Told in alternating points of view, Crystal Giordano suspects ARC for review. To be published October 8, 2024.
Who doesn’t love a teenage psychopath?
Told in alternating points of view, Crystal Giordano suspects that she and her crew, best friend Gayle and Paul, Trevor and Harmony (she really doesn’t seem to know the rest of them very well for them to be her best friends, but, whatever) are being targeted by the new kid in town, Aaron Fortin. Probably because they are. And he’s a really, really bad guy who is lucky enough to have his parents move just when he needs them to.
Pretty good for YA, if you buy that teenagers are basically mostly awful people just wearing for permission to BE awful. Up to you.
NOTE: I didn’t listen to the audio version; this is being released in book form. ...more
ARC for review. To be published November 26, 2024.
Pessl’s NIGHT FILM is one of my all-time favorites. I did not like her previous foray into YA, NEVEARC for review. To be published November 26, 2024.
Pessl’s NIGHT FILM is one of my all-time favorites. I did not like her previous foray into YA, NEVERWORLD WAKE, anywhere near as much, but this sounded so very good….I was hopeful.
This book is somewhere in the middle, good, but not great. However, since it is YA, but I enjoyed it as an adult, even “good” is high praise.
Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with the late game maker Louisiana Veda for years. Now her foundation is running an easy contest to select seven young interns from around the world for a summer internship. Dia figures she’s got no chance, but it’s also the dream of a lifetime, so she enters.
She is shocked when she is selected, along with six other seventeen year olds, Poe, Franz, Cooper, Torin, Everleigh and Mouse.
Louisiana is a cult figure even in death. Her company, Darkly, was famous for its, well, dark, complicated, sublime board games filled with tricks and secret symbols. After Louisiana’s death the company went bankrupt and no more games were produced. Those that exist are now collector’s items and sell for immense sums.
So the interns are involved in a mystery. Why were they chosen? Why aren’t they staying in London as they were told they would? Is someone still playing games?
OK, so, the perfection part of this book? These games. I would love to get my hot little hands on any one of them; I don’t even need one of the special prototypes, just a regular one would be fine. Because they sound INCREDIBLE. They are “the secret club at the end of the alley you can reach only by following the faint footsteps in a locked graveyard yesterday.” Gimme, gimme, gimme!
The game within the story is pretty good too. Some of the other aspects of the book were maybe a bit more typical in terms of what I expect from YA, but it’s all well written and nicely done. I hope this finds a wide audience. And I hope Pessl has more adult books on the horizon as well.
***Edited to add. A quibble with the ending. I don’t know about the differences between U.S. and English law, but they are usually hew pretty closely. I’m a lawyer, and yes, lawyers suck, I totally agree with you there, and, in fact, I am the worst, so we’ll get that out of the way, but…..I don’t think this had to end the way Dia thought. There’s something fairly big she’s missing. Her lawyer would see it right away. I could be wrong but…....more
Hear ye, hear ye! Tis time for the annual Tri Wizard Tournament, oops, I mean, The Wilde Trials! (RIARC for review. To be published January 25, 2025.
Hear ye, hear ye! Tis time for the annual Tri Wizard Tournament, oops, I mean, The Wilde Trials! (RIP Cedric, we will never forget).
So, that’s kind of what you’ve got here; in the two weeks leading to graduation was Wilde Academy twelve outstanding seniors are chosen to compete in seven trials, comprised of both physical and mental tasks. The winner gets more than a half million dollars.
Our erstwhile heroine Chloe Gatti is a scholarship student and her younger sister is sick. She really needs that money to help pay for her treatments. But it won’t be easy. Her competition includes her ex-boyfriend Hayes Stratford (a name that sounds like every private school douche you can imagine. Many apologies if your name is, in fact, “Hayes Stratford,” but I’m guessing you already knew about your dickish name, right?) whose older brother was the only student ever to die during the trials (but the school continues to have them? In the real world we have this little thing called “insurance” which, apparently, does not exist in the world of YA.
And if that wasn’t bad enough someone starts blackmailing Chloe during the trials, so she’s forced to work with Hayes to try to win and see what really happened to his brother.
This wasn’t a bad book, just definitely YA for YA in that none of this could ever actually happen. Because, you know, adults. ...more
I knew the name of this author sounded familiar. She wrote IF I STAY, a YA book which I know was verARC for review. To be published January 14, 2025.
I knew the name of this author sounded familiar. She wrote IF I STAY, a YA book which I know was very popular and spawned at least one sequel and I definitely read the first one, though I don’t remember much about it.
So, here, one spring day Amber, a seventeen year old arrives home from school on her bike. Her mother sees her and screams.
Because Amber died seven years ago, hit by a car while riding that bicycle.
Amber remembers nothing, but seven years have passed for everyone else, her parents, sister, boyfriend, friends….
There’s a lot to unpack here, and you have to keep in mind this is YA, so while Amber doesn’t eat or go to the bathroom or anything, no one is too concerned about this, and she basically acts like a typical seventeen year old and is all about her high school boyfriend, which, of course, is nuts, but, hey, teens!
Melissa, the sister to end all sisters is probably the only smart person in this book. It’s definitely YA for YAs, but it’s an interesting concept, and it kept me reading, so the rating is more for a YA reader, not for an adult read. For an adult reader, three stars. ...more
ARC for review. To be published September 24, 2024.
I love that this YA book is set in Kuala Lumpur…that alone makes it stand out from a lot of what’sARC for review. To be published September 24, 2024.
I love that this YA book is set in Kuala Lumpur…that alone makes it stand out from a lot of what’s out there. And the book covers a tough topic, though not explicitly.
St. Bernadette’s is the best school for girls around, perched atop a hill…only the best make it through the gates. One ordinary day a new girl starts to scream in class. Then another. Then another. By the end of the day there are seventeen of them.
Khadijah is a girl with her own problems; she doesn’t speak. But her sister is one of the screamers.
Rachel is trying desperately to live up to her strict mother’s expectations while also trying to carve out a life for herself. Is it possible?
And why are the girls screaming? And what will happen next?
This is definitely YA for YA, but I like that it exists for girls, even if I don’t know that I was crazy about the ending. Probably a 3.5 for me. ...more
Debs in New Orleans! But the book is YA, so temper your expectations.
Last year there was a dead queARC for review. To be published October 29, 2024.
Debs in New Orleans! But the book is YA, so temper your expectations.
Last year there was a dead queen of the Les Masques ball. She was a wild one, though, nothing like this year’s perfect girl, Queen Lily LeBlanc.
But then the ball is invaded by a mysterious jester and Lily seeks help from her best friend, Vivian, her boyfriend’s sister Piper and her frenemy, April. They set a meeting but Lily disappears. What happened to her? Will there be another dead debutante?
Well, actually, it doesn’t seem like a lot of people care very much, to be honest, and if you are a grown person you probably won’t either; this is YA for YAs, for sure. I kept getting Piper and Vivian confused, which was pretty bad since there were really only three main characters. Young teens may like it, as a nice bit of fluff. ...more
Sami Lynch, Lloyd Williams, Marta Williams and Rose Lawson are the four scholarship students admittedARC for review. To be published August 20, 2024.
Sami Lynch, Lloyd Williams, Marta Williams and Rose Lawson are the four scholarship students admitted to High Realm, a prestigious boarding school. They are bullied and ostracized by the other students, but at least they have each other. And then they become bound by a secret that might bring them all down.
Wow. This was quite a book. Definitely not your standard thriller, not your standard dark academia, not your standard anything…it’s far more, far better than that. High Realm is brutal, and I’m sure there are places just like it. Sami, Lloyd, Marta and Rose are rich characters and even the villains are well drawn. There’s a lot to like here. Well done. Recommended. ...more
Sixteen years ago six girls were born on the same day, and then those six girls, Isabeau, Reuel, GeorgiARC for review. To be published June 25, 2024.
Sixteen years ago six girls were born on the same day, and then those six girls, Isabeau, Reuel, Georgina, August, Solaina and Cori became best friends. Until the rift when they turned thirteen. Now they all exist in the same high school and in the same orbit but the friendship between the six is over, and Isabeau lost everyone but her best friend Reuel. And it still hurts.
On the night of their sixteenth birthday Isabeau and Reuel are together then Iz leaves Reuel on her front porch and walks home. In the morning Reuel is missing and is gone for two days. When she returns she remembers nothing about where she’s been and is very ill.
However, Reuel’s disappearance brought the six girls back together again, but then another girl vanishes and the group realizes that something is happening to all of them.
Obviously this is a young adult book, and it’s VERY young adult, by that I mean that reading it as an actual adult I had to suspend a lot of disbelief as to the way the adults in the story acted. But that’s OK, this wasn’t meant for me! The ways in which the girls friendships broke up rang true, so there’s that. ...more
Read about this in PAPERBACK CRUSH and it’s one I had not read. I’m a little bit unclear as to what actually happened to Karen. What Buddy describes sRead about this in PAPERBACK CRUSH and it’s one I had not read. I’m a little bit unclear as to what actually happened to Karen. What Buddy describes seeing doesn’t seem to match up to what parents say. Are they saving face or…..I don’t know. Odd. The author does nail first love though. I just don’t know that one gets over it quite so quickly. ...more
The new owner of Locked In escape rooms is offering prize money for whomever can successfully escape hARC for review. To be published August 1, 2024.
The new owner of Locked In escape rooms is offering prize money for whomever can successfully escape his room. Four teenagers are playing the game, Tony, a star athlete and member of the honor roll, social-anxiety ridden Bea, who uses puzzles to try to block the noise in her head, Anna who is Jewish and is concerned about the increasing anti-Semitism in the community and Devon who is desperately trying to hide that he is homeless.
As the game begins the players fear that things may not be what they seem. Will they escape?
This book was written specifically for reluctant readers and at a lower level of reading ability, but starring teenagers….brilliant idea! It’s only forty-six pages long. I’m not giving it a star rating because it’s not meant for me. Five star idea, though! ...more
Two high school seniors and sisters, Grace and Maddy, went missing while on their class trip. The girlARC for review. To be published August 6, 2024.
Two high school seniors and sisters, Grace and Maddy, went missing while on their class trip. The girls are very different, Grace is an athlete and very outgoing, always surrounded by friends, while Maddy lives in her sisters shadow, writes poetry and journals her thoughts.
Grace is found, injured, with no memory of what happened and with Maddy’s blood on her clothes. What happened? Will Grace’s memory return? Will Maddy’s journal help?
This was a decent young adult book except for the fact that the twist didn’t make much sense to me, but I don’t want to spoil it. Maddy was a believable character, at least. Actual young YAs may like this. ...more
ARC for review. To be published November 26, 2024.
Kiara, Priscilla and Nevaeh find out they are all dating Tommy Harding, an Internet teen prank starARC for review. To be published November 26, 2024.
Kiara, Priscilla and Nevaeh find out they are all dating Tommy Harding, an Internet teen prank star and all around rotten person. Kiara is his public girlfriend, Priscilla is an influencer and co-stars in videos with him online and Nevaeh, a church girl, has met him online.
Once Tommy is exposed all three girls are furious. But then Tommy’s body is found. Did one of the girls get revenge?
Oh, not a big fan of books where the girls are with boys who treat them terribly as Tommy does here. This just normalizes the behavior for girls who read these books. If they have to be in fierce competition, can’t it be for valedictorian, not for a complete ass like Tommy? Ugh....more
ARC for review. To be published November 19, 2024.
Tanvi and Mimi are cousins but they feel like sisters; Mimi’s mother raised both girls after the deARC for review. To be published November 19, 2024.
Tanvi and Mimi are cousins but they feel like sisters; Mimi’s mother raised both girls after the death of Tanvi’s parents. Mimi has always been Tanvi’s protector, up until recently when she became aligned with Tanvi’s biggest tormentor, Beth.
Then Tanvi takes an incriminating photo of Mimi and Beth and a party and, that same night, Mimi vanishes. The next morning Tanvi wakes up with injuries and no memories of how she got them. The police are investigating Mimi’s disappearance and Tanvi decides to do the same, hoping to regain her memories and discover what happened to Mimi.
This was a bit of a mess in that the timelines for what happens with the girls don’t seem clear. Several times Tanvi talks about how she, Mimi and Grace were inseparable…but what about Krista, who seems to be Tanvi’s great and wonderful friend who would do anything for her. Did she just appear from nowhere? The book makes it appear as if she did. And were Mimi and Beth friends for about three weeks? That makes no sense to me.
Then there’s Tanvi’s investigation. She does incredibly stupid things, over and over again. She breaks into people’s property. She returns to a place WHERE SHE HAS ALREADY BEEN PHYSICALLY ATTACKED AND COUNTS ON THE SAME STUPID ROPE TO SAVE HER A SECOND TIME?!?! She is nearly killed multiple times. And she’s supposed to be the hero of this book? Nope. Just didn’t care for it. ...more
Abel Miller is off to L.A. to be one of the stars of “Sunset High” on the OmniChannel, a reboot of a popARC for review. To be published July 9, 2024.
Abel Miller is off to L.A. to be one of the stars of “Sunset High” on the OmniChannel, a reboot of a popular, but possibly cursed television show, but he has a secret. His brother, Adam, was a production assistant on the first iteration of “Sunset High” and died during the filming, but no one knows why. Abel is going to find out. When Angel meets show creator Lake Carter and his co-stars Lucky Tate, Ryan Hudson and Ella Winter he finds there are other secrets lurking. Secrets someone would kill for.
Lord, this is a mess. The writing isn’t bad, but it’s absolutely nonsensical, starting with the idea that Abel can just become the star of a TV show and then continuing on the pretty much every single plot point that occurs after that. I know this is a young adult book, but young adults do have some sort of working brain, correct? They deserve better. ...more
ARC for review. To be published November 19, 2024.
Jessa Morgan has always been the perfect girl: nice, polite, a rule-follower. Her friends and her bARC for review. To be published November 19, 2024.
Jessa Morgan has always been the perfect girl: nice, polite, a rule-follower. Her friends and her brother make fun of her but she finds life easiest when she’s the girl her parents and society expect her to be.
One night her friends are at Jessa’s for a sleepover when a storm comes up and the power goes out. Her friends start to fight, guests show up and scary things start to happen. Someone has targeted Jess and she needs to save herself and everyone else. Can the perfect girl do it?
I don’t know, this is definitely YA for YA, not much for an adult here, even an adult who likes YA. It was OK, just….not much to it. ...more
In Black Falls, New York, River O’Dell died. Then, eight days later, his girlfriend, Remy Green goes mARC for review. To be published August 6, 2024.
In Black Falls, New York, River O’Dell died. Then, eight days later, his girlfriend, Remy Green goes missing. Jules Green, Remy’s cousin is her opposite, awkward, shy, an odd, but she always felt like she fit in with her best friends River and Remy. But now everyone but Jules believes Remy is dead too. However Jules and River’s cousin Sam are going to find out the truth.
I am torn about this book. The writing was good but there were a number of things about the content that bothered me a lot, however it’s impossible to review those things without spoilers, other than to say Remy makes terrible, terrible choices. I would hate for a young girl reading this to feel led by them. So I don’t know. ...more
