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.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death!
18yo Seraphina lives trapped in Eldridge Hall with the Royal Family, servants and courtiers since the plague began three years ago. Seraphina masquerades as Princess Imogen after the real princess died four years ago. The Royal sisters were terrified of how the king would react if he discovered Imogen’s death so the sisters found a look alike Jewish girl, Seraphina, and took her away from her family. She’s been Imogen ever since. 19yo Nico goes to Eldridge Hall to see if there are any survivors. He soon discovers that the man who saved him from the mori roja plague years ago, and who claims to be helping plague survivors, is really a monster. Now Nico is compelled to save everyone he can in and around Eldridge Hall.

Likes/dislikes: I love retellings and this is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death with added supernatural and historical elements. The author shares her background and reasoning for creating this story and I’m impressed with her forethought and hindsight. Wonderful characters bring the book to life.
Mature Content: PG for kissing
Language: R for 43 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths.
Ethnicity: Royal family falls to white. Jewish descendants Seraphina and Dalia have olive skin. Lord Greymont has bronze skin. Elisabeth has olive skin. A dark skinned man is mentioned. Colin has brown skin.

Silence and Shadow by Erin Beaty

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Engrossing mystery!
17yo Catrin and Simon flee Collis and travel to the Selanae academy in Londunium to help Catrin learn how to use her moonlight magic. They befriend Martin, a law enforcement officer, when they help capture a violent man trying to harm Catrin. As they get to know each other better, Martin seeks Simon’s and Catrin’s help with a serial killer who has been evading law enforcement for four years. The mystery surrounding the murders is unusual. The group gets deeply entangled and in over their heads.

Likes/dislikes: Simon and Catrin are amazing characters. The murder mystery is unique and interesting. Characters are well developed and the world building is strong.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex.
Language: PG-13 for 30 swears, no f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: falls to white

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Chilling twist!
Two survivors of a murder spree, 18yo Sloan and 18yo Cherry were the only ones left alive after a group of masked killers arrived in the summer camp where they worked and ended everyone’s lives except those of the two young women. Sloan leans heavily on Cherry to keep her afloat but when possible secrets come to light, Sloan feels the need to find the truth about the reasons behind the murders on her own. She reaches out to the sister of the lead killer, the only other person alive after the murders. She reaches out to the imprisoned killer himself too. What Sloan discovers is beyond her comprehension.

Likes/dislikes: I like the complexity of the cult guilty of the crimes and their backstory. The story has a good twist. I enjoyed the author’s writing in portraying feelings of betrayal and manipulation by others.
Language: R for 97 swears and 71 f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex and underage drinking.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Rahul is Indian. Beckett , Kevin, Sloan, Dahlia and Anise are white. Cherry has peach skin. Hannah is Korean American. Shane and Ronnie are Black. Connor has brown skin.

What Happened on Hicks Road by Hannah Jayne

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Creepy read!

A group of friends drives to Hicks Road one dark night for some spooky fun. When 17yo Lennox sees a blonde girl dart in front of her car and she feels the thump of a hit, she stops the car to look for the girl. Her friends reassure her that it must have been a deer and that they didn’t see anything. Lennox is worried that she’s becoming schizophrenic like her mother and starting to hallucinate. Being new in town, Lennox doesn’t know her friends well at all and when they tell her over and over that she didn’t hit a person, she believes them.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author created the uncertainty of whether or not the main character is reliable. The setting is wonderfully spooky. The unstable family life of the main character is an interesting part of the story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied drug use; kissing.
Language: R for 27 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for hit and run.
Ethnicity: Allison has tanned skin. Falls to white.