The Undertaker's Daughter ~ Sara Blaedel (earc) review [@sarablaedel @GrandCentralPub]

The Undertaker's Daughter (Ilka #1)
Grand Central Publishing
February 06, 2018
326 pages
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Already widowed by the age of forty, Ilka Nichols Jensen, a school portrait photographer, leads a modest, regimented, and uneventful life in Copenhagen. Until unexpected news rocks her quiet existence: Her father–who walked out suddenly and inexplicably on the family more than three decades ago–has died. And he’s left her something in his will: his funeral home. In Racine, Wisconsin.

Clinging to this last shred of communication from the father she hasn’t heard from since childhood, Ilka makes an uncharacteristically rash decision and jumps on a plane to Wisconsin. Desperate for a connection to the parent she never really knew, she plans to visit the funeral home and go through her father’s things–hoping for some insight into his new life in America–before preparing the business for a quick sale.

But when she stumbles on an unsolved murder, and a killer who seems to still be very much alive, the undertaker’s daughter realizes she might be in over her head . .

The Undertaker's Daughter was a different type of story than I was expecting. Based on the reviews quotes on its NetGalley page (and the one on the cover, as well), I thought it would be more of a crime thriller. Instead, it felt more like a literary fiction tale that included a mystery surrounding a crime. (Perhaps, a small bit of that had to do with the tone and attitude of the book; it was originally published in Danish and, generally, Scandinavian books feel less . . . intense than their US counterparts. I think, though, that it was just this story.)

This was a story about Ilka, a school photographer in Denmark. Her father left her and her mother when Ilka was a young girl and she never knew why. Now, with news that he has died, she has been summoned to Racine, Wisconsin to hear his will.

Wrapping things up so that she can return to Copenhagen and her life turns out to be much trickier than Ilka anticipated - both emotionally and logistically.

I did very much enjoy seeing Ilka try to figure out the new role she'd been suddenly thrust into while also trying to discover more about her father and to find the answers she was only just realizing how much she wanted. Adding in the small(ish) town politics, the murder mystery and present day repercussions (and possible actions) made for an interesting story. All of the interwoven tales and histories, along with the observations on the differences in Danish and American culture surrounding death and funerals, made for an intriguing read.

I do wish I had known when I started this book (or at any point while reading it) that this was the beginning of a series.. Some of the story does get concluded, but a lot more is left open and unresolved. So much so, actually, that the book ends with To be continued . . . Those endings work better when I know they're coming. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the second book featuring Ilka and, hopefully, finding out what Racine has in store fro her - and if she stays.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

White Bodies ~ Jane Robins (earc) review [@alfresca @TouchstoneBooks]

White Bodies
Touchstone
September 19, 2017
297 pages
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This chilling psychological suspense novel--think Strangers on a Train for the modern age--explores the dark side of love and the unbreakable ties that bind two sisters together.

Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless facade, not everything is as it seems.

Callie, Tilda's unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix's domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in Saran Wrap and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom trash. She knows about Felix's uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister's arms.

Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an Internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgment when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies--or was he murdered?

A page-turning work of suspense that announces a stunning new voice in fiction, White Bodies will change the way you think about obsession, love, and the violence we inflict on one another--and ourselves.

Have you ever read a book where you really, really wished the characters were real and not just fictional? Well, White Bodies is not that book. And these characters are certainly not those characters. Callie and Tilda and the others are more the characters you are really glad are fictional and not someone you might encounter in life. (Though, there are people very much like them . . .)

Callie's fascination with or fixation on her prettier, more popular, more everything twin sister Tilda manifests in some really, really strange ways. Like really strange.

The author does a great job making you unsure of just how out there Callie really is. Yes, she does odd things, but how much of her interpretations or observations or decisions can really be trusted? How many of them are right because of who she is and how she feels about her sister? How many might be right in spite of it?

Even, later in the novel, as I had a better grasp on who Callie was and how she was viewing the world, some of her decisions and statements really did not make sense. (Even for her character.) Things she said or wanted/planned to do were such obviously horrible, wrong choices if she truly believed her sister was being abused. 

The relationship between Callie and Tilda (and their mother, friends and a boyfriend) was weird, creepy, unsettling and, often, confusing. Yet, it did make for a compelling story. Even when I was beyond irritated with Callie, I had to keep reading to find out what happened, to find out the truth - and not just one character's version of i.

The last parts of the book were really well done. Things are more twisted and startling than you expect and it's hard to know what the characters will do - or have done. I liked the inclusion/mentions of Strangers on a Train, Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Hitchcock. Callie's character did not always work for me but this is a very compelling, twisty read with dark, weird, disturbing relationships that all keep you guessing until the end.

digital review copy received thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street ~ Lindsay Currie (earc) review [@lindsayncurrie @simonkids]

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street
Aladdin
October 10, 2017
304 pages
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A girl unravels a centuries-old mystery after moving into a haunted house in this deliciously suspenseful mystery.

Tessa Woodward isn’t exactly thrilled to move to rainy, cold Chicago from her home in sunny Florida. But homesickness turns to icy fear when unexplainable things start happening in her new house. Things like flickering lights, mysterious drawings appearing out of nowhere, and a crackling noise she can feel in her bones.

When her little brother’s doll starts crying real tears, Tessa realizes that someone—or something—is trying to communicate with her. A secret that’s been shrouded in mystery for more than one hundred years.

With the help of three new friends, Tessa begins unraveling the mystery of what happened in the house on Shady Street—and more importantly, what it has to do with her!

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is a fun ghost story and story of friendship. Tessa has to deal with a mix of both the normal things (new school and new friend anxieties, missing her best friend, cold weather, everything being unfamiliar) and the not so normal (flickering lights, drawings appearing on her sketchpad, strange noises) when her family moves from Florida to Chicago.

Even if everything were normal, with no paranormal happenings, the move would be a lot for the twelve-year-old. Add in the weird occurrences and she's ready to go back to Fort Myers.   If her new friends can help, maybe she can stay - and like it.

I really enjoyed the blend of Tessa's adjustment to a new town, new house and new school with the supernatural elements. The way they worked together from how Tessa's feelings about her house impacted her feelings about Chicago to it all gave her something to talk to her potential new friends about, was done very well.

There were a few inconsistencies or inaccuracies that pulled me out of the story a bit. They were not things that really affected the story but they were distracting.

The relationship Tessa has with her parents was nicely done. Though her character could, at times, feel younger than twelve, I liked how the situation (the move first, then the weird events at the house) allowed us to see different aspects of their relationship than we otherwise would have. The author also did a nice job including different types of parenting while having them all be loving and involved.







digital review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

Doctor Who: Myths & Legends ~ Richard Dinnick (earc) review [@richarddinnick @bbcdoctorwho]

Adrian Salmon, illustrator
Doctor Who: Myths and Legends
BBC Books/Penguin Group UK
September 12, 2017 (International)/June 29, 2017 (UK)
288 pages
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For thousands of years, epic stories have been passed down from Time Lord to student, generation to generation. The truth of these tales was lost millennia ago, but the myths and legends themselves are timeless.

These are the most enduring of those tales. From the princess Manussa and her giant snake Mara, to the Vardon Horse of Xeriphin, these stories shed light on the universe around us and the beings from other worlds that we meet. Myths hold up a mirror to our past, present and future, explaining our culture, our history, our hopes and fears.

A collection of epic adventures from the Time Lords’ mist-covered past, Myths and Legends is an unforgettable gallery of heroes and villains, gods and monsters.

Earlier this year when a hurricane knocked the power out for several days and I realized how many more stars you could see*. Looking at all of those stars, it was hard not to wonder what could be on or around them.  Doctor Who: Myths and Legends presents some possibility.

Some of the myths and legends re-imagined to involve Time Lords were ones I was familiar with:  including Medusa, King Midas; and those I was not: stories with the Argonauts, the Cumaean Sibyl. Interestingly, I think I more enjoyed those stories where they myth was already known to me. I liked seeing how the author changed things up, where Doctor Who characters and/or ideas were inserted into these well known tales.

The more you know of Doctor Who, the different Doctors and all of the different alien planets and species they've encountered, the more you will recognize in Myths and Legends. These are not all sttories where the Doctor comes in, obvious in who they are and saves the day. Some give us more insight into Gallifrey, its past and attempts to extend its reach.l while others show us how certain beings go to be where they were when viewers encountered them (like, say, a Soviet sub in 1983).

Some of the stories did fall a bit short for me, seeming to not really resolve themselves or have satisfactory endings. (Though it could have been that I was unfamiliar with what Doctor Who episode/character/story they were involved in .) Others though, were fun, imaginative and did a great job both re-imagining the myths and legends we already know and including Whovian characters, lore, facts and ideas.

This collection is likely more enjoyable for Doctor Who fans  (and more so the more of it you've retrained) but fans of re-imaginings and science fiction may also find it a fun read, as well.




*This needs to be a thing everywhere






review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

The Breathless ~ Tara Goedjen (earc) review [@TaraGoedjen @DelacortePress]

The Breathless
Delacorte Press
October 10, 2017
368 pages
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No one knows what really happened on the beach where Roxanne Cole’s body was found, but her boyfriend, Cage, took off that night and hasn’t been seen since. Until now. One year—almost to the day—from Ro’s death, when he knocks on the door of Blue Gate Manor and asks where she is.

Cage has no memory of the past twelve months. According to him, Ro was alive only the day before. Ro’s sister Mae wouldn’t believe him, except that something’s not right. Nothing’s been right in the house since Ro died.

And then Mae finds the little green book. The one hidden in Ro’s room. It’s filled with secrets—dangerous secrets—about her family, and about Ro. And if what it says is true, then maybe, just maybe, Ro isn’t lost forever.

And maybe there are secrets better left to the dead.

The Breathless is a YA, paranormal, Southern Gothic but what sets it apart from from other paranormal, YA, Southern Gothics is its setting, the characters and their history. I loved that it was set in Alabama, along the Gulf Coast as most seem set in Louisiana or the Carolinas and the addition of the proximity of the water played an important role in the story.

Parts of the novel are set in the mid-nineteenth century giving us a glimpse into the past of Blue Gate, the once grand but now crumbling home of Mae and her family. It was both different and enjoyable that, despite it being the nineteenth century in the Southern United Sates, this story didn't involve slavery. It also gave us a fresh portrayal of magic and how it came into the characters' lives. (If I really think about it, I'm not sure how that family didn't have some kind of help, paid or otherwise but , oh well.)

We have a mystery in not only Ro's death - what happened, how it happened, who's to blame, why - but in where Cage has been for the past year. The questions around Cage's reappearance, where he's been, why he was gone - and why he doesn't seem to know Ro is dead - add an extra layer of intrigue and uncertainty to the story.

I really liked how Mae had to try to figure out if Cage could be trusted, to find out what happened to her sister, to understand the green book and her family's history all while still grieving. It impacts her decisions, how other characters are behaving or would react and why seems 'right.'

The Breathless had an original setting and origins of both the characters and paranormal elements and the mystery was well done and surprising at times. When the book was finished, though, there were a few things left unexplained (Some that could be inferred, maybe, from things said in story but some I just don't know about.). I wish we'd been given more explanation about these things or, if there were answers, that they'd been more prominent.

I am still puzzling out a few things but this was a fun, original read and I would like to read more from Tara Goedjen.







digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley

Seeker ~ Veronica Rossi review [@rossibooks @torteen]

Seeker (Riders #2)
Tor Teen
May 16, 2017
352 pages
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** My review of Riders (#1) **

When Daryn claimed she was seeing visions during her sophomore year of high school, no one believed the truth.

She wasn’t losing her mind; she was gaining the Sight—the ability to see the future. Daryn embraced her role as a Seeker. The work she did was important. She saved lives.

Until Sebastian.

Sebastian was her first—and worst—mistake.

Since the moment she inadvertently sealed him in a dark dimension with Samrael, the last surviving demon of the Kindred, guilt has plagued her. Daryn knows Sebastian is alive and waiting for help. It’s up to her to rescue him. But now that she needs the Sight more than ever to guide her, the visions have stopped.

Daryn must rely on instincts, intelligence, and blind faith to lead the riders who are counting on her in search of Sebastian. As they delve into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems and where Samrael is steadily amassing power, Daryn faces the ultimate test. Will she have to become evil to destroy evil?

The very fate of humankind may rest in the answer.

Just like Riders introduced us to Gideon, Marcus, Jode and Sebastian, four young men who have become the four horsemen of the apocalypse (War, Conquest, Famine, and Death), Seeker gives more of a look at Daryn, their Seeker.

Without reading Riders first, you will be a bit lost in Seeker. The main story here about rescuing Sebastian and some of the characters (beyond the main five) were either introduced in the first book or are the result of how that story ended. You also won't be familiar with who Gideon is, what happened to him or how he came to know Marcus, Jode, Sebastian and Daryn. There are reminders, of course, but it's better if you read the first book, well first.

Seeker does not give us as much about the guys, who they are and what they can do (or why) as the first book but it does give you a fuller picture of Daryn and who she is, what she can do. I liked the focus on her character, her past, and on the characters' different relationships. Now that they know what they are and have spent some time together (some rather life altering time, at that) things are able to go beyond that preliminary, introductory phase.

As a follow-up to Riders, Seeker was a good story. It gave us more of the characters and their relationships and expanded on some things (like where Sebastian was trapped) from the ending of Riders. As the last book of a duology and presumably the last we'll see of these characters and this world, it was disappointing. I wanted more of the big picture, of the future and what them being War, Death, Conquest and Famine was going to mean. I liked the character developments but it was almost a bit of, 'can't see the forest for the trees,' where it focused on the problem of rescuing Sebastian and there wasn't as much of the grand scheme of things stuff I wanted.

Still, it was an enjoyable read and I recommend it to fans of Riders -- and recommend Riders if you have not already read it.



(although if this ends up not being the end to this series, it may change to four stars)

Hello, Sunshine ~ Leila Howard (earc) review [@leilahowland @DisneyHyperion]

Hello, Sunshine
Disney Hyperion
July 11, 2017
368 pages
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A Prep School Girl with a Hollywood Dream

Becca Harrington is a reject. After being rebuffed by every college on her list, she needs a fresh start, so she packs up everything and moves to LA, giving herself one year to land an acting gig or kill herself trying.

Unfortunately, not everything turns out as planned, and after a few grueling months, LA is looking like the worst idea ever. As hard as she tries, Becca can’t land an agent, she's running out of cash, and her mom is hounding her to apply to more schools. In an act of desperation, Becca and her friend Marisol start posting short videos online—with the help of their adorable filmmaker neighbor, Raj—and the videos catch the attention of a TV producer. Could this be it? Her big break? Or will she have to move back home with nothing but some bad head shots and a monstrous credit-card bill?

Becca may not get the Hollywood ending she was hoping for, but perhaps she’ll learn there’s more than one way to achieve her dream.

Readers will love every page of this funny, romantic, aspirational, and ultimately triumphant novel about a girl who just wants to make it on her own.

(The description of this book doesn't really fit. About halfway through that second paragraph are things that don't happen until near the end.)


I loved the premise of Hello, Sunshine: Becca Harrington just graduated high school without being accepted to any college, made worse by the fact that (as she says in the proglouge) she went to a school with a '99.0 percent matriculation rate,' While everyone else from her class is off to start college, Becca is going to Hollywood. She's going to make it as an actress.

Or, that's the plan, anyway.

Unsurprisingly to readers but seemingly quite surprisingly to Becca, things are not quite that simple. For a girl already reeling from rejections, it's not that easy to deal with all of the new ones.  She has to not only not give up, but figure out how to live on her own: grocery shopping, decorating, bill paying, making money to pay those bills.

Things are harder than  She faces a lot more setbacks and incurs even more self doubt, but thankfully her new friends are there for her. I really loved Raj's character from the beginning (and only more so as the book progressed) and thought Marisol was great. I liked both who their characters were and who they were to (and for) Becca.

Becca expects. Becca's character was probably my least favorite part of this novel. She was a strange mix of 'I'm-not-good-enough-for-that' and 'I'm-too-good-for-that,' she was somehow not as good as people (to herself) but also better than people, at the same time.

I thought Becca was more naive than made sense for someone who a) planned to move across the country and truly pursue acting and b) whose mother agreed to the plan. She seemed sure that she was this enough or that enough that things would just happen, or people would make exceptions, or , , , something. I did think she was funny and could be endearing and you really do feel for her with each setback and hope she'll get her break, though.

Hello, Sunshine is a fun, cute read with romance and growing up and great friends.






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Hero: Hurricane Rescue ~ Jennifer Li Shotz review [@HarperChildrens]

Hero: Hurricane Rescue (Hero #2)
Harper Collins
May 30, 2017
192 pages
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The action-packed follow-up to Hero, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Li Shotz.

When a dangerous hurricane strikes town and Jack and his puppy, Scout, go missing, retired search-and-rescue dog Hero is the only one who can track them down.

Hero and his human, Ben, set off into the woods, but when the storm surges out of control, the group is suddenly trapped with no way out. Now it’s up to Hero to get everyone home safe and sound. Together, Hero and Ben fight for their lives—but can Hero battle his way past alligators, mudslides, and raging floods?

Join Hero for another epic adventure and discover what a dog will do to save his best friend.

Hero: Hurricane Rescue is the sequel to 2016's Hero (Hero #1) and there are references in the new release to that first story but Hero: Hurricane Rescue can be read on its own.

Ben's father is a police officer and he worked with Hero, a search and rescue dog, before Hero was retired. Now, Hero lives with Ben and his family and, while he may be retired, he hasn't lost his ability to or love for search and rescue.

Hero and Ben are great. Ben has faith in Hero's ability to find people, but also enjoys playing with him like anyone plays with their dog. Through Ben's amazement at Hero's abilities and how he explains things to other characters, readers get a good idea of what Hero can do - and how. It is a good introduction to a SAR dog without being more technical than the book's audience needs.

The depiction of a the hurricane did feel realistic. The sped at which everything developed - from the boy's learning the hurricane was headed for Gulfport to its arrival to the different stages of the storm - happened at an incredibly accelerated pace. It was a great way to move along the action in the book while providing anxiety and tension, all without drawing anything out. If it had been a tropical depression or storm or even just a really bad thunderstorm system, it would have seemed more plausible. (Anyone who doesn't love where there are hurricanes will probably not notice any of this, but those like me who do, will.)

There did seem to be consequences of the storm that impacted Ben on his search, without what caused those things impacting him. (It's tricky to explain without being spoilery.)

All of that said, though, I really did enjoy this book. Hero is a great dog who has fantastic tracking abilities, is smart, fun and has a great relationship with Ben. The things he and Ben run up against would be unbelievable in any other situation and how they deal with things in inventive and, at times, thrilling. Ben's character, his age, his sense of responsibility and that he cares so much about his parents' worries is a great main character and match for Hero.

Readers that like adventure stories that aren't too dangerous and dog books should enjoy Hero: Hurricane Rescue. The third Hero book, Hero: Rescue Mission will released in October.








finished copy received from publisher for review consideration

Crazy House ~ James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet (arc) review [@JP_Books @CateTiernan @HachetteBooks]

Crazy House
Hachette Book Group
May 22, 2017
352 pages
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A thrilling new YA novel from master of suspense James Patterson, who's created a frightening new future: a world where teens are taken, imprisoned and forced to fight for their survival. Where 17-year-old Cass will do whatever it takes to save her twin sister from Death Row.

There were no charges. There was no trial. There will be no escape.

Seventeen-year-old Becca Greenfield was snatched from her small hometown. She was thrown into a maximum-security prison and put on Death Row with other kids her age. Until her execution, Becca's told to fit in and shut her mouth... but Becca's never been very good at either. Her sister Cassie was always the perfect twin.

Becca's only hope is that her twin sister will find her. That perfect little priss Cassie will stop following the rules and start breaking them, before it's too late. Because her jailers made a mistake that could get them both killed:

They took the wrong twin.

The two authors of this book have published hundred of books between them (Gabrielle Charbonnet published YA under the pseudonym Cate Tiernan), but somehow this is the first I have read by either of them.

Crazy House starts by throwing readers right into things: Becca seems to already be missing and her twin sister Cassie is desperate to find her, while following the rules, of course. No being out after curfew or before it's over and absolutely, most definitely no leaving the cell. Starting things in this way pulls readers into the story immediately and helps add to the tension and questions (Where is Becca? What's the deal with the curfew? What is this cell?).

With so much focus on the action, however, there is not enough attention given to character development or world building. You want Cassie to find Becca, sure but you would kind of be okay with her not, too.

Thanks to the alternating perspectives/narrations, we readers do know where Becca is - but not too much beyond that. The more we saw of Becca and her life in the prison, the more I wanted more answers, more of what was going on. There was not a clear enough villain to it. Yes, the mystery keeps you reading but it was hard to know just who you were rooting against (or why). (Since the cover calls on The Hunger Games: In that book we knew the Capitol, that Snow, was at the head of things, they were the Big Bad; I wanted something similar here, even while getting why we didn't/couldn't know.)

If this is going to be a series, then I feel a bit more positively about the book as a whole and the ending than if it's just the one book. If there will, in fact, be a second book, I have higher hopes for it with the information we now have and look forward to seeing more development of the relationships and finding out more about their world.

Crazy House is a fun, fast read but there was not enough development of the characters or their world - but I hope there's more to come.






advance copy thanks to  publisher for review consideration

Almost Adulting ~ Arden Rose review [@harperteen @ardenrose]

Almost Adulting: All You Need to Know to Get It Together (Sort Of)
Harper Collins
March 28, 2017
208 pages
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For fans of Grace Helbig and Alexa Chung comes a fresh, hilarious guide to growing up your way from social media influencer and lifestyle vlogger Arden Rose.

In Almost Adulting—perfect for budding adults, failing adults, and eaters of microwave mug brownies—Arden tells you how to survive your future adulthood. Topics include:

-Making internet friends who are cool and not murderers

-Flirting with someone in a way to make them think you are cool and not a murderer

-Being in an actual relationship where you talk about your feelings in a healthy manner??? To the other person???????

-Eating enough protein

-Assembling a somewhat acceptable adult wardrobe when you have zero dollars

-Going on adventures without starting to smell

-How sex is supposed to feel, but, like, actually though

By the end of the book—a mash-up of essays, lists, and artwork—you'll have learned not only how to dress yourself, how to travel alone, how to talk to strangers online, and how to date strangers (in PERSON!), but also how to pass as a real, functioning, appropriately socialized adult

It feels like a lot of Arden Rose's Almost Adulting is about doing what's best for you, really being you but in a responsible way where you still pay your traffic tickets and eat more than Oreos. The book covers things from decorating your apartment to online dating to sex and more.

The strongest parts of this book the beginning and the end where the author is not only helping readers to understand what is a smart way of doing something (keeping your apartment clean, for example) but also providing some ways of actually accomplishing that (change your sheets x often, etc). These more specific ideas keep Almost Adulting from just being another person/book/thing/whatever telling you what you should be doing. (Most who aren't cleaning enough or buying the right things at the store aren't not doing it simply because no one's ever suggested they should. It's about knowing how to go about it.)

The middle of the book seems to lose some of these more specific, helpful bits and feels more specific to the author's life. It focuses more on Arden Rose's life: meeting her boyfriend, the beginnings of their relationship and doesn't seem to cover as much or advise as broadly.

I do think that Almost Adulting has a certain kind of adult (or almost adult) in mind and is geared more towards that person. It seems to best fit someone who had/has supportive parents, who was - at least - relatively financially secure, who is employed, and generally healthy (both physically and mentally). It is still relevant to others but seems to apply most to someone like that. (The author does discuss her mental health and the issues she's faced but sentences like, "Ir's time to understand that you determine yow your body and mind operate at any given time based on what you're fueling it with." [pg 17] are why I say this.)

Almost Adulting covers things you might, technically, already know (eat well, keep things clean, etc) but does a nice job giving some specific ideas for everything from decorating your apartment to finding the right birth control. Whether you're familiar with Arden Rose from YouTube or not (I was not), if you're looking to adult (or just know how), you might want to check out Almost Adulting: All You Need to Know to Get it Together (Sort Of).

(Also? Roasted Brussels Sprouts really are very good, I definitely agree.)

finished copy received, for review, from publisher

The Secret Life of Souls ~ Jack Ketchum & Lucky McKee (earc) review [@LuckyMcKee @JackKetchum]

The Secret Life of Souls
Pegasus Books
November 08, 2016
240 pages
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At the heart of this psychological suspense novel is the haunting depiction of a family’s fall and the extraordinary gifted dog, Caity, who knows the truth. As the drama unfolds Caity evolves from protector to savior, from scapegoat to prop, and eventually, from avenger to survivor. She is an unselfish soul in a selfish world—and she is written with depth and grace by authors Ketchum and Mckee, who display a profound understanding of a dog’s complex emotions. With her telling instincts and her capacity for joy and transformative love, Caity joins the pantheon of great dogs in contemporary literature.

Eleven year old actress Delia Cross is beautiful, talented, charismatic. A true a star in the making. Her days are a blur of hard work on ­set, auditions and tutors. Her family—driven, pill­-popping stage mother Pat, wastrel dad Bart, and introverted twin brother Robbie—depends on her for their upscale lifestyle. Delia in turn depends on Caity, her beloved ginger Queensland Heeler—and loyal friend—for the calming private space they share. Delia is on the verge of a professional break through. But just as the contracts are about to be signed, there is a freak accident that puts Delia in the danger zone with only Caity to protect her.

Though the description calls it a 'psychological suspense' novel, it was much more of a 'horror' novel read (but with definite psychological elements). The Secret Life of Souls really begins in a way that leaves you not knowing what could go so wrong for them. Of course, with Pat and Bart as her parents, something almost has to.

The adult characters in this book are not ones you're going to like. They drink too much, they get a lot of joy out of spending money that was earned by Delia, they abuse prescription medication, and have some rather unhealthy relationships. The more the story develops the more sinister feelings they seem to incite. You almost want something bad to happen to them.

The story really builds on itself well. We start with the normal, everyday (although still not most people's normal or everyday) life of the Cross family and as the book progresses, little things begin happening. Slowly, though the little (and not so little) things, the narrative and the family's life changes rather dramatically. Until the ending. The last twenty or so percent of the book is when it all comes together . . .and when it all falls apart.

The way the different narrations are used - including one by Caity - was interesting and gives you a different look at some of the characters and events. The present tense use was okay, but there were times when either the wrong tense was used, they didn't match up or something just felt off about the phrasing.

This read was not what I was expecting based on the book description, nonetheless I really did enjoy it.

Does it still count as product placement if many - if not most - of the inclusions of brand names more turn you off from th product than promote it? Whatever it counted as, there were a lot of mentions of specific brand names in The Secret Life of Souls. Mostly it was alcohol or (prescription) drug names so it seemed to stand out more and could be distracting.







review copy recieved from publisher, via NetGalley

My Unscripted Life ~ Lauren Morrill (eac) review [@laurenemorrill @DelacortePress]

My Unscripted Life
Delacorte
October 11, 2016
288 pages
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Perfect for fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Huntley Fitzpatrick, you'll love this funny and sweet contemporary romance about a Southern girl ready for a ho-hum summer until she meets the boy of her dreams who happens to be an international pop star.

Sometimes love stories go off script.

Another sultry Georgia summer is about to get a lot hotter. Dee Wilkie is still licking her wounds after getting rejected by the precollege fine arts program of her dreams. But if she'd gone away, she wouldn't have been around to say yes to an unbelievable opportunity: working on the set of a movie filming in her small Southern town that just happens to be starring Milo Ritter, the famous pop star Dee (along with the rest of the world) has had a crush since eighth grade.

It's not like Dee will be sharing any screen time with Milo—she's just a lowly PA. And Milo is so disappointingly rude that Dee is eager to stay far away from him. Except after a few chance meetings, she begins to wonder if just maybe there's a reason for his offensive attitude, and if there's more to Milo than his good looks and above-it-all Hollywood pedigree. Can a relationship with a guy like Milo ever work out for a girl like Dee? Never say never. . .

Novels with 'celebrity' characters can be some of my favorites. I like when we get to see the more 'normal' side to them while mixing in the aspects of whatever it is that makes them famous. In My Unscripted Life I really liked that Milo Ritter, a pop star, was starring in his first movie and that Dee, our not famous character, found herself working on that movie. It was something new for them both and they were doing that something new because of a recent failing (or not-quite-success) with the medium they loved.

Dee's rejection from the Governor's School summer fine art program gave her a unique reason for wanting to work on the movie set. She wasn't there because of a love of film or desire to see famous people (though there was some of that), rather she was there to escape that she wasn't going to Savannah for the program. I liked where she was starting from.

The relationship between Milo and Dee develops very quickly. The lead up to it was good and their seeming dislike of each other worked. Once they moved past that, though, it seemed to just happen. (Dee was calling him her boyfriend, without any questioning, after what seemed like a few days.)

The main issue I had with Milo and Dee and their relationship was the lack of communication. They had some serious issues to consider and work through - his recent breakup, her aversion to the notoriety that comes with dating Milo Ritter, the impending geographic separation, etc - but they never seemed to talk about it. At least not with each other.

If you don't get all think-y about it, My Unscripted Life is a cute, fun summer romance (in October). I enjoyed the depiction of Dee's life in small-town Georgia and that her work on the movie set was truly a part of the story and seemed realistic not glossed over or imagined, it added something to the story.








digital review copy received, via NetGalley, from the publisher

The Lost and the Found ~ Cat Clarke (earc) review [@cat_clarke @randomhousekids @CrownPublishing]

The Lost and the Found
Crown Books for Young Readers
September 13, 2016
368 pages
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Fans of Lucy Christopher’s Stolen, Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton, and Natasha Preston’s The Cellar will be captivated by this twisty psychological thriller about an abducted girl who finally returns home to her family—but is she really who she claims to be?

THE LOST
When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister, Faith. Since then, Faith’s childhood has revolved around her sister’s disappearance—from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention, to dealing with so-called friends who only ever want to talk about her missing sister.

THE FOUND
Now, thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the front yard of the Logans’ old house, disoriented and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Can her sister finally be back? Faith always dreamed of her sister coming home; she just never believed it would happen. But soon a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated from her family and paranoid about her sister’s motives. Before long, Faith begins to wonder if it’s the abduction that’s changed her sister, or if it’s something else. . . .

Sometimes you wish for something, pray for it and hope for it. Then, you get it . . . only to realize that thing you most wished for isn't quite what you were expecting, after all. For Faith, that wish comes in the form of her long missing, older sister Laurel being forund.

 The thirteen years that Laurel Logan's been missing have wrecked the Logan family. Faith's parents are divorced, her mother's a shell of her former self and Faith's childhood was nothing like it could or should have been. Laurel coming home should make everything right again, right?

Maybe not so right.

Faith wants this to be the miracle everyone else seems to see it as - and at times sehe does. She has her big sister back. Except it's not all she had hoped. Of course, she knows that Laurel and life for their family can't just go back to normal after all her sister's endured, but she also didn't expect things to be how they are.

I thought that Faith's anxiety around the return of her sister, her desire for and attempts to make things right and normal and happy were all really realistic and well done. I also liked that it was Faith whose story this was, that we got things from her perspective and not Laurel's or their mother's or even a combination. We can see her struggle with how to deal with things, statements form her mother, the way her parents act, how Laurel's return impacts her life, wanting to help her sister and be understanding. Readers are often left, along with Faith, wondering what to let pass, what to accept and what to really question.

It's great that The Lost and the Found focuses on Faith, Laurel, their family, their relationship and Faith's life beyond all that rather than the actual abduction. It's a different focus but an enjoyable one.

One of the biggest twists of the book was one I predicted really, really early on but being unsure if or when it was coming and not knowing all the details revealed once it did made that predictability not matter. I actually rather enjoyed the way it seemed to hang over the story, leaving me wondering.

The very, very end of the book did leave me questioning several things and not necessarily it a good way. I'm still not sure what I think about it or what it could - or should - mean for earlier parts of the story.

I haven't been able to find a preview of the UK version online to confirm that itw as different, but there seem to be some places where the text was changed for this US version and some where it was not (including: both dollars and pound are mentioned for money, drinking age is twenty-one, someone's coming 'up' form London, it's 'university' not college).








digital copy received for review, from publisher, via NetGalley

Leave Me ~ Gayle Forman (earc) review [@AlgonquinBooks @gayleforman]

Leave Me
Algonquin Books
September 06, 2016
343 pages
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International bestselling author Gayle Forman's trademark humor and insight abound in this masterful adult debut, showing us that sometimes you have to leave home in order to find it again.

For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention--meet Maribeth Klein. A harried working mother who's so busy taking care of her husband and twins, she doesn't even realize she's had a heart attack.

Afterward, surprised to discover that her recuperation seems to be an imposition on those who rely on her, Maribeth does the unthinkable: She packs a bag and leaves. But, as is so often the case, once we get to where we're going, we see our lives from a different perspective. Far from the demands of family and career and with the help of liberating new friendships, Maribeth is finally able to own up to secrets she has been keeping from those she loves and from herself.

With big-hearted characters who stumble and trip, grow and forgive, Leave Me is about facing our fears. Gayle Forman, a dazzling observer of human nature, has written an irresistible novel that confronts the ambivalence of modern motherhood head-on.

It was interesting how different life at home with Maribeth, her husband Jason and their twins Oscar and Liv felt  while reading Leave Me compared to Mia's family in If I Stay. They seemed so much more . . . ordinary. Looking at it now, though, I think it's a great example of how this is an adult novel and it's more grown-up. Maribeth works at a celebrity lifestyle magazine and her husband works as a nonprofit music archivist, not exactly boring, suit and tie jobs.

That feeling of things being less free spirit-y comes from the focus being on the adults, on Maribeth and the reality of all she has to do to keep her family going - not how her kids see it, or her husband or how she pretends it is, but how it really can be.

I don't think you have to be any of those women mentioned in the beginning of the description - or a woman, at all, to enjoy Leave Me. Readers really can see and understand why Maribeth feels she isn't getting the assistance or understanding she should (or that she needs). You may not agree with her decision to leave but but for her it seems to make some sense.

A little more than half way through the book I did get a bit irritated with Maribeth. Her reasoning and her reactions to things started seeming more selfish and immature (which I can't manage to explain better without getting spoilery).

Still I liked the people, activities and truths she discovered in her 'new' life. You don't realize at the beginning of the story how much is there, just under the surface with Maribeth, with Jason, with Elizabeth and with their pasts. I still had some questions, mostly about the characters' futures, at the end of the book but I definitely felt like I knew Maribeth better and that she - and the others- were in a better place going forward.


(I want to give it more three and three quarter stars . . . )






digital copy received for review, from publisher, via NetGalley

Been Here All Along ~ Sandy Hall (earc) review [@iamsandyhall @SwoonReads]

Been Here All Along
Swoon Reads
August 30, 2016
240 pages
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Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. They do NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend and next door neighbor, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do.

Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong…

This review may contain some spoilers . . . 

If it's possible for a book - and it's characters to be too nice then that's what happened with Been here All Along. Everyone's too nice and too accepting. I don't even mean when it comes to other characters' sexuality, That worked fine and was a nice change of pace from all of the drama that can (also realistically) be present in other novels.

It was more that everything I anticipated would throw a character off balance, that would freak them out or cause some sort of turmoil . . . didn't. Or if there was an sense of upheaval, it was minimal and/or short lived.

Like with Gideon and Kyle. They've been best friends for twelve years but Gideon realizes how he now feels about Kyle and seems rather quickly completely alright with it. Not even factoring in that they're both male, I thought the 'best friends for twelve years' part plus the new 'in love with him' part would have been cause for a bit of freaking out. Or more of it.

Gideon and Kyle were very cute together and I liked seeing the progression of their relationship and the different ways they were. I think I wish there were more scenes between but it may really have been that the ones there were all so even and sweet and kind and okay that I really wanted the emotion - of whatever kind - kicked up a bit.

Ruby was one of those secondary characters that I wish we were going to see more of. She seemed to have the most thrown at her and was the one not quite ready to be accepting and okay with it. (Quite understandably.) I liked her and still want to know what the future holds for her.

This is a sweet, cute story and the accepting characters and actions were a, usually, nice change of pace but a bit more conflict or uncertainty would have made for a more enjoyable, memorable read.







received from publisher for review, via NetGalley

The Telling ~ Alexandra Sirowy (earc) review [@simonteen @AlexandraSirowy]

The Telling
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
August 02, 2016
387 pages
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Lana used to know what was real.

That was before when her life was small and quiet.
Her golden step-brother, Ben, was alive, she could only dream about bonfiring with the populars, their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell the truth from lies, and Ben’s childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.

Then came after.

After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, and living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten: Love, blood, and murder.

After her step-brother Ben was murdered, Lana almost din't knowhow to go on living. Now, in this after she thinks she's figured out how to try. She's being that fun, adventurous, daring girl she was always too afraid (or too bullied) to be before.

Then, things begin happening. Things  that seem to belong more to the twisted fairy tales Ben used to tell her than to real life. The more that happens and the more that she and the friends she's spent so much of the summer with become ensnared in everything, the more questions there are. For Lana and readers alike.

The characters made it hard for me to really get into The Telling. I liked Lana fine, but it was hard to really be pulled in by her. I liked the background of who she'd been as a child, all that had happened to her, why she'd changed over the years and why she now had changed again. I think if he other characters had been fuller, I would have felt more a part of the story. We have what Lana thinks of them, what they've done to her in the past, and what they do now. The little mentions, though, of other sides to them: nicer, kinder, deeper, etc things had e wishing we got to know them better.

I liked the way the things that occurred made Lana question what was real. I didn't always understand the conclusions she came to or what she chose as the right course of action. I appreciated that she did acknowledge that they weren't always going about things the 'smart' way.

The explanation for everything seemed, in some ways, to just appear - not so much the actual ending as how we got there, the reasoning. It worked with the earlier parts  of the story looking back, but didn't seemed hinted at and wasn't something you could figure out from clues given.

The Telling is a tense, creepy, disturbing, sometimes a bit weird tale that deals with love, grief, bravery, truth and lies. I do wish the characters (aside from Lana) had been more fully developed but it is a good read.




Other Books You May Also Enjoy: Tragedy Girl by Christine Hurley Deriso and Those Girls by Lauren Saft






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

We Own the Night ~ Ashley Poston (earc) review [@ashposton @bloomsburykids]

We Own the Night (Radio Hearts #2)
Bloomsbury Spark
June 28, 2016
250 pages; ebook
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"Happy midnight, my fellow Niteowls..."

As a candy store employee by day, and mysterious deejay "Niteowl" by night, eighteen-year-old Ingrid North is stuck between rock 'n roll and a hard place. She can't wait to get out of her tiny hometown of Steadfast, Nebraska (population three hundred and forty-seven) to chase her dreams, but small-town troubles keep getting in the way. She can't abandon her grandmother with Alzheimer's, or her best friend Micah--who she may or may not be in love with.

But for one hour each Saturday, she escapes all of that. On air, she isn't timid, ugly-sweater-wearing Ingrid North. She's the funny and daring Niteowl. Every boy's manic pixie dream girl. Fearless. And there is one caller in particular-- Dark and Brooding--whose raspy laugh and snarky humor is just sexy enough to take her mind off Micah. Not that she's in love with Micah or anything. Cause she's not.

As her grandmother slips further away and Micah begins dating a Mean-Girls-worthy nightmare, Ingrid runs to the mysterious Dark and Brooding as a disembodied voice to lean on, only to fall down a rabbit hole of punk rockstars, tabloid headlines, and kisses that taste like bubble tea. But the man behind the voice could be surprising in all the right, and wrong, ways.

And she just might find that her real life begins when Niteowl goes off the air.

There were parts of We Own the Night that I really enjoyed and some parts that just did not work for me. The storyline that dealt with Ingrid, her grandmother, her grandmother's Alzheimer's and the responsibility Ingrid felt to stay with her and care for her was very nicely done. We see both Ingrid's love for Grams, who's raised her, loved her and taken care of her Ingrid's whole life, but also her desire to leave Steadfast - and the conflict and guilt that creates.

I loved her relationship with her Grams and how the portrayal of how the Alzheimer's was affecting them both. We see some of how Grams is deteriorating, especially when it's alongside Ingrid's memories of how things were, how it can be difficult for Ingrid, but also how heartbreaking.

 The whole story involving Micah and how Ingrid might be in love with him was something I could have done without. I could understand why Ingrid thought she felt how the thought she felt about him, romantically. Where it didn't work was that they were supposed to be best friends - and how long she held onto those romantic feelings. There are a few scenes of them as 'friends' but most of their interaction and how he treats her, certainly does not feel 'friendly,' or like they're beset friends. I couldn't understand why he held such weight.

I did have to sort of suspend my disbelief when it came to the idea that no one knew Ingrid was Niteowl. It is a town of three hundred and forty seven people, with twenty three people in Ingrid's graduating class; that her secret identity stayed secret felt unbelievable. (At least to me, after having lived in a town ten times Steadfast's size.) She has to be the only one who says, 'Bless,' that often both as Niteowl and as Ingrid and she doesn't exactly sensor herself (saying she has three best friends, etc.

There were a few instances where I thought some more editing would help (tense weirdness, phrasing, timing) but nothing major. The romance was a bit off for me, Ingrid's feelings for one character didn't make sense and the deal with another seemed obvious (but not to her). I did enjoy  the parts of the book that dealt with Ingrid's grandmother, Ingrid's desire to leave Steadfast and all that she had to deal with with reconciling those two directions.

The Leaving ~ Tara Altebrando (earc) review [@taraaltebrando @bloomsburykids]

The Leaving
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
June 7, 2016
432 pages
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Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story.

I love the premise of The Leaving and how we're introduced to the characters, including our three narrators, Avery, Scarlett and Lucas.  Five now teenagers returning home after eleven years missing is something you think would be joyous, filed with happiness, tears and relief. There is some of that here, but it's all tinged with the uncertainty of what happened, why. The five of them are back, but with no memory of what happened and now they have to figure out what that means - about their past and their present, future.

I think The Leaving was  not enough one thing or another for me. It was a mystery, thriller and really is mysterious and thought provoking, but without enough resolution. There were some nice twists and turns, in what's discovered and how the characters feel about it. One revelation about a character, in particular, I saw coming a long way off but liked seeing how/when others figured it out. Ultimately, there were too many questions left unanswered for my taste.

It was also a character-centric story, with them learning what the five (not six) of them being back meant. How to be a part of the world again, with no memory of the last eleven years, with peoples' different expectations and beliefs about who they were, where they'd been, and if they were telling the truth about forgetting. It's smart how Avery was added in, her being Max's sister and needing to know what happened to him, being a part of the group but not, at the same time,

You can understand the characters wanting to figure out their relationships - past, present, even future - but the romances were weird. I get the one(s) that involved the time the characters cannot remember. That works on their feelings of identity, emotion, what to trust. The current romance between two characters seemed to be there because one wanted it to be (though I was never really sure why?) and because they said so.

This was an enjoyable read that definitely pulls the reader in, but there was not enough resolution for me. The mystery is done well - with bits that seem too strange, but then somehow and and work - but we don't get enough answers. I think knowing more, at the end, would have impacted how I felt about the characters, too.



(between 3 and 3 1/2, really)

Another Book You May Also Enjoy: The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman




received, for review, from publisher via NetGalley

Sing ~ Vivi Greene review [@Harperteen @epicreads @AlloyEnt]

Sing
Harper Collins
May 31, 2016
288 pages
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America’s most famous pop star flees the spotlight to recover from her latest break-up in Maine—only to fall for a local boy and be faced with an impossible choice at the end of the summer: her new guy, or her music.

Multiplatinum pop icon Lily Ross’s biggest hits and biggest heartbreaks (because they are one and the same):


1. AGONY. (That feeling when her ex ripped her heart out of her chest and she never saw it coming.)
2. GHOSTS. (Because even famous people are ghosted by guys sometimes. And it sucks just as much.)
3. ONCE BITTEN. (As in: twice shy. Also, she’s never dating an actor or a musician ever again.)


But this summer’s going to be different. After getting her heart shattered, Lily is taking herself out of the spotlight and heading to a small island in middle-of-nowhere Maine with her closest friends. She has three months until her fall tour starts-three months to focus on herself, her music, her new album. Anything but guys.


That is . . . until Lily meets sweet, down-to-earth local Noel Bradley, who is so different from anyone she’s ever dated. Suddenly, Lily’s “summer of me” takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself falling deeper and harder than ever before. But Noel isn’t interested in the limelight. She loves Noel-but she loves her fans, too. And come August, she may be forced to choose.

Lily Ross is a famous pop star, known not just for her songs but for falling in love. And getting her heart broken. She has been able to deal with it - throwing herself into her music, making sure to spin the story just right, putting on a smile even when she didn't mean it - until now. After her most recent breakup and with her tour just three months away, she needs to get away.

The stay at her friend's cabin on a small island in Maine is supposed to be the break, the recharge that she needs. No boys, no falling in love, no drama, just Lily and Sammy and Tess.

But Lily's never been one to stay away from romance.

Can she fall in love and still accomplish what hse meant to? And what about the end of summer and her tour?


For whatever reason, I really love reading novels about fictional celebrities, Sometimes they remind you of real singers, actors, whatever in certain, broader aspects, probably Taylor Swift, at first, with this one. But as yo read, if it's done right, they become their own characters with their own stories, personalities, troubles and loves. Though we focus mostly on the here and now with Lily, I liked that we got some peeks at her past, growing up in Madison, what her parents were like. It definitely made her more than just 'pop star Lily Ross.'

Her friends a re a nice addition to the story and to our view of Lily's life. Most of the focus is on Lily (and Lily and Noel) so we don't see a lot of Sammy and Tess except for how they interact with and assist Lily, but that works.

Sing is a young adult book but the characters' ages, what they're trying to decide about their futures, their responsibilities and love also has an NA feel to it. Strictly NA readers might think it's a little too sweet but readers of both YA and NA should give Sing a try.

This was a sweet and cute read that still had some depth, a fun summertime read. Lily's character loves her music, but can't seem to help falling in love - now she has to figure out how to manage both.







finished copy received, from publisher, for review consideration