Review: Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

July 31, 2015February 23, 20191 Comment

Title: Trouble Is a Friend of Mine
Author: Stephanie Tromly
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Publication Date: August 4, 2015

Summary (from Goodreads):

Preparing to survive a typical day of being Digbys friend wasn't that different from preparing to survive the apocalypse.Her first day not in school (because she cut) in her new hometown that will soon be her old hometown (because she's getting out of Dodge as fast as she can) Zoe meets Digby. Or rather, Digby decides he's going to meet Zoe and get her to help him find missing teenager. Zoe isn't sure how, but Digby—the odd and brilliant and somehow…attractive?—Digby always gets what he wants, including her help on several illegal ventures. Before she knows it, Zoe has vandalized an office complex with fake snow, pretended to buy drugs alongside a handsome football player dressed like the Hulk, had a throw-down with a possible cult, and, oh yeah, saved her new hometown (which might be worth making her permanent hometown after all.)A mystery where catching the crook isn't the only hook, a romance where the leading man is decidedly unromantic, a story about friendship where they aren't even sure they like each other—Trouble is a Friend of Mine is a YA debut you won’t soon forget.

❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃

Review: Trouble is a Friend of Mine

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly is a comical book filled with mystery. It contains an intelligent main character who is a very amusing narrator for the book. However, there are a few parts of the book that made me uncomfortable while reading and made me consider whether to continue reading on. Continue reading →

Waiting On Wednesday #23: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

July 29, 2015February 23, 20195 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

This week’s book:

Book cover for The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry.
Title: The Love That Split the World
Author: Emily Henry
Publication Date: January 26, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill

Summary (from Goodreads):

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken. Continue reading →

Teaser Tuesdays #15: Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

July 28, 2015March 1, 20198 Comments

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today’s Teaser Tuesday:

Book cover for Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell.
Summary (from Goodreads): Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn’t want a fairy tale happy ending after all. Continue reading →

Review: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

July 27, 2015February 23, 20195 Comments

Title: Never Always Sometimes
Author: Adi Alsaid
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: August 4, 2015

Summary (from Goodreads):

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃

Review: Never Always Sometimes

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid is a book that I had high hopes for. As a big fan and supporter of Adi Alsaid, I was really hoping that it was going to be just as epic as Let’s Get Lost. The story line is actually really unique and it is definitely a fun summer read. Alsaid certainly develops his characters to a tee, however the book contains far too many clichés and is very predictable. Continue reading →

Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

July 25, 2015February 23, 20197 Comments

Title: Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Publication Date: September 2, 2014

Summary (from Goodreads):

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth...a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

Review: Heir of Fire

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas is probably the most intense book I’ve read this year. There is so much action and many secrets in this third instalment of the Throne of Glass series. This is a very unpredictable book with an amazing world unlike any other and is written so well the reader will be in awe. Continue reading →