Posts Tagged: ARC

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern

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

Review: Little Peach by Peggy KernLittle Peach Published by Balzer & Bray on March 10th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: HarperCollins
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four-stars

What do you do if you're in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels.

But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her “Daddy” and she his “Little Peach.” It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition.

This hauntingly vivid story illustrates the human spirit’s indomitable search for home, and one girl’s struggle to survive.

Wow… this was a very harsh read. Like, I felt sick to my stomach while reading most of it. It deals with incredibly heavy subjects – disturbing, even – but it is, in my opinion, one very important story. It’s a real eye opener regarding the sex trade. We all know that it exists; we all hear about the projects and the poverty and the hard knock life, yet it never quite hits home until you encounter an up close and personal story like this. The story of a young girl who is so innocent, so oblivious to what’s even happening to her. She’s only known fear and abuse, she thinks this is her way out. Her “daddy” is showing her the love and affection she’s been craving since childhood – though she’s technically still a child.

You can’t help but hear your heart breaking when you read Michelle’s story. It also makes it easy to understand how kids get themselves into these situations – somewhat willingly, too. They don’t know any better, sometimes not even realizing they’re being sold. When you’re fleeing from a broken home, this new life your “daddy” is offering can seem glamorous to them. Michelle even wishes her mom could see how well she’s doing. How proud of her she would be for making a great life for herself, no? Standing next to Michelle are a couple of other girls that we get to know and adore. Especially Baby who’s already so lost in this messed up, fucking world that all she made me feel was broken, helpless, ashamed. She could be so happy, she’s so very young, yet you just know she’s so not ok…

With that being said, while I do recommend this novel, it definitely comes with warnings. If you’re not comfortable with disturbing scenes of rape, violence, and child molestation, this book may be incredibly hard for you. Still, I’m not one to warn against reality. While this story may be fiction, it is based on real life. Stories like Michelle’s are happening in our very own society every single day to young girls – to our children – and it’s not something you should ignore no matter how sick it makes you feel. I think this author was very brave to approach such sensitive topics, but it’s a story that needs to be told. Who else can stand up for these victims? They sure don’t have much of a voice, unfortunately.

Poignant and tragic, Little Peach swings a surprisingly heavy punch that is bound to knock you down and make you want to scream for girls like Michelle. It’s harsh, but all too real.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Posted by on 02/16/2015 • 12 Comments

I almost stopped reading this book because I didn’t really like the MC very much. I am glad I continued it though because it really was a good book. I still never really liked Juliet much, but I thought that the story itself was well done and loved the subject matter that it covered. You know when you look at someone who is pretty, smart, has a perfect looking life and family? Well, who is to say that their life isn’t completely fucked up? That is what this story is about and that is why I enjoyed it. I don’t agree with some of the things that Juliet did, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t think this was a really well told story, that holds a lot of important…

Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Posted by on 02/10/2015 • 16 Comments

My Heart and Other Black Holes delves into the lives of two suicidal teens who make a pact to be each other’s suicide partner. Yes, this novel is messed up and sad and shocking at times to think that someone would want a sort of motivational coach to make sure they achieve death, but suicide pacts do happen, especially with teens, so no matter how effed up this is, it is real and all too heartbreaking. Still, this book is supposed to be an emotional mess, and it really should be considering the subject matter and everything surrounding it, yet I found myself feeling a bit indifferent towards it all.

Suicide is a tough subject to execute in a novel, and while there are some realistic parts, the whole…

Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

Posted by on 02/04/2015 • 25 Comments

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road? Sign me up! And unlike most times, I actually agree with that description. The Glass Arrow is a story about a girl living in a terrifying world where women are sold like livestock to the highest bidder. Fortunately for her, she has been raised in the wild, away from it all. Until now… she gets caught by hunters and she’s shown no mercy.

Being a fan of Kristen’s Article 5 series, I had high hopes for this one. Even though I didn’t absolutely love it, it does have a lot going for it that I think many will enjoy. The world building is what I found to be the book’s best quality. We’re shown the ins and outs of this cruel world…

Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Posted by on 01/29/2015 • 23 Comments

The Last Time We Say Goodbye is the story of a girl who’s been left behind. Her family is broken, her heart is broken, and her life will now never be the same. After her brother dies, Lex is now defined as this tragic girl with a dead brother; someone to pity, or to avoid completely which is not uncommon in these scenarios – people are simply uncomfortable towards death. If this wasn’t enough for Lex to deal with, there’s these nightmares that make her relive it all nightly…

As you can expect, this novel is full of emotional turmoil. It’s dark and depressing, yet very powerful. Important, even. We’re dealing with death, grief, depression, denial, and everything in between, and these emotions are all very real and unflinching. Lex…

Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Posted by on 01/26/2015 • 29 Comments

If you thought Queen Levana was evil before, you will see just how corrupted she really is! I don’t often read novellas, but this one is a bit longer than average and completely worth it to be able to see Levana’s childhood and how she grew up to be who she is. It also gives us a glimpse at our beloved characters’ childhood so we get a real 360 look at what happened in the past.

Despite her evil ways and sometimes shocking delusions, Levana’s story is just plain sad. This hard-edged personality of hers was built from a tough childhood that lacked real parental guidance and, most importantly, love and affection. The fire tragedy that brought about her scars was horrifying, and some might consider it the beginning…

Review: Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

Review: Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

Posted by on 01/22/2015 • 2 Comments

I am always up for a fairytale retelling, so of course I had to read this book. Especially since it has a dark twist to it. This was a book that was so easy to get into and get lost in. I loved uncovering all the secrets and find out how everything would end up. This is middle grade, but it the writing was very mature. the characters were great, though we don’t get to know many of them very well aside from Sarah and Alan. We learn about the other characters, but don’t really know them on an emotional level. Either way, this was a great book.

Sarah is a young girl, but wise beyond her years. She has moved around a lot and she is a bit…

Review: Cut Me Free by J.R. Johansson

Review: Cut Me Free by J.R. Johansson

Posted by on 01/21/2015 • 8 Comments

Cut me Free’s plot involves lot of disturbing happenings and broken characters, so it’s really unfortunate that it wasn’t the emotional read I was expecting. I was really loving it at first, but at the end I felt kind of meh about the whole thing.

I think it will all depend what you expect from it. After I read the blurb that talks of abusive parents and death and memories, I though this would be an emotional wreck of a read; a psychologically dense story. Instead, it focuses mostly on the thriller aspect of the plot – the new psycho that seems to be stalking her – while grazing over the psychological aspects. I do like my thriller books, though, so this was still highly entertaining, I just found…