Monday, April 30, 2018

Time Bomb ~ Joelle Charbonneau (earc) review [@jcharbonneau @HMHKids]

Time Bomb
HMH Books for Young Readers
March 13, 2018
352 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

A congressman's daughter who has to be perfect. A star quarterback with a secret. A guy who's tired of being ignored. A clarinet player who's done trying to fit in. An orphaned rebel who wants to teach someone a lesson. A guy who wants people to see him, not his religion.

They couldn't be more different, but before the morning's over, they'll all be trapped in a school that's been rocked by a bombing. When they hear that someone inside is the bomber, they'll also be looking to one another for answers.
The beginning of Time Bomb does a fantastic job setting things up: you know from the start that one of those trapped inside the school is believed to be the bomber.

The story then jumps back several hours, though, and you see how the students started the day and some (but not quite all) of why they were headed to school. Between the way they're vague about their reasoning and knowing what we do from that radio announcement, it is easy to question each of the characters.

Even as you wonder if they could be responsible for the bombing, you get to know them and care about them. They are characters you can relate to - and sympathize with. Each is facing something (or more than one something) that makes them 'different' and/or makes then feel alienated or unable to be themselves. (They are not quite all likable, however, but that makes sense and fits who the characters are.)

Having both readers doubts about the characters and the characters own doubts, suspicions and fears about each other paired with the congressman's proposed bill was smart storytelling.  You notice more that you're suspected people capable of something (and why), only to usually be proven wrong. Time Bomb is a timely and smart story that unfolds quickly and will keep you reading until the last page.




Another Book You May Also Enjoy:  Trapped by Michael Northrop (Goodreads)





digital review copy received from publisher via NetGalley

Friday, April 20, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@AmeDyckman @orchardbooks]

The trailer I picked this week is for a picture book but it seemed too cute not to share. Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Scott Magoon will be out April 24th:




about Misunderstood Shark:

Every beachgoer knows that there's nothing more terrifying than a... SHARRRK! But this shark is just misunderstood, or is he? In a wholly original, side-splittingly funny story, New York Times bestselling author Ame Dyckman and illustrator Scott Magoon take this perennial theme and turn it on its (hammer)head with a brand-new cheeky character.

The filming of an underwater TV show goes awry when the crew gets interrupted by a... SHARRRK! Poor Shark, he wasn't trying to scare them, he's just misunderstood! Then he's accused of trying to eat a fish. Will Shark ever catch a break? After all, he wasn't going to eat the fish, he was just showing it his new tooth! Or was he? Explosively funny, extraordinarily clever, and even full of fun shark facts, this surprisingly endearing story gets to the heart of what it feels like to be misunderstood by the people around you. With a surprise twist ending, our Misunderstood Shark will have kids rolling with laughter!



April 24, 2018 // Orchard Books // 40 pages // Goodreads // Book Depository // Amazon

Thursday, April 19, 2018

A Kiss in the Dark ~ Gina Ciocca (earc) review [@gmc511 @simonteen @simonkids]

A Kiss in the Dark
Simon Pulse
March 06, 2018
341 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


When the lights go out at a Georgia high school football game, Macy Atwood finds herself in the arms of a boy who kisses her senseless – but is gone by the time the lights come back on. All she knows is that there was something special – and oddly familiar – about her mystery kisser.

Noah Granger, Ridgedale’s resident bad boy and newest transfer student, has no problem taking credit for the kiss, but Macy can’t shake the feeling that he’s lying. Especially since a photograph of Macy and former star football player Joel Hargrove resurfaced online moments before the blackout, a not-so random reminder of how hard she fell for Joel last year. And how doing so ultimately sent her lifelong friendships with Meredith Kopala and Ben Collins up in literal smoke.

Soon junior year’s wounds begin to reopen as Macy realizes the events that unfolded are somehow tied to her mystery kisser. Discovering how means finally facing what really went wrong with Meredith, Ben, and Joel – and finding out what Noah is covering up.

But the closer Macy gets to figuring it all out, the more she starts to worry that the boy who kissed her in the dark and the boy who is stealing her heart might be two very different people.
While reading A Kiss in the Dark, I couldn't help picturing it with the cover of Gina Ciocca's novel published in January, Busted.
Last year Macy Atwood was a cheerleader, with best friend Meredith. Now, for her senior year, she and Jadie are yearbook photographer. So much about Macy's life has changed in just one year - but what it was that caused all those changes is what you, the reader, have to discover.

The way that Ciocca split the story between Macy's Junior Year and Senior Year, with each happening in the run up to Homecoming was great. We get to see a lot of the repercussions - the strained relationships, the emotional fallout, the lingering questions - of what happened around Homecoming last year, before we experience it in the Junior Year half of the book.

While some of the larger elements of the story - who the characters were to each other, how they felt about each other - were easy to see long before the characters acknowledged and/or realized them, it worked. It was very lifelike that Macy was unable to see what, to an outsider seemed to be, right in front of her. (You also can't guess at the details or how things will play out.)

I loved the different relationships author Gina Ciocca presented to readers. There were different kinds of friendships, different romantic relationships, different parent/child relationships that were all interwoven and played into the story really well.

A kiss in the Dark was sweet and cute but the characters faced uncertainty, difficult decisions, and possibly ruined friendships, as well. The things that weren't easy for the characters made the story that much more real and enjoyable to read.  After Last Year's Mistake and now A Kiss in the Dark, I hope we get more novels from this author that split the story between 'then' and 'now'  - it's great storytelling with true to life characters, emotions and relationships.









review copy received from publisher via NetGalley

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday [@DisneyHyperion @tamaraistone]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



LITTLE DO WE KNOW by Tamara Ireland Stone

Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. Not since the fight—the one where they said things they couldn’t take back.

Now, Emory is fine-tuning her UCLA performing arts application and trying to make the most of the months she has left with her boyfriend, Luke, before they head off to separate colleges. Meanwhile, Hannah’s strong faith is shaken when her family’s financial problems come to light, and she finds herself turning to unexpected places—and people—for answers to the difficult questions she’s suddenly facing.

No matter how much Hannah and Emory desperately want to bridge the thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows, they can’t. Not anymore.

Until their paths cross unexpectedly when, one night, Hannah finds Luke doubled over in his car outside her house. In the aftermath of the accident, all three struggle to understand what happened in their own ways. But when a devastating secret about Hannah and Emory’s argument ultimately comes to light, they must all reexamine the things they hold true.

In alternating chapters, a skeptic and a believer piece together the story of their complex relationship and the boy caught somewhere in the middle. New York Times best-selling author Tamara Ireland Stone deftly crafts a moving portrait of faith, love, and friendship.



published June 05th by Disney Hyperion

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

I very much enjoyed reading both Tamara Ireland Stone's MG novel, Click'd (review) last year and 2015's YA novel Every Last Word (review). Plus, I like stories where best friends (especially ones living next door/across the street/otherwise very near to each other) have some sort of falling out and you get to see how that works - and hopefully a reconciliation, too.  All of that closeness and/or forced interaction can end up telling you a lot about the characters individually,more so than just a working friendship would.

I also like that this novel says it deals with Hannah, her faith, her family and how problems impact all of that.

(It has a very lovely cover, as well.)



That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Book I'll Re-Read


This week's Ten:

This week is a Freebie week which means I get to pick the topic. Last week's topic was 10 Books I Loved But Will Never Re-Read and since I am someone who rarely re-reads anything, I thought it would make sense to make this week:

10 13 Books I Have/Will Re-Read


Hold Still by Nina LaCour


Into the Dust by Karen Hesse



Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling


Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
Review


Heats at Stake (Drake Chronicles #1) by Alyxandra Harvey
(really the whole series)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Goodreads

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy
Review

Taken by Storm (Raised by Wolves #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Review

The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett
Review






Please leave a comment and let me know the top books you will/have re-read - especially if you do not usually read a book more than one time!

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday [@courtney_s @WednesdayBooks @StMartinsPress]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



SADIE by Courtney Summers

"Summers has pulled no punches when it comes to diving into the darker side of teen lives." —Bustle

A gripping novel about the depth of a sister's love; poised to be the next book you won't be able to stop talking about.

A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial—like podcast following the clues she's left behind.

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.


published September 04th  by Wednesday Books

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

I really love Courtney Summers writing (my reviews of her previous books). They are not easy stories and they will tear you up or make you want to rage at the world or cry for their characters - or some combination of all three - but that, actually, is why I do love them. They are real and honest and can be heartbreaking and sardonic. They make you think about things you do need to think about. Instead of glossing over the messy, painful bits, that's where they focus.

That they're calling Sadie, "the breakout book of her career," makes me that much more eager to read it!




That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday


This week's Ten:
10 Books I Loved, but Will Never Re-read 

Or probably never? Never seems so very definitive. Nothing against these books, at all, but for different reasons, I don't believe I will be re-reading them.


The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
review


Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
review


Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra


The Look by Sophia Bennett


Unearthly (#1) by Cynthia Hand


Deadly Little Secret (#1) by Laurie Faria Stolarz


Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting


Plus One by Elizabeth Fama


Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery #1) by Kim Harrison

The Book of Luke by Jenny O'Connell
Goodreads



Please leave a comment and let me know if there are books that you loved reading but won't re-read - and if son, what are they?

Friday, April 6, 2018

Book Trailer Friday [@epicreads @AmandaFoody @harlequinteen]

The trailer I wanted to share this week is one of the Epic Reads Explains trailers. I love the way these give you a great rundown of what the book is about - even more and differently than the standard book description. They can really help you get a better idea of if you want to read a book.

This Epic Reads Explains is for Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody, it will be released this coming Tuesday, April 10th:


about The Ace of Shades:

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…
and secrets hide in every shadow.


Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems.

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play.




Ace of Shades (Shadow Game #1) // Harlequin Teen // April 10, 2018 // 416 pages // Goodreads // Book Depository // Amazon

Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Vanishing Season ~ Joanna Schaffhausen (earc) review [@slipperywhisper @MinotaurBooks]

The Vanishing Season
Minotaur
December 05, 2017
274 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday—the day she was kidnapped so long ago—Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer’s closet all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go.

Ellery Hathaway is not that kidnapped girl, rescued years ago and now going on tours to tell the world her story. In fact, she is not telling anyone her story. She has started a new life for herself, separate from that girl kidnapped by a now infamous man. Woodbury is tiny and supposed to be worlds away from the kind of crime that touched Ellery's life.

Maybe that's why no one believes her theory about the disappearances - that they're related. She can't share with her fellow police officers all of why she thinks there's a connection; that would mean revealing her past. So she calls in one of the only people to know what happened to her (and to know that it was her, at least the former her, not just some nameless, faceless girl): FBI Agent Reed Markham.

Author Joanna Schaffhausen set up some really interesting and compelling relationships and dynamics in this novel, her debut. Ellery had her past, the ways she was keeping herself a secret, her worry that someone had (or would) discover who she had been, and there was what all of those precautions and anxieties meant for the kind of life she was living. Then Agent Markham had a few secrets of his own and the different ways that Ellery's case - and some subsequent ones - affected his life.

When you throw in the chief of police, Sam and all of his different relationships, Ellery's mother, Reeds family, the other police officers, some of the Woodbury residents, Ellery's almost friends, it all makes for a very comelling and well done mystery. You care about the characters, but also can't help second guessing their motives or intentions. This person might be capable of something horrible . . . or maybe they're just upset, like anyone would be . . . maybe nothing happened to those missing people . . . maybe something did.

I really enjoyed Ellery's character (somehow she gave me some of the same feeling as Lena Adams from Karin Slaughter's Grant County series, though they're also quite different), how she wasn't what you expected but also how strong and determined she was. She was damaged, but resilient, too. I look forward to reading Schaffhausen's second novel No Mercy whether it involves Ellery or not (though I very much want more with her character).







digital review copy received thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Waiting On Wednesday [@HarlequinTeen]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:


ACCESS RESTRICTED (Word$ #2) by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

In this sequel to All Rights Reserved, Speth Jime must risk everything to save the people she loves…or lose them to the corrupt system that’s keeping everyone apart.


published August 28th by Harlequin Teen

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

The world, Speth's life and how words had been monetized, we were presented with in All Rights Reserved (review) was intriguing. I really enjoyed discovering what all the implications of such a world (such a life) and seeing how much of an impact it had on the characters' lives, their emotional state, their relationship, even their thoughts and self.

With what we now know of that world, what Speth has done and had done to her, I am really looking forward to reading Access Restricted. I am curious to find out if we learn more about the structure and operation of that world and society, as well.



That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Monday, April 2, 2018

Autonomous ~ Andy Marino (earc) review [@DisneyHyperion]

Autonomous
Disney Hyperion
April 03, 2018
398 pages

William Mackler is about to go on a road trip of a lifetime. After winning a contest—and nearly dying in the process—he becomes the proud owner of Autonomous, a driverless car that knows where you want to go before you do. #Worthit! To sweeten the deal he gets to pick three friends to go with him on a cross-country trip to see their favorite band. For William, a reckless adrenaline junkie, this is the perfect last hurrah before he and his friends go their separate ways after graduation. But Autonomous is more than just a car without a steering wheel. It's capable of downloading all of the passengers’ digital history—from the good, to the bad, to the humiliating. The information is customized into an itinerary that will expose a few well-kept secrets, but it will also force William to face some inner demons of his own. Think you know Autonomous? The real question is, how much does Autonomous know about you?
Autonomous is a bit like KITT, the car from Knight Rider meets 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL with just a bit of the TARDIS thrown in (namely some spatial bits). Really, it's everything that seems cool about self driving cars, only turned so that they will now really creep you out.

Readers know from the very beginning of Autonomous that there is something a bit (or more than just a bit) sinister about the car. That it is not only this amazing technological wonder. How much that is true is what you get to find out as you read.

For me the characters' ages (just graduated high school), their personalities their actions, and the book's tone did not quite match up with each other. It felt like their ages were older so that they could be facing certain challenges or have certain issues, but then, somehow, the book also felt younger. (Though, it's hard for me to identify how or why as there was language, actions, thoughts, etc that were definitely not younger.)

Discovering what a 'thinking' car was capable of and what that could mean when you put four teenagers, with their secrets, lies, expectations, and desires inside it and gave it full access to their social media (and any other digital information) was interesting. It could be fun and unsettling. It could also be predictable (you kind of knew what two characters were up to long before the others.)

Mainly, there was a disconnect for me between the gravity of the characters' actions/issues/challenges/decisions/actions and any consequences or repercussions. I liked what the author was saying about people and relationships through Autonomous and the group's road trip, but for all of the, often, very serious things the characters were dealing with, things were just too okay at the end.

Still,t his can be a fun read for older readers not looking for anything too heavy, for those who aren't sure they like the idea of driverless cars who can 'think' and 'talk' to each other.


(maybe 3.25 stars)





digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Book Trailer Friday [@RandomHouse @TransworldBooks]

Beth Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval  - a tale of being the White House stenographer during the Obama administration will be ...