Catch Me If You Can

Expected Publication:  September 24th, 2013

Find Me

By: Romily Bernard

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062229038

“Find Me.”

These are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead.

Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target.

Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?

Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.

But she’s going to find this killer no matter what.

Because it just got personal.

Review

     Wick has been in foster care now for long enough to know that the only person who can really help her, is herself.  So she is farming out her hacking skills to make extra cash for when she and her sister Lily are inevitably (in her opinion) kicked out of their current placement.  She's just trying to keep her head down and stay unnoticed at school and at home.  So when her former friend Tessa Waye appears to have committed suicide, Wick is shocked to find her diary laying on the doorstep.  Someone wants Wick to find out what really happened to Tessa - who killed her and why.  It will take all of Wick's hacking skills, the help of Griff, the one boy she just might be able to let in (with secrets of his own) and her inner detective to find the truth,  But when Wick's explosive Dad is released from prison and her sister Lily becomes the killer's next target, just what will Wick have to sacrifice to save Lily - and give her a life worth having?

     This was definitely different from my normal reads.  Normally I don't go for thriller/suspense books, but honestly most of the time this really didn't feel like it was committed to those as its primary genres.  For the the vast majority of this book, I felt like the plot was fixated on the criminal, family drama of Wick and Lily's Dad, their Mom's suicide and the foster system they're being bounced around in.  To me, this book was a lot more about a girl who has been bashed around by life learning to trust someone and change her life with the help of others.  Not to mention the crazed, pedophiliac killer.  Can't forget that of course!  The relationship between Wick and her sister was one of my main problems with this book which I otherwise enjoyed.  I just did not believe they were as close as they both said they were.  Wick did everything for Lily, who treated her like dirt and basically turned on Wick when they got taken in by a couple that treats them like their real daughters.  I wasn't feeling the sort of togetherness that Wick waxed on about so much.  

     Wick and Griff's relationship was also kind of a bit much for me.  They didn't even ever really talk to each other and all of the sudden when he's drawn into a hacking job with Wick's Dad's "friend" they start a flirtation, which leads to Wick trusting him implicitly in regards to her entire life.  This includes her half-cocked plans to draw out the killer using Facebook and tracking I.P. addresses from his online activity.  I am glad, in a way, that the book was more character focused than story focused.  Because if the story had been the point, this would have been just like reading some cheap paperback thriller, only even more predictable if that's at all possible.  I knew pretty early in who the killer was and the "motivations" behind it.  Really the mystery was non-existent and the only real suspense was how it was all going to go down when Wick faced off with the killer.  I liked this book quite a bit, but it was definitely NOT the best YA thriller/mystery I've ever read - not even close to it.  I would recommend this for some light fluff, maybe a good pick for reluctant readers as it did go by awfully quick.  If you're in search of complexity, pass this one by cause it'll only disappoint you.

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 is September 24th, 2013.*

Even Better Than The Original

Expected Publication: October 16th, 2012

Beta (Annex # 1)

By: Rachel Cohn

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13: 9781423157199

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist. 
Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers--soulless clones like Elysia--are immune to. 

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under-current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care--so why are overpowering sensations cloud-ing Elysia's mind? 

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi-ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive. 

Review

     Elysia lives on Demesne, an island paradise that can only belong to the wealthy of the world.  She's sixteen years old and has live their her whole life - which is only the past few weeks.  Elysia is a beta model, an experimental model of a teenage clone.  She was cloned from another girl, who is now dead (the real person has to die before a clone can be made).  The purpose of the clones in general is to serve the residents of Demesne in any way they wish, once they are bought by their "owner."  Elysia is no different and when she is bought to be a companion to the children of one of the most important couples on the island, in essence to replace their own daughter who is away at collge, Elysia is glad that she has found a purpose.  But then she starts having strange visions, memories that belong to her First and shouldn't be available to her.  Elysia starts showing Olympic swimming abilities (another quality of her First) and has a sense of taste that should be absent as a clone.  She begins to feel discontent with being treated like a cross between a pet and a slave, like many of the other Demesne workers and begins to feel lust, anger, happiness and other forbidden emotions.  How can she find a way to survive, when if discovered she will be recycled as defective?  And why is she displaying the qualities of a soul when she supposedly doesn't have one?  

     This book was something that I have been dying to read for months, ever since I first saw the cover.  But I am a major fan of Rachel Cohn's to begin with, especially her Cyd Charisse Trilogy.  I was excited to see her expand into the realm of science fiction.  I was not disappointed in the least.  The book starting out with Elysia working in a boutique as living merchandise and waiting to be bought, elicits a very strong reaction and caused me as a reader to instantly connect to this poor being who is caught between being an object and a real person.  I liked the in-depth world building that explains why regular people can't serve the rich residents of Demesne and they "need" to engineer clone slaves for their menial tasks.  The differences between the clones were also highlighted when Elysia interacted with the Governor's secretary clone (who was also his sexual slave), one of the house clones who is an active member of the rebellion, and the other 'defective' Beta clone, Becky who lashes out at her creators.  The development of Elysia into her own person over time is very gratifying and especially heartbreaking when she is mistreated near the end of the book in an unforgivable way.   Her adoptive 'brother' Ivan and his friends play a big part in her development, especially his friend Tahir who was in a horrific accident and almost died.  Elysia and Tahir start a romantic relationship and he, Greer, Dementia and Ivan introduce her to the drug 'raxia' which puts you in a blissful state and allows clones to "wake up."  There were a few very good plot twists involving the identity of another, secret clone among the wealthy families, but there was major plot twist near the end that I thought was highly unnecessary.  Overall, a very interesting sc-fi debut and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

VERDICT:  4/5  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. It will be available for purchase on October 16th, 2012.*

Accidentally In Love

Published: February 1st, 2012
Secrets of an Accidental Duchess (Donovan Sisters # 2)
By: Jennifer Haymore
Forever
ISBN-13: 9780446573153

With her pale hair and slim figure, Olivia Donovan looks as fragile as fine china, and has been treated as such by her sisters ever since a childhood bout with malaria. But beneath her delicate facade, Olivia guards a bold, independent spirit and the kind of passionate desires proper young ladies must never confess...

It was a reckless wager, and one Max couldn't resist: seduce the alluring Olivia or forfeit part of his fortune. Yet the wild, soon-to-be Duke never imagined he'd fall in love with this innocent beauty. Nor could he have guessed that a dangerously unpredictable rival would set out to destroy them both. Now, Max must beat a Madman at his own twisted game-or forever lose the only woman to have ever won his heart.

Review

   Olivia Donovan has always been treated with caution by her family, due to an illness (malaria) that has plagued her since her childhood days in Antigua.  Olivia is kind, gentle and an obedient daughter - but she also has a passion for life and wishes should could be treated like everyone else.  Men want wives who are strong and can give them heirs, so Olivia expectes to never marry and as such makes no effort towards men at all.  Until Max, the Marquis of Halsey, comes into her life and turns her vows of celibacy upside down.  What she isn't aware of is that Max has signed a wager that he can seduce her with a rival noble, Fenwicke, who is angry that his own attempts to seduce Olivia failed (not to mention that he's married and a total rake).  Can Olivia and Max have a meaningful relationship, despite her illness and his somewhat less than pure foundation?  Will Fenwicke have his revenge for being spurned?  This was a fun book, that dealt with some serious issues.  Serena (the oldest, going by their dead sister Meg's name) is happily married and expecting, but suffers a miscarriage.  Jessica Donovan befriends a reclusive neighbor, only to learn that she is Fenwicke's wife and he abuses/rapes her on a regular basis.  The love story between Olivia and Max is mostly light-hearted with a little bit of a wrench thrown in the works when respectively her malaria flares up, and she finds out that it all started because of a bet.  Fenwicke was a truly sinister and love-to-hate villain - the best kind!  The book went fairly fast and the plot never really stalled in my opinion, except in how fast Olivia and Max become sexually intimate.  I feel like it was rushed and Olivia was far more blase than a woman of her times would have been, especially one as sheltered and ill as her.  Overall, a good read and one that carries the series along past the sophmore curse.

VERDICT:  3.75/5  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 February 1st, 2012.*

I'm So Over It

Expected Publication: September 18th, 2012
Burn for Burn
By: Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781442440753

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.

Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

Review

   Lilllia has always been pretty, popular and has a great family life.  She manages things well until the night she has too much to drink at a party, and a boy goes to far even though she says 'no.'  Not to mention her younger sister seems to be having sleepovers with one of Lillia's guy friends (Alex Lind), lying and sneaking around.  She can't seem to count on her best friend Rennie, who seems more mean girl than friend lately.  So Lillia decides to get revenge on Alex herself - with the help of outcast Kat and not-so-new girl Mary.  Kat wants revenge on Rennie herself.  A long time ago they used to be best friends, until Rennie decided to ditch her and spread nasty rumors about her that ruined her seputation.  Now Kat is fed up and wants her to pay for what she's done.  Mary also wants revenge.  She came back to Jar Island specifically so that she could get back at one of the most popular boys in school, Reeve, who drove her to try committing suicide in the seventh grade and turned everyone against her.  Now she wants him to feel the pain that she's felt all of these years.  At first the girls are united under a drive for revenge and things run smoothly, just a little fun.  But when things get taken too far and someone ends up in the hospital, will the girls be able to live with themselves?  I thought the idea for the novel was intriguing and I loved Jenny Han's Summer series.  I'm not such a big fan of Siobhan Vivian, but I felt like with two writers it would easily overlooked.  I loved the narration for Lillia.  The poor girl was trying to please everyone in her life, while still keeping something for herself.  My main complaint would be that the rape was majorly glossed over.  It didn't affect Lillia nearly as much as I thought that it would.  Also, her entire 'revenge' issue could have been settled by simply freaking TALKING TO ALEX!  All the same, for me she was the most sympathetic.  With a horrible best friend like Rennie, sympathy is in order.  Second in my mind was Kat.  I identified with her ostracization, the rumors and the somewhat poor upbringing she had in comparison with her classmates.  I definitely understood her motivations for revenge and why Rennie was the target.  I mean, it wasn't enough to just ditch Alex she had to ruin her life as well, on the heels of the loss of her Mom.  The one character I didn't connect to AT ALL was Mary.  I felt like she was part of an after-school special, not a book.  She was very one-dimensional.  I never felt like I, as a reader, got much insight into her mind.  She was far more of a telling character than a 'showing' one.  The situation with Reeve felt very untrue and not very realistic (at least in my experience).  The plot was a little slow to unfold, but once it did it went really smoothly.  All except for a really abrupt and in my honest opinion, ridiculous ending.  Even if there is a sequel I don't forsee myself reading it.  The ending ruined any good feeling for the rest of the book on my part.  The hint of supernatural thrown in on the last few pages didn't fit in at all.  It was the Waldo of the 'Where Is Waldo' book series.  Not a book I will re-read or recommend.

VERDICT:  2.25/5  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. It will be available for purchase on September 18th, 2012.*

California's Creepy Caress

Published: June 21st, 2011
California Caress
By: Rebecca Sinclair
Zebra
ISBN-13: 9780821727713


Hope Bennett was determined to save her brother's life. And if that meant paying notorious gunslinger Drake Frazier to take his place in a fight, she'd barter her last gold nugget. But Hope soon discovered she'd have to give the handsome rattlesnake more than riches if she wanted his help. His improper demands infuriated her; even as she luxuriated in the tantalizing heat of his embrace, she refused to yield to her desires. She'd accept his terms, then find a way to escape him... somehow...

Review

   Hope Bennett has been taking care of her brother ever since an accident when they were children left him with the mental capacity of an eight year old.  That's why she'll do anything to get him out of a fight with a vicious man who's trying to jump their family's mining claim; even if it means promising her virginity to gunslinger Drake Frazier in exchange for him taking her brother's place.  Of course Hope will do anything to try and get out of it, even though their chemistry is smoking hot.  When tragedy strikes and Hope is forced to leave town with Drake, will she find out there's more to him than she ever could have imagined?  I'm sorry but this book made me extremely angry.  I wanted to like Hope and Drake - they had their moments I will admit.  But most of the time she was a simpering idiot being led around by her lust and he was an uncaring lout who came really close to raping her to get what he wanted.  They were basically the friends with benefits of the 1800s, but without the friend part really being a factor.  The thought that Hope found Drake attractive at ALL after he kept threatening to (and almost carrying out his threats) to rape her to get her payment.  It was truly disgusting.  Sometimes after the tragedy happened (won't say anymore for fear of spoilers) she acted like a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, which honestly is the only reasonable excuse for her behavior.  I definitely will NOT be reading any more books by Miss Sinclair, for fear that they'll be like this one in any way, shape or form.  Not at ALL recommended.

VERDICT:  1/5  Stars

*A copy of this book was given to me by the author herself, in exchange only for an honest review which I've given.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in online.*

Family Ties That Strangle

Expected Publication: January 24th, 2012
The Legacy of Eden
By: Nelle Davy
MIRABooks
ISBN-13: 9780778329558



For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name—no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways—and the once-prosperous farm.
Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died—alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land or the memories.
Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name.
Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family…and her own part in their mottled history.

Review

   Meredith Pincetti (it used to be Hathaway, but she took her Mother's maiden name) thought she was done with Aurelia for the rest of her lifetime.  She has managed to push down into oblivion the mostly disturbing memories of her time there.  But now that Cal Jr. her oldest cousin is dead, the farm is without an owner and in serious disrepair.  Either Meredith or one of her older sisters must return to take care of matters and choose what they want from the house before it's sold.  But it means reliving all of the memories that have haunted her for almost twenty years.  This book was an interesting family chronicle that spent much more time in the past than the present.  Most of the story is Meredith being told things by her Grandmother Lavinia, who is a very twisted and manipulative woman.  The family has had it's share of troubles and nasty conflicts over three generations.  All of these things have shaped a bitter relationship between Meredith and her sisters, Ava and Claudia.  I liked the backstory, but I felt like the ending was very anti-climactic for the way the build-up progressed.  I was disappointed, because I had been truly engrossed and couldn't wait to see what happens.  But I feel like I went to the end for nothing.  I would recommend this to avid readers of depressing adult fiction who don't mind ambiguous endings.

VERDICT: 3/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. The expected publication of this book is January 24th, 2012.*