Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Title: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Author: Robin Sloan
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Girous
Source: Purchased
Find it Here: Goodreads, Amazon

Global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, young love, and the secret to eternal life — mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore. The Great Recession shuffles Clay Jannon from his web-design drone job to night shift at Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Curiously, few customers come in repeatedly and never buy. Analysis reveals astonishing secrets ...

My thoughts:

I heard about this book a little while ago and ever since I read the synopsis I knew I wanted to choose Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore for book club.  An independent bookstore that never closes, some kind of conspiracy going on with the patrons who only borrow books and never buy and a mystery that I was convinced would have me on the edge of my seat.  

Even though it was good and it was fun to read, it just wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be.  After reading the synopsis, I really thought that the patrons were going to be spies and that they were passing secret messages back and forth in the books they were borrowing.  But as it turns out, these mysterious patrons are trying to solve the secrets of the universe a.k.a. the secret to physical immortality.  These people in this cult are literally scrambling around, decoding all these books in the hopes that they will find some kind of code or recipe for a concoction that will grant them immortality.  

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is an adventure that was pretty fun to read.  Clay, the main character, and his quirky group of misfit friends set off to help Mr. Penumbra uncover what he has been searching for for many years.  Conveniently they have unlimited resources that allow them to travel to New York City at a moments notice and also allows them to get their hands on all the technology that they need.  By the end, when he happened to have connections to a librarian that got him what he needed, I felt that he was a little too lucky.  I liked the characters but I felt their only purpose was to help out Clay and Mr. Penumbra. They didn't have any depth and they were very static throughout the whole novel.  

Overall, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore was a fun book to read and very appropriate for the book club. And hey! The cover of the paperback is pretty cool! It glows in the dark! I give Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan 3.5 stars for being entertaining and fun.

Review: Game by Barry Lyga

Title: Game
Author: Barry Lyga
Series: Jasper Dent #2
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Find it Here: Goodreads, Amazon

Billy grinned. “Oh, New York,” he whispered. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”

I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.
In an effort to prove murder didn't run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz’s door asking for help, he can’t say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple–and its police force–running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer’s murderous game.

My thoughts:

Game is the second book in the Jasper Dent series and sequel to I Hunt Killers. I’m going to try my hardest to make this review as spoiler free as possible! Okay, so that’s not going to happen and there are going to be a few spoilers from the first book.

Game takes off relatively close to where I Hunt Killers ends and just dives right back into Jasper Dent’s crazy life. Because of all the help that Jazz was able to give to his local police department, a detective from New York would like his help catching a serial killer that has been roaming the streets of New York City. The detective believes that there’s nothing really special about this killer but Jazz might think that his father is really the one behind all these murders. Of course, in typical Jazz style, he goes off on his own mission and ends up in quite the predicament which make the ending such a crazy cliffhanger and so OMG!!!

Game has all the same main characters as I Hunt Killers which is awesome because Howie is just so funny! But we don’t get very much of Howie because he doesn't accompany Jazz to New York City. Connie is an okay character and I don’t think she really adds a lot to the story. I would have to say that some of my favorite parts were the short chapters from the point of view of the anonymous killer. Those parts were just very gruesome, disturbing and very creepy.

Even though I did feel like some parts of the book were a little slow, I enjoyed the story very much. The last few chapters just had me on the edge of my seat and I can’t wait to find out what happens to Jazz in the next book!

Review: The Body at the Tower

Title: The Body at the Tower
Author: Y.S. Lee
Series: The Agency #2
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Find it Here: B&N, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: Library

This is another colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel about the exploits of agent Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school turns out to be a front for a private detective agency. At age 17, Mary takes on her first case (A Spy in the House). In this, the second book of the series, Mary Quinn sets out to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower, better known as the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The accident occurred after hours in a highly public part of town and despite the presence of night watchmen. Mary, disguised as Mark Quinn, becomes a builder's assistant to find out the truth about the body at the tower.

My thoughts:

I love The Agency series so much! It’s full of great characters, fun plot lines and little bit of romantic interest thrown into the mix! It is so easy for me to let myself get swept up into the story of mystery and intrigue!

Mary is one of my favorite mystery detectives! Not only is she smart but she is embarking on this awesome career during a time when women were expected to marry and take care of the children. Being a detective is the last thing any man would expect her to be. She is also very quick and cunning; she can pick up on the tinniest of clues and unravel it until the very end. The scenes between Mary and James Easton are always my favorite! They have this awesome sexual tension that just continues to brew and eventually boils over when they can’t keep their hands off each other! And they complement each other very well!

The assignments that Mary gets are always so intriguing! The mysteries are just complicated enough to where you can follow along easily but I’m still unable to figure out for myself until close to the ending. These always make for the best type of mysteries, in my opinion! I give The Body at the Tower 4 hearts because there is no doubt in my mind that I will continue reading this series!

Review- Betrayal

Title: Betrayal
Author: Gregg Olsen
Series: Empty Coffin Series #2
Publisher: Splinter
Find it Here: B&N, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: ARC from the publisher

In this action-packed thriller sequel to Envy, foreign exchange student Olivia Grant is stabbed to death after a party--and the prime suspect is her best friend. As twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan get pulled into the aftermath of this Amanda Knox-like crime, they realize nothing is what it seems. Could it be betrayal of the ultimate kind?

Betrayal features real-life crime-solving techniques, heart-stopping suspense, plenty of red herrings, hard-hitting ethical questions, and information about the Amanda Knox case that inspired the novel. As the crime unravels, so does the twins' past…and they must face off against a family member who may unexpectedly have carried out the worst betrayal of all.

My thoughts:

For as long as I can remember I've always loved a good murder mystery novel! And I'm pretty sure I always will. There's just something about a good mystery that keeps me reading a book. Now add a little bit of the paranormal element and I'm definitely hooked!  Even if I have it somewhat figured out, I'm going to read it to the end just to see if I'm right or wrong! 

When reading Envy, I couldn't get enough of the mystery that is surrounding twins Haley and Taylor. Even after Betrayal, their special abilities haven't been truly explained but it's still fun to get wrapped up in their world.  I love how we get to see so many aspects of the twins lives and see how most of the time they work in perfect sync but then how they also argue.  

I really enjoy how Olsen writes the mystery.  He gives away the clues that are only necessary and as the story evolves, more is revealed and the pieces fall into place.  It's probably the reason why I have never been able to figure out who is the murderer. Betrayal is such a great murder mystery because of the characters, the dark and gloomy setting and because of the touch of paranormal! I give Betrayal 4 hearts for being a mystery that I couldn't figure out! 

Middle Grade Monday: Framed & Dangerous by Kim Harrington

Hey! Welcome to Middle Grade Monday, a weekly feature I started to talk about anything middle grade bookish related! I never thought I would really enjoy middle grade novels but after reading my first one this year, I was hooked! Since I review mainly YA on this blog, I didn't want the middle grade reviews to get shuffled in with the YA books so I decided to create this feature!

Title: Framed & Dangerous
Author: Kim Harrington
Series: Sleuth or Dare #3
Publisher: Scholastic
Find it here: B&N, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: Purchased

Who's the culprit?

Norah and Darcy are still in a fight, but crime doesn't stop just because the girls aren't speaking. Someone has set fire to their school's brand-new field house. And the prime suspect is Zane Munro, the cute boy Norah can't help crushing on.

When Zane asks Partners in Crime for help, Norah and Darcy must band together to investigate. Norah knows Zane is innocent, but the clues are not in his favor. Can she and Darcy mend their friendship, crack the case, and clear Zane's name before it's too late?

My thoughts:

I love this really cute series! It's full of fun, adventure and two super smart girls who can kick butt and solve awesome mysteries! These are such great books for kids who are not yet teenagers but are looking for something a little more exciting to read! 

Norah and Darcy are one the scene again when the new field house at their school goes up in smokes.  Norah puts all her effort into the case when Zane, the boy she's been crushing on, is framed as the main suspect.  Partners in Crime is also trying to solve a case over fifty years old that turned into an urban legend called the Prom Killer. I love how they had to go into the library and look at the old newspaper clippings on the microfiche.  Digging into the past was one of my favorite parts of this book!

Norah and Darcy have a great friendship and are able to work through the bumps they experience.  They don't just throw their friendship away when they have a miss-communication but they talk about their differences. They're a great team and I love reading about the mysteries they solve! I give Framed & Dangerous 4 hearts!

Review: Beautiful Lies

Title: Beautiful Lies
Author: Jessica Warman
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: August 07, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC, ALA

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?

My thoughts:

Beautiful Lies was a complete mind confusing mystery straight from chapter one! I don’t know any other way to explain it but to say WHAT??!!?? Rachel and Alice, identical monoamniotic twins, take readers on a really crazy adventure that never fails to throw twists and turns right in your face!

Rachel and Alice are identical monoamniotic twins which mean that they shared the same amniotic sack while they were in their mother’s womb. Apparently this type of twin is very rare and back when doctors didn’t know much about it, very few survived. That’s not too hard to wrap your head around because you can google it and read all about it. But then the reader is hit with the fact that the twins claim they share physical sensations such as pain. So when one twin is chocking the other twin chocks as well even though nothing is obstructing her airway. It’s a pretty interesting concept and it plays out really well in the book! Beautiful lies really reminded me of that really weird Lindsay Lohan movie I Know Who Killed Me. Even though the story lines are completely different, both sets of twins experience their sister’s physical sensations.

Although Alice and Rachel are identical, it turns out that their personalities are completely different. Rachel is the straight-A honors student who dresses conservatively and never breaks the rules. Alice is definitely the rule breaker. She struggles to pass her classes, breaks curfew and throws all of her energy and emotions into her art. I had the most difficult time keeping up with the flash back parts of the book. The littlest thing would trigger Alice’s memory and without warning the reader would be thrown into a memory that would last for pages! I sometimes forgot what was happening in the present time. I also got the implication that there was a history of mental illness in the family so I was never really sure if things were imagined or if they were real. The scene in the barn was the most bazaar for me. Alice is convinced her sister is bound and gagged in the hay loft and truly believes that she watched Rachel pull one of her own teeth out. Then suddenly Rachel is gone and when Alice goes back to the house, it’s like it never happened. Super weird!

In the end, I still don’t really know what happened! Were some of the characters real or imagined? I don’t know. Was it Rachel or Alice who was kidnapped? I don’t know. Was Alice seeing ghosts? I don’t know. Do the twins have special powers? I don’t know. I’ve struggled over the rating but I’ve decided to give Beautiful Lies 3 hearts because I was left with so many unanswered questions. If you’re looking for a good mindf**k, then this book is for you!

Review: The Little Woods

Title: The Little Woods
Author: McCormick Templeman
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC

Are the woods behind St. Bede's Academy really haunted, or does bad stuff just happen there? When Calista Wood, a new student, arrives midway through her junior year, St. Bede's feels like a normal school . . . until she discovers that a girl had disappeared a couple of months earlier. Some kids think she ran away, others think she was murdered, but it's only when Cally starts digging around that she finds the startling truth.

Watch as Cally enters a world of privilege, weekend-long parties, high school romances, and . . . well-kept secrets. This page-turner will appeal to teens looking for a fast-paced thriller. Written in a voice at once gripping and crystal clear, debut novelist, McCormick Templeman, will take readers on a twisting and turning journey as only a "new girl" can experience.

My thoughts: 

I was so excited to get my hands on this book and start it! I thought I was really going to get a good scary story but when I discovered was a bit different. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, because it was good, but it turned out to be more of a mystery/thriller type book. It isn’t bad because I love a good mystery that I can’t figure out but I was really hoping for something with a little more horror.

I was very intrigued by the synopsis! A little girl and her friend go missing in the wood near a boarding school and then about ten years later the little girl’s sister decides to attend that boarding school. We’re given no information of the facts surround her disappearance, so going into the story you don’t know if there could be a paranormal aspect to it. So there’s all this mystery surrounding this school before she even gets there.

Personally, I think the main character Cally is a little crazy for willingly applying and enrolling in the very school where her sister went missing! Really, really creepy! And of course there is more going on than Cally could ever have imagined. Before she arrived at the school, another girl went missing and most people believed she ran away. But when Cally and her friends find a body in the wood, things begin to unravel very quickly!

Boarding school dramas are always very interesting to me because with the absence of parents and constant chaperons, almost anything can happen. You don’t question why kids are sneaking around the school grounds late at night or throwing parties or hooking up behind the gym. It’s a boarding school and they’re usually not going to get caught.

Overall, I really enjoyed this thrilling mystery! I couldn’t figure out who had done it by the end so that’s a win in my book. I give The Little Wood 3 hearts for being an interesting mystery even though I was hoping for a horror.

Review- Skeleton Creek: Ryan's Journal

Title: Skeleton Creek: Ryan's Journal
Author: Patrick Carmen
Series: Skeleton Creek #1
Publisher: Scholastic
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

A breakthrough new series from bestselling author Patrick Carman, featuring text and technology in an innovative new way.Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek . . . and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the heart of it. But after an eerie accident leaves Ryan housebound and forbidden to see Sarah, their investigation takes two tracks: Ryan records everything in his journal, while Sarah uses her videocam to search things out. . .and then email the clips for Ryan to see. In a new, groundbreaking format, the story is broken into two parts -- Ryan's text in the book, and Sarah's videos on a special website, with links and passwords given throughout the book.

My thoughts: 

Patrick Carmen’s Land of Elyon series is one of the first few books I read when I started my blog. He writes really great books for children and teens! When I first read the synopsis for Skeleton Creek: Ryan’s Journal, I knew that this would be a series I would love!

I was initially intrigued by the mix of videos and text. Once you get to a certain point in the book, there would be a website address and a password which would unlock a video. Sarah and Ryan have been best friends for a long time and have always found ways of getting into trouble together. Their parents have forbidden them to see each other after their latest adventure lands Ryan in the hospital with a broken leg. They have discovered their only way of communicating is email and videos. Ryan documents all this in his journal just in case something goes terrible wrong, he hopes someone would find his journal and read their story.

The mystery of the story is interesting enough without adding the scary as hell videos. The only times I put this book down was at night when I was literally too afraid to watch the videos alone in my room before bed. Some of the videos were Blair Witch Project style and that movie scared the shit out of me in middle school! I was totally engrossed in the story and the videos just added to the suspense.

I think the videos really make the book! It's one thing to read a book and picture the characters in your head by the way they're described. Sometimes when I imagine characters, they're kind of cartoonish in my mind. But with these videos the characters come to like and they're right there on the screen!  They make the story more real!

I love this sort of scavenger hunt adventure that Sarah and Ryan are on. Every clue that they found just led them to a bigger and more complicated mystery that involves so many people in the town. There are hidden symbols carved into buildings and secret societies. These are my favorite type of mysteries! And that ending! OMG that ending!! That is one of the best cliffhangers I’ve ever read!

I absolutely loved this book and I would find myself counting down the minutes to the end of the work day so that I could go home and watch the next video (you know, before it got too dark, haha). I give Skeleton Creek: Ryan’s Journal 5 hearts for being the perfect mix of scary and mystery.

Tween Tuesday: Partners in Crime by Kim Harrington

Tween Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens.  Middle grade books are great and super fun to read!

Title: Partners in Crime
Author: Kim Harrington
Series: Sleuth or Dare #1
Genre: Mystery

Whodunit?

When best friends Darcy and Norah have to create a fake business for a school assignment, they come up with a great idea: a detective agency! Darcy loves mysteries, and Norah likes helping people, so it's a perfect fit.

But then their pretend agency gets a real case. Someone is missing, and it's up to Darcy and Norah to take on the search. Unfortunately, there's someone else out there who doesn't want the two detectives stirring up any trouble. . . .

With the help of hidden clues, spy gadgets, and trusted friends, can Darcy and Norah crack the case in time?

My thoughts: 

Honestly you guys, I never thought I would be interested in reading middle grade. But when I discovered that Kim Harrington had written a new middle grade mystery series, I thought I would give it a chance. And I’m so glad I did! It’s fun, fast and a really great adventure.

Harrington’s Partners in Crime really packs a lot of punch in less than two hundred pages. It literally had me guessing until almost the very end. It was a really in-depth mystery that I don’t think I would have been able to figure out on my own. After two seventh graders, who are best friends, create a fake detective agency as their class project, they get a real case and decide to see it out until the end.

The two best friend characters, Darcy and Norah, are super cute. Harrington is able to accurately portray the hopes, doubts, fears and the mindset of a middle school tween. I remember getting the butterflies in my stomach when a cute boy would smile at me and dramatically overanalyzing the super very important question “does he like me?” You get all this and more in Partners in Crime which is what makes it so fun.

This book was such a great and quick read. I can’t think of a better way to catch up on my Goodreads Reading Challenge than to read a book like this! I have to give Partners in Crime 4 hearts because there was actually somewhat of a cliffhanger and I’m really excited to read the next book!!

Review- New Girl

Title: New Girl
Author: Page Harbison
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Harlequin and NetGalley

A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

My thoughts: 

New Girl was definitely an interesting book to read. Half the story is told from Becca’s point of view before she goes missing and the other half is told from “new girl’s” point of view who essentially replaces Becca at the private boarding school. As soon a “new girl” arrives, most of the student body snubs her because they’re upset that the school was so quick to replace Becca’s spot. Now, I didn’t go to a boarding school nor did I got to public school so I find it very hard to believe that all the students break curfew, drink, do drugs, have casual sex and break the rules all willy nilly. I guess I was a really good teenager.

The author does not reveal the main character’s first name and she is referred to, throughout the whole book, as “new girl”. It’s supposed to be this big to-do where her name is finally revealed in one of the last pages. So when her name is finally revealed I think to myself, “wait, that’s not her name, I thought her name was something else”, not realizing that she had been referred to as “new girl” the whole book. So that point was lost on me.

Even though I liked the book and I thought the story was interesting, I felt like the mystery lessened towards the end. I really love books that completely catch me off guard and blow me away with the “who done it” at the end. But I had pretty much guessed what had happened by the end. I’m giving New Girl 2 hearts because I thought the characters were unrealistic and I pretty much guessed the mystery.

Review- I Hunt Killers

Title: I Hunt Killers
Author: Barry Lyga
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of the publisher

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

My thoughts: 

When I was given the opportunity to review I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, I was so excited and I started it the day I got it in the mail. I had had my eye on it because creepy serial killer books are right up my alley!

I’m sitting here thinking about how I’m going to write this review because I don’t want to sound like some kind of weirdo for liking this book so much! And the reason that I liked it so much is because I felt like I was in an episode of Criminal Minds (one of my favorite shows). Jazz was raised by one of the most infamous and deranged serial killers in the world. His father essentially taught how to be a great killer and how to do it without getting caught. His father is now in prison and he is trying to live as normal as possible.

The major theme of I Hunt Killers is nature vs. nurture which I think is an excellent argument. Jazz is constantly haunted by the lessons his father gave him and believes that he is fighting the serial killer nature within himself. So when people are being murdered in his small town, he knows that he is the most likely suspect so he tries to figure out who is killing according to his father’s pattern.

Howie is definitely one of my favorite characters in the book. Even though he has a rare blood disease where he could bleed out in a matter of minutes very easily, he is still Jazz’s very trusty side kick (and the comic relief). He believes in Jazz more than any other person in the book and knows that Jazz’s strong nature and moral compass will win out over the way he was raised.

I Hunt Killers is a definite must read for all those who are big fans of mystery, suspense, thriller and serial killer books. Even though I was expecting this book to be more of a horror book, I still give it 4 hearts because it was awesome!

Review: Social Suicide

Title: Social Suicide
Author: Gemma Halliday
Series: Deadly Cool #2
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of HarperTeen

Twittercide [twit-er-sahyd]: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went... a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the Homecoming Queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos...

My thoughts: 

Hartley Featherstone is by far one of my favorite silly murder mystery crime solvers ever! Deadly Cool was one of my favorite reads last year and I was so excited to hear that the release of Social Suicide was right around the corner!

Hartley is so hilarious! This year she’s on the staff of the school paper and she has been itching to land a huge story so that she can impress Chase, the editor. So when a fellow classmate gets caught cheating and then mysteriously commits “twittercide”, Hartley wants this story all to herself and she will do whatever it takes to find out the truth.

Hartley is such a great character because of her determination. She doesn’t let anything like the police, a possible killer on the loose or curfews stop her from investigating. She’s also not whiny like a lot of other characters out there in YA. She’s clumsy, she’s gets herself into the craziest situations and she always laughs at herself in the end.

Chase is so freakin HOT in Social Suicide! He continually send her these mixed signals where he won’t really explain what they’re doing so beforehand Hartley thinks it might be a date so her best friend dresses her up all fancy but then it turns out to be a steak-out in the bushes. Situations like that were just so hilarious! I loved that romance isn’t the main focus of Social Suicide. Chase and Hartley’s relationship is going really slow, which can be annoying sometimes but you’re just laughing your ass off so much that you don’t even notice.

If you haven’t read Deadly Cool yet I strongly recommend that you do! They are such fun, quick reads where you can lose yourself and the next thing you know you’ve finished the book! They can be predictable at times but the ride is so fun that you don’t even notice! I give Social Suicide 4 hearts because Hartley had me laughing the whole time!

Review- The Last Echo

Title: The Last Echo
Author: Kimberly Derting
Series: The Body Finder #3
Publisher: HarperTeen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of HarperTeen

In the end, all that's left is an echo...

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet's talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it's Violet's job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice. When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by "the girlfriend collector" she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new "relationship" and Violet may have caught his eye....

My thoughts:

I love this series! I love this book. I love Violet and Jay. I love her ability. I love her job. I love that she always wants to help. I love Rafe. I love the perspective of the killer. I love the creepiness. I just have such an overwhelming love for everything about the Body Finder Series!

I was convinced that when I got this book it was going to be the last Body Finder book. I was a little bit sad but I also know that all good series have to come to an end. But when you get to the end, you find out that it is, in fact, not the end at all! Which also makes me very happy because I will take more Violet, Jay and echoes to find any day.

As previously stated above, I absolutely love the characters. I fell in love with Jay and Violet in the first book and have been rooting for them ever since. They continue to grow with each other and become better people. What I really loved about the Last Echo is that we get to know so much more about Rafe. Dark, serious, mysterious and sexy Rafe. And there definitely is a reason for that dark and tortured attitude. There is also a big reveal about Rafe and another character that I did not see coming! When I first met Rafe in Desires of the Dead I did not like him because I felt like he was causing problems with Jay and Violet’s relationship. And now I’m so torn! I absolutely love Jay but Rafe has this certain appeal like a guilty pleasure. I’m nervous about the state of Jay and Violet’s relationship in the next book!

The killer in this book is especially creepy! He’s convinced that when a girl looks at him and smiles then that’s the start of their relationship. He kidnaps them because he thinks they’re his girlfriends but he doesn’t see it as kidnapping. He even paints their nails!

The Last Echo is a great addition to the Body Finder series! As long as Derting continues to write fantastic books, I will continue to read them! I give The Last Echo 4 heart because I just love it so much!

Review- A Spy in the House

Title: A Spy in the House
Author: Y.S. Lee
Series: The Agency #1
Publisher: Candlewick
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan (and thief) Mary Quinn is surprised to be offered a singular education, instruction in fine manners — and an unusual vocation. Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls is a cover for an all-female investigative unit called The Agency, and at seventeen, Mary is about to put her training to the test. Assuming the guise of a lady’s companion, she must infiltrate a rich merchant’s home in hopes of tracing his missing cargo ships. But the household is full of dangerous deceptions, and there is no one to trust — or is there? Packed with action and suspense, banter and romance, and evoking the gritty backstreets of Victorian London, this breezy mystery debuts a daring young detective who lives by her wits while uncovering secrets — including those of her own past.

My thoughts:

Historical fictions involving some kind of mystery are always appealing and super fun for me to read. In modern times, solving a mystery usually involves some sort of high skilled computer work, fancy gadgets and overcoming expensive alarm systems. Even though those are fun to read as well, I’m always going to be partial to the cloak and dagger type of mysteries.

In the beginning of this novel we meet Mary Quinn as a young girl who is about to be hanged for thievery. She is given a second chance and is sent to live at a school for girls and given an education in the hopes that she can make something of herself by the time she reaches the age of eighteen. Fast-forward five or six years, Mary has become a teacher at the school for girls but finds herself unsatisfied in her position. That is when she is given the chance to become a part of the Agency, a female detective agency.

Mary is a very strong main character whose survival instinct is very intense. She’s not like most young ladies in that century who have fragile sensibilities and faint every time they have a fright. She’s on a mission and she won’t let anyone get in her way.

I absolutely loved James who becomes somewhat of a love interest for Mary. He is very much her equal and blew me out of the waters with his mysterious way of finding information and almost one-upping Mary. I liked that it was more mystery than romance and even by the end their relationship is still in the very early stages.

A Spy in the House really was a fun read. It was intriguing and held me at the edge of my seat while throwing in bits of comedy and romance. I think it’s going to be a very interesting series!

Review- Deadly Cool

Title: Deadly Cool
Author: Gemma Halliday
Series: Deadly Cool #1
Publisher: HaperTeen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.

My take: 

I had an awesome time reading this book! Even though it's full of mystery and suspense, it's still so hilarious that I was laughing throughout almost the entire book!

The main character, Hartley, discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her with one of the cheerleaders and when she goes to his house after school to confront him on the matter, she finds the said cheerleader dead in his closet, strangled with a pair of ear buds.  Hartley thinks she knows her boyfriend well enough and automatically believes that he couldn't have possibly committed the murder.  But since the body was found in her boyfriends house, the boyfriend is the number one suspect and he is nowhere to be found.  Hartley sets out to clean her boyfriends name and finds herself in some pretty crazy situations along the way.

Hartley is so funny and she just doesn't let anyone tell her what to do.  After another murder puts everyone on edge, she is set and determined to find out who is killing her classmates.  I love her partnership with Sam, who sounds so hot and tortured but is also mysterious and a little bit creepy because his motives for helping Hartley are unclear.  But, in the end, they make a great team and hopefully, in the next book, a great couple!  Because everyone wants to date the bad boy at least once. 

Deadly Cool is a great contemporary/mystery read that had me on my toes while laughing the whole time!  Hartley's story will continue in the next book, Social Suicide, which will be released sometime this year! I can't wait!

Review- Envy

Title: Envy
Author: Gregg Olsen
Series: Empty Coffin #1
Publisher: Splinter
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Finished copy compliments Splinter

Murder is such a dirty word…

New York Times bestselling adult true crime author Gregg Olsen makes his YA debut with EMPTY COFFIN, a gripping new fiction series for teens based on ripped-from-the-headlines stories…with a paranormal touch.

Crime lives--and dies--in the deceptively picture-perfect town of Port Gamble (aka “Empty Coffin”), Washington. Evil lurks and strange things happen--and 15-year-olds Hayley and Taylor Ryan secretly use their wits and their telepathic “twin-sense” to uncover the truth about the town's victims and culprits.

Envy, the series debut, involves the mysterious death of the twins' old friend, Katelyn. Was it murder? Suicide? An accident? Hayley and Taylor are determined to find out--and as they investigate, they stumble upon a dark truth that is far more disturbing than they ever could have imagined.

Based on the shocking true crime about cyber-bullying, Envy will take you to the edge--and push you right over.

My thoughts: 

Envy came out sometime in September but I knew I wanted to wait until Halloween time to read it because it sounded like a good thriller.  I also didn't read any reviews before I read it.  Then after I read it, I saw a few reviews on Goodreads and these readers were saying horrible things about it!  But I really enjoyed it and it had me craving the next one already!

Envy is a very unique book within the YA paranormal/supernatural genre.  If I had to categorize the novel, I would say that it is YA supernatural/true crime friction dealing with teen social issues.  It's about a teenage girl who commits suicide after being bullied at school and online.  But more importantly, it's about twin girls who have a supernatural ability to see visions with objects.  Not only did I enjoy the mystery behind the girl's death but I also loved the intrigue of the twins abilities.  

I knew I really wanted to read Envy after I watched a video of Gregg Olsen talking about how the book is sent in a tourist town in Washington State.  It may be a fun town to visit because of it's rish history, but the residents have their fair share of secrets and past dirty deeds that keep coming back to them.  Envy keeps the reader really busy because each character in the book has their own kind of drama.

I'm a really big fan of murder mystery so Gregg Olsen's Envy is right up my alley! I loved the ending because a lot of the characters get what they deserved and other make major personal break throughs.  I can't want to see what's in store for Betrayal!

Review- The Sleepwalkers

Title: The Sleepwalkers
Author: J. Gabriel Gates
Publisher: HCI Teens
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Netgalley and HCI Teens

Privileged and popular Caleb Mason is celebrating his high school graduation when he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate, Christine.  Caleb and his jokester friend Bean decide to travel to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her.  Upon arrival, they discover the town has taken a horrifying turn for the worse.  Caleb's childhood home is abandoned and his father has disappeared.  Children are going missing.  The old insane asylum has reopened, and Christine is locked inside.  Her mother, a witch, is consumed with madness, and Christine's long-dead twin sister whispers clues to Caleb through the static of an a.m. radio.  The terrifying prophesies of the spirits are coming to pass.  Sixteen clocks are ticking; sixty-six murdered souls will bring about the end of the world.  As Caleb peels back layer after layer of mystery, he uncovers a truth more horrible than anything he had imagined, a truth that could only be uttered by the lips of the dead.  

My thoughts: 

The Sleepwalkers is the first scary book that I have read this fall and it is really super scary! It has all the perfect elements to make a book truly horrifying: a podunk, middle of nowhere town, a old, reopened mental institution, missing children, a ten year old mystery, a man who sold his soul to the devil and children that kill people in their sleep!  Le me tell you, I had trouble sleeping at night while reading this book.

The whole book is pretty much centered around a man who has made some deal with the devil to collect a certain amount of murdered souls and Christine's twin sister who disappeared into this abandoned mental institution about ten years ago.  Anna, the twin, seems to be the first child to go missing which lead to many other people disappearing.

I immediately fell in love with the character Bean.  He's so smart and funny and he seemed to be the perfect sidekick to Caleb.  He is also a loyal best friend and followed Caleb into this really scary situation.  He had it right every time he said it was time to leave and go back home! So image my dismay when, not half way through the book, Bean gets caught by one of the sleepwalkers and turns into one himself! I was so sad.  Now Caleb is left on his own to figure out the mystery behind the mental institution and these creep sleepwalking people who kill in their sleep!   I could literally hear the creepy music from old horror movies in my head while reading.

In the synopsis when it says that Christine's mother is a witch, I don't think it was meant for her to be someone who does witchcraft.  In the book, she was drunk all the time and always mistook Christine for her twin sister Anna after all those years.  My most favorite creepy parts were the little glimpses into Christine's counseling sessions with the "therapist" at the mental institution. They really made me second guess the character's state of mind.

The ending really threw me for a loop and left me pretty much speechless and stunned. The Sleepwalkers really got me into the mood of fall and Halloween and made me want to pick up other scary books!  It's a great horror book that I would recommend to other hard-core horror fans!

Review- Cryer's Cross

Title: Cryer's Cross
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

The community of Cryer's Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace.  Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany's empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on...until Ken's boyfriend also disappears, and also without a trace.  now the town is in a panic.  Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk.  She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nica and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear... and whether that would be so bad.  Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico.  Can he possible be alive somewhere?  Where is he?  And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating....and attractive.  As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble up on some ugly--and deadly--local history.  Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.  

My thoughts: 


Lisa McMann is one of the best young adult writers that I've come across since I started blogging two years ago.  Her Wake series is amazing and while Cryer's Cross still sucked me in with every page, it has the element of mystery.  I'm always really intrigued by stories that have people that go missing, serial killers and things that are a little bit creepy.  So Cryer's Cross was definitely a win for me!

It starts off a couple of months after the first person goes missing and the whole town just assumes that she had ran away from home.  Until Nico goes missing then we know something seriously wrong is going on.  It made me really sad to find out that Kendall's boyfriend went missing because they were a really cute couple in the beginning and I was hoping that they would find him alive.

But of course there is Jacian who is the new transfer who is tall, dark and handsome.  He is a very well built soccer player, dark hair and eyes and some seriously Latino heritage.  He literally made me want to melt sometimes.  So I was quite torn between Kendall moving on from her missing boyfriend and finding comfort in the arms of the gorgeous new boy or keeping her hope alive and doing whatever she could to find Nico.  What is a girl to do?!

Cryer's Cross was also a little bit of a thriller (which is also LOVE).  The dark, scary woods that seemed to surround the whole town and the secrets that the older town members were keeping.  The ending was so good (of course I'm not going to tell you) which made the book worth reading.  It was also nice to read a book that is not part of a series.  If you're easily scared, I would not recommend reading this book at night!

Review- The Lying Game

Title: The Lying Game
Author: Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there's nothing left to live for.  No more kisses.  No more secrets.  No more gossip.  It's enough to kill a girl all over again.  But I'm about to get something no one else does--an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma's desperate to know what happened to me.  And the only way to figure it out is to be me--slip into my old life and piece it all together.  But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends?  Convince my boyfriend she's the girl he fell in love with?  Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night?  And can she keep up with charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her ever move?

My thoughts: 

I absolutely loved the Lying Game! It was full of mystery, secrets, nasty teen-girl gossip, high school pranks and murder! I felt like I was right in the middle of a Mean Girls episode!

I love the characters Emma Baker and Sutton Mercer! They're twins, who have never met yet have, surprisingly, a lot of similarities despite growing up separately.  Emma is able to put herself into Sutton's life without many people noticing the difference.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering if someone was going to finally figure it out or if Emma's real life was going to catch up with her.

I also loved the concept of the lying game.  The group has to continually out-do each other and make the next prank bigger and better than the last.  But where does it end?  They literally put their reputations and their lives on the line when they play the lying game.  And they've done it for so long and have gotten so extreme that even the law enforcement won't bat an eye in their directions because they've cried wolf too many time.

The Lying Game was absolutely incredible! I love the book and I love the show even though they're completely different.  It completely rocked my world and I can't wait to see what happens to Emma in the next one!

Waiting on Wednesday (29)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Last Echo
Author: Kimberly Derting
Series: The Body Finder #3
Anticipated Date of Release: April 17, 2012

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton.  That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet's talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers.  Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals--including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe--it's Violet's job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.  When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by "the girlfriend collector" she is determined to solve the case.  But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new "relationship" and Violet may have caught his eye...

EEKKK!!!! It sounds a little bit scary but so good! I love this series and I love Kimberly Derting!