Bring Me Their Hearts

Bring Me Their Hearts

by Sara Wolf

Three years before, Zera was killed by bandits who also killed her parents. A witch who was near took Zera's heart from her and then reanimated her as a Heartless. After avenging her parents' deaths, Zera stays as the servant of the witch her "saved" her, unable to go far from her heart in the witch's lair.

For the past three years, Zera and two other Heartless have served the witch and been her thralls.

When all signs point to the king preparing for a new war against the witches, a plan is hatched to give Zera the ability to leave her small home, travel to the city, and try to capture the heart of the young prince, Lucien.

Literally.

If Zera can kill him, take his heart, and help to turn him into a Heartless, her heart and the hearts of the two other current thralls will be returned to her, allowing her to be human once more.

Getting to the city is easy. Convincing everyone that she's not a monster will be much harder. Capturing the heart of the prince, could be the most dangerous thing Zera has ever tried to do.

Final thoughts: This one had a nice concept but was a slow build. I almost gave up a few times at the start because I was struggling to get into it. However, once I was in I was all in. Zera is fascinating and many of the other characters are fleshed out well. Lucien was great and I felt for him by the end. There was an obvious twist early on but it actually was revealed to all of the characters early so it didn't bring down the book much. My biggest complaint was the cliffhanger so I'm off to read the next book.

Rating: 4/5

The Rumor Game

The Rumor Game

by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

 

Bryn, Cora, and Georgie are all seniors at the exclusive Foxham Prep, a school for the children of the political elite. All three have been raised to be the ideal children in their families and make their powerful parents look good. 

But Bryn had a very bad summer, which lead to her be essentially blacklisted at school and online. She has gone from the most popular and powerful girl at school to the bottom of every list. She's no longer invited to the best parties and she worries about how she will ever get back to the top. 

Georgie is Bryn's next door neighbor and she's had her own change in status since last spring. She went to a "fat camp" over the summer, lost 40 pounds, got a whole new wardrobe, and now is the "IT" girl of the school. She's also gone from unseen and ignored to one of the most talked about girls on social media at their school.

Cora used to be Bryn's best friend before that insane summer, but now she just wants to captain the cheer squad, get ready for college, and spend time with her boyfriend. 

These three girls will have a fall semester that they will never forget... and the Internet wouldn't let them forget even if they wanted to.

Final thoughts: The premise and the timeliness of the story are great, but the story itself is a little messy. Bryn is completely unsympathetic as a character, despite occasional efforts to make her seem like she's lost control of things. Cora is ok, but her actions at the end are highly questionable and even a little mean. Georgie is the most sympathetic, but things still aren't quite right there. The online events are completely realistic and sad since people can be so cruel. The offline events get a little weird and unbelievable. Overall, this is probably best avoided.

Rating: 2/5 (maaaayyybbbeeee 2.5)

ARC from NetGalley

These Deadly Games

These Deadly Games

by Diana Urban

Crystal and her friends are MortalDusk gamers with a streaming following and a real chance at winning the tourney for a cash prize. For Crystal, that prize means helping her mom keep her house so there's a reason she needs to be on that team and win.

Right now, there's a competition within her team to get one of the five spots allowed in the tourney and Crystal is behind. MortalDusk is all she is focusing on.

But all that suddenly doesn't matter when she gets a text on a mysterious app that has appeared on her phone. The app has control of everything and it shows a video of Crystal's little sister tied up in a dark room along with the hand of someone holding a very big knife. 

Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?

The game starts with a few "innocent" pranks, but soon turns deadly.

Crystal needs to save her sister, but is she willing to risk the lives of her friends and MortalDusk teammates? 

Final thoughts: This horror/thriller YA novel has a solid premise and some good moments, but also some WTF ones. If she's on a timer and needs to get some place fast, why does she suddenly stop and chat with her friends? The provides some exposition and character development, but doesn't fit with the structure overall. The app creator and game "host" is pretty obvious early on and the flashbacks are dead giveaways to the why, but it still has some interesting events. This is another one of those books that feels like it's meant to be sold for screen rights.

Rating: 3/5

ARC from NetGalley

How to Hang a Witch

How to Hang a Witch

by Adriana Mather

Samantha Mather is forced to move to Salem, Mass. after her father is suddenly in a coma and the bills start stacking up. She and her stepmother move into the home of Samantha's grandmother who also died recently. It's par for the course for Samantha, though. Everyone she knows seems to get hurt somehow. It's like she's cursed.

Upon moving into her dad's childhood home, Samantha immediately begins to discover strange things like a hidden stash of letters in her armoire's secret hiding spot and an entire stairway and room located behind a fireplace. That room is filled with her grandmother's journals, tons of books, and a few other secrets that still can't explain why people have started dying all over Salem. 

Samantha must also contend with the house ghost and his secrets as well as the mean girls of her new high school who, like her, are descendants of people involved in the Salem Witch Trials. But they won't accept her into their group because they are the descendants of accused witches and Samantha is the descendant of one of the men who started the whole thing.

It's up to Samantha to end the curse that has plagued her family since 1692, save her dad, free the ghost, and stop the cycle of vengeance. No pressure.

Final thoughts: Cotton candy read. I love reading about the Salem Witch Trials and I think the history of it is fascinating. The fact that the author really is a descendant of Cotton Mather is pretty cool. The story itself is a little messy at times and the antagonist was pretty obvious very early on, but I still enjoyed the read. What I think is more powerful is the overall message that bad things only happen when good people stand by and let them happen. That's a true today as it was in 1692 and might even be more true now than when the book was published in 2016.

Rating: 4/5

The School of Revenge

The School of Revenge

by Michael Richan

It's happened to almost everyone.

Nearly everyone in this world has been bullied at some point.

Nearly everyone in this world has dreamed of having a little revenge against that bully.

Not many get to see that revenge play out.

Aaron Rogers has a dream to see his tormentors pay.

And then the dream becomes a nightmare.

Final thoughts: Wow. This started out sooo good. It zoomed along and I read it in less than a day. However, it got so very weird about halfway through and then ended as if the rest of the book had disappeared. It literally just ended. There are too many questions and not enough answers. The whole thing becomes a confused mess once you stop to think about what you just read. Is there a sequel? Would I even want to read it if there was? Please note that this one is also extremely violent in a couple of places. Beware the shock value.

Rating: 3/5

Bad Girls Don't Die

Bad Girls Don't Die

by Katie Alender

Alexis has always known that she and her family have been the odd ones out. Her mother can never seem to get the promotion she's been seeking for years. Her sister is obsessed with dolls to the point of violence if someone touches them. And Alexis herself has never fit in, especially after calling out the people who seem to always rule the school.

But Alexis didn't really know how out of place her family was until strange things began to happen to her at her already strange house.

Now Alexis has to find out what's behind the brakes being cut on her mom's car, the sudden slamming doors, the chills in the air, and the dreams that show her people and events from long ago.

Can Lexi save the people she loves before it's too late?

Final thoughts: A somewhat formulaic thriller with a typical ghostly revenge tale. Alender tries hard to not make it too predictable by dribbling out bits and pieces of vital information, but the end is not surprising. However, it's still a decent read and written well for the teen audience that it's aimed at.

Rating: 4/5

Confessions of a Queen B*

Confessions of a Queen B*

by Crista McHugh

When they see her, they look down and away, hoping she won't notice them.

She is the Queen B of the school. 

Actually, she's the second Queen B, the first being her former best friend and current nemesis. 

Alexis Wyndham isn't the most popular girl in school; she's actually a pariah and she's the one everyone avoids for fear of being posted on her weekly blog. 

No one is safe from this Queen B. The jocks can't avoid her wrath. The cheerleaders fear her poisoned pen. The administration gets nervous about what she'll reveal. And while she'll defend the weak and victims of bullying, she's also quick to point out their mistakes, too.

Alexis knows that she's avoided like the plague, which makes her new friendship with the king of the jocks, quarterback Brett Pederson all the more confusing.

But figuring out her relationship with Brett will have to wait since someone is posting video of the cheerleaders in the locker room and Alexis has to figure out who it is before her sister becomes the next star of YouTube.

Final thoughts: Great cotton candy book! I really liked Alexis, though her constant need to be separate and apart from everyone was a little confusing. It feels like there's a little backstory missing on that issue. Brett was pretty awesome and probably too good to be true. The plot was pretty slim as it centered more on Alexis and Brett and less on what is discussed on the book jacket. My only real issue is the ending since it's not really a cliffhanger, but it definitely doesn't end. It's more like hitting pause during a movie and waiting for a chance to finish it later. Guess I'll have to wait for the sequel.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

The Dead and Buried

The Dead and Buried

by Kim Harrington

Jade's a small town girl in a big, new town, which means new cliques at school, new gossip, new teachers, a new home, and her first ever brand-spanking-new ghost.

It turns out that the only reason Jade's dad and stepmother could afford their amazing new home is because someone had died in it just months before.

And that someone didn't leave with the body.

Now Jade must not only deal with all the usual problems a new senior in a new school must cope with, but she now must also figure out who murdered the girl who lived there before.

If she doesn't catch the murderer soon, her little brother could suffer at the ghost's hands.

Final thoughts: Harrington has an interesting take her on Du Maurier's Rebecca, though it might have been nice if she hadn't brought up the original work within this one.  Once I knew what was up, I got distracted by trying to figure out which character was which in comparison, though that shouldn't be a problem for people who've never read the classic.  Jade's a bit bland as a character and I never really feel for her situation.  Her brother's cute, but only randomly there and more inserted as a plot device than an actual character.  I never really felt much for Donovan and Kane because they just didn't have much of a presence.  It's a simple story that really could have been fleshed out more, but still does a decent job maintaining interest.

Rating: 3/5

Love, Inc.

Love, Inc.

by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Zahra's life has always been a little different than everyone else's.  Her father is Scottish and her mother is Pakistani, which makes Zahra a red-headed, curry-hating, pastry-cooking, half-Pakistani with a love of baking and a penchant for making cursed cookies that doom her relationships at the first taste.

Now that her grandparents have moved in and taken over her room and her parents have separated leaving Zahra with two half-homes and a pair of parents who never talk, Zahra wants to make things right.

Her first attempt at improving her life leads to accidentally setting the kitchen on fire, and that leads her to group therapy, which then leads her to Syd and Kali.  In normal times, these three girls would probably never become friends, but things are definitely not normal, especially when they discover that they haven't just been two-timed; they've been three-timed.  Eric/Rick/Rico has conned them all and now it's payback time.

But what started out as a simple case of revenge turns into a business opportunity for the girls.  They create Love, Inc. to help mediate hook-ups and break-ups, make matches, find cheaters, save relationships, and plot revenge.

While they fix everyone else's love life, can they fix their own?

Final thoughts:  This is a basic book with a basic plot.  It's not particularly engaging.  I often put the book down and forgot about it, which is never a good sign in my opinion.  I struggled with the concept that Eric would be cheating with three girls who just happen to be forced into the exact same group therapy session, meeting at the same place, at the same time, in a large city.  It strained the bounds of logic.  Once past that, the rest of the story has promise and Zahra's voice is nice.  Not a book to strongly recommend, but definitely something to hand to girls of mixed heritage who struggle to figure out where they fit.

Rating: 3/5

The Karma Club

The Karma Club

by Jessica Brody

Things are going great for Madison.  She's had the best boyfriend ever for the last two years.  She has two amazing best friends.  And her submission for the Contempo Girl magazine's "Meet My Boyfriend" has just been published for all the world to see.  Now she can be seen with the most popular girls at school and attend the exclusive Saturday night parties at "The Loft".

But things all come crashing down when she discovers her boyfriend kissing the most popular and elite girl of them all.  Now Maddy has to make a choice: sit around and wait for Karma to punish him or help Karma out.

The choice is obvious.

So Maddy and her friends plot revenge on the four people who have done them the most wrong at school, and her ex is at the top of the list.

Unfortunately, Karma doesn't like it when you try and do its job for it.  And now Karma wants a little revenge of its own.

Can Maddy put things right before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  This was a fun read.  Everyone has had a moment or two to think about the perfect revenge against those who've caused harm.  Watching Maddy and her friends take down the students who've harmed them is very satisfying and Karma's response is realistic without being over the top.  "What goes around comes around" is excellently displayed here.

Final rating: 4/5