Enter to win a copy of Sylo over at Scott Reads It! 
 I have never read the Pendragon series, despite the fact, that it's been on my radar for so long. That being said, this is the first book I've read by D.J. MacHale and it certainly won't be the last. MacHale crafts an interesting story in Sylo from start to finish and I definitely have a feeling that readers will quickly become hooked right from the start. Even though Sylo is an entertaining book, I still have a few issues with it. 
 I was hooked straight from the start with Sylo due to the ominous, strange events that occur in the first couple of chapters. The reader gets a good sense that something is off on Pemberwick Island and that it's all about to hit the fan. While reading this book, I really felt this "Under The Dome" vibe, though I'm not sure if that's what MacHale was looking to do. 
 Considering how much I enjoyed the beginning of Sylo, I was a bit disappointed by the middle of the novel. Sylo is a bit too slow-paced for my tastes and it takes way too long for the reader to get a sense of what is going on. A lot of my questions were answered way too late in the novel, and others were never answered at all. I would have rather slowly, progressively been given a clue as to what was going on Pemberwick. 
 I wasn't a huge fan of the characters in Sylo, but I didn't particularly dislike them either. Tucker, Quinn, and Tori were realistic, but for some reason I never really felt a connection to either of them. I would like for MacHale to include some humor in the dialogue in this book to make the novel a bit less grim and serious. 
 MacHale's writing style was nothing special and felt a bit unpolished at times. In the beginning, the writing was a bit choppy and there were too many run-on sentences. As the novel progressed, the writing became more refined and easier to read. Something that was consistent throughout the novel was the author's constant "telling". 
 Truthfully, I don't really see the similarities to Alex Rider, The Maze Runner, and Gone even though my ARC's compares Sylo to those 3 series. The only clear similarity I can of is that all of these books are action-packed books that male readers will love! MacHale definitely knows how to write intense, action scenes and theses are definitely the highlight of his book. The action scenes provided some relief from the constant, looming mystery and were extremely entertaining. 
 Sylo is one action-packed, thrilling read that will entertain readers until the very end. Sylo was a bit-childish at times, but that didn't really mar my opinion of the book. I hope in book #2, we get more answers because there was a bit too much resolved in this novel. I will most likely be continuing this series and I can't wait to see where Tucker and his friends will end up in the next book.