My feelings on this book are rather mixed. I needed some time to process this one afterThis review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
My feelings on this book are rather mixed. I needed some time to process this one after finishing it. I wasn’t exactly sure what I really thought about the book as a whole. On one hand, I was really curious to learn what really happened that night that Sloan and Cherry were the only survivors after a massacre at the summer camp they both were working at. Unfortunately on the other hand, the story took a turn that I didn’t expect and I honestly didn’t care for. The ending turned out to be a huge disappointment.
Sloan and Cherry both survived a terrible tragedy at the camp that they were working at and ended up being the only two survivors. Sloan doesn’t remember what happened and wants to get her memories back so that she can move on. Cherry and Sloan met at camp just prior to the tragedy and are now the most important people to one another. Sloan’s mother does not like Cherry at all but their bond remains strong.
Sloan starts to question what really happened that night and starts to doubt those she cares and trusts most of all. She sees connections that may not be there and becomes desperate to find answers. It was hard to see Sloan spiraling out of control but I did want to see her find those answers that she needed. Cherry and Sloan’s relationship felt rather toxic at times and I wondered if maybe Sloan’s mother was right after all.
I listened to the audiobook and thought that Mia Hutchinson-Shaw did a wonderful job with the story. I honestly don’t know if I would have liked the book as much as I did without her narration. She did a wonderful job of bringing this group of characters to life. I would not hesitate to listen to more of her narration work in the future.
I think that some readers will like this one a bit more than I did. I do think that the book had some really positive traits but the ending just didn’t work for me at all. I would definitely give this author’s work a try again in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and Penguin Random House Audio....more
I liked this one but I thought that it could be hard to follow at times. After quickly This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
I liked this one but I thought that it could be hard to follow at times. After quickly getting lost while listening to the audiobook, I decided to start over and listen to the book while following along in my print copy which worked very well for me. There are a lot of characters and quite a few flashbacks to an earlier time so it is a lot to keep straight. I did enjoy the book quite a bit and was eager to see how everything would be connected.
The book opens a few years in the past with Katie telling her brother to walk home by himself so she could hang out with her boyfriend. When she gets home, her brother has been attacked and his life will soon spiral out of control. Then we meet Detective Laurence Page as he begins to investigate the murder of an older man which raises a lot of questions. Katie will do whatever it takes to keep her brother safe while the detective is determined to find out what really happened.
I believe that this is the first time that I have had the chance to listen to Rosalie Craig’s narration and I thought that she did a great job with the story. I found her voice to be very pleasant and easy to listen to for long periods of time. Even though I thought that the narrator did a good job with the story, I believe that this is one that might be best read in another format due to the complexity of the story.
I would recommend this book to others. Once I got into the story, I was hooked. I found the story to be incredibly interesting and exciting. I couldn’t wait to see how everything would turn out in the end. I look forward to reading more of Alex North’s work in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio....more
I found this book to be incredibly entertaining! I picked this book up largely because This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
I found this book to be incredibly entertaining! I picked this book up largely because it has a rather catchy title but I didn’t really know what to expect. I ended up reading the book cover to cover in a single day so I guess you could say that it was a winner for me. I did figure out the big twist before it was revealed in the story but there were still plenty of surprised to keep things interesting. I am so glad that I decided to give this book a try.
Alice knows more about horror movies than anyone else. If you want to know how to be a final girl, she’s the person you need on your side. Unfortunately, her knowledge couldn’t save her sister who was murdered at a Halloween party and Alice is the only witness. Just as Alice is ready to testify against her sister’s killer, she is transported back to the day of the crime and has the chance to save her sister. Alice soon learns that not everything was as she thought it was that day.
This book was rather exciting. I thought that all of the references to horror movies were a lot of fun. I was fully invested in the mystery surrounding the killer and wanted to see Alice stop him. The story is really fast-paced and it doesn’t take too long for the body counts to begin to rise. I loved the time travel aspect of the story and it was obvious how much Alice wanted to change the events of the day that her sister died.
I would recommend this book to others. I had fun with this tale which often felt like a horror film. It was great to see Alice work to make things right. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more of this talented author’s work in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Razorbill....more
My feelings are kind of mixed with this book. I have read one other book by A.S. King iThis review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
My feelings are kind of mixed with this book. I have read one other book by A.S. King in the past and enjoyed her work so I was eager to give this one a try. This was a strange book. Very readable but strange. It was a shorter book and I flew through it. I did enjoy the book but I found it to be a lot more abstract than I expected it to be.
Truda lives in a world where time has stopped. The world has adapted but everyone is still searching for something that will get time moving again. All schools are now requiring a class where students will work on theories to solve the time problem. At home, Tru’s father spends his days crafting their home into a series of boxes while Tru just wants her mom to come home. Soon Tru discovers that she can throw a javelin further than anyone ever has and the rooms in her house are all turned on their side. It seems that everything in the world is off-kilter and needs a jump start to get back on track.
I kept waiting for everything to fall into place and start making sense but I think that the message in this book wasn’t as clear cut as I had hoped it would be. The writing style was also quite different with a lot of sentence fragments which I think worked within this story quite well but it did take some time to get used to. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters in this story but I felt compelled to keep reading just to see how time would get moving again.
I am glad that I read this book and I think that it could work well for some readers but others may have some trouble with it. This is a different kind of story and I found it to be quite imaginative. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more from A.S. King in the future.
I received a copy of this book from the Penguin Teen via Bookish First.
Initial Thoughts This was strange. Very readable but strange. I flew through the book and I did enjoy it but it was a little more abstract than I had expected. Tru is a teenage girl living in a world where time has stopped. Everyone is focused on getting time started again but in the meantime, the world has adapted. At home, her father spends his days crafting their home into a series of boxes while Tru just wants her mom to come home. It seems that everything is off-kilter and needs a jump start to get going again. ...more
This was a great book! I loved I Have Lost My Way by this author when I read it a couplThis review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
This was a great book! I loved I Have Lost My Way by this author when I read it a couple of years ago so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I had no idea what to expect but I was pretty sure that this book would be a good bet since I have enjoyed the author’s work in the past and part of the story takes place in a bookstore. There’s just something about stories about books and bookstores. I found this book to be a very enjoyable read from beginning to end.
Aaron feels like he is kind of stuck and things are just going to happen because they are inevitable. He runs a struggling bookstore with his father, Ira, but he doesn’t have a lot to look forward to on a daily basis. He decides to try to sell some of his brother’s records to make some money and he runs into Chad. Chad quickly inserts himself into Aaron’s life and he meets Hannah. This starts a chain of events where things are changing at the bookstore and he has some really big issues to deal with before it gets too late.
I was hooked by this story right away. I felt really bad for Aaron and wanted to see things start working out better for him. I understood the decisions that he made and liked seeing him work through some of the big things in his life. I really loved the cast of characters in this book. Chad was such a positive influence and I love the fact that he didn’t let his disability stop him from doing anything. Hannah was great and has overcome a lot in her life. Ike and the crew at the bookstore were fantastic and usually brought a smile to my face when they showed up on the page.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a very well written story with wonderful characters that dealt with some very big issues. I will definitely be reading more of Gayle Forman’s work in the future.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from Penguin Teen via Bookish First....more
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! I marked this book as currently reading weeks ago but This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! I marked this book as currently reading weeks ago but it really only took me a few days to read it once I had time to sit down with it. I have to admit that one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book was the fabulous cover. The story sounded promising so I was eager to give it a try. Once I started reading this book, I was hooked and ended up having a fantastic time with it.
Eleanor goes back home to her family after being away at school at the start of the story. It becomes immediately apparent that Eleanor's family isn't your normal family. Her grandfather and several other members of the family turn into wolves and her mother spends most of her time in a tub. I immediately had so many questions that I needed answers to which kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.
The book is told from Eleanor's point of view. Eleanor was an interesting character. I liked her but I wanted to know more than I felt like she was sharing. I wanted to know why Eleanor left the family to go to school in the first place but the big mystery for me was finding out what Eleanor was and what she could do. I had similar questions about some of the other family members and Arthur who was more of a family friend.
This book was rather weird. I like weird books so that worked out well for me but I am not sure that this will be the right book for every reader. I really liked the writing and found myself pulled in the story right away. I liked the fact that anything could happen at any time and I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what would happen.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for something different. I had a great time with this book and look forward to reading more of this author's work in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Bookish First.
Initial Thoughts I liked this book. It was a little weird but I like weird so it all worked. ...more
I really liked this book! I have to admit that while I thought this book sounded intereThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I really liked this book! I have to admit that while I thought this book sounded interesting from the start, I was only mildly interested in it. Once I had a copy in my possession, I decided to give it a try and I ended up reading the entire book cover to cover in a single day. I was drawn into this story as soon as I started reading and it captured my attention until I turned the last page. I am so glad that I took a chance on this book.
This book falls into several genres. It is a coming of age story, a historical fiction tale since it is set in the 1970s, and a medical drama because a large portion of the book takes place in the operating room. I loved the fact that not only was this book was able to do so many things but that it did them well. I am not sure that all readers will enjoy the detailed surgery scenes in this book since they are a little graphic but I loved them. Of course, I have also been known to watch surgeries on television as a form of entertainment.
Gene is a young man living in 1970s Arizona. He meets a girl at the start of the story and wants to get to know her better. When they are on their first date together, she has an emergency and Gene calls his father, who is a doctor, to come help. Patty ends up needing surgery and Gene is there for her every step of the way. When Gene is in college, he knows his grades may not be enough to get him into medical school so he spends his summer following a heart surgeon and his team at the hospital in hopes of getting a recommendation.
We really watch Gene grow up in this book. There were some times in this book that I wanted to look away because I knew Gene was about to do something that was not going to work out well. I love it when a book can make a character feel so real that it is almost painful to watch their life implode. This book does deal with a lot of tough issues and Gene learns a lot of lessons in these pages. I am just glad that I was able to go on this journey with him.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a well-written story and I loved the medical aspect of the story. I think that Gregory D. Williams crafted a very entertaining story and I was saddened to learn that he passed away in 2020 before the publication of this book.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from Grand Canyon Press....more
I really enjoyed this book! I was drawn to this book both by its fabulous cover and itsThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I really enjoyed this book! I was drawn to this book both by its fabulous cover and its description. I just love a good end of the world story and this one sounded different than others I have read. I found this book to be engaging from the start and before long it became impossible to put down. I found this book to be quite entertaining as well as thought-provoking and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to give it a try.
This book is told from several points of view. First, we meet Nico who has spent the first 18 years of her life in a locked up farmhouse with her parents and their dog, Harry. Now her mother is gone and her father says that it is time that she goes on a journey to Manchester. Kit is a 12-year-old boy who has lived his life in a movie theatre and elementary school in a small town. Eventually, he begins his own journey with two others in hopes of finding a safe zone. We also occasionally get to see the Deliverer's point of view. The Deliverer is rather mysterious but has delivered goods to Nico's family for years and seems to know exactly what to do at times.
The characters in this book were very well done. It was easy to care about Nico, Kit, and the rest of the characters because they were all inherently good people. There are still bad people in the world and our group of characters has a few difficult run-ins but the main obstacle is really the harshness of the world. The supporting characters were fantastic and I love that we got to see how much they care for each other and that they still have hope.
I found this book to very original. The swarms of Flies were more frightening than I could have imagined and the flu is just as deadly. This is a very dangerous world that these characters must navigate. Just when I thought I had a good understanding of what was happening, the author took the story to a whole new level. The science-fiction elements are very strong in this story and I was completely captivated by the complexity of the story.
I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a book that was very hard to put down. I loved the way that the story took unexpected turns that made me question everything that had happened before. I will definitely be reading more of David Arnold's work in the future.
I received an advance reader edition of this book from Viking Books for Young Readers via Bookish First....more
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