Romantically involved teens Miki and Jackson, who both have a mix of human and extraterrestrial DNA, are pulled back into the live-action video game where reality is blurred and danger is real. In this second series book (Rush), battling action takes a welcome backseat to stronger plot and character development, and a cliffhanger ending will leave fans waiting for more.

There is a war called Drau going on between humans and aliens. Human teenagers are fighting this war for a mysterious "Committee." The teens are pulled into an alternate universe where the fighting occurs. If they survive, they are dropped back into their lives with no loss of timetheir friends and families none the wiser. Push picks up immediately where Rush (HarperCollins, 2013) left off, with high schooler Miki Jones arriving back in her body at a diner with friends, only some of whom know about her alternate life. Miki is now a team leader, acting as a military commander for a small squad, trying to survive and figure out where her love interest, Jackson, disappeared to.The action is nonstop, with feisty Miki grieving for her mother, trying to find Jackson, working to keep her team members alive, and trying to see the bigger picture of this interspecies war. The fighting, the deaths, and the politics with the Committee are all so large that when Miki returns to her regular life, doing homework and going to family meals seem so small. It is jarring to read about school and doing the dishes so soon after the characters have been running for their lives, shooting aliens with futuristic weapons. Both the love story and the war story are compelling and readers who read the book for one reason may find themselves enjoying the other almost without meaning to. The cliffhanger ending will have readers chomping at the bit for the next book in the series.Geri Diorio.