Roaring by Lindsey Duga

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Action packed historical fiction with a supernatural twist!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Roaring by Lindsey Duga!
A siren, Eris, hides in a speakeasy in Boston during the roaring 1920’s. A bureau agent, Colt Clemmons, is sent to capture and bring her in because they believe she’s a monster. Eris sings with the band but refuses to speak to anyone since she doesn’t want to influence people, except when she can use her influence for good. Colt and Eris run and become involved in numerous acts of violence and danger, while falling for each other. They also discover a devious plot that no one suspected. I enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of the 1920’s setting and both the characters of Colt and Eris. The supernatural added a unique twist to the story and brought in a bit of science fiction also. Genre-bending story set in the 1920’s, 4 stars!

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Revolutin by Jennifer Donnelly pulled me into historical Paris! By page 50, I was completely hooked by this book! I love and feel for Andi, I enjoy her clever sarcasm and appreciate the intellectual and cultural references throughout the story! Andi’s younger brother died in the street two years earlier and she’s never been able to move on and neither has her mother. Her father is handling it better due to his scientific and analytical thinking. Since Andi is failing classes, her father decides to take her to Paris during winter break. He wants her to work on her thesis and improve her grades during their stay in Paris. The two of them stay with her father’s long time friend and French Revolution historian. Andi accidentally discovers the journal of the young king’s caretaker during the Revolution. She becomes engrossed with the journal and the information it holds. Her reality begins to intertwine with the Revolution history and she wishes for the young king to be safe just as she wishes the same thing for her brother. This is my favorite historical fiction book with the strong and tortured main character, extreme character development and depth, research based story line and the vivid descriptions of Revolutionary Paris, 5 stars!

Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Twisted Sci-Fi!
Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus tells the tragic story of Liv, her father Lee, and her lifelong friend Doug. I immediately feel sorry for Liv and her father because I can predict the judgmental treatment that will probably happen after his episode of incoherent talking and nakedness in front of the community. Liv and Doug are friends and continue to maintain the traps and protection her father set after he said he was harmed by aliens a few years ago. Lee took Liv and Doug on a hunting trip and he ran away towards something that the other two couldn’t see. Liv is friends with a popular group and Doug is more of a loner that doesn’t fit in. Doug believes Lee, Liv’s father, about the aliens but Liv doesn’t. Her mother doesn’t either and they think he’s just mentally unhealthy. One day, as Liv is checking one of the traps her dad created, she finds an alien caught in one. This blows Liv’s mind. Doug and Liv keep the alien, or skinner as Lee called them, imprisoned in her backyard shed and interrogate it for any information about Lee. The skinner eventually speaks three words: car, bow, hole. Doug believes torture is the best way to get information about Lee from the skinner; Liv disagrees. This disagreement builds a rift between them and they go their separate ways. Liv realizes that car, bow, hole might mean the name Carbajal. She does some searching and meets a mysterious, dilapidated man with that name. He gives her frightening information. Several twists and tragedy build and end the science fiction story, 4 stars!

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

Posted on by lynndellwatson

i-killed-zoe-spanos-9781534449701_xlg

Impressive mystery!
Thanks to NetGalley and Margaret McElderry Books for the opportunity to read and review I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick!
The book begins in August as Anna is being questioned by the police about Zoe Spanos, a young woman who has been missing for two months and looks similar to Anna. Then, the story moves back to June when Anna starts her nanny job. Little by little, Anna meets members of the community and gets to know the neighborhood. The story of Anna alternates with the local podcast, Missing Zoe, created by a Spanos family friend. The podcast explores the investigation into Zoe and her disappearance. The story keeps moving between June when Anna started her job as a nanny in Herron Mills and August when she was arrested for the manslaughter of Zoe. People tend to act strangely around Anna and she starts to wonder why. She knows it’s not just from how she looks. The mystery and questions about Zoe’s disappearance build ominously until the very end of the book. Complicated and fascinating in each part and with all of the characters, I Killed Zoe Spanos weaves a complex, twisty mystery that’s worth a full 5 stars!

A Many Feathered Thing by Lisa Gerlits

Posted on by lynndellwatson

51148288._sx200_sy200_

Heartwarming!
Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read and review A Many Feathered Thing by Lisa Gerlits!
This book tells a story about Clara and how she found her “voice”, gained confidence and built her self esteem. Clara continued to have ear infections when she was a baby and a toddler. When she was two, her parents realized she was having hearing problems, surgery helped with her hearing but she struggled to learn speech and lost confidence because of teasing from others and the frustration of trying to get the sounds right. Clara is reading The Diary of Anne Frank with her class at school. As she learns about Anne and her life, Clara sees parallels of Anne’s experiences and feelings in people she knows and associates with. This healing story inspired me to sketch again and that’s something I love to do but haven’t done for decades. Clara grows tremendously within the confines of this story, all because her self awareness grows and her confidence builds, thanks to the realization that she can do things, she can be brave and the faith that others have in her. Sometimes, all we need to grow is to have a chance to see outside ourselves and get a different perspective on life’s situations. A truly heartwarming story, 5 stars!

You Were Here by Cori McCarthy

Posted on by lynndellwatson

30095465._sy475_

You Were Here by Cori McCarthy
On the fifth anniversary of her brother’s death, his graduation night, Jaycee is spending her own graduation night trying to lose herself in the memories that she’s been holding tightly to. She’s revisiting the places he enjoyed but she feels him slipping away. She reluctantly lets people tag along as friends on the adventures and each of them experiences something eye-opening that shoves them into adulthood. I love this book and even though I just finished it, I want to read it again. The circumstances that start the story, the character development and growth, the uniquely different characters and the setting work together to build a wonderful book, 5 stars!

How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates

Posted on by lynndellwatson

43889803

Young adult dystopian!
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates.
The story opens as Astrid notices the lighthouse that has been unlit for a long time, coming to life. She wakes up her neighbor Hank. The community is annoyed at Astrid because she keeps talking about the light being on in the lighthouse. She thinks they’re upset because they’re hiding something. The story felt somewhat drawn out and not as exciting, dangerous or suspenseful as I would have liked it to be. This could have been a truly scary story if it was built up more. I did like how creepy the wicker’s comments were because they were spoken so calmly. 3 stars for this young adult dystopian

Run, Hide, Fight Back by April Henry

Posted on by lynndellwatson

25446323._sy475_

Run, Hide, Fight Back by April Henry.
A shooting occurs in a mall on an otherwise normal day. We learn a little about each of the characters highlighted in the chapters, gaining insight into their lives, as they try to hide from the shooters. The whole concept of this story has become all too real and we gain insight into all sides as we read dispatch messages, interactions between police and shooters, and as the crime unfolds. The book is a fairly quick read and when the true reason for the shooting is revealed, greed prevails. Interesting and thought provoking, 4 stars!

What I Want You to See by Catherine Linka

Posted on by lynndellwatson

36627122

Interesting and unique story!
Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Book Group for the opportunity to read and review What I Want You to See by Catherine Linka!
Sabine has lost her mother and is now on her own. She’s attending art school and has great talent. She’s attending due to a scholarship but her art teacher is harsh and without his recommendation, she won’t keep her scholarship and will have to drop out of school. Sabine gets conned into practicing and perfecting her artistic skills by secretly painting a replica of her tough professor’s painting, that has yet to be revealed. This painting has already been sold for almost a million dollars but when it’s put out for the art exhibition, Sabine knows it’s not the professor’s painting but her copy because she can see her flaws. She’s devastated and realizes she was tricked and now she’s going to be the fall guy because the con man has fled. The story touches on homelessness and college students who struggle to make ends meet. The author has given information about homelessness in her ending notes. Riveting suspense and food for thought. 4 stars!

Malice by Pintip Dunn

Posted on by lynndellwatson

37638107

I enjoyed this book more than any other Pintip Dunn book (that I have read). The concept is unique and the character growth and depth is profound.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Malice by Pintip Dunn!
Alice begins to hear a voice that’s telling her what to do. She soon realizes that the voice belongs to her future self, and is warning present time Alice, about a future virus that is going to destroy the world. Future Alice wants her to kill the virus maker. As the story unfolds, I kept thinking that I had figured out who the virus maker was, but I just kept getting hit with one surprise after another! The story concept is interesting and I especially like the mystery surrounding the virus maker. Bandit is intriguing but I want to know more about Zeke. Alice goes through a whirlwind of back and forth time travel, possible futures and the shocks and surprises that are thrown at her. This is the absolute best Pintip Dunn book I’ve read! 4 stars!