Mundie Moms

Saturday, May 10, 2014

SCAN by Walter Jury & Sarah Fine, Blog Tour: Book Review


Welcome to today's SCAN blog tour! I'm thrilled to be able to share my review for Walter Jury & Sarah Fine's new release, SCAN. 


Published by: Penguin / G.P. Putnam's Son 
Released on: May 1, 2014
Source: arc from publisher to review
Rating: 3.5 stars - It Was A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
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Tate and his father don’t exactly get along. As Tate sees it, his father has unreasonably high expectations for Tate to be the best—at everything. Tate finally learns what he’s being prepared for when he steals one of his dad’s odd tech inventions and mercenaries ambush the school, killing his father in the process and sending Tate on the run from aliens who look just like humans. 

All Tate knows--like how to make weapons out of oranges and lighter fluid--may not be enough to save him as he’s plunged into a secret inter-species conflict that’s been going on for centuries. Aided only by his girlfriend and his estranged mother, with powerful enemies closing in on all sides, Tate races to puzzle out the secret behind his father’s invention and why so many are willing to kill for it. A riveting, fast-paced adventure, Scan is a clever alien thriller with muscle and heart.

SCAN is an out of this world read that YA Sci-Fi readers will enjoy. With plot twits, betrayals, intense action scenes, and a story that unfolds like an action packed TV mini series, SCAN takes on the classic alien invasion storyline and gives it a refreshing and exciting make over. SCAN was not at all what I was excepting. I'm not even sure what I was excepting... for some reason why I think of Sci-Fi I tend to lean towards thinking it will be boring and out of touch for me, because it's not typically something I read. But EVERYTIME I've read a well written YA Sci-Fi book, I've either totally loved, or really enjoyed it. I liked SCAN. It's one of those exciting reads that totally proved me wrong.

I liked that the story started off with me viewing the characters one way, and by the time the story really picks up the fast paced crazy wild ride of trying to figure out what the heck was happening, I began to see the characters differently. When Tate, SCAN's main character is introduced, I first impression of him was he was a typical teen character who thought his parent's didn't know much. He never wanted to do things his dad wanted him to do, and he  wanted to do things his way.  At first it seemed that Tate's dad was the kind of dad who pushes his son to exceed, excepts him to do whatever he says, whenever he says it, and allows Tate very little room to do the things he wants to do. It wasn't long into the story that I learned there was more to Tate's dad's actions than first seemed, and Tate himself has to quickly grow up and rely on all his dad taught him.

Tate is a kid, okay older teenager, who just wants to do what he wants. He's not really sure all his dad does, but he knows his dad is someone who takes the dangers of his job seriously. When Tate decides to break into his office and takes his secret scanner, everything changes and Tate is suddenly thrown into the middle of a dangerous secret that both the human and alien races have been fighting for centuries to keep hidden. Now Tate has to figure out, and make sense of everything unraveling around him. If he doesn't, what's left of the human race will be in grave danger. I liked that through out everything, Tate's girlfriend Christina stays by his side, despite the shocking secrets that could easily tear the two of them apart. 

SCAN is an unpredictable, action packed read. I liked the non stop action, the mystery, and the little bit of romance that fueled Tate's decisions. There was a lot that happened in this story that kept me hooked from beginning to end. Mixed into the story are a lot of plot twists & turns, betrayals, and this mystery of trying to figure out who Tate can really trust. A lot of people are after his father's scanner. Tate has to figure out who's on the right side. Other than Tate and his girlfriend, we really don't know who all the bad guys are. I loved the element of surprise. Not only that, Jury and Fine blur the lines a bit by showing readers both sides to the "good and bad" guys. Without giving anything away, I'll just saw that readers will get to see the passion behind both sides of the humans and aliens and I totally found myself 100% on the side of team Tate. 

Scan was seriously a good, fun, entertaining read. There are a lot of engaging elements to it. I liked that right along with Tate, I was piecing parts of the story together to try and figure out what was going on. The writing was great! Jury and Fine's writing complimented each other well. I love it when co-authors can write a book together and give it a voice that is impossible for the reader to distinguish who wrote what scenes. I think fans of YA Sci-fi are going to really enjoy this one. Trust me, you don't need to be a Sci-Fi fan to like it.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. That killer of a cliffhanger left me wanting more answers. 

*There is a few mentions of the f-word in this book.

About The Authors


Walter Jury was born in London, has a background in the film industry, is a big fan of the New York Giants, and enthusiast of Jamba Juice’s Protein Berry Workout smoothie only with soy, never whey. “Scan” is his first book for teens. Oh, and under his real name, he’s a producer of one of 2014’s biggest blockbusters. Let’s just say he “diverges” in his career from film to literature quite well. 


Sarah Fine was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author (as Sarah Fine) of several young adult books, and when she's not writing, she’s working as a child psychologist. No, she is not psychoanalyzing you right now. 

Check out the Authors on

About Penguin Group (USA) LLC is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (www.penguin.com) is a Penguin Random House company. 



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