DNF -- The Dystasters was my first book by this writing duo and I was so very excited to read it as I had heard so many great things about their stories. Sadly, I wasn't able to get into it when I first attempted so I put it down and tried again a bit later with no success. I cannot pinpoint a reason why I was unable to get into the story or the characters other than their writing just not being for me. I would like to try them again sometime in the future, but unfortunately this title wasn't for me.

**3.5 Stars**
Review can be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Not gonna lie, but I spent a majority of the time for the first half of the book being super confused and having no idea what is going on. The reader is dropped into the story (which is usually exciting), basically in the middle of the action and with no description or real known plot. I really really tried to connect to the story and the characters but it was super hard. Even by the time I was 75% through with the story, I still was not completely certain what was going on or the overall point. A good majority of the book, the two main characters are hiding away...doing something...maybe researching (for something?)...dating(?)...which felt a little like the book was at a standstill- except for some random bursts of interesting elemental magic usage. Two secondary characters were introduced near the end and they were incredibly interesting, pulling me in the way the previous characters could not so I would love to find out what comes for them next.

The story is narrated by Foster, Tate and then occasionally the evil adults searching for the teens. About half way through, a few other perspectives are added into the mix. Foster was spunky, quirky and full of attitude. She was also at times a little bit unnecessarily mean and aloof- most of the time not on purpose, maybe could be attributed to her lack of overall social skills and loner personality. Her voice was the most dominant in the story and she was hands down the most developed character. I actually liked Tate better though, with his sweet disposition, charm and easy way of accepting basically everything, but I do not feel like I really knew him under the surface.

Also there was a romantic relationship that occurred...somewhere off page... that I wish I got to see unfold. We meet the two characters in a hostile situation that becomes a dangerous, life changing situation where they basically hate each other. And then next you know they are "best friends" and then romantically linked, but we never get to see them develop a romantic relationship, it is kind of just assumed since they are single, heterosexual teens in close living quarters and a dangerous situation (and as per the movie Speed, romances made in high stress situations never last). I get why Foster likes Tate, he was pretty and sweet, but Foster was a prickly cactus generally.

I think this was one of the books I most anticipated being released this year so maybe my expectations were too high when I jumped into the story. My confusion over almost everything aside, I would read the next book to see if there is more coming because I think this is an interesting idea and there could be potential.

This got off to a really rough start for me. I'd almost say it was a slow start, except it launches into the story with multiple tornadoes tearing up a town, dozens of people dying, and an epic chase scene - so how do you really call that "slow"? And yet... There's a LOT of information dump happening in the first third to half of this book, and it sort of bogs it down. Then again, this is also the first book that sets up a greater duology/trilogy/series, so some of that is to be expected, and once the preliminaries were out of the way the rest of the book took off flying.

Foster is pretty abrasive and not the most pleasant person, so if your enjoyment of a book relies on you actually liking the main character from the get-go, The Dysasters might not be for you. I could see the vulnerable girl underneath the tough exterior, and she kind of grew on me. Then there's Tate, who has a very Clark Kent, corn-fed midwestern boy-next-door thing going on, and he's very sweet (if a little bland). They're the pair of kids associate with the air element, and the main focus of the majority of the book. Honestly, I probably wouldn't keep reading this series if it were just Foster and Tate, but in the final third (or so) of the book we're introduced to Charlotte and Bastien (the water kids), and OH, my swoon, I stan a cajun and a southern belle. *fans self* YES. I am 100% here for the next book in the series just to watch a romance blossom between Charlotte and Bastien, please and thank you. Just from the bits we've gotten from Charlotte and Bastien, I already like their characters so much more than Tate and Foster too, so I'm glad there are some main characters I can connect with (because I am one of those people who needs to like the MC's to truly enjoy a book!) I'm also interested to see where P.C. and Kristin Cast go with the fire and earth pairs, and I'm hoping for more diverse characters like Charlotte and Bastien (please please please).

A note: there is a LOT of swearing, which for a YA novel especially felt gratuitous and off-putting to me. Even if this hadn't been billed as YA, I wouldn't love the "F---tastic Four" (which I'm assuming is a clever play on the Fantastic Four, which I get, but maybe drop it once and laugh and then move on?) Tate also called Foster a b---- a lot, which made me immediately like him a lot less, so we had some hurdles to cross. Also, while G-Pa as a character rocks... "G-Pa"? Really? Who calls their grandpa that? I question some of the linguistic choices, but okay...

This is the first book in The Dysasters ... series? quartet? trilogy? I don't see that it's been announced yet. Originally I assumed it would be a quartet with each book focusing on an element, but that doesn't seem to be the route Cast and Cast are taking (which is awesome, because if we hadn't met Charlotte and Bastien in book 1 I might not have made it to meeting them...) Some story arcs are closed within this book and you could theoretically read it as a stand alone, but it also sets the stage and larger ongoing story arc for the rest of the series. I'll be sticking around to give book 2 a change (because I need me some more Charlotte and Bastien!!)

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for an advance copy for my honest review.

I love PC Cast so going in I knew I’d mostly love this just as much. I really enjoyed this book. The story plot is absolutely fantastic. I was hoping for a different ending but loved it none the less.

I love PC and Kristin Cast but I was more excited to see how their writing would grow outside of the house of night series. I liked the concept of this book. I realize now that my problem with some of their books is that the writing feels clunky and rushed at times. I love this plot but I was just trying to get through this story. I will have to try and read this again before the sequel.

I really enjoyed this book. For some reason for me it brought back memories of Superman. I am a huge fan of Superman. I loved the characters Foster and Tate. I was on the edge of my seat through this whole book. I wanted to know who was following them and why. I also got reminded a little of X-men in this book. But this book took it own path and that was just as cool. I hope P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast keep writing such great books. I love this book so much I will buy this book for my niece. "This book was given to me for free at my request NetGalley and I provided this voluntary review."

I have heard great things about the House of Night series by this author duo, so when I was sent an advanced copy of The Dysasters I jumped on it. X-men like powers, good vs evil….yes please! This sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately the execution was terrible. There were times where I'd sit the book down and think maybe I was just tired of reading at the time and come back to it an hour or so later….nope it really was awful.

As other reviewers have pointed out, The Dysasters was written by adult authors for teenagers. The unfortunate part about this is that it was clearly stereotyped. Yes teens are emotional, dramatic, occasionally curse, and can lash out. But y'all these main characters did these constantly with inappropriate timing. For instance, during their first meeting Foster calls Tate a d-bag and he responds by calling her a B----. Not cool! And definitely not going to get me to like either character.

The drama was OVER the top. Like way over! In the first few chapters, Foster argues with her mom, tornadoes destroy an entire town and quite literally kill everyone in said town, and Foster and Tate while three people from Foster's past chase them. Too much!

Personally I think if the story had been set around adults (even 19-20 years old) I would've enjoyed the story better….maybe. The whole plot was odd. You have Foster and Tate coming into their powers and trying to figure them out. And then you get the POV of the adults and Foster's dad who is like an evil scientist who is trying to find Foster and Tate, chase them down, etc. Also don't get me started on the weird POV that happens midway through the book. After I was finally finding a rhythm reading Tate and Foster's chapters, the authors threw in not one but two new POV. I think this would have been better served in the next book of the series, maybe focusing on different characters in each book OR introducing them at the beginning with Tate and Foster. It was confusing to say the least.

Overall, The Dysasters was a disaster... in my opinion anyways. I stopped reading around the 80% mark. I just couldn't keep going. If you enjoy science fiction, superhero type stories, maybe give it a read. You may enjoy it more than me.

This book fits in a nice little gap between middle reader and YA in that the text print is large, there are visual supports (like in a middle reader) but with YA content. This is so great for struggling readers!!

That aside, the story itself is quick moving, there is near constant action and there are enough twists to keep the papers turning!

So finishing this book I felt a bit underwhelmed. Maybe because I really enjoyed the House of Night series and went into this with too high expectations.

I felt that everything was fine. The characters and plot were fine. Everything was fine nothing really stood out to me. Well, the drawings throughout the book did. I enjoyed those and thought that they were unique. Everything else, however, was fine.

What I struggled with was the writing. It came off very young and some of the conversations between characters made me cringe. I feel like this would be good for someone younger, maybe around 13. With the writing feeling immature, I couldn’t really connect to the characters or storyline really.

I feel that this will appeal to a lot of readers. I don’t think that I will be continuing on with this series.

I started reading The Dysasters on 2/24/2019 and finished it on 3/9/2019. This book is an interesting read. I like the power of the elements. Tate’s grandpa is the coolest ever! I also like Mark because he cares for others. Charlotte and Bastian’s views are my favorite reads because they seem easy going and realistic. They have difficult relationships with their family members that could be easily relatable to many readers. The graphics within the story are unexpected but very much welcomed because it helps readers to imagine the story better. The main character, Foster is as bitchy as stated in the story and I don’t really care for attitudes but it’s well played on her part.

This book is told in the third person point of view following Foster, 18 as she and her adoptive mother, Cora gets ready to go to a high school football game to meet Tate Taylor. The second point of view is Tate Taylor, star football player at Homer High. A strong tornado came suddenly and wiped most of the town and its people. The third view is Mark who has the power to control the element water like rain is working with Matthew who controls wind and Luke who controls fire to search for Foster and Tate to bring them back to Dr. Rick Stewart. The fourth view is Eve who can control earth like earthquakes. Eve along with Mark, Matthew and Luke and eight others were genetically created by Dr. Stewart. The fifth view is Charlotte, a girl who was born Charles and loves the sea. The sixth view is Bastian who left fine food and money to be free near the sea. The seventh view is G-Pa, Tate’s awesome grandpa. From the sudden storm, Foster loses her adoptive mom Cora and Tate loses both of his parents; however, they discovered something about themselves that shocked them enough to go on the run.

The Dysasters is very well written and a unique read. It’s a bit overwhelming to follow so many point of views but I like to feel personal with the characters knowing what they are thinking. The story flows well and I enjoy both good sides and bad sides’ views. I like following their strategic planning as well as their challenges. I like the mad scientist-esque and especially IVF related because nowadays many babies are born through IVF. The story ends with me wanting to read more. This is my first read from the authors and it sure won’t be my last. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

Pro: fast paced, page turner, drawings, music, powers of elements, friendship, family, some romance, diversity

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Wednesday Books for inviting me to host a blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

The Dysasters is a teen adventure that reads like a comic book origin story. Everything is high stakes and dramatic, and of course All The Family Must Die (or be otherwise disconnected) to give each teen a tragic backstory. So if you're into your paranormal/superhero stories, this is one for you. It has a really cool concept: genius scientist experiments on embryos, resulting in teens who can control the four elements. Teens are spread out around the US, and scientist-turned-evil-genius sends his "children" to hunt them down, so it's up to the teens to band together and learn about their powers while evading the scientist.

The comic book feel was enhanced by the inclusion of art pages and panels throughout. I actually really liked these! Although... the teens were drawn like they were 30-year-olds with dramatic features. I don't know if this fit the existing tone of the story, or if how they were depicted encouraged a more unrealistic feel. You remember when they used to use adults to play teens in TV shows? Yeah, it was a bit like that. Real Smallville vibes.

This was a fun read, but it didn't hit as much as it could have, especially having previously enjoyed the duo's House of Night series. The writing was awkward and often quite cheesy. While I understand these teens were dealing with supernatural abilities, that doesn't mean the dialogue had to sound unnatural. And surely you'd notice you'd started floating past the 1-inch mark, let alone 5 feet in the air? Some of the plot was also highly formulaic. I could handle the whole pairing business, but did that mean that every pair has to automatically "pair up" romantically?

I also didn't understand Foster's relationship with her birth parents and her adoptive parents. Maybe it's not something I can understand because I've never been in that position, but she lost her birth parents when she was ...12? 13? But her connection to them came across as very distant and loose, as if she'd lost them as a young child and barely remembered them. But again, as someone who hasn't lost parents or been adopted, what do I know?

And let's not get started on the science and maths... Or how everyone was magically wealthy... Hmmmmmm...

But hey, there were some interesting things thrown in. For example, the characters are diverse in terms of race and background, and one is even a badass transwoman. Again, not trans, so I can't speak for the representation, but it's still nice to see some different representation and not just a group of cishet white teens.

All in all, this was a supernatural adventure romp that kicked off a fun series while also posing interesting questions about the ethics of tampering with DNA!

Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy this book, I feel like I've already read a variation on it. I couldn't really make a connection with the characters, the protagonist being a clichéd snarky, busty redhead with super powers. I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. Thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and P.C. and Kristin Cast for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

Guys, I really wanted to like this one. It checked a lot of my boxes. Kids with cool powers - check, mad scientist mutates DNA - check, secret island slash training facility - check, a little romance action - check, written by an author whose other works I like - check, was in the mood and looking forward to reading it - check, check, check. Not what I was hoping for. I found the premise played out, the characters cardboard cut-outs and nothing about the action interesting enough to keep me hooked. It was easy to read and although I never had the urge to give up, or not finish, I just plodded along, hoping it would get better, then realizing yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen, and like a kid on a long car ride I kept asking “are we there yet” waiting to arrive at the destination. Look, I don’t mind familiar, or done before as long as the how-you-get-there is interesting.

Foster and Tate are on the run and trying to stay one step ahead of Foster’s father and his four minions. Foster’s adoptive mother has spent the last year and a half teaching Foster how to stay off the grid and before her tragic death made Foster promise to protect Tate, find the safe house and locate six other teenagers who are also in danger. It turns out that Foster and Tate share more than a birthday. They also can control the element air. Each pair of the other teenagers will also come into their powers on their eighteenth birthday and be able to control one of the elements. Foster’s father, who was a brilliant scientist, did some experimenting while they were in-utero and modified their genetic make-up. Now he wants to kidnap the kids, study them on his secret remote island and exploit them for their powers. Can Foster and Tate stay safe? Will they be able to learn how to use their powers without causing weather disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes? Can they find the other kids in time?

This reminded me so much of “I Am Number Four”. There are small differences like Foster, Tate and the other kids are human, but they are all alone in the world, with no one to guide them. They have this power that has always been calling to them that they haven’t yet got under control. They make friends who will help them in their journey. They are on the run and must hide who they are. I found the romance between Foster and Tate inconsistent, unbelievable, uncomfortable and kind of icky. I think I didn’t respond to the writing. I am also tired and just plain angry when the misunderstood, alone in the world, girl has to be written as bitchy until she is understood, or she lets her walls down or whatever other nonsense. What was missing that I Am Number Four had was really evil and violent people chasing them and super cool monsters that got in on the fighting. These thirty year old whiners behaved worse than the children they were chasing and again the writing flip flopped between do we not like them or are we supposed to feel sorry for them. Overall, more danger to create some tensions, more connection or build up for the romance (I mean can they at least like each other before they fall in love) and some sort of super cool effects (if no monsters) would have really upped the ante in this story.

You know when you read a book and then see the movie and the movie is such a disappointment. This is one of those cases where I think the movie might be better than the book. Now, to my knowledge, no one is making the movie. In case anyone cares about my two cents, I think it would make a really good movie, if done well, a really great movie. The book, however, was just a yawn-fest. Am I going to check out the next in the series - you know me too well. But I will only go one more round. There are just too many other really good books out there, waiting for me to discover. But one more in the series, just in case things get interesting.

DNF at 31%

First of all, I'm a total sucker for the kind-of-a-douche-but-secretly-has-a-heart-of-gold jock male MC. I will fight anyone to the death who makes me feel bad about that. Now that that's out of the way...

I liked the premise of The Dysasters. And the cover screams "I am intense, action-packed and mindblowingly good". So of course I had high expectations. Not to mention I've read some high-praise reviews about the mother-daughter duo.

It started off okay if a bit confusing. You know that feeling when you're meeting with friends and you're the first to arrive and you end up with this irrational fear that you got the time and the place wrong? That's exactly what I felt like. It was a total state of loss and confusion. (And it was not a good feeling to have.) Granted, the authors may have been going for the "look this is an intense, action packed book" vibe. But I guess it just didn't come off exactly like that?

I liked Foster's brand of sarcasm. The illustrations too were unexpected but were, personally, a nice surprise.

But where did it really go wrong? Honestly, it all came down to the writing. It was awkward at best and cringy at worst. Foster and Tate's interactions were hard to watch (uhm, read?). At times it felt like they were throwing insults at each other just for the heck of it. I should also probably warn you about the amount of cursing thrown throughout the 31 percent of the book I actually read. I have no problem saying fuck and shit and insert-all-the-cuss-words-you-can-think-of-here but I think we can all agree not every situation calls for a fuck and/or a shit. Let's not diminish the severity of moments that are fuck appropriate, hmm?

I honestly can't see myself picking up the book again in the future. So.. to the DNF pile it goes.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: The Dysasters is a mix up of several things. I had the Captain Planet theme tune in my head for most of it.

Teens with extra abilities = drama, action and special friendships! I'd quite like my own I am Number Four, X-Men and Captain Planet style power, but these abilities do seem to bring a whole heap of problems!

Foster is an interesting character. She's troubled and kinda difficult but as I got into the story I could understand why.

Tate is oh so cute, but mainly he's really flipping patient! I'm not sure I would have been able to be anywhere near that patient with Foster but he seems to possess an inner strength.

I enjoyed the action and found myself drawn into their world. I did find myself getting frustrated with Foster along the way and I really feel for Tate. Oh the drama!

4 Stars in my Sky!

Freaking loved this! The ending was a little different than I was hoping but I am still pleased with it and cannot wait for the sequel!!! YouTube review to come , channel link on profile!

I requested this book because I remembered enjoying the HoN series by this mother-daughter duo.

Although I did enjoy the story and the images throughout the book I didn't feel that attraction to reading the hell out of this book like I did the HoN.

I will say that the premiss of the story and what is going on with the characters powers and abilities is interesting. Maybe is the first book syndrome or it might just be that I wasn't in the mood to read a book like this at the moment so I will be watching for the next book in the series and see how that goes.

I did buy myself a copy of the book because like I said it has some interesting images that go with the story and I really liked that.

This book has such potential, but it just fell so flat for me. I wish the characters were developed more as the premise itself is so promising. Not sure I'll pick up the next in the series, only perhaps when that too comes available on NetGalley.

The Dysasters is book 1 of a YA fantasy trilogy. It deals with a scientist, two central characters who have powers, and a lot of action. I had a hard time getting into this book. In fact, (and this is maybe because I was super stressed from work etc. so anything trivial bothered me) I disliked all characters and found them almost too juvenile for this book. The language used was also bothersome: from the way black characters were described to being written in colloquialism with the interception of a few highly-advanced words. It did not fit and made it awkward. I know that high-school students would like this book, but unfortunately it was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this eARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

After reading and enjoying this author's House of Night series, I wasn't sure what to expect from this new book. While it is clearly a beginning to a new series, it follows teenagers that are bonded to the elements. Each element has a bonded pair (so far boy/girl) and we are introduced to the Air pair (Foster/Tate) and the Water pair (Charlotte/Bastien) in this book. In addition to these teenagers there are other young adults who also manifest gifts for each element. It seems that all these people were the product of an experiment on the fetuses while in utero. Foster's adoptive father seems to be the scientist who began these experiments and the older adults who manifest the gift are in danger of losing their minds if all the teens are not brought to the island where they live to stabilize their gifts. After Foster and Tate meet and stop tornadoes in their tracks, the race is on to find the other pairs and keep them from their mad scientist creator. I liked the way the author described the teenagers practicing with their gifts like it was play but then were able to manipulate them in more serious situations. I will definitely be looking forward to the next installment in this series.