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Caren Gray never intended to return to the Louisiana plantation where she grew up.  Serving in the "big house" was her mother's ambition—never hers.  But, here she is anyway, walking the land where slaves once toiled.  If she'd been born 150 years earlier, Caren would have been working alongside those dark-skinned workers—her ancestors—cutting cane, polishing the master's silver, and raising a family in the tiny slave cottages that still stand on Belle Vie's vast grounds.  Instead, she makes good money managing the plantation, inviting everyone from schoolchildren to senior citizens to visit and learn from its history.  Maybe it's not the career she imagined for herself, but it works for the 37-year-old single mother.

Then, comes a terrible discovery:  the body of a young migrant worker is found on the grounds of Belle Vie. Murder.  Caren doesn't recognize the dead woman, but the vicious killing rocks her to her core.  She's always felt safe at Belle Vie (the plantation's ghosts notwithstanding), but now she worries—are she and her 9-year-old daughter safe living in such an isolated spot?

As the police struggle to find the murderer, Caren finds herself and many of the people she works with at the center of the investigation.  Caren knows she didn't commit the crime, but who did?  Was it someone who knew the woman well, a fellow laborer, perhaps?  Or a local, upset with the migrant workers for "stealing" jobs that could belong to him?  And then there's Groveland—plenty of people are angry with the corporation's aggressive land-grabbing tactics.  Could a fanatic protester have gone too far?  Or is the killer something less down-to-Earth?  Because, as no one but Caren knows, this isn't the first murder to have happened on the grounds of Belle Vie.  Maybe the slaves are finally getting their revenge ...

Although I didn't care much for Attica Locke's debut novel, Black Water Rising, I loved her sophomore attempt.  The Cutting Season offers just about everything I look for in a literary thriller—a twisty plot, complex characters, a vivid setting, skilled writing, etc.  Atmospheric and haunting, the story kept me mesmerized from beginning to end.  I don't give out A's very often, but this one definitely deserves—and receives—high marks from me.    

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a teensy bit of Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman)

Grade:  A-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for strong language (a dozen or so F-bombs, plus milder invectives), violence and mild sexual innuendo/content

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Cutting Season from the generous folks at Harper Collins.  Thank you!

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Ruby Daly wakes up on her 10th birthday expecting the usual fanfare—hugs, kisses and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  That's not what happens.  Not by a long shot.  What does happen gets Ruby sent away to a government-run camp for "special" kids like her. Six years later, she's still there, still trying to understand the dark, dangerous powers swirling inside her.  The harsh "rehabilitation" camp hasn't changed Ruby, except to make her more cautious, more lonely and more scared.  Kids on the "outside" don't live past age 10; kids in the camp do, but to what end?  To become powerful machines with no families, no friends, no futures?  Ruby doesn't want that kind of "life."     

When Ruby sees a chance to escape the camp, she takes it without looking back.  But "freedom" isn't quite what it's cracked up to be either.  Now, she's on the run, hiding from various enemies, one more cunning than the next.  She doesn't mean to involve anyone else in her problem, but hooking up with a small band of fugitives like herself might be the only thing that can save her.  Or kill her faster.  As her pursuers get ever more desperate, it's starting to look like the latter ...  

The Darkest Minds, a new paranormal YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, has received all kinds of buzz around the book blogosphere.  I'm still trying to figure out why, exactly.  Yes, it's an intense, non-stop action kind of book, but, the story line feels way too familiar.  Like something I've read before—over and over and over.  Same goes for the characters, the romance, the, well, everything.  Add copyediting issues to the mix and you see why The Darkest Minds just didn't earn my eternal book love.  It kept me reading, I will say that.  It just needed some originality, a streamlined plot and a better-developed cast.  In other words, a major re-write.  No biggie.      

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of the Gone series by Michael Grant; Doomed by Tracy Deebs; and a little of the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman)

Grade:  C

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for strong language (a few F-bombs, plus milder invectives), violence, and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The Darkest Minds from the generous folks at Disney/Hyperion.  Thank you!

  

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(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers for Viola in the Spotlight, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from its predecessor, Viola in Reel Life.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

After spending a year at a boarding school in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana, 15-year-old Viola Chesterton is thrilled to be back in New York.  Brooklyn just feels right.  It's home—the place where people get her clothes, get her shoes, get her.  Sure, she misses her roommates from Prefect, but here she has her family and her original BFFAAs, Andrew Bozelli and Caitlin Pullapilly.  Viola can't wait to spend the summer with her besties, eating at all the restaurants she's missed, bicycling in Prospect Park, and sunbathing at Rockaway Beach.  It's going to be perfect.

Then, Andrew announces that he'll be spending most of the summer at a sleepaway camp in Maine and Caitlin mentions her new, full-time job at a dental office.  Suddenly, Viola's perfect summer is looking a little ... lonely.  When a cute British teenager moves into the Chesterton's downstairs apartment, she perks up—oooh, the possibilities—but Maurice has someone else in his sights, someone whose parents don't want her even going near a boy.  Before she knows it, Viola's summer has become a whole lot more exciting than she ever dreamed it could be, just not necessarily in a good way.  She's running interference for Caitlin and Maurice, interning for a cranky lighting director, and trying to figure out what exactly is making Andrew act so weird around her.  Viola's cracking under all the pressure.  She can't help asking herself some uncomfortable questions:  Was coming home the right thing to do?  Does she fit in in Brooklyn anymore?  Did she leave her heart—not to mention her true friends—back in Indiana?  Viola's going to have to decide where she really belongs.  If, of course, she survives what is turning out to be a very interesting summer ...

As much as I adore Adriana Trigiani's adult novels, I haven't loved the author's YA series.  I'm not sure why, since its filled with the same kind of warmth as her other books.  It's just that our heroine—Viola—doesn't quite do it for me.  She's funny, for sure, but she's also kind of self-centered and whiny.  Plus, Viola in the Spotlight doesn't offer much in the way of a plot.  So, while the book's entertaining enough, it's not going to stick out in a crowd of contemporary YA novels.  I really want to love this series, but it's more ho-hum than I would have expected from an author like Trigiani.  In the end, I found Viola in the Spotlight, like its predecessor (Viola in Reel Life) to be just okay.  Bummer.  

(Readalikes:  Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for nothing offensive, just content most suited for readers aged 12 and up

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Viola in the Spotlight from the generous folks at HarperTeen.  Thank you!

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In 1936, Louis Zamperini—a California boy born of two Italian immigrants—was on top of the world.  After breaking records in his home state and beyond, the 26-year-old runner traveled to Berlin to compete in the Olympics.  He didn't medal, but that didn't dim his dream at all—he simply trained harder, his sights set on the 1940 games.  Little did Zamperini know that that competition would never occur.  Or that a few years later, he'd be trapped in a Japanese prison camp, his finely-toned body wasting away from the effects of starvation, dehydration and frequent beatings.  Louis Zamperini's journey from one extreme to the other is a tale so incredible, so inconceivable, so totally unbelievable that it can only be fiction.

Except it's not.

It's easy to see why journalist Laura Hillenbrand chose Louis Zamperini's story to be the subject of her second book.  The tale has all the daring, desperation and drama of the most action-packed thriller.  The fact that Zamperini is a real person just makes it more affecting.  As she did in Seabiscuit—her best-selling debut—Hillenbrand breathes vivid life into her hero, drawing readers into Zamperini's story with subtle, but significant skill. I'd put off reading Unbroken, despite fervent recommendations from family and friends, because it just didn't sound like "my" kind of book.  Here's the thing, though:  It didn't matter one whit.  Unbroken hooked me from the very first page, stunning me with each new detail, mesmerizing me with every word, every scene.  Absorbing doesn't begin to describe this one.  Stunning, epic, sweeping—I don't even know which words to use.  Except for these two:  read it.  

(Readalikes:  Other books about WWII and the prison camp experience, although no specific titles are coming to mind.  Help?)

Grade:  A

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (one F-bomb, plus milder invectives), violence, and disturbing scenes/subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Unbroken from Changing Hands Bookstore with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.