Monthly Archives:: July 2014

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

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I received this book for free from Little Brown and Company in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: The Fever by Megan AbbottThe Fever by Megan Abbott
Published by Little Brown and Company on June 17th 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Source: Little Brown and Company
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three-stars

The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

The Fever ended up being quite the interesting read, especially psychologically speaking. It’s both a puzzling mystery as well as a look into the rashness of teenage girls burning with jealousy.

What I noticed almost immediately was the writing style, to which I can’t say I’m exactly a fan. Megan tells this story with the help of three family members who are each given a perspective in the story. We switch back and forth from father, son, and daughter in a very spastic manner, each perspective lasting from a mere paragraph to no more than a couple of pages. While, in a way, I enjoyed the style in which it told the story with quick back-and-forth glimpses from several point-of-views, constantly being pulled in all directions made me feel very disjointed. As a result it kept me at arm’s length from the characters, not allowing me the chance to get to know them. I was barely given enough time to realize which POV I was reading before it switched again. It was dizzying to say the least.

The plot itself is a good mix of thriller and mystery, with a hint at some maybe supernatural elements which were great to keep it unpredictable. I was, however, disappointed at how irrelevant a lot of it ended up being. It’s nice to get creeped out by a freaky stories and abnormal happenings, but if it’s used solely to increase suspense and ends up having nothing to do with the story, then it comes off as cheap gimmick. I mean, maybe my expectations for this were skewed, I went into it knowing nothing more than it being about a “mysterious contagion”, so maybe I shouldn’t have thought twice about their creepy small town stories, but alas. Still, it kept me on my toes, trying to guess and guess at what the heck was happening to these girls in this town that felt strangely isolated. I did eventually figure it out but it was a mere few pages before the big reveal, so kudos for that. I can’t say the pacing was perfect, I did feel like it was dragging when we kept adding to the mystery without any actual progress, but the upside is that it’s a fairly quick read especially with the frequent POV switches that makes it easy to fly through in a sitting or two.

The story introduces many angles from wild small town stories, to mass hysteria where parents are blaming vaccines or plain out panicking, to harsh teenage dramatics. It’s dark, it’s vicious, and it’s full of complex and unfortunate truths of the teenage mind. In the end, this was definitely my favorite part of the story even if I only realized the truth of what I was reading after I’d turned the last page. It ended up being completely different from what I expected, but I eventually recognized the brilliant workings that went into creating these characters and their malicious behaviors. It’s definitely one worth trying as it’s the kind of unique read that hits you after the fact more than during.

three-stars

3 Hot Espressos

Review: Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais

Review: Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais

Posted by on 07/21/2014 • 15 Comments

I don’t even really know where to start with this book. While reading it all I could think was “this reading is somehow intoxicating but this story is really one of the worst I have ever read.” So, I guess you can take that for what it is.

From the first page I was a fan of the writing, it was strong, pretty and sucked me in as fast as could be. I enjoyed Sphinx’s (yes, her mother named her Sphinx) voice even though I didn’t really come to like her for who she was. The pace of the story was also really fast, stuff kept happening, people kept moving, emotions kept rising and that really kept me engrossed in the story. It was a trainwreck really, you know you…

Fresh Batch (New Releases July 20th – 26th)

Fresh Batch (New Releases July 20th – 26th)

Posted by on 07/19/2014 • 15 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

One Past Midnight Jessica Shirvington Publication date: July 22nd 2014by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Goodreads Purchase

Name of overseas edition of Between The Lives.

Above all else, though I try not to think about it, I know which life I prefer. And every night when I Cinderella myself from one life to the next a very small, but definite, piece of me dies. The hardest part is that nothing about my situation has ever changed. There is no loophole.

Until now, that is…

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts…

Review: Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

Review: Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

Posted by on 07/18/2014 • 19 Comments

Incredibly well thought-out with fascinating world building, Dissonance is a really good sci-fi with a heavy dose of romance.

Delancy is a Walker, she has a genetic ability to manipulate matter and visit alternate worlds created by the choices people make. Walkers monitor and fix anomalies that affect the key world. I was wary of this premise at first, it’s something that could have been a huge flop if the world building was lacking, fortunately it’s anything but. It’s clear that a ton of research – not to mention creativity – went into crafting the world inside Dissonance. It has an impressive amount of detail, it’s ambitious, and, more as a warning: it’s also hard to grasp. Kinda like the Tempest series by Julie Cross; it’s a series I…

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Posted by on 07/17/2014 • 13 Comments

From the get-go this was a very intriguing read. We’ve got a girl who’s experiencing regular black outs where she finds herself at a completely different place with no recollection of the hours she’s just lost. What’s even weirder is how no one around her seem to comment on these disappearances. This is absolutely my kind of read. I love books that play with your mind and baffles you with bizarre, inexplicable happenings. The one thing with books like these though, is that it all comes down to the ending. This is where the book lost its flair for me. I was hoping for a deeper meaning, or at least a point to it all.

I was instantly compelled by Molly’s voice and character. Not only is she mysterious…

Review: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Review: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Posted by on 07/16/2014 • 18 Comments

This was a book that I really wanted in my life. When I read the blurb and saw the issues that it dealt with I thought it would be one that I would definitely love. In the end I can’t say that I was overly impressed with it. While it did deal with some pretty heavy issues, the writing left much to be desired and the split POV didn’t work on multiple levels.

On the surface this sounds like the type of story that I would generally love. Grace is outcast at her school after a party that she goes to where she gets raped by the all-star lacrosse player at her school, Zac. Zac says it wasn’t rape and Grace says that yes it was because she was unconscious….

Our Favorite TV Shows!

Our Favorite TV Shows!

Posted by on 07/15/2014 • 23 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where we list top bookish things. Note that Giselle and Jenni often decide to split it and each do a Top 5.

We watch ALL of the TV! Jenni

The Sopranos – In my eyes this is probably the best show that has EVER or will EVER be on television.  The acting, the storylines & really just everything about it was flawless. Fargo – This is a new favourite of mine. I was wary of it because I hadn’t liked the movie Fargo but the TV show blew me away.  The acting was great, Billly Bob Thornton is so great as Lorne, and it’s darkly funny which is something that…

Tour: Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

Tour: Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

Posted by on 07/14/2014 • 23 Comments

Miranda Kenneally has done it again folks! I always know that when I pick up a book by Kenneally that I am in for a fair amount of swooning, but I have to say that with Breathe, Annie, Breathe I got even more than I could have expected. Full of wonderful characters, a swoon-inducing romance and a full range of emotion, I think this is the best in the Hundred Oaks series yet!

In the fifth instalment in the series we are introduced to Annie who has recently lost her long term boyfriend and is now training to run a marathon in his honour. What I’m sure you can gather from this already is: SPORTS! Yes, while previous books featured football, baseball and even horseback riding this book tackles running….