Review : Sharing Sam by Katherine Applegate

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

• Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Release Date: March 9, 2004
Pages: 160
Source: Own

The Story:

How can you take the guy your best friend loves . . . when your best friend’s going to die?
Alison Chapman has always believed she’d fall in love hard. And she does—with Sam Cody, a new guy with a gorgeous face and brooding eyes, a guy who’s impossible to resist. When Sam asks her to the Valentine’s Day dance, Alison is elated . . . until she finds out that her best friend, Isabella Cates-Lopez, has fallen for Sam, too . . . until she finds out that Isabella is dying. Now Alison wants Isabella’s last days to be her happiest ever—even if she and Sam have to hide their love. Even if, by sharing Sam, Alison risks losing him forever.

via -- Amazon

Rating: THREE Gold Stars!!!

My Review: One word: HEARTFELT

Sharing Sam is a heartfelt story about true friendship. Love. And the sacrifices made for loved ones.

Opening Line:

Some people said Sam had robbed a Get n' Go in Okeechobee. 

Plot:

I just knew Sharing Sam was going to be heartbreakingly good. Two best friends fall for the same guy. One of the girls is dying cancer. The other best friend gives up boy so her best friend can date him. Boy agrees to the terms but falls in love with sick friend. Talk about a love triangle.

Sharing Sam was a relatively short book and so was the romance but definitely believable. I suppose I would choose short and believable than long and doubtful. The premise was the love-triangle to end-all love-triangles and Applegate wrote it out in a tasteful manner. 

Overall, Sharing Sam is a short and sweet heartfelt story with decent writing. Applegate's character's are believable and the premise is one yo keep readers drawn in until the end.

Meet the Author: 

Katherine Applegate's many books include the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter book series, a picture book entitled The Buffalo Storm, and the award-winning novel, Home of the Brave. With her husband, Michael Grant, she wrote the hugely popular series Animorphs, which has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide.

Katherine was inspired to write The One and Only Ivan after reading about the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, the "Shopping Mall Gorilla." The real Ivan lived alone in a tiny cage for twenty-seven years at a shopping mall before being moved to Zoo Atlanta after a public outcry. He was a beloved celebrity at the zoo, which houses the nation's largest collection of western lowland gorillas, and was well known for his paintings, which he "signed" with a thumb-print.

Katherine lives in California with her husband and two children.

***Check out Katherine Applegate's website for more information about her and the Sharing Sam: HERE Always, Hay

Happy Reading!

Review : Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Walker Childrens 
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Pages: 433
Source: ARC

The Story:

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare form of identical twins--so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away when the girls were nine, can't tell them apart. The sisters are connected by an intense bond that goes way beyond their surfaces and borders on the supernatural: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of stress, too. So when troubled Alice disappears mysteriously one night, good-girl Rachel knows something is wrong-especially when Rachel starts experiencing serious physical traumas, even though nobody has touched her. 

What Rachel can't tell anyone is that she and Alice sometimes switched places, reveling in the possibility of being the "good one" or the "bad one" for a day. And that Rachel . . . is really Alice, continuing to masquerade as her twin. So then, what happened to her sister? Could whoever abducted her sister really have meant to take her, instead? And can she find the real Rachel before it's too late for both of them?

via Amazon

My Review: 

Going into Beautiful Lies I did not know what to expect. I had never read anything like Beautiful Lies before. But I am glad I gave the story a try.

Tag Line:

Alice thought she knew everything about her twin. Until she disappeared.

Opening Line:

It's one of those cool, crisp fall nights that make you feel like the air is ripe with possibility, like anything could happen.

Plot:

In Beautiful Lies, readers see a teen girl, Alice, struggle with solving the strange disappearance of her twin sister. Strange disappearance seems like an oxymoron doesn't it? But not in this case. Believed to be the wild child, no one thinks Rachel is missing except her sister. Why? Because of a phenomena of unexplainable physical traumas Alice cannot find reason for . . . except for the ineluctable hunch they are replicas of ones sported by her missing sister.

Jessica Warman's writing is notable. The suspense and creep factor was in full swing and captured me into the story.  I suspected characters who could be responsible for Rachel's disappearance but I was never 100% certain who the true culprit was. Which is definitely the most important in a story such as Beautiful Lies.

Character Breakdown:

Rachel - When I think back on Rachel's character I imagine being inside her head the entire book. I did not see her in the story, I saw the story through her - if that makes any sense at all. She felt real and the unique perspective made for more gritty story.

Meet the Author:

 Jessica Warman is the author of Breathless, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Where the Truth Lies. The idea for Between came from an incident in her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (he was eventually found, alive).

***Check out Jessica Warman's website for more information about her and the Beautiful Lies: HERE

Happy Reading!

Review : Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: July 21, 2009
Pages: 288
Source: Own

The Story:

From the author of Saving Juliet comes a romantic comedy that is good to the last drop. When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she decides to leave him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down.  Because this adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is really a guardian angel on a break between missions. And he won’t leave until he can reward Katrina’s selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Now if only she could decide what that might be . . . 

via Amazon

Rating: TWO Gold Stars!!

My Review: 

I read Coffeehouse Angel about 6 years ago and from what I remember it was a light, heartwarming read. If you have a book challenge and need something quick to read Coffeehouse Angel is a good option. With that said, I would love to have rated higher but it just did not hit the proverbial spot for me. 

Opening Line:

The first time I saw him, he was lying in the alley behind my grandmother's coffeehouse.

Plot:

The plot of Coffeehouse Angel was not the least bit explosive. Well, at least not explosive enough for me. Katrina tries to figure who she is and what she desire from life -- she matures throughout the book from the shadow of her friends to her own person. Threatened to be closed, Katrina worked 24/7 at her grandmother's old world coffeehouse as it was bowing under the weight of competition against fancy, eco-friendly Java Heaven next door.
A miracle in the form of a "homeless" man walks through the coffeehouse. From the moment Katrina finds Malcolm sleeping behind her grandmother's coffeehouse her life changes in ways she could never have imagined.

Character Breakdown:

Katrina - Katrina is a typical teenage girl. She is likable character dealing with typical teen issues while maintaining a strong sense of what is right.

Malcolm - If two words could sum up Malcolm they are: kind and mysterious. He has an unbelievable secret Katrina has a hard time coming to terms with.

Meet the Author:

Suzanne Selfors lives on an island near Seattle where it rains all the time, which is why she tends to write about cloudy, moss-covered, green places.

She's married, has two kids, and writes full time. 
Her favorite writers are Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, and most especially, Roald Dahl. 

You can visit her at www.suzanneselfors.com.

***Check out Suzanne Selfors' website for more information about her and  the Coffeehouse Angel: HERE

Happy Reading!

Review : Stork by Wendy Delsol

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Candlewick
Release Date: October 12, 2010
Pages: 355
Source: Own

The Story:

Moving from LA to nowhere Minnesota, sixteen-year-old Katla Leblanc expected the local fashion scene to be frozen in time. What she didn’t expect was induction into the Icelandic Stork Society, an ancient order of women charged with a unique mystical duty. Not only is Katla the youngest member, but Hulda, the society’s omen-guided leader, immediately bestows the coveted Second Chair on her — a decision that ruffles a few feathers.

As if that weren’t enough, Katla also has to deal with her parents’ divorce and the social aftermath of a bad date with popular but creepy Wade. Katla, however, isn’t one to sit on her designer-jean-clad behind, and soon she’s assigned the fashion column for the school paper and making new friends.

Things would be looking up if it weren’t for editor in chief Jack. Even though they argue every time they meet, Katla is inexplicably drawn to him. Juggling her home life, school, and Stork duties, will Katla be able to unravel the mystery surrounding Jack? More importantly, will she find a dress in time for Homecoming?

Folktales collide with reality in Wendy Delsol’s debut novel, in which one girl finds herself tail-feathers deep in small-town life.

.--via Barnes & Noble

Rating: THREE Gold Stars!!

My Review: 

This review is going to be a bit sparse since I have read Stork years ago so . . . *cough cough* Without further ado, I did not know what to expect when I started reading Stork. The writing was decent and the premise of the story was unique that I finished reading it. Not to mention, Jack was adorable.

Tag Line:

Family secrets. Lost memories. And the arrival of an ancient magical ability that will reveal everything. 

Opening Line:

One moment I was fine, and the next it felt like an army of fire ants was marching across my head. 

Plot:

As I mentioned above, I thought the premise for Stork was unique. Katla's world changes when her parents divorce then her mother drags her to Minnesota. Being a city girl through-and-through with plans to go to college Paris, Nowhere, Minnesota was not on her Wishlist at all. To really throw a wrench in her plans, Katla is suddenly inducted into a Icelandic Stork Society of woman bestowed with the mystic responsibility of giving babies to woman. A council of human storks.

Reluctant as she may be, Katla tries to adjust to her new life and mystical powers by joining the school paper. There Katla meets Jack who gets on her last nerves . . . that is, until she finds herself strangely drawn to him. And the secret he is hiding.

Character Breakdown:

Katla - Although Katla can be a bit of a priss, she is also confident and does not play the victim. She is not afraid to go after what she wants and does not sit around waiting for someone to come save her.

Meet the Author:

Wendy Delsol was born in Canada to English parents and grew up in suburban Detroit. She has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a graduate degree from California State University, Long Beach.
After a year living and studying in France, Wendy moved to Los Angeles, where she remained for another twenty.
Post college, the rent was paid by working as a group tour coordinator in the travel industry.

Besides writing, her favorite job, ever, was mother to her two boys.

The writing bug bit at age forty. Wendy wrote her first novel and then took a year of writing classes through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program.

When her husband's job took the family to Des Moines, Wendy continued writing novels; she took classes through the University of Iowa Summer Writers' Festival; and she joined a local critique group, SCBWI, and the YA chapter of RWA.

***Check out Wendy Delsol's website for more information about her and the Stork: HERE

Happy Reading!

Review : Matched by Ally Condie

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Speak
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Pages: 416
Source: Own

The Story:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. .

via -- Barnes & Noble

Rating: THREE Gold Stars!!!

My Review: 

Matched is the first dystopian novel I read. Or at least the first I read in adulthood. And it was a brilliant start.

Tag Line:

In the society, officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Opening Line:

Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night? 

Plot:

Matched is a story about 17-year old Cassia who lives in a society controlled by Officials. And when I say controlled I am not exaggerating. The Officials controls everything down to what citizens eat, whom they marry, what jobs they will have and more. A predictable life is an understatement. Cassia seemed to be at terms with what her life would entail . . . until the Match ceremony where her personalized microcard glitches. At first, the microcard told Cassia she is Matched with Xander Carrow, her best friend, and she couldn't be happier. But then insert *glitch* and on the screen a face comes up she recognized. Name of the Face: Ky Markham. And Ky is no ordinary guy, no, he an Aberration who isn't eligible to be Matched. To make matters worse, as the story unfolds Cassia begins to fall in love with Ky and her whole world begins unravelling at the seams . . .

On that note, the premise of Matched is what drew me in. I thought the premise was fantastic. Fantastic for one book. Although I own the two sequels in the trilogy I have not read them because the novelty of the dystopian world and Cassia's romance dilemma will not be as captivating as it was in Matched.

Meet the Author:

Ally Condie (www.allycondie.com) is a former high school English teacher who lives with her husband and three sons outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, running, eating, and listening to her husband play guitar.

***Check out Ally Condie's website for more information about her and the Matched: HERE 

Happy Reading!

Review : Rachel's Deception by Karen Ann Hopkins

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Release Date: May 8, 2015
Pages: 324
Source: Own

The Story:

"I loved joining Rose and Noah during their journey in the Temptation series by Karen Hopkins."-Katie McGarry, acclaimed YA author

Growing up Amish is difficult…but leaving it behind is even harder.

Noah was Amish...Rose wasn't. Being together should have been impossible. But somehow they found a way to make it work. They are finally a family, but their happily-ever-after is still a long off. Will Rose and her friends be able to force real change in the community?

Karen Ann Hopkins returns with a gripping new book in the YA Temptation series. The powerful family saga continues with Rachel's Deception, as events spiral out of control in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview. And Rachel Miller has her own secrets to hide. Noah’s younger sister has been living a double life. That is, until Justin Cameron, Rose's little brother, catches her in the act. Rachel is not the obedient Amish girl that her sister was, and her rebelliousness takes her to a very dangerous world. A world that only her true friends can help her escape from.

As Rachel questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment, Rose discovers what it really means to be shunned. And an evil shadow looms on the horizon, threatening not only Rose, but everyone she holds dear.

via Amazon

Rating: THREE Gold Stars!!!

My Review: 

Honestly, I was disappointed with Rachel's Deception. I absolutely adored first three books of the series. But did not quite capture my attention. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed it, only it did not have the same spark the first books did. I suppose Rose and Noah's story is going to be hard to top - which is no surprise since it was an amazing one. Nevertheless, I will continue to read the series as long as Hopkins releases them.

Tag Line:

Growing up Amish is difficult . . . but leaving it behind is even harder.

Opening Line:

I paused on the staircase to listen once more.

Plot:

Apparently in Rachel's Deception, Rachel -- Noah's younger sister -- is a bit of a wild child. Had no clue in the first three books in the series and appreciated it in this book. Haunted by her older sister's death, Rachel turns to alcohol to ease her grief and to keep the nightmares at bay. The story focused on Rachel's struggle to cope with the dullness of Amish life and dodging the affections of the boy who loved her sister. 

Unfortunately, nothing drastic actually happened with Rachel on the romance side. There was not a romance dilemma -- at least not to the extent I would have preferred. I thought Rose and Noah's story ended with Forever but I was so ecstatic to see them -- especially Rose -- have such a presence in Rachel's Deception. Which help alleviate the sting of Rachel's severely neglected romance dilemma.

Character Breakdown:

Rachel - I enjoyed getting to know Rachel's character. She was a feisty one and it made the story more interesting. Her struggle with trying to cope with her sister's death felt very real. And I am glad because it helped pull me in.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Rachel's Deception:

Rachel: "I certainly didn't want to court a boy who was still in love with my sister. It didn't matter to me that she wasn't around anymore to compete with. I wanted to be the greatest love of a man's heart -- not second best" [page 78]. 

Meet the Author:

You can visit Karen Ann Hopkins at her website: www.karenannhopkins.com. 

Karen Ann Hopkins resides in northern Kentucky with her family on a farm that boasts a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats. Karen's main job is home schooling the kids, but she finds time to give riding lessons, coach a youth equestrian drill team, and of course, write. She was inspired to create her first book, Temptation, by the Amish community she lived in. The experiential knowledge she gained through her interactions with her neighbors drove her to create the story of the star-crossed lovers, Rose and Noah. 

Karen grew up about a mile from Lake Ontario in Upstate New York. She was bitten by the horse bug at the age of five, and after diligently taking riding lessons for several years, was rewarded with her first horse at the age of eleven. The feisty horse's name was Lady, a Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred cross, who became Karen's steadfast companion. Through the years, the constant force in her life was horses. Eventually, she found her place as a riding instructor herself. Before accepting her fate in the barnyard, she worked a short stint as a paralegal, traveled abroad, and guided tourists on horseback riding tours in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. 

Karen is currently working on her Amish mystery series, Serenity's Plain Secrets, along with the YA paranormal/fantasy series, The Wings of War and the continuation of the Temptation series. Karen is also excited to announce the Temptation series has been optioned for TV by Pilgrim Studios.

***Check out Karen Ann Hopkins' website for more information about her and the Rachel's Deception: HERE

Happy Reading!

Review : They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Pages: 352

Source: Own

The Story:

Pretty Little Liars meets Final Destination in this YA psychological thriller that will have readers’ hearts racing right till the very end!
 
Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.
 
All because of the list.
 
Kenzie Summerall can’t imagine how she’s been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.
 
This is the power of the list. If you’re on it, your life changes.
 
If you’re on it this year? Your life ends.

via Barnes & Noble

Rating: THREE Gold Stars!!!

My Review: 

I was so excited to read They All Fall Down! And I am glad I did. Stories about serial killers was never a big taste of mine but after reading downpour, I have been on a serial killer binge.

Tag Line:

Every girl would die to be on the list.

Opening Line:

I runaway from home in a downpour.

Plot:

The premise of They All Fall Down is what caught my attention. A Top 10 Hottie List of girls that start to end up dead. One. By. One. How could I not read the story?

On that note, there was action from the first page. A car accident that nearly kills the protagonist, Kenzie, and a mysterious text message about being fifth on The List that disappears after she reads it.

And the plot thickens!

I also appreciated the underlying plot conflict that made the overall plot more meaty, adding to the story and tie it all together. Kenzie carries the burden of her older brother's death, her parents' separation and her mother's overbearing protectiveness spurs the storyline.

The plot had a good balance of thrills, chills, plot-twists and romance. I enjoyed the writing style. It flowed and didn't bog down. There was no downtime in the story and I think that helped keep me enthralled.

Character Breakdown:

Kenzie Summerall - Kenzie is relatable and real. Actually, I really enjoyed reading her character, getting to know her. She is confident in an understated, smart girl way.

Molly - Kenzie's best friend. She drove me nuts! I thought she was irritating, inconsiderate, pushy and basic. Molly kept bugging Kenzie about basking in the shadow of Kenzie's newfound popularity -- she wanted to be there and would not let Kenzie forget it.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from They All Fall Down:

Kenzie & Hot Guy (you'll have to read to find out): "So you know I don't want to be his girlfriend." I close my eyes and reaches up to touch his hair. Oh my God, I could touch this hair forever. "I want to be yours."
He kisses me again, then trails a few down my neck, making me want to scream. "You already are," he whispers.
"I am?"
"You think I'm going to fly through the jungle to save just any girl?" -- pages 236-237

***Check out Roxanne St. Claire's website for more information about her and the They All Fall Down: HERE

Happy Reading!

Review : Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Pages: 355
Source: Own
 

The Story:

Affection turns to obsession—and love means both devastation and redemption—in this gripping novel from the author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me.

Rae’s always dreamed of dating a guy like Nathan. He’s nothing like her abusive stepfather—in other words, he’s sweet. But the closer they get, the more Nathan wants of her time, of her love, of her…and the less she wants to give.

As Rae’s affection for Nathan turns to fear, she leans on her friend Leo for support. With Leo, she feels lighter, happier. And possessive Nathan becomes jealous. He’s not about to let her go. And with danger following her every move, Rae must fight for the life and love she deserves if she’s going to survive.

via Barnes & Noble

Rating: TWO Gold Stars!!!!

My Review: 

Tag Line:

Love found her. Now it won't let her go.

Opening Line:

At last I can breathe.

Plot:

The plot of Falling for You was decently laid out. The pacing was a little slower than I expected. To be honest, what made Falling for You 's rating suffer was my disappointment with the climax. For once, I wanted blurb predictable. I wanted the psycho, obsessed ex-boyfriend to be the murderous stalker I knew he had in him. Although, at first I thought the pacing steady considering what I hoped it would boil and blow up to become. However, when the plot conflict volcano finally exploded, it felt unspectacular so it made the pacing seem to drag (if that makes any sense at all).

Character Breakdown:

Rae Lynch - What I enjoyed about Rae's character so much is that she wasn't the weak, thirsty-for-love teenage girl I assumed she would be. Sure she had insecurity and wanted to be wanted, to be loved but it wasn't to the point that she remained in an abusive relationship out of some misguided need to fill a hole her parents didn't. It's nice to read a story that circles closely to matters I can relate to in real life but without the same exact mistakes being made.

Nathan - Perfect stalker ex material! Sexy, mysterious, confident, selfish, and so on. Nathan had so much potential! I was so disappointed I could see him in his Super Saiyan (Dragonball Z nerds will get this reference; in other words, his 100%, max potential).

Overall, I didn't hate Falling for You, it simply didn't do enough for me. I think Falling for You lost a star in rating for the lackluster finale showdown. Had there been some full-fledge stalker, obsessed ex insaneness with violence and psychological thrill and blood, my rating for would have definitely gone up. Still, Falling for You is not so bad that I would dissuade anyone from reading it. If you're bored or waiting between release dates then maybe give Falling for You a try.

***Check out Lisa Schroeder's website for more information about her and the Falling for You: HERE

Happy Reading!