Review: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

Amy Garvey’s transcendent teen debut is perfect for fans of Shiver and Beautiful Creatures. Wren’s unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned. -Synopsis from Goodreads
So Wren is a witch who knows nothing about being a witch because her mother won't talk to her about it. All of the women have the power but it's swept under the rug and no one talks about it. It's clear that Wren has never seen Practical Magic because when her boyfriend dies, she figures it's ok to bring him back from the dead. Listen up people, this always ends badly.

I did feel for Wren. I understand she was heart-broken and desperate to see her boyfriend Danny again. I get it. I've had people close to me die and I know what that feels like. But, honestly, what did she expect to happen afterwards? He can't go home, she can't take him to her house, he can't be seen by anyone. So what are you going to do?

It was a sweet little story about lost love and all that but mostly I felt like I was watching a cheesy 80's/90's movie. Oh wait, that's been done. I don't know. Maybe I just don't get the appeal of the zombie boyfriend. Aren't zombies supposed be, like, gross?

I also felt that the new love interest was just a little bland. The whole thing happens too quick and it feels a little strained. Of course, he's trying to help her with her undead previous boyfriend so I imagine that will put a little strain on the relationship. I just think if you're so in love with someone that you're willing to bring them back from the dead, you probably won't be quick to lock lips with the new boy just because he has a pulse.

So, overall, it was alright. It was entertaining but I wasn't head over heels for it.

*Disclaimer- I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Review: Juliet by Anne Fortier

Goodreads Summary
Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved Aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy.
   
This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever—a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei. In 1340, still reeling from the slaughter of her parents, Giulietta was smuggled into Siena, where she met a young man named Romeo. Their ill-fated love turned medieval Siena upside-down and went on to inspire generations of poets and artists, the story reaching its pinnacle in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.
   
But six centuries have a way of catching up to the present, and Julie gradually begins to discover that here, in this ancient city, the past and present are hard to tell apart. The deeper she delves into the history of Romeo and Giulietta, and the closer she gets to the treasure they allegedly left behind, the greater the danger surrounding her—superstitions, ancient hostilities, and personal vendettas. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the unforgettable blood feud, she begins to fear that the notorious curse—“A plague on both your houses!”—is still at work, and that she is destined to be its next target. Only someone like Romeo, it seems, could save her from this dreaded fate, but his story ended long ago. Or did it?
   
From Anne Fortier comes a sweeping, beautifully written novel of intrigue and identity, of love and legacy, as a young woman discovers that her own fate is irrevocably tied—for better or worse—to literature’s greatest star-crossed lovers.

My Thoughts 
The blurb on the book compared Juliet to a romantic Davinci Code and they weren't that far off. Julie Jacobs runs off to Siena, Italy after her aunt dies and leaves her a message letting her know that her inheritance is in a box in the Italian city and that her real name is actually Giulietta Tolomei. 

Once in Italy, Julie/Giulietta discovers that her family is embroiled in an old family feud and that she is a direct ancestor of the inspiration for Shakespeare's Juliet. Her mother has left her a box filled with writings and books as a treasure map of sorts and it's up to Julie/Giulietta to interpret the meanings all while being followed by mysterious men in tracksuits and on motorcycles. 


In between Julie's modern day chapters are chapters dedicated to retelling the story of the real Giulietta Tolomei and her Romeo Marescotti. Those chapters were especially beautiful and heartbreaking. 


Overall, I really enjoyed the book and both stories within it. There was a good mixture of romance, suspense, and mystery throughout.

Review: The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker

Kyra and David Winter are happier than they ever thought they could be. They have a comfortable home, stable careers, and a young son, Michael, whom they love more than anything. Yet because of their complicated histories, Kyra and David have always feared that the life they created was destined to be disrupted. And on one perfectly average summer day, it is: Michael disappears from his own backyard.

The only question is whose past has finally caught up with them: David feels sure that Michael was taken by his troubled ex-wife, while Kyra believes the kidnapper must be someone from her estranged family, someone she betrayed years ago.

As the Winters embark on a journey of time and memory to find Michael, they will be forced to admit these suspicions, revealing secrets about themselves they’ve always kept hidden. But they will also have a chance to discover that it’s not too late to have the family they’ve dreamed of; that even if the world is full of risks, as long as they have hope, the future can bloom.

Lyrical, wise, and witty, The Winters in Bloom is Lisa Tucker’s most optimistic work to date. This enchanting, life-affirming story will charm listeners and leave them full of wonder at the stubborn strength of the human heart.- Summary from Goodreads


My Thoughts
When I started this book it just seemed like a run of the mill kidnapping story where the overprotective parents turn their back for one second and the kid goes missing. As we get further into the story, the main characters back-stories begin to be peeled back layer by layer. David has an ex-wife who may or may not be responsible for their own sons death and Kyra has an estranged sister who wants to punish her for something we don't learn about until the last few chapters.

It's not until the back-stories come into play that the story really pulled me in. These characters are tragic and seem just relentlessly unhappy all the time which made them had to connect to. I have down days but I'm generally a happy person, David and Kyra are not.

So while I found the story to be interesting, I wasn't completely engrossed in it nor was I really invested in these characters lives. I've been very busy in real life as I read this so my distraction may have contributed to my lack of investment.


*Disclaimer- I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Summary
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing. 

My Thoughts
I've heard quite a few great things about this book and I loved Oliver's Delirium but it took me some time to pick this one up. I'm so glad I finally did.

At first, I thought the hype was unwarranted. The first few chapters just felt like we were dealing with some snotty popular girls who were fairly unlikeable. As Sam starts to replay the last day of her life, everything changed. Oliver does a great job of showing the gradual changes that Sam makes as she begins to connect the dots from her behavior to the behavior and feelings of others. As she strives to change her way of thinking and her behavior, I fell more in love with her.

Her growth was slow enough to be frustrating but I felt that was fairly accurate with her being a spoiled teenage girl because, hey, they are a stubborn bunch. The portrayal of high school was scarily accurate. I'd never really been bullied and I sure wasn't popular but I still felt as though I'd been transported back 10 years to high school. Oliver writes beautifully, the words just flow like water down a stream and makes it so easy to get caught up in the story.

If you are one of the, what, 3 people who haven't read this book. Go do it now. Seriously.

Review: The Legacy by Katherine Webb

A fresh and exciting new voice in contemporary fiction, Katherine Webb debuts with a haunting novel about a secret family history. Already a sensation in the United Kingdom, Webb’s The Legacy is a treat for every fan of upmarket women’s fiction and literary suspense in the vein of bestselling authors Kate Morton, Sarah Waters, and Diane Setterfield. Taut, affecting, and surprising—a story that ranges from present-day England back to the American West in the early twentieth century—The Legacy embroils two sisters in an investigation into the strange, never solved disappearance of their cousin, a dark mystery that opened deep family wounds that never healed.- Synopsis from Goodreads

The Legacy centers on two sisters Beth and Erica who have jointly inherited their recently deceased grandmother's manor house. They return to the house to sort through the belongings and decide what they should do with the house. Sounds fantastic except that the home holds a rather unpleasant memory, one Beth has been trying to run away from and Erica has been trying to figure out.

While trying to sort out the demons in their own closet, Erica stumbles upon a mystery surrounding her great-grandmother Caroline who held onto a secret of her own. Chapters alternate between the sisters story in the present and Caroline's own story set in 1903. The language is beautiful. I found myself sucked right into the story, able to perfectly picture each and every setting.

I did connect more with Caroline's heart-wrenching story than I did with that of Beth and Erica. There was something in her that just made it a bit more compelling. Of course, both secrets come to the surface around the same time though I thought they would be more interconnected. Caroline's secret, while interesting for the sisters, held little to no real significance on their lives and had absolutely nothing to do with their own secret. It just made the stories a little disconnected for me. I would have liked to see them woven together a little more than just having Erica doing the detective work. Despite all that, it was still a good story and an entertaining read.A great representation of the way secrets and lies affect not just our lives but the lives of those around us.

*Disclaimer- I received a copy of the book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Review: The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

Goodreads Summary

The papers have called me a monster. You’ve either concluded that I am a braggart as well as a sadist or that I have a deep and driving need to be caught and punished.  

In the sweltering heat of an Atlanta summer, a killer is pushing the city to its breaking point, preying on the unsuspecting, writing taunting letters to the media, promising more death. Desperate to stop the Wishbone Killer before another victim meets a shattering end, A.P.D. lieutenant Aaron Rauser turns to the one person he knows can penetrate a deranged mind: ex–FBI profiler Keye Street.

And you must certainly be wondering if I am, in fact, the stranger you seek.

Keye was a rising young star at the Bureau until addiction derailed her career and her life. Now sober and fighting to stay so, Keye picks up jobs where she can get them: catching adulterers, serving subpoenas, chasing down bailjumpers, and dodging the occasional bullet. With multiple victims, little to go on, and an entire police force looking for direction, the last thing Keye wants is to be pulled into the firestorm of Atlanta’s worst nightmare.

Shall I convince you?

And then it suddenly becomes clear that the hunter has become the hunted—and the stranger she seeks is far closer than she ever dared imagine.An electrifying thriller debut, The Stranger You Seek introduces a brash, flawed, and unforgettable heroine in a complex, twisting novel that takes readers deep into a sultry Southern summer, a city in the grips of chaos, and a harrowing cat-and-mouse game no reader will ever forget.

My Thoughts 


As someone who never really thought they were into thriller type novels, I found I've been reading and enjoying quite a few lately. The Stranger You Seek is is no exception. With the debut of a new detective series, Amanda Kyle Williams brings us the delightfully flawed but lovable Keye Street. 

Keye is a recovering alcoholic whose been fired from the FBI and now makes her living nabbing bail jumpers and serving court documents to difficult people. I thought she was fabulous from the start. She's tiny but tough and mouthy. I totally wanted to just hang out with her. 

When Keye's best friend Rauser calls her in to help him and the Atlanta PD track down a new serial killer, the actions ramps up. I had a hard time putting the book down at night when I needed to sleep because something new would come up and of course, I had to see how it played out. Williams is good at diverting your attention and making you believe you know who the killer is, then just as you begin to doubt it she slams you with a total curveball. I never saw the true identity of the killer coming. It was a total surprise. 


There was one small part near involving the resolution and revelation of the killer's identity that I didn't feel was explained enough and left me a little confused. It wasn't enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. It could possibly be that I simply misread something or accidentally skimmed an important paragraph in my hurry to read on and ensure that Keye was ok. 

Over all, I thought it was a fun and exciting ride. I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys a good thriller, even if you don't think you do. 

Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Daniel H. Wilson, the author of this book, has a doctorate in robotics from prestigious Carnegie Mellon and his writing credits include the nonfiction How to Survive A Robot Uprising and How to Build a Robot Army. That knowledge alone should activate your senses as you enter Robopocalypse, a realm where robots run free and humans flee skittering in many directions. Told with the unfolding menace of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this novel will keep you up late and your computer unplugged.- Synopsis from Goodreads
Robopocalypse is like a big summer blockbuster movie, which coincidentally it's in the process of becoming and has been given the honor of Steven Spielberg directing. That says a lot. It's highly entertaining, keeps you on the edge of your seat and waiting for more. I practically needed a bucket of popcorn on my lap as I read.

When explaining it to my husband I described it as a cross between Skynet from Terminator and I, Robot. In the near future, the human population is surrounded by robots. They have cars that talk to each other in order to avoid accidents, domestic robots to help out at home, military robots, etc etc. Then, as it always goes, one robot gets a little too smart for it's own good and decides that the humans aren't really necessary anymore. At what they call 'Zero Hour' all the world's robots snap and begin to rise against the humans. This is where all hell breaks loose.

The story starts at the end of the war where a group of humans have located what they call the black box of the war. It replays stories from the war, focusing on the small group of humans whose actions were deemed heroic and essential to the human resistance. The rest of the story is those scenes. Events leading up to and foreshadowing the coming war, during 'Zero Hour' and up through the end of the war. It's a great collection of people and will no doubt make a compelling ensemble action movie.

The book read quickly as I found myself sucked into the story. It felt like it was written as a movie and I could see the entire thing play out in my head. It's not perfect but it sure was entertaining as hell and I'm eagerly awaiting casting news for the movie. With Spielberg at the helm, I have no doubt the movie will be just as entertaining.