Claire made me read this Teen book. Very good. Lots of mystery - we are still trying to piece it together. Cliff hanger ending has us waiting for the next book!

Spoiler Alerts-some references to key events in this review. This book didn't get me hooked until about 3/4 of the way through, when Quinn, Tucker's best friend, is killed. I enjoyed the description of the idyllic slow moving island they all live on, but once SYLO invades and there's talk of aliens, I lost momentum. I've read the Pendragon books by the author, which I enjoyed and prefer to this series, but there are some big questions introduced in this book that kept me interested throughout. My chief complaint with all these YA adventures is that the characters sound at LEAST 16, but are described as 14 or younger. Ridiculous, I say. I just imagine them as they sound (about 17 or 18), and in movies older kids are always chosen, aside from Harry Potter. In this series, the use of sarcastic comments like "Seriously?" and Kent's put downs and selfishness are irksome, but luckily they disappear for the most part in the next book. I do like the adventure and mystery in these books, and the way good and bad aren't so straightforward, as often occurs in real life.

If you are looking for intelligent prose, then this book is not for you. If you are looking for an exciting story, then this might be the book for you. It definitely kept me intrigued, but the writing grated on me. It's like it needed another round of edits before being sent to the publisher

This book was an intense, emotional whirlwind! Up to the very last page, secrets were being revealed and new mysteries were being found. When I first picked it up, I was upset that I had chosen [yet another] series, but it was a great choice! I am so sucked into this story and I'm getting the next one soon!

Tucker lives with his family on an island off the coast of Maine. He prefers to remain fairly anonymous, just trying to survive high school. Then people on his island start dying, he sees a mysterious explosion off the coast of the island, and the Marines declare a quarantine on the island and start rounding up people and placing them in internment camps. Does Tucker have what it takes to become a hero and save his island?

I enjoyed MacHale's Pendragon series, so I was glad to see another book by this author. This book does not disappoint. There's plenty of mystery and intrigue involved - why is the island quarantined? How did those people die so suddenly when they were perfectly healthy? What is that weird, red crystal the surfer guy keeps trying to push on people? Combine that with plenty of action, and I can see this being a popular read for teens and tweens. This novel is fast-paced and could easily lend itself to a sequel. I look forward to more good things from MacHale.

Recommended for: teens, tweens, fans of sci-fi, fans of suspenseful books

Red Flags: the Ruby that some people end up taking is pretty obviously a drug; lots of violence (people getting murdered, etc.); language

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.

I can certainly see why the middle school boys love this one - lots of action, constant plot twists and a likable main character. For me the book was overly long but many of my students told me they could not put it down.

Amazing that after 400 pages I still can't give this one a definitive genre. For sure it is a mystery but is it going to be more sci-fi or adventure???? Recommended for grades 6 & up. Minute amounts of bad language and some violence.

Students who enjoyed SYLO may also like The Maze Runner, Virals and Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment.

Tucker is just your average ordinary teenage freshman. He plays football and doesn't mind sitting on the bench, until a player dies on the field. Shaken, Tucker and his best friend Quinn take a midnight bike ride and witness a strange music filled aircraft light up the night sky with a foreign weapon. Not long afterwards, when Tucker has to step up and actually play in a game, a man offers a substance called Ruby to help with his performance. When Tucker tests it, he realizes that it gives him supernatural strength and stamina. Believing that the football player who died had taken this substance before his death, Tucker yells at the man and walks away from the drug.

On the small island of Pemberwick everyone knows everyone and when people start dying, it effects the whole island. Especially when the island is declared quarantined by the government and is invaded by a special branch of the military called SYLO. People are cleared from the streets of the island and live in fear of the military leader who is there for their "protection". Tucker and his friends start connecting dots and realize that there is more going on in Pemberwick than meets the eye.

A thriller and page turner, SYLO kept me up and questioning. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Keep an eye on this one!

I loved this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat because I wanted to know what was going to happen next! The excitement never let up. This was a fast and fun read.

D.J. MacHale does it again!! After reading Pendragon I was looking forward to another action packed adventure complete with amazing characters and he certainly came through! MacHale is truly a great story teller and adds elements of mystery to his action packed epicness.

I was hooked by the first couple lines: "It was the perfect night for a football game. And for death." I don't know why but this made me literally laugh out loud and also was the perfect set up for the actions that would follow. The characters are pretty interesting and I love Tucker, Quinn and Tori. When things really start to go down, they make a really epic team.

MacHale also creates a great air of mystery that really keeps you guessing at all the possibilities. There are so many twists that arise that add to the mystery and just when you think you have it all figured out, BAM a new twist makes you rethink that.

The plot reminds me a lot of the movie Red Dawn, where the U.S. is invaded by the Chinese. Except in this book, we invade ourselves and the question is why.

SYLO may be considered a boy book with a lot of football talk, explosions, thought of war and lots of battle scenes, but I think this is the perfect book for anyone who needs a little more action in their reading. I give this book a well deserved 4.5/5 for a plot that's jammed packed with action and mystery (and not to mention a strong female character which I gotta love). The book is just, to put it simply, Epic :) and I can't wait for the next book!

Those who know me well know that I don’t shy away from longer novels. That’s why D.J. MacHale’s new novel, SYLO, came my way I didn’t even flinch at its 400 pages. I can typically read 400 pages in less than a month. The premise was intriguing and it seemed to set up a series of dystopian thrillers that could potentially rival my love for The Hunger Games series. That’s why it pains me so much that it took almost a month and a half for me to finish this novel.

I had a really hard time getting into this story, thanks to totally off pacing. It was like nothing would happen for pages on end, and then when something exciting did happen, no one on the island of Pemberwick reacted realistically. This made the story drag, despite the fact that some pretty bizarre stuff was happening on the island. MacHale could have easily cut at least fifty pages from the book without losing any of the essential storyline. I also found MacHale’s writing a little stilted. For much of the novel, 14-year-old Tucker’s voice did not sound like that of a teenager, but instead a grown man.

I did not DNF this book though, even though I thought about it several times, and I’m glad I didn’t. The last 150 pages or so knocked me off my feet with action that kept me reading through my daily hour commute by bus until I was finished. I like having that feeling about a novel from early on, and if I had given up on this one, I never would have thought much about this book at all. In the end, I was left with a lot of question about SYLO, Tucker’s parents, and the future of the United States, but I think MacHale left things so open-ended so that readers will be pick up the next in the series, Storm. I think I will give it a try, especially if it delivers the thrilling dystopian storyline that is promised.