I'm aggressively disappointed in myself for not adoring The Dysasters. But, it almost got tossed in the DNF pile multiple times.



Foster Stewart knows she's different. Her life has never been "normal." Talking to plants and controlling cloud formations aren't things most seventeen year olds are into. Tate "Nighthawk" Taylor is perfect. Star quarterback and all around dreamy boy next door he never thought about his "extra" abilities. What quarterback wouldn't want night vision? That's not weird, right? It's cool!

But on the night of their first meeting a deadly tornado brings them together and awakens their true abilities - the power to control the element air. Unbeknown to Tate and Foster, they are the first in a group of teens that were genetically manipulated before birth to bond with the elements. Which truly sucks for Foster, as she has to face the fact that Dr. Rick Stewart, her beloved scientist father, betrayed her and now wants to use her and the others for his own nefarious world domination plot.

Foster and Tate must stop Dr. Stewart and his minions before he destroys their lives and the world.



Back in the midst of the YA vampire craze a decade ago, I was completely obsessed with the House of Night series by this dynamic duo. While they aren't my auto-buy authors, they are a pair that I look back on fondly and occasionally check out their new releases. The Dysasters was, of course, one of those moments--the synopsis had me hooked instantly.

Unfortunately, the novel itself fell flat and didn't reach my personal expectations--in short? It wasn't my cup of tea. (I'm so sad. Don't look at me.) Don't get me wrong, the novel isn't bad. In fact, The Dysasters had a lot of good to it. P.C. and Kristin have that graceful and fast prose to their work that reminds us how well they work together. The worldbuilding we saw was fascinating and I loved the powers that specific characters had.

It also shows us just how much this mother-daughter duo has improved in terms of their combined efforts. Looking back on their writing in House of Night, and then looking to their more recent releases, you can definitely see how they've grown. I loved that The Dysasters, too, felt like a great change of pace to their past works.

There was a definite and distinct science fiction feeling to The Dysasters that was a little spooky and atmospheric. (Although, I see it is categorized on Goodreads as fantasy and paranormal. I found that it had that bending the genre quality that I typically enjoy.)

That being said, I found that I liked the premise--the ideas, the system of power, the prospect of a new brand of danger--of The Dysasters a lot more than I liked the execution of it. This doesn't make the novel an inherently bad book by any means--it merely means that it wasn't my cup of tea and, really, it is what it is.