Into the Black Nowhere ~ Meg Gardiner review [@MegGardiner1 @DuttonBooks]

Into the Black Nowhere (UNSUB #2)
Dutton
January 30, 2018
355 pages
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** Contains spoilers for UNSUB (#1), the first book in this series - see my review here **

Inspired by real-life serial killer Ted Bundy, an exhilarating thriller in which FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix faces off against a charming, merciless serial killer

In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappearing. One vanishes from a movie theater. Another is ripped from her car at a stoplight. Another vanishes from her home while checking on her baby. Rookie FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix, newly assigned to the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, fears that a serial killer is roaming the dark roads outside Austin.

Caitlin and the FBI's serial crime unit discover the first victim's body in the woods. She's laid out in a bloodstained, white baby-doll nightgown. A second victim in a white nightie lies deeper in the forest's darkness. Both bodies are surrounded by Polaroid photos, stuck in the earth like headstones. Each photo pictures a woman in a white negligee, wrists slashed, suicide-style--posed like Snow White awaiting her prince's kiss.

To track the UNSUB, Caitlin must get inside his mind. How is he selecting these women? Working with a legendary FBI profiler, Caitlin searches for a homology--that elusive point where character and action come together. She profiles a confident, meticulous killer who convinces his victims to lower their guard until he can overpower and take them in plain sight. He then reduces them to objects in a twisted fantasy--dolls for him to possess, control, and ultimately destroy. Caitlin's profile leads the FBI to focus on one man: a charismatic, successful professional who easily gains people's trust. But with only circumstantial evidence linking him to the murders, the police allow him to escape. As Saturday night approaches, Caitlin and the FBI enter a desperate game of cat and mouse, racing to capture the cunning predator before he claims more victims.

Into the Black Nowhere was an even better read than UNSUB. We now know Caitlin and not only what happened to her in the first book, but how the Prophet impacted her life in the past, as well. With Caitlin now a part of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, it is her job to get into the minds of serial killers,  It is Caitlin's dream job, but it also required her to move across the country - from California to Quantico, Virginia - leaving Sean and making their relationship now a long distance one.

I liked that, while the story immediately throws Caitlin into a case, to working on profiling and catching a killer, she was definitely still the newbie. We saw how she had to prove herself, to feel things out. That bit of transition not only allows readers to become more familiar with the aspects of her work, but also felt more realistic.

The search for the killer - and then trying to prove whether or not a suspect is really the one to be watching - was intense, sometimes twisted and dark. Yet, it never felt rushed or like it was more dramatic than would actually be true simply for a thrilling read.

I loved that we also saw Caitlin's attempts to balance her personal life (her relationship with Sean, her friendship with Michelle) with not only her new job and the pressures and stressors it provided, but also the distance and absence of physical, face to face interactions. Knowing her better as a person away from being a profiler makes you more invested in her character - as a profiler and in her personal life.

The bits of the story that slowly crept up on you, until you realized just how much they may matter, has me very anxious to read Book 3, The Dark Corners of the Night.





Other Books You May Also Enjoy:  The Sleeping Doll (Kathryn Dance #1) by Jeffery Deaver and the Lucy Kincaid series by Allison Brennan

Monday's Not Coming ~ Tiffany D Jackson review [@Writeinbk @epicreads @KatherineTegen] @erinferdinand]

Monday's Not Coming
Katherine Tegen Books
May 22, 2018
448 pages
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A gripping, relentless, and timely new novel from critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, about the complex mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

The quote on the front cover of Monday's Not Coming, from Laurie Halse Anderson, tells readers the book is, "A mesmerizing, punch-in-the-gut-story," and that could not be more true.

Claudia's best friend is missing. And only she seems to notice, or care.

"I know what you're thinking. How can a whole person, a kid, disappear and no one say a word? Like if the sun just up and left one day, you'd think someone would sound an alarm, right?" (pg 1)

When we're told on page one of the book that Monday's disappeared and no one, save for Claudia, seems aware, it seems impossible. A girl cannot just disappear with no outcry, no concern. Yet, as the story progresses, we see just how possible it is for that to happen. It is scary how easily someone can be written off - usually because they were written off even while still right there in front of people.

The way the story is told ('The Before,' 'The After,' and some in the present) not only allows readers to gradually learn about Claudia and Monday's friendship, what happens once Monday's missing, but definitely ups the mystery and raises even more questions that you want to figure out.

I really loved that there was an added, unexpected element to Claudia wanting to find Monday. The secret Monday had been helping her keep added a level of immediacy to her need to find her best friend. Paired with the added stress it caused Claudia, it really made the story (and her) about more than Monday.

There are a lot of secrets, a lot of concealment and fear of the truth being found out in Monday's Not Coming. Author Tiffany D Jackson does an absolutely superb job making some things not nearly as bad as a character fears and some things so, so much worse.

This book will grab you from the beginning, yanking you up, down, and around as you experience Claudia's quest to find Monday, to find her best friend; and as you witness people's indifference, learn of the girls' pain, secrets and struggles to not let things be noticed, it truly is that, "punch-in-the-gut story."

("If Monday were a color, she'd be red. Crisp, striking, vivid, you couldn't miss her -- a bully's eyere in the room, a crackling flame." [pg 41].  The designer of the book jacket, Erin Fitzsimmons should be recognized for her awesomeness with this cover. With the way Claudia sees/thinks about/notices colors, the red, red, red cover is such a perfect fit.

After Allegedly and Monday's Not Coming, Tiffany D Jackson is up at the top of my list of authors to pay attention to = and to recommend. Monday's Not Coming is an utterly unforgettable tale of two young girls, their secrets, their truths and what it all says about them, their families, those around them, and society. I loved this book even as it absolutely tore me up.










finished copy received thanks to publisher, for review consideration

Captain Superlative ~ J.S. Puller [@PullerWrites @DisneyHyperion]

Captain Superlative
Disney Hyperion
May 08, 2018
254 pages
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"Have no fear, citizens! Captain Superlative is here to make all troubles disappear!"

Red mask, blue wig, silver swimsuit, rubber gloves, torn tights, high top sneakers and . . . a cape? Who would run through the halls of Deerwood Park Middle School dressed like this? And why?

Janey-quick to stay in the shadows-can't resist the urge to uncover the truth behind the mask. The answer pulls invisible Janey into the spotlight and leads her to an unexpected friendship with a superhero like no other. Fearless even in the face of school bully extraordinaire, Dagmar Hagen, no good deed is too small for the incomparable Captain Superlative and her new sidekick, Janey.

But superheroes hold secrets and Captain Superlative is no exception. When Janey unearths what's truly at stake, she's forced to face her own dark secrets and discover what it truly means to be a hero . . . and a friend.

Superlatives always make me think of Latin class (or the current US President), but now I have something new, wonderful, and much better to associate them with: Captain Superlative.


Jane likes to blend in, to not call her attention to herself, to be the same. "...Then again, no one ever really saw me. I was as unimportant as air. And equally invisible." (pg 11) It might not be exciting but it keeps Jane free from being bullied, from being picked on, from being hurt. And it's working just fine . . . until Captain Superlative arrives.

Showing up to Deerwood Park Middle School dressed as a superhero - cape, masks, gloves, the whole bit - on a chilly January day is not normal. It's definitely different. Just like everyone else , Janey finds herself fascinated by the Captain and wanting to unravel the mystery, but never guessing how much the girl who always seems to be there to help will change Janey's life.

The entirety of this novel is just fantastic. Not only does it deal with Jane's life at school and the larger, more general anxieties and pressures that are part of being a seventh grader, but there is also Janey's relationship with her father and how her mother's death affected them. The author does a truly great job with the friendships in this book - both the current ones of different characters and the varying forms they take, but also those from the past . . . and ones that could be.

The relationships in this story are unique and complex and show us much about the characters - often often more than we, at first, realize. It's not just those eternal relationships that re handled so well: it is also about characters' self identity: their 'thing' and being true to your self, being happy, not being named Bob.

Captain Superlative is all of these great things pulled into a smart  and touching story. It has a good message but never feels like an adult telling middle school aged readers what's right or how to be (even the character of Janey's day, who could do that, lets her figure things out herself). The character are authentic and real and readers both in middle school and not should enjoy this one.

J.S. Puller's debut middle grade novel is funny, it's sweet, it's memorable. Melissa de la Cruz is not exaggerating when she says (as per the quote on the book's back cover), "This beautiful debut novel will make you laugh and cry and want to be a better person."







finished copy received for possible review, from publisher

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

Time Bomb
HMH Books for Young Readers
March 13, 2018
352 pages
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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

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

A Kiss in the Dark
Simon Pulse
March 06, 2018
341 pages
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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

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

The Vanishing Season
Minotaur
December 05, 2017
274 pages
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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

A Map of the Dark ~ Karen Ellis review [@KatiaLief @mulhollandbooks]

A Map of the Dark (The Searchers #1)
Mullholand Books
January 02, 2018
292 pages
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A girl, missing
A woman, searching
A killer, planning...

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people.
She knows how it feels to be lost...

Though her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.

With each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath Elsa's skin. Everything she has buried - her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother's death - threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself...and return to the darkness she's been hiding from for years.

It was great, when preparing this review, to find out that A Map of the Dark was the first in a series. Though this book concluded very well and did wrap up the story, I had hoped we would see more of at least some of the characters. Now, I am looking forward to the second book, Last Night.

Author Karen Ellis, a pseudonym of Katia Lief, gave readers thrilling read centered around a missing teen and an FBI agent with her own reasons for being so dedicated to finding the missing girl. I liked that Elsa's past played a roe in her joining law enforcement, but also in why she is so good at finding missing children. And that it was not the reason you, at first, believe.

Readers will see certain developments coming before (some of) the characters, but they seem to only be those that we are meant to anticipate, the ones that increase the tension. The story is full of a lot of surprises and anxiety, as well.

The more you know about the characters, the more you both want to know about them and the more you want them to be safe. I really loved that this was a great, thrilling mystery with a crime to be solved and someone(s) to be rescued but also gave us characters we could be invested in, care about and root for.

The crime aspect of this story and the investigation were well done and seemed realistic and I am hoping we will get to see more development of the characters and their relationships in the books to come. I highly recommend this first book in The Searchers series.




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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

Internet Famous ~ Danika Stone (earc) review [@danika_stone @SwoonReads]

Internet Famous
Swoon Reads
June 06, 2017
312 pages
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High school senior and internet sensation Madison Nakama seems to have it all: a happy family, good grades, and a massive online following for her pop-culture blog. But when her mother suddenly abandons the family, Madi finds herself struggling to keep up with all of her commitments.

Fandom to the rescue! As her online fans band together to help, an online/offline flirtation sparks with Laurent, a French exchange student. Their internet romance—played out in the comments section of her MadLibs blog—attracts the attention of an internet troll who threatens the separation of Madi’s real and online personas. With her carefully constructed life unraveling, Madi must uncover the hacker’s identity before he can do any more damage, or risk losing the people she loves the most… Laurent included.

Internet Famous was one of those books where I had forgotten much of the premise before I started the book (that or it was from Swoon Reads so I didn't really read all of what it was about) so a lot of the story was a surprise for me. A very pleasant surprise.

This is absolutely a very sweet and cute romance, but the other parts of the story - and Madi's life - really take the story to the next level. The different dynamics at play in Madi's family were unexpected but something I was all to glad to see.

"Difficult sibling dynamics are rarely explored in teen films, and this was one of many happy surprises from this rewatch." (pg 253)

Switch up a few words in Madi's statement (films to books, rewatch to read) and you have my feelings about this novel. Madi and Sarah's relationship was not your typical, teenage sisters relationship and the responsibilities Madi had to shoulder put her in more of a parental role sometimes. I really appreciated that we not only got to see her struggle with all of that, but that it was addressed by the characters, as well. The girls' relationships with their mother and father could also be strained and tricky. These extra layers of stress made Madi, her life and her story fuller.

One of the problems Madi encounters did not garner as much sympathy from me as, maybe, it was supposed to . .. I felt bad for her but also did not think she was wrongly penalized.

Madi's blog, MadLibs was fun and something different for a character. I liked how, while it was her escape, it had also impacted her daily life - and then was impacted by it, too.

I began reading Internet Famous expecting a cute, fun, if somewhat fluffy romance. It was definitely cute and fun (and sweet and romantic and goofy) but it was not fluffy. There was an unexpected depth to the story and Madi's character that rally impressed me. I will be reading the author's previous novel All the Feels (which includes some of the same fictional fandom) and anything upcoming.









digital review copy received from the publisher, via NetGalley

Hamilton & Peggy! ~ L.M. Elliott review [@L_M_Elliott @KatherineTegen ‏@epicreads @KTegenBooks]

Hamilton and Peggy!: A Revolutionary Friendship
Katherine Tegen Books
February 13, 2018
448 pages
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The ebook of Hamilton and Peggy! is currently only $1.99, so hurry up and buy it! (Kindle / Nook)

For fans of the extraordinary Broadway musical Hamilton, New York Times bestselling author L. M. Elliott delivers a richly detailed historical novel about the lively Peggy Schuyler and her devoted friendship to Alexander Hamilton during the drama of the American Revolution.

Revolutionary. Friend. Lover. Sister.

Peggy Schuyler has always felt like she’s existed in the shadows of her beloved sisters: the fiery, intelligent Angelica and the beautiful, sweet Eliza. The three of them have a magnetic pull—they are stronger together than they are alone. But it’s in the throes of a chaotic war that Peggy finds herself a central figure amid Loyalists and Patriots, spies and traitors, and friends and family. Charming, quick-witted, and clever beyond compare, Peggy is determined to use her talents to make her own mark on the Revolutionary War.

When a flirtatious aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton, writes an eloquent letter to Peggy asking for her help in wooing the earnest Eliza, Peggy finds herself unable to deny such an impassioned plea. A fast friendship forms between the two, but Alexander is caught in the same war as her father, General Philip Schuyler, and the danger to all their lives is real. Everything is a battlefield—from the front lines to their carefully coded letters—and Peggy must put herself in harm’s way to protect the people she loves. But will her bravery and intelligence be enough to keep them all safe?

It has been far too long since the last time I read a truly captivating historical fiction YA novel - something that Hamilton and Peggy! absolutely was.

Aside from some of those Dear America books I read in middle school, I have read remarkable little about the American Revolution. Most of what I know about it probably from history class and a few TV documentary type shows. It was really interesting and enlightening to read something that showed me the people behind some of those Names I knew factually.

I really, really loved how L.M. Elliott showed us Peggy Schuyler through a modern eye but still in keeping with the time period and what is known about her, her family, the time, etc.

"...Would consider any man "a poor thing," who seeks to entertain and garner the friendship of other men by gossiping and criticizing women." (pg 304)

As her author bio for the book says, this story combined "her passions for research, American history, theater, ad early feminism." Pairing the hopes and desires of Peggy (and several other female characters) with the fight for American independence was very well done; it is a logical pairing.

That the men were working so hard for independence, for freedom and the ability to make their own choices while still subjugating women and owning slaves is confounding, to say the least, when you think about it. But I am happy that the author did not ignore either fact, it really helps you to recognize how frustrated - and later, disappointed - some must have been when 'freedom' was won.

Peggy -and really the entire Schuyler family are people I am sorry I did not previously know more about. Her story and how it fits with that of Alexander Hamilton (whether you know it from the musical or reading or just what was mentioned in school) really beings the Revolution to life.

Hamilton and Peggy! is a fantastic YA historical fiction. The author does a great job using both historical fact and a bit of (reasoned, logical) imagining to allow us to meet Peggy and, through her, learn about some of the less often portrayed elements of the period and the war.








finished copy received, for review consideration, from publisher

Miss Newman Isn't Human! ~ Dan Gutman review [@HarperChildrens]

Miss Newman Isn't Human! (My Weirdest School #10)
illustrated by Jim Paillot
HarperCollins
February 13, 2018
112 pages
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With more than 12 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading!


In this tenth book in the new My Weirdest School series, Sprinkles Newman, the local TV meteorologist, is coming to Ella Mentry School! She’s going to teach A.J. and the gang all about the weather. But what happens when a real live (well, not live) hurricane comes to the school? Hold on to your umbrellas!

Perfect for reluctant readers and word lovers alike, Dan Gutman’s hugely popular My Weird School chapter book series has something for everyone. Don’t miss the hilarious adventures of A.J. and the gang!

In Miss Newman Isn't Human!, A.J., Andrea and the other kids get a visit from the local TV meteorologist (who is not, actually, someone who studies meteors).  A.J. is sure it's going to be boring, but some unexpected things happen that make for a much more interesting day

This Weird School book, aimed at readers in first through third grades, is a fun, sometimes goofy and even a little bit informative read. The author did a great job not making this a book about weather - at least not evreyday weather. Readers likely aren't  that interested in or already know why/how it rains, etc. (Or if they are interested, this probably isn't where they would look for information.)

Instead, the focus is more on Miss Newman, A.J. and his friends, their goofy teacher and a rare bit of weather. It actually isn't a hurricane, but saying what it is would ruin some of the fun. It is different enough to definitely catch readers attention.

Miss Newman Isn't Human! does include a lot of bad/corny jokes - some that were in previous books, as well - but the way they're included is still funny and should make reading more fun, faster and entertaining for readers.





finished copy received from publisher for review consdieration

Look For Me ~ Lisa Gardner (earc) review [@LisaGardnerBks @DuttonBooks]

Look For Me (Detective D. D. Warren #9)
Dutton
February 06, 2018
400 pages
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In #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner's latest twisty thrill ride, Detective D. D. Warren and Find Her's Flora Dane return in a race against the clock to either save a young girl's life . . . or bring her to justice.

The home of a family of five is now a crime scene: four of them savagely murdered, one—a sixteen-year-old girl—missing. Was she lucky to have escaped? Or is her absence evidence of something sinister? Detective D. D. Warren is on the case—but so is survivor-turned-avenger Flora Dane. Seeking different types of justice, they must make sense of the clues left behind by a young woman who, whether as victim or suspect, is silently pleading, Look for me.

"Whatever she was about to see, it was not her job to feel. It was her job to fix." (Pg 14)

Boston Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren is back in the ninth entry to the series (well, ninth full length novel).  It was supposed to be a nice day with her husband and son, doing something not cop related, but once again work calls. The home, now a crime scene, is horrible but also leaves one question: where is the last member of the family?

Sixteen-year-old Roxanna Baez is missing (along with the family's two elderly dogs) and D.D. doesn't know if Roxy is victim or suspect.

Look for Me really steps things up from the previous novels in the series. I loved them and the way that we also had the perpetrator's point-of-view (or a perpetrator). It added anxiety to the story because you often knew something bad might be going to happen, you only hoped the good guys would stop it in time. In this book, though, we get things from D.D.'s perspective and from Flora Dane's.

Putting aside the fact that I am really, really happy we got more of Flora Dane (she was part of Find Her, which you really should read first), the way this story was presented was great. It made the most of the mystery and allowed readers some great insight into all of the main players. We don't know Roxy's role in everything so you think you want D.D. and Flora to figure things out, but some revelations are painful and tragic enough that I wondered if I really wanted the truth.

Roxy's perspective is made a part of the tale, but through a medium different than narration. It is not her present that readers receive, but glimpses into her past. This keeps the mystery going, but also lets us see that things have not always been so normal and safe and happy for Roxy, Lola, and their family. What we learn of their past is all the more heartbreaking because of basis in reality.

I absolutely enjoyed the way we had D.D. and her family, how she tried to balance that with her (often gruesome) work; then we had Flora, her past and how she was trying to make a present for herself; and the Baez family with its past - its secrets - and what that meant for their present.

As with each of the preceding books, I loved finding out more about D.D., Jack and Alex, unraveling and ultimately solving the mystery. I also hope that there will be more of Flora Dane in future books, she plays against D.D.'s character really well and its great seeing how far (or not far) she's come since we met her.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Marty Pants: Keep Your Paws Off ~ Mark Parisi review [@@OffTheMarkComic @HarperChildrens]

Marty Pants #2: Keep Your Paws Off
HarperCollins
February 06, 2018
256 pages
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Marty Pants is back! And in an unexpectedly hairy situation, Marty must put his deduction skills to the test as this new mystery might be leading to monstrous consequences.

When Marty finds a ripped page from his sister's diary, the most crucial piece—revealing Marty's true identity—is still locked inside his sister’s room. Undaunted, Marty pieces the clues together and comes to the most logical conclusion: he's on a one-way trip to werewolfville!

Superhuman speed. Howling. Hairiness. The evidence is mounting against him, and with his werewolf powers growing stronger, Marty is determined to protect his classmates from himself before it's too late—no matter what the cost!

The second book in the Marty Pants series from the award-winning cartoonist behind the “Off the Mark” strip, Mark Parisi, is perfect for fans of Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and laughing a lot.

Marty Pants returns for another strange, funny, crazy installment of Mark Parisi's Marty Pants series. This time the young aspiring artist has discovered something truly frightening about himself: he is a werewolf.

It seems unbelievable, but seems to make perfect sense, too. Just to be sure Marty decides to watch for the signs: ripped clothing, howling, etc. He needs to keep people safe from his monstrous, true self, after all.

This possible, life altering secret doesn't stop life around him from continuing on. There's still his nemesis Simon to deal with, therapy sessions with Parker, Roongrat's never-ending (but often incorrect) supply of facts and anecdotes, and Marty's sister's current way of spelling her name.

Marty Pants: Keep Your Paws Off is funny and maybe a bit absurd but also lets readers get to know the characters better and develops their relationships. (Marty also supplies a bit of information on different artists - and our Founding Fathers - along the way.) This book a is a light, fun read with enough in its characters and their friendships to make readers want to come back for the next book.

How Marty decides things to be true (what makes him think he's one step closer to confirming his lycanthropic identity) was fantastic. It's that perfect blend of odd and logical that is definitely funny, but somehow still understandable.

The Marty Pants series is targeted at readers eight to twelve-years-old but but older readers will still find the humor and it seems appropriate for any younger readers. Book 3, Marty Pants: How to Defeat a Wizard will be out in November and sounds like it will, again, showcase the . . . interesting conclusions Marty reaches.







finished copy received from publisher for review consideration

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais (earc) review [@PushkinPress]

Piglettes
Pushkin Children's Books
August 08, 2017
288 pages
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A wickedly funny and life-affirming coming-of-age roadtrip story - winner of France's biggest prize for teen and YA fiction.

Awarded the Gold, Silver and Bronze trotters after a vote by their classmates on Facebook, Mireille, Astrid and Hakima are officially the three ugliest girls in their school, but does that mean they're going to sit around crying about it?

Well... yes, a bit, but not for long! Climbing aboard their bikes, the trio set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris, their goal: a garden party with the French president. As news of their trip spreads they become stars of social media and television. With the eyes of the nation upon them the girls find fame, friendship and happiness, and still have time to consume an enormous amount of food along the way.

Originally published in 2015 as Les Petites Reines in France, the English version, Piglettes was translated by the author.

Mireille, Astrid and Hakima are ugly. So sayeth the annual vote by their classmates on Facebook, at least. Mireille, for one, absolutely agrees and insists it no longer bothers her, that it's something she accepted. The other two girls have not quite reached that point (if they ever will or, you know, should).

Mireille's self deprecating and often (really) dark sense of humor was very funny, but at times it was hard to know if it was really how she saw things, or the protective barrier she'd built for herself. And if it was funny or just sad. ("I think you made the wrong choice. In retrospect, I mean. Seeing what I turned out to be like, personally, I'd have aborted myself." [pg 179])

The more the story progressed and the more we got to know the three girls, the more I appreciated that we weren't going to get that She's All That makeover scene. These are three girls who are not physically attractive. But you know what? So what. Their physical appearance is only that, it isn't reflective of their knowledge or their ambition or what they can achieve. It's not who they are.

Piglette's characters takes its characters on a great journey, both literally and metaphorically. I loved that what they learn and how they grow was simply a part of the story and that you often did not realize it was happening, at the moment. (We weren't given little asides pointing out what X character had just realized or learnt.) It was all very natural and made for a great read.

I do not think I will ever forget Mireille or the other characters and their trip to Paris (with all of its food and drink and history). This was a funny, smart, touching read and I also think it's fantastic that the author is also the translator!







review copy received, thanks to 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 Chalk Man ~ CJ Tudor (earc) review [@CrownPublishing @cjtudor]

The Chalk Man
Crown Publishing Group
January 09, 2018
280 pages
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In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.

In 2016, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he's put his past behind him, but then he gets a letter in the mail containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank--until one of them turns up dead. That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.

According to the author's biography on Goodreads, C.J. Tudor's The Chalk Man, "was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday.: That has to be the best and most unexpected way for this story to have begun.

The Chalk Man is creepy and unnerving and mysterious and startling, an all-together great read. That the 1986 portions of the novel revolve around a twelve-year-old boy, his group of friends and their lives is fantastic. Not only does the author do a fantastic job really inhabiting the time and the characters, but the boys, their age, the year, and everything happening to them make them the perfect ones for what happens - and what they do.

The current parts of the story, set in 2016, are surprising for their own reasons. Readers know some of the outcome before really knowing what it was that led to it. It causes you to second guess characters and their actions - and really increases the tension and need to know what all happened. Most surprising of all, though, is probably where and how Eddie and his friends are, thirty years later. It is not what I would have expected if presented with only the 1986 story, but it all ends up making sense.

The writing was superb, as well. Not only were things revealed at just the right time, in just the right way, but little clues were slipped in, often going unnoticed and there were more than a few false leads, too. The actual writing, the phrasing, the metaphors, emotions, etc was really, really good.

There were more twists, turns, curves and speed bumps on the path to the end of this book than I anticipated. Everyone had their secrets - from their family, from their friends, from the town, even from themselves. The Chalk Man really illustrates just how weird, twisted, hypocritical, confused, misguided or downright dangerous seemingly nice, normal, upstanding people can be beneath what they let everyone see.

This story keeps readers guessing and continues to startle - and, often, shock - with its revelations. Some are things you want to have found out while others you may wish not to know. As one fo the characters says,"Sometimes . . . it's better not to know all the answers."

Well that and, "Secrets are like arseholes. We all have them. It's just that some are dirtier than others."

I hope there will be much more from author C.J. Tudor in the future.








digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

The Lost Season of Love & Snow ~ Jennifer Laam (erac) review [@jenlaam @StMartinsPress]

The Lost Season of Love and Snow
St Martin's Griffin
January 02, 2018
352 pages
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The unforgettable story of Alexander Pushkin’s beautiful wife, Natalya, a woman much admired at Court, and how she became reviled as the villain of St. Petersburg.


At the age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. But while she finds joy in French translations and a history of Russian poetry, her family is more concerned with her marriage prospects. It is only fitting that during the Christmas of 1828 at her first public ball in her hometown of Moscow she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin.

Enchanted at first sight, Natalya is already a devoted reader of Alexander’s serialized novel in verse, Evgeny Onegin. The most recently published chapter ends in a duel, and she is dying to learn what happens next. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya hopes to see him again as soon as possible.

What follows is a courtship and later marriage full of equal parts passion and domestic bliss but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads to Alexander dying from injuries earned defending his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, Natalya finds herself reviled for her alleged role in his death.

With beautiful writing and understanding, Jennifer Laam, and her compelling new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, help Natalya tell her side of the story—the story of her greatest love and her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court.

The Lost Season of Love and Snow proved to not only be an enjoyable novel but also a wonderful discovery of both a time period and people I knew very little about. Most of what I have read - both fiction and nonfiction - set in Russia took place about a century after Natalya's story. In the early nineteenth century, there was still fear of the  Tsar but so, at least among Natalya and her family's social circles, of appearing seditious.

I did not already know really anything about Pushkin, so seeing him through Natalya's eyes as well as through her family's and society's was both informative and intriguing. The author does a great job with Natalya's character and showing us how much stock is put in her beauty and how much it's depended upon to help her family's future. We also see how Natalya would rather be valued for her mind than her face.

This makes her courtship with Alexander Pushkin both that much more believeable and that much sweeter. I appreciated that the author seemed to hold to what would have been historically relevant - both Pushikin's past associations and his future income potential.

I also loved that we got what seemed like a very real glimpse into society at that time: the balls, the relationships, the Tsar's influence and presence, etc. We see how much of the upper class spoke French (which, side note, I still think the articles in French vs Russian would be tricky) and how flirting (or coquette) was so commonplace. All of this: the balls, playing the coquette, Pushkin's past, his current/future writings, and how women were viewed at the time are crucial parts of Alexander and Natalya's story.

Author Jennifer Laam does a brilliant job giving us a story that is true to it's historical setting and that mindset while viewing her characters (particularly Natalya)  and their words and actions with a modern eye. It was truly a pleasure to discover more about Russia in the nineteenth century and Alexander Pushikin but even more so his romance with Natalya, their life together, and how the time viewed her and where or how that might not be accurate. I really look forward to reading more of Laam's work.





digital review copy received from publisher via NetGalley

This Darkness Mine ~ Mindy McGinnis review [@MindyMcGinnis @KatherineTegen @HarperTeen]

This Darkness Mine
Katherine Tegen Books
October 10, 2017
352 pages
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*This novel is one of those that I suggest maybe not reading the description before you read the book. So, if that is something you ever do - or will do - skip over what this one's about.*

Sasha Stone knows her place—first-chair clarinet, top of her class, and at the side of her oxford-wearing boyfriend. She’s worked her entire life to ensure that her path to Oberlin Conservatory as a star musician is perfectly paved.

But suddenly there’s a fork in the road, in the shape of Isaac Harver. Her body shifts toward him when he walks by, her skin misses his touch even though she’s never known it, and she relishes the smell of him—smoke, beer, and trouble—all the things she’s avoided to get where she is. Even worse, every time he’s near Sasha, her heart stops, literally. Why does he know her so well—too well—and she doesn’t know him at all?

Sasha discovers that her by-the-book life began by ending another’s: the twin sister she absorbed in the womb. But that doesn’t explain the gaps of missing time in her practice schedule or the memories she has of things she certainly never did with Isaac. As Sasha loses her much-cherished control, her life—and heart—become more entangled with Isaac. Armed with the knowledge that her heart might not be hers alone, Sasha must decide what she’s willing to do—and who she’s willing to hurt—to take it back.

Edgar Award–winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a dark and gripping psychological thriller about a girl at war with herself, and what it really means to be good or bad.

Safe to say that was not where I was expecting the book to go - either for the story or for the character. True, I did not read the description before I started the book (it was by Mindy McGinnis and that was enough for me to want to read it) but I am glad I did not know what the book was supposed to be about. This story had me wondering, "What is going on?" at almost every turn but I truly loved discovering what was coming as it happened,. The not knowing what to expect was fantastic.

Even as the story grew darker and stranger and more startling, it somehow still made sense and felt very real. What happened and how it did were things I never would have expected or guessed (even if you given some sort of multiple choice test type option) but it all still fit.   I won't say it was logical, per se, but weirdly . . . it was?

This Darkness Mine is a weird, almost confusing at times, twisty, turny, dark and thrilling tale that truly did surprise me. There were times I was not even sure what genre the story would end up being so I really did not know what to expect. The only thing I knew for sure, the whole time, was that I had to keep reading it.

(I also need to mention how much I loved some of the characters. They were part of what made me not sure what genre the book would ultimately be - or made me want it to be something else. It is really noteworthy even in a dark, twisty, psychological thriller like this, I found some of the characters really sweet or really odd or really whatever. It was not just about Sasha, there were some brilliant characters in this novel.)

Dear Martin ~ Nic Stone review [@getnicced @penguinteen]

Dear Martin
Crown Books for Young Readers
October 17, 2017
210 pages
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Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack

Dear Martin  is what a lot of other novels about race and/or racism - both adult and YA books - have tried to be. The author has picked an ideal setting and characters to tell this story. There was great diversity in Dear Martin's characters: racially (at least with black and white characters, less soc with other races or ethnicities), socioeconomically, even when it came to view points on race and race relations.

Justyce was someone planning for an Ivy League education and at the top of his class. He was also someone who had not always been a part of that privileged, prep school life.  I enjoyed that we had his character who was familiar with both 'worlds' but also characters who only knew one or the other. It gives readers some great perspective and great insights.

We get a lot of very frank, very honest, not always educated and not PC discussion through the characters debate class. I loved the range of their opinions and how the author didn't dismiss any of them, even if they were horrible or ludicrous or misinformed (or just plan racist). Those discussions were a very smart way to have the characters talk about things they otherwise might not have, in ways and with those they would not have, otherwise.

I especially loved how real Nic Stone's characters were. They each held whatever beliefs they held for their own reasons - things that had happened in the past, information they gathered (or a lack thereof), familial beliefs, pop culture, current events, etc. Yet, neither the characters nor their beliefs were set in stone. There were great allowances for change and growth - even for those characters (okay one or two in particular) that I had all but written off. It was very hopeful while not feeling naive.

Nic Stone's Dear Martin is an incredibly real, pertinent, smart, thoughtful and though provoking read and I am absolutely eager to see what she publishes next.