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Friday, September 26, 2014
8 Teens + 1 Harmless Prank Gone Wrong = Too Many Lives Changed Forever
1:00 AM
(Image from Edith Pattou's official website)
One sultry summer night in a Chicago suburb, the fates of eight teens collide when a harmless prank goes horribly wrong.
Brendan needs to blow off steam, needs to forget about the way his dad turns violet when he's mad. Which is all the time. He needs this end-of-summer party, needs the booze, needs anything that will help him bliss out—just for one night. But Brendan can't quite forget his dad, especially when he discovers the nasty little surprise the older man left in the glove compartment of his car ...
Emma just wants to have fun before the new school year starts, but her boyfriend's drinking too much and being a huge jerk. She's worried he's going to do something really stupid. Trying not to be too big of a buzz kill, she masks her anxiety as best she can ...
Chloe is a beautiful blonde who's got her own troubles to forget. And she plans to do just that with a few drinks and her new boy toy ...
Anil knows he doesn't belong with Chloe's crowd. He's still shocked that she wants to be with him at all. Blinded by her many charms, he goes along to the party, but the later the night gets, the larger his feeling of dread grows ...
Maxie knows Emma only invited her to the party as a favor to Maxie's mom. Back in town after four years away, Maxie feels lonely and stressed about starting school without really knowing anyone. Emma used to be her BFF, but things have changed a lot since Maxie left Chicago ...
Felix deals with his father's deployment in Afghanistan and his worry about his exhausted mother by smoking weed. He's not opposed to other methods, though, so he tags along with Emma and her gang to what promises to be an epic party. The fact that his old friend Maxie is coming along makes the prospect even more appealing. But as Felix smokes away his worries, the night is progressing toward its horrifying conclusion. Will he be too high to stop things before they get too crazy?
What will happen when these six, plus two others, have to face the consequences of the terrible choices they all make on one fateful night? How will they react? How will they cope? How will they survive?
The plot to Ghosting, Edith Pattou's YA novel in verse, is almost too simple to describe. Something horrible happens and everyone reacts to the tragedy in their own individual way. End of story. Except it's not. Told from varying viewpoints in sharp, nuanced poetry, Ghosting explores how profound, life-changing events often strike on the most ordinary of days in the most mundane of circumstances. It examines the sometimes fatal results of thoughtless decisions and impulsive actions—on the innocent as well as the guilty. Haunting, but hopeful, it's an impacting story told in a poetic voice that, nonetheless, cuts to the very heart of things.
(Readalikes: A million other YA books should be coming to mind, but I've got nothing. You?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language (a dozen or so F-bombs, plus milder invectives); violence; sexual innuendo; and depictions of illegal drug use and underage drinking/partying
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Ghosting from BookSparks as part of its Fall Reading Challenge blog tour. Thank you!)
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
TTT: What Books Are You Falling For This Autumn?
9:16 AM
It's Tuesday and you know what that means ... it's time for my favorite weekly bookish meme. I haven't participated in a few weeks, but I love this week's easy-breezy topic. I'm guaranteed to get some great reading recommendations while looking at people's lists for Top Ten Books on My Fall To-Be-Read List. Want to join in the fun? Click on over to The Broke and the Bookish and link yourself up.
Here's my list:
1. Doll Bones by Holly Black—I recently made my kids watch an old X-Files episode about a creepy doll. This looks like the perfect follow-up read aloud. Hee hee.
2. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult—I can't wait for this one to come out in a few weeks. I love Picoult and this novel about a woman trying to find the mother who abandoned her as a child sounds excellent.
3. Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell—This YA ghost story, which comes out on October 8, revolves around a girl who starts having odd dreams after moving into an old Louisiana plantation home. Sounds like a good Halloween read!
4. Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son by Lois Lowry—Yeah, yeah, I know this is technically three novels, but I recently purchased the Giver quartet in the lovely omnibus edition you see above, so I'm counting them as one book.
5. UnDivided by Neal Shusterman—Man, I better start playing the lottery so I can afford to buy all the great books that are coming out in October! This is the final book in what has been a thoroughly compelling and always thought-provoking series.
6. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd—I didn't love, love, love The Madman's Daughter, but I'm interested enough to give the sequel a whirl.
7. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson—Woodson always draws me in with her stories about family, friendship, ethnicity, etc. This one is a collection of poetry about her experiences as an African-American girl growing up during the 1960s and 1970s. It looks excellent.
8. We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni—This one just looks fun.
9. Contaminated by Em Garner—I'm reading this novel about zombie rehabilitation for Carl's R.I.P. Reading Challenge. It looks interesting.
10. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith—I've heard a lot about this thriller and figure it's about time I got around to reading it.
What about you? What books are you planning to read this Fall? Which should I add to my list?
Labels:Top Ten Tuesday | 16
bookworm(s) said...
Monday, September 22, 2014
Psychological Thriller Fans, This One's For You
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Residents of Gardnerville live in a paradise unlike any other place on earth. Within its borders, no sickness or disease exists. People routinely live past 100 years old, even though they always look decades younger than their actual ages. Those wracked with incurable illnesses in the outside world flock to Gardnerville, where their lives are magically prolonged. The town bestows other gifts as well, like 16-year-old Skylar's ability to "read" people's deep, dark secrets.
No magical utopia comes without a price, however—and Gardnerville's is steep. Every four years, the town's strange magic overtakes a teenager's mind, causing them to create a terrible crime. The perpetrators are locked up in the reformatory; when they return to their families years later, they're different. Forever.
Four years ago, the crazy overtook Piper, Skylar's older sister. Skylar's never recovered from the shock of watching Piper force her classmates to jump to their deaths. Forget-me-not pills help numb her, erasing the awful memories from her hazy mind. But lately, the drugs aren't enough. Skylar knows the only way to end Gardnerville's horrific cycle of violence is to stop it. But how can one zoned-out teenager do that? The messages Piper left behind may hold the key to ending the fourth year problem for good—if only Skylar can find the courage to remember the very things she's trying so desperately to forget.
In (Don't You) Forget About Me, Kate Karyus Quinn blends many elements (mystery, magic, romance, horror) into a unique and compelling psychological thriller. It takes some patience to understand the world she's created since the rules aren't too clear, especially in the beginning of the novel. Still, the story's different, which makes Gardnerville and Skylar's struggle to solve its mysteries even more intriguing. Multi-layered and full of surprises, (Don't You) Forget About Me is is as mesmerizing as it is haunting. If you dig a good psychological thriller, this one's for you.
(Readalikes: Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock)
Grade:
Four years ago, the crazy overtook Piper, Skylar's older sister. Skylar's never recovered from the shock of watching Piper force her classmates to jump to their deaths. Forget-me-not pills help numb her, erasing the awful memories from her hazy mind. But lately, the drugs aren't enough. Skylar knows the only way to end Gardnerville's horrific cycle of violence is to stop it. But how can one zoned-out teenager do that? The messages Piper left behind may hold the key to ending the fourth year problem for good—if only Skylar can find the courage to remember the very things she's trying so desperately to forget.
In (Don't You) Forget About Me, Kate Karyus Quinn blends many elements (mystery, magic, romance, horror) into a unique and compelling psychological thriller. It takes some patience to understand the world she's created since the rules aren't too clear, especially in the beginning of the novel. Still, the story's different, which makes Gardnerville and Skylar's struggle to solve its mysteries even more intriguing. Multi-layered and full of surprises, (Don't You) Forget About Me is is as mesmerizing as it is haunting. If you dig a good psychological thriller, this one's for you.
(Readalikes: Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language (about a dozen F-bombs + milder invectives), violence/gore, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of (Don't You) Forget About Me from the generous folks at HarperCollins. Thank you!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Koryta Thriller Not Quite Thrilling Enough
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
When 14-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder involving local law enforcement, his family knows it's not safe for him to stay in his hometown. Violent killers are on the loose—and they're looking for Jace. Using a false name, he is enrolled in a wilderness survival program for troubled teens. Off the grid in the Montana mountains, he should be safe while the police hunt down the murderers. Should be.
The Blackwell Brothers, a dangerous duo, know their continued freedom depends on the elimination of Jace Wilson. No matter where he flees, they will find him. Only three people stand in their way: Ethan and Allison Serbin, the couple who runs the wilderness survival program, and Hannah Faber, a lonely firefighter who battles her demons from the tower where she watches the forest for flare-ups. Compared to the Blackwells, it's not much of a defense. As the murderers come ever closer to Jace's hideout, it's up to him and a trio of unprepared adults to keep them all alive. But the Blackwells, as everyone knows, never allow witnesses to live ...
Given all the hype surrounding this book, I expected a lot more out of Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta. I figured it would be an exciting, fast-paced thriller—and it was. It just wasn't much else. The characters—with the exception of the Blackwells, who were delightfully unique (in a scary, cold-blooded kind of way)—didn't get developed much in the course of the story. Plotwise, the novel remained pretty generic. On the whole, I found the whole thing depressing and disappointing. I wanted—expected—too much from it, I guess. Overall, it's an average thriller, entertaining enough, but with few surprises.
(Readalikes: Although I haven't read the novel versions of these movies, Those Who Wish Me Dead reminded me of The Client [book by John Grisham] and Stand By Me [based on The Body by Stephen King])
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language, violence, and scenes of peril
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
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