Stacking The Shelves #83

This feature is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Well, this is what happens when I move this feature to once a month and in that month Harper does multiple e-galley drops onto Edelweiss.

I end up with just about 50 books.

Granted, not all of them were review books, but 27 of them were. 23 from Edelweiss, 4 from NetGalley, I got an e-galley of a book for a blog tour, I got an e-galley of a book for an upcoming Sunday Street Team event. 12 were library books. I bought 5 books. One was a trade & three were from my Secret Sister.

Bought


Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen
Nearly Gone (Nearly Gone #1) by Elle Cosimano
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Received for Review
-Edelweiss-








Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird #2) by Claudia Gray
Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson
Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor
The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude
Flamecaster (The Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima
The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Dreamology by Lucy Keating
Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan
Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers
The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1) by C. J. Redwine
Harmony House by Nic Sheff
Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace
The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins
The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen #2) by Jodi Meadows
Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr (No cover yet)
The Leaving Season by Cat Jordan
Other Broken Things by Christa Desir
Consent by Nancy Ohlin
Shade Me (Nikki Kill #1) by Jennifer Brown
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
This Is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang
Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore

-NetGalley-


Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Menagerie (Menagerie #1) by Rachel Vincent
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Placebo Junkies by J. C. Carleson

Blog Tour

The Body Institute by Carol Riggs

Sunday Street Team

Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith

Library




Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
When We Wake (When We Wake #1) by Karen Healey
When We Run (When We Wake #2) by Karen Healey
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Joyride by Anna Banks
Return to the Dark House (Welcome to the Dark House #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Our Brothers at the Bottom of the Bottom of the Sea by Johnathan David Kranz
The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
The Accident Season by Maria Fowley Doyle
Rebel Mechanics (Rebel Mechanics #1) by Shanna Swendson
Time After Time (Time Between Us #2) by Tamara Ireland Stone

Gifted

Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
Biggest Flirts (Superlatives #1) by Jennifer Echols
Eve (Eve #1) by Anna Carey

Received via trade

The Secret Diamond Sisters (The Secret Diamond Sisters #1)

Thank you to everyone who helped make this haul so big. If you’ve read any of these books or if you plan to, please let me know.

Review: The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

Book Title: The Devil You Know

Author: Trish Doller

Published Date: June 2nd, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s USA

Genre: YA Thriller

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it’s just the risk she’s been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions. 

A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC as a gift from a fellow blogger. Thanks Emily!

Review:

So Trish Doller really knows how to write books that people will love, but she also knows how to write books that are so different from one another. This woman is insanely talented and I’d kill to have her talent for writing such dynamic stories. Her first two books were more of the contemporary romance type, with the flawed characters that I love so much. The Devil You Know was totally different, in a mind-blowing, fantastically awesome way.

I have a feeling a lot of people will be irked by some or all of Cadie’s choices. Yes, she really does make some questionable choices, I’ll admit that. However, Cadie has been this “perfect” teenager who has helped her dad raise her little brother ever since her mom died of cancer several years before. She has also been essentially holding down the fort by taking care of everything that her father should be taking care of. Cadie’s been under immense pressure, and I couldn’t blame her for just wanting to be a normal teenager, a teenager who is allowed to make stupid mistakes, and who isn’t always perfect.

The book itself is slow in the beginning, just like Doller’s first two have been, yet I knew some insanity was about to go down, so I was willing to wait and be patient. Doller has yet to disappoint me, and I just knew that she wouldn’t disappoint me this time around. Early on, we’re introduced to cousins, Matt & Noah (PSA authors, please stop using the name Noah)  and because of the synopsis, my brain starts spinning. Right away, I begin looking for clues as to who I could trust and who I couldn’t.

Cadie has very strong opinions, all thanks to her mother who encouraged her to have strong opinions. This leads to her speaking up when she feels that Noah and Matt are trying to take ownership of her,

“Poach? Seriously? Like I’m an endangered white rhino instead of a person? Pretty sure I’m capable of choosing for myself, instead of waiting for you guys to decide who gets me.”

Interestingly only one of the boys apologized for it. If I had been paying better attention to that part, I would have noticed the red flag.

The following day, the four of them meet Naked Ed. Oh my goodness, if I had known he was going to provide the last real bit of comedy in this book, I would have laughed even harder. He was awesome, and I wish he had been a bigger player in this story.

When Lindsay just up and disappears, that’s when I knew something was fishy, and Cadie was probably in danger. I was really annoyed about how she handled that situation though. I mean, I know they weren’t best friends, but by this point, red flags are slowly popping up all over the place. Instead of being worried, and questioning, she’s falling hard for Noah and she’s contemplating sex with him.

I do have to say that Doller treats sex very positively, and she uses it in a very empowering way. So often girls are told that “good girls don’t have sex” and if they do have sex, then they’re sluts or whores. Whereas if a boy has sex, he’s a stud. I really, really hate the double standard. Cadie mentions the conversation that she had with her mother when she was 12 years old.

“Virginity wasn’t something to be lost or won, given or received.”

That quote was very thought provoking, but not quite as much as the next quote.

“And you don’t lose value by having sex.”

So many teenage girls are told that a boy won’t want “sloppy seconds” or that if a girl has sex, she’s worthless. I really think teenage girls need to read this book, just based off of the sex positive message that is in this book. I know the sex positive message isn’t what this story is about, but it is in the story and it’s something that I felt the need to mention.

When Cadie finds out that Lindsay didn’t make it home after a supposed family emergency and also that she had told her family that she was still with Cadie, that’s when Cadie begins to realize that something is not right and that she could be in danger. She begins to wonder if Noah is really all he’s cracked up to be. She begins to wonder if she’s missing something about him.

Near the end of the book, one of the boys labels his cousin as having antisocial behavior disorder, which is basically the same as being a sociopath. But as the book goes on, I realized that this boy was talking about himself and that he has this disorder, and that he’s the sociopath.

“Sociopathy isn’t an affliction Cadie. It’s a gift.”

Chills. All the chills.

This book was awesome. I hadn’t read a really good thriller in a long time and I knew that Doller would deliver in a big way and she did. She delivered a creepy, terrifying book that reminded me of a roller coaster with all the twist and turns. It should come as no surprise that I’m giving this book 5 stars. She was already on my auto-buy list, and I really, really hope she writes another thriller.

Review: Apple & Rain by Sarah Crossan

Book Title: Apple & Rain

Author: Sarah Crossan

Published Date: May 12th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s USA

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads

When Apple’s mother returns after eleven years of absence, Apple feels almost whole again. In order to heal completely, her mother will have to answer one burning question: Why did she abandon her? But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother’s homecoming is bittersweet. It’s only when Apple meets her younger sister, Rain—someone more lost than she is— that she begins to see things for how they really are, allowing Apple to discover something that might help her to feel truly whole again.

From the author of the acclaimed The Weight of Water comes a beautifully-crafted, moving novel about family, betrayal, and the ultimate path to healing.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury Children’s USA in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

When I first saw the synopsis for Apple & Rain, I was excited and hopeful. Sister stories are some of my favorite things, and I was hoping I’d love the book as much as I loved the cover. Unfortunately I spent the majority of the book metaphorically banging my head against a wall. These characters all frustrated me in varying degrees.

Apple wanted her mom to come back. She held her mom up on this pedestal. Even when she did come back and make some extremely questionable decisions, it took a long time for Apple to even realize that just because her mom was back didn’t mean everything was perfect. Apple was a very frustrating character, but she was also the one who had the best character arc. By the time the book ends, she realizes that her mom isn’t perfect and that her grandmother was more of a mom to her than her own mom.

I felt terrible for Rain. Clearly she had a lot of problems and I hated how her mom handled them. Yeah she carried around a baby doll, who she swore was a real baby. Most moms would have been extremely concerned about that and would have done anything to get her the help she needed. Yet, Rain and Apple’s mom didn’t give a crap. All she cared about was her career and the parties she would have (which involved plying her oldest underage daughter with alcohol)

Apple and Rain’s mom, Annie, was incredibly selfish. She didn’t give a crap about how Apple felt about anything. She would randomly pull Apple out of school for the hell of it, or even to babysit Rain while she went on auditions. So instead of being selfless and focusing on what her daughters needed, Annie focused on herself. Her career seemed to be all that mattered to her. It was utterly infuriating.

As for Nan, Egan and Del and the other secondary characters, they were woefully underdeveloped, which bummed me out. I wanted to know more about them, particularly Del. I thought there was a lot more to him than met the eye.

The book definitely improved by the ending, and in fact I was able to bump it up one full star. I was excited about that because I had felt so frustrated by the book so far. I am definitely bummed that this wasn’t an emotional read like I was expecting. I didn’t laugh or cry at all and I think that was simply because I didn’t connect with the characters. I’ll be giving this book 3 stars.

Review: The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

Book Title: The Last Good Day of the Year

Author: Jessica Warman

Published Date: May 19th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s USA

Genre: YA Mystery

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author ofBetween.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury Children’s USA, in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, I was excited for it, but I was also really nervous to read it. It was definitely slow in the beginning, and it took me awhile to really get into it. I actually picked it up and put it down a few times before I just read it all the way through. I am really glad I did this as it just got better and better as I kept reading.

We’re introduced to Sam’s family, including her older sister Gretchen and her younger sister Hannah. Hannah was born five years after Tabitha “Turtle” was kidnapped. Everyone knows that Hannah was conceived just to pull their mom out of her deep dark depression, and from early on, we learn that Hannah is already learning that being pretty makes things better. That, right there, gave me the creeps. She was a small child who really shouldn’t need to worry about that stuff. Not only that, but Hannah is still unaware of Turtle’s existence.

Steven was looked at as the prime suspect from the beginning. Not only did Sam and her best friend, Remy named him, but also because Steven had had arguments and disagreements with Gretchen’s father. Things between Gretchen and Steven ended abruptly when Steven was arrested for murdering Turtle.

I know Steven’s mom was standing by her son, but I gotta say, her derogatory language about her son’s girlfriend was definitely something that pissed me off. She clearly didn’t think her beloved son could have done anything wrong. She may have turned a blind eye to the truth because even if Steven didn’t kill Turtle, he was not totally innocent. As the book went on, I began to realize that even if he didn’t kill Turtle, he was still a creepy guy, borderline obsessive.

There was an odd little love triangle thing, Sam feels a connection to Noah because she met him at a support group for people whose have had a family member murdered. But she is also still connected to Remy. Remy represents her childhood and all the carefree things that happened before Turtle was kidnapped.

As the book continues, more suspects pop up, including an Amish guy by the name of Frank Yarrow and an old family friend. This is when things start to get a little crazy. Secrets come to light and we find out who was really a part of this whole mess. I guessed the twist before it was revealed, but I didn’t mind that at all because I didn’t figure out the entire story.

The ending was insanity, I wrote this review the day after I finished this book and I was still thinking about it. Still thinking about one certain part that I would love to talk about, but can’t because it’s massively spoilery. I do recommend this book, but only if you are patient enough to read it because the beginning is definitely slow, but it is definitely worth it. I am giving it 4 stars because the story and how everything is weaved together is done really well.

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Book Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publish Date: May 5th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Genre: YA Fantasy

Series: Book One in A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Timesbestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about faeries, or if I have, it was forgettable. This book is definitely not forgettable. This book has Tamlin & Lucien, both of whom will make you melt into a damn puddle. They are hot, sexy, swoony fae men, who ooze hotness at every page turn. They both are distrustful of Feyre at first, but slowly, she begins to win them over.

Both Lucien and Tamlin have their own sad stories, stories we learn about as the book unfolds. They each have their own reasons for feeling, thinking and acting the way they do. My heart will always belong to Lucien due to some of the things we learn about him. Plus I’ve always had a thing for guys with red hair.

The romance between Tamlin and Feyre was so incredibly hot. I mean I don’t think any book has ever caused me to blush this hard. Maas knows how to write steamy, sexy things so, so well. I am forever grateful that I did not read this book in public. Don’t read this book in public guys. Unless you are one of the few who don’t mind when people see you blush. Because you will blush during certain sexy points in this book.

But it will be well worth it.

The lengths Feyre goes in order to prove her love for Tamlin are inspiring. I did a lot of thinking about this and the things she’s asked to do in the name of love, I don’t think I’ve loved anyone to the extent that I’d be willing to take part in terrifying things. Reading this book, and watching Tamlin & Feyre’s love story develop, made me realize that I would never have done what she did for my ex fiance. 

That right there was a startling revelation.

The world building was amazing, and it really made me feel like I was right there, in the action with Tamlin, Lucien, Feyre and the others. It was my first Maas book, but it definitely will not be my last. It was sexy, fast paced and exciting. Fantasy books are quickly becoming my second favorite genre and right now, as I type this, A Court of Thorns and Roses is my favorite Fantasy book of 2015. I cannot wait for everyone to read this awesome book. 5 stars to this fantastic book full of romance, intrigue and beautiful words.

Review The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Book Title: The Start of Me and You

Author: Emery Lord

Publish Date: March 31st, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Kids

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for a year, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

Sweet mother of God, Emery Lord is a WIZARD! 

I fell in love with her debut, Open Road Summer last year and never in a million years thought that she could do better. It was a beautiful debut that had everything I could want in it: friendships, cute boys and music. When I got book number 2 in the mail I had just started hearing whispers that The Start of Me and You was actually better than Open Road Summer. It wasn’t until I finished reading it that I had to concede that those whispers were correct.

The Start of Me and You is about friendship, family and of course, love. In this book we meet Paige, whose boyfriend died a year ago and who she’s still grieving for. She is still greeted with “That Look” very often and then sometimes complete strangers send her pitying looks. She wants this year to be the best year ever. She even has a plan.

1. Parties/Social events

2. New group

3. Date

4. Travel

5. Swim

She has wonderful friends who have been there for her in this past year. Gosh, I just love the way Lord writes about friendships. Tessa, Morgan, and Kayleigh each have their own distinctive personalities and problems but they are very loyal friends.

And Paige is going to need them as she navigates the waters with her parents. Paige’s parents have been divorced 5 years, but times are changing and they are beginning to date. So now Paige must deal with her own feelings about that. Her mom has become very strict and overprotective since Aaron drowned the year before. But what she doesn’t know is that Paige has not gone swimming since that day. She refuses to go into the water. Despite that refusal, Paige continues to have nightmares where she’s drowning and no one can get to her in time.

And then there’s Ryan Chase, the boy Paige has been crushing on for as long as she can remember. She is hopeful that this year will be different. He’s recently single and Paige is ready to make a move on him. But Paige didn’t expect Ryan’s cousin Max to look so different than he looked the last time she saw him.

She didn’t expect to fall for geeky, nerdy Max who stockpiled Do Si Do Girl Scout cookies and whose favorite TV show was the one season wonder, Firefly. It turns out that the guy she thought she wanted made a much better friend, than boyfriend. And the guy she never thought she’d fall for was the guy she needed in her corner. He was the guy willing to call her out on her skepticism and her realism.

“I mean, you’re always preparing yourself for the thing that’s most likely to happen, instead of hoping for the thing that you most want to happen.” –Max-

It’s been a very long time since a quote has stopped me cold to that extent. I mean, wow, Max could have been describing ME at that very moment. It wasn’t until this quote that I realized Paige and I were similar in some ways, yet Max’s backstory with his deadbeat dad was also so similar to my own backstory with my biological dad. All the way down to him wanting to meet me when I was about a year older than Max.

I cried a lot in the last 40 pages. I had spent a lot of time laughing while reading this book, but the ending broke me into tiny pieces. Lord is so good at weaving in happy, funny moments with heartbreaking poignant moments. Like I said earlier, this woman is a WIZARD. This book is definitely getting 5 stars. I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait to get a finished copy of it. Emery Lord has secured her place on my growing list of auto-buy authors. Everyone go read this book, pre-order it, tell your library about it. 

Review: This Side of Home by Renee Watson

Book Title: This Side of Home

Author: Renee Watson

Published Date: February 3rd, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything—friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins.

In her inspired YA debut, Renée Watson explores the experience of young African-American women navigating the traditions and expectations of their culture.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I truly think that this book was just one of those books that wasn’t bad at all, but it was one that I couldn’t get into, no matter how hard I tried. I think this book had the misfortune to be read at all the wrong times. Either during a book slump or right after I finished an amazing book. I tried to read this book multiple times, and I finally just pushed myself to finish it, even though I wasn’t feeling it.

I couldn’t connect with the characters at all. I usually love stories about sisters, but I found myself bored with Nikki and Maya. I didn’t feel like I cared about them and the struggles that they were going through. I wanted to care about them and what was changing in their lives, but I just didn’t.

The pacing was incredibly slow which is probably my biggest disappointment with this book. I mean it’s a contemporary book, so I didn’t expect it to be action packed, but there were many times that I would just read a bunch and not a whole lot would happen in those pages that I read. There was a lack of feelsy moments as well. If there are good feelsy moments, that can sometimes save a slow pacing book, but not with this one.

I will be giving this one two stars. I just was bored throughout the book, the pacing was too slow and I couldn’t connect with the sisters or any of the other secondary characters. Despite me not enjoying this book, I will still recommend it to others. I seem to be the black sheep with this one, so give it a shot. Who knows, you may love it.

Review: Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills

Book Title: Positively Beautiful

Author: Wendy Mills

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Published Date: March 3rd, 2015

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Jodi Picoult for teens meets Lurlene McDaniel. Beautiful written, beautifully moving, a vivid contemporary story of a girl’s unusual but terrible dilemma – and the love story that springs from it. 

16-year-old Erin is a smart if slightly dorky teenager, her life taken up with her best friend Trina, her major crush on smoky-eyed, unattainable Michael, and fending off Faith, the vision of perfection who’s somehow always had the knife in for Erin. Her dad, a pilot, died when she was very young, but Erin and her mom are just fine on their own.

Then everything changes forever one day after school when Erin’s mom announces she has breast cancer. And there’s even worse news to come. Horrified, Erin discovers that her grandmother’s death from cancer is almost certainly linked, the common denominator a rare gene mutation that makes cancer almost inevitable. And if two generations of women in the family had this mutation, what does that mean for Erin? The chances she’s inherited it are frighteningly high. Would it be better to know now and have major preemptive surgery or spend as much life as she has left in blissful ignorance?

As Erin grapples with her terrible dilemma, her life starts to spiral downwards, alleviated only by the flying lessons she starts taking with grumpy Stew and his little yellow plane, Tweetie Bird. Up in the sky, following in her dad’s footsteps, Erin finds freedom chasing the horizon. Down on the ground it’s a different story, and facing betrayal from Trina, humiliation from Faith, and a world of disappointment with Michael, Erin knows she must discover the truth about herself. Sure enough, she’s positive for the gene that’s slowly killing her mom.

Suddenly, Erin’s life has turned into a nightmare, and the only person she can truly talk to is a girl called Ashley who she meets online. But when, in a moment of madness, Erin flies away with Tweetie Pie to find her new friend, she finds herself on a journey that will take her through not only shock and despair – but ultimately to a new understanding of the true meaning of beauty, meaning, and love.

 Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury Children’s in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

If something is pitched to me as YA Jodi Picoult & Lurlene McDaniel, chances are really, really high that I’ll fall in love with the book, cradle the book in my arms and cry violently in the end. I initially credited Bloomsbury with the pitch, but then realized it was Goodreads that had said this. Well done Goodreads, well done.

This book was utterly beautiful, gorgeous, heartbreaking and hopeful all at once. I read it one night when I couldn’t fall asleep and I did not put it down until I had finished it (sometime after 3:30am) It’s a rare book that can keep me up almost all night, but this one did just that and it was done beautifully. 

I spent a big chunk of the book wanting to hug Erin. She was going through so much and the thought of me ever having to go through it with my own mother, was something I never wanted to think about. Like Erin and her mom, my own mother and I are extremely close and I couldn’t imagine having to watch my mom go through chemo. I’d like to think I’d be as strong as Erin was, but I don’t know.

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the flying bits. I was worried I’d be bored, but I wasn’t. I understood Erin’s longing to share something with her dad. I understood her mother’s reluctance given the circumstances, but Erin needed something that she shared with her deceased father. I’ve always wished I shared something with my father. Maybe I do, I doubt I’ll ever find out. I was happy to see Erin embracing this part of her father, and Stew was great. He was a crotchety old man, but he cared about Erin in a non-creepy, almost fatherly way.

I wasn’t all that fond of Michael, so I was hoping it wouldn’t go anywhere. Michael was not who Erin needed. She needed someone solid, kind and generous. Like Jason. I didn’t expect to like Jason much, but he grew on me slowly but surely. They made more sense together than Michael and Erin ever did.

I was of two minds when she flew off to meet her friend: I understood that she needed to get away from everything that was going on. Erin really did need a break from having to see her mom so sick from the treatments. Yet, I knew I could never have done what she did. Not if my mom was that sick. I could never leave her alone to deal with this no matter how scared I was. I was pretty peeved at Erin for making her mom worry during this time. Her mom should have been focused on her own health, and instead, Erin was acting like a six year old who ran away instead of dealing with things, which of course upset her mom.

The strongest part of the book was Erin’s relationship with her mom. It was wonderful to see a teenager get along so well with their mom. The last 50 or so pages pretty much shattered every single feeling I’ve ever had. I actually took pictures of myself after I finished the book. I don’t think a book has ever made me cry as much as this one did.

I loved this book, and I am giving it 5 stars. It is beautiful, it features a strong mother/daughter dynamic and it will break your heart into a thousand teeny tiny pieces. I cannot wait to get a finished copy of this beautiful book. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is not scared off by a “cancer book”

Review: When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

Book Title: When Reason Breaks

Author: Cindy L. Rodriguez

Published Date: February 10th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

13 Reasons Why meets the poetry of Emily Dickinson in this gripping debut novel perfect for fans of Sara Zarr or Jennifer Brown.

A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

In high school I loved Emily Dickinson’s poetry so when I saw that this book had an Emily Dickinson connection, I knew I had to get it. Plus, look at that cover you guys. I mean, really pretty cover. We all know how much of a sucker I am for pretty covers. Books like this tend to be a hit or miss for me, so to say I was nervous is a bit of an understatement.

The book is a very slow moving book, and to be honest, I did get bored sometimes. I wanted some feelsy moments, but those did not arrive until the end of the book. In fact, the end of the book was beautiful & hopeful, which made me happy.

The girls are very different from each other. Emily’s family is “perfect” Her dad is a politician, which of course means no one is allowed to make a mistake or else he could lose supporters. He has someone monitoring his childrens’ activity on social media. Emily begins a secret relationship with a boy, Kevin. In doing so, she begins to neglect her friends. Abby and Sarah, and that infuriated me. I hate when friends essentially dump you because they have a boyfriend. I also felt badly for Kevin because he had to sneak around to see Emily, which I would not have been okay with, no matter what the reason.

Now, I really liked Elizabeth. She had more of a firey personality which jived with my own personality. Her father had left the family not long before, and her mother had sunk into a deep depression over this. I felt sympathy for Elizabeth, as she had to be mother and father and big sister to her younger sister, Lily. Elizabeth is still so angry at her father for walking out on her, her mother and her sister, and she’s struggling hard to handle it on her own.

This book didn’t totally win me over until the end of it. I loved the ending, it made me feel all the feels, and cry all the tears. I do think people need to read this book. I do think it’s important to stay connected to others like Ms. Davis did throughout this book. I am giving this book 4 stars and I would definitely recommend it.

Review: There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

Book Title: There Will Be Lies

Author: Nick Lake

Published Date: January 6th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Genre: YA Mystery

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Book Link: Goodreads

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In four hours, Shelby Jane Cooper will be struck by a car.

Shortly after, she and her mother will leave the hospital and set out on a winding journey toward the Grand Canyon.

All Shelby knows is that they’re running from dangers only her mother understands. And the further they travel, the more Shelby questions everything about her past—and her current reality. Forced to take advantage of the kindness of unsuspecting travelers, Shelby grapples with what’s real, what isn’t, and who she can trust . . . if anybody.

Award-winning author Nick Lake proves his skills as a master storyteller in this heart-pounding new novel. This emotionally charged thrill ride leads to a shocking ending that will have readers flipping back to the beginning.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury Children’s in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
I really was massively excited about this book. I absolutely love mysteries and have read some really awesome ones lately. I hadn’t read anything by Nick Lake before so I was nervous, I really wanted to enjoy this book as the premise sounded so fascinating.

Unfortunately the book really let me down and I struggled every single day with picking it up. No one wants to struggle to read a book, so the fact that I was doing it made me miserable. There were various reasons that this one didn’t work for me, but I’m just gonna highlight a few of them.

Firstly, and more importantly, I felt like I was reading two separate books. The mythology of Coyote and the trickster gods didn’t interest me at all and I flipped through those parts. I was more interested in Shelby and her mom. I think if the mythology bits had been woven into the story more effectively, I would have been able to enjoy it more. The sections about Shelby and her mom were far more interesting and I found myself devouring those parts. I was invested in Shelby’s story, but I was not invested at all in the mythology bits.

My second issue is connected to the first issue. It’s about the pacing. Pacing can be a really big deal to me depending on how the rest of the book is going. Sometimes it can save a book, sometimes it can sink a book. The pacing in this book was very choppy and I think that was due to the constant shift from Shelby’s story to the mythology bits. The bits with Shelby and her mom were fascinating and paced well, while the bits with the mythology made me sleepy and bored. 

The editing. It didn’t hit me until I was about 30 pages into the book that there were no quotation marks. None. Apparently we were supposed to just know that having italicized text meant someone was talking. I was extremely frustrated by that. It seemed very lazy to be totally honest, which is another thing that I didn’t enjoy about the book.

I really liked Shelby as a narrator. She was interesting and I actually cared about her and what happened to her. Could her character been developed better? Hell yes. However, she was still the strongest part of the book for me. Having her be deaf was extremely fascinating to me as I had never read a book with a deaf narrator before, so that aspect was very interesting to me.

Overall, this book did not work for me. I am really bummed about that, but no one is going to love every book. I did like Shelby as a narrator, but she was not enough to save the book for me. I am going to give this book 2 stars. It had a great premise, but it was not executed well.