The Rules by Stacey Kade

The Rules by Stacey Kade
Series: Project Paper Doll, #1
Source: Publisher for review
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: April 23, 2013

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

In the beginning, I wasn't sure that I would like The Rules. I didn't know anything about it, and the premise sounded kind of strange. But I was game to give it a shot. And I'm really glad that I did, because it surprised me! Turns out that I kind of like alien books. ;)

When I turned the first page, I had this sudden realization (love those!) "I'm going to like this book. Anything that starts out with such a bang deserves to be loved." Glad to see that my first thoughts weren't wrong.

I really liked Ariane as a character. At first she was kind of cold, but she gradually grew to be more human, and I loved her for that. She was vulnerable and strong, powerful yet weak-- this girl was a complete contradiction, but it worked for her!

Zane was also a good character-- but in a totally different way. He was more...I don't know, human? Whatever it was, it made him a great match for Ariane. He kind of balances her out, in his own way.

Dr. Jacobs and Rachel kind of freaked me out, though. They were both so power hungry, and the way that they were was downright scary! Nothing could get in their way, for fear of being bowled over. That's a good kind of villain-- but I have to say that Dr. Jacobs was far superior in that respect to Rachel. She was more of a high school bully.

On another note, I really loved the world building in this one-- it was pretty vividly imagined, right from the start!

All in all, The Rules was a superbly written book-- and I would recommend it to paranormal lovers.

"You have the option to be bored, to not care, instead of dreading every day. It's the powerful versus the powerless and guess which side you're on. ~ Pg. 165, ARC