Review: Playlist for the Dead

Playlist for the Dead
Author: Michelle Falkoff
Publication Date: January 27th 2015        
Publisher: HarperTeen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

 

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.

WHY ARE THESE ONES SO HARD TO REVIEW?

So I'll get straight to the point.

I didn't love it.

I didn't hate it.

Again, I'm in middle ground territory and I freaking hate that, and the fact that I so wanted to love it, it's very music orientated as well, and come on, that's perfect for me, which makes me dislike it more because I didn't love it. But, that's not down to the story, or the message behind the story.

Problems, Problems, We All Have Problems...

I was tagged by the awesome Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight and Henna @ Howling for Books to do the Reader Problems Tag originally created by  About To Read.

1. You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

I don't think 20,000 books would fit in my house. I must live in a library. Yes! Wishes do come true. Now, when I open my eyes will I be in Italy?

Easy. I don't. No, really. Obviously review books are in order of month, so I ask someone to pick a number from 1-(whatever number of books in that month) and read the book from the number they pick.  My own books I read when I feel like reading, though they're usually the newer ones I buy, instead of the ones I that have probably been on my shelf for a year that I said I would get to next time...and still haven't. Like Dangerous Girls, (yes, I know, I should've read it like yesterday Instead, I read it the other day.) and Ensnared that I was like GIVE ME two months ago, and now have read some reviews and I'm just...no.

Waiting on Wednesday (#80)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Expected publication: March 31st 2015 by Simon & Schuster

Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.

They always say that high school is the best time of your life.

Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.

Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present

What're you waiting on? 

Review: The Mime Order

The Mime Order
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publication Date: January 27th 2015        
Publisher: Bloomsbury
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

I didn't really get on that well with The Mime Order, I don't know what it was but something just felt disconnected and missing. I wasn't all that raving about The Bone Season either. I liked it well enough, but it wasn't one I'd rave about, it didn't stand out to me, probably because it's confusing and hard to get into, which I hoped wouldn't be the case with The Mime Order, and unfortunately was, for me at least. I wanted to love it, considering the characters had escaped and The Mime Order literally starts right where The Bone Season left off, I thought it would be intense, but even that felt bogged down by overcomplicating things. I get it, things weren't exactly going to go as planned or easy, but it just dragged.

Review: I Was Here

I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Publication Date: January 29th 2015         
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

From the bestselling author of If I Stay - this summer's YA blockbuster film.

This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide.

As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

A phenomenally moving story, I Was Here explores the sadly all-too-familiar issue of suicide and self-harm, addressing it in an authentic way with sensitivity and honesty 

I hate comparing books, especially these type of books because they are on the same level. Theme wise. Storyline wise. Writing wise. Character wise, but I think the only way to talk about this one properly is to compare it, and the difference between the two is that I cared more for one than the other. The former being All the Bright Places and the latter, I was Here. Maybe that's because  I Was Here was dealing with the after of suicide and not the mental illness,  whereas All the Bright Places is now and you see the mental illness and the decisions and experiences and stages it goes through. Maybe it's because we only saw one side, in here, Cody's, and in All the Bright Places we have Finch and Violets. The effecter and the affect-ee. That is the major difference to why All the Bright Places affected me more, because we're in the middle of it, and I Was Here deals more with the after effects with who that person touched, it dealt more with moving on and getting through and ultimately understanding, and hope.

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award (Part 2)

I usually don't do Awards, but this one seemed too much fun to pass up, besides, I was nominated by these two lovelies, Christy and Erica from Novel Ink

The rules ...

1) Thank the blogger that nominated you, and link back to their site.
2) Post the award's logo on your blog.
3) Answer the 10 Questions That you have been asked.
4) Nominate 10 other bloggers and ask them 10 questions. 

The Questions

1 - What book was your biggest disappointment in 2014?

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray (which I've probably mentioned loads of times by now with how much I was disappointed by it) :(

2 - If you could be friends with a character (boy and girl, if you'd like) who would you choose?

Right now, Celaena Sardothien  (still) from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas because she's a badass, and Theodore Finch from All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven because no matter how long you have someone like that in your life, they teach you how to live.

Waiting on Wednesday (#79)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Rook by Sharon Cameron

Expected publication: April 28th 2015 by Scholastic Press



History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she. 

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse

What're you waiting on? :) 

Project Blue Monday: All the Bright Places

Blue Monday is supposed to be the most depressive day of the year, some of us teamed up with Penguin for Project Blue Monday, and to make it a little brighter we were sent signed proofs of All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and a lot of swag to give out to whoever you wanted to give it to, to make their day a little brighter, and we were to record their reactions, or find out their bright place, or anything involving All the Bright Places.

Red Eye Blog Tour: Q&A with Alex Bell

Welcome to my spot on the Red Eye Blog Tour, I have Alex Bell on the blog today with a Q&A, so a great thank you to Alex for answering my questions.

If you guys haven't read or heard of Frozen Charlotte (you can read my review here), it's a  part of the Red Eye Horror series that's being published by Stripes Publishing, the first in the series, Frozen Charlotte along with Sleepless by Lou Morgan were simultaneously published on the 5th January, so they're out now to buy, Frozen Charlotte here, and Sleepless here. You can also check out the trailer here.

 Q&A Time!

1. What was the last book you read? And if you can remember, the first book you read?

The last book I read was The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff. A brilliant, magical tale set in London during the time of Henry VIII. Highly recommended.

I don't think I can remember the first book I read. Possibly a Meg and Mog book? 

Review: Sleepless

Sleepless
Author: Lou Morgan
Publication Date: 5th January, 2015
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Young, rich and good-looking, Izzy and her friends lead seemingly perfect lives. But exams are looming – and at a school like Clerkenwell, failure is not an option. Luckily, Tigs has a solution. A small pill that will make revision a breeze and help them get the results they need. Desperate to succeed, the group begin taking the study drug.

It doesn’t take long before they realize there are far worse things than failing a few exams

Sleepless, you were crazy. A lot of crazy. This will probably be short because Sleepless is that book you don't have a lot to say about. You know the ones...you liked it enough, you didn't hate it, but there wasn't anything that made you love it. Whether it was the writing, the characters, the story, etc, etc.

Waiting on Wednesday (#78)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Expected publication: July 7th 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

This thriller YA is Scandal meets Veronica Mars.

Sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick has spent her entire life on her grandfather's ranch. But when her estranged sister Ivy uproots her to D.C., Tess is thrown into a world that revolves around politics and power. She also starts at Hardwicke Academy, the D.C. school for the children of the rich and powerful, where she unwittingly becomes a fixer for the high school set, fixing teens’ problems the way her sister fixes their parents’ problems.

And when a conspiracy surfaces that involves the family member of one of Tess's classmates, love triangles and unbelievable family secrets come to light and life gets even more interesting—and complicated—for Tess.

Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Heist Society, readers will be clamoring for this compelling teen drama with a political twist

*Sigh* Another one labelled for fans of Pretty Little Liars. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, hate the books, but it's getting annoying seeing it on every other book lately. I am a sucker for thrillers though.

What're you waiting on?

Review: At First Sight (AKA Nobody)

At First Sight
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release Date: 1st January 2015
Publisher: Quercus Childrens
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

A girl no one can see
A boy on a mission
A love story with a difference
What happens when an assassin falls in love with his target?
There are people in this world who are Nobodies. No one sees them.
No one notices them.
They live under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That's why they make perfect assassins.

The institute finds these people when they're young and takes then away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organisation. And threats must be eliminated.

Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute's monitoring.
But now they're ID'ed Claire and sent seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her.
Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can't make the hit...

I'm not ashamed to admit I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes's The Naturals series, I love reading anything to do with serial killers, anything that delves into psychology and criminology, profiling. Anything. And since I love that series, I was pretty optimistic with At First Sight, which is why I'm so disappointed to say that At First Sight is an example of everything I hate in a book, I know it sounds harsh, but it is.

Review: Rogue Wave

Rogue Wave
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Publication Date: January 6th 2015         
Publisher: Hodder Childrens
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

In this exciting sequel to DEEP BLUE, Serafina uncovers more clues about the talismans, Neela ventures into a sea dragon's nest, and Ling learns the identity of their foe.

Serafina, Neela, Ling, Ava, Becca, and Astrid, six mermaids from realms scattered throughout the seas and freshwaters, were summoned by the leader of the river witches to learn an incredible truth: the mermaids are direct descendants of the Six Who Ruled-powerful mages who once governed the lost empire of Atlantis. The ancient evil that destroyed Atlantis is stirring again, and only the mermaids can defeat it. To do so, they need to find magical talismans that belonged to the Six.

Serafina believes her talisman was buried with an old shipwreck. While researching its location, she is almost discovered by a death rider patrol led by someone familiar. . . . The pain of seeing him turned traitor is devastating.

Neela travels to Matali to warn her parents of the grave threat facing their world. But they find her story outlandish; a sign that she needs to be confined to her chamber for rest and recovery. She escapes and travels to Kandina, where her talisman is in the possession of fearsome razormouth dragons.

As they hunt for their talismans, both Serafina and Neela find reserves of courage and cunning they didn't know they possessed. They face down danger and death, only to endure a game-changing betrayal, as shocking as a rogue wave.

What I loved about Deep Blue was the setting of the underwater world, how detailed and different it was, from the different parts of the sea reflect some of our countries right down to the vivid descriptions and even the food. How it wasn't centred around romance and was more about friendship bonds and all the girl  Merl power, and what a good impression that made, the banter, the one liners. And the fish puns. How it reads more to a younger YA audience and the fact  that I still liked it. The only trouble I had with Deep Blue was that I was confused a lot of the time and it was quite overwhelming.

Review: The Here and Now

  
The Here and Now
Author: Ann Brashares
Publication Date: January 1st 2015        
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
 ~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.  

The Here and Now, I have a question for you. What are you actually about? Because there are so many threads that by the end are still left open and don’t even amount to anything.  I am confused. The characters are confused, which is why I am confused and it's a whole lot of confusion over everything. Literally. Confusion. Are you confused yet?

Waiting on Wednesday (#77)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

The Uninvited  by Cat Winters

Expected publication: August 11th 2015 by William Morrow



From the award-winning author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds comes a stunning new novel—a masterfully crafted story of love, loss, and second chances. Set during the fear and panic of the Great Influenza of 1918, The Uninvited is part gothic ghost-story, part psychological thriller, perfect for those who loved The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or The Vanishing by Wendy Webb.

Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War.

Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.

The Uninvited is an atmospheric, haunting, and utterly compelling novel.  

I don't usually read Adult, but it's Cat Winters. Enough said.  

What're you waiting on?

Review: All the Bright Places (Just go buy it)

All the Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Publication Date: 8th January 2015
Publisher: Penguin Random House
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven

I honestly don't know where to start with this one, so this is more of a feeling and reaction review than a straight up review, the same as I did with We Were Liars. Because, All the Bright Places is another book where whatever you say it's not going to be enough, it'll never be enough to say in a few paragraphs how much you love and got a book so much that you literally stared at it for half an hour just thinking and trying (unsuccessfully) not to cry. Because it affected me in a way no other book has done before, not even The Fault in Our Stars or  Heart-Shaped Bruise (as much as I love them)  or even Speak, that changed everything for me and got me reading in the first place. But, this is why I read. Beautiful, beautiful books like these are what keeps me reading.

Review: Frozen Charlotte

Frozen Charlotte
Author: Alex Bell
Publication Date: January 5th 2015        
Publisher:  Stripes Publishing
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

We're waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died

Here's a few things you need to know about Frozen Charlotte.

1) It's psychologically disturbing.

2) It's creepy as anything.

End of Year Survey: 2014

I'm back, how was everyone's Christmas? Mine was quiet for a change, so I should've gotten some reading done but instead binge watched Birds of a Feather. Happy New Year! :)

 

The End of Year Book Survey is hosted by Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner

 

 

 

Number Of Books You Read: 152
Number of Re-Reads: 2
Genre You Read The Most From: I have no clue. Crime/Psychological Thrillers? Or Dystopian? Or Fantasy? Or Contemporary? Or Paranormal? All I know is there was no good voodoo and few rip-your-heart-out-I-hate-you-but-I-love-you *cough* All the Bright Places *cough*
 

 

 

1. Best Book(s)You Read In 2014?

 (In no particular order) ;)
 

   

 

  

 

 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?