Genre: Mystery


Thursday, May 29, 2014

Review: Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

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I received this book for free from St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Complicit by Stephanie KuehnComplicit by Stephanie Kuehn
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on June 24th 2014
Genres: Mystery, YA
Source: St. Martin's Griffin
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four-half-stars

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor’s fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.

But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.

Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to know the truth about their past. A truth she’s kept hidden for years. A truth she’s not supposed to tell.

Trust nothing and no one as you race toward the explosive conclusion of this gripping psychological thriller from the William C. Morris Award-winning author of Charm & Strange.

Complicit is exactly the kind of book I like to read, but have so much trouble finding. At the same time it is exactly the kind of book that I hate reviewing. Full of twists, turns and unreliable characters, this novel keeps you guessing until the very end and leaves you with a conclusion that will have your jaw on the floor.

Jamie Henry is 16 years old and he doesn’t know much about his past. He knows that he was adopted at a young age and that he was very lucky to have gotten to stay with his sister, Cate through all of that. He knows that his mother was shot and killed right in front of him and he knows that his sister is not stable nor is she to be trusted. What’s so great about this story is uncovering everything about Jamie’s past right as he does so himself. I have to say that it was rather easy to predict the BIG reveal of the novel but I’m happy to report that it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it at all. Clocking in at just over 250 pages, Complicit has a pace that just never lets up. There are seeds planted all along that build the mystery surrounding everything happening to Jamie expertly and seeing everything come to fruition once it’s all revealed was a real thrill ride.

One thing that I can, and will, talk about when it comes to this story is the relationships. Jamie had so much darkness in his life when it came to Cate. Once she gets out of prison she toys with him, plays mind games and as the reader you aren’t very sure what her end game is. What you are sure of though is how much it frustrates Jamie and how it effects him emotionally and even physically. The stress and anxiety that he goes through in the novel was so well conveyed that it was really palpable to me as the reader. I felt frustration when Jamie felt frustration and I felt his happiness when his emotions swung that way as well. Bringing this light into his life is Jenny. The contrast of the scenes from when he is alone dealing with his thoughts about Cate were perfect balanced with the joy Jenny brought to him. I can’t say that it’s my favourite romance that I’ve ever read but I do think that it was perfect for the story while still allowing Jamie to remain who he is.

There is so much more I want to say about this book but I know deep down that I shouldn’t. The most important thing about going into a novel like Kuehn’s latest is to go into it blind. I even think that the blurb gives to much away for this one and I am happy that I refrained from reading it fully until I had finished reading the novel. Complicit is a novel that deals with mental illness in a really interesting way and it’s a story that really reels the reader in and keeps them hooked until the turn of the final page.

four-half-stars

4.5 Hot Espressos

Review: (Don’t You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Review: (Don’t You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Posted by on 05/22/2014 • 18 Comments

Holy crap! I feel like my brain is totally spent after this mind-f*ck of a book! Books like these are so hard to review, so I’m going to do my best to make sense of my thoughts. First, I gotta warn you this not the kind of book that will mesh with everyone. For one, it’s so different it breaks all molds of normalcy ever built around story-telling. For another, it introduces the kind of paranormal where you have to go in with an open mind, and just accept this town for what it is (similarly to Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz).

Welcome to Gardnerville. A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

This is the story of Gardernville. A bizarre isolated town where sickness and…

Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Posted by on 05/16/2014 • 18 Comments

This is a book that has gone seriously under-noticed and that’s a shame because it’s brilliant! And even though it’s a tad predictable, I would have disappointed if it would have ended differently. It was a daring and manipulative story – and I’m a sucker for those!

This is the story of Elise’s murder, told in the perspective of the prime suspect – her best friend. In a way, this reminded me of a YA Jodi Picoult novel. You have the murder, followed by the trial – which lasts for most of the book, and this is where you learn the details of what happened filled with secrets and lies that give just enough clues to make you crazy – then at the end all is revealed with the help…

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Posted by on 05/15/2014 • 14 Comments

After having a long stint of bad luck when it came to murder mysteries The Secrets of Lily Graves came at me like a breath of fresh air. It’s engrossing, it’s twisty and it managed to take me completely by surprise.

Lily Graves hasn’t had the most traditional of upbringings. She’s been raised in a small home attached to her families business which just happens to be a funeral home. She’s grown up fascinated with the dead and has even worked on embalming bodies at a very young age. I loved how quirky and unconventional Lily was. She had a good sense of humour and she was really smart. Sure she got a little love sick over Matt (the boy she’s crushing on) but what teenaged girl doesn’t go…

Review: My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

Review: My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

Posted by on 05/09/2014 • 24 Comments

I’m beginning to think that YA murder mysteries just aren’t the thing for me. Movies filled with twists and turns and murder, yes please! But for some reason it just never feels like it is pulled off as well in book form. My Last Kiss is basically a murder mystery featuring stupid decisions and supercharged teen hormones that had me cringing at the explanation behind everything that happens.

We start the book off seeing MC Cassidy’s very first kiss that she shared on a bridge with the boy she liked Ethan. Once that chapter is over we are taken for a quick turn as we realize we are still Cassidy only she is no longer in her body and is a ghost trying to solve the case of her murder….

Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Posted by on 05/08/2014 • 19 Comments

Peter Pan was my favourite cartoon as a child, I must have watched my video cassette (ha!) of it at least 40 times, so it’s no surprise that I was giddy about this book. While I had some qualms with it, insta-love for instance – with not one but two boy (ick) – the magical aspect of it had me delighted. It’s not the kind of read that captivates from the start, but rather a book that takes you by surprise as it grows into something completely magnetic.

Grieving from the loss of her brothers, Wendy goes on an adventure to try to find out what happened to them, convinced that they’re still alive, living a wild life of water and waves. Although the comparisons are few, along her journey…

Giveaway: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Can)

Giveaway: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Can)

Posted by on 05/03/2014 • 4 Comments

We’ve got a treat for our fellow Canadian readers today! Thanks to the lovely people at Random House Canada you have a chance to win yourself a pretty finished copy of We Were Liars. Both me and Jenni loved this book it’s an amazingly written, thought provoking mystery that kept us both up all night reading. My review will be posted on the blog soon, but you can have a look at Jenni’s below!

See what Jenni thought of We Were Liars here!

Giveaway

Random House of Canada has generously offered a finished copy of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart for giveaway.

Open to Canadian addresses only Giveaway ends May 16th, 2014 Full contest terms and conditions found on Rafflecopter

a…

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Posted by on 04/11/2014 • 25 Comments

I have been sitting on writing this review for over a day and a half now. WE WERE LIARS is one of those books that I loved so much as a reader and of course I want to share that love with everyone. But I also want people to go into the book just as blindly as I did so they can be taken by surprise as I was. So this review is going to be quite vague and I won’t be touching on many of the plot points.

What I can talk about here is the wonderful writing. I have an update on my Goodreads at 7% where I say that I loved the writing already. The words literally grabbed me at page 1 and did not let go…