A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

Published:  June 11th, 2013

Spies And Prejudice

By: Talia Vance

Egmont USA

ISBN-13:  9781606842607

Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend.  She's busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she's sure all men commit.  And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eigth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.

So when arrogant -- and gorgeous -- Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her "nothing amazing," it's no loss for Berry.  She'll forget about him in no time.  She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death.

But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way?  Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat?  And why can't Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?

With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide.

Review

    Berry Fields has been working as a private investigator for her Dad for years now, because no one ever notices a teenager following them.  And she usually manages to catch all the liars and cheaters that are trying to scam other people.  Berry herself doesn't date and isn't really interested in it.  Then Tanner blows into town and declares that Berry is nothing special.  She can't help noticing how hot he is, even while she's determined to ignore and shun him for his arrogance.  All of this romantic confusion doesn't help either, when she sees her best friend's Dad handing off papers with her dead Mom's name on them.  Berry thought, along with everyone else, that her Mom committe suicide.  But now there is a very real possibility that her Mom might have been murdered to stop her from blowing the whistle on something illegal.  It's up to Berry to find out the truth, with help from her best friend Mary Chris Moss, her crush Ryan and of course Ryan's annoying brother, Tanner.  But will the truth be worth uncovering and will it hurt more than the lies ever did?

     I had some major fun with this one!  It was snarky, funny and I loved how much it had in common with one of my favorite shows ever, Veronica Mars.  It's a pretty loose adaptation of P&P, with mostly just the title and character types playing into the original frame of Austen's novel.  Every once in a while, there is a nod to the original novel - an enterprise named Pemberly, Drew who is the obvious Wickham parallel, etc.  It isn't overwhelming though.  I liked that Berry was a smart, independent girl who has a strong friendship with Mary Chris.  My least favorite thing about her would be her "damage" when it comes to romance.  It just felt a little too much like a convenient excuse for a strained romance dynamic between her and Tanner for my taste.  Berry's relationship with her Dad was mostly good and it did seem to have a pretty great depth to it.  But the way he treats her Mom's death and the investigation was a little too head-in-the-sand to appeal to me.  Berry acted more adult about it than he did.  

     The whole corporate espionage, FDA scandal thing was kind of bizarre but I did appreciate it for being different from most of what all else I've seen other authors do when it comes to "murder" mysteries in YA fiction.  The ending while resolved, was still a little bit open.  It makes me wonder if Vance is considering a sequel at all, but if not I am satisfied with the end.  Overall, it wasn't very good as a P&P retelling.  I feel like that component to this book was almost completely unnecessary and sometimes actually harmed my enjoyment of the plot and characters.  But it definitely succeeds as a slightly fluffy, slighty deep YA mystery with a sense of humor.  If you're into the teen P.I. thing, or a VMars fan I'd recommend it to you.  But if you're looking for a strong YA P&P retelling, look elsewhere.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received this book from Egmont USA, on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on June 11th, 2013.*

Reaching Out, Possessing You

Published:  January 1st, 2013
The Dead and Buried
By: Kim Harrington
Scholastic Point
ISBN-13:  9780545333023

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

Review

 

     Jade and her family have finally moved into a nice house in the city and she's excited to be going to school with people other than the same ones she's always known.  But nothing really prepares her for the fact that their new house is the most notorious in town and for good reason: the former queen bee of her new school, Kayla, died there only a few months ago!  Oh yeah, and she's haunting the place too and won't move on until Jade solves her murder.  And Kayla's not afraid to be vicious and cruel to get what she wants, including possessing Jade's little brother and threatening to kill him.  But with so many people crushed under Kayla's wrecking ball combination of personality and actions, which one of them actually killed her?  With the help of Kayla's ex-boyfriend Donovan, investigating all of her former friends is still a daunting task.  But will the discovery of her secret diary crack the case?  And can Jade save her family from destruction when the truth is finally uncovered once and for all?

     I love a good ghost story and it seems like they're a somewhat rare species in the YA genre lately.  Usually authors go for the shiny, more monsterish paranormal beings.  But I liked the old-school decision on the part of this author to go with a ghost.  Jade as a main character would come across as kind of bland to some I suppose, but I thought she was strong and refused to let herself be bullied by other people into doing things she didn't want, or think were right.  Case in point, her 'friendship' with Faye and also with Kane.  She went along with them, but only to a certain point and then she cut them off and did the right thing.  I loved Jade's sweet interactions with Donovan, and the underlying darkness at first because of the possibility of his involvement with Kayla's death.  A nice touch on the part of the author was making Jade unique, with her gemstone hobby and I liked the fact that her Dad and Stepmom weren't the normal deadbeat/asshole YA parents that inhabit about 90% of all YA novels.  They loved her, even the Stepmom Marie, no matter whether they always got along or agreed with each other.  The whole possession thing freaked me the HELL OUT.  Seriously, could you imagine a ghost taking over your body, let alone the body of someone you love?  Enough nightmare material to last a lifetime.  The avoidance of  love triangle definitely worked in favor of me liking this book.  Super sick and tired of anything even remotely resembling a love triangle.  No more please, writers of the world!  Just no more, my brain begs of you.  

     Kayla's diary entries and the unraveling of her bitchy drama in life just did nothing at all to make me like her.  And after finding out why her killer actually shoved her down the stairs, I kind of sided with the killer a little bit.  The resolution of the mystery wasn't entirely predicatable at first, but I wasn't surprised either, especially with how entirely OBVIOUS it is that the person set up to be the killer couldn't be, unless Harrington was a really lazy and bad writer.  The effort throughout dissuaded me from that thought pretty quickly.  I did like the reactions of her parents when they finally believed her about Kayla haunting the house.  I feel like the scene was supposed to be scary, but it kind of made me laugh out loud.  Overall a fun, quick read and a decent ghost story.  The mystery is basic but not completely cliché, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy ghost stories and a don't mind a bit of sweet romance thrown in, or normal family issues, etc.  I found it refreshing for a change.   

 

VERDICT:  3.75/5  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.**