Girl At the Grave by Teri Bailey Black
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Genre: Young Adult — Historical Fiction, Mystery
Synopsis: Valentine has spent years trying to outrun her mother’s legacy. But small towns have long memories, and when a new string of murders occurs, all signs point to the daughter of a murderer. Only one person believes Valentine is innocent—Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother killed all those years ago. Valentine vows to find the real killer, but when she finally uncovers the horrifying truth, she must choose to face her own dark secrets, even if it means losing Rowan in the end.
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My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book a really engaging read. Valentine was a character who was really easy to relate to and empathise with and I really liked learning more about the history of her parents and what really happened to Rowan’s father as the book went on.

I didn’t really like either Rowan or Sam at times, I have to say. It was good to see that both of them were flawed, but I found Sam kind of abusive at times and Rowan came across as quite a weak character. I think I would have liked the book more if it had had less romance in it.

I did think there were times this book dragged a bit; and while I did really like Valentine as a character, I really couldn’t have said the same for the rest of the people in her town. The more I read, the more it seemed like everyone there had an ulterior motive.

I would have liked to see more of the secondary characters who weren’t central to the storyline. At times, I found myself confused about which characters were which, as many of them didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of their interactions with Valentine.

I did think it was good to learn more about the secrets of the different townspeople as the book went on and I couldn’t help but feel really bad for Birdy. She was definitely one of those characters I felt had a really raw deal through the book.

I did think the author did a good job of keeping to the kinds of thoughts and opinions people had at that time, even though I found myself getting irritated on behalf of the people who had a raw deal due to the way society saw them.

I did find some of the thoughts and feelings a bit hard to get behind and it seemed there were very few truly ‘good’ characters in this book. I liked seeing that both Rowan and Valentine had dreams and goals outside of each other, but I would have liked to see more of that when it came to other characters too, like Sam.

I did enjoy reading this book and it was a quick and easy read. In the future, I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author.

About The Author

Bailey Black grew up near the beach in southern California in a large, quirky family with no television or junk food, but an abundance of books and art supplies. She’s happiest when she’s creating things, whether it’s with words, fabric, or digging in the garden. She makes an amazing chocolate cherry cake—frequently. She and her husband have four children and live in Orange County, California

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Sparked

by Helena Echlin & Malena Watrous

Publisher: Geek & Sundry

Release Date: October 3rd 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Laurel Goodwin wakes up to find her older sister Ivy missing from their Airstream trailer in the Oregon redwoods. A recurring nightmare convinces her that Ivy was abducted, but no one takes her dream seriously, including her mom. Laurel, a loner, has to learn to ask for help, and Jasper Blake, a mysterious new kid who shares her love of old books, quickly becomes her ally. Together they find their quiet town holds a deep secret and is the epicenter of a dark prophecy.

Laurel soon learns that her worst enemies, mean girls Peyton Andersen and Mei Rosen, are developing powers that she needs to find and save Ivy. With time running out, Laurel realizes that power doesn’t always take the form that you expect. And once she learns to look beyond her snap judgments, she develops an unexpected gift of her own.

My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I thought this book was a really intriguing idea. While young adult books can sometimes have characters who are ridiculously overpowered and are vapid and one-dimensional, I found Laurel to be a really interesting character. It was easy to read the book and recognise some of my own qualities in her.

I didn’t really like the switching between first and third person, as I find it quite hard to switch between those when I’m reading. It did, however, give me a chance to see more depth to Mei and Peyton, rather than them both just being seen as stereotypical mean girls through Laurel’s eyes.

I liked the fact that, even though there was some romance in this book, Laurel didn’t focus just on her feelings for Jasper; and even though Ivy wasn’t shown that much through the book, she was such a prominent character, her presence was quite vividly felt.

I did feel that there was a bit of information dumping when it came to the introductions of each character and a few of the minor characters, I felt were quite undeveloped, especially when it came to Skye – who didn’t really seem to have much of a life outside of her appearances in the plot.

Another aspect I felt came across quite well was the relationship between Laurel and her mother. Even if her mother didn’t believe or understand what was really going on, it was good to see the problems and the way they tried to work on things, even if it didn’t work out perfectly.

Another aspect I liked was the fact that the powers related to the personalities of the characters. It was good that there were opportunities to figure out some of the things going on, but I did kind of feel that some of the dots being connected either came together too easily…or the answers weren’t put together as well as they could have been.

All in all, I did like the book, but I would have preferred there to be less switching between different POVs. I would like to read the next book/s in the series at some point in the future.

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About The Author

We’ve both published solo novels and had no idea how co-writing would work out, but we pounded out the first draft in a white-hot frenzy of inspiration we called “the Vortex.” One of us would write a scene and send it to the other with a note: “My apartment is a pigsty and I haven’t eaten all day. #inthevortex.” We wrote the book we wanted to read as teenagers: a supernatural thriller with healthy doses of horror and humor. Oh, and of course there’s romance. You have to wait a long time for the only kiss in the book, but isn’t that the case with all the best kisses in books?

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My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I originally read the blurb of this book, I was immediately intrigued by the concept. The second person perspective did take a bit of getting used to, though. There were a couple of times I found myself almost linking to Buffy, but in a way, I felt that she was more of a one-dimensional character. Even the things she liked weren’t really expanded upon. The possible exception was her playing the video games, but that happened very rarely.

I did find the supporting characters to be more interesting, especially Sephora. I thought it was interesting to see how her friends had problems that Buffy was unaware of. I did like Tristan as a character, but I couldn’t really see what Buffy saw in him. In a way, it was like she’d built him up in her mind, and therefore in my mind as a reader… and he just didn’t live up to that expectation.

I did like seeing the interactions between Buffy and the ‘text parser’, but although some of the footnotes amused me, I found it a bit harder to get the jokes, as I kept missing where the footnotes were in the narration.

I did also find it hard to differentiate between Buffy’s roommates. There wasn’t a whole lot of depth to them, as all they seemed to be doing was partying and I didn’t even know what they were studying. And I would have liked some more details about Jeremy and Alice, as the book kept providing conflicting views of what was really going on between them.

I felt there were times the book didn’t really follow its own logic. For instance, there were saves and resets that it wasn’t clear if it was in Buffy’s head, or if reality was just resestting. And I was a bit disappointed to see that the scenes in the psychiatric hospital didn’t really seem to go anywhere. I wasn’t sure at what point they were supposed to be.

Up until the ending, I’d thought this book was one genre in particular and I found the ending to be somewhat more confusing. I did find this book easy and quick to read, though, and the idea was a really unique one. I wouldn’t read it again, but it was entertaining to read the first time.

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Wintersong

by S. Jae-Jones

Publisher: Thomas Dunne

Release Date: February 7th 2017

My Review

S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the author of Wintersong, forthcoming from Thomas Dunne in February 2017.

 

Title: Snowed 

By: Maria Alexander

Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press

Release Date: November 2, 2016

Genre:  Young Adult, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror

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Synopsis:

Charity Jones is a 16-year-old engineering genius who’s much-bullied for being biracial and a skeptic at her conservative school in Oak County, California. Everything changes when Charity’s social worker mother brings home a sweet teen runaway named Aidan to foster for the holidays. Matched in every way, Charity and Aidan quickly fall in love. But it seems he’s not the only new arrival: Charity soon finds the brutally slain corpse of her worst bully and she gets hard, haunting evidence that the killer is stalking Oak County. As she and her Skeptics Club investigate this death and others, they find at every turn the mystery only grows darker and more deadly. One thing’s for certain: there’s a bloody battle coming this holiday season that will change their lives – and human history – forever.Will they be ready?

My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I wavered a bit on how many stars to give this book. In the end, I decided on four, primarily because the paranormal aspects of this book were actually really unique. And while I felt the relationship between Charity and Aidan moved far too quick, it made a nice change from all the vampire, werewolves and fay paranormal romances.

I did find it somewhat hard to differentiate between some of the characters at the start of the book. It seemed like there was a very big mob mentality… and that all of the religious characters in the school were grouped together as hypocritical bullies.

I did think it was good to see that Charity was fighting against the mould. I really didn’t like Charles. At all. The best types of villains are those who have depth to them; who have good in them along with bad. Charles just seemed like a completely awful person and it got to the point I didn’t actually care about what was happening to him.

I found it difficult to understand Aidan at times. While it was interesting to learn about him as Charity did, I felt there was a bit too much information dumping when it came to the relationships he was forming with the other characters. I didn’t get to see much of him interacting with Charity’s parents, for instance, even though he apparently really liked her father.

I really didn’t like Keiko. While I could understand how she felt at first, as the book went on, I just found myself growing more and more irritated with her. I liked Judy and Leo; Michael, too, although I didn’t feel they were as well-developed as the other characters.

I did feel that this book was a really short one and there was too much telling rather than showing going on. I couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for the monster, but I would have liked a bit more detail about how Charity put everything together.

There was more action towards the end of the book, but there were very few characters who had a lot of depth to them. I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future, though.

 

 

Maria Alexander is a produced screenwriter, games writer, virtual world designer, award-winning copywriter, fiction writer, and poet. Her stories have appeared in publications such as Chiaroscuro Magazine, Gothic.net and Paradox, as well as acclaimed anthologies with legends such as Clive Barker, David Morrell and Heather Graham.

Her debut novel, Mr. Wicker, won the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Publisher’s Weekly called is, “(a) splendid, bittersweet ode to the ghosts of childhood,” while Library Journal hailed it in a Starred Review as “a horror novel to anticipate.” She’s represented by Alex Slater at Trident Media Group.

When she’s not wielding a katana at her local shinkendo dojo, she’s being outrageously spooky or writing Doctor Who filk. She lives in Los Angeles with two ungrateful cats, a pervasive sense of doom, and a purse called Trog.

                           Website        Twitter

 

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Aftermath

by Clara Kensie

Publisher: Merit Press

Release: November 15th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis:
Charlotte survived four long years as a prisoner in the attic of her kidnapper, sustained only by dreams of her loving family. The chance to escape suddenly arrives, and Charlotte fights her way to freedom. But an answered prayer turns into heartbreak. Losing her has torn her family apart. Her parents have divorced: Dad’s a glutton for fame, Mom drinks too much, and Charlotte’s twin is a zoned-out druggie. Her father wants Charlotte write a book and go on a lecture tour, and her mom wants to keep her safe, a virtual prisoner in her own home. But Charlotte is obsessed with the other girl who was kidnapped, who never got a second chance at life–the girl who nobody but Charlotte believes really existed. Until she can get justice for that girl, even if she has to do it on her own, whatever the danger, Charlotte will never be free.

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About The Author

Winner of the 2015 RITA Award for Best First Book

Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.

Today, Clara is the author of dark fiction for young adults. Her debut, the super-romantic thriller RUN TO YOU BOOK ONE: DECEPTION SO DEADLY is the winner of the prestigious RITA Award for Best First Book.

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My Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book to be quite an entertaining, enjoyable read, even though I felt like I was missing a lot of background and there were times I forgot what the setting was supposed to be, due to too modern language being used at times.

I really liked seeing the friendship between Ada and Corinne. While the very first scene was a bit confusing at first, it quickly made sense and I liked seeing how resourceful the two girls were.

While I did think there was a bit too much in the way of information dumping, I did like learning about Ada’s and Corinne’s pasts and their relationships with their respective families. I also really liked seeing the different kinds of abilities the hemopaths had… and it was difficult to see them mistreated by society. I would, however, have liked to see more of the interactions between Corinne and her family… especially considering there were references made to tensions between her and her brother that weren’t actually shown.

I found Saint an interesting character, but I was disappointed not to see more conflicts generated by his relationship with James, considering the time period they were in. I did find both Madeleine and James to have more depth to them than it first appeared, though, and it was good to see that they really cared about each other, despite the fact their marriage was more one of convenience.

I did like both Charlie and Gabriel as characters, though I didn’t really like the romance between Charlie and Ada, as it wasn’t clear how things started between them or why they were attracted to each other. I felt Gabriel and Corinne were better written when it came to the romance, but even with them, I felt it took over the story quite a bit.

I would have liked to see more detail about the secondary characters, in particular Eva and her husband… and also the politics between the different clubs. This was an interesting world… but one which I felt needed more background shown. Even so, I would like to see more of the characters and world in the future.

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