Yearly Archives:: 2012

Monday, August 20, 2012

Review:Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Posted by 30 Comments

Don’t Turn Around
Michelle Gagnon
Series: PERSEF0NE Trilogy #1
Publication date: August 28th 2012
by HarperCollins

 

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa’s talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation threatens his life. But what Noa and Peter don’t realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who’d stop at nothing to silence her for good.

*A copy was provided by HarperCollins for review purposes*
Wildly exciting with never ending action, Don’t Turn Around is perfect for fans of Lisbeth Salander and Bourne Identity.

With a bang, we begin this fast paced, nail biting thriller that takes us inside a story filled with conspiracies and lies, and how two hackers are gunning for the truth. If you’re looking for a high-action plot you’re definitely at the right place. There is no room to breathe in this novel, let alone relax. It begins and ends with your adrenaline pumping. It’s exciting; keeping me up reading late at night, though it does have a few quirks that holds it back from becoming a truly amazing read. Like character development.

First we meet Lisbeth Noa who has hacked herself into an independent life to escape the evils of foster care. I liked her instantly. Although not as mentally messed up, nor as characteristically fleshed out, Noa’s hacking and resourcefulness reminded me quite a bit of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Greater development would have helped make her a more memorable characters like our dear Lisbeth, but I did enjoy her nonetheless. Noa’s foster care upbringing was not ideal, so what we do get is an apprehensive, keep-to-oneself, young woman who is just now starting to let people in. Thus, we do still glimpse at who she is at large, and for a first book in a series with so much happening, lack of greater depth is not a very prominent issue. At least, it didn’t stop me from absolutely devouring this novel! Alongside Noa, we’re introduced to Peter who is vastly different from her if only for the fact that he grew up in a rich household, and with parents who seem to have gotten way over their heads into something abysmal. I found Peter’s character to be even less established than Noa’s, never quite getting a feel of who this kid is except a hacker. I still found his voice fairly easy to like.

With dual gender POVs some of you may expect a romance, so let me tell you that this book does not have a romantic subplot, which didn’t bother me in the least as I felt it wouldn’t be a good fit for this story in any case. Still, the author tries to work a tiny bit of romance in the plot which, as the novel fails to bring forth any chemistry between the characters beyond a mere acquaintance relationship, I found these instances quite awkward and out of place. I think I will be disappointed if any romantic relationship does germinate between them in the future. They make a great team as hackers, romance doesn’t always need to pop it’s head – especially when it’s ugly.

As others have mentioned, I do agree that we’re left with an abundance of questions when the book ends. We do amass some details throughout the book relating to the major plot points, but we only merely scratch the surface, leaving a mountain to discover in the next installments. I’m particularly interested in digging deeper inside the medical side of the plot; a new terrible disease that targets teenagers is just what I need to quench my thirst for some terrifying mutated illnesses that kills. What? Is this a weird fetish?

With its freaky, creepy cover, I highly recommend Don’t Turn Around for readers who enjoy action packed, incredibly fast paced thrillers that include fascinating medical evolution and research.

4 Hot Espressos

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (17)

Posted by on 08/19/2012 • 54 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week. This week at Xpresso Reads

Hi lovelies! Do anything exciting this week? Mine was pretty lax, we had very blah weather so I don’t have any epic life events to report. On the blog, though, I have a few things to mention. I had the Treachery of Beautiful Things blog tour drop by you can check out my interview with Ruth Frances Long here. I had a second blog tour – Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout – where Jennifer talks about sex in YA and you can win a copy of both Obsidian and Onyx! Also, finally(!!) I was able…

Fresh Batch (August 19th – 25th)

Posted by on 08/18/2012 • 29 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

SmashedLisa LuedkeRelease date: August 21st 2012by Margaret K. McElderry Books

 

A field hockey star grapples with addiction in this riveting debut that will appeal to fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

Stay out of trouble for one more year, and Katie Martin can leave her small town loneliness behind forever. She is a field hockey star on the fast track to a college scholarship, but her relationship with alcohol has always been a little questionable. Then trouble finds her. Alec is the most popular guy in school, and also the biggest bully—with his sights set firmly on Katie. When Alec turns on the charm, Katie thinks she must…

Onyx Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway

Posted by on 08/17/2012 • 46 Comments

I know a lot of you are absolutely loving this series alongside me so I’m happy to have the Onyx make a stop at Xpresso Reads. I have my  review for you today, as well as a fantastic guest post about sex in YA by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and there’s a giveaway!

OnyxJennifer L. ArmentroutSeries: Lux, #2Publication date: August 14th 2012by Entangled Teen

 

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here….

Review: Semi-Charmed Life

Posted by on 08/16/2012 • 35 Comments

Semi-Charmed LifeNora ZelevanskyPublication date: July 3rd 2012by St. Martin’s Griffin

 

In Nora Zelevansky’s hilarious debut, Semi-Charmed Life, an Upper West Side naïf, Beatrice Bernstein, gets swept up in the seemingly magical life of socialite Veruca Pfeffernoose, while ghost writing her blog. Veruca’s glitteringly opulent world soon seduces Beatrice away from her own insular, arty family with a promise of fancy parties, travel outside Manhattan (for once) and one desperately cute guy. But when her new glitzy lifestyle starts to take on dark undertones, Beatrice has to decide who she is—once and for all. With her own magical touch, Zelevansky deftly explores the world of rarified Manhattan in this sparkling modern fairy tale of first love, finding one’s voice and growing up.

*A copy was provided by St….

Cover Reveal: Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ Nobody

Posted by on 08/16/2012 • 24 Comments

NobodyJennifer Lynn BarnesSeries: StandaloneRelease date: January 22nd 2013by Egmont USA

 

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the…

Waiting on Wednesday (49)

Posted by on 08/15/2012 • 40 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week:

Panic Sharon M. Draper Release date: March 12th 2013by Atheneum Books for Young Readers  

Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.

But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?

Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

It’s a nightmare come true: Diamond Landers has been kidnapped. She was at the mall with a friend, alone for only a few brief minutes—and now she’s being held captive, forced to endure horrors beyond what she…

Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Posted by on 08/14/2012 • 39 Comments

SpeechlessHannah HarringtonPublication date: August 28th 2012by HarlequinTeen

 

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secretUntil now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she’s ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.But there’s strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she’s done. If only she can forgive herself.

*A copy was provided by Harlequin Teen for review purposes*

Can you imagine not…