That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Clever mystery!
A 17yo young woman wakes up in a ditch and has no idea how she got there. A police officer drives by, sees her, helps her and takes her to the police station where he questions her and realizes that she has lost her memory. She has a flashback of standing by a cluster of postal mailboxes and big hands grabbing her but she remembers nothing else. Soon after, a man arrives asking the police officer for help in finding his missing daughter. Alternately, a community is searching for a missing teenage girl that disappeared while walking home. Could this be the same girl?

Likes/dislikes: The mystery kept me glued to the pages. The characters are an interesting and diverse set of personalities. The mystery unravels cleverly.
Mature content: G
Violence: PG-13 for bloody hitting and bloody death.
Language: R for 156 swears and 83 f-words.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Night Render and Dawn Breaker by Jodi Meadows

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Action and intrigue!

Prince Rune is betrothed to Princess Hanne and as they’re visiting his homeland, she gets trapped in a malsite where no one can see or hear her on the outside of the boundary of this area filled with malice. Rune wakes the Nightrender from her 400-year old slumber to save the princess. The Nightrender is a mythical hero who saves humans from malice and corruption. Rune wants to help the Night Render but his parents fight him about it, so nothing gets accomplished. Meanwhile, Hanne is threatened by an evil creature, a rancor. She must help create a weapon against her kingdom and Rune’s kingdom or she will be destroyed. Hanne wants to save herself and she’ll do anything to stay safe.

Likes/dislikes: The story is of action and intrigue. The Night Render is an awesome mythical character with a single mission. The character development is a little stilted in some parts.
Mature Content: PG for implied sex.
Language: PG for 1 swear and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity is light brown skin dominant in Ivasland and white skin dominant in Embria.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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Beautiful prose!

18yo Effy loves literature and desperately wants to attend the literature college but has settled for the architectural college where she’s the only female student. Her advisor has taken advantage of her and holds it over her head and now she’s shunned by the other students. She applies for the chance to draw plans for her favorite author’s new home, partly to escape the stigma surrounding her at school and mostly to get the opportunity to meet the late author’s family and see his home where he wrote her favorite works. She’s surprised but thrilled when she’s chosen. When Effy arrives at the manor, she’s shocked at its dilapidated state and the darkness that seems to surround it. She meets Preston, a literature student writing his thesis on the same author, and Ianto, the enigmatic son who runs the manor and wants Effy to quickly draw the blueprints for the updated manor. The mysterious surroundings pull Effy and Preston into dangerous territory and they have to fight for everything they believe in if they’re going to survive.

Likes/dislikes: An absolutely perfect example of magic realism. Effy is a strong character struggling with the lack of rights for women. Preston is a gentleman through and through.
Mature Content: PG-13 for sex with minimal detail
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for sexual harrasment and bullying by classmates.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white. Preston has fawn-colored skin.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Absolutely compelling!

10yo Kel and Cas are playing outside at the orphanage when the leader of the Arrow soldiers visits on the King’s orders. Kel is taken to the Castellane palace to attend dinner as a deception in place of Prince Conor, who is supposedly ill. Kel meets Conor after dinner and realizes that the prince wasn’t ill at all but dinner was a test to see if Kel could become the Sword Catcher for Prince Conor. After speaking with the prince, Kel chooses the life of being the prince’s closest companion, bodyguard and replacement if needed. Now, 23yo Kel accompanies Conor almost everywhere but he soon discovers they both have secrets they’re keeping from each other, secrets that might become dangerously fatal.

Likes/dislikes: I absolutely love the character development. The complex world building flowed perfectly and the political intrigue created a dangerous and mysterious environment. The four main characters have completely different personalities with each one being interesting and having depth.
Language: R for 31 swears and 9 f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Cas and the King are white. Kel and Conor have light brown skin and the Queen has russet-brown skin. Lin is pale skinned.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Beautifully descriptive writing!

19yo Emory heads back to Aldryn College for her sophomore year. She’s still reeling from watching her classmates drown last spring,in the Dovermere Cave, as the tide rushed in. Baz likes his solitude; he is the older brother of Romey, who is Emory’s deceased best friend and one of the eight drowned classmates. She ventures to the cove and sees several classmates around a bonfire. All of them see the body of one of the drowned classmates float onto the beach but he isn’t dead; he’s breathing and starts to seize. Emory tries to save him and does more than her magic should allow. Baz is watching and realizes she’s a tidecaller; a person who can perform all types of magic and he realizes Emory has no idea what power she holds.

Likes/dislikes: The alternating points of view brought more to the story since we learned Emory’s perspective and Baz’ too. Beautiful descriptions of the settings throughout the story. The character development is done well.
Language: R for 68 swears and 33 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for underage drinking and implied sex.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white with side characters who have umber skin and tawny brown skin.

The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Enthralling YA mystery fantasy!
Huntress Celie finds a woman dead as she’s leaving the cemetery after visiting her sister’s memorial spot. She learns that more bodies have been found and she’s being kept in the dark for her protection. She goes out on her own to investigate when she gets kidnapped and pulled into vampire life on the Isle of Requiem. Celie discovers that things aren’t always as they seem. All that she has grown up to believe is turned upside down and she has to learn to rely on the help of others.

Likes/dislikes: I like the complexity of the characters. I like the character variety and character development. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the whole story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing and implied sex.
Language: R for 84 swears (mostly God), and 7 f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: predominantly white with amber, tawny and bronze skin characters mentioned.

A Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth

Posted on by lynndellwatson

A spooky mystery!

Wil and Ed have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They enjoy spending time together more than with anyone else and their feelings are growing stronger towards each other. Wil is known for her close connection with death and being able to see when someone will be dying soon. When mysterious and suspicious deaths happen at Ed’s manor, he asks Wil to help. The two soon discover that they are in way over their heads.

Likes/dislikes: The prose is beautiful. Wil and Ed are wonderful characters and I grew to love them both. The mystery surrounding them pulled me into the story and created intense suspense. The hauntings added a creepy vibe that gave another dimension to the story.
Language: PG-13 for 19 swears, no f-words.
Mature Content: PG for passionate kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths and bullying.
Ethnicity: falls to white. Ebony skinned maid and a terra cotta skinned laborer.

The Lotus Flower Champion by Pintip Dunn

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Thailand folklore retelling!

17yo Alaia struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder and she’s taking a trip to Thailand with her parents to give her terminally ill mother a last trip of peace. Before they reach land, there’s an explosion on the yacht and her family is separated. Alaia and her mother wake up stranded on an island with ten others from the yacht. Things just get weirder and more dangerous as they discover they are on an island where Thai folklore comes to life. They soon find out that they are the main characters in the legends and they’re going to have to fight for their lives.

Likes/dislikes: I appreciate the folktales of Thailand resources the author shares at the end of the book. I enjoyed the premise of folktales coming to life. This book is a quick and easy read.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 38 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody fight.
Ethnicity: Asian American is dominant. The yacht captain is white. Preston is white. Lola and Rae have warm brown skin. Elizabeth is white. Sylvie is Filipina.

Covet by Tracy Wolff

Posted on by lynndellwatson

The best of the Crave series so far!
Hudson states that Grace is his mate but she’s still in love with Jaxon. The three of them discover that the bond between Jaxon and Grace was created by the Bloodletter and that’s why the Bloodletter could and did break the bond. Now they and their group of trusted friends are on a mission to save Jaxon’s soul. They end up in prison that seems unescapable. They meet Remy and Calder and are placed in their cell, unsure of whether they will be allies or enemies. If they survive prison, it will be a miracle.

Likes/dislikes: The amount of swearing distracts from the story. I like how kindhearted Grace is. The story actually pulls me in when Hudson is arrested by the Circle after the graduation ceremony and Grace insists on going with her mate to prison; I was invested in the story after that.
Language: R for 297 swears and 98 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing, petting and implied sex.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Flint is black. Grace, Macy, Hudson and Jaxon are white.

Dream to Me by Megan Paasch

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Unique plot!

17yo Eva has moved to Madrona with her older sister Rhonda after their father died from a gunshot wound. Their father’s Aunt Miriam left Eva the Sylvan family house in her will and now that’s the place they head to get a new start. The minute the two sisters arrive in town, they’re met with rude comments and glares from some of the townspeople when they’re recognized as a relative of Miriam and part of the Sylvan family. The next day, the gas attendant that told them to leave is found in a coma and soon more people fall into comas and Eva is accused of causing it. She has no idea what’s going on and when Rhonda falls into a coma, Eva does everything she can to discover her family’s secrets and wake everyone from their comatose state.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the unique plot. The mystery became more interesting as the story progressed. The creepiness and the uncertainty were interesting.
Language: R for 90 swears and 11 f-words.
Mature Content: G for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody assault and death.
Ethnicity: Bethany is Vietnamese. Falls to white.