Waiting on Wednesday: Take the Fall

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we spotlight a book we are eagerly anticipating.

My WoW this week is:

Take the Fall
By Emily Hainsworth
Expected Publication: February 16th, 2016
From Balzer & Bray

From Goodreads:

WHO KILLED GRETCHEN MEYER?

Fear grips the residents of Hidden Falls the night Sonia Feldman and her best friend, Gretchen Meyer, are attacked in the woods. Sonia was lucky to escape with her life, but Gretchen’s body is discovered at the bottom of a waterfall. Beautiful, popular, and seemingly untouchable, Gretchen can’t be gone. Even as Sonia struggles with guilt and confusion over having survived, the whole town is looking to her for information…could she have seen something that will lead the police to the killer?

At the top of the list of suspects is Gretchen’s ex-boyfriend—and Sonia’s longtime enemy—Marcus Perez. So when Marcus comes to Sonia for help clearing his name, she agrees, hoping to find evidence the police need to prove he’s the killer. But as Gretchen’s many secrets emerge and the suspects add up, Sonia feels less sure of Marcus’s involvement, and more afraid for herself. Could Marcus, the artist, the screwup, the boy she might be falling for have attacked her? Killed her best friend? And if it wasn’t him in the woods that night…who could it have been?


I figured something creepy was due for Halloween and even though this one won't be out for a while, I know it'll scare me silly when I read it. Emily's first book, Through to You, was amazing and I can't wait to read this next one from her!

What book are you waiting on?

Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Fun!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where we make lists about bookish topics.

This week is Halloween week. Halloween is seriously my favourite holiday, so I had to make sure I actually came onto my blog to make this list. This week is a freebie, so it's pretty much anything goes, so my list will be some fun, scary books that remind me of Halloween. Get ready to sleep with the lights on!

1. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Part ghost story, part love story, this one kept me on the edge of my seat and scared me silly.

2. This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers - Zombies at their best. Summers effortlessly weaves together a story that could be real. A girl who doesn't want to fight to survive, but ends up surprising herself by how hard she fights for her friends.

3. Rooms by Lauren Oliver - Told from many perspectives, two of which are ghosts, this tells the story of a dysfunctional family and the house they live in. Super cool and creepy.

4. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma - This book is just creepy. After finishing it, I still wasn't sure what had happened and it stayed with me for nights after. Perfect for Halloween.

5. Hexed by Michelle Krys - Gotta have a witch tale on here. This one isn't really scary, but witches equal Halloween to me. This one has some Buffy elements and some cool witchcraft to make for an entertaining read.

6. The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe - A virus infects a small island and quickly spreads to the rest of Canada, then the world. Scary enough right?

7. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - A zombie book that takes place long after the apocalypse in a town that's starting over. Very old-fashioned and backwards and Mary will do anything to get out of it, even if that means crossing the fence into the unknown. Creepy at its best, and the sequels are amazing as well!

8. My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent - Demons, pure evil, and a seventeen-year-old girl trying to stop them from destroying her high school. One of my favourite series still and perfect if you want a little creep factor in your life.

9. Dracula by Bram Stoker - Because you gotta get a classic in there. If there's any vampire to be scared of, it's Dracula. Old school creepy.

And lastly, one that's on my list to read this year...

10. The Fall by Bethany Griffin - Her retelling of The Mask of the Red Death was dark and creepy, so I'm sure this one, a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher will be just as good. Just gotta find time to read it now!

I hope everyone will pick up a spooky book this week or at least watch something scary. Happy Halloween all!

Review: Finding Paris

Finding Paris
Author: Joy Preble
Published: April 21st, 2015
Hardcover, 272 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads

Sisters Leo and Paris Hollings have only ever had each other to rely on. They can’t trust their mother, who hops from city to city and from guy to guy, or their gambler stepfather, who’s moved them all to Las Vegas. It’s just the two of them: Paris, who’s always been the dreamer, and Leo, who has a real future in mind—going to Stanford, becoming a doctor, falling in love.

But Leo isn’t going anywhere yet… until Paris ditches her at the Heartbreak Hotel Diner, where moments before they had been talking with physics student Max Sullivan. Outside, Leo finds a cryptic note from Paris—a clue. Is it some kind of game? Where is Paris, and why has she disappeared?

When Leo reluctantly accepts Max’s offer of help, the two find themselves following a string of clues through Vegas and beyond. But the search for the truth is a not a straight line. And neither is the path to secrets Leo and Max hold tightly.

The book intrigued me from the start. I love a good mystery and Paris certainly knows how to send her sister on one. Leo wants nothing more than to get out of Las Vegas and go to school in California. She doesn't love that her mom moves from city to city and guy to guy and her newest stepfather is no exception. The only person she loves is her older sister Paris and will do anything to protect Leo from the world. So when Paris leaves Leo alone in a diner, Leo doesn't understand it all there. There must be a reason why Paris only left her a small note and is suddenly sending her on a wild goose chase. Thankfully Leo has just met Max, a physics student who is willing to help Leo find Paris as soon as possible, even willing to drive her across the country to do so. Together, Leo and Max make their way through the Vegas evening into casinos, attractions and track down clues that Paris has left them in hopes of finding her.

This was such a quick read. It was fast paced and less than three hundred pages and I loved every minute of it. I wanted to find Paris just as badly as Leo did and the twists and turns along the way kept me guessing as to how this story would end. I can honestly say I did not expect the ending until it was too late and I was shocked in a good way. It took the world book to a new level and turned this into such an important book. I won't say a lot about it because the mystery behind this book is what drew me in, but I will say that Preble did a fantastic job conveying tension, mystery, and fear. There was also just enough romance to keep this somewhat light and I loved Max. He was full of just as much mystery as Paris was, as Leo knew very little about him and he didn't share that much info with her throughout the night. He was fun, flirty, and didn't leave her behind, even when she was fearing for her life at the top of a ferris wheel. 

This book had everything I was looking for and it was a thrill ride from beginning to end. The mystery aspect combined with how it all ended made for a great read. There are secrets everywhere in this book. Paris has them, Max has them and even Leo has them. I loved the sister relationship, I always love a good sibling relationship and this one was interesting. Paris would do anything to protect her sister and vice versa and that quality in a relationship can be great and dangerous. It's worth a read to me and if you can figure out the ending faster than I did, than kudos to you. 

Review: Most Likely to Succeed

Most Likely to Succeed
Author: Jennifer Echols
Published: August 4th, 2015
Paperback, 352 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers. and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school - student government, cheerleading, stellar grades - has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as the school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate - and their friends - keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge themselves.

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it's finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed - or will it be their favourite mistake?

The Superlatives is a series I quickly fell in love with after reading the first book, Biggest Flirts. The characters are real, their struggles are real, and the love is swoon-worthy. I love the underlying superlatives titles being the name of the books, especially since they cause so much drama between the students when they are announced. Each of the characters from the first book get their own books later and this one follows Tia's friend Kaye as she struggles to figure out who she really wants to be after high school finishes. She's been dating Aidan for as long as she's known and they've made plans together for college, but lately he's been a different person and Kaye isn't sure she wants to be with him anymore. Her friend Sawyer, the school mascot and all around bad boy, makes her feel like a totally different person and notices her more than Aidan does. The more time she spends with him, the more she loves that he flirts with her and hates that he flirts with everyone else. Can Kaye recognize her feelings for Sawyer before it's too late, and does he feel the same way about her?

Kaye has everything that high school students dream of, and though she wasn't happy with a lot of it, not once did I roll my eyes at her. I understood exactly how she felt with the pressure of trying to be someone she no longer was. Being with Sawyer made her feel alive, normal, and more loved that she ever felt with Aidan. Kaye, like Tia and Harper, is loveable and real. I especially loved that she was a woman of colour and even though she'd worn her hair for so long in a way to make it less of an afro but one day just goes all out and lets her glorious hair free. The reactions are what you might expect, some people hate it, but most people love it, especially Sawyer. Moments like this in the book stood out to me, small moments where Kaye finds herself more and more and Sawyer is there to help her along the way. Sawyer has a lot of his own problems. His dad was in jail, his family doesn't have much money and all his classmates expect him to fail. The amount that Kaye believes in him and him her is enough to make anyone believe in real love. Their mutual support is all anyone really needs in life and if you can find that, than you're golden.

I'm glad we got to see Tia and Matt still in a happy relationship and Harper and Brody at a point in theirs where things may be going further for the first time. Series like this that follow different friends always make me smile when old friends show up throughout the pages. This series has gone through so many teenage experiences following people with different experience and not once making anyone feel ashamed for how sexual they are. It's realistic and will hopefully show real teens that there is nothing to be ashamed of when wanting to go further with someone you love and that real friends don't call each other sluts. Sawyer and Kaye's relationship is something I think we all dream of and they are just so darn cute together. I love a good story like this and this series has brought many smiles to my face. Perfect addition to my contemporary collection!