Genre: Thriller


Monday, June 01, 2015

Review: Blood Will Tell by April Henry

Posted by 0 Comments

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

Review: Blood Will Tell by April HenryBlood Will Tell by April Henry
Series: Point Last Seen #2
Published by Macmillan Children's Books on June 16th 2015
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, YA
Source: Henry Holt and Co.
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-stars

When a woman’s body is found in a Portland park, suspicion falls on an awkward kid who lives only a hundred feet away, a teen who collects knives, loves first-person shooter video games, and obsessively doodles violent scenes in his school notebooks. Nick Walker goes from being a member of Portland’s Search and Rescue team to the prime suspect in a murder, his very interest in SAR seen as proof of his fascination with violence. How is this even possible? And can Alexis and Ruby find a way to help clear Nick's name before it's too late?

April Henry weaves another page-turning, high stakes mystery in Book 2 of the Point Last Seen series.

I love a good mystery, and I did enjoy the first book in this series. I guess it’s not really a series as much as companion novels, but whatever. This was actually a really cool one since you actually know rather quickly who the killer is, but all evidence points to the wrong person. So instead of trying to figure out who did it, you are trying to find out how it all points to someone who is innocent. Much like the first book, this is told in numerous POV’s, which took me a bit away from the story, but it also gives you a full picture of what is going on. I have to say, I had no clue how in the world the evidence could be possible until it is actually revealed, so win for that. It was also a short book, so I was able to read it all in one sitting and that made it easy to enjoy.

The main character in this one is Nick. If you have read the first book, then you know that he volunteers for Search and Rescue and has a big heart. Not to mention, he wants to save people. So how could anyone think he could just murder someone right? Well, that’s exactly what happens. He has no clue how or why, but he is the sole suspect in the case, and as far as evidence goes, they have solid proof. He is a smart kid, and has great friends though, and they are all determined to prove his innocence. Except, add a huge bombshell of a secret to things, and it starts to slowly break him down. I really like him, and it sucked to see him going through all of it.

If you are a mystery/thriller fan like me, I think that you will find this enjoyable. I liked that everything fit together and made sense, even if I was too dumb to catch on until it was being waved in front of me. I’m normally so good at mysteries too. The many different POV’s weren’t really my thing, but it made sense to the story, so I tried to ignore my irritation when it switched from chapter to chapter. Overall this was a good book that was fast to read and kept me wanting to know how it would all turn out. I am not sure if the author is writing more of the Point Last Seen Series books, but I will definitely read them if she does.

three-stars

3 Hot Espressos

Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Posted by on 05/25/2015 • 5 Comments

I really enjoyed this book. Yeah, the MC’s fall for each other rather quickly, but I thought it was a great read. I liked that it covers addiction, insecurities, and being true to yourself. There is a lot of depth to this book underneath all the craziness of it. It’s a harsh world where people are constantly being judged for how they look. This book shows us that. Laurel is okay being a bit curvy and not all skin and bones, but her friend has always been insecure about her weight. Boy TV star Tom used to be chubby and had an embarrassing public break up. He’s there to work, Laurel is there for her friend. They both don’t take Solu, and find quickly that it’s a good thing. They…

Review: Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

Review: Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

Posted by on 04/10/2015 • 8 Comments

This… was an interesting read, indeed.

The blurb talks about how this is a powerful thriller, but a more apt description would be a “quiet” thriller that sends ripples of emotions to the reader in frequent, yet small doses. This is actually the first time I’ve read something like it, because when I see THRILLER, I expect SUSPENSE! MYSTERY! TWISTS AT EVERY CORNER! But Last Good Day of the Year is anything but. The first 90% is all backstory, and the actual “thriller” part comes almost at the very end.

That doesn’t mean to say that it didn’t work, though, because I found myself liking the overall touch. When Sam was seven years old, she witnessed someone go inside their house and kidnap her four year old sister, Tabitha (nickname: Turtle)….

Review: Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt

Review: Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt

Posted by on 04/01/2015 • 21 Comments

This is probably the first time in a long while since I’ve gotten this infuriated and angry and just fuming over a book. I chose to read this novel expecting great things (especially with such a title as romantic as that), but I ended up putting the book down at certain times and pacing around the room just to cool off the steam coming out of my ears. I was that seething. 

(And I’m not the only one. I buddy read this with Aimee and we kept ranting about the book to each other.)

I don’t even know where to start with this thing. It had so many factors that could have given us an amazing story – underground family-syndicates that deal with black market organ transplants, a heroine who has an autoimmune disorder, assigned guardians…

Review: When by Victoria Laurie

Review: When by Victoria Laurie

Posted by on 03/27/2015 • 11 Comments

If you think this is your usual paranormal book where a girl finds herself capable of doing some pretty cool shit and doesn’t know how to use it and consequently gets frustrated until she finds the Love Interest/s who help/s her channel her powers for good before they run off to the sunset to their happily ever after, STOP RIGHT THERE! I shit you not, When by Victoria Laurie is anything but… that. It gets rid of the overused PR formula and breathes into it new life. I’m telling you right now that this book will surprise you in the sickest way possible (and I mean that very positively).

Being able to know when someone will die is definitely not an easy burden. If I had this curse put upon me, I…

Review: Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik

Review: Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik

Posted by on 03/17/2015 • 6 Comments

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I love a good mystery/thriller, and I also love gritty contemporaries. This book is both of those, but I just didn’t feel it. I wasn’t a fan of the MC, and I thought that this was very drawn out and it bored me at times. The mystery really is pretty good, but being the sleuth I am, I did connect the dots before we are given the reveal. I do think that this book had a lot of potential, and there are great parts of the story, it just didn’t have me needing to keep reading. In fact, most of the time I wanted to yell at the MC and tell her that she was a bit crazy and stupid….

Review: Liars Inc by Paula Stokes

Review: Liars Inc by Paula Stokes

Posted by on 03/05/2015 • 13 Comments

If you’re looking for a YA mystery with an interesting premise and cast of characters, you need not look far because Liars Inc pretty much distinguishes itself from the rest effortlessly. I mean, look at the following factors and I dare you not to get excited, because I’m pretty sure you will:

✓ A male hero that actually feels like an authentic male hero ✓ A half-Indian love interest who is so comfortable with her sensuality ✓ A premise that revolves around lies and covering one’s ass with more lies ✓ A whodunit murder mystery that involves getting arrested by the FBI (or, trying not to)…

Okay, maybe the last bit is something we’ve seen a couple of times in other books, but the first three are stuff I haven’t seen yet,…

Review: Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil

Review: Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil

Posted by on 02/27/2015 • 6 Comments

Remember the time when I kept sayingGet Even, the first book of this duology, was better as a standalone?

Well, I now eat my words, because if that book was a standalone, Get Dirty wouldn’t exist, and I would have missed a book that was BAD. ASS. AWESOME. Seriously, guys. I enjoyed this way more than I expected to, and I’m so happy with how everything was written and concluded!

I mean, seriously? It doesn’t only has suspense (I was on my toes the whole time), unpredictability (I swear I couldn’t guess who the perpetrator was… the timing of the clues and how they were laid out and everything made me SECOND-GUESS EVERYONE), girl power (four girls with different personalities being fantastic together and individually), but humor, too! I swear, guys, this one made…