Publisher: Disney Hyperion


Monday, March 31, 2014

Review: Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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I received this book for free from Disney Book Group in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. ArmentroutDon't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published by Disney Hyperion on April 15th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, YA
Source: Disney Book Group
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three-stars

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?

With a strong blurb and a cover that’s both creepy and pretty, I went into this one with a lot of expectations. It is my favorite genre and an author I’ve previously enjoyed, after all. I can’t say I’m disappointed, exactly, but I’m sad that didn’t end up loving this one as much as I was hoping.

Amnesia is a commonly used trope in mystery novels, but I still find myself drawn to them every time. Even though it’s been done before, I found the memory loss aspect very well executed. When Samantha reappears into a life where she had it all, she’s not sure how to deal with the way people describe her. She was a selfish bitch, to put it bluntly. I found this contrast between her pre-amnesia and present self very intriguing. She’s the same girl, yet with a now conflicting personality from before. It makes you wonder what could have turned this great person at heart into such a mean girl. Unfortunately I never exactly connected with Samantha. She was not unlikeable as a protagonist, but she did grate on my nerves every now and then, especially when it involved Del. I found it incredibly obvious that he was lying about their relationship – and more – (I mean, what teenage relationship is that perfect?), but she still believed his every word. He kind of creeped me out if I’m being honest. I wanted him to just go away.

Furthermore, I did find there were a lot of clichés throughout this story. Romantically, we’ve got the tumbling-and-falling-on-top-of-each-other scene, then the crush-wiping-ice-cream-off-her-chin scene. Thriller-wise, we’ve got the face-in-a-rear-view-mirror shocker along with mysteriously appearing notes. I can’t say I didn’t roll my eyes a time or two. More on these notes, they were so vague and unhelpful that I didn’t see the point to them. They do serve a purpose eventually, but an angle like this had a lot more potential to build an effective twist than it delivered.

With that out of the way, I may not have fallen in love with this one, but I did enjoy myself while reading it. I was kept in the dark with a mystery that unravels slowly and steadily until all the pieces fit. I was left feeling butterflies towards a once unlikely romance that blooms between two characters (not Del – blerg!). And I was satisfied with the psychological aspect and unique character arc driven by memory loss. JL Armentrout definitely has potential in the mystery genre!

three-stars

3 Hot Espressos

Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Posted by on 03/20/2014 • 31 Comments

An emotionally raw story that combines mystery and romance, Far From You offers more than I expected. It’s a poignant look into the life of a girl who’s lived through tragedy after tragedy, which led her into a deep pit filled with pain, secrets, and addiction.

Told in alternating past and present timelines, we slowly learn exactly who Sophie is, what her relationship with Mina was like, and how it all led to today’s misery. While I’m not always a fan of rotating past and present POVs, especially those that send us at different points in time with seemingly no chronological order, but in this case it really worked. We aren’t meant to follow a strict timeline, but rather to witness the brief moments that founded their relationship. It’s…

Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Posted by on 02/04/2014 • 35 Comments

Alienated brings us a good mix of humor and romance. It’s easy to read, and touches on serious themes including discrimination and tolerance. What I enjoyed the most was how Landers describes the aliens; from the physical to the emotional, they differ very much from humans. The L’eihr culture is described as emotionally cold for the sake of survival. They’re cloned from the best, born and raised without parents, affection, or even touch. Their government system would make many of us fear their ways. Aelyx’s perspective allows us to experience our own culture through his foreign, often overwhelmed, eyes. We get to see his reactions to certain stimuli like our apparently overpowering flavors and colors. Then their difference in thought process for things like affection and modesty – the latter…

Let’s Role-Play! A Guest Post by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Let’s Role-Play! A Guest Post by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Posted by on 11/20/2013 • 40 Comments

Have you read this book yet? If not you’re definitely missing out! You can find my full review here if you missed it but it’s a awesome read! I’m excited to have the wonderful ladies behind this great novel on the blog for a fun guest post on how they created these characters together! First, in case you live under a rock and missed what this book was all about:

Guest Post by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Let It Play Out: Role-playing scenes to establish characters

One of the challenges in any story is ensuring that every character her their own very definitive point of view. They need opinions, a backstory, goals and their own personal motivation to do whatever they’re going to do…

Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Posted by on 11/15/2013 • 33 Comments

Guys! This is not a story about a girl flying in space in a dress! That’s only in the first chapter. I swear!

Actually, most of this book is a survival story. After a crash land on an anonymous planet, Tarver and Lilac have to find a way to get along and stay alive amongst the wild animals and Lilac’s questionable state of mind. It’s not a fast paced read, but rather a slow trek on this mysterious planet full of whispers, visions, ghosts, and other bizarre happenings. This is what keeps it completely enthralling. You get that constant need to read just one more chapter to try and get some answers as to what exactly is happening in this weird place. Is Lilac going insane, or are the voices…

Review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Posted by on 10/25/2013 • 32 Comments

The Naturals is a hit or miss for me and very hard to review. Some parts of the book I really enjoyed, while others I found lacking. To give you an example – I’m not even sure if this book is part paranormal or not. As a serial killer mystery, however, it has its fair share of appealing qualities.

This novel starts by introducing us to our protagonist, Cassie, who’s always been good at reading people with only the tiniest of details. She quickly meets with an FBI team who takes her on to train as a profiler. That is about all we get as an introduction. Forget learning very much about this classified Naturals program. Moreover, we don’t find out where these special abilities come from. Are we supposed…

All Our Yesterdays Tour Stop: Interview + Giveaway

All Our Yesterdays Tour Stop: Interview + Giveaway

Posted by on 09/12/2013 • 15 Comments

I’m excited to have the All Our Yesterdays tour stop by the blog today. I’ve got Cristin over for an interview and then you can enter to win your very own copy! I read this gem a few weeks back and adored it. You can read my review here if you missed it!

Interview with Cristin Terrill Hi Cristin, I’m so happy to have you on the blog today. All Our Yesterdays is awesome and I’m honored to be part of the tour!

Let’s start with telling us a bit about how you got the idea for All Our Yesterdays.

The initial kernel of the idea for All Our Yesterdays came to me when I was watching The Terminator on cable late one night because I couldn’t sleep….

Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Posted by on 08/16/2013 • 30 Comments

There’s been a slew of time travel books lately and All Our Yesterdays is another one that I can add on the short list of those that impressed me. The time travel concept introduced, while hard to grasp like any and all time travel science, explains how paradoxes fixes itself in a manner that’s utterly fascinating, while giving us a plot that is both thought-provoking and exciting.

All Our Yesterdays has a past/present setting that involves a unique double characterization; even though our main character is a singular person, both her younger and older self form the dual POV of this novel which I found especially interesting. Marina can be hard on herself; even though she admits to turning heads, she doesn’t think she’s pretty or anything special. I didn’t…