Untouchables

Untouchables

by Ivy Smoak

 

Before Midnight

Before Midnight

by Cameron Dokey

 

Rating: 3/5

How to Snag a Shifter

How to Snag a Shifter

by Karin De Havin 

Rating: 1/5 (AVOID THIS BOOK)

Wolf Girl Series

 

Wolf Girl

 

Lost Girl

 

Alpha Girl

Mated Girl

all by Leia Stone

Within These Wicked Walls

Within These Wicked Walls

by Lauren Blackwood

Andromeda is a debtera, hired to cleanse manifestations of the Evil Eye and create amulets to protect the wearers. Without a reference, Andromeda is forced to accept a job at a mansion with the worst manifestations seen for years.

Owned by the mysterious Magnus Rochester, the large house is filled with magic and manifestations to the point where no other debtera has succeeded in cleansing it. Not only are there spirits haunting every room and hallway, but there is a curse on the Rochester family.

As Andromeda starts working on cleansing each room in the house, she finds herself drawn to the owner of the house and his story. Over time, she wants more to cleanse the house for him instead of for the money he is offering.

But there is more to this curse than even Andromeda can fight and time is running out.

Final thoughts: This starts as a Jane Eyre retelling in Ethopia, but it goes rogue pretty soon so there really isn't much similar beyond the outlines. The magic is well done and many of the characters are interesting, but I found myself confused by the passage of time in the story and also by the Rochester character. Both time and the owner are distracting because they are inconsistent throughout. 

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

 

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

The Last She

The Last She

by H.J. Nelson

(I can't write about this... I had to rant instead)

There's Someone Inside Your House

There's Someone Inside Your House

by Stephanie Perkins

It all started with an egg timer. 

It shouldn't have been on the porch. 

Once inside, it was put back on the counter.

The butter knife in the sink was suddenly in the dishwasher.

But now the egg timer is on the floor? 

Back on the counter. 

Must be tired. Time for a nap.

The next thing heard was the ticking of the egg timer on the nightstand right before it went off. 

And that's how the story of the serial killings in Osborne, Nebraska begin.

The killer is everywhere and making himself known in the little things that no one notices like misplaced gym clothes and open cupboards. 

When things start going missing or are moved to strange places, don't think you're crazy... Think of HIM. 

 

Final thoughts: Decent horror story with some really grisly deaths. It feels like it was written to be made into a movie, which (HEY!) it IS! Netflix made it and it's set to be released sometime this year. The overall plot is pretty standard and fairly predictable. The killer's motive is a little ridiculous, but it's all tidy at the end. 

Rating: 3.5/5 rounding up to 4 for simplicity 

Hush

Hush

by Dylan Farrow

Shae lives in a time of banned books. They are banned, not because of the words but because of the ink on the page. The Ink is the cause of a terrible plague known as "The Blot" so books and writing have been banned everywhere in the country of Montane.

After Shae's little brother catches and dies from The Blot, Shae and her mother are virtually exiled and ignored by most of the town. They are pariahs in their own town.

When Shae starts seeing things around her and accidentally making things happen, she fears that she has contracted The Blot and seeks help from the Bards who control the magic of the land. 

Before she can get their help, her mother is murdered and the town covers it up by saying it was a landslide. This is the final straw for Shae and she runs away to find the Bards to save her from her curse and to find her mother's murderer.

What she finds outside of her tiny town is much more than she ever could have believed.

Final thoughts: Another good premise that is poorly done. The world and characters just aren't built well. The plot is pretty predicable and the hidden villain is really pretty obvious. I feel like this was only published because of the author and not because it's actually good. Not worth the read and not worth going to the next book in the series.

Rating: 2/5

Scythe

Scythe

by Neal Shusterman

When Scythe Faraday walks into the lives of Citra and Rowan, they have no idea how their lives will change. 

They live in a time of immortality and perfect living. No one has pain. No one has hunger. No one has to suffer any longer. The AI takes care of everything and everyone knows that. 

But with immortality comes the possibility of future overpopulation, so the Scythes were created to "glean" the people and keep the numbers from becoming overwhelming.

Some Scythes are thoughtful and methodical, taking only those whose may harm others in the future, even if only accidentally. Others are more merciful, seeking out those who look to be tired of their permanency. 

And other Scythes feel the power too much, seeking to cause as much chaos, fear, and even pain as they go about their "duty".

Now Citra and Rowan are being trained to be future Scythes and their views of everything they thought to be true will be challenged like never before.

Final thoughts: Decent read. I'd give the story itself a 4 for the plot, but the missing expository elements like how are people entertained and kept physically/mentally challenged? Why do people not know all of their history if they have so much time to study it? Where is the darn speech-to-text feature so that people know how to pronounce old words correctly?

Rating: 3/5

Stargirl

Stargirl

by Jerry Spinelli

Leo was just an ordinary kid in an ordinary high school doing ordinary things until Stargirl danced into his life. 

From the start, everyone knew she was different. From her clothes, to her daily class routines, to her ukulele, and even her pet rat, Stargirl was not ordinary. 

At first, she was odd but ignorable. Later, she became the center of everything. And finally, she became a pariah and scapegoat. But no matter what, Leo saw her. 

Less than one school year with Stargirl was enough to change their world forever.

Final thoughts: I have seen this read in middle schools for years and figured it was about a middle school student; I was shocked to find out this was about juniors in high school. The writing is simple and pretty easy to read, so this book is coming off more of a hi-low title. The entire book reads like middle school fiction so I can see why it's read there. I feel like that affects how I read the whole thing. Additionally, the author lets you know from the start that this will not be a happy ending, especially for Stargirl. That darkness looms over the whole book and makes it very difficult to enjoy her character. How can you be happy about someone when the author/narrator keeps telling you things will not be ok? The message is good and I see why some people like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Rating: 2/5

A Good Day for Chardonnay

 A Good Day for Chardonnay

by Darynda Jones

It's about four months after the events of A Bad Day for Sunshine and Sunny finally seems to be able to have a real life outside of her sheriff-ing duties. She's even going on dates. Granted, they are blind dates that are set up by her parents with men who really aren't her type, but it's a start. Right?

Things get a little crazy when her best friend calls her in a panic over a wild raccoon at his cabin. 

They get a little more crazy that same night when there's a stabbing at the bar of the man that Sunny has been crushing on since she was around four years old (and he was about 6).

Things get even crazier when a cold case from Sunny's past ends up back on her radar.

And, on top of all that, the mayor is holding things over Sunny's head if she doesn't solve the mystery of the legendary group who is thought to run the town.

If only there was some time to just sit back and get a drink!

Final thoughts: I love all Darynda Jones books and this one is no exception. She's got a special writing voice that just makes me jealous. I wish I could come up with these comebacks in a few months, let alone the seconds the characters have to say them. I got a little confused by the Dangerous Daughters subplot as it was mentioned in the beginning and resolved near the end, with nothing in the middle. I feel like either I missed something or something was just missed. Additionally, one HUGE peeve was the use of c*&t in the book. It's just once (at least in this ARC) but it seriously pulled me, more accurately, YANKED me right out of the book. That is such a harsh word and its use was in a place that was the exact opposite of the connotation I usually feel for that word. I hope it gets changed before the final book is released.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

 

Every Single Lie

Every Single Lie

by Rachel Vincent

Living in a tiny town means that there are no secrets, but there are always rumors.

When Beckett finds a tiny, dead preemie in the girls' locker room at her high school, a big secret is revealed and rumors run rampant.

Now the town is suddenly wondering who the mother is, what happened, and if Beckett herself is in the middle of it all.

When a new Twitter account starts sharing details that no one else should know, it gets followers from around the world and peaks the interest of local and national news.

Now Beckett is in the center of a firestorm and feels like no one can be trusted.

 

Final thoughts: Almost too real in today's world. Beckett's life has been pretty harsh during the last year, but it's all realistically built and not unbelievable at all. The boyfriend angle was resolved a little oddly, but the rest was solid.

 

Rating: 4/5

Wild Sign

Wild Sign

by Patricia Briggs

When the entire population of a tiny town in California goes missing, it doesn't seem like something Charles and Anna would need to investigate. After all, it's not even in their state.

However, it turns out that the land that those missing people had settled on belongs to the mate of their pack Alpha and that means it is their business to find out what happened those those forty people. 

Taking an SUV and accompanied by the berserker werefolf, Tag, the three head down to forest in the middle of nowhere to solve a mystery.

What they didn't anticipate was coming across more than one type of mythical creature, nor did they think that one of those creatures would find Anna to be just what it needed to reach its goals.

Final thoughts: This is one of the better Anna/Charles books, but I really do prefer the Mercy Thompson series. I found it interesting that this story had a few answers to questions fans have posed for a while. The ending was a little odd, which I will go into in my spoiler-filled podcast.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Podcast review/discussion MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D Stories

National Virtual Library - Idea

National Virtual Library - Idea

Just a thought I was having.

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love

 

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love

by Emily Martin

Aubrey Chase is a pessimist who thinks of herself as a realist. Based on her parents' dying marriage, Aubrey believes that there's not much point to love since all she sees is breakups and fighting.

Across the street lives Webster. Just when Aubrey was ready to give love a try, Webster stands her up for Homecoming and then embarrasses her in front of the school. Over a year later and they still wage a daily battle to tick the other one off. 

But there's still a little something there. 

There's also Webster's cousin who might be able to show Aubrey that love can be more than the end of the relationship; it can be the beginning, too.

Now there's a triangle and Aubrey is more confused about relationships than ever.

Final Thoughts: I was not a fan of this one. The characters were pretty flat and the story just didn't flow well. I finished the book but not with the satisfaction of reading a good story. 

Rating: 2/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Of Curses and Kisses

 Of Curses and Kisses

by Sandhya Menon

Jaya Rao has been raised to put family reputation above all things. When her family name is put in jeopardy, she moves with her sister to a boarding school in Colorado to help the rumors die down and keep her sister's reputation safe.

Grey Emerson has been raised to believe in a curse put on his family generations before. He has been taught that he will be the last of his name and his father has pretty much abandoned him to that boarding school in Colorado since he was able to start school.

Now the two of them will meet. Jaya will need to decide if reputation is everything, while Grey will need to decide if he will be ruled by the curse or by his heart.

Final thoughts: Ok book. Not a super attention-grabber, but it's solid in the writing and the main characters are decent. 

Rating: 3/5

Kind of a Big Deal

Kind of a Big Deal

by Shannon Hale

 

Josie Pie peaked in high school but she just can't admit that. In high school, she was kind of a big deal, being popular, dating the popular guy, and getting all the juiciest roles in the drama productions. People recognized her and called her name in the hallways and around her tiny town. She was going to be BIG!

 

When her drama mentor convinces her to try out for a Broadway production in New York, she eagerly drops out of high school and heads to NY to make it big.

 

And she flops. 

 

Big time.

 

She barely gets by with a cruddy apartment, acting workshops, and a credit card that her mom got her, which she maxes out fast.

 

Josie Pie desperately takes a job to be a nanny and moves out to Montana with the single mom and daughter to try and get her life together and find a way to be the big deal she was always meant to be.

 

After visiting a strangely vibing bookstore, Josie sits down at the park to read and take her mind off her failures when she's suddenly IN the book with bandits, treetop hideouts, corsets, and more.

 

Once out, Josie wants back in. In the book, she was kind of a big deal again. That feeling is too good and Josie needs to feel it as much as possible.

 

So while her real world, friendships, and love life crumble around her, Josie dives into book after book, hoping to be the big deal she was always supposed to be.

 

Final thoughts: Um.No. I pushed my way through this book, mostly because I spent real money on it. Reading the book jacket, I thought this would be a Jasper Fforde Thursday Next type of book and it just turned out to be bad. Shannon Hale is kind of a big deal in YA lit so I don't really know what happened here, but everything was stilted and confused. The ending was completely strange and didn't fit with the reality of the book beyond that. I have no idea what happened here, but it wasn't good.

 

Rating: 2/5

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss

 

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss

by Amy Noelle Parks

Evie and Caleb have known each other pretty much forever. Where Evie goes, Caleb follows. This includes the exclusive Newton Academy, a boarding school for math and science geniuses. 

Evie knows her physics inside-out and understands much of her own personal knowledge and lack, but she doesn't understand relationships yet. Even at 17, and nearing graduation, Evie has never kissed a boy and has always firmly rejected the idea.

So far, Caleb has been OK with all of that. He loves Evie and all of her quirks. He knows her better than anyone. He has always suspected that it would just take time, but that when Evie figured out how good kissing could be, it would be with him.

But things suddenly shift when Evie gets her first boyfriend, and her first kiss, and it's not Caleb.

Now Caleb must do what he can to support his best friend, but also try and shift her attention back to him without being the villain of the story.

Final thoughts: This is a modern retelling of The Shop Around the Corner (aka You've Got Mail), with teens, math, physics, and a slightly psychotic mother. Cute cotton candy fluff. 

Rating: 3/5

ARC thanks to NetGalley

Midnight Sun

 

Add caption

Midnight Sun

by Stephenie Meyer

Too much to say so I said it in my podcast. 

The Princess Trials

The Princess Trials

by Cordelia K. Castel

Zea-Mays Calico has lived her life as a Harvester and dreamed of a day with the Red Runners will finally take over Phangloria and make all things equal across the land. For years, she has watched the Nobles and the other higher Echelons reap the rewards of the work of the lower groups and she wants to share all the wealth equally.

When Zea finally steps up and takes action against a Guardian who threatens another Harvester, the head of the local Red Runner league really notices Zea and recruits her for a new mission.

Join the Princess Trials, get close to the Prince, explore the castle, and find all the hidden passageways so that the Red Runners can attack and take over the kingdom.

But things don't go as planned and everything turns topsy-turvy as Zea makes her way to the Oasis and then has to survive something much more dangerous than the Guardians... The other girls in the competition.

Final thoughts: This has moments of decent scattered among a LOT of copying from The Hunger Games and The Selection. It's hard to read this with any sense of joy once you see all of the parallels and almost point for point plot theft at some points. I wanted to like it more but I just can see past the duplicate story lines.

Rating: 3/5 (barely)

Podcast of my rant here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shayanasls/episodes/2020-05-27T15_20_56-07_00

Not Your #LoveStory

Not Your #LoveStory

by Sonia Hartl

It was just supposed to be a special day for her mom. Macy Mae had saved and saved to be able to take her mom to a live Royals game. It was just supposed to be a great day.

And it seemed great at the time.

Even after accidentally spilling a drink on her seatmate, his subsequent t-shirt removal, and a few sparks, the day went pretty well.

Unfortunately, Macy Mae had no idea that her special day with her mom was going to be completely blown out of proportion when the woman sitting behind them decided to use this "meet-cute" between Macy and that boy into a way of earning instant Internet fame.

Within hours of getting home, Macy Mae has been all over the Internet and the news, and speculation is running wild about her and her #baseballbabe. Soon, her YouTube channel is blowing up and getting trolled. Her identity is doxxed and leaked out to the world. And Macy Mae gets everything she always thought she ever wanted, but never knew how to achieve.

But there's a cost.

Local boy Paxton finally seems to be ready to step up and talk to Macy Mae about more than just movies, but now she's Internet famous and her fame is dependent on dating #baseballbabe.

Final thoughts: This is a fictionalized version of the July 2018 #PlaneBae incident that took over the Internet for a few days. While the meet-cute incident is different, the players are much the same with a woman behind posting to improve her Internet presence and the boy playing it up for his own fame. Neither seems to care about the girl in this instance or how this all affects her life. This is a realistic and somewhat scary tale of what the Internet does far too well... make assumptions and run with them. This is not so much a YA novel as it is a NA (New Adult) novel, as Macy and all of the characters are post high school.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Pixieland Diaries

Pixieland Diaries

by Christina Bauer

Calla is a faeling. This means that she has human parents who abandoned her because she was born with magic. She was born with magic because her parents lived just a little too close to the realm of Pixieland.

So, being "just" a faeling means that Calla has been fostered by the fae, raised by the fae, taught by the fae, but she doesn't have the evil intentions her parents hold dear and all she really wants to do is play pranks on others.

Well... that and stare at Darius "Dare" the Winter Court's heir apparent.

Unfortunately, being 16 and looking 9 mean that he doesn't ever stare back at Calla.

And it also means that people don't believe that she's anything more than a pest.

She'll show them...

Final thoughts: Nope. Not for me. Calla is an unlikable character who behaves like she's on a triple espresso dosed with speed and a ton of sugar. It seems like the writer may have been too since there are sooo many errors in this thing. Even for an ARC, this is riddled with things like the names changing between sentences, spelling mix-ups (i.e. not to drag instead of not to brag) and, in the middle of a sentence there was an apostrophe-s just sitting there. No reason at all. Just  's.  WHY???? The plot is random with things popping out of nowhere. The characters are bare. Why is she writing in her diary the entire time? Stuck in a void and unable to do anything at all? Write in her diary. HOW? About to go into battle! Stop everything so she can write in her diary!!!

And, the thing I hate most SPOILER ALERT!!!! When she finds out she's not a tiny pixie, but a full elf with the bod to match (the glamour she didn't even know she had being stripped away), suddenly Dare is more than a little interested. Tiny, flat pixie... ignore. Boobs and curves? Go for it!!!  Same person but changed appearance and suddenly he takes an interest. Ummm. No.

Rating: 2/5 (and that's pushing it)

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.