Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

This was a very engaging book. Tella is chosen to be a contender in the Brimstone Bleed.  The Brimstone Bleed is a survival contest where the prize is a cure for your dying loved one.  I found it engaging because Tella knows nothing of this contest till she is chosen and neither does the reader.  You are well into the book before you know why and how they are all chosen.  I really liked the aspect of the story that each of them are given a "pandora." Pandoras are creatures given to the contenders to help them.  Tella's pandora is a fox with extraordinary powers.  This reminded me of Phillip Pullman's novel "The Golden Compass" where the main character is helped along by her daemon.  Be aware.....this is going to be a series and it leaves us hanging in many respects.

The Cipher by John Ford

This book is like a spider web. It has so many threads woven together to create this fast paced, surprising mystery. Robert Smylie Jr., aka Smiles, is surrounded by math geniuses. His dad runs a company that used data encryption to keep online data safe. His neighbor Ben has found a code that will ruin his father's company. Smiles thinks he can save his dad's company and keep Ben safe but Smiles can't imagine the new secrets that come out to change everything.