Posts Tagged: ARC

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
 

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…

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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,…

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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….

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Review: Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

Posted by on 11/30/2012 • 16 Comments

Gone, Gone, GoneHannah MoskowitzPublication date: April 17th 2012by Simon Pulse

 

It’s a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.

Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him…and if he’ll do it again…and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.

Lio feels most alive when he’s with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable…and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

*A copy was provided by Simon &…

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Review: Altered by A.D. Croucher

Posted by on 11/29/2012 • 15 Comments

AlteredA.D. CroucherSeries: Altered Sequence, #1Publication date: July 16th 2012

 

Reese has a plan: keep his grades up, work hard on the basketball court, apply to his favorite Ivy League college, and don’t get arrested.

There’s just one problem.

Reese knows things no one should know. He always thought he just had good instincts, but he’s noticed that it’s been getting worse. Lately it seems like something else.

Something more than instinct.

And he’s not the only one that has noticed.

They’ve been waiting.

Watching.

And now it’s time.

With his life in danger, Reese needs a new plan: escape.

*A copy was provided by A.D. Croucher for review purposes*

Not to mistake this book with the upcoming Jennifer Rush novel by the same name, Altered by AD…

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Review: The Darkest Minds

Posted by on 11/26/2012 • 36 Comments

The Darkest Minds Alexandra BrackenSeries: The Darkest Minds #1Publication date: December 18th 2012by Disney Hyperion

 

When Ruby wakes up on her tenth birthday, something about her has changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her–East River. She joins a group…

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Review: Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tayler

Posted by on 11/23/2012 • 22 Comments

Ashes of TwilightKassy TaylerSeries: Ashes Trilogy, #1Publication date: November 13th 2012by St. Martin’s Griffin

 

Wren MacAvoy works as a coal miner for a domed city that was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the royal blood line of England when astronomers spotted a comet on a collision course with Earth. Humanity would be saved by the most groundbreaking technology of the time. But after nearly 200 years of life beneath the dome, society has become complacent and the coal is running out.  Plus there are those who wonder, is there life outside the dome or is the world still consumed by fire? When one of Wren’s friends escapes the confines of the dome, he is burned alive and put on display as a warning to those seeking to…

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