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When Jill MacSweeney's mother announces her plans to adopt a baby, the 17-year-old can't figure out how she's supposed to feel.  Excited?  Angry?  Encouraging?  Sad?  All of those emotions and more ricochet around inside her, because although the adoption idea has come out of nowhere, Jill can see it for what it is—a lonely woman's attempt to replace her dead husband and college-bound daughter with someone who needs mothering.  Jill understands, but she can't quite get behind such an extreme decision.  Her mother won't be dissuaded, though, so, because she knows it's what her dad would want, Jill's trying her best to be supportive.  At least until she can convince her mom to vent her grief in some less drastic way.

Mandy Kalinowski knows the baby growing inside her will be safe with Robin MacSweeney.  Even though she's old (52) for an adoptive mother, Robin seems steady, stable—two adjectives that don't describe 18-year-old Mandy at the moment.  It's because of the woman's kind emails that Mandy decides to let Robin adopt her baby when its born.  Also, because she agrees to an unconventional adoption, with no contracts, no lawyers.  With Robin, Mandy can give her baby a better life and not have to let go of any of her closely-guarded secrets.  

Mandy's arrival in Denver leaves Jill even more convinced that taking in the pregnant 18-year-old is a bad, bad idea.  Mandy seems shifty, secretive—the exact kind of scam artist that could take her already vulnerable mother for everything she's got.  But the more Jill gets to know Mandy, the more she sees the scarred girl underneath the rough exterior.  And the more she observes her mom, the more she believes that a baby might be just what Robin needs.  At the same time, Mandy's got her own agenda, one that might dash every dream Robin has left.  With the baby's due date fast approaching, the three women must learn how to understand each other, trust each other and, ultimately, decide how to proceed when all of their hopes, dreams and goals are on the line.  

Well, I did a pretty shoddy job of describing the beauty that is Sara Zarr's fourth novel, How to Save a Life. Maybe, being an adoptive mother, I'm predisposed to like books that are about a subject that's so close to my heart.  Or, more probably, Zarr just knows how to write a story that's touching without being saccharine and sentimental.  Because, the truth is, I totally felt this one.  The characters are sympathetic, complex and genuine.   Same could be said for the story, which takes some surprising turns, but remains believable, true.  How to Save a Life is just one of those books that engaged me from its first word to its last.  It's a heart-wrenching, hopeful novel, one that reminds me why I love contemporary YA so much.  I wish I had the words to describe how much the story touched me, but I don't, so I'll leave you with these two words instead:  Read it.       

(Readalikes: Reminds me a teensy tiny bit of Chosen by Chandra Hoffman)

Grade:  A

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (1 F-bomb, plus milder invectives) and some sexual content 

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  While this review will not contain spoilers for Shadows, it may inadvertently spoil plot surprises from Ashes, its predecessor.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Although Alex has lived in relative safety for the last few months, she knows she can't stay in Rule.  Sure, it's zombie-free, but there are other predators in the city.  And these animals are still in control of their brains—they know all too well how to manipulate teenage girls, to use them, to break them.  Alex can't let that happen to her.  She's already lost the people she loves most; she can't lose herself as well.  But outside the protected town are horrors she can barely fathom, let alone fight.  Captured by a sinister group of Changed, she waits ... to die.

Unbeknownst to Alex, Tom Eden is alive.  Still recovering from the near death experience that led to his separation from Alex, he's hiding out in Wisconsin.  Although he's being sheltered by good people, he knows he's not completely safe.  The Changed are always out there, as are the bounty hunters who roam the ruined country looking for able-bodied men to kidnap and sell to the highest bidder.  Trekking through the snow to Wisconsin, where Tom believes Alex is still living in Rule, will not be an easy journey.  But it's one he has to take.  He can't live without Alex.

As Tom and Alex fight their individual battles for survival, they inch closer and closer to each other.  But in a world like theirs, where death lurks around every corner, there's little chance the two will ever meet again.  Especially when fighting to stay alive seems to be an exercise in futility.  Still, Tom trudges on.  Still, Alex fights.  Still, they hope—for a better life, for a better world and, however impossible it seems, for each other. 

So, the thing I loved most about Ashes, the first book in Ilsa J. Bick's YA zombie trilogy, is that it wasn't really about the zombies.  They were present, of course, but the blood and guts took a backstage to the human drama.  In Shadows?  Not so much.  This time, it's more about the gore.  Which got old.  And nauseating.  Really nauseating.  The story's exciting— it's an edge-of-your-seat, can't-breathe-'til-you-finish, thrill-a-minute horror extravaganza.  And because Bick wrote it, the book's so compelling that you can't stop yourself from reading it even though it's making you physically ill.  My overall feelings on this one, though?  It kept me totally absorbed, but I was a tad disappointed.  I wanted more humanity, less zombie action.  Still, I enjoy this series and I can't wait to see how it all ends up.  I really can't, because Bick always surprises me.  Even if it's with the kind of gore that makes me throw up in my mouth—and swallow it down because I don't want to waste time throwing up when I need to be turning pages to find out what's going to happen next.  Yeah, it's totally like that.    

(Readalikes:  Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick; also other zombie novels like The Passage by Justin Cronin; The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan; Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry; The Enemy by Charles Higson; etc.)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for language (a few F-bombs as well as milder invectives), violence/gore, and sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I received two finished copies of Shadows from the generous folks at Egmont USA.  Thank you!

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Giveaway time!  The very generous people at Egmont USA have given me an extra copy of Shadows to give away to one of you.  It's a brand new, hardcover zombie book, just in time for Halloween.  What's not to love?  What do you have to do to win it?  How about this:  Leave me a comment telling me about the best Halloween costume you ever wore.  Please be sure to leave an email address along with your answer.  As always, I'll give you extra entries for spreading the word about the giveaway (1 extra entry per method of word-spreading).  I'll choose a winner on October 31st.  Giveaway is open to readers with U.S. and Canadian addresses only.  Good luck!

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

If you've read my reviews of In the Woods or The Likeness or Faithful Place, you know I pretty much think that Irish novelist Tana French walks on water.  I mean, the girl's good.  Very, very good.  She's got a potty mouth, but still, I can't get enough of her books.  Every one of them boasts intriguing characters, complex plotting, and the kind of writing that sucks a reader in and doesn't let go.  Her newest, Broken Harbor, is no exception.  I admit it's not my favorite of French's books; even still, it kept me wholly absorbed and totally entertained.  The girl's good, I tell you, really, really good.

Like the other books in French's Dublin Murder Squad series, Broken Harbor takes a minor character from a previous novel and thrusts him into the spotlight.  This time, it's Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy (from Faithful Place).  The 42-year-old's tough-but-fair reputation has made him the squad's top detective, which is why a hot new case lands in his lap.  A family of four has been found dead in their home, a newly-constructed edifice in a half-built "luxury" community by the sea.  To Mick and his very green partner, 31-year-old Richie Curran, it seems like your everyday murder/suicide.  Except that something about the whole thing seems off.  If Patrick and Jennifer Spain were as happy together as everyone says they were, what's with all the holes in the walls of their otherwise well-kept home?  And what about the video cameras and baby monitors everywhere?  The details just don't add up.  Combined with the eeriness of the abandoned community where the Spains lived, the whole thing is just downright ... spooky.

Mick would like to get the case solved and get the heck out of Broken Harbor.  The place gives him the creeps—not just because of what happened to the Spains, but because of his own ties to the seaside spot.  Memories of his own family's Broken Harbor nightmare have already sent his little sister over the edge.  Will Mick be next?  Or will figuring out what happen to the Spains finally put his own ghosts to rest?

Although I had the killer figured out long before Mick did, I still found Broken Harbor compelling.  Not as compelling as the other books in the series, but still absorbing in the way that only a novel by Tana French can be.  I've heard other French fans say that this one felt a little formulaic and I agree, although I don't mind it as much with French as I do with less talented authors.  Still, I'm hoping she'll dazzle me with something new and original for the next book.  I have to admit, though, that I'll keep reading her anyway.  Whatever French writes, I'll devour.  Like I keep saying, the girl's that good.  

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of other novels by Tana French, especially Faithful Place)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for language, violence and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find