Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

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The accused Ruby returns to town after the trial is thrown out. So, fourteen months after being arrested for killing the neighbors by gas asphyxiation, Ruby walks right into Harper’s home almost like she never left. Harper doesn’t know what to think or how to handle the situation. There’s a neighborhood meeting called, Ruby wasn’t invited, and it’s a reminder to watch for anything or anyone that doesn’t belong. Basically, Ruby. The situation twists and becomes something no one expects. Megan Miranda weaves another mystery worth reading, 5 stars!

Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

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Wonderfully creepy!

Dedicated to Ed and Lorraine Warren, which opens up a feeling of foreboding. Vera’s parents are known far and wide as demon hunters and the other students and the entire community treat Vera like she’s a freak. One day at school, Vera notices the all-popular Max staring at her. She’s dumbfounded. Eventually, Max gets up enough nerve to catch Vera at her job working at a neighboring community’s hospital. He explains that he needs her parents’ help dealing with his mom, who is completely terrifying Max. He’s worried his mom will harm his little sister Chloe. Vera goes to Max’s house and immediately after calls her parents for help. They’re on a case in Barcelona and won’t be home for almost a week. It seems that Vera and Max might be on their own. This story became more interesting the longer I read and I didn’t want to put it down! The mystery and the paranormal build a wonderfully creepy young adult horror story, 5 stars!

The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young

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Another winning adventure from Adrienne Young!

Bryn Roth is being sent away from her home, by Aunt Sariah, to make her way in the family business. She arrives and is greeted by family she hasn’t seen since she was four years old. The Roth family is rough around the edges, even if they dress nicely and have money. Uncle Henrik wants Bryn to help the family gain a merchant ring and become guild members, so she gets a reputable tailor to make customers clothes for everyone and she teaches them etiquette and manners. She works hard to belong but is shocked when she sees the brutality of Henrik’s rules and punishment.

Whip smart Bryn, brooding Ezra and cold hearted, selfish Uncle Henrik help create
another winning adventure story by Adrienne Young, 5 stars!

Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie Richards

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A fun, fantastic horror story!

Cleo gets done showering and sees a gift- wrapped package on the bathroom sink that wasn’t there before she got in the shower. She assumes it’s from a family member or friend but when she asks about it, no one has any idea about the package. This freaks Cleo out so she calls the police and the cop is respectful and helps her realize that she did the right thing by calling. No victim shaming. Her best friend Hope shows up in the meantime. The officer finds a few windows unlocked in her house but nothing else. After the officer leaves, the two friends find another box containing a scavenger hunt clue like the first package. The hunt grows creepier as the clues dredge up memories that Cleo would like to forget. This mystery gets more interesting as the creep factor cranks up! A fun, fantastic horror story, 5 stars!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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Unique story of freedom, love and sacrifice!

Addie was going to be forced to marry a widower with young children, so she prayed and sacrificed to any God that would listen. Darkness appeared and made a deal to give her freedom for her soul. Years, decades, then three centuries go by while Darkness visits Addie sporadically. No one remembers her after she leaves their sight. If she sees them again, they reintroduce themselves as if they’ve never seen her before. She’s truly lonely. She also can’t keep possessions or stay in one place long. Every one of her possessions disappears except for a carved wooden ring. She wanders the world for three hundred years, experiencing famine, poverty, cruelty and love. Addie shows great strength as her character grows through her many experiences. A truly unique story of freedom, love and sacrifice, 5 stars!

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

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Sibling sacrifice and great strength!

Two sisters, Nor and Zadie, are twins and best friends who live in a village where villagers reside in houses on stilts in the ocean. Their mother has planned and prepared for them to be valid princesses so the Elders can choose one of them for the prince’s wife when he’s ready to rule. Nor has a scar on her face caused by a scrape against a blood coral so the villagers assume that Zadie or Alys will be chosen by the Elders. Zadie and Nor have been best friends with Sami since they were young and now Zadie and Sami are in love, so Zadie doesn’t want to leave home. Nor has always wanted to explore the world beyond the village. When Zadie is chosen, she’s desperate to do anything to stay with Sami. After she acts on her desperation, Nor’s life is turned upside down. She travels to New Castle in the mountains far away from home so she can meet and marry the prince who turns out to be cold and unkind. Nor gathers some allies and vows to do everything she can to take care of her family, village and the kingdom she’s going to be the princess of someday. 5 stars for this fantasy involving sibling sacrifice and strength!

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

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Galadriel believes that she’s evil and thirsts for knowledge at the school she attends. Scholomance is a boarding school for magical teenagers and the students have to be constantly vigilant against malificaria; creatures who attack and feed off other’s magic. Orion has saved Galadriel’s life more than once and she can’t figure out his motive. People call her El for short and she’s more of a grouchy beast than evil. Eventually she realizes that Orion doesn’t have an ulterior motive other than he likes her. Naomi Novik does well with world building and elaborate descriptions. Most of the book was El’s narrative dealing with her experiences with her single mother and her school and relationship experiences. Slow moving but magically fun. 3.5 stars!

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

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A wonderful twist and a fascinating ending!

Nami is on her way to the class graduation party when she receives a call from Lucy. Lucy pressures her into buying alcoholic drinks for the party. Nami stops at a mini mart and while she’s looking at what’s available to buy, a shooter enters the store. Nami jumps in front of a young girl to protect her and ends up getting shot. She wakes up later in the Infinity Courts which are run by Artificial Intelligence. Nami resists taking a pill to help with her headache and resists drinking from the fountain. Instead, she follows the lights and ends up being rescued by rebels fighting against Artificial Intelligence control. The rebels rescued her because she resisted and most people can’t. They need her for the rebellion. For some reason, Nami blends in easily with the AI and held the attention of a prince during their conversation, so the rebels want her to be a spy and gather as much information as possible so they can be taken out of control. Humans that have taken the pill are servants to the robots and are unaware of supposedly anything, surroundings, people, and their own pasts. Other humans are sent to War to fight in horrible battles. The resistance works together to free humans and end the robots and all Artificial Intelligence control, even through rough patches. Nami frustrates me a little because she’s only wanting to see one side of the resistance and stubbornly expects everyone else to understand and follow her point of view when she won’t reciprocate that understanding to others. There’s a wonderful twist and the ending was fascinating, 4 stars!

Roots of Ruin by Amber Mitchell

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Roots of Ruin by Amber Mitchell
Book three in the Garden of Thorns series.
Rose/Arianna works alongside Rayce to unite their two kingdoms and to restore her rightful place as ruler of her kingdom. There’s a traitor in their group who keeps giving valuable information to the enemy and man who took Arianna’s father’s life and crown, King Ganem. As king, he has broken apart families and caused extreme poverty and violence. With Rayce’s help, they plan to bring the kingdoms together and create peace. The stress picks up at the last third of the book when the traitor is discovered and the rebels find themselves in a twisted mess. A solid ending in this YA dystopian series, 4 stars!

Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant

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Unique, interesting mystery!

Viv has somehow ended up in a coma. The story alternates between the police officer questioning people that know Viv and the time lines before and after the episode that sent her into a coma. We get the points of view from Viv, Davida, Tim and the people being questioned. Through this, we discover more about the characters and what happened before and after the party. Viv struggles with her dysfunctional family life and deals with her problems by drinking alcohol. She’s hiding it from everyone except a taxi driver that’s helped her and wants to protect her. The suspense builds the closer the party gets and the suspect pool grows and then narrows as the mystery winds down. A unique, interesting mystery, 4 stars!