Review: The Dark Between

The Dark Between
by Sonia Gensler

Book Description: 

At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

Review:
I loved the atmosphere of this book. Set in the early 1900's in England, spiritualism is all the rage. Combined with the development of early sciences, the three teens find themselves caught in a mystery that finds at its heart the question...are there really ghosts or is everything just an illusion of the otherworld? The pseudo-sciences explored were fascinating and the way that Gensler ties everything together totally sucked me in to the story.

While I had my suspicions about who was really involved with what and why, I found myself absolutely captivated watching the characters figure it all out. A great supernatural mystery for historical fans.

Review: The Shadow Girl

The Shadow Girl 
by Jennifer Archer

Book Description:
For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always -- but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret. But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been hiding secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris -- and Lily's own identity.

Review:
When I picked this book up, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this book sucked me in immediately. It reads really easily and Archer builds suspense beautifully, revealing small secrets one by one, building Lily’s discoveries into one culminating life-altering event. Intermingled within the mystery of Lily’s identity are also her conflicting feelings for Wyatt and Ty, as well as her guilt and grief over her father’s death.

As the story concludes and Lily determines where she will go from here, the only detraction is one confrontation that seemed to be looming, but never actually comes to fruition. Aside from that, Lily’s story is a well-done blend of suspense, mystery, and romance. I just can't help but wonder if there might be a sequel down the pike that will explore Lily's future choices? I hope so...

DNF - Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish

by Dave Freer

Book Description:

The smallest thing can change the path of history.

The year is 1976, and the British Empire still spans the globe. Coal drives the world, and the smog of it hangs thick over the canals of London. Clara Calland is on the run. Hunted, along with her scientist mother, by Menshevik spies and Imperial soldiers, they flee Ireland for London. They must escape airships, treachery, and capture. Under flooded London's canals, they join the rebels who live in the dank tunnels there. Tim Barnabas is one of the underpeople, born to the secret town of drowned London, place of anti-imperialist republicans and Irish rebels, part of the Liberty—the people who would see a return to older values and free elections. Seeing no farther than his next meal, Tim has hired on as a submariner on the Cuttlefish, a coal-fired submarine that runs smuggled cargoes beneath the steamship patrols, to the fortress America and beyond. When the Imperial soldiery comes ravening, Clara and her mother are forced to flee aboard the Cuttlefish. Hunted like beasts, the submarine and her crew must undertake a desperate voyage across the world, from the Faeroes to the Caribbean and finally across the Pacific to find safety. But only Clara and Tim Barnabas can steer them past treachery and disaster, to freedom in Westralia. Carried with them—a lost scientific secret that threatens the very heart of Imperial power.

Review:
Very, very occasionally, I pick up a book that just doesn't work for me soooo badly that I can't even try to finish it.  This is one of those cases.  I call these books DNFs, or Did Not Finishs.

I very much loved the idea of this book. I'm very into steampunk and I loved the sound of a very interesting submarine adventure... As I read, though, I had a very hard time with the tone of this book. Within the first few chapters there are some very exciting explosions and escapes, yet they are revealed in such a third person past-tense way that there was no EXCITEMENT. It just fell flat for me. Unfortunately I have so many books that I need to read that I just couldn't make the time to finish this one.

If you think this book sounds cool, though, you should still check it out.  In fact, you can see some other reviewers opinions here:
Shiny Book Review
Justin's Book Blog
Lovey Dovey Books

Review: Confessions of a Murder Suspect

Confessions of a Murder Suspect

by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

 

Book Description:

On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone--maybe not even herself. Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous-and revealing-game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of? 

Review:

Okay, so I'm going to be brutally honest here. I kind of hated this book. All around. Yup.

Although I thought this was a clever premise and I went into reading with sort of high hopes, from about three chapters in I just wanted this book to be done already. Tandy is supposed to be cold and emotionless and yes, that comes across just fine. It made me not connect with her or the other characters at all and then, then... then there were the moments when she obnoxiously addressed the reader directly.

I suppose I was struggling my way through the book, hating the voice, but still persisting until the big reveal. I won't ruin it for any of you that may want to read this book, but I will tell you that I basically ranted to my husband for like 45 minutes about what a cop-out it was. What a waste of time it was for me to read the book only to find out...

So... well, there it is. I didn't like it and I won't be reading the other books in the series. I hope that you Patterson fans out there don't let me influence you, but...

Review: Model Spy



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model Spy

by Shannon Greenland

The Specialists, book one

Book Description:

Teen genius Kelly James is in a lot of hot water. A whiz with computers, she agreed to help her college RA, David, uncover some top-secret information. After all, she doesn’t have many friends and David has always been nice to her. it doesn’t hurt that he’s supercute and irresistible, too. All she has to do is hack into the government’s main computer system. but a few hours later, her whole life changes. she is caught and taken in for questioning, only this isn’t your run-of-the-mill arrest. rather than serve a juvenile detention sentence, she accepts the option to change her name and enlist in a secret government spy agency that trains teen agents to go undercover. As if that wasn’t overwhelming enough, she discovers that David works for this agency as well! And before she even begins to understand what is going on, she’s sent on her first mission as an undercover model. And who better to partner with than David himself!

 

Review:

This was the "fun" book I've been dying to read lately. This book had adventure, romance, and a smart chick who also just happens to be somewhat klutzy...right up my alley, LOL!

I love the concept of a bunch of teen criminals, I mean geniuses, in different fields being recruited to form an elite squad of spies. Kelly, who has gone to college early and is generally beyond super-smart, was a fun character to follow. Sheis not only a whiz in school, but she's funny, loyal, warmhearted, and well...I kinda want to be her! I laughed my way through her adventure, turning the pages as fast as I possibly could!

...and the romance? I immediately hunted down book two in the series after finishing Model Spy because I cannot WAIT to see how the romance develops as the series goes on... *fans self* I want to see what the whole gang gets up to of course, and the spy mission in book two, Down to the Wire, recovering a stolen neurotoxin, sounds exciting, but I am so ready to jump right back into Kelly a.k.a. GiGi's life!!

Anyone on the lookout for a fun, fast-paced read with action, smarts, romance, and more, check out Model Spy. I guarantee you'll enjoy it

Adult Book You Might Enjoy: The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles

by Karen Thompson Walker



Book Description:
“It still amazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.”

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

Review:
This was an interesting and slightly scary book. Not in the same way that an slasher horror film is scary (ie. people's heads being chopped off, etc!) but in a very realistic way. What I mean is that I could actually picture the events of this book happening. Totally and completely. Walker took a really cool post-apocalyptic concept and gave it a very real "life" through her story.

When the earth begins to slow, there are very real and evident consequences. Julia's family can see the days lengthening and her mother, especially, freaks out about what will happen...is this the beginning of the end? Then as the world continues to go on, they, like everyone else try to move on with their lives, but find that every day brings new little, almost unseen consequences of the slowing.

As Julia tries to process what's happening on a larger scale, she finds herself distracted by the things in her own neighborhood. Little slices of life that reflect what readers know is occurring around the globe. Julia's parents' marriage starts to fall apart. The boy she was afraid to talk to suddenly becomes a friend. Her best friend seems to no longer be a part of her life.

In the most realistic way, Walker reminds readers that life is not easy. Things are not just right or wrong, black or white, easy or hard. Every day, you just have to keep trying...keep facing the challenges of the day...keep moving on.

*Very similar in feel to Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It.

Review: Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator

Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator

by Josh Berk

Book Description:

Guy Langman can't be bothered with much. But when his friend Anoop wants Guy to join the forensics club with him in the (possibly misguided) hopes of impressing some girls, Guy thinks why not.

They certainly aren't expecting to find a real dead body on the simulated crime scene they're assigned to collect evidence from. But after some girlish, undignified screaming, the two realize it is indeed a body. Which means they have stumbled across a real, dead murder victim.

Meanwhile, Guy has been looking into the past of his father—a larger-than-life character who recently passed away. He was much older than Guy's mom, and had a whole past Guy never even knew about. Could his father's past and the dead body be linked? Does Guy want to know? He's going to need all his newfound forensics skills to find out . . .

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Review:
What I really like about Josh Berk's writing is that he deals with real life "issues" and still manages to convey how funny everyday life can be... in the midst of a murder mystery and a family dealing with the grief of losing someone, I still found myself snorting as I read about Guy's daily activities.

In fact, I found myself snorting a lot as I read about Guy. I mean, this is a guy who fully admits to be incredibly lazy and loves to luxuriate in bubble baths...unless the Forensic Club barges in, that is! There were a lot of moments where Guy was just being your typical teenager. Playing video games, day dreaming about the girl he's crushing on...and then there were the moments when he was lifting fingerprints and stalking his half-brother in NYC.

Funny, poignant, and with a mystery that though it seemed to be readily apparent what was going on, ended up having some surprising twists!

Review: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

by Jacqueline Kelly

 

Book Description:

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.  

Review:
I have to be fully honest... I tried to read this book about a year and a half ago and I couldn't get past the first two chapters. Something about it just did NOT work. So when I tried picking it up again, I was a little leery. Having learned that I LOVE audio books, I decided to try it that way and it made a marked difference. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't listening to this book, I would have put it down again...

 

...And, it's not that it's a bad book. Not by any means! It has starred reviews from several publications and it even won a Newbury Honor. It just is a little hard to start. This book not only feels like a lazy old western movie, where tumbleweeds should be rolling by (not in a bad way, just setting the tone), but it also has chapters that don't really seem to fit together into a cohesive storyline in the beginning. It takes almost half the book for things to start to be progressing toward any type of a climactic moment.

Though I really ended up liking Calpurnia, her grandfather and the other members of her family very much, I would have to find just the right reader to recommend this book. It is not for an impatient reader and certainly not for anyone who wouldn't embrace the quirks of historical fiction. It is well done, but a very quiet read.

Review: Every Other Day

Every Other Day

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Book Description:

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between . . . She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

Review:

I devoured this book. Gobbled it up unashamedly. There is just something about Barnes writing style that lent itself absolutely beautifully to this intriguing concept. In fact, with memories of a sleepless night... I give this a GOLD STAR review!!

I loved Kali's character. She was mutlicultural and fabulous. She was strong and yet, often bewildered. She was unashamed when she had to kick butt. AWESOMESAUCE. When you find out what she is and how she came to be... very, very cool!

I really have no idea if this book is a standalone or the start of a series, but either way, I'm happy. I loved it all on it's own, and I would HAPPILY read another...and the way it ends...it most definitely could have a very cool sequel.

Love the paranormal? Looking for something a little different now that there's so much paranormal out there? Pick this one up, ASAP!!