was read it. I did so kicking and screaming the whole way, because I hate to quit once I've started.
Juliette is in an insane asylum, and all she really has is a notebook she writes in and a view from a window. She crosses out almost everything she writes, and rewrites it a different way. At first, I found compelling, but after I lost interest in her completely, I found it annoying.
This book is a silly love story in a future world that is dying, and it drags on and on. After a while I was hoping a comet the size of the moon would smash into the earth and put me them out of their misery.
Suddenly, when I was about to get into a fetal position and cry "make it stop," the ending became very interesting. She meets more people that have mutant powers (oh I should have added that she can kill you if she touches you) but just when there was such promise--it was over, and  a series of books hold the rest of the story.
I'm torn whether I should read book two, but one thing I know for sure is that I'm going to look at the reviews again, and this time I will believe them.