Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Living Dead Girl Elizabeth Scott
Published: September 8th 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Goodreads Summary

The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are. This is Alice. She was taken by Ray five years ago. She thought she knew how her story would end. She was wrong.

Is it possible to write a poetic book about kidnapping and imprisonment of a child? I 

guess the answer here is yes. This is a really hauntingly, disturbingly beautiful short 

novel which features a horrific crime. 

“I have been smashed and put back together so many times nothing works right. 

Nothing is where it should be, heavy thumping in my shoulder where my heart now 

beats.”

15 year old “Alice” was lured into Ray’s car when she was ten, taken from a field trip into 

Shady Pines where she was conditioned to become another person. The horrific physical 

and emotional abuse was flowing through the book without having to be spelt out and 

shouted at the reader. Although the pain that is endured by the character isn’t explicit 

It’s still a hard story to read. The fact that there have been and are children that are 

being put through this right now is horrifying and this book shows you a slight insight. 

To say that Elizabeth Scott managed to capture the horror of the characters capture in a 

rather beautiful way is an understatement. I didn’t think that a story could leave scars, 

but this book certainly has. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for weeks. 

“She became a story, one I have mostly forgotten. One I can't end because she died a 

long time ago.”

Scott manages to draw you in with her unique writing, the fact that the chapters start 

with “Once Upon a Time” when reciting what happened to “Alice” when she was 

younger is unforgettable, it plays on the fact that it’s telling a atrocious thing that 

happened to a young girl while starting it off with a popular fairy tale opening. 

I wasn’t expecting this book to cover all the basics, the characters back stories were 

detailed in the small amount of words that this book required. For a second I felt sorry 

for the monster and for what Ray was doing, knowing his loveless upbringing and the 

abuse that he received from his mother was enough for me to know why he became the 

monster he is, it was enough for me to sympathise with him. I didn’t even think that I 

would have been able to image the horror and the experience of someone that was so 

much abused. I didn’t think it was possible for an author to even describe such a thing in 

a book; I felt as if I was right there with Alice throughout her torture, throughout the 

control he had over her. I felt trapped in this character and felt as if I was living her 

story. 


This was labelled as a young adult novel, I know so many bloggers have already 

mentioned the fact that it shouldn’t have but I disagree. This is exactly what mature 

teenagers need to read. Everyone should read this. I am now carrying this story around 

with me everywhere I go.

Review: Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Before I Die Jenny Downham
Published: May 2007
Publisher: Ember
Amazon

Goodreads Summary

For the many readers who love The Fault in Our Stars, this is the story of a girl who is determined to live, love, and to write her own ending before her time is finally up. Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of “normal” life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time runs out.

Miracles don’t happen. Tess is going to die and there’s no way to stop it, the cancer is eating her up. But she can do all the things she wants before her time runs out.

The title basically gives away 80% of the story. Tess makes a list of things she wants to do before she dies; things like losing her virginity, trying drugs, saying yes to everything for the whole day.

I read reviews of this book and how everyone was sad and heartbroken. I expected this to be heart breaking and for me not to want to leave my house for about a week because I couldn’t deal with the story. But this did exactly the opposite. For those of you who are saying this is the saddest book ever, or how heart breaking the book is; yes it is. Yes it’s heart breaking, yes it makes you want to crawl into a hole and give up with life for a bit. But you’re all missing the point. This wasn’t intended to be a sad book that wants to make everyone depressed because Tess didn’t get to continue her life, and yes it’s super unfair that she had cancer since she was 12, and yes it’s sad that she just got a boyfriend who he loves her and she dies. But she didn’t give up. Hell she made a list of things that could possibly shorten her already short life, a list that her dying body could hardly keep up but she still did it. She did those things to make her feel alive for as long as she could and if this story doesn’t inspire you to get off your ass and grab the life by the throat then you’re missing the whole point of this book.

The characters are developed so well in this book I just want to hold them all and cry. Jenny Downham has a serious gift when it comes to creating life like characters. Her best friend Zoey doesn’t take crap even when it comes to Tess’ cancer. I do think that she takes her whole not caring about the illness too far. I wouldn’t treat my bestfriend any differently but I don’t know… I don’t really liked Zoey until the end. Tessa’s dad and brother were just right. I was so sympathetic towards her dad. I just wanted him to be happy and not have a dying daughter and for his wife to not have left him to deal with it all by myself.

The love story. As much as I like Adam and his also somewhat heart breaking family story I kind of wish that the focus wasn’t so much on the love story. Tessa’s life changed when she met her 18 year old new neighbour and they fell in love. I feel like her list and her life before she met Adam should have been more of a highlight of the novel. Although I did like Adam; he didn’t get scared and he stayed by Tessa’s side the whole time he took so much crap from her. She acted out of order a lot and I don’t think he had a backbone. He should have learned to stand up for himself. Even if it was to his dying girlfriend. 

Review: Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Published: April 1st 2014
Publisher: Farrar

Goodreads Summary

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven? It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly start to discover her own path.

I was so excited to read this book, it looked really promising and I wasn’t at all disappointed with this one!

Laurel’s sister May dies young and when her English teacher assigns her class to write a letter to a dead person Laurel choses Kurt Cobain as he died young just like her sister May. Quickly her notebook is filled with letters to other dead celebrities which she fails to turn in for her assignment, instead she begins to find herself in the words she writes to those that aren’t with us anymore.

“I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear you. I hear all of you. We were here. Our lives matter.” 

The letters started out as a somewhat diary, Laurel talked about her everyday life, missing her sister and starting high school. Then the letters turn into confessions about what happened to Laurel when she was little, she wrote about the things that she couldn’t speak about to other people. Things that she believes caused her sister’s death.

It’s an amazingly beautiful novella and I was certain before even starting this book that I would love it. Now after finishing it and after writing this review I’m starting to doubt this. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful piece and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single word written by Ava in this book but I can’t help but compare this to The Perks of Being A Wallflower. I don’t think I would have noticed the similarities so much if I haven’t just finished TPOBAW before I started this but there are so many of these similarities I felt as if I was reading the same story just in a females point of view.

Laurel starts in a new high school where she doesn’t know anybody. Where nobody knows her name or what happened to her sister. (pointing out the obvious same thing with Charlie in TPOBAW) it must be hard, I mean I know how hard it is stating a brand new school and not knowing anybody and just feeling so alone!

The letters that Laurel writes, they capture the person that she’s writing about. I learned some things that I didn’t even know about them. In some of these letters I actually got goose bumps while reading; Ava Dellaira managed to bring the people back from the dead even in that short amount of time. But yet again I can’t help it but mention that is exactly what Charlie did; I mean the letters to his friend. This idea to write letters to dead people was clearly a somewhat original idea and I loved it.

“I feel like I am drowning in memories. Everything is too bright.” 

What happened to Laurel when she was younger, when her sister would take her to the cinema and leave her with a guy so she could sneak off with her boyfriend. This is what got me rather mad. At this point I hated May, I hated her character so much! How could she not see what would happen? How could she not even for a second think that something would happen to her younger vulnerable sister in the hands of a strange guy! It’s so unbelievably stupid! I don’t think this revelation caused May’s death, I don’t think that Laurel finally telling her bigger sister what happened in a strangers car when she would leave her there caused her to fall. But I have to bring this back to TPOBAW… Charlie was also molested, his auntie took advantage of him and he never told anyone, he as well managed to get his head around it in his letters. Just like Laurel.

I don’t think I’m the only one that found these similarities to Stephen Chbosky’s novel. They are both rather similar and I read in Ava’s acknowledgments that they are close friends so I’m puzzled as to why both books are alike. I love both Love Letters To The Dead and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower equally but I have to say that I did connect with Laurel’s story more; and I do think that it’s because she’s a female. 

Review: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Published: February 1999
Publisher: MTV books and pockets

Goodreads Summary

"I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day...or wondering who did the heart breaking and wondering why." Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

This is a rather hard book to review. I was putting this review off for as long as I possibly could as I just can’t seem to form any words to describe how much I loved this book!

Having not watched the movie I decided to tackle this book down after I found a cheap copy in my local store! The book addresses just within the first few pages; suicide, domestic abuse, homosexuality, molestation, rape, abortion, drug use and mental illness. Which is basically a jackpot for me as I’ve been trying to find books that more or less address these issues but are also YA.

Charlie is a freshman who is shy, nervous and not at all popular. Not only that but his bestfriend, his only friend committed suicide. Charlie decides to face the world in a different way, he decides to write letters about his many experiences as a social wallflower to his friend. The way the book was written is original and astonishing. Letters are always somewhat personal and private, you can list all of your fears on a piece of paper and either send it to someone or not. Because Stephen decided to write Charlie’s story this way it’s so much easier to connect with him. To know exactly what he is feeling.

I feel as if this book tackled everything along with the pressure and what it feels like to be a teenager in a new school with no friends.

I can’t praise this book enough, no wonder so many people fall in love with it. 

Review: She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedwick My

She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedwick
Date Published: 3rd October 2013
Publisher: Orion Children's
Amazon    Book Depository 

Goodreads summary

Laureth Peak's father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers--a skill at which she's remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness. She Is Not Invisible is an intricate puzzle of a novel that sheds a light on the delicate ties that bind people to each other.

I was actually hoping to hate this book, or at least be so bored of it that I wouldn’t get past 50 pages but somehow I managed to hit around 100 pages before I realised that it was late and that the book hasn’t bored me to death. I randomly picked this book out of the mass amount of Young Adult books in my local library mostly for the pretty cover and the interesting title. I admit that. So after having the book for about two weeks and my return date being right around the corner I decided to at least give this book a try.

I was so suprised. I mean the writing and the main characters just. Wow. I wasn’t expecting the main character to be blind, and I wasn’t expecting the writing to portray that in such a way. I guess I would have expected the author to make it very clear from the very beginning about the lack of eyesight that Laurenth has but there were only hints I guess is the right word. It took me a while to notice that the author has not actually described what people look like, the colours that were there or anything like it. I guess I was just blind to that (ha… sorry) The amazing thing about this book is how thoughtfully it has been written. All the other senses are heighted and written; like what Laurenth was feeling or hearing at times.

The story follows a 16 year old blind girl and her little brother on a quest to find their father who seems to be missing. Having travelled from England to New York to follow clues that might not actually be there and having to deal with not being able to take care of everything herself the journey is really unpredictable. There was so much that could have gone wrong and nearly did go wrong and I just still can’t get over the writing.

This book was so cleverly written that I’m still in somewhat shock afterwards. By the last page I was mesmerised by the story and how much it meant to me. I wasn’t expecting it to leave any deep feelings or make me sit in my room for a while and think about what I’ve just read.

Marcus is such an underrated writer; I wish that more people would realise how amazing his work is and that his words  are remarkable.

Review: Make You Mine by Macy Beckett

Make You Mine by Macy Beckett
Series: Dumont Bachelors #1
Date Published: May 6th 2014
Publisher: HeadlineEternal
Amazon Book Depository 

Goodreads Summary 

For ninety-nine years, every man in the Dumont family has remained a perpetual bachelor. Residents of Cedar Bayou, Louisiana, whisper about a voodoo hex cast upon the family, sabotaging each man’s chance at marriage. In truth, the Dumont men have their own player personalities to blame, and Marc is no exception. As captain of his family’s riverboat, he’s broken hearts up and down the Mississippi. That is, until his high school crush strolls onboard... Allie Mauvais rocks the boat when she fills in as pastry chef. She hasn’t seen Marc since senior year, when rumors flew that her great-great-grandmother was the one who cursed the Dumonts. After two weeks on the water, neither can deny the attraction that still burns between them. But to truly reach Marc’s heart, Allie must show him that the hex isn’t real, and it’ll take more than her mouthwatering sweets to prove it. Will Allie’s love be enough to finally make Marc hers?

I was very lucky to receive a copy of this from Headline for an honest review.

For 90 years the Dumont men have been afraid of commitment, always having flings and never settling down. All because of one man and one voodoo hex cast on their whole family. Until they break it.

Allie Mauvais the great-great granddaughter of the famous voodoo witch who put the curse on the Dumont men is in love with no one other than Marc who’s in fact one of the men bearing this hex.

I would have most likely hated this book with a passion if it wasn’t for the hex and the whole voodoo deal in this book. But believe me I wasn’t so thrilled about it. I was looking for a fun chick lit to read and I found it. Although the main story of this book is as original as using a pick up line to talk to girls. But I kind of wanted something  like this.

The whole girl meets boy (or in this book they already knew each other and run into each other after a few years) either girl or boy does the chase, they end up together in a night or a week of passion, break up, realise that they are made for each other and end up together forever riding into the sunset.

I did say I wanted something like this but I did hope that there was more to the story and there was. The voodoo and the hex on the men. It was interesting to say the least. But boring. And stupid. I thought it was rather stupid that a whole town believed in this! I still can’t wrap my head around how all of these people believed that the Dumont men were hexed and couldn’t commit and not because they loved their bachelors lives. At least it made the book somewhat original.

There were some things that I loved! For example the strong family bonds in this book. The relationship between Allie and her sister was amazing. It was so refreshing to read a book that’s got this strong family feel to it. Allie is a great character! She’s a strong female role that goes after what she wants and has a really big heart! But she uses the word “baby” a lot… So… She isn’t that great.

This book is a fast read and it’s really pleasant. I enjoyed myself reading this book but I didn’t love it. The ending took me about three days to finish because I couldn’t stomach it. It was just too over the top. 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Series: If I Stay #1

Release Date: May 13th 2010
Publisher: Black Swan
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads Summary 

Life can change in an instant. A cold February morning . . . a snowy road . . . and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she'll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all. Gripping, heartrending and ultimately life-affirming, If I Stay will make you appreciate all that you have, all that you've lost - and all that might be.

17 year old Mia has enough choices in her life; college, music, boyfriend. While on the way to visit Mia’s grandparents her family car is hit by another driver and all her choices are put on hold while the only one matters. Whether or not she stays.  

I don’t really think I have an opinion on this book. The book was neither great nor terrible. It was just okay.

I read that the book was heart breaking, and beautifully powerful. I guess I can see where everyone was getting that from. I mean death was involved therefore a lot of depressing emotions were stirred up. But not for me. I’m a sucker for depressing books and I was really hoping that I would be moved by this book! Unfortunately I wasn’t moved at all, there were times when I thought that I might tear up but I didn’t. It’s not because my heart is made of ice or anything like that I just didn’t find this book as moving as a lot of other people did.

The idea for it is great, it made me realise how silly some of my choices where when it came down to the big choice in Mia’s life. One day she’s planning her future and the next she’s watching her family die and her lifeless body be brought into hospital as all her loved ones wait to find out whether or not she’ll make it.

I wasn’t at all surprised what happened in the book. For me everything was clear from the beginning I just didn’t know her family was going to die. I thought that this teenage girl who is a quiet geeky girl who likes classical music will be in a car accident one day and will then need to figure out if she stays or goes. I already figured out that there will be some form of out of body experience. I was actually shocked by her family’s death however and I was sad, I mean they seemed like a great bunch and it wasn’t fair they had to die. But apart from this I pretty much knew what was going to happen. The whole love story between her and Adam, the ending of the book was predictable as crap (mostly because I know there is a second book).

The characters in this book were good. I loved Mia although I didn’t click with her much. Her brother is super cute and I wanted to squeeze him, her parents are seriously amazing. Might be the fact that I like punk rock and not classical music. I didn’t feel like I had a connection with any of these characters which was a real shame.

The book itself was a really pleasant read, the way it was laid out was great. The flash backs to when Mia was a child and remembering all the great memories was super effective. I think that’s the part that I love the most about this book.

I wish that I got to enjoy this book more and that it wasn’t just an okay book for me. I probably won’t read the sequel but I hopefully will reread it again. 

ARC Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
Release Date: March 18th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you? When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission. Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

First thoughts after I finished this book? Finally! This book was dragging for so long I was losing my patience with it.

Alice and Harvey have been friends since they were children but going to high school they drifted apart with different social statuses, not really talking to each other until Alice is diagnosed with leukaemia. For a year and a half, Harvey has been there by her side during the good and the bad days falling more and more in love with her as her life clock begins to run out. But Alice goes into remission; becoming the miracle patient who will live. Now that she gets to live her, relationship with Harvey ends.

See this annoys me! The fact that she could only love Harvey while she was dying and knew she wouldn’t be with him forever. How stupid is that? I get the fact that she might be scared of commitment but that doesn’t mean you have to break his poor heart after he finds out the love of his life, the only girl he has ever loved will live but doesn’t want to be with him. Ugh. Not only this but Alice is a complete bitch to everyone but yet she gets this amazing guy to fall for her, and she does get what’s coming to her. 

“I knew how to die. It was the living that scared me.”

I loved how the book was arranged. The “Now” and “Then”. Alice was completely different while she was going through chemo and was dying. Later on she turned into a shallow girl who decided she was too good for Harvey and didn’t want him anymore which I guess was how she was before her diagnosis. I guess it was good to see both sides of her but I was hoping this book was going to be about how she realises she gets a second chance at life and decides to change her life around and become a better person.

“That girl in the case was dead. And that girl in the case was me”

I think I liked Alice about 10 percent of the book and that was at the very start and while she was taking her revenge on her ex-boyfriend Luke and the girl he was cheating with. Harvey is a sweet naïve guy and I couldn’t decide whether or not I liked him. At times he was the sweetest guy that was caring for a girl that was slowly dying and at other times he was a total fool for letting her walk all over him!

This book wasn’t anything I expected. I was hoping this would make me cry, or laugh or even feel something but there was nothing. This book was below ordinary. It was annoying. Even the very end annoyed me. I hate cliff hangers!

All quotes have been taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change

ARC Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: April 15th 2014
Publisher: Headline (UK)
Source: Netgalley
Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A love story that started off in an elevator, under the stars on a roof and got mapped out over America and Europe with postcards saying Wish You Were Here.

“He was just a boy on a roof. She was just a girl in an elevator.”

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building during a citywide blackout. After being rescued they spent a night together in the agonising heat and darkened streets looking up at the stars above Manhattan. However as the lights come back so does the reality and soon Lucy moves over to Edinburgh and Owen and his father take the road and travel across the country. Not seeing each other for months with hardly any contact but a few postcards and emails.

What I love the most about this book is that this isn’t one of those romance orientated teen books where everything is perfect and happy. Lucy and Owen have the space to grow apart and breath. They were able to grow into their own characters and be able to tell their own story rather than being a couple in a book that’s always together joined at the hip. I didn’t particularly understand why Owen and Lucy had to both be so sociably awkward; I loved Lucy and how much of a bookworm she was and I liked Owen liking his own space after his mother dying but it felt like they were massive loners and just didn’t want to talk to anyone which is just silly.

“Nine months ago, he’d met a girl in an elevator and she’s been on his mind ever since.”

Jennifer managed to create a relationship between two people who were separated by thousands of miles and yet still managed to think about each other wherever they went; proving that distance is only mapped out and can be overcome. This book was really sweet and cute but it was in such great doses that I didn’t feel gross after reading it.

The writing is amazing! I can’t even express how much I love Jennifer’s writing. This isn’t one of those soppy boring teenage stories.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Jennifer E. Smith so I wasn’t too sure what to expect but I saw that John Green was a fan of this particular book so I was pretty much sold.

Note that these quotes have been taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change

ARC Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer
Release Date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Edelweiss
Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

The Secrets of Lily Graves can easily be summed up as addicting. Can I pack my bags and go now? Drat. I have to say more? But I don’t know what to sayyyyy because really, while The Secrets of Lily Graves was fun, it wasn’t anything special. It was a quick read and I finished it in around 2 hours and the ending confused me a little but other than that, I never really thought about it as soon as I put it down.

The author makes use of common tropes but she does it in a way that doesn’t grate on you, so while there are the popular mean girls and there the girls who are bullied by these ‘mean girls’ they also see each other as humans. When Erin dies, the main character is shocked; this person wasn’t nice to her, at all, but a young life was lost and Lily understands the significance of that.

Lily as a character was really fun. She is original, she likes weird things and she is proud of it. She doesn’t want to be normal and it doesn’t matter how much crap people give her, she aien’t gonna change. Hell she dressed up as a normal human being for Halloween because that’s the scariest thing she can think of. I mean doesn’t that make you like her already?

The love interest, Matt is definitely one of the better love interests I've come across. The author takes the jock trope and puts a spin on it. He’s a jock, he probably isn’t all that smart, but he isn’t a complete bully. When one of his friends was bullying a girl for her weight, he started making fun of his friend in a friendly manner to take the attention off of the girl. This also happened before Lily registered on his radar so he gets the brownie point. He isn’t an asshole either! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? He doesn’t pull the passive aggressive shit. He does have depth to him but it doesn’t turn him into a character you pity but instead one you cannot help but like because it makes him more human than his status as a jock does.

I love her family too. They are an odd bunch with her mom being over protective, her aunt being really cool and her grandma just being silly. They don’t play a major role when it comes to the actual happenings but I like that the author attempted at making them seem somewhat normal seeing that they live in a funeral home (which by the way is kind of awesome).

The romance is adorable. It’s almost non-existent but that’s because there is a mystery to solve. These two are not a case of insta-attraction or even opposites attract. They became friends over the course of the summer when Matt asked her to tutor him for a history re-take because he failed the first time around. When Erin is found dead, he is the number one suspect and Lily doesn’t doubt him for a second because she knows him well enough to know he wouldn’t kill her. He hardly had the guts to break up with her, why would he kill her? So over the course of the book, little by little, they become even closer. Don’t go into this book looking for a lot of romance, go into this book expecting a nicely developed romance that is adorable.

The plot is where things get interesting. You have a bunch of amateur sleuths trying to figure out the truth behind how Erin was murdered. The primary suspects are Matt and Lily because everyone assumes they were an ‘item’ and so one of them might have ‘offed’ Erin so the two could be together. Lily, who aspires to join the family business, knows that only a professional could have done it because of the accuracy of the cuts on her wrists. The problem is that no one is telling the whole truth, everyone is hiding something and it’s up to Lily to figure out who murdered her since the police is too busy looking in the wrong direction. Slowly, Lily starts unravelling the mystery.

It’s the twist at the end that kind of throws you off; it’s not so much as unpredictable as it is just… awkward. The author puts hints throughout the whole book so it doesn’t come out of nowhere but at the same time, I am not completely sure how I feel about it. Even after thinking it through I am not sure whether I am annoyed or whether it makes sense. I’ll figure it out one day when my mind wanders to this book again.

All in all, if you’re looking for a quick comfort read, grab this and devour it like I did. It’s fun, it’s got good characters, no slut shamming and the romance was cute. The mystery was pretty fun too and really, what else can you want from a comfort read?

Review: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Series: Beautiful #1
Release Date: January 1st 2011
Publisher: Atria Books
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand. Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

I read this book last year but I remember being absolutely in love with the book. Now thinking back on it I’m not too sure. There were bits and pieces I wasn’t too keen on from the start; like Travis’ whole “I can beat anyone up” attitude and the whole bad boy look; but he was really flirty and charming and he somehow grew on me.

Good girl Abby Abernathy doesn’t drink or swear and she always has the appropriate amount of cardigans in her wardrobe. Just the average goody too shoes. Then there’s Travis, muscles, tattoos and just a bad boy sex appeal about his whole being. When the two collide betting against each other about Travis winning a fight they have no idea that their world will be turned upside down. (Okay maybe not upside down) If Abby wins Travis has to stay abstinent for a whole month, but if Travis wins Abby must move in with him for the same amount of time. Easy enough, except they fall in love.

Seems like a very original story line right? Not exactly. The whole good girl, bad boy routine has been done by everyone. But we still love it. The book actually reminds me a lot of Wait for You by J. Lynn, and that’s what’s slowly putting me off this book right while writing the review.

While I was reading the book I was mesmerised with the characters! I could somewhat connect with Abby, and Travis was a walking God for me with the bod covered with tattoos (the muscles not so much) the idea of the characters is about as original as hipsters right now. However Jamie McGuire was able to put a spin on these two love birds. They had their own personality, and the characters grew to life within the book.

The idea was more original than the whole good girl bad boy routine. The fact that Travis who was a player had to stay abstinent for a whole month was entertaining. I actually wanted to see this happen. But then I would not have witnessed the relationship between Abby and Travis blossom while they were playing house. Them living together was actually quite fun to read about, it made me want to find my own Travis and move in with him.

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Erm no. The book wasn’t intense, it was dangerous at one point in the whole book; and addictive is a strong word. The book is great in the now. Looking back on the book it seems almost silly and kind of hard to imagine that I was so in love with it. Just the whole idea and the description of the characters looks boring and bland. WELL it isn’t. The book is great, but you have to read it to believe it.

ARC Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 4th March 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought. Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

I was so lucky to get this book from Netgalley for my review. I was so excited to start this amazing book and oh, boy was I not disappointed.

For Heather, Dodge, Nat and Bishop summer won’t going to be ordinary. It is their turn to take part in the every year game taken by high school graduates to compete for money. It’s their way to make a name for themselves, take revenge and have the money to move out from the dead end boring town called Carp.

I had no clue what kind of books this was. I just knew that there was going to be a game with a lot of teenagers and possible danger. My first thoughts were Hunger Games. I thought this was going to be another dystopian book with characters set in a different time, with a weird world, with a rundown government, ect. I was so happy to find out that this book was about typical teenagers set in this century doing typical teenage things.

The idea of the game Panic is well to raise as much panic as possible. Running across a busy street blindfolded, to burning down a haunted house while you’re in there. The idea for this game is quite stupid but brilliant at the same time! I could not figure out why a town would even come up with a game like this, it seems so unrealistic. But it was described beautifully.

Each of the characters has their own story, which I absolutely love. Heather who wants to win the games badly so that her and her little sister Lily can finally move away from the town and start again. Doge who wants to take revenge for this sister’s accident that happened in the game before. Nat who was completely different from the rest of the characters and wanted to become a model and Bishop who wasn’t taking part in the game but was still there for his best friends. All the characters were developed so well they had their own personalities and quirks.

I’ve read one book before by Lauren Oliver and I wasn’t so impressed. Her writing didn’t impress me in Before I Fall but this book is so much different! This book was written in third person and what many authors forget to write about are the feelings of the characters and what they are thinking. Lauren however did not forget! You get the entire picture of the whole story along with emotions.

I cannot praise this book enough! There is action, some romance but it’s not focused on that, friendship, family matters, and a lot of emotions. Seriously. Go and preorder this book right now!