DNF Round-Up: May

One DNF in May, I'm shocked, really I am. I had a really, really good reason for this one though, because there was a very real chance I'd murder some fictional characters if I carried on.

I was really looking forward to this one too, it sounded fun and flirty and just an overall good read. The reality? Stilted dialogue, adult characters that don't read like it and oh yeah, the insta-love kiss of death. Mwah.

04/06			17.0%	"20 Notes within the first 17%. Broke a record. Want to strangle the pretty much all the characters so far. Not a good thing."
04/07			25.0%	"Insta-love. Spoiled rich bitch. Spoiled rich dick. Nope. Can't do it."

 

 



 

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday (#48)

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

Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

Expected publication: August 5th 2014 by Feiwel & Friends

 

 

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Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn't imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She's not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he's impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly... bad things are happening. It's a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil's bargains, she isn't sure who—or what--she can trust. Not even her own mind...
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The first season of Revenge was almost finished when I decided to watch it...and got addicted. So I binged watched it, and then I got withdrawals. And found this book called Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne and it ripped my heart out and stabbed it and I loved it. It was the second time I cried over a book (the first being Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). So basically, a revenge based plot? Yes please.

 

 

What're you waiting on?

Review: Trust Games

Trust Games
Author: Simon Packham

Publication Date:  June 14th 2014      
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~



 

 

 

 

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Just as life seems perfect, a scandal tears it apart.


When kind, charismatic new drama teacher, Mr Moore, arrives at school, Beth’s life starts to look up. She’s cast as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and as she grows close to super-popular
Hannah (Juliet), Beth finally has the female friend she’s been yearning for.

Meanwhile it seems that all the girls – including Beth – are in love with Mr Moore. And when a scandal breaks, Beth must make a decision that can only have dire consequences for everyone involved

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I wish I could say I liked you, Trust Games. What seemed like an interesting read, I wanted to see how the topic was handled, but it wasn't handled well. I think because it wasn't actually about the main player in the game, but more of her view on the sidelines that you didn't get to see the attraction. And that's what made it an uncomfortable read, and it has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but the characters. But I'll get to that in a minute. You can kind of guess what Trust Games is about by the synopsis, it's not a big leap. I haven't read many of a controversial relationship, but I recently read The Things You Kiss Goodbye, and it didn't bother me at all because it was done right.

Review: (Don't You) Forget About Me

(Don't You) Forget About Me
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn

Publication Date:  June 10th 2014      
Publisher: HarperTeen
~An advance readers copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~



 

 

 

 

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

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

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I know I've said it before, but this has to be one of the hardest books to review because the slightest thing could really turn the way you think about it and ruin the whole build-up to the reveal. I'll start by telling you about the town, Gardnerville.  It's a coincidence that I was watching Haven while reading this, and in a way Gardnerville is a lot like Haven.  Weird, complicated,  something lurking behind what we see and what we don't see. And just like Haven, Gardnerville is a special place with a rather destructive founding, and with a little similarity to some "special" people, that's where the familiarity ends, but I'll get to the latter part in a minute. Gardnerville is a place where almost everything is quite perfect, with their quite perfect health score and quite perfect lives, except for that pesky little undertone of fear.

Stacking the Shelves (#47) & Recap. AKA the Boody Mary edition.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

So, how was everybody's week? It's been a good week here, had a few awesome things in the mail the past 2 weeks, three ones I was hoping for, one of them I've already read and reviewed (also hence the Bloody Mary Edition) Also, I HAVE AFTERWORLDS!

 

Review: Murder Most Unladylike

Murder Most Unladylike
Author:  Robin Stevens

Publication Date: June 5th 2014           
Publisher: Corgi Childrens     

~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

 

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When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.)

But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a murder must have taken place . . . and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive.

Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning, scheming and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?

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Oh, Murder Most Unladylike, you were fun. Think a mix of a younger Veronica Mars and Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. Although it's totally different from Veronica Mars in various ways (investigation skills, for a start), it just had that little snark and humour to it that reminded me of the essence of the show. But, I'd say it was more Nancy Drew and Gallagher Girls because of the easy reading. the writing style flowed well, and continued to flow well, there was no stop and starts, it kept me entertained the whole way and the humour, that's usually there to break it up a little, just added to the story and made it even better. I don't even know if it was unintentional or not, but either way, it worked.