Monday, December 10, 2012

Review: All the Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen

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All the Broken Pieces
Cindi Madsen
Publication date: December 11th 2012
by Entangled Teen

 

What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

*A copy was provided by Entangled Publishing for review purposes*
All the Broken Pieces reminded me a little of Slated which I had just read recently, though this one is a more contemporary, and we get answers! Reading two similar books so close together is bound to provoke comparisons, and I think because I was craving for answers that we never got in Slated, I enjoyed this stand-alone a lot more than I might have otherwise. This is not to say that the book is bad–on the contrary, its mind boggling nature sucked me in until the very end, but the ending itself, as well as some plausibility issues I had with the whole story, does make it a lower end 4 stars.

We have a girl who wakes up in a hospital with zero memories of her life, as soon as she’s awake her parents pack up and leave to start over in a new town. All the while, Liv is trying to find out who she is, and in not long, what her parents are hiding from her. The mystery of it all is what keeps this book alive, no question. We get just enough bizarre visions and sporadic memories to leave us completely baffled. I would try to piece it all together, when another brick would be thrown out of nowhere to halt any and all theories I might have had. I was thrilled by this alone as I flew through this novel at wicked speeds. This leads us to the ending; every mystery will either break or make its readership during the final verdict. What we find out at the conclusion is unquestionably fascinating and unpredictable, yet I can’t help but wonder at the believability of not only the final explanation, but everything leading up to it. We do live in a world where information is openly available even in the smallest of towns, after all. This is as far as I can go without spoilers. All in all, the ending is satisfactory, though not especially memorable.

Charming when he wants to be, Spencer also comes with his own secrets and mysteries to add onto the already large pile. I enjoyed how it played into the romance, making him at once someone you want to trust, and someone you feel you can’t. While the romance is not necessarily original in its foreseeable nature, I found Spencer incredibly sweet and their relationship is one of the most realistic aspects of this novel.

Since the main focus of this book is the mystery, reviewing it in greater detail becomes impossible without giving away answers–which I refuse to do. As previously mentioned, if you’re a fan of Slated by Teri Terry, or books that love to play with your mind, I’m just about certain you will devour this one just as eagerly!

4 Hot Espressos
This post is a part of All the Broken Pieces Blog Tour
 

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (33)

Posted by on 12/09/2012 • 52 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

How is everyone this week? I hope you’re all getting ready for the holidays! Can’t believe it’s Christmas in 2 weeks! But you know what? A Kindle would be an awesome gift and you can win one! Yay! If you’re Canadian you get 2 chances! Canadian Kindle giveaway here. International Kindle Fire giveaway here! And in case you missed it, I also posted a giveaway for Beyond: A Ghost Story!

Reviews on the blog this week:

XPRESSO BOOK TOURS – OPEN FOR SIGN UP

-Cover Reveal: Disconnect by Imran Siddiq -Book Blitz: Snow White Sorrow…

Fresh Batch (December 9th – 15th)

Posted by on 12/08/2012 • 17 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

All the Broken PiecesCindi MadsenPublication date: December 11th 2012by Entangled Teen

 

What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident…

Review: Love and Other Perishable Items

Posted by on 12/07/2012 • 24 Comments

Love and Other Perishable ItemsLaura Buzo Publication date: December 11th 2012by Knopf Books for Young Readers

 

Love is awkward, Amelia should know.

From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It’s problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.

Amelia isn’t stupid. She knows it’s not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia’s crush doesn’t seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what…

Review: Swell by Julie Rieman Duck

Posted by on 12/06/2012 • 17 Comments

SwellJulie Rieman DuckPublication date: September 1st 2012

 

When Christian Rusch plucks Beck Ionesco from the freshman ranks for himself, she’s tempted with parties, popularity, and love. But as the free-flowing booze that soaks his world seeps into her own, Beck begins using liquid courage as a way to ignore Christian’s dark moods… and cover her anxiety about his flirtatious friend Hillman.

However, when Christian breaks up with Beck, and Hillman makes a dangerous move, no amount of alcohol can stop the pain or keep her out of trouble. And just when it seems like she’s lost everything, Beck is partnered with Jesse Leary for an art project. After spending time with him, Beck realizes it’s more than a study date… and Christian’s not happy about it. Then again,…

Giveaway: Beyond: A Ghost Story (Intl)

Posted by on 12/05/2012 • 11 Comments

Beyond: A Ghost StoryGraham McNameePublication date: January 3rd 2013by Hodder Children’s Books

 

What if your own shadow turned against you? Jane is not your typical teen. She and her best friend Lexi call themselves the Creep Sisters. Only Lexi knows why Jane is different from anyone else: Her own shadow seems to pull her into near-fatal accidents. Jane is determined to find out why these terrifying things happen, and to overcome her shadow enemy. But her sleuthing with Lexi connects her own horrors to the secret history of a serial killer…

The wonderful people at Hachette UK has generously offered up one finished copy of this creeptastic novel to one lucky winner! The giveaway is open internationally, but the book will be the UK release.

Giveaway details…

Waiting on Wednesday (64)

Posted by on 12/05/2012 • 43 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:

Antigoddess Kendare Blake Release date: September 10th 2013 by Tor Teen

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve…

Review: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

Posted by on 12/04/2012 • 33 Comments

My Super Sweet Sixteenth CenturyRachel Harris Series: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century #1Publication date: September 11th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

 

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother-to-be and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo….