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YA Mystery

Book Review : Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn

July 13, 2012      5 Comments

 

  • Release Date: June 14th 2012
  • Publisher: Viking Juvenile
  • Genre: Contemporary/Mystery
  • Pages: 384

Synopsis:
When sixteen-year-old Violet agrees to spend the summer with her father, an up-and-coming artist in Seattle, she has no idea what she’s walking into. Her father’s newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van Gogh sketches have been stolen from their home, and, until they can produce the corresponding painting, everyone’s lives are in danger–including Violet’s and her father’s.                                                                                                                                                                                   

Diana Renn’s debut novel , Tokyo Heist, is a van Gogh heist mystery crossing the Pacific Ocean; from the Seattle art scene to Tokyo, Japan. The mystery element is a fun twist on the contemporary genre. It will leave you on the the edge of your seat trying to figure out this whodunit.

Our protagonist, Violet Rossi is an American teenager who is a bit of an otaku–a fan of Japanese pop culture. For whatever reason, I went through an anime phase in college so it was fun to see her narrative sprinkled with references to real manga and otaku culture. The life and blood of most manga fandoms are teenage girls, so, I’m surprised it isn’t present in a lot of YA fiction. 

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Book Review : Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

June 27, 2012      5 Comments

Synopsis: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name. 

I purchased the Kindle version of Deadly Cool on a whim when Amazon had it on sale for 2.99. This is the second book I’ve gotten from the Harper Steals and Deals sale (the first being Unearthly) and  I have to say,these steals have yet to disappoint.

The book opens right into the plot and instantly took me into the world. When Hartley finds the corpse of a popular girl in her ex-boyfriend’s house, she finds herself trying to solve the murder and clear her ex’s name.

Deadly Cool is similar to a cozy mystery, but with a  modern high school face lift and pop culture sprinkled narrative. Having a murder mystery driven plot was an interesting take on the contemporary genre.

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Book Review : Cinder By Marissa Meyer

March 8, 2012      4 Comments

  • Release Date: January 3, 2012
  • Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
  • Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
  • Pages: 387
  • Audiobook hours: 10 hours 6 minutes

Synopsis : Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. . [Cinder is] a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future


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Book Review : Darker Still

February 28, 2012      7 Comments

While Darker Still l is Leanne Hieber’s debut YA novel she is no stranger to Victorian-era historical fiction, having written a successful adult series. With that in mind, I had high hopes for this novel.

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Book Review : Name of The Star by Maureen Johnson

February 16, 2012      9 Comments

“Keep calm and carry on. 

Also, stay in and hide because the Ripper is coming.” 

― Maureen Johnson, The Name of the Star

As a fan of Maureen Johnson, this novel was on my radar pretty early. The cover and synopsis of this novel looked like a departure from her usual work so I was excited to see what  Johnson would come up with. She doesn’t usually write paranormal stuff and most of her books aren’t series.

The Name Of The Star starts off at a slow pace. Lousiana teenager Aurora “Rory” Deveaux decides to attend Wexford, a London boarding school when her parents get jobs in England.  At the same time, a string of Jack The Ripper copycat murders are happening around the school.

 We are slowly dipped into  world of Wexford and get a feel for Rory’s environment and the tension of the situation.  Once the plot got rolling I was quickly captivated.

I think this book is perfect for Americans who are obsessed with British culture and life.  I know Johnson splits her time between London and New York so, I think she included some interesting aspects of British life we may not be aware of. Like that they have bars at high school dances. Her descriptions of Wexford and London felt so spot on, it made me want to visit.

The book and characters come off as very British maybe to a point where it feels cliched. It takes place at a boarding school. One character likes to drink tea and read in the evening and of course, they have names like Jazza, Boo and Callum.

 Rory doesn’t have the strongest of personalities, but I feel like we get to know a lot about who she is and where she comes from.I loved her relationship with her roommate Jazza. The two girls like to read books and drink tea in the evening and I think that’s something most people reading this review can appreciate. They felt so real.

Johnson has also created a pretty large and diverse cast without making it super obvious. It was nice to see characters from different backgrounds show up in YA.  I loved most of the characters, they felt fully developed and I could clearly see them in my head. I honestly felt like they all didn’t get enough screen time.

Even though this is a contemporary-ish novel with a paranormal twist, I think the world-building was really solid. I think Johnson captures exactly what would happen if there was a repeat of the Jack the Ripper murders

Johnson will occasionally swtich perspective to tell a more full story and I thought it flowed nicely with the storytelling. The plot felt like it could have been more intricately handled it seemed a little muddled. Overall the story was good, but the details could have been better. Once the big reveal was made I was hooked, but I wish it had been handled differently. This book also has a  cliffhanger, something I think a book really needs to sustain itself as a series.

Also, is this a Twilight reference ???

“I looked at the stained-glass image of the lamb in the window above me, but that only reminded me that lambs are famous for being led to slaughter, or sometimes hanging out with lions in ill-advised relationships.” 

 

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