The Rules (Project Paper Doll #1)

this book is so amazingly good!

if you loved Stranger Things, this book is definitely for you! imagine Eleven being a teenager and falling in love but her telekinesis is still intact! i swear this book is just everything and more.

in all honesty, you'll find the book to be more romance. and i swear, i had to stop myself from reading for awhile just to squeal and appreciate what was happening to Ariane and Zane in the sweetest way! I'm in love! the feels is so much and more. it's just beautiful! and the way that Stacey Kade wrote it is it's as if you were falling in love for the first time. those beautiful firsts that we experience in love. it's just amazing!

then as the book progresses, we'll find out the plot of the entire triology (so far). i loved the fact that this book was already leading up to the next one. And I am freaking excited!!!

the characters are superb and I love that it was written in dual point of view because we feel so much more for both Ariane and Zane. We get to understand more their circumstances and the way they look at the other characters.

and speaking of characters, i love the real-ness of them. not just Ariane and Zane but the minor ones and especially the antagonists are so freaking twisted it's amazing!

i just love the writing style. i realized while reading Ariane's pov that I had to back track and read a paragraph again, but when reading Zane's pov, it was smooth and understable. i then realize how would I understand the thoughts of an human-alien hybrid? I am human, that's why I get Zane more. but the way Ariane shares her stories are so significant that you overlook that part. going back to her writing, she definitely nailed the feelings. and just the thoughts of these characters are just so real.

i usually don't read a series in one go because I might see myself growing bored, but I'm actually really really really looking forward to reading the next book. i just cannot contain the excitement of what will happen next!

I love The Rules by Stacey Kade, it has everything I love in a YA book plus so much more. The Rules is full of twists and turns, romance (not the insta-love kind), emotion, aliens (sort of), and adventure.

The Plot

Ariane is not human, not fully, she’s a human/extraterrestrial hybrid. Made in a genetics lab where she was tested, isolated, and trained until a security guard stole her away. And after 10 years of hiding, Ariane knows the rules her ‘father’ has in place are to protect her and keep her safe.

Rules are made to be broken...

When Ariane’s only friend gets targeted by the school queen/bully Rachel, she knows she should keep her head down and follow the rules. However, Ariane can’t take much more of Rachel’s behavior and when Zane, the police chief’s son, comes to her with a deal to get even she can’t pass it up.

What I Thought

I learned about this book through the first reads giveaways. When I saw the cover I was like “meh” but I read the plot and was intrigued. I love YA novels and aliens are always a plus. So I entered to win and was lucky enough to receive a copy. I started reading and finished the book a few hours later. I couldn’t put it down. Stacey Kade successfully sucked me into her world and took me for a ride. Her writing style is mature with sentences that grabbed my attention. Ariane and Zane were characters I grew fond of; they were flawed, cute together, and behaved like normal teenagers (if you overlook the whole alien-raised in a lab thing).

Towards the end of the book Stacey surprised me with a couple twists that I did not see coming (good job). I even got a little emotional for Ariane and all that she went through. I like the ending and can’t wait to see the adventures Ariane and Zane encounter in The Hunt.

I recommend for anyone who loves YA novels, aliens, young love, and an interesting read.

The Rules was surprisingly awesome. It went beyond my expectation and was really enjoyable. Most sci-fi stories happened in the future or are post-apocalyptic but this one is different. It happened at present time, where aliens are still considered freaks and mean girls in high school is still a trend.

The first time you read it, you might say that this is just another high school story--unpopular girl with a very loud and insecure best friend, a mean girl who is the granddaughter of the biggest employer and a guy who's part of the mean girl's inner circle who eventually realises that he had enough of all the things this mean girl has done. Yes, it's quite cliche but here's the catch: that unpopular girl is an alien/human hybrid with awesomesauce powers that could be a weapon.

What made me feel on edge is the looming threat in every move Ariane makes. I'm freakin scared for her! But I also want her to forget the Rules and have fun. Every page made me guess what will happen next. It kept the suspense till the end. And the freakin revelation was some holy-shit moment for me. I seriously didn't see that one coming!

The characters were amazing. They had made a good impression especially Rachel. Her character wasn't made to just fill a spot to make the high school plot believable. (yes, because there's a mean girl in every high school) She was very relevant till the end. I even think she'll become a turncoat in the future.

I also loved how it ended as if really meant that the first part is done, like the next book would mean that their adventures will be another chapter in their lives. It wasn't a cliffy but it still made me want to read the next book ASAP. A really amazing start to a series. A very cool and unique sci-fi story.

The Rules caught me by surprise. Despite being far less science fiction than teenage drama – think high school revenge, the resident mean girl, all the usual clichés – it captured my interest from the very start and refused to let go. Oddly, and maybe even a little begrudgingly, I quite liked it.

Our main character, Ariane Tucker, is an alien-human hybrid whose life is firmly moulded by a set of inflexible rules. These are rules that dictate her social standing, that force her to be as invisible as possible, that warn her against falling in love. But, as is the custom in such situations, rules are made to be inevitably broken. Her telekinetic and telepathic abilities make blending in a challenge, as does the gradual interest Zane Bradshaw begins to show in her. Despite the intriguing flashbacks we are treated to of Ariane’s stay at GenTex Labs, and the brief and flitting mentions of her extra-terrestrial roots, this book is, essentially, more of a contemporary tale than anything else. We have school fairs, the popular in-crowd, a house party and more. It’s easy to enjoy, however, despite being shades away from the sci-fi thriller that might be expected.

That’s not to say there isn’t appropriate tension and action eventually. Towards the end, although not outstandingly thrilling, the storyline takes far more of an exciting turn and is preceded by a surprising twist or two. The rest is entertaining – or, at least, engaging – and the writing and interesting characters help. The story is narrated by both Zane and Ariane, with the alternating perspectives flowing seamlessly enough. Admittedly, at first, Zane sounds a little more female than he does male (or what I consider male!), but this isn’t a huge issue after a while. Kade has a simple but effective writing style that is wonderfully easy to follow. There is a touch of subtle wit to it that works very well, making her characters a little more accessible.

Although I wouldn’t call Ariane the most riveting protagonist ever, she is adequately likable. The same can be said for Zane. The two fulfil quite stereotypical roles, it must be said, but do so in a way that is not nearly as aggravating as one might assume. Zane is the popular jock and love interest whose attention on the ordinary, nothing-special girl is something that we have seen countless times before. Despite that, the romance is generally well-paced and not unpleasant. Both characters have experienced emotional pain first-hand, and their connection to each other as a result, for the most part, feels genuine. The woe-is-me-ing is kept to a splendid minimum, thankfully. The Rules is perhaps even a little more character-driven than it is plot, but this suits it perfectly. We get an appropriate handful of smile-inducing scenes that I’m certain the majority of romance enthusiasts will enjoy.

There isn’t much else to say about this book. It’s a good start to the Project Paper Doll series, if nothing more, but those who are after something distinctly sci-fi with plenty of accompanying action will be better off looking elsewhere. In the meantime, I’ll make it my mission to read Stacey Kade’s well-received debut, The Ghost and the Goth.

Rating: 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this first book, the pacing was great, and there was character growth as well as a romance that I cheered for.
The Rules sucked me in right away. Even though I was a bit confused on the whys and hows of Ariane's condition, as well as who she replaced and how exactly that worked, I still immediately liked what I was reading, and I wanted more. Though I will say that I expected something different from this book based on the synopsis, but I wasn't disappointed in what I got.
Ariane is a mixture of human and alien DNA, and I really like how that gives her strengths, but also weaknesses. Big ones, that she has to deal with. As her back story is revealed little by little, I learn why the Rules are in place, and more about her connection with her "dad" Michael Tucker. Who, for the record, I really admired. I liked how much he cared for her, and his reasoning for taking Ariane in the first place. He is so protective, and their relationship seems so authentic.
I connected with Adriane and her feelings of not belonging. That yearn to fit in. It was so sad how she really couldn't get too close with anyone because she doesn't want to draw attention to herself or else the lab she escaped from could notice her. But even though she has the different DNA, it really begs the question what makes a human. She shows the full range of emotions, from anger, protectiveness, and love in its different forms. She has special abilities, so I know that sets her apart, but at her core, how different is she really?
And I don't know if having someone as a narrator makes me more susceptible to like someone, but being in Zane's head did that for me. I don't think that I would normally fall for someone in the "in crowd" like him. But seeing that he had some deeper emotional value behind the pretty face, and that even though he was friends with people like Rachel, the "it and mean girl" of their high school, he didn't support all that she stood for or did. As I learned more about his home life, and the more I was in his head, the more that I liked him. He had pure a pure heart underneath the tough exterior and the things that he did to fit in.
The romance between the two is sweet, and I really enjoyed those moments. I love how it started out of revenge and then evolved into something else.
The twist near the end really got me. I was expecting one part but DEF not the other. I guess I should have read Rule 1: Don't trust anyone more closely. It makes me want to retract one of the statements above that I wrote while in the middle of the book and had started jotting down my thoughts, but it is true for that part in the story, so I will leave it. I am eager for the next book, and sadly can't find much else about it, but I will certainly be watching Ms. Kade's blog and goodreads for more info.

Bottom Line: Sweet and fast paced story from two characters that I rooted for.