Rachel Hawkins Signing + Awesomeness

Yesterday I made my way to Wellesley Books to see the freaking awesome Rachel Hawkins!!

There was a signing with this cool poster (see above), but there wasn't any presentation or talk beforehand. It was just a signing and like a Q&A free for all, which was fine, just not what I expected. I had a good time at the signing all the same.

But then....then...I had the strange fortune of somehow being invited out to dinner with Rachel by her Hyperion team. I had no clue what to expect, but when I arrived (with Danielle from Frenzy of Noise/Tangled Up In Words in tow) I was blown away by the fancy shmancy-ness of all of it. INCREDIBLE.

I was definitely a little out of my comfort zone, but I still had a great time and met the lovely Jamie from Brookline Booksmith and Mrs. Connors, who is a new high school teacher who is just getting into YA.

The night ended with a freaking awesome dessert and a few photo-op moments.

Book Review: Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler

Title: Loss (Riders of the Apocalypse, #3)
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Graphia
Paperback, 251 pages
Date Published: March 20, 2012
Source: Author

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
Fifteen-year-old Billy Ballard is the kid that everyone picks on, from the school bullies to the teachers. But things change drastically when Death tells Billy he must stand in as Pestilence, the White Rider of the Apocalypse. Now armed with a Bow that allows him to strike with disease from a distance, Billy lashes out at his tormentors...and accidentally causes an outbreak of meningitis. Horrified by his actions, Billy begs Death to take back the Bow. For that to happen, says Death, Billy must track down the real White Rider—who is lost in his memories.

In his search, Billy travels through White Rider’s life: from ancient Phrygia, where the man called King Mita agrees to wear the White Rider’s Crown, to Sherwood Forest, where Pestilence figures out how to cheat Death; from the docks of Alexandria, where cartons of infested grain are being packed onto a ship that will carry the plague, to the Children’s Crusade in France—all the way to what may be the end of the world. When Billy finally finds the White Rider, the teen convinces the man to return to the real world.

But now the insane White Rider plans to unleash something awful on humanity—something that could make the Black Death look like a summer cold. Billy has a choice: he can live his life and pretend he doesn’t know what’s coming, or he can challenge the White Rider for his Crown. Does one bullied teenager have the strength to stand his ground—and the courage to save the world?

Loss is unlike the other two Riders of the Apocalypse books and Jackie Morse Kessler’s new style and direction are both welcome and exciting. Billy Ballard’s life of being bullied is extremely relevant to anyone at any time. We all know that feeling, either personally or as a bystander. And boy does Billy Ballard suffer. He not just bullied on a regular basis, but he’s tortured. He’s made to feel like he is nothing, then he has to go home and hold the weight of his grandfather’s care on his shoulders.

Billy’s Gramps having Alzheimer’s adds another layer to the story and especially to Billy. Billy feels inadequate as a human being because of his bullying. When Death comes to him, telling him to take his place as Pestilence, Billy feels like he cannot do it. Yet, day in and day out, he cares for a man he loves who barely even recognizes him. Billy’s strong, but doesn’t realize it.

I said Loss was very different from the previous two books in this quartet. And it is. Very much so. Not only is Billy Ballard the center point of the book and the new Pestilence, but the old Pestilence still reigns; He’s just a little crazy and hanging out in his own mind.

The division between Billy and what becomes known as The White is startlingly clear. We journey, along with Billy, through the hell that King White (Pestilence) has suffered through and even unleashed on the world. For the first time, we get to see how being a Rider is a huge responsibility, but also a looming burden. What comes out of this is stuff made of human nature’s greatest fears and faults. Billy Ballard is a boy staring down the barrel of the gun and he may not be brave enough or strong enough to fight back. Discovering if he is a thrilling experience.

Loss is unlike either of the previous two Riders books, but it’s also exactly like them. Jackie Morse Kessler has developed a way to dig into some deep emotions and pull them out. Loss is by far the best of the quartet thus far and I doubt I’ll forget Billy Ballard or King White anytime soon.

Opening line: The day before Death came for Billy Ballard . . .
. . . Billy was on the ground, getting the snot pounded out of him. ~ pg. 3

Favorite lines/passages:
“The world is always about to end, William Ballard. The nature of life is to be always on the brink of death.” ~ pg. 200

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.

Find Jackie Morse Kessler online:

Website | Blog | Twitter

Buy it online:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

Loss Blog Tour: Interview With Jackie Morse Kessler + Giveaway

Photo by Michelle Rowan

Jackie Morse Kessler grew up in Brooklyn, NY, with a cranky cat and overflowing shelves filled with dolls and books. Now she’s in Upstate NY with another cranky cat, a loving husband, two sons, and overflowing shelves filled with dragons and books (except when her sons steal her dragons). She has a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature, and yet she’s never read any Jane Austen (with or without zombies). She also has a master’s degree in media ecology. (The living study of technology and culture. Which is cool, but she still can’t figure out how to use Tweetdeck.)

Jackie spends a lot of time writing, reading, and getting distracted by bright and shiny new ideas. (She just came up with a new idea right now.) She has a weakness for chocolate and a tendency to let her cat take over her office chair. 

I am delighted to have Jackie Morse Kessler, author of the HUNGER, RAGE and LOSS, here today, as part of her blog tour. She very kindly took some time and answer some questions for me. Read on for more!

Was any one Riders book more difficult than the others to write? Do you have a favorite book in the quartet?

Each book gets harder than the one before it! Whew. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster ride, but at the end of the day, it’s been worth it. Hunger holds a special place in my heart because it was the first, and I had been waiting so long to write it, but I’m really happy with all three books. (I’m in the middle of writing Breath right now, so the only official feelings I have for it are ARGH DEADLINE ARGH.)

Haha, that kind of seems like the normal author response to ANY book. Good luck!

Source

Pestilence has been my favorite Rider ever since we were first introduced to him. Did you have his story planned when he first appeared, or did you come up with it after?

After, definitely. At first, Hunger was going to be a standalone novel. It wasn’t until after my agent asked me which Horseman I would write about next that I started really thinking about the other three. We saw one side of him in Hunger, and then a completely different side in Rage. Both of those set the stage for LOSS, which delves into the history of the White Rider (Pestilence, also known as the Conqueror).

I think I'm with a lot of people when I say THANK YOU to your agent!

Source

All the Riders books tackle problems that people face every day, and do so in a raw and honest way; yet they make bulimia, cutting, bullying, etc. so easy to relate to. How have you gone about balancing the harsh realities with a story that is hopeful despite the pain that it shows?

I try my best to be real and yet positive. These aren’t some quick-fix issues, and they deserve more than a simple “And they they lived happily ever after.” That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for hope — and, actually, I think that hope is the most positive thing we have going for us—for characters, for readers, for people. Hope is what keeps us going. I sprinkle a little levity in the books, too, because otherwise it would be too brutal for me to write. Gallows humor, you know? And I think that’s something else that we all do: we find a way to cope with horrible situations. So I try to tap into all of that — the raw situation, the coping mechanism, the hope for a better tomorrow — when I write these books.

I do love the Gallows humor sprinkled throughout. And it most definitely works since most of the time it's Death that brings the funny.

I love the covers for the Riders books! Did you have any input with the cover design?

I love the covers too! I am the luckiest author in the world. :) The artist is Sammy Yuen and I couldn’t be happier. I had nothing to do with the covers, other than see them and gush over them.

That man is a genius!!

Do you have anything in the works (that you can share) post-Riders?

I have a short story that I’ll be writing — going back to my adult UF/par-rom roots for this one, because it’s a fun-loving Jezebel story. Heaven knows that after the Riders, I need something lighthearted and evil. Fun evil, not deep, dark, despairing evil. :)

I don't blame you for a little lightheartedness!

GIVEAWAY: (*Straight from Jackie)

One lucky commenter below will win a small cover poster of LOSS—and will be entered in the grand prize drawing! The grand prize winner will receive signed copies of HUNGER, RAGE and LOSS—and will get to name a character in BREATH, the fourth book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series. The grand prize winner will be picked on Sunday, April 1, 2012. No foolin’.

Find Jackie Morse Kessler online:

Website | Blog | Twitter

Buy it online:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

 Spoilers for all three books abound!! You have been warned

As far as book to movie adaptations go, The Hunger Games was awesome!

And it was awesome in general too, but there were things I didn't like. I've seen it once (going to see it again today) and the first time around, I couldn't help but be fixated by all the little things that weren't there.

I was okay with Madge not being there, but I missed seeing Peeta's dad give Katniss cookies, I missed getting to know Rue, I missed Peeta saying "come to finish me off, sweetheart," I missed more time in the cave, I missed the Mutts being the dead tributes, I missed Katniss and Haymitch right after the games, and a hundred other little details that weren't there.

The movie is over 2 hours long, and it needs to be. Despite how faithful the movie is to the book, I couldn't help but wish we had more time with the characters. The cave scene with Katniss and Peeta didn't do it for me the way I wished it would. In fact, I never felt the Katniss/Peeta relationship start to develop. That little feeling Katniss gets when she kisses Peeta didn't come across to me. :(

I have hope that it will get stronger with Catching Fire though!

But I still loved the movie. I loved how it stood apart from the book as a fast-paced, exciting movie, while still staying true to the overall story and characters. I loved the tone the movie set, I loved the score, I loved Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, and I (surprisingly) loved Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.

Getting to see some of the things Katniss can only imagine intensified the movie, as well. So much so that I actually liked Seneca Crane and felt bad because I knew how things would end for him. The special effects were awesome too. And the acting! The acting was perfect!! I can't tell you how many times I teared up while watching it and I'm never really much of a movie cryer.

All in all, The Hunger Games was fantastic and I have a feeling my second go around will be even better. I think those who read the book prior to seeing the movie, may just need to see it a second time, to get past all the little details and really enjoy it.

*UPDATED with second time viewing thoughts*

Okay.

So I've seen The Hunger Games movie twice now and I liked it a lot more the second time around. I still miss the little things, but I enjoyed the film more as a whole this time. Most of the changes work well and condense this complex story into a cohesive and enjoyable film.

Would I still liked to have seen a lot of things? Absolutely. But for the most part, the film works without them.

One thing that got me more the second time around was the mockingjay pin. I'm okay with it not coming from Madge, but the symbolism behind it is lost when Katniss just picks it up at the Hob. It's a meaningless, pretty token to her. Then it becomes a sweet gift from Prim and a secret token to bring into the arena. Its meaning is lost on Katniss, as is its power to the districts.

The emotional pull was still strong though. I felt it the first time, no doubt, but I had goosebumps when Katniss volunteers and again when Rue dies and we see the beginnings of an uprising in District 11.

That's another thing I've seen complaints about that I actually enjoyed. Seeing the immediate affects of what Katniss is doing is important to the audience, especially those who haven't read the book. Katniss isn't just some girl fighting to make it home to her sister. Without all of her internal monologue, the audience doesn't get to know her as well, but seeing her affect on others will keep the audience rooting for her. She's fighting to the death, but also maintains the integrity that Peeta says he's desperate to keep.

Katniss stays true to Katniss and despite her prickly demeanor, she's someone who others can rally behind because she's kind and loving deep down.

The Katniss/Peeta relationship felt stronger to me this time around too. Still not so much from the cave scenes, but I had that feeling when Clove eats the berries and Katniss thinks Peeta has died. I loved how she just throws herself into Peeta's arms and you can tell that she really would have been devastated if he had died.

And about Seneca again...I think I love him. He comes across as such a genuine person, despite the fact that he's kind of masterminding the deaths of kids.

Oh, and I liked movie Gale so much more than book Gale.

Please make me eat those words in Catching Fire, Peeta!!

Book Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Title: Embrace
Author: Jessica Shirvington
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks
ARC, 367 pages

Date Published: March 6, 2012
Source: Publisher
Description (Taken from Goodreads):
It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Embrace has everything a reader could want: a well-executed plot, fantastic characters, a steamy romance, and plenty of action to keep it all going. I was instantly enthralled by it and I’m not one to enjoy books about angels. Embrace isn’t like other angel books though because despite having angels in it, the story remains focused on characters, while giving the reader insight about how the angel mythology works.

Violet can be a bit naïve, but she comes across as very sincere and real. She’s not terribly boy crazy or ditzy –though she does have her moments with both Linc and Phoenix; she’s very easy to relate to. Her journey from normal girl to angel is actually exactly how you’d expect it to be. Violet reacts in the right way….but you’ll have to read the book to see what I think the right way is.

Now about those boys: Linc is okay, I guess. That’s the thing with a possible love triangle though. Readers will always pick one that they see as the best. And for me, that wasn’t Linc. I liked him, but he got me quite angry here and there. Phoenix, on the other hand, is sexy and cocky, with just the right amount of sweet. He’s not innocent or all good, but I couldn’t help but be drawn to his darkness. Readers will certainly eat these two boys up!

Embrace takes readers on a wild ride of ups, downs, and startling realizations. It’s the first in a trilogy, so while this one starts the trio off very strong, there is so much more to look forward to. The fighting and action is intense, the smoldering, sexy scenes are as steamy as ever, and the plot will keep you hooked. Embrace will hold up as an easy and favorite read for me…and should for you too.

Opening line: Birthdays aren’t my thing. ~ pg. 1

Favorite lines/passages: How had he gone from seeming so genuine one minute to exploding with sexual innuendo the next? How did I go from being all I’ll ask the questions to Someone get me water ‘cause I’m burning up! ~ pg. 122

*This is the ARC version and lines, pages, cover art may differ from final copy  

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it. 

Find Jessica Shirvington online 
Website | Blog

Check out Embrace online:

Embrace Website | Facebook | Add on Goodreads

Buy it online:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

Book Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott

Title: Pure (Pure, #1)
Author: Julianna Baggott
Reading Level: Adult
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hardcover, 431 pages
Date Published: February 8, 2012
Source: Publisher

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Dystopian novels are all the rage right now, but it’s difficult to create something so evolved and complicated and plausible, the way that Julianna Baggott has with Pure. The world-building is richly detailed and the barren, ashen landscapes are so vivid that you can almost feel the oppressive air against your face.

Pressia Belze is a disfigured, disheartened, and disenchanted 16 year old struggling every day to survive. Living through the Detonations that destroyed her family sounds dark, and it is. Pure isn’t light-hearted or joyful. Pain radiates off the pages and the death lingers in every chapter. But the characters are real and honest.

Pressia has heart and can somehow live off of hope, despite never experiencing it herself. Bradwell is angry and strong, but has a soft side. Partridge is almost naïve, but his innocence makes him so likeable. Having several characters – theses three among them – narrate the story allows for the reader to get a full view of the world they live in. We get to see life outside the Dome, as well as life inside the Dome. We see family life, the life of a revolutionary leader, soldiers, students, and everything in between.

Baggott commands attention with Pure. The world she has created is unlike anything else I’ve ever read, and it somehow makes sense. The fusions – Pressia has a baby doll for a hand – the politics, the creatures, and creations are astounding and disturbing, but so messed up that I couldn’t get enough.

Mesmerizing and stunning. Pure is exquisitely dark and grotesquely beautiful. Julianna Baggott somehow takes the most horrifying creations and situations and spins them into a tale of hope and perseverance; of survivalists in a terrifying world who can still see the goodness in others. This is a the first of a trilogy and I’m and now dying to see where things go next and who will live to see tomorrow.

Opening line: There was a low droning overhead a week or so after the Detonations: time was hard to track. ~ pg. 1

Favorite lines/passages: “All the losses mount up,” he says. “You can’t feel one without feeling the others that came before. But this feels like an antidote. I can’t explain it, like someone fighting back.” ~ pg. 320

 More like 4.5

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.

Find Julianna Baggott online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Pure Website

Buy it online:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

In My Mailbox Vlog - (3/11/12)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It is a list of any of the books you may have received in the past week from bookstores, libraries, authors/publishers, trades, etc.

I feel like I haven't read a book in ages...really it's been about two weeks. 

Which is still WOW, a long time! I've wanted to, but been way too busy to find the time to sit and READ. In fact, I'm probably sleeping in right now, having the spent my Saturday night babysitting a five year old and two year old twins. 

Anyway, on to the books!

For Review:

The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

Auracle by Gina Rosati

Black City (Black City Chronicles, #1) by Elizabeth Richards

Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

The Implosion of Aggie Winchester by Lara Zieilin

The Right & the Real by Joëlle Anthony

*HUGE thanks goes to Little, Brown, Gina Rosati & Roaring Brook Press/MacMillan, and Penguin

Invisible Children & KONY 2012

Source

I'm not sure how many of you have seen the KONY 2012 campaign on Facebook or Twitter or just online in general, but it's something I support wholeheartedly...and it's not a political something I'm posting about to get a discussion or argument going.

I want to spread the word about it because I believe in it. I believe that Joseph Kony is a terrible, horrible, despicable human being. I believe that no child, anywhere in the world, should have to suffer the way the African children Kony has abducted have.

Source

I believe that the man above needs to be arrested. That the 30,000+ children he has taken deserve to have some justice. That all these years cannot pass with no action.

Invisible Children began nearly ten years ago when three college kids went to Africa and discovered a story that few people had heard about...and they made people care. Nearly ten years later, we're at a point where it needs to come to an end. Where Kony needs to be arrested - before the political support dwindles and they're back to square one.

If you're still with me now, then thank you. If you skipped all that and came straight to this point, that's okay too. If you have the time, I'm asking you to watch the short film below. It will take about 30 minutes out of your day, but it just may be life-changing for you. When I saw the original Invisible Children film years ago, it changed my life, so please, give this a chance, and if it's something you can believe in, do everything you can to help. Thank you!

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Invisible Children

Tumblr 

Get the Kit

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Transcendence by C.J. Omololu

Scheduled for release June 5, 2012

Description (Taken from Goodreads):

Love isn’t the only emotion to survive death . . .

When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.

As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.

Full of danger, romance, and intrigue, Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live?

Find C.J. Omololu online:

Website | Blog | Twitter

Pre-order it online:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

And C.J. has kindly allowed me to include a little excerpt: 

     It feels like I’m on the edge of something big, and as much as I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want Griffon to stop. I need to get through to the end.
     “Think for a second,” he says. “The visions you’re having. You didn’t really see that girl being led up to the scaffold…you weren’t watching her, were you?”
     All of a sudden I know what he means even though everything inside pushes against the thought. None of the visions have been like me watching a movie. It’s like being in the movie. “No,” I say, barely above a whisper.
      I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing that it makes sense, but not wanting to admit it, because if I admit it, everything changes. Everything I know about life will be different.
     “The girl on the scaffold is me,” I say quickly. “I’m watching as these things happen to me, not other people.”
       It feels like the truth is dangling there in front of me, just out of reach. All of the pieces of the puzzle are right there, waiting to be put together. “Why is this happening now?”
     “Because,” he says. “You’re starting to remember.”

On to the giveaway!!

C.J. will be giving away two ARCs of Transcendence - the winners will be chosen from all the comments amongst the cover reveal blogs, so leave a comment with a way to contact you if you want to be included.

Nitty gritty details:
Open to US & Canada only
Must comment by March 14th to be entered

Book Review: Angelina's Secret by Lisa Rogers

Title: Angelina's Secret
Author: Lisa Rogers
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
ARC, 186 pages
Date Published: February 1, 2012
Source: Publisher

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
As a child, Angelina spent years in counseling learning that Josie, her imaginary friend, wasn't real, but it turns out her childhood friend wasn't imaginary after all.Now Angelina has to accept she's either (A) crazy or (B) able to see ghosts. Wanting to believe in her sanity, she chooses (B) and welcomes Josie back into her life. But even Josie can't help her deal with Shelly, the spirit of a confused teenager, and things go very, very wrong.When Angelina finds herself in a psychiatric hospital, she faces a choice: she can spend the rest of her life pretending to be someone she isn't, or she can embrace who she is and take a chance that she may never get to go home.

Angelina’s Secret was, in a way, a letdown for me. I had such high expectations for a creepy, messed up, hide my head under the covers kind of story…and it didn’t deliver that at all. In fact, the ghosts are more Casper than Poltergeist and I found the main character to be boring.

Angelina can see ghosts. More than that, she’s been able to see ghosts since she was a child, but willed the ghosts away when her parents put her in counseling. Now that she’s allowed the idea of them back into her life, her childhood ‘imaginary friend’ Josie – who is really a ghost – is back. Her mother finds out, freaks, and the seeing ghosts thing becomes a secret. One that she can’t keep.

The premise then becomes whether Angelina can truly see ghosts vs. the possibility that she is actually mental institute insane. And, unfortunately, it isn’t executed the best. I never saw the possibility of Angelina being crazy as a valid option. But I did see far too many easy convenient explanations to make the plot move forward.

Angelina, the ghosts, the people at the mental institute, Angelina’s family – they are all one dimensional. I tried to see more to them, but I couldn’t. Being unable to connect with the main character meant I could never get into the story, so I was unable to enjoy it.

Angelina’s Secret is a simple story with somewhat one dimensional characters and a contrived plot. If you’re looking for a quick read, then this is the one for you. It wasn’t the story I had hoped for, but there are plenty of YA readers out there who have read and loved it.

Opening line: The premonitions always made her feel this way – weak, disoriented, scared. ~ pg. 1

*This is the e-ARC version and lines, pages, cover art may differ from final copy  

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.

Find Lisa Rogers online:

Blog

Buy it online:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Indiebound

Reading Weather

Living in New England means I'm very accustomed to all kinds of weather. It also means that there are many days that are made for reading. Today just happens to be one of those days. 

This is the view from my deck/back door:

See? Perfect stay in and read weather!

And considering it's the only big storm we've had (since that freak snowstorm in October) and I actually have the day off, I'm going to stay inside and enjoy it. :)

I hope the view through your window is nearly as good as mine.