Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets by Chelsea Ichaso

Title: Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets

Original title: The Dark Way Down

Author: Chelsea Ichaso

Expected publication date: April 5, 2022

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 204

Goodreads synopsis

Piper's fall was no accident. Did someone want her dead? It's up to her sister to discover the truth in this shocking new thriller with an unreliable narrator, from the acclaimed author of Little Creeping Things.

Piper Sullivan was in a strange hiking accident last month and has been in a coma ever since. Her older sister, Savannah, can't pretend to be optimistic about it; things look bad. Piper will likely never wake up, and Savannah will never get any answers about what exactly happened.

But then Savannah finds a note in Piper's locker, inviting Piper to a meeting of their school's wilderness club...at the very place and on the very day that she fell. Which means there was a chance that Piper wasn't alone. Someone might've seen something. Worse, someone might've done something. But who would want to hurt the perfect Piper Sullivan...and why?

To discover the truth, Savannah joins the club on their weekend-long camping trip on the same mountain where her sister fell. But she better be careful; everyone in the club is a suspect, and everyone seems to be keeping secrets about that tragic day.

And Savannah? She's been keeping secrets, too...

Quick thoughts

I had a hard time getting all the way through this book. I was looking forward to a twisty thriller like the synopsis seems to have promised but overall the plot and pacing fell flat for me. 

However, most of my lack of enthusiasm comes from not being overly interested in any of the characters, especially Piper and Savannah. Piper was painted as the typical smart and all around perfect little student, which we've all read probably an uncountable amount of times, and she seemed to lack an actual personality beyond that, even in the flashback style chapters. As for Savannah, most of the time she came off as obnoxious to me, and it's hard to believe that she would even be able to convince anybody to want to be her friend, much less help her figure out what happened to Piper on the night of her incident. I understand that she's supposed to be an unreliable narrator, which I usually love to read, but overall I don't think her voice or general tone was a great fit for the story. 

Overall this was not the right book for me, but if you're looking for a quick thriller it might be a good fit for you.

Waiting on Wednesday (14): Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield

Waiting on Wednesday's is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. *It appears that Breaking the Spine hasn't been active since 2016, but I still want to credit them as the creators.

For this week's Waiting on Wednesday I'm spotlighting Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield.

Expected publication date: December 7, 2021

Publication company: Sourcebooks Fire

Goodreads synopsis

For fans of Karen McManus' One of Us is Lying and films like I Know What You Did Last Summer, comes a gripping thriller about murder, mystery, and deception.

Blackmail lures Ava to the abandoned amusement park on Portgrave Pier. She is one of ten teenagers, all with secrets they intend to protect whatever the cost. When fog and magic swallow the pier, the group find themselves cut off from the real world. As the teenagers turn on each other, Ava will have to face up to the secret that brought her to the pier and decide how far she's willing to go to survive. The teenagers have only their secrets to protect and each other to betray.

Why I can't wait

The reason I can't wait for this one is pretty simple. I am very much in the mood for a thriller, and the synopsis says it would be good for fans of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and I love that movie, so I'm hoping that this novel doesn't disappoint

Mini Review: 14 Ways To Die by Vincent Ralph

Title: 14 Ways to Die

Author: Vincent Ralph

Publication Date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 400

Goodreads Synopsis

Ten years ago, Jess's mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.

She was the first of his victims but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she's using it to catch the killer once and for all.

The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

Quick Thoughts

I enjoyed this book. The focus on social media was an interesting aspect that made it more unique than the basic catch a killer/revenge plot driven thriller. The only gripe that I had with it was that I didn't really like any of the supporting characters, particularly the protagonists friends, they all felt very surface level and I wasn't very attached to the relationships they had with Jess. Besides that, this turned out to be an easy read and I think it would be perfect for people who are looking for a fast-paced quick thriller. 

The Castle School (For Troubled Girls) by Alyssa B. Sheimel

Title: Castle School (For Troubled Girls)

Author: Alyssa B. Sheimel

Expected Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 283

Introduction

       Ever since her best friend died, Moira hasn't been the easiest for her parents to handle. When her parents send her to Castle School, Moira knows her parents are at their wits end with her and feels that she is being punished for her bad behavior.

       Whatever her parents reasoning, she finds herself with 11 other "troubled" girls. Each of them weighed down with their own struggles, just as Moira is weighed down with her own grief. Together, and with the help of therapy, the girls work to feel better than they had to feel to land themselves at the strange place that is Castle School.

Setting

       The setting, a mostly secluded castle in Maine, was a great atmosphere. It's a little dreary, and it appears to hold its own secrets. It was perfect for adding mood to the story.

Themes

       This book handles a lot of heavy themes; grief, self harm, disordered eating, etc. and I think the author achieved a perfect balance between heavy scenes where the girl's struggles are discussed, and lighter scenes where you see the girls becoming friends.

Moira

       Moira's grief felt very authentic, and her growth throughout her time at the Castle School, with managing and moving forward from her loss, felt perfectly paced. I also liked that the progress was made little by little, it wasn't all crammed into the end to prove that she had grown. You could see the change happen gradually, in small ways, like the way that she was thinking, and in her interactions with the other students. I think that was a very realistic way of showing growth. It doesn't happen completely in revelations, and sometimes, the only way to understand how much you've grown is to look back at the person you were before, and I think this is true for Moira's story.

Romance

       There is a small amount of a cutesy romance in this book, but I love that it's not a central plot point. That being said, I love Moira and Randy, both as individual characters and together.

        I loved that they would care for each other regardless if things turned romantic, the blooming feelings they have for each other seem to be extra to them, not necessary, and I think that's great.

POVs of the Other Girls

Every few chapters, there is a small excerpt, maybe about a page, that is in the POV of one of the other students at Castle School. These excerpts quickly detail the story of what happened to land each girl at Castle School. I really enjoyed these passages and thought they were the perfect length to give a little personal window into the lives of the other "troubled" girls.

Synopsis

The Goodreads synopsis is a little bit misleading. To me, it sounded like where the music was coming from would be more mysterious, but there is no mystery in the book at all, everything is rationally explained right away.

Conclusion

I loved everything about this book. From beginning to end, everything was perfect to me. I finished this book in two days and I already wish there were more of it to read. I came in to this book with high hopes and it was so much better than expected. I would recommend this book to fans of The School For Dangerous Girls. As long as you can handle heavy themes, this book is fantastic. 

We Were Restless Things by Cole Nagamatsu

Title: We Were Restless Things

Author: Cole Nagamatsu

Expected Publication: October 6, 2020

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 400

Introduction

One summer after the death of teen Link Miller, his friends are left coping with the loss. Coping with the loss of a close friend is hard enough when the passing comes under normal circumstances, but the details surrounding Link's are anything but normal. Link's death was ruled a strange accident, as it was discovered that he had managed to drown in a forest miles away from the nearest body of water.

His friend, Noemi, is the only one that knows the truth. Link drowned in a lake in the forest that only she can find. With this knowledge, coupled with the fact that recently, she's started to receive text messages from a number claiming to be Link, Noemi is finding moving passed her friend's death to be a difficult process.

With the help of her friends, they begin to unravel the mystery surrounding Link's death and in doing so, attempt to move forward together.

Pace

This is a very quiet, and at times, successfully eerie book. It isn't told like a typical teen mystery. There is no dramatic sleuthing. The story is told slowly, and the answer to all the books questions seem to creep up on you, mostly without any over the top dramatic reveals.

This story is told through the points of view of four characters. Three that were Link's friends prior to his death, and one labelled "unknown" I like books that are told through multiple different POVs, but because the story is told through four different ones, the chapters were very short and at times, the change of POV felt unnecessary. 

Characters

I didn't particularly like or dislike any of the characters. Although, sometimes they felt flat and difficult to relate to.

Noemi was an especially difficult character for me to like. She is overbearingly controlling of her friends, and she also had a very quick-tempered attitude that was difficult to get passed. Obviously every character needs to have flaws to feel realistic, but being as controlling and as quick-tempered as she is, I had a hard time believing that she would be able to keep many friends, (Spoiler! I also had a hard time believing that, just based on her attitude alone, all three of the male characters would show romantic interest in her).  

There was some good representation of different sexualities throughout the story, Noemi is asexual, and Amberlyn and Lyle share a few romantic moments together.

I thought that Lyle and Amberlyn were adorable together and I wish that that relationship had played a larger part in the book. In my opinion they were much more interesting than the central relationship in the book.

The Forest (Big spoilers!)

I enjoyed the concept of "the forest" as a character/being/entity. It was a very interesting aspect to read, although I wish it had been developed a little further. By the time the main characters get to truly speak to "the forest," I believe that there is only 30 or so more pages left. In my opinion, having the characters speak to "the forest" was the most interesting part of the whole book, so I wish that it could have somehow played a larger part. Squishing all of the true interaction to the end of the book felt a little rushed and I was a slightly disappointed.

Conclusion

This book was pretty good, there were some aspects that missed the mark for me but other parts that made the book worth reading. As a warning, there are brief sexual themes, so I would recommend this book to teens who are a little older and who are looking for a read that is a little contemporary while having some mysterious and eerie moods intertwined in it.

The Cabin by Natasha Preston

Author: Natasha Preston
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected publication: September 6, 2016
Pages: 336

Introduction

       Mackenzie's weekend away with her six friends was supposed to be fun. They expected to wake up in the morning with a nasty hangover, not with two of them dead on the kitchen floor. 

       The police put Mackenzie and her remaining friends on the top of the suspect list, since there was no sign of forced entry.

        Mackenzie launches her own investigation, knowing that her friends would never murder someone. But as time goes on, she might just have to accept that there is a killer lurking among her childhood friends.

Cover

       It's a good cover. The cabin, for some reason, isn't how I imagined, but it's spooky enough, so I'll let it slide this time.

Mackenzie

       I didn't like Mackenzie at all. I know her tendency to look for the best in people is part of her personality, and is supposed to be one of her quirks, but she was way too naive. I also feel like as a side note, she was probably a very sheltered child, seeing as what her reaction was when one of her friends admitted to getting high on occasion.

Blake

       So here we have Blake. The-mysterious-older-brother-that-nobody-has-ever-met-who-everybody-is-going-to-blame-for-the-killings, bank character. If not for the huge trope that is his entire purpose for being in the novel, he was okay. At the very least he was a bit smarter than Makenzie.

The Rest of the Gang

       The other characters in the cabin with Mackenzie were very stereotypical teenagers. All of them were very uninteresting, which is a shame because I really wanted to like them.

Motive & Ending

       I pushed through reading about characters I didn't like because I was interested in knowing why the killings took place. Sadly, I think the motive behind the killings wasn't strong enough. I know people get killed over all sorts of reasons that would be deemed "weak motives" but I was definitely hoping for a better ending than what was offered.

        As for the ending itself, it only makes sense if there's a sequel coming eventually. So far I see no mention of one, which right now is okay because technically this book isn't published yet.

Conclusion

       This book was okay. I wanted to like it more. I was so excited to start reading this, and I wish that the excitement had stayed with me throughout reading, but it's hard to stay excited about what's happening when you don't like any of the characters and you don't really care about what happens to them. I wouldn't read this book again, and if a sequel does come, it won't be high on my TBR.

Unnatural Deeds by Cyn Balog

Introduction

       Victoria Zell doesn't fit in. She doesn't have a lot of friends, but she's okay with that, because she's got her boyfriend Andrew. He's homeschooled, but he's the only thing that makes her stupid Catholic school bearable. That is, until Z comes along. He's captivating and confident and fun. Everything Victoria isn't, He makes her want to do things that she could never bring herself to do before, and suddenly Victoria feels like a completely different person than she was before he came along.

Cover

       I'll admit, the first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. It's absolutely beautiful.

Characters

       I didn't really like the characters in Unnatural Deeds but in it's defense, I don't really think the author intended for the characters to be likable, and even though I didn't like  them, they did make me feel for their situations, which is good.

 Mystery

       Unnatural Deeds is written sort of backwards. We start at the ending and Victoria recounts the story from the beginning. The mystery I'm talking about opens as soon as you start the book. At the beginning of each chapter, there are little snippets of things like police and coroner reports, as well as interviews from characters you read about. As you read, you are left wondering who these pieces of information are about, and what caused them to happen. It's all very suspicious. An example would be:

Duchess-Police are investigating an apparent homicide after a body was found in a wooded area early Tuesday morning. Authorities have not yet released the name of the victim or the person(s) they are questioning in connection with the investigation.

-Central Maine Express Times

       I loved reading these. Obviously, you can guess who's involved, but I think this is a very creative way of communicating a mystery.

Ending

       The ending really surprised me, just like I was hoping it would. There were times where I wasn't that into the book, but the ending redeemed the book for me.

Conclusion

       I struggled with this book at the beginning, which you would know if you're my friend on Goodreads, but I started enjoying it more once I hit about halfway. Despite the slow start for me, I would read this book again. I would recommend this book to fans of The Lonely by  Ainsile Hogarth, and fans of The Memory Game by Sharon Sant. I would be cautious if giving this book to a younger reader as there is some sexual content. 

One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards

Author: Natalie D. Richards
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected publication: October 4 2016
Pages: 320

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* 


Introduction

       Nobody is happy when rain falls during a mandatory senior hiking trip. Everybody is even less impressed when a flash flood cuts the group in half, each stuck on one side of the overflowing river.
   
       They all thought the rain was the largest of their worries, until Luke, Jude, Emily, and Sera wake up groggy and confused with words etched on the skin of their wrists. Luke got the word Dangerous. Jude got the word Deceptive. Emily got the word Damaged. Sera got the word Darling. They have no idea what these words mean, why they were drugged enough to sleep through the day, why their teacher won't wake up, or why all of their stuff is destroyed. What they do know is that they need to get out of the woods, although somebody in the forest with seems determined that they don't get out alive.

Cover

        Interesting cover, different from what I usually see with Natalie D. Richards' covers.

Sera (and Luke, kind of)

       I liked Sera mostly. I wasn't a huge fan of the backstory between her and Luke, or how she kept resisting everything because of her past with her mother. I'm struggling to explain what I mean, but I feel like if Sera was going to blame a lot of her trust issues on her mother, than more story should have been written in with the relationship between her and mother, instead of just continually mentioning that falling for someone like Luke is exactly what her mother would do.

Jude and Emily

       I liked these characters a lot individually, but the close friendship/relationship seemed to develop really fast and abruptly I wasn't very much into it.

Mystery

       I had my suspicions about who the psychopath was before the ending revealed it, but it was still very enjoyable to read, and the way that you are lead off course of the real person behind it was believable. Even though I say that I had my suspicions, I wasn't entirely sure, as I don't think it was that obvious, especially when thinking of the motive
Story progress

       The story takes a while to really get going, but in the book's defense it was written to be a suspenseful thriller, so there is supposed to be a lot of buildup, and it's completely understandable for the style.

Conclusion

       I had a few gripes with the relationships in this book, but nothing horrible or earth shattering. I enjoyed reading this book a lot. I would definitely read this book again. One Was Lost reminds me once again why Natalie D. Richards is my favourite author, and as always, I can not wait to read more from her.

     

The Assassin Game by Kristy McKay

Author: Kristy Mckay
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected publication: August 1 2016
Pages: 336

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review* 

Introduction

       At Umfraville boarding school, there is a game that everybody want to be a part of, even if they're just in the sidelines, watching it all unfold. Killer gets played once a year, for the players of this prestigious game, the goal is to not get "killed." Meaning, do not fall victim to the pranks set out to end your life in the game. Killer has been played for years at Umfraville, and as long as the game remains relatively harmless, it goes on uninterrupted. When the "kills" go from pranks with fake blood, to actual deaths, suddenly the prestigious game of Killer is anything but harmless.

Cover

       I am in love with this cover. It gives off such eerie and sinister vibes and I honestly never want to stop looking at it.

Story progress

       The events of this book took a long time to get going, so because of the very slow story progress, I struggled to maintain my interest in the novel for a long time. I had to keep forcing myself to read a few pages at a time, but do not fear! The novel takes off eventually and it's worth the wait.

Cate

       I liked Cate. I admire her ability to deal with unpleasant situations mostly in a responsible way. I also thoroughly enjoyed that she thought about what she was doing before she did it, more often than not.

Marcia

        I have gripes with Marcia. To get straight to the point, I think she's a crappy friend to Cate, and not in a way that has anything to do with romantic interests. She is pretty much never there for Cate, always disappearing and not paying attention to the things that Cate has to say. I, personally, would have given up on maintaining friendships with her.

Daniel

       I believe that Daniel accomplished what he was written in to do, to make me angry and frustrated at the things he does (but in a good frustrating way!) I honestly think that Cate was much too kind to him, after the things that he has done.

Vaughn

       I didn't find Vaughn that interesting. I thought he was kind of two dimensional. However, I do wish that the author had delved into his backstory a little more, as we end up with two different versions of why he ended up at Umfraville.

Romance

       Romance takes a backseat in this book, which I didn't mind at all. I think if the romance had taken up more of a role in the book. that it would have distracted from the main point if the story; that people are dying. Plus because the romance wasn't a huge element of the bool, it made the romantic moments all the more sweet.

Mystery

       There's two things you are trying to figure out throughout reading. The first is: Who is the game's killer? The next is: Who is actually causing people to die? Is it the same person?
       I'll admit, it took me a bit to answer these questions, correctly, anyway. This mystery had me, just because there were so many outcomes and so many reasons to
believe them. Even when the big climatic reveal comes along, I was so surprised. I honestly had no idea it was going to play out the way that it did, and for the reasons it did. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out mysteries before the reveal, and I absolutely loved that I wasn't spot on about this one. It kept me guessing, just like a mystery should.

Conclusion

       Overall, I had a few gripes, but nothing deal-breaking. The mystery was great and kept me guessing, which was refreshing. I'm open to reading this book again when I get the chance, as well as more from Kristy McKay. I would recommend this book to any teen boy or girl, looking for a good mystery to keep them interested.

My Secret to Tell by Natalie D. Richards

Author: Natalie D. Richards
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected publication: October 6 2015

Introduction

       Emmie is the good girl her parents need. She's on her way to getting into law school, she volunteers at the animal shelter, get's good grades, and does whatever she can do to make others happy.

       When her friend Deacon shows up at her house covered in blood and on the verge of hysteria, Emmie decided that she doesn't want to be the good girl anymore, she wants to make her own decisions, her first being helping Deacon, but helping Deacon might mean helping a criminal. But at this point? She doesn't really care. She just knows that the blood on Deacons hands is his father's, and if she doesn't find out who committed the crime, Deacon's going to go down for it.

Cover

       I'm seeing a theme in Richards' book covers. The main character of the book, featured on a white/light colored bright background. Regardless of that, I think this cover, and all of her other book covers are very pretty.

Writing

       One of the biggest reasons I love Richards' books is because of the style in which she writes. Her books are full of sentences like this:

       "His smile is a crime"

       "Getting into my denim shorts is an exercise in misery"

       "My heart lodges in the space between my tonsils, Banging out an SOS message in every beat"

       "His laugh is an oil stain in the putrid air"

       A lot of sentences are more poetic than that, but in my brief skim of the novel to find pretty sentences, I found these.

Romance

       Obviously, there's a love story between Deacon and Emmie, but it was only a small part of the book, seeing as Deacon has some bigger problems and he isn't aware that Emmie thinks about him in that way.

Emmie

       I liked Emmie, she had an interesting personality especially with her OCD-like tendencies as I haven't read about a character like that before.

Deacon

       I really liked Deacon. His backstory type deal was cool and I liked watching him progress with his fear of blood. He in some ways is the stereotypical bad boy, but he was still interesting.

Chelsea

       Chelsea annoyed me. A lot. She's Deacon's wholesome sister, and Emmie's best friend, but quite honestly, if I was Emmie, I would be angry at her a lot. I hated the fact that there was a big secret that she was keeping from Emmie, even when the secret started getting tangled in with Emmie's life. Of course, she apologized eventually, and I kind of understand why Chelsea wouldn't want anybody to know the secret, but c'mon.

Plot

       I liked the plot, but at some points nothing was really happening. It wasn't too often and I never considered putting the book down, I was too interested in the actual story, but some chapters were boring.

Conclusion

       I was super excited when I was granted access to the title, because I practically fall in love with anything this author writes,but this novel of hers wasn't my favorite of hers. It was still very captivating and I would probably buy it if I get the chance. I would recommend this to anybody, really. Boys or girls, as long as they like suspense/mystery type books.

The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak

I've hit a milestone guys! This is my 100th post!

Author: Ali Novak
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Expected Publication: August 4 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Introduction

                The Heartbreakers are the most popular band in America, and everybody loves them. Except Stella Simone. Stella can’t stand the band, so she could have never pictured herself at a Heartbreakers autograph signing, but, as much as she hates the band, she loves her sister Cara. On regular circumstances, Cara could have gotten the autograph herself, and would have been perfectly happy to do so, but Cara is undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Stella, Drew, and Cara, have a competition to see who can get each other the best birthday gift every year, and Stella and Drew know that with the autographed merchandise, they can’t lose.

                Stella expected to take a road trip to Chicago, get the autographs, and leave. What she didn’t expect was to meet a boy with a breathtaking smile while getting her early morning caffeine-fix. She also didn’t expect to see him again signing autographs. The boy with the breathtaking smile is Oliver Perry, lead singer for The Heartbreakers. It just so happens that they are staying at the same hotel, and despite the fact that Stella hates his band, he still gives Stella his number. When their paths cross again, Stella makes quick friends with the rest of the band, and she knows that she’s falling for Oliver, but can she risk falling in love with him even with Cara being sick always in the back of her mind?

Cover

                I’m going to safely assume that the cover features Stella and Oliver. It’s not really what I pictured them looking like, but I think that the cover is cute, nevertheless. They look happy, and I think it’s adorable.

Stella

                Stella was pretty cool. I like how much she cares for her siblings. Throughout the book she struggles with living her life while her sister is sick and might not ever recover. I like development she makes with this issue throughout the book. I also enjoy the fact that she isn’t dumb when it comes to the relationship between her and Oliver, the first few times they met, she knew getting attached would be a dumb idea, because she would probably never see him again. Even after that, when she knew that she would see him, she kept her heart guarded because she knew that having a relationship would be difficult. I respect that.

Oliver

       Oliver is known for being a heartbreaker (haha pun intended.) I don’t really have a ton to say about him, but the thing near the end that has to do with him being an idiot and the reason behind why he did what he did? Called it. I freaking called it.

JJ

       JJ, who I believe is the drummer for The Heartbreakers is by far the most eccentric member. His lighthearted playful flirting with Stella always made me smile. I liked him a lot, because for the most part, he was always there to lighten the mood.

Xander

       You don’t really learn about Xander much, I wish he was focused on a little more, because from what I did learn about him, he seemed interesting.

Alec

                I loved the way that Alec always gave Stella answers when she needed them and nobody else was offering anything up. He was always so supportive, and while everybody was probably fangirling over Oliver, I was waiting for more scenes with Alec.  

 Cara

When I first started this book, I thought that Cara was going to be bratty about how her sister is involved with the band, and how she is romantically involved Oliver Perry.  I expected her to bug Stella to meet the band. Maybe even get jealous of Stella and want her to stop dating him. It turns out that Cara was very supportive in every situation that Stella finds herself in. It was very refreshing and I’m glad her character wasn’t how I was expecting.

Photography elements

               

I’ve noticed a lot of books recently feature protagonists that are interested in photography and that’s okay, as long as the interest in photography is legitimate. Stella seems to care a lot about photography, but the actual way that Stella gets a job with the Heartbreakers? I’m not completely convinced by it. It’s not realistic at all. It’s an interesting idea, but not realistic.

Conclusion

I liked this book a lot. More then I originally thought I was going to. The ending was very, very sweet. I would recommend this book mostly to girls. I don't believe a boy would enjoy this very much. If a sequel of this book was ever published I would have every intention of reading it, as I thoroughly enjoyed this,   

The Forgetting by Nicole Maggi

Sorry it's so small,

Author: Nicole Maggi

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352 
Expected publication date: February 3, 2015  

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Introduction

                Georgie Kendrick’s heart was failing. She was going to die. Lucky for her, a match was found just in time to save her life. When she wakes up, nothing is right. She has a taste for strawberries despite the fact that she is deathly allergic to them. She has memories of sleeping in cold, dark basements although she has a beautiful warm house. With gaining these new memories, she’s losing some of hers. She can’t remember last summer, last Christmas, important dates and happy occasions are disappearing from her memory replaced with ones that she doesn’t want. Georgie’s certain that it has something to do with her new heart. After some digging she finds that her heart donor had fallen out of the foster system and lived a life on the streets, living a life where her body is sold to anybody who will pay. Her cause of death was documented as a suicide, but Georgie needs to find out the truth before she loses everything that makes her, her.

Cover

                The cover is nice. I like the font and the effect on the title.

Georgie

                Georgie was an alright character. She’s reckless, very, very, reckless. At some points I can understand why, but at others, I wish she would have thought a little bit more. Not everything is always about her. It’s not only her life in danger all the time. Other people are involved and at points she is putting people at risk for plans that she thought so little about.

Nate

                I liked Nate. He spends his time between working at Starbucks and helping trafficked girls get back on track with their life. Lately, it’s been tough for me to come across a male character who has a purpose other than to be the romantic interest. Even tougher for me to find a male character that shows more emotion than just love, for that romantic interest. What I’m saying is, I like that sometimes Nate gets angry at the decisions that Georgie makes. I like that he isn't always great and super happy and perfect.

Writing

                I wish that the author would have gone into more details about certain things. I find that some events that should be big aren't dwelled upon long enough. I wish that the author had gone into more detail about what happened with Sarah and things like that. Also, I desperately wish that a prologue had been written. Did Nate continue with helping the trafficked girls like I hope he did? Did Georgie? Did Georgie get her memories back? Did her and Nate stay together? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Conclusion

                Overall, I liked this book. I’m not entirely sure I would read it again, but mystery elements and characters kept me interested.

Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards

Author: Natalie D. Richards
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Author Website
Author Twitter
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication Date: January 6, 2015 

Introduction

       Piper Woods is just like any average high school senior. Ready to leave the bustling hallways behind, and excited for the change of a college that she's been waiting for. She isn't popular, but she has friends, a good place on the yearbook committee to express her love for photography, and despite her parents crumbling marriage, she's pretty happy. Until Piper finds a notebook filled with many accounts of student sin. She tries to write it off as a joke until pretty, popular, Stella dies after a sex tape starring her goes viral. Piper saw Stella before she died, at school being teased about the tape. Piper knows she could have done something to stop it. But she didn't. Soon-after, Piper receives an anonymous text, proposing that if she sent a name of somebody who has done wrong, they could make it right, and for the first time in ages, justice could be served. All Piper has to do is text a name...

Cover
       I like the cover. I especially like that the camera that Piper almost always has throughout the book was included.

Piper
       I loved Piper as the protagonist. She is flawed, but not in ways that make me want to throw the book at the wall in annoyance, but in ways that make her realistic. Most of all, what I absolutely love about her is that she actually thinks about things before she acts. Another thing I really love about the character of Piper is that she has interests. Namely, photography. I feel like in many books the author will mention a talent or something that a character likes, and then and never mention it in the book again. Piper's love of photography is consistent throughout the book and it makes her interesting, because like any actual human being Piper has plans and didn't count on life throwing her a curve-ball. Lastly, it's not that important, but I really like the name Piper.

Nick
       Nick was the only character I had a problem with. He doesn't really have much of a personality. He's just, perfect. Nevertheless, I liked the relationship between Piper and him, I didn't feel like it moved to quickly or didn't progress at all.

Manny & Piper
      I don't really have much to say about Manny individually, but Piper and Manny's friendship however, is great. I am so, so happy that the book didn't lean towards a love triangle between them. I have read so many books where the two best friends fall in love and I suspected that, that was how it was going to play out in this book. It didn't. It did however state that Piper and Manny  dated before and it didn't work out, which in some ways is realistic. Just because people are best friends does not mean that a relationship would work out.
   
The Notebook and Texts (*Jumping right into pretty big spoilers here!)
       I would just like to point out that it doesn't make sense for the notebook and the texter to be two different people. The timing is just way too convenient. Any logical person would try to link it together. I mean sure, you could find a book full of student sins and then get texts telling you that you can help make them pay all in the same week, but it is very, very unlikely.

Conclusion
       I loved this book. The characters were great and the mystery kept kept me guessing. If a series of books ever came out with a protagonist like Piper, I would be all for it. I think that boys and girls would enjoy this book, as long as they are up for a mystery. I couldn't put this book down, and I would definitely read it again.