Royal Scandal by Aimee Carter

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Just as good as Royal Blood; the first book of the series!

18yo Evan is in the United Kingdom with her family, royal and not royal. She’s recovering from the assault by Jasper and has great support from her boyfriend Kit and her family. Evan is starting to feel more at ease with her royal surroundings until a shooter misses her and hits Kit as he protects her. Evan receives secret anonymous threats and she starts to hear voices that are threatening her also. Her mother has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and she’s worried she’s hallucinating since no one else sees or hears the threats. Each day the threats and danger build until Evan is terrified she will lose her life and the people she loves.

Likes/dislikes: I love Evan and Kit and their relationship. The royal premise adds heightened intrigue to the mystery. This second book of the series is just as good as the first.
Mature Content: G for holding hands and hugging.
Language: R for 41 swears and 0 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity is predominantly white.

Murder Road by Simone St. James

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Another excellent supernatural mystery by Simone St. James!

April and Eddie drive to their honeymoon destination but are waylaid when they find a young woman walking down the road. They offer her a ride and then discover she’s been stabbed so they rush her to the hospital. Little do they know, they’re opening a door to the evil that’s the cause of the disappearances over the past 20 years.

That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally

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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.

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Violet is forced to attend the Dragon Rider ritual by her mother, the Commander, even though she’s small, has some health issues, and wants to be a scribe instead of a rider. Several other students hate her because of the fact that her mother killed their parents for rebelling. Little do they know that Violet is nothing like her mother.
Violet keeps getting through the different challenges and shows her integrity by standing up for others, even the small featherlight dragon that three bullies try to kill on Threshing Day. Tairn, one of the deadliest dragons in Navarre, steps in to help protect the small golden dragon and chooses Violet as his rider.
Many students die daily through the grueling challenges and several bullies enjoy picking on Violet. She trains hard to strengthen her body and temperament so she can survive and she loves her dragons. A third year wingleader, Xaden, takes notice. He observes Violet and approves of her hunger to do well and her integrity and gives her the nickname, Violent.
An action-packed and exciting fantasy adventure that lives up to the hype!

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

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Bronx history with a supernatural mystery.

Charlize is looking for her older brother, 18 year old Cisco, who disappeared after infecting Raquel’s mom at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Cisco played a game that’s an urban myth and it backfired. Charlize, Raquel, 16, and her friend Aaron play the game to find Cisco. Twenty people have disappeared in the last year and no one has been able to get to the bottom of the problem but these three are determined to find and save Cisco so he can give information to help heal Raquel’s mom and stop the spread of infection. The game becomes creepy and brings the corruption of the past to light as the young people learn how residents were manipulated, used and pushed out of their Bronx homes. These teens have to work together to stop the corruption and save their families.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed learning about Bronx history and how it was used in the supernatural aspect of the story. The infection conveys the corruption in the community creatively. I like how Raquel, Aaron and Charlize work together and how the mystery becomes spooky quickly.
Mature Content: PG-13 for high off edibles, nondescript kiss.
Language: R for 85 swears and 23 f-bombs.
Violence: PG-13 mention of cannibalism, bloody unexplained death.
Ethnicity: The ethnicities include Black, Dominicans, White, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

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An absolute must-read!

An absolute must-read!

Sal 17, lives in Juniper, California with his sick mother and alcoholic father. Sal attends school while trying to help keep the family hotel afloat. Sal and Noor, 18, were best friends until they had a fight months ago and haven’t spoken since. Sal’s mom collapses and needs to be taken to the hospital while Noor happens to be visiting her. Sal’s mother passes away and her last words to Noor were to forgive. Sal and Noor try to mend their friendship but they’re both keeping secrets and trying to persevere through their own harsh situations. When life implodes, they both have to make some tough choices.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed learning about Pakistani culture and its languages. The author gives a comprehensive, concise content warning at the beginning of the book and lists resources at the end for help with domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, immigration and refugee rights, children’s defense fund, and women of color. I appreciate how the author portrayed harsh realities to readers in a way that is educational and with empathy but not graphic. This book is a must read.
Language: R for 147 swears and 3 f-bombs.
Mature Content: PG for brief undescribed kiss, drug dealer selling pills, mention of marijuana (weed), deeper kiss.
Violence: PG-13 for child abuse (a push against the wall), bloody face from abuse, kicking ribs, mentions of repressed sexual assault, continued abuse.
Ethnicity: Sal and Noor and their family members are Pakistani living in a predominantly white community. There is a Pakistani religious leader and his wife is Black. The Judge is Mexican American and the story contains mixed ethnicity police officers.

Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty

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Riveting mystery with a touch of magic! 5 stars!

Catrin, 17 years old, finds a woman’s dead body that’s been mutilated by a murderer, so she becomes the main witness in helping Simon solve the case. Simon is the nephew of the Comte in charge of keeping the justice in Londunium but he wants to keep his son Oudin out of suspicion, so he assigns Simon to the case. The murders continue and several suspects come to light. Catrin uses her newly found magic that appears in moonlight to try to stop and prevent any more murders from happening and she receives the last thoughts of the fatally wounded women that will help find the killer. Catrin is adamantly protective of those she loves and does her best to stop the violence and the person behind it.

Likes/dislikes: The intensity of the mystery kept me riveted. The explanation of magic and the world building are written out nicely. I love Catrin, the main character because of her strength, loyalty to those she loves, bravery and intelligence.

Mature Content: PG for drug use mentioned, brief kiss, gentle kisses, urgent nondescript kiss.
Language: PG for 8 swears and no f-bombs.
Violence: PG-13 for Catrin finding a dead body that’s bloody and broken. The death is described with little detail. Description of a bloody death, implied sexual assault.

Trigger by N. Griffin

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Disturbing fictional neglect and abuse!

Small town, USA is where Didi attends school but she lives with her father in a secluded area. He’s abusive and neglects to give Didi everything she needs. Didi is terrified and on edge always, even when she’s not around her father because she’s worried she’ll do something wrong and he’ll find out somehow. Her father makes her run laps around the property so she can become as quick as possible but she doesn’t know why he cares about that. He also forces her to learn and play chess and compete in tournaments and she has to be the best. Eventually Didi understands the reason her father has made her do these things but it might be too late for her to save herself.

Likes/dislikes:
The story is disturbing because of the neglect and abuse. The effects on the child’s physical and mental well-being are portrayed through the coping skills the main character develops over time to deal with her life; they were heartbreaking at times. The timeline jumps around and that was difficult to follow. The ending was the best part.
Language: R for 67 swears and 22 f-bombs.
Mature Content: R for physical abuse and severe neglect.
Violence: R for child abuse and hunting child with a gun.
Ethnicity: Didi has brown hair but other characters’ ethnicities aren’t described.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

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The intensity builds to the extreme!

Red is traveling in an RV to Florida with her friends to spend a week celebrating spring break together. They lose cell service and GPS capabilities then end up down a dead end road getting a flat tire. After replacing the flat tire with the spare, Red sees a red dot hovering around the RV and yells at the others to notice. They ignore her until they hear the gunshots that take out all four tires. The group runs into the RV for protection. The shooter leaves a walkie talkie for communication and tells them that one of them has a secret they need to share. The secret is going to be revealed, one way or another!

Likes/dislikes:
Oliver is annoying because he’s a know-it-all with a superiority complex. The mystery is interesting to try to unravel when a few characters allude to having secrets. The suspense builds intensely, which makes a riveting read.

Mature Content:
PG-13 for drinking

Language:
R for 20 swears and 105 f-bombs.

Violence:
PG-13 for Someone shoots at the RV and holds the travelers hostage inside. The sniper fatally shoots an elderly couple that stop to help. Bloody shootings. Attack with a knife.

Ethnicity:
Mixed, Korean, Mexican, white, African American

How To Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Posted on by lynndellwatson

A slam-in-your-face ending!


Alice loses her sister in a murder spree cut short one Halloween night. She saw Claire get stabbed by Owen and a year later is planning to testify that Owen killed Claire. Any more info in my review will be a spoiler. This unique mystery thriller jumps around and then slams you in the face with the ending. A suspenseful read that I could not put down! 5 stars!

Danielle Valentine is Danielle Vega’s pseudonym and this is her debut thriller!