Some reviews

Willow
by Julia Hoban
Young Adult fiction

Willow, seventeen, is at a new school after losing control of her parents' car and killing both of them. While outwardly she is grieving the loss of her family in a relatively normal way, secretly she keeps her emotions at bay by cutting herself. When a boy from her school, Guy, discovers her secret, he refuses to turn a blind eye to her suffering. They develop a complicated and painful relationship that opens their eyes to the truths of love and loss. This novel is intense. It is a gritty, honest, and ultimately redemptive look at the ways in which we hold ourselves together inside and out.

Skinned
by Robin Wasserman
Young Adult science fiction

Lia Kahn's memories from the accident are terrifying--she remembers being crushed, trapped, buried. She remembers feeling her flesh burn. But when she wakes prepared to face the horrible reality of her recovery, she discovers that her brain has been scanned and downloaded into a not-quite-human body. Literally overnight, she has lost her social status, her boyfriend, her family, and everything else but her memories. As she bravely attempts to reintegrate her new self into her old life, she finds that there are others like her: unwilling occupants of digital bodies. Ultimately she must choose where her allegiances lie: to her old friends and family, who don't all believe she's still Lia Kahn; or to the Skinners, who have learned to form their own society. This book, the first in a trilogy, is like The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson meets Extras by Scott Westerfeld. I spent most of the book waiting for the kind of action that Scott Westerfeld excels in, but I wasn't disappointed when the plot focused on more emotional elements. I'm very excited to see what the next two books hold.