Review: Every Word

Every Word
Author: Ellie Marney
Published: September 8th, 2015
Hardcover, 352 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Sparks fly when Watts follows Mycroft to London in this second steamy thriller about the teen crime-fighting duo.

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents without saying good-bye to his partner in crime, Rachel Watts.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behavior—not that Mycroft’s ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. Unable to resist, Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator and the deaths of Mycroft's parents…Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events—or will she lose him forever?

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: Vanishing Girls

Vanishing Girls
Author: Lauren Oliver
Published: March 10th, 2015
Hardcover, 357 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late. 

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other. 

Lauren Oliver has a way with words. I would read her grocery list and she forever keeps me guessing. Since the beginning, I haven't been able to predict the endings of her books. They are never easy, they are never an escape and they rarely have the kind of happily ever after I strive for. She has a thing for ghosts and unhappy families, and Vanishing Girls took everything I've learned about her writing and pulled me into so many opposite directions that there was no way for me to know how it would end. Sisters Dara and Nick were the best of friends until an accident scarred Dara's face. Dara hides out in her room now as Nick tries to continue on with life, getting a summer job at the local amusement park. But when a young girl goes missing in town and suddenly Dara is gone on her birthday, Nick knows there must be a connection between the two and she won't stop until she finds her sister.

This is a novel about moving on. The accident left everything in ruins and neither sister is brave enough to do something to make it better. It starts out slow, like a contemporary novel just about two sisters trying to move on from a terrible accident. Told in both Dara and Nick's point of views, in both the present and the past, we get to see how the sisters used to be and what's going on in each of their heads now that things are different. Dara is the reckless sister, the one that puts on too much makeup and goes out to party late at night. Nick is the older, more responsible sister. She is calm in the face of panic and ready to go after Dara and bring her home. Then there's Parker, the boy who comes between the two sisters. But once Dara disappears, this quickly becomes a mystery book, where the ending is unknown and suddenly all the problems these sisters had didn't matter. Dara has let clues to help Nick find her, and the more digging Nick does, the deeper she gets into what Dara was really involved in. I loved that Nick worked at Fanland, a somewhat normal part of her life that gave her something to focus on instead of Dara. I liked that it brought her closer to Parker, their friendship not quite how it was since he got involved with Dara. And I especially loved that everything I thought was true was wrong and there was no telling how everything would end when or if Nick ever found Dara.

Oliver is a trickster and everything leading up to that ending couldn't have prepared me for it. It was fast, crazy and completely unpredictable and I must say this is the most she's surprised me yet. Her writing still amazes me and the relationship she built between Nick and Dara will stay me long after I've closed this book. I can't wait to see what she'll have in store for us next.

"Funny how things can stay the same forever and then change so quickly."

"Sometimes people stop loving you. And that's the kind of darkness that never gets fixed."

Review: Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: April 15, 2014
Hardcover, 369 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend. 

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash. 

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

 This is my first Armentrout book and it blew me away! I was hooked from the first page, the mystery of what happened to Sam suddenly clouding my mind and I couldn't think about anything but this book until I found out what happened to her. Samantha wakes up on the side of road, bloodied and not remembering a thing. She soon realizes she doesn't remember anything any about her life, not even her name. As her family returns her home, she starts to learn things about herself that she's not happy with. She was little miss popular and treated a lot of people badly, one of those guys being Carson, her parents's yard guy's son. Coming back home also means facing the fact that her best friend Cassie, who disappeared the same night as Sam, is still missing and it looks like Sam is the only one who knows what happened, except she can't remember.

I'm a sucker for amnesia books. I know a lot of people are tired of reading them, but I love the mystery and the steps that the narrator has to take to get back to their old life. Along the way, they tend to realize that they didn't like who they used to be and are glad for the second chance. Redemption stories are my favourite, and this one tops them all. Samantha was a great character, a girl who fell for the thrill of popularity and didn't care who she took down along the way. Her friendship with Cassie wasn't healthy at all and I'm glad Sam realizes this throughout the novel. Her so called boyfriend isn't the  best guy either and I love that Sam had more feelings for Carson, someone she couldn't stand before, than her boyfriend (who was a major jerk!) Sam's post traumatic stress is written beautifully and so believable. When she starts to see Cassie in places it scared the crap out of me. And the closer we got to finding out what really happened, the scarier it got. And the ending was so unexpected I almost threw my book. I couldn't believe how it all played out and there's no way I could have called that. The best part of a mystery is not being able to guess the outcome, and this book left me guessing until the end. 

Armentrout is known for writing swoon worthy guys and this book is no different. Carson is a sweet guy who is giving Sam a second chance after she treated him badly throughout the years. Sam is immediately attracted to him and I love how their friendship turns into something else so easily, since they've known each other all their lives. Sam has reverted back to how she used to be before Cassie came along and Carson sees this. It's sweet and romantic and he's the kind of guy any girl could ask for. Every  character is unique and plays an important part in the story. Everything fit together so perfectly and there were scenes that came into play later as the mystery unravelled. Also, can we just talk about this cover? It's so beautiful and it plays into the story so perfectly. I love the sweet ballerina with the cracked glass. Everything about this book is perfection and I think everyone should read it, even if you're done with these kinds of books. This one stands out among the rest.

“Money doesn't buy taste, personality, or common decency.” 

“I’m not sure I want to go to prom. I’m not sure I want to share you with anyone.”