Every Body Talks

Published: October 17th, 2012 (first published 1999)
Body Bags (Body of Evidence #1)
By: Christopher Golden
Daring Greatly Corporation
ASIN:  B009SLYJ4A

When Jenna Blake starts her freshman year at Somerset University, she's not only living on her own for the first time, she's moving closer to the father she never really knew.  It's an exciting time, filled with new faces and new challenges, not mention parties and boys and...corpses?

Jenna is torn about her future.  She'd like to be a doctor like her mother, but she can't stand the sight of blood.  Her father, a criminology professor, thinks he has the answer -- and sends her to interview for a job with the Medical Examiner -- an interview that takes place in the middle of an autopsy!

When a congressional aide goes violently insane, and then drops dead, the pathology team at Somerset Medical Center discover that his brain was ravaged with disease -- and loaded with insect larvae.  When Jenna takes on her new job, she is drawn into a web of terrifying disease, dangerous politics, and intriguing mystery.  And when one of her professors ends up dead, she starts making connections even the police haven't seen...which will bring her face to face with a pair of killers, one medical, and one all too human.

Review

       I didn't feel disappointed after reading this, like so many of the other reviewers here on Goodreads.  You want to know my secret?  Extremely low expectations, and the prior knowledge that Golden tends to be the master of the pulpy, Alloy-series type of book.  It was a story centered around Jenna Blake, an incumbent college freshman, who is unsure what she wants to do with the rest of her life.  All she knows is that her mother would love for her to be a doctor like her, but Jenna can't stand the sight of blood.  Her Dad gets her an interview with the local Medical Examiner, who hires Jenna as a pathology assistant.  The first big case is a man who was infected with a mysterious illness, of unknown origin and it becomes a priority to find out exactly what happened, when a teacher on campus dies of the same sickness.  Coincidence or murder?  That's what Jenna will have to find out, especially once her and her dad's lives are endangered.  Can she survive her first week at college?
       This book is extremely short and I didn't really expect too much, since it is the first in a ten-book series.  Also, it's original publication was sixteen years ago, in 1999.  Some of the language, situations, etc. are kind of culturally dated (not as bad as most though, surprisingly).  This type of book is the kind that people who are unfamiliar with YA, and it's ever-widening, reach like to cite when they malign it as all being unmitigated "trash."  It's pulp fiction, pure and simple.  I will say that it reminds me of Nancy Drew, in the sense that Jenna is pretty much just a cardboard cut-out, meant to move along the plot.  Hopefully she and her friends (roommate Yoshiko & southern-boy Hunter) will be better characeterized/fleshed-out in later books.  I do wish that the mystery had been more murder/crime and less of a politically driven, thriller type.  I liked it enough to continue and see if the next couple are any good, but overall I wouldn't recommend it unless you like the type of book that's pure, time-wasting cotton candy.  If you want a really great, plot and character-rich series by Golden, try his Hollow series, co-written with Ford Lytle Gilmore.  Now THAT is an awesome series! :D

VERDICT:  2.5/5  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.*

No One Lives Forever

Expected Publication:  March 11th, 2014

Liv, Forever

By: Amy Talkington

Soho Teen

ISBN-13:  9781616953225

When Liv Bloom lands an art scholarship at Wickham Hall, it's her ticket out of the foster system.  Liv isn't sure what to make of her new school's weird traditions and rituals, but she couldn't be happier.  For the first time ever, she has her own studio, her own supply of paints.  Everything she could want.

The she meets Malcom Astor, a legacy student, a fellow artist, and the one person who's ever been able to melt her defenses.  Liv's only friend at Wickham, fellow scholarship student Gabe Nichols, warns her not to get involved, but life is finally going Liv's way, and all she wants to do is enjoy the ride.

But Liv's bliss is doomed.  Weeks after arriving, she is viciously murdered and, in death, she discovers that she's the latest victim of a dark conspiracy that has claimed many lives.  Cursed with the ability to see the many ghosts on Wickham's campus, Gabe is now Liv's only link to the world of the living.  To Malcom.

Together, Liv, Gabe, and Malcom fight to expose the terrible truth that haunts the halls of Wickham.  But Liv must fight alone to come to grips with the ultimate star-crossed love.

Review

     Liv has been on the fringes her entire life.  A tenant of the foster care system, and someone who feels more comfortable with art than people, she is excited to get the opportunity to become a better artist.  A scholarship to the prestigious Wickham Hall is a dream come true for Liv - or so she thinks until she actually gets there.  The rich students love to humliate the scholarship kids and liv is even more outcast than ever.  But she has a connection with rich, legacy studen Malcom Astor and manages to find a friend in fellow poor kid Gabe.  Soon Liv's sneaking off to meet with Malcom and they are falling in love.  One night Liv doesn't make it back to her dorm - she is murdered and thrown down an old well.  The main question is who did it - and why?  Also, Gabe is able to communicate with her still and together they try to solve Liv's murder, which is just the newest in a string dating over 150 years back.  Can they convince Malcom to turn his back on the secret society he belongs to and do the right thing, to bring the killer to justice?  And how will Malcom and Liv say goodbye, when they'd only just begun?

     I started this book off thinking how shallow and stereotypical of a character Liv was - and it's not like any of the side characters were all that much better.  Gabe is a prickly, disenfranchised loner who sees ghosts and Malcom is a weak-spined, rich boy who is slumming it with Liv.  It's only after we see Malcom and Liv sneaking around together, get a hint at Gabe's terror of the ghosts around the school (and short POVs from the ghosts on their respective origins/murders) that we get a little more meat to the story.  Things really pick up after Liv's murder.  It's up to Liv, Gabe and Malcom to find the truth with the Wickies (rich kid, secret society students) trying to cover it up and make it look like a suicide.  It's a genuinely interesting plot, with Liv and Gabe spending much time trying to convinve Malcom she's still there.  And once they do, the annoyance factor of the go-between is still there.  However, a snarky bromance builds between Gabe and Malcom that is absolutely hilarious to watch.  Liv is discovering her limitations as a spirit, what she wants now that she's dead and what the Hell happened exactly.  It's good stuff plotwise and the pacing is excellent.

      The backstory on all the ghost girls of Wickham Hall and the mystery of Liv, which was really the mystery of them all, definitely lent some much needed detail to what could have been a very thin and schmaltzy plotline focus.  The twists and turns involving the motives, supernatural/non-supernatural origins of the killer(s) and the resolution were well executed.  Nothing truly shocking, but nothing truly cliched and overused either.  And the ending is absolutely gorgeous.  I loved that this book reads like a screenplay for a T.V. show or a film.  It made it much easier to swallow that there was a complete lack of characterization of Liv, Gabe or Malcom beyond their actions and mystery solving needs.  It didn't try to waffle between novel and screenplay in style or tone, which helped it out considerably.  It stuck to its guns and I appreciate and respect that beyond belief.  The fluffy tendencies of this book often won out, and I think what saved it for me was the ending.  It fit exactly and I loved how realistic it was (for a book with sentient, ghostly beings that is!).  Liv and Malcom didn't linger on the past.  They both moved forward with what they knew to be right for themselves and each other.  Overall, this has a very detailed and well written mystery, with multi-layered ghosts.  It has romance, comedy and action is high degree.  I recommend it if you're okay with ingesting some cotton candy and like a break from the overly serious every once in a while.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is March 11th, 2014.*

With a Rebel Yell

Published:  June 1st, 2013
Rebel Spirits
By: Lois Ruby
Point
ISBN-13:  9780545426237

Infused with history and mystery, this tale of ghosts, love, and murder takes place in present-day Gettysburg, where the Civil War still looms large.

Lori Chase doesn't know what to think about ghosts. She may have seen a few in the past, but those were just childish imaginings...right? Only now that she is living in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, spirits seem to be on everyone's mind. The town is obsessed with its bloody Civil War history, and the old inn that Lori's parents run is supposedly haunted by the souls of dead soldiers.

Then Lori meets one such soldier--the devastatingly handsome Nathaniel Pierce. Nathaniel's soul cannot rest, and he desperately needs Lori's help. Because Nathaniel was not killed in the famous battle. He was murdered. Lori begins to investigate the age-old mystery, stumbling upon shocking clues and secrets.

At the same time, she can't help falling for Nathaniel, just as he is falling for her....

Review

 

     First off before I dig an deeper than the surface of this book, the title is a COMPLETE misnomer!  This book centers around the ghost of a soldier from the Union, a.k.a. the Northern Army.  Not the Southern one, who are referred to as the 'rebel' army.  Therefore it makes no offense, and is slightly confusing.  There, now that inconsistency is out of the way, let's get on with the actual review! :)  Lorelai 'Lori' Chase is a sixteen year old girl who is forced to move with her parents to Gettysburg, away from all her friends, so they can finally open their own Bed and Breakfast like they've always wanted to.  The building they've purchased comes with an inherited staff, some creaks and fix-it situations - oh yeah, and did anyone mention the ghost of a murdered soldier?  Lori has been keeping a secret from her parents and her best friend for a long time that makes this ghost a nuisance.  She can see him and communicate with him.  Lori has been able to see spirits for years.  With the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg approaching, soldier Nathaniel Pierce only has a short amount of time to discover who murdered him and why so he can rest in peace.  With treasure, scorned relatives and battlefield mayhem clouding the truth will Lori ever be able to help him find out what really happened?  And how can she stop herself from falling for such a charming guy...even though he's dead?   With treasure at stake things quickly turn deadly and it will take all her wits for Lori to make it out alive. 

     What's new Scooby Doo?  That's what I felt like saying as I read a good majority of this novel.  It reads like a movie-of-the-week suspense piece and the middle grade feel/style did it no favors for me either.  Of course, sucker that I am, I couldn't resist a book involving a Civil War ghost and a murder mystery.  *Slaps forehead dramatically.*  D'oh!  This wasn't a badly written book by any means - a cute, cookie-cutter middle grade, paranormal romance. It was just unfortunately predictable, the characters were bland without any real development/spice and the whodunit was pretty cut and dried.  Oh yeah, it also employed the dreaded paranormal love triangle and insta-love tropes.  The cute lawn boy who's in his summer before college or the ghost of a Union soldier (who actually seems like kind of a smug dick most of the time to me).  Choices, choices and of course they both luuurrrvvveee Lori and want to be with her.  Yeah, sure.  Also, this whole thing takes place in less than a week.  To me that just comes across as lazy under the pretense of plot momentum.  Ruby mentions some seriously great stuff like reenactments on battlefields, cemetery 'ghost' tours and presidential connections to her own murder mystery.  But that's all they are in a really short and underdeveloped book - tidbits of things that could have made this book far better than it was. 

     This is the kind of book that 12 year old me would have devoured and 'loved forever and ever!'  (As evidenced by my recent Caroline B. Cooney re-reads, I was nowhere near as harsh [i.e. bitter] of a book reader back then]).  I would read anything with pages and ink at that point in my life, so that isn't really saying much.  Even Ruby's attempt at inserting interesting guests at the B&B fell short of a working plot device.  The ending is very neatly tied up, but is very vague in terms of answering what the characters will end up doing/being.  I would recommend this to teachers with reluctant readers, and those who want to get a kid interested in history with some light fiction.  Overall, not for me but I'm sure it would entice someone to read and I do give props to the author (and subtract some personal points) that she kept me reading to the end.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  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 on June 1st, 2013.*