Blog Tour Book Review: One of Us Is Lying + Giveaway!

Release Date: May 30, 2017
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Length: 370 pages
Source: Review Copy for Blog Tour.

One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

    

Review:

Protagonists: This is a story told from four first person points of view. Each of the main characters is a suspect in a murder of the resident and very public gossip monger that, at the time, seemed to be the perfect crime. Bronwyn, arguably the main character of this novel, is your typical intelligent rule follower who puts pressure on herself to be perfect to compensate for what happened with her sister. Cooper is the star athlete, his father has high hopes for his professional future, and Cooper would do anything to keep his father's adoration. Addy is always the princess and never the queen and her mother makes sure she knows that her relationship with popular and successful Jake is the best thing in her life. Finally, there's Nate, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks who sells drugs, weed and painkillers only, to make ends meet and does anything he can to stay away from his incessantly passed out drunk father. I was completely blown away at how the author was able to, very successfully, in my opinion, juggle real character development for these four characters and do so in such an entertaining and addicting way. I don't want to get too specific on each character since I could be here all day and there are other topics in this book to discuss, but I have to say my favorite one, even though it was an incredibly close race, would have to be Addy since her character development is the most pronounced and dramatic.

Romance: There was more romance in this story than I had anticipated going in, granted these are four high school students and the juiciest romantic drama seems to come out of high school so it shouldn't have shocked me. While each character had a romantic storyline, and all of them were pretty phenomenal, I really want to talk about the two characters who have a romance with each other. Part of me wants to keep who they are a secret because even though it's heavily foreshadowed early on enough in the book that I wouldn't call it a spoiler, I would want to keep it a bit of a surprise. The thing I love most about this couple is that the romance doesn't feel overdramatized for the reader. It doesn't feel like these characters are being pushed together, or even cleverly puppet mastered into falling for each other. Each interaction leading up to them getting together feels real like if two identical people were thrust into a similar or the same, situation it would turn out the same way. This couple has fantastic chemistry and is such an easy couple to root for.

World Building: I've honestly considered throwing this section out. I mean, this story takes place in a very typical school, it's very character driven, and the murder mystery aspect should probably be saved for the next section of this review, but I have to say that the author did a wonderful job of incorporating this gossip app Simon developed, About That, into a high school community and how that sort of freedom of information lack of privacy can lead to a very toxic environment. I mean, this book was like Gossip Girl if everyone knew who was posting people's secrets and finally did something about it. At first, I thought this high school was a bit over dramatic and too cliche, but it hit me that if something like this existed in my high school, as accepting and anti-clique as it was, it would be perceived in pretty much the same way. If everyone had to look over their shoulder when doing anything and agonize nearly every second of the day whether that mistake they made might be made public, I could easily see it spinning out of control. Though I do have to say that the police in this book were the very definition of incompetent, and honestly, mixed in with everything else, it somehow made the book better.

Predictability: So, who killed Simon? Well, I won't tell. The thing is the entire time I was reading this book, nearly up until the big, twisted reveal I still had doubts as to the innocence of the four main characters. As much as I loved them and didn't want any of them to be a murderer, I've read books with more out of the blue, yet perfectly believable, twists before, and the fact that it was told in the first person didn't matter to me, this book is called One of Us Is Lying after all. The funny thing is though, all of these characters are lying about something or another. Each of them a feature on Simon's next big gossip bomb and so they all had a reason to kill him. These secrets they had are pretty juicy too, and it doesn't take long to either figure them out entirely or at least get some pretty heavy foreshadowing as to what those secrets could be.

Ending: The ending to this book was pretty much everything to me. The thing is since this story is heavily character driven, the end for me wasn't the answer to the whodunit mystery this story has, though that was sure something exciting, let me tell you. The killer isn't revealed all at once either, it's something that spans quite a few POV changes and when we get the equivalent of a parlor room scene, where the killer's full plan finally comes out it's definitely a plot to remember. The final climax is really a testament to how far some of these characters have come and while it was a bit painful to read at times, it was still epic. Then there's the cooldown where I was pleasantly surprised to see that this story doesn't end in an overly idealistic way. When something like this story's main plot happens it's not something that can be tossed aside so easily and have everything be perfect, and that's not even taking into account the superb subplots. I liked that this story kept a realistic feel until the very end.

Rating:

Yeah, like this rating is much of a surprise, I pretty much gushed about this book all the way through my review. It really was fantastic. If you like a juicy and exciting murder mystery with fantastic and realistic characters, I would HIGHLY recommend this book! P.S. If the author wrote a book about the side character Vanessa where she dies and no one cares, it would be short and possibly boring, but I would read the story with delight.

About the Author:

As a kid I used to write books when I was supposed to be playing outside, and not much has changed. I'm a marketing and communications professional who also writes Young Adult contemporary and fantasy fiction in Cambridge, MA.

When not writing or working I love to travel, and along with my nine-year old son I've ridden horses in Colombia and bicycles through Paris. A member of SCBWI, I hold a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University. Which I have never, ever used professionally.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway!

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Book Review: All In (The Naturals #3)

Release Date: November 3, 2015
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 378 pages
Source: Library Book

Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days.

After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code—and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes.

Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds—and impossible choices.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Cassie, after enjoying a holiday break with her family, is excited to get back to the Naturals program, a place where she feels she belongs, where she's useful, and surrounded by people who feel like home. However before she goes back she learns there's been a break in her mother's case which throws her for a loop. On top of that, she and the other Naturals are recruited to check out a string of murders that seem to have no real connection other than a seemingly random string of numbers on their bodies. In this book Cassie begins to accept her role withing the Naturals group more. She's the heart of the group, the one with the capability and allowance to feel things whenever she wants. She keeps the group together, helps them through their personal tragedies and feels for them when needs be. She's a great character who doesn't really need to get better or really develop more in terms of becoming more the perfect self aware character. She grows more complex, but it's she owns her strengths and flaws and does her best to keep her flaws in check.

Romance: There is actually surprisingly little romance in this book. I almost feel like this section is unnecessary, but I do ahve a few things I want to address. First off I love that the author wasn't compelled to make a lot of drama for Cassie and Dean's romance, at least not yet. The love triangle's over and Cassie's made her choice, or well, Cassie knows where her heart belongs. Cassie and Dean are there for each other, supporting each other through tough times and not really racing for new milestones or shaking up their romance at all, and I have to say while some may think a nice calm romance is boring, it really works here. We do see a little bit of fall out over Cassie's choice, that type of thing doesn't go away, but even that's a rather small plot point. Overall, the romance is just done very well, and very tastefully.

World Building: Ha! I was right! During the previous installment in this series I theorized that each book will have a focus on a different Natural member, looking into their background and some of what makes them tick. What I didn't correctly theorize though, is which Natural this would focus on. I won't say which even though it's fairly easy to pick up on early in the story. I will say though that I really liked this story line, even if it had its frustrating moments. It really bring about this character's background, who they are, why they sometimes do the things they do, and while this isn't exactly the main plot or storyline, more just twisted up into it, it's one of the best parts about this book. Then there's Cassie's mom's case. I don't want to say too much and spoil it, but there are some interesting developments, some that feel a bit like a roller coaster. There are a lot of threads connected to this story and I was just shocked at the tapestry they wove.

Predictability: Barnes, judging by this series at least, is one of the best authors when it comes to surprising the reader. Besides fantastic foreshadowing, the author also employs misdirection, and vague moments to leave even the most perceptive reader unsure of what's going to happen. I had so many conspiracy theories for this book, about the murderer, about certain peoples' motives, even about Cassie's mom's case, and even the ones that were proven true were twisted in a way I couldn't have guessed. As for the other ones, I was either way off the mark, or pretty close to nothing significant.

Ending: *Speechless Gaping* If you thought that the twist at the end of the previous book was a game changer, you ain't seen nothing yet! In an effort to avoid spoilers, even though I just want to rant and theorize about this ending all day, I'm going to give you as vague a rundown as I can. I'm going to first say that how this killer is apprehended, if they even are apprehended, was done in a very different way than the other books. However that's not quite the end. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up, and that's just for this installment, not the series over all. Things get more complex, a little crazy, and there's a definite shift. I won't say what kind, but what I will say is that I seriously can't wait what the next book has to bring.

Rating:

Gah! This series is fantastic and hasn't let me down yet. Each book is gripping and I can hardly put it down for any significant period of time. There's still so much left to tell, and if my theory is correct, and I hope it is, we have two books left, and two more characters' backstories that I'm chomping at the bit to understand deeper.

Book Review: Killer Instinct (The Naturals #2)

Release Date: November 4, 2014
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 375 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through the pages of this thrilling novel.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Cassie went through a horrible ordeal in the previous book when she discovered that her mentor turned out to not only be her aunt, but the serial killer she and the other Naturals had been tracking. When we first see her in this book, she's not over that experience, but she's trying to move past it making the most out of her life as one of the Naturals and helping to solve cold cases. However once again the Naturals are sucked into an active serial murder case, and like the last time this case hits home with one of their own. Since it had been so long since I read the first installment I wondered if I would have the same connection I had with Cassie, if she would seem different and somehow less after so long a time. In fact, she may have been better than before. There's a lot to love about Cassie, she's flawed sure, but not egregiously so, she cares almost too much and that can get her into trouble, she's impulsive and strong and wants so badly to be there for the people she's come to love. Her development in this fairly subtle, there are moments when it's easily seen, but there's even more going on between the lines on the page and it'll be hard to recognize it until it's already happened.

Romance: I don't remember all that much from the first installment, in fact I felt the need to read a recap of the book before starting this one, but one the thing I did remember was that there wasn't all that much emphasis on the romance and that the love triangle was written very well. While there may be a bit more attention on the romance this time around it still doesn't distract from the main plot of the story, nor does it overshadow it. I'm still not completely sure how to feel about the love triangle, while I still felt it was handled well, there were some moments that bothered me. During the course of this book it becomes clearer where Cassie's heart lies, and that makes her other love interest do and say some douchey things, it's nothing to terrible, more pet peeves of mine, and it's not necessarily because Cassie has feelings for someone else, more about the existing relationship between the two boys.

World-Building: I'm a huge fan of procedural dramas and I love how in many ways these books take inspiration from them. I get the same whodunnit feeling when I'm reading these books as I do when I'm watching shows like Bones and Criminal Minds. My favorite chapters are the "You" chapters where we go into the mind of the killer and learn small things about them, what their doing, and a bit about their mindset. There's actually quite a bit introduced in this book. Obviously we learn more about Dean and his past with his father. We learn about the horrors of his childhood and the things he had to do to survive. We are introduced to key new characters that expand this world and open up new doors we haven't seen before. I cannot stress enough how much I loved seeing these characters interact, learning about them, and watching their development through Cassie's eyes.

Predictability: The big twist in this story of course is about the UNSUB, the person who is committing these gruesome murders and I'll get to them in a bit. First however, I want to talk about the other surprises this book has in store. With all the information we learn comes a great slew of twists. Some of them there is foreshadowing for, however it's no where near enough to actually grasp what the twist is. There are also things that come out of the blue, things that there is no preparation for and seem added for shock value in addition to their other purpose in the story. Finally, there's the killer. I won't say too much but I have to say that I had trouble not trying to psychoanalyze and profile them as I read more about them in the story.

Ending: The ending for this book is a game changer in many ways. As the book comes to a close there is a crazy and tension filled final climax followed by and interesting cooling down period where everything for this case is wrapped up nice and neat. However, there are quite a few cliffhangers. It's nothing that would make readers wait in agony until they got their hands on the next installment, and actually most things have come to a sort of plateaued period. There are still many questions to be answered, and like I said there are game changing things in the end, none of which are all that shocking.

Rating:

Like I said before I was unsure if I would still love this series after so long away from the series. I know my tastes in books has changed and I've become more discerning in what I like and don't like in stories, plus there's also the dreaded sophomore slump where the second book doesn't measure up to the first, but I ended up loving this book and can't wait for the next heart pounding and intense installment.

Book Review: The Dark Lady (Sherlock, Lupin, and Me #1)

Release Date: January 1, 2014
Author: Irene Adler
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Length: 240 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

While on summer vacation, little Irene Adler meets a young William Sherlock Holmes. The two share stories of pirates and have battles of wit while running wild on the sunny streets and rooftops.

When Sherlock's friend, Lupin, joins in on the fun, they all become fast friends. But the good times end abruptly when a dead body floats ashore on the nearby beach.

The young detective trio will have to put all three of their heads together to solve this mystery.

    

Review:

Protagonist: This book tells the tale of a young Irene as she meets and makes friends with Sherlock Holmes and Arsene Lupin, long before their great destinies have come to pass. Irene is a head-strong girl who doesn't want to spend her vacation cooped up at home only doing things her mother approves of. Instead she find herself in the midst of a mystery involving a dead castaway and a missing necklace. I really like the character of Irene, she's not one to be pushed around and she tends to do just what she wants regardless of the rules. What I loved though is that she never came off as a tomboy, she embraces her femininity while at the same time being a strong, albeit stubborn character.

World-Building: So, I'm no expert on Sherlockian lore, but I do enjoy a good Sherlock inspired story here and there. This one is particularly interesting as it shows a young Sherlock friends with two characters who will one day become the thieves and criminals whose crimes he'll be trying to solve. However in this tale they are just three kids with a thirst for adventure and mysteries. There isn't all that much world-building in this book, other than learning a bit about each characters' families we also see, from time to time, references from Adler about the futures of each of these characters.

Predictability: So this section is pretty much going to be all about the mystery within this book. On the whole I found the mystery rather unimpressive, though I'm saying that as a 23 year old man, and definitely not someone in the intended audience for this book. However I just wish that the foreshadowing was done better, that the pieces of the mystery were easier to follow and piece together. Instead as the reader I was just sort of expected to follow the story and when this just sort of come out of the blue I had to just accept it and move on. However I was rather impressed when the final pieces of the mystery came into place because while the results came rather out of the blue they were interesting nonetheless.

Ending: So this book reads a lot like a standalone. In fact if I didn't know it was a series I would have expected this to be the only book. Everything gets wrapped up, and I seriously do mean everything. Every small mystery, every tiny piece of contusion is cleared up. The only things that even hints at more than one book in this series is the final line of the book which could refer to their respective futures as much as another installment in this series.

Rating:

So this was really hard to rate. On the one hand it was a fun and enjoyable read that didn't take all that long to get through. On the other hand though, there wasn't all that much substance there. In the end I decided to take into account that this was a Middle Grade book and cut it a little slack. Regardless, I do hope to one day continue this series.

Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter (WOW #13)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly landlord of 826 Augur Lane, has enlisted the services of her detective-agency tenants to solve a decade-old murder--her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they suspected.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced. 

Ghostly Echoes releases on August 23, 2016 from Algonquin Young Readers

So last year around my birthday I began this incredible series. All I knew going into it was that it was like Sherlock meets Dr. Who, which is a hard thing to pass up. I was immediately taken by the story and swept away in the mystery of it all. So far this series has been captivating and all around amazing and this next mystery has been building since the first book and I can't wait for the truth to come into the light! P.S. PURPLE COVER!!!

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Book Review: A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1)

Release Date: March 1, 2016
Author: Brittany Cavallaro
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Length: 336 pages
Source: eARC via Edelweiss

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

A Study in Charlotte is the first in a trilogy.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Jamie Watson, the great-great-great grandson of Dr. John Watson, has found himself at the same boarding school as Charlotte Holmes, the descendant of the famous detective. As their paths cross they find themselves framed for a murder they did not commit and have to work together to find the real culprit, much like their famous ancestors. So, I really liked Jamie, loyal, for the most part honest, caring, and a really lovable protagonist. He does have his flaws, a quick temper, a self-deprecating attitude, and he gets emotionally invested in things much too quickly, but as the story progresses he does begin to develop and evolve. It's nothing too abrupt or obvious, but there are little things, some more noticeable than others that show and illustrate his development over the course of this book.

Romance: I'll be honest going into this book I wasn't sure how I would feel about a Holmes and Watson romance. On the one hand, it sort of seems like the easy route when you have two characters of the opposite sex star in your novel to have them enter a romance of some form or another, and also I have a particular love for authors who write male and female characters that can be friends without a hint of romantic feelings on either side. However, while I did hold onto my feels on this topic for part of the book, it started to break down at one point as I began to see the bond these two characters have. Now, the romance itself doesn't take up all that much of the book, it's actually spread pretty thin with the major focus of this book being the Sherlockian influences and the murder mystery. The little bit of romance that we do see though is done very well and this author has done a expert job at illustrating the feelings of these characters so clearly.

World-Building: Another fear I had going into this book was that it would rely too much on it's Sherlockian roots and end up being cheesy and lack any magic that would make it unique. However like before I probably shouldn't have worried at all, Cavallaro does a fantastic job of incorporating elements of Doyle's series and allusions to places and events, while at the same time coming up with a very unique world. I'm a bit of a sucker for books with a boarding school setting, although I do feel that we didn't get to see all too much of this one, maybe we will in the future installments. Now the Sherlockian themes and elements play a big part in this story, but they aren't all obvious and like I said before they aren't done in any cheesy sort of way to get a cheap laugh. In fact I felt that most, if not all, of the allusions and references to the Sherlock Holmes stories were done in a very sophisticated and, at times, very subtle way.

Predictability: So, I honestly don't know what to write here. For the most part there wasn't all that much foreshadowing in this book, which I didn't really mind. There were of course a few things here and there that I caught on to, but they were always very small things, nothing to really get excited about. In fact most of the time when I knew something it was more about what something wasn't than what something was, and most of the time it was because I relied on being familiar with the basic YA book formula. That's not to say however that when this book did take it's twists and turns I wasn't excited about them or that I didn't get the thrill that's usually associated with finding out a shocking and crucial piece of evidence, but I do sort of wish that there was a bit more to theorize about and more clues to follow than their were.

Ending: So I had to check my progress with this book several times as it started to come to a close. Let's just say that things don't all get wrapped up in a parlor room scene. The final climax while not action packed, doesn't really need to be, it's more a battle of wits and wills than brawn. The cool down period for this book was a bit long, wrapping up a few loose ends here and there, in fact if I didn't know this was a planned trilogy, I could have easily assumed it was a standalone, despite a few loose threads here and there. Now there is an epilogue, usually my favorite parts of books, however this one is a bit different, I won't spoil anything but I'll just say I really enjoyed it.

Rating:

This is a fun Sherlockian style murder mystery that, while it has allusions and shared elements to the Doyle stories, can stand on it's own! I can't wait for the next installment in what looks to be a wonderful trilogy!