Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne (Book Review)

Posted July 11, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 8 Comments

Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne (Book Review)Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on July 2, 2013
Pages: 262
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

Oooooo. I really love creepy mysteries, and I’ve been reading very few as of late. Anyone else noticed that plain old suspense, without paranormal or magical elements, is pretty rare in the YA book world? Or am I looking in the wrong places. Anyway, I was SO excited when I read this book’s summary. And it was a lot of creeptastic fun!As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. So, Sawyer is being stalked by some secret admirer who wants her complete and undivided attention. And honestly, I think she handles things really well… until this admirer starts framing her for all the tragic mishaps that have happened in town. She has no idea who this person is, who she can trust, where they will strike next, and how to stop them. This person sees her every move. This person has, unbeknownst to her, been in her house. She feels completely alone, with nobody to confide in. So she hides in fear, pretty much dealing with things internally. This situation would make anyone freak out, and she does. Not only is she secretly recovering from an abusive relationship and the death of a guy she loved once, she’s now being targeted by a psycho. As she tries to figure out what’s going on, flashbacks from her relationship with Kevin keep bubbling up in her mind. I was in an abusive relationship once, so I really identified with her. She knew she was worth more than she was being treated, but it was so hard to stand up for herself. And then he died. Everyone thought he was so amazing, and that they were an amazing couple. Everyone kept checking in on her and consoling her, all the while not knowing she was almost relieved to have escaped the violence from him. This girl has baggage, and I’m not sure I’d be able to handle everything the way she did. I’ve noticed a few reviewers mention that they really did not like Sawyer because she was weak, and lacked a little in good judgment. I didn’t feel that way at all. Sawyer gained strength as she dealt with all this, and I think she learned a lot about herself. Her weakness was believable, and sometimes it’s nice to see a heroine act human. 

2. Hannah Jayne’s story-building was so exciting. There were so many ups and downs as Sawyer received more and more cryptic notes and more “accidents” happened to the people she knew. I was glued to the pages!

3. I grew up reading mysteries, yet the ending of this book completely blindsided me. Usually I have a pretty good idea who the culprit is. I seriously had no clue things would wrap up this way. And I’m kind of unsure as to how I feel about it.

4. I think my biggest criticism is the fact that major elements of the book fell to the wayside in order to make room for the mystery. We get very little character analysis and development, and very little focus is made on Sawyer’s home life (her parents split, and the new woman lives with her and her dad… and she’s pregnant). Honestly, I can’t remember the names of anyone in this book and I actually had to look up Sawyer’s name before I started my review.

All in all, this book is a wonderful mystery. I enjoyed the suspense and the creepiness, so I was ok that the characters lacked memorable qualities. As a result, my review is rather short and vague, but that’s ok too. If you’re looking for a plain old, bare bones scare, this book is for you! It’s a quick read that will keep you up at night and make you jump 4 feet high when your cat pushes your bedroom door open and climbs in bed with you.


Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller (Book Review)

Posted July 10, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 3 Comments

Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller (Book Review)Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller
Series: Bermuda Triangle #1
Published by Spencer Hill Press on June 18, 2013
Genres: Paranormal
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Mail)
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A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong?

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how is she going to get out of this mess?

The book synopsis poses a question: what could possibly go wrong? Well… sadly, a lot went wrong with Triangles. I rarely take notes while I read, but I had to in order to keep track of all the things I didn’t like. And eventually I got tired of trying to keep track. And honestly, this “bad” review will be one of the hardest ones I have to write because the author is SO nice. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. Unfortunately, the only thing I liked about Triangles was the idea. Triangles was one of my most anticipated books of the summer. I was sold as soon as I read the synopsis, I HAD to have this book. I was SO excited when I received the ARC in the mail and I started reading it as soon as I could. Honestly, though, it was just a disappointment.

2. Autumn is terrible. I REALLY can’t stand her. She is a jerk to everyone (like her older sister, her best friend, and her admirer), she’s unbelievably selfish, and she is a really mean gossip. She says horrible things to people’s faces, and behind their backs. Plus, she is so cocky. She talks about how she looks amazing in her tiny swimsuit, no matter what she eats. She uses Joey, the cute boy she works with that is in love with her. She adds extra “sway to her hips and bounce to her boobs” when a cute boy looks at her, because she thinks she is so sexy. And she is SO shallow! She actually says at one point in the story that she would like to eat her hot pizza cheese off a guy’s chest, before she even knew him. I think that’s gross, not to mention incredibly inappropriate. All she thinks about is sex. I can’t stand her. It has been a long time since I have disliked a heroine this much. And her friend is no better.

3. Then we have the boys: Joey and Marcus. Joey is a stalker, but with sweet intentions. I think his main issue was that he was so socially immature that he didn’t know how else to handle his crush on Autumn. As I got to know him more, he became sweeter, yet dorkier in my eyes. And I wanted to smack Autumn every time she spoke to him, because she was SO MEAN. In the end, I saw him as way too good for her. I have no idea why in the world he took such abuse from her, and the fact that he did actually made me lose respect for him. And then there’s Marcus, who is apparently the sexiest teenager in the world. All I saw in him, though, was a lustful jerk who would prefer all women be naked all the time. And of course Autumn liked him. He’s a terrible flirt, and he seems way too old and worldy. Bah.

4. There was way too much swearing in this book. And yes, that’s common, but more with NA than YA. And this might sound weird, but I can handle it better when the character has a personality to back it up. I felt like everyone was swearing to try to come off as hard, tough, and mature. I wasn’t convinced, though, which made me less tolerant.

5. There were too many unnecessary details. Who cares if the character is eating “generic potato chips” or goes on “5-minutes car rides” in her “used Ford Escort”? I don’t mind details that add to the story, but these ones just made the book longer.

6. Room keys on cruise ships do NOT have the room number printed on them. It’s a security risk! Those keys get lost all the time, so the room number is not printed on the card in case else someone finds it. It works that way in hotels, too. When inaccurate details like this are added in to a story that is supposed to be somewhat rooted in reality, I begin to wonder if any research was done to make those real details accurate.

7. The drama was just too dramatic. Autumn keeps getting thrown into alternate realities, as a result of the Bermuda Triangle. Each reality is so unbelievably dramatic that I just could not handle it. In one, she has a baby. In another, she has terminal cancer and talks about how she is “losing the battle”. Suicides keep happening. Everyone is also super horny in these realities. It was just too much.

8. There were far too many coincidences.

Triangles was ALL over the place, and incredibly frustrating. The drama was off the charts, I hated all but one of the characters, and the detail overload and inaccuracies threw me over the edge. I was hoping for more of a mystery relating to the Bermuda Triangle, but that was not the case. I hardly remembered it was supposed to be the key element of the story. I’m sad to say that I really disliked the book, and I would not recommend it.


Top Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptations I’d Like to Finish

Posted July 9, 2013 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 26 Comments

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at the other blog I write for, The Broke and the Bookish.

So, today we get to talk all about books and their movie adaptations. The actual topic deals with best or worst book to movie adaptations, but since I’ve seen a ton of movies based on books I haven’t read… and read a ton of books that were made into movies I haven’t seen… I thought I’d switch it up a little to suit my needs. My first 5 choices are books I’ve decided I need to read because of the movie. My second 5 choices are movies I need to watch because I read the book.

I Need to Read These (because I liked the movie)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (all of The Chronicles of Narnia, actually) by C.S. Lewis
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I Need to See These (because I loved the book)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
(I’m totally cheating here, but a movie is in the process!)

So, what are your thoughts? Have you seen/read any of these? Do you agree with my choices? 

And seriously, anyone want to plan a movie night? :D


Golden by Jessi Kirby (Mini Book Review)

Posted July 5, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 11 Comments

Golden by Jessi Kirby (Mini Book Review)Golden by Jessi Kirby
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on May 14, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mystery
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
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Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

Golden was my very first Jessi Kirby book, and since SO many people I know adore her I was a little worried I’d fall short of jumping on the bandwagon. Golden just sounded too amazing to pass up, though, so I went for it! Let me tell you, Golden is amazing! I don’t know why I waited so long!

Parker is a descendent of ROBERT FROST! He’s definitely my favorite poet, and I just loved the hat tips to his work throughout the story. I really connected with Parker. She’s a good girl, overachiever, and teacher’s pet. She’s never done anything wrong, and she’s never gone out on a limb and done something daring or adventurous. When she finds the late Julianna Farnetti’s journal in a box of class journals from ten years ago that she’s in charge of mailing back to the authors, she can’t help but snoop. In the process of snooping, she learns the truth, puts two and two together and decides it’s her job to solve the mystery of the death of Summit Lakes High’s so-called golden couple. I’ve always been the good girl–the one who never did anything wrong. And I’ve always loved mystery and making the truth known. Parker is me in high school.

As Parker delves deeper into Julianna’s life, she starts sneaking around and breaking rules to find out what really happened. She starts questioning the future she thought she wanted. Instead, she goes on a wild goose chase with her best friend, Kat, and her long-time crush, Trevor. We all know how I feel about road trips. I just love the dynamic of characters sitting in a car talking, because they have nothing else to do. I loved the witty banter, and the introspective moments they shared together. I learned so much about these three characters, and they learned a lot about each other. Kat is an amazing best friend, and Trevor is so unbelievably sweet, yet snarky.

I love small towns in books, and this one takes place in a town small enough that everyone was really rocked by the events of the fatal car crash. It really seemed to have bonded them together. Even ten years later, it’s hard for them to get over it. I loved the supporting characters, and really enjoyed watching their hearts finally start to recover.

I love this story within a story. We learn about Parker and her friends, but we also get to learn about Julianna and what it was like for her to be a teen in love with a guy who was not so good for her. Julianna’s journal entries were beautiful, and actually my favorite part of the book. I’m actually inspired to start writing my own journal again!

I am SO scared I will give too much away with this review, so I will just leave it at this. Jessi is an amazing author. Even though there is little to no romance in Golden, I loved it. It filled me with hope, had me swooning, had me intrigued, and had me smiling. I love this coming of age story, and would recommend it for anyone looking for a sweet contemporary.


Happy 4th of July!

Posted July 4, 2013 by Jana in Personal / 1 Comment

 

If you live in the USA, happy birthday! I hope you’re spending your day reading, eating strawberries, watching fireworks, and enjoying time with your family! I’ll be back soon with more bookish shenanigans!

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What are you reading right now?
Any upcoming releases this month you’re dying to get your hands on?