Pretending That I'm Doing Well

Published:  January 2nd, 2014

Imposter

By: Susanne Winnacker

Hoddor Children's Books

ISBN-13:  9781444916171

Tessa is a variant with extraordinary abilities.  She could be a hero, but all she wants to do is fall in love...

Tessa is a variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance.  Shunned by her family, she's spent the last two years with the Forces of Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI.  There she trains with other variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.  Tessa hates everything about being an imposter - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl.  As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she'd do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

Review

     Tessa has lived a hard life, with her abusive mother, an absent father and a string of horrible step-dads.  Now she is living with a group of people who are special like she is - they're known as variants.  At a government sponsored training facility, the variant teens are learning how to use their special abilities to help the U.S. government from behind the scenes.  Tessa's ability is especially unique.  She can transform into anyone she's ever touched.  So when a serial killer starts killing people in small-town Oregon, it's time for Tessa's first solo mission - to impersonate Madison, one of the killer's victims who is dying of her injuries.  Taking over Madison's life, it's up to Tessa to find the killer and bring him to justice, before there are any more victims.  But with a family, friends and people that actually care about her, Tessa is beginning to want to stay in Madison's life, permanently.  She can only run so far from herself and her past before everything comes back to haunt her.....

     So, I went into this one excited for something that would be reminiscent of X-Men and have some butt-kicking action to it's story.  That isn't quite how this book went down though.  In reality, this is more of a feelings book with powers, than the other way around.  The first part of the book introduces us the idea of variants, Tessa as a person and her history, hot best friend (who Tessa wants to be more) Alec, her friend Holly and mean girl Kate (who is sort of dating Alec).  I understood where Tessa was coming from, with her past of being abused and abandoned.  That shit messes a person up.  But her fixation of Alec was just embarrassing.  And she lets Holly talk her into transforming into Kate so that she can kiss Alec.  Of course he finds out it's really her, and it's a truly humiliating episode, which is difficult to read about because it's such an immature betrayal of trust on her part.  I felt like Alec was kind of an asshole anyways, treating Tessa like a potential girlfriend half the time, and the rest of it was spent treating her like a petulant child or a complete stranger.  He sends off some of the most confusing signals EVER.

     The real heart of the book and most of what I enjoyed about it, started when Tessa begins to live Madison's life.  The mystery about the serial killer was intriguing, and there was a nice twist about the motivations that I probably should have seen coming, but didn't.  But I never considered the situation as anything other than a run-of-the-mill, everyday, garden variety serial killer!  Tessa's emotions are stressed to the breaking point, falling in love with Madison's family and experiencing a sense of belonging for the first time ever, all the while lying to them and pretending to be their dead daughter.  Plus there's the problem that Madison's twin brother is one of the suspects in the case - so is her ex-boyfriend, who refuses to let her go.  The mystery was the best part of this book.  The romance was disappointing and as I've seen other people point out, there will definitely be a love triangle in the next book!  And I'm not sure how I feel about that, because I'm already rooting for the dark horse in that triangle (i.e. not Alec!!!).  Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing the direction the next one goes in.  I'd recommend it if you're a fan of X-Men, but don't mind trading the action for a whodunit!  And P.S., I LOVE that cover!  It is absolutely representative of the book and I love looking at the differences between half-Madison and half-Tessa! :D

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, Hodor Children's Books, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published January 2nd, 2014.*

Supernova Blog Tour - Excerpt and Giveaway!!!

Release date: October 4th 2013

Self-Published

Purchase: Amazon 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18075975-supernova

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

On Cleo’s first day at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Academy, things get pretty weird pretty fast. After being confronted by a strangely hostile boy, she meets two girls and instantly bonds with them. Before long danger threatens the entire student body, in the form of a soul eating possessor fae. When her brother is savagely beaten and left in a coma, the girls decide to use their fae powers to become superheroes and stop the possessions. 

They quickly learn things are a lot more complicated than they had ever imagined. A government plot that had begun when they were infants endangers them all, and a demented former soldier bent on revenge is after them. The line between friend and foe has become so blurry, Cleo has no idea who she can trust. Will their superhero plot help them save the day, or just get them killed?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth has a near crippling Facebook addiction, dwarfed only by her need for Dr. Pepper. A self-proclaimed techno geek, she loves cell phones, computers, tablets and all things technological. The internet has to be the greatest invention since the wheel, in her opinion. She lives in a quiet subdivision with her husband, one-year-old son, three cats, and far too many electronics. It’s quite possible she has some raccoon in her DNA, because she loves glitter and anything that sparkles. She enjoys making jewelry and costumes. Halloween is her favorite holiday since it’s the one day of the year that you can be whatever you want. But her first love will always be writing. Otherwise, hearing voices in her head would make her feel schizophrenic.

somesharpwords.blogspot.com | twitter.com/SomeSharpWords

Excerpt From Supernova

     Someone slammed into my shoulder, making me stumble into my brother. I whipped around, my hair flying around my head as I lost control of my power. Logan stood there, a wicked grin tilting up one corner of his mouth. I considered letting a little of my explosive power loose, but I’d be on a slippery slope if I did. I knew from past experience that I must be starting to glow by now, but the other students seemed to be filing past without noticing. With more willpower than I thought I possessed, I reined myself in. Once the fires were quenched, I realized what a bad idea it would have been to let them out. I glanced around, but the only people who seemed to have noticed were Violet and Antonio.

     “What exactly is going on?” Violet asked. She narrowed her eyes as she studied me. “I…felt something. And I think you glowed.”  

     I wanted to tell her nothing had happened aside from a confrontation with a jerk, but Logan wasn’t done being a grade-A bully.

     Logan got really close, almost in my face. “Fae.” He spat the word like it was distasteful. “And a good girl I’d bet.” He packed so much malice into the words, I felt offended, despite the fact that I really was a good girl.

     My brother’s strong fingers wrapped around my upper arm, pulling me back. As I took one reluctant step away from the boy who’d been trying so desperately to rile me up, my hand raised, my fingers clenched tightly in a fist I was moments from throwing. And if I lost control of myself, even for a moment, I could turn the school into a fiery inferno. I took a deep breath to calm myself as I glanced around at the students who had no idea how close they had been to disaster.

     Something odd was going on here. Why weren’t the humans noticing us using magic in the middle of the hall? They should be freaking out, stampeding out the doors and reporting the freaks to the government by now. Instead they just hurried about their lives, chattering about inconsequential things as if they were life and death. I suppose to them, it was. But it was hard to imagine a formal dance as the most important event of the year when you’re standing toe to toe with a boy who wanted to hurt you simply because you were there.

     “You reek of good.” Logan was cloaked in darkness as he spoke, shadows rolling around him like smoke. Horns curved forward out of the dark hair on top of his head, the tips curving up to his hairline. I glanced around again but the students continued to flow around us as if they didn’t see anything. Maybe they couldn’t.

     My brother coughed and I could feel a surge of energy in him, a strange sixth sense we shared. I grabbed his wrist before he did something as stupid, as I tried not to do the same. I glanced around again, still expecting everyone to be standing and staring at us. Aside from a few scattered stragglers, we were alone in the hall. A boy with dark curls rounded the corner, rushing to Logan’s side. He grabbed his arm and gave him a shake.

     “Dude, back off.”

     Logan snarled at him, and the shorter boy’s eyes glowed red, moving as if the irises were made of liquid. With his jaw set, Logan stepped backwards away from me.

     “Is this entire school made up of fae?” I asked, spinning to face forward with my hands thrown up in the air. Too late I remembered Violet walking along beside us, oblivious to the fae world.

     She took the weirdness in stride. “Not entirely, but we seem to have more than our fair share. I think all the teachers are, and a good chunk of the staff too.”

     Or maybe not so oblivious. I didn’t realize I had stopped until she turned to face me.

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Deadly Inside, Somewhere REALLY Deep Down...

Published:  December 18th, 2012

Deadly Little Lessons (Touch #5)

By: Laurie Faria Stolarz

Hyperion Book CH

ISBN-13:  9781423131625

Camelia Hammond's trying junior year of high school is finally over...but her troubles aren't.  After she discovers a painful truth about her family, she escapes to a summer arts program in Rhode Island.  Determined to put family - and boyfriend - drama behind her, she throws herself into her artwork.

At art school, she gets caught up in the case of Sasha Beckerman, a local girl who is missing.  Even though all signs suggest that the teen ran away, Camelia senses otherwise.  Eager to help the girl, she launches her own investigation.  She finds a blog by someone named Neal Moche, a psychometric who might have clues to Sasha's whereabouts.  There is something familiar about Neal, and Camelia realizes how much she misses Ben, despite being committed to Adam.

But time is running out for Sasha, and Camelia will have to trust her powers if she's to save her.  Will the lessons Camelia has learned in the past give her the strength to do so?

Review

     The last book in a series.  One that I started reading in 2011, a few months before book four was released.  So I didn't have to wait from book to book, like many other readers (I know the agony from other series though).  However these were just a fun, no pressure series (my version of book junk food) to read in between heavy hitters.  That said, I had been enjoying the series but felt like book four was too much  rehash and way too much romantic angst.  I was hoping that this one would get back to the roots of the series, which started out fairly interesting and decently well-written.  Yeah, access denied on that particular dream world/alternate reality.

     So, the synopsis is a big fat liar.  In the first paragraph, it says that Camelia goes to Rhode Island for a summer art program, to get away from her problems.  In reality she goes to Rhode Island to find out what really happened to missing teen Sasha Beckerman, because she has gotten obsessed with the case in the wake of some major family problems.  Her parents have been keeping a pretty big secret from Camelia and she finds out entirely by accident, when her Grandma calls the house looking for her Aunt Alexia.  It was understandable that Camelia was freaked out, upset and angry about the secret and what it meant for her personally.  My first WTF moment was when she went out of her way to hide it from Adam (her "boyfriend" - more on that later) and Kimmie & Wes (her two "best" friends who really are just there to play a part in all her drama).  Yeah, so she bottles it all in and is a dick to everyone.  Plus, she keeps taking Wes' car without his permission when he follows her to the art program and investigating the kidnapping on her own, with no help.  She has no self-preservation instincts and doesn't like to think ahead, just so you know.

     Probably my biggest issue with this book is the love triangle between Camelia, Adam and Ben - more specifically the resolution that Stolarz comes to after five books of angst and uncertainty.  The issues has always been that Ben and Adam are both seriously good guys, with no real asshole tendencies that allow Camelia to make an easy romantic decision.  Somehow in this book Adam becomes an insensitive asshole, who just wants Camelia to just get over her problems.  After all, she should be focusing on their relationship and never giving anything difficult in second life.  What the actual fuck???!!!  And then later in the book, while she's still stringing along Adam knowing it won't ever go anywhere, Camelia reunites with Ben and they get together.  This is less than an hour after finally deciding to cut Adam loose.  After all, he was only her back-up plan.  Also, the way she blew off her classes and assignments for the art program was really spastic.  She acted like a complete moron to her teachers, skipped most of her classes and overall just didn't give a flying fuck about actually doing, y'know, art.  Hence why the synopsis is so laughable!  

      Overall, the ending was predictable and all the plot twists were really uninspired.  The romance and reunion of Camelia and Ben was so sickly sweet and goopy it makes me gag just thinking back on it.  Camelia spent most of the book treating everyone like dirt, making stupid decisions and acting like a brat in general.  Not the worst book I'ver ever read, but if you're new to the series I'd say don't even bother reading it.  The "ending" (which gives more questions than real answers) will just piss you off.  The payoff wasn't really worth the effort.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Only Girl In The World...

Published:  April 2nd, 2013
Prophecy Girl (Angel Academy # 1)
By: Cecily White
Entangled
ISBN-13:  9781620612941

Amelie Bennett. . . . Ending the world, one prophecy at a time.

I was born to slay Crossworld demons.
Big black flappy ones, little green squirmy ones. Unfortunately, the only thing getting slain these days is my social life. With my high school under attack, combat classes intensifying, and Academy instructors dropping right and left, I can barely get my homework done, let alone score a bondmate before prom.
Then he shows up.
Jackson Smith-Hailey. Unspeakably hot, hopelessly unattainable, and dangerous in all the right ways. Sure, he’s my trainer. And okay, maybe he hates me. Doesn’t mean I’ll ignore the wicked Guardian chemistry between us. It’s crazy! Every time I’m with him, my powers explode. Awesome, right? Wrong.
Now my teachers think I’m the murderous Graymason destined to bring down our whole race of angelbloods. Everyone in New Orleans is hunting me. The people I trusted want me dead. Jack and I have five days to solve the murders, prevent a vampire uprising, and thwart the pesky prophecy foretelling his death by my hand. Shouldn’t be too difficult.

Getting it done without falling in love. . . that might take a miracle.

Review

 

     Amelie Bennett's biggest goal right now is to finish school, become bonded to a Watcher and begin slaying demons for real as a full-fledged Guardian.  But with her teachers dropping like flies and the paranormal community in uproar over peace tenets that are about to be signed, a normal path to the future is looking highly unlikely.  The scandal involving Amelie's Mom and the questionability of her angel bloodline's origins aren't helping her prospects either.  When Jackson Smith-Hailey is sent to replace one of her newly dead teachers, Amelie feels an instant connection with him and he seems to amplify her powers to unbelievable heights.  When the school is attacked during an assembly, Amelie is blamed and thought to be evil.  So of course her and Jack go on the run to avoid execution and must also prove who the real killer is before a prophecy that says she's going to kill Jack is fulfilled!  All while trying to make sure the peace tenets actually get signed and a war doesn't erupt between the vampire/werewolf races and the Guardians.  Can they manage to save the world and will both of them survive the effort? 

     In general, I am sick of reading the same old paranormal schtick time and time again.  So going into this one I was really hesitant, especially when I read the term 'Watcher,' which has me harking back to the days of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer obsession.  I was pleasantly surprised with the world-building and was particularly glad to not hate it based on its inability to focus on anything but the angel aspect, which I've noticed seems to be a trend in angel-based YA books a lot of times.  There was a coherent plot, and yes the different angel bloodlines and the calling to fight demons were an enormous part of the plot.  But it was more focused on characters and character development then overcomplicated plots/details that make a reader feel lost, like they're missing some important back story or something.  I loved the snarkiness of Amelie and felt like she really came across as a teenager (which she was) instead of some weird adult/teen hybrid, which comes with the territory sometimes.  It's like the authors forget that teens aren't super wise, smart, etc. all the time.  Sometimes they do dumb things, act like brats, or make you have WTF moments.  Amelia had all of those qualities, but also had a gigantic heart and wonderful sense of loyalty that made me want to hug her.  The relationship with Jackson was cute and although in most cases I don't like insta-love, I don't think this really even qualifies as it.  For the simple fact that Amelie is drawn to him (i.e. attracted to him) and he feels familiar to her in a slightly nagging way.  She doesn't even use the word love until over midway through the book, almost near the end.  The banter, arguments and fuzzy moments made me smile.

     The inclusion of the werewolf and vampire races in side-character capacities was interesting and allowed for an important part of the plot involving peace tenets to unfold smoothly and make sense. But they were by no means main characters (at least till Vampire Luc became mega important at the end of the book) and didn't become annoying, or detract from the main plot.  The twist about Amelie's surprise sibling was very movie of the week and not at all shocking.  I thought the revelation of who it actually was happened to be really odd and didn't fit too great with the direction the action took near the final battle.  It seemed to me just a convenient plot twist.  I really wanted it to be someone she'd never met, but alas I wasn't so lucky.  Which sucked because I really liked that character until the truth was revealed!  The likeability of the characters, the witty dialogue and the overall humor of the book were definitely my favorite points.  With the huge twisting cliffhanger at the end I'm intrigued to see how the author spins things in the next book.  Overall a fast paced, funny paranormal read with a lot of heart that I would recommend to fans of Obsidian by: Jennifer Armentrout, The Percy Jackson Series by: Rick Riordan, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published April 2nd, 2013.*

Oh, Sweet Child Of Mine

Published: April 17th, 2012
The Springsweet (The Vespertine # 2)
By: Saundra Mitchell
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780547608426

Heartbroken over the tragic death of her fiancé, seventeen-year-old Zora Stewart leaves Baltimore for the frontier town of West Glory, Oklahoma, to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going. There she discovers that she possesses the astonishing ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a "springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land. Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

Review

   Zora Stewart stops caring about life after her fiance Thomas and her cousin Amelia both die.  With her Mother determined to shove her back into her old life, Zora takes drastic measures.  After almost publicly ruining herself, her Mother finally agrees to send her to live with her widowed Aunt Birdie(not much older than her) and her cousin Louella in West Glory, Oklahoma.  Once she gets there, Zora finds out that she is a springsweet, able to sense water underneath the parched surface of the Earth.  This is a really valuable talent on the dry frontier land, so her Aunt Birdie starts hiring her out to the neighbors.  Meanwhile Zora is resisting the attentions of Theo De La Croix, the man from back home that she used in scheme to get sent away.  She is undeniably attracted to Emerson Birch, a man regarded as trashy and a problem waiting to happen by the other townspeople.  Can Zora make a decision that will allow her to follow her heart or will she be unable to let go of the past?  I honestly was iffy about reading this book after being disappointed by the mediocrity of The Vespertine.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  I really liked Zora in the first book and watching her grow as a person, become even stronger and move past the heartbreak she'd suffered was wonderful.  I honestly didn't particularly care for Aunt Birdie all that much.  I felt like she was too pushy and not a deep enough character.  While I liked Theo, I felt that Emerson was definitely the right match for Zora.  Theo was too much like her old life, while Emerson was part of the frontier world Zora joined.  The supernatural abilities that Zora and Emerson possess were unique.  I've never read of anything like Zora's water sense before in YA.  My major complaint is that this book was far too short.  I would have liked another 50-100 pages to allow the story more time to develop and the characters more time to get into my heart.  All the same, this book stands alone pretty well but the ending would be a little confusing without the backstory of The Vespertine.  Other than that, I'd say skip the first one and dive right into this interesting and fun novel.

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*

Just a Thread Connects Us

Expected Publication: September 11th, 2012
Hanging By A Thread (Banished # 3)
By: Sophie Littlefield
Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780385741040

Summer is the best part of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from the last two—that this year's Fourth of July festival won't see one of their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying desperately to pretend nothing's wrong.

And they're not the only ones hiding something.

Clare, a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people's pasts when she touches their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year's Fourth of July victim, Clare sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.

In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?

Review

   Clare has just moved back to Winston, California with her Mom following the economic crisis.  Her family has a long, sordid history with Winston beginning with her Great-Grandmother Alma's murder in her seamstress shop.  Since then, every other generation a woman in Clare's family is born with the gift to see other people's emotions and past deeds by touching their clothing.  Clare and her Nana both have the gift, but her practical Mom prefers to pretend that it doesn't exist.  For the last two years, someone has died on the Fourth of July in Winston and the town's panic is rising as the day draws near, anticipating a third tragedy.  Clare finds a second-hand jacket that belonged to Amanda Stavros, the girl who went missing last year.  The feelings that she gets from it are ugly and terrified.  Clare knows that something bad has happened to Amanda and she was probably murdered.  There is no way to prove it until she finds evidence though, so Clare begins to investigate what really happened last year, starting with Amanda's juvenile-delinquent boyfriend, Jack, who everyone thinks is behind her disappearance.  However, as the suspects pile up and her attraction to Jack grows, will Clare be able to separate fact from fiction and solve the mystery?  Or will she be the killer's next victim?  I might be one of the few people who didn't find all of the clothing talk off-putting.  Clare designs and sells clothing using new and vintage pieces that she fuses together.  Yes, the author used A LOT of mostly repetitive description.  But that didn't bother me, because clothing is an important element of Clare's ability.  I loved that the psychometry was clothing related.  It was interesting and I'd never seen it done before.  Clare was an independent, strong girl who had a goal in life.  The relationship with her Mom was realisitc.  In some YAs the parents are unrealistically distant or close to/from their kids.  In this on there was balance.  They had their differences and Clare is a lot closer to her Nana, who shares her ability.  My main complaint is the slow speed and overall bad plot pacing technique used.  The story all happened in the last third of the book.  It was a pretty disjointed mystery and while I enjoyed Clare, I wasn't such a fan of her stubborn antics and her nonsensical relationship with Jack, who for all she knows might be a killer.  She's attracted to him despite that fact which turned me off.  The ending just seemed rather anticlimactic comapred to the way the mystery was built up throughout the novel.  A fun book, but not the best I've ever read; I won't be revisiting it anytime soon, if ever.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is September 11th, 2012.*