Review: The Accident Season by Moira Fowley Doyle

Book Title: The Accident Season
Author: Moira Fowley Doyle
Published Date: August 18th, 2015
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Genre: YA Paranormal
Standalone
Book Link: Goodreads
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads
Every October Cara and her family become inexplicably accident-prone. Some years it’s bad, like the season when her father died, and some years it’s just a lot of cuts and scrapes. They know what they need to do—stock up on bandages and painkillers, cover sharp table edges with padding, banish knives to locked drawers, switch off electrical items. They buckle up, they batten down.

But this accident season—when Cara; her ex-stepbrother, Sam; and her best friend, Bea, are seventeen—none of that will make a difference.

Because Cara is starting to ask questions. And the answers were never meant to be found.

A haunting, untethered, addictive read that perfectly captures that time in our lives when our hearts crack open and the raw secrets of our true selves burst forth—whether we are ready or not.

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review
What did I just read?

I’m not even kidding about this. I’m so utterly baffled with this book. I am feeling all sort of things about this book. Good things, definitely.

I know the back of this book said that it was for fans of We Were Liars, but I was not a fan of We Were Liars, so I was worried that this book wouldn’t work for me. Bu I was willing to give it a shot.

I gotta say that The Accident Season was very compelling, and there were characters in this book that were interesting, quirky and they were characters that I was excited to learn about. I wanted to know more about them and what makes them tick.

I got more and more invested in the book as I kept reading. I wanted to know what was really going on. I wanted to know about Alice, Cara, Sam & Elsie. I was curious to know if this was all in Cara’s head or if all of this was actually really happening.

As I kept reading this book, I thought it was similar to Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and (Don’t You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn. Both of those aforementioned books, we didn’t find out what was really going on until the very end. That was also true with The Accident Season.

I am going to give this book 4 stars because I really enjoyed the book overall. I didn’t know what to expect with it, but I am really glad I read it. I love books that keep me wanting more and that’s exactly what this book did for me.

Review: The Boy Most Likely To (My Life Next Door #2) by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Book Title: The Boy Most Likely To
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Published Date: August 18th, 2015
Publisher: Dial Books
Genre: YA Contemporary
Series: Companion to My Life Next Door
Book Link: Goodreads
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads
A surprising, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door—great for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To find the liquor cabinet blindfolded, need a liver transplant, and drive his car into a house.

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To . . . well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this novel is for readers of The Spectacular Now, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Paper Towns.

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review
I don’t know how Fitzpatrick does it, but I love it.  I enjoyed My Life Next Door immensely when I first read it, and when I found out this book was going to be about Tim & Alice I was stoked. Tim had been an intriguing character in My Life Next Door and I was very excited to read his story.

I was not disappointed. At all.

Tim had been the screw-up of his family for a long time. He had been the one to be kicked out of school, become an alcoholic and has a very cavalier attitude about sex. Unlike Alice, his family is not close, they aren’t loving or welcoming.

I’m still crazy about Alice’s family. The Garretts are utterly awesome, and I adore them all. From Mr. & Mrs. Garrett to toddler Patty. The boys, particularly Harry & George are still some of my favorite characters in this book.

“What’s a virgin?”
“Something about a forest.”

When I read that exchange from Harry & George I laughed so hard Dr. Pepper came out of my nose.

There’s Andrea “Andy” who begins high school in this book and she’s got all sorts of questions about guys, but she also has some words of wisdom that she hands out to Alice.

“Alice, c’mon you can have a bad day. Without it being your period or you being a ballbuster-see I said it-or a wimp or calling yourself names.”

Alice was struggling, trying to keep up on everything. She felt like taking care of her siblings, paying the bills, doing her schoolwork and going up against Grace Reed, the ice queen who just happened to be the mother of her brother’s girlfriend, was all on her. Alice was trying desperately to keep things afloat for her family, even when it wasn’t her concern. She loved her family, that much was obvious, but it wasn’t until her dad finally said something that she stepped back and handed the reins back to her mom & dad.

I gotta say that I suspected what Tim’s consequence would be, actually I could have bet my money on it, and if I had, I’d have been rich. However, how things ended with that little consequence was something I didn’t expect.

Now, about Tim & Alice, goodness I loved them. It was very much a slow burn romance, for which I was grateful. So if you’re expecting them to get together right away, you’re going to be disappointed. I loved how it happened though. It seemed very realistic, especially from Alice who has her walls up and from Tim who is trying to mature.

Overall, I did absolutely love this book. I liked it even more than My Life Next Door. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because Alice reminded me a bit of myself, plus the fact that Tim had red hair and I’m always a sucker for guys & girls with red hair. I am giving this book 5 stars and I need to get a copy of this book for my personal library ASAP.

Book Blitz: Push Me, Pull Me by Vanessa Garden

Push Me, Pull Me
by Vanessa Garden
Release Date: 8/25/15
Limitless Publishing

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Summary from Goodreads:
Since Ruby Milton’s mother committed suicide, she’s forgotten what it’s like to be seventeen.

Saddled with taking care of her toddler brother and alcoholic father, Ruby has no time for fun. She also can’t shake the growing resentment she feels for her mother’s decision, which left her unable to grieve without anger and regret.

Then she meets blue-eyed musician Byron Black, who challenges everything she believes.

Byron refuses to let anyone control his life—or his death. When he left the city behind, he was in search of somewhere where nobody knew his secret. What he didn’t expect was to meet a beautiful redhead whose views conflict so completely with his own. But as their romance deepens, he begins to doubt his choices and decides to return to the city…for one last chance.

When Byron disappears, Ruby will stop at nothing to track him down.

Upon finding Byron, Ruby discovers his devastating secret, and a battle of wills begins. Byron doesn’t want her to know this part of him. He has to deal with it by himself, even though the idea of losing her tears him apart.

Will they be able to see each other through the darkness?

Or should they save their hearts and just let go?

Guest Post

Push Me, Pull Me Author, Vanessa Garden, in Threes
3 things I love about being a writer:
-Getting to do things vicariously through my character, things I’d never get to do in real life – like kissing a hot, mysterious musician in the rain!
-Being able to work in my pyjamas
-Having a good excuse for my sometimes messy house

3 ways I make time to write:
-I try to ignore the TV
-I sleep less (which unfortunately results in a very absent mind the next day
-I try to get up early in the morning while the rest of the house sleeps

3 books that made me want to become a writer:
-Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (because it is just brilliant)
-The Heaven Series by Virginia Andrews (because of Troy in the maze *sigh* – I read and re-read this series as an early teen about ten times)
-Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (because I still get teary eyed thinking about the characters and their yearning for a better life)

 

About the Author
A bookseller and Young Adult author, Vanessa loves nothing more than immersing herself in the exciting world of books. When she is not raving about her favourite reads with customers, or mentally casting actors to play the characters in her next novel, she enjoys hanging out with those she loves most.

Author Links:

   

GIVEAWAY:
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Review: The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

Book Title: The Creeping
Author: Alexandra Sirowy
Published Date: August 18th, 2015
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers
Genre: YA Horror/Mystery
Standalone
Book Link: Goodreads
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Eleven years ago, Stella and Jeanie disappeared. Stella came back. Jeanie never did.

Now all she wants is a summer full of cove days, friends, and her gorgeous crush—until a fresh corpse leads Stella down a path of ancient evil and secrets.

Stella believes remembering what happened to Jeanie will save her. It won’t.

She used to know better than to believe in what slinks through the shadows. Not anymore.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an e-ARC from Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers in exchange for my honest review.

Review
I’ve been in an epic slump over the past few weeks. This slump included both reading and blogging, so I was definitely nervous to read this book. I really didn’t want the first book I’ve read in weeks, to be a disappointment.

Thankfully, this book was an awesome surprise.

With books in this genre, I put a lot of importance on the writing. I want to feel scared. I want to be intrigued. I want to be afraid of the unknown. Sirowy’s writing did that for me.  I basically read 85% of the book in one day.

I was utterly captivated by the mystery and horror that Sirowy created. I won’t say much about the mystery & horror aspect because I want to avoid spoiling the book for those who haven’t read it yet.

What I wasn’t expecting was the romance. I loved, LOVED the romance. It was unexpected as there isn’t normally romance in books like this. But it was cute and sweet to see how this boy cared for Stella.

Stella did have a bit of a toxic friendship with Zoey. Zoey really drove me insane. She was judgmental and rude and mean, especially to the boy Stella falls for. Yet, Stella continues to defend her. That drove me insane. I understood that Stella felt this loyalty to Zoey, but I desperately wanted Stella to have a backbone.

The mystery of what happened to six year old redheaded Jeanie was captivating. I kept wanting to read more and more. I wanted to learn more about that day, but Stella couldn’t remember anything.

Until bits and pieces started coming back to her.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It did remind me a bit of The Devil You Know by Trish Doller, which I also enjoyed. This book will be getting 5 stars from me.

Review: What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

Book Title: What You Left Behind

Author: Jessica Verdi

Published Date: August 4th, 2015

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author.

 Review:

I legitimately don’t know how Jessica Verdi does it. She creates compelling stories with interesting characters. Tosses in a lot of feelsy moments and voila, she’s got a story that I will fall in love with. What You Left Behind was definitely different than her previous books, but it followed her formula to a T.

 

Interesting plot. Check

Captivating characters. Check

Tons of feels. Check

 

It took me a bit of time to warm up to Ryden to be totally honest. He seemed to be struggling with everything and trying to do it all. He didn’t want his life to change at all and he relied heavily on his mom to care for Hope, his baby. I know it’s probably tough to assume so much responsibility so quickly, but his actions at the beginning of the book were a bit maddening. 

 

He was baffled that his daughter seemed to hate him, but babies at her age form attachments to the people who care for them the most. In this case, that was Ryden’s mom. Ryden is still in school, playing soccer and working. It doesn’t feel like his schedule was really changed at all and to be honest, he seemed selfish at times. It was probably his age, but it was definitely something that I noticed. 

 

Finally things started to change, Ryden had to make some decisions about Hope and his mom couldn’t make the decisions because she was not the baby’s next of kin.

 

Most of the reviews will probably focus on Ryden’s growing romance with Joni, and I will talk about her later, but right now I want to talk about Ryden’s relationship with his mother. We don’t usually get to see mother/son relationships in YA. In fact, I think this book may be the first one I’ve read with such a positive mother/son relationship. In fact, I think it was my favorite part of this book. She was just so supportive and kind to her son and to her granddaughter.

 

I really liked Joni. She was quirky, fun and she had a healthy self respect for herself. She was good for Ryden. I was excited for them to get together, and I rooted for them. They made sense as a couple. I wish we had seen more of Joni because I feel like we didn’t get to know as much about her as I would have liked.

 

The journals told a story. A story that we learned about right alongside Ryden. It showed that this whole situation was not as black and white as we all initially thought. I am a very black & white thinker, so this made me do a lot of thinking. I  didn’t love Meg, but her journals helped me understand certain things that she did.

 

Jessica Verdi had already earned herself on my auto-read & auto-buy author lists, and this one was certainly no exception. I really enjoyed this book and will be giving it 4.5 stars. I do recommend this book because not only was it unique, but it also had some diverse and interesting characters.

Waiting on Wednesday #10

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. It is a way to showcase upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My Pick

Book Link

Synopsis from Goodreads

A surprising, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door—great for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han 

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To find the liquor cabinet blindfolded, need a liver transplant, and drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To . . . well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this novel is for readers of The Spectacular Now, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Paper Towns.

My Reaction

My Life Next Door was one of my favorite books that I read in 2014 and when I heard that Tim and Alice were going to get their own story, I was stoked. Beyond stoked actually. It needs to be August now. I don’t know how I am going to wait another 3 months until it’s in my hands. I may need to reread My Life Next Door in preparation for Tim and Alice’s story. The cover is perfect. I love it, and it seems perfect for this book. My guess is that a lot of it will be fluffy with a bit of drama thrown in. I’ve been distancing myself from the fluffy contemporaries lately, so this should be interesting

Waiting on Wednesday #7 What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

This feature is hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. It’s a way to showcase upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

What You Left Behind is about a teen wrestling with the guilt that if he hadn’t gotten his girlfriend pregnant, she wouldn’t have postponed her chemo treatments – and would still be alive. But as Ryden struggles to be a good father and grieve his girlfriend’s death, he uncovers secrets that will make him reconsider every relationship in his life.

Book Information

Book Title: What You Left Behind

Author: Jessica Verdi

Publication Date: August 1st, 2015

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA Contemporary

Book Link: Goodreads

My Reaction

Oh my goodness, I want this book in my hands right now. How am I going to wait for August? I adore Jessica Verdi’s books and I’m quite sure waiting for this one will kill me. I will definitely be adding this book to my shelves.

What books are you eagerly anticipating?