Books and Sensibility

We're an Open Book

3.5 Stars

Book Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

     4 Comments

  • Release Date: July 31st 2012
  • Genre: Contemporary/ Coming-of-Age
  • Pages: 384
  • Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Synopsis: No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Yay, my first Harlequin (okay, Harlequin Teen ) novel !

Echo Emerson is trying to honor her dead brother, as she recovers from a violent encounter with her bipolar mother that left her with plenty of scars, but no memory.

Noah Hutchins wants nothing more than to be a family again with the brothers he was separated from in the foster care system, but he just can’t seem to stop screwing up.

…

Read this Post

Book Review : Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn

     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. 

…

Read this Post

Book Review: Beautiul Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

     1 Comment

“It was crazy how a hearse and a pair of sneakers could cheer a guy up.” 

― Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Chaos

 

Synopsis: Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena’s Claiming. Even Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals is affected – and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What – or who – will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?…

Read this Post

Book Review : Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

     3 Comments

Release Date : May 1st 2012

Synopsis: What if there were teens whose lives depended on being bad influences? This is life for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil. Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna. 

Sweet Evil is a provocative paranormal romance with angels, demons and a sinful twist.

The paranormal concept behind this novel is  something different than what I have encountered while reading paranormal romance. In the novel Nephilim, the children of fallen angels, live on Earth and  embody a sin. Their most important work is to pull humans into sin. Sweet Evil  explores the concepts of nature versus nurture ideas of sin. The book made me think about how we make sense of the bad things that others do.

Higgins writing is fun and addicting, and will appeal to teens and YA readers. However I did feel  like some parts of the plot were spoon fed, we are told too much instead of being shown and allowed to create our own opinions.

 …

Read this Post

Book Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

     2 Comments

“Am I a player in this scenario or a puppet? I guess, in the end, it doesn’t matter. It is what it is: my destiny.”

– Cynthia Hand, Unearthly

 

So, seriously Harper Teen is the best ! I got this book for .99 on my Kindle over the holiday season. Before that, it wasn’t even on my radar , it was just another pretty girl in a pretty dress cover.

I’m not  a big fan of paranormal romances. To me they all tend to be the same and have a similar kind of ugh-inducing female protagonist who doesn’t exist outside of the new guy they met. And while Unearthly falls victim to some of the usual tropes in paranormal romance (new person in school, love interest is dating mean girl, single parent . . .) I took a liking to it.

…

Read this Post

Book Review : Red Glove by Holly Black

     4 Comments

“Changing is what people do when they have no options left.” 

― Holly Black, Red Glove

In the second book in the Curse Workers Series, our coffee addled protagonist Cassel Sharpe is still clever as the devil and twice as pretty. Red Glove expands the world we were introduced into in White Cat, something I think every good sequel needs to do. In this novel, we meet new characters, get to see more into Wallingford and learn more about curse worker politics

The plot wasn’t as tight and concise as the first one. This novel reads less like a con job and more like a murder mystery While this series is a fantasy, White Cat felt more realistic than Red Glove. That isn’t to say it’s awful, it just doesn’t flow as well as it did in the first book.

…

Read this Post