They write 'em. I read 'em.
Title: Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1)
Author: Maureen Johnson
Pages: 416
Published: January 16th 2018 by HarperCollins
Genre: YA Mystery
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
So I read this book pretty much nonstop until I finished it, but I am only giving it 4 stars. Why you ask? Read on. Continue reading “YA Book Review: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson”
Manners & Mutiny (Finishing School)
My Rating: 4 Stars of 5
Amazon’s Rating: 4.5
Pages: 352
The final book of the Finishing series by Gail Carriger is packed full of excitement, fluttering eyelashes, and deadly acquaintances.
Sophronia is an young lady of good graces, as far as appearances go, but appearances are deceiving.
Taken from Goodreads,
If one must flirt…flirt with danger.
Lessons in the art of espionage aboard Mademoiselle Geraldine’s floating dirigible have become tedious without Sophronia’s sootie Soap nearby. She would rather thwart dastardly Picklemen, yet her concerns about their wicked intentions are ignored.Who can she trust? Royal werewolf dewan? Stylish vampire Lord Akeldama? Only one thing is certain: a large-scale plot is under way. Sophronia must be ready to save her friends, her school, and all of London from disaster.
If you’ve been following this series, the final book is fun and a satisfying close. There is even an epilogue that helps put some of the “I wonder what happen to…” questions to rest. All in all, I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys steampunk, Victorian easy reads.
Buy from Amazon ($10.97), here.
This novel was weird. Like imagine Lana del Ray singing at an Adams Family Reunion kind of weird. It was haunting.
It was annoying, too. We never find out what the MC’s real name is, she is just simply called River because that’s the name she calls herself in her head. Quite honestly, the whole book is about ‘River’ fangirling over a family of maybe witches. It reminded me of Twilight.
The summary from Goodreads:
Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.
What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.
Like? I read this novel a little while ago, and I didn’t post the review because I could not think of anything positive to say. The writing itself is good, but the story sucks balls, man. The cover is pretty.
So… yeah.
Sold on Amazon ($6.99) here.
London. Supernaturals. Petticoats. Bladed Fans. Espionage. That’s all it took for me to be interested in this series, and book Three, Waistcoats & Weaponry does not disappoint.
Sophronia is back at finishing school (a.k.a. Espionage School) and is faced with a whole new set of problems. Add to a young teen girl trying to save the British Empire, annoying boys are vying for her affections. Sophronia doesn’t let this stop her, fluttering eyelashes or no.
Need more depth? As summarized on Goodreads:
Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style—with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland.
No one suspected what—or who—they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.
Check out the Finishing School series on Amazon.
More Books in the Series:
(Links are affiliate links for Amazon.)
“Carry on, Carry on, as if nothing really matters…”-Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
3.5 out of 5 Stars
This book was a lot better than I thought. I’m apprehensive to reading things that are basically promo items for other books (cough, Fangirl, coughcough) or continuations of other series. I just don’t like them. I was also kind of confused because it is listed as a Fantasy novel, and I like Rowell for her Romance, but it turns out this is in fact another YA Romance, but because the main character is male, it is listed as fantasy. This is no fault of Rowell, simply the way publishing world works.
Summary from Goodreads:
Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.
It’s interesting to see an entire magical world built in one book. This book was supposed to the final book in a Middle Grade/YA Fantasy series, a la Harry Potter. This was well done. I just felt like some of the cliches that are often criticized in YA Fantasy were over looked here.
I get that this was supposed to be a companion novel, but it is still a novel. Some of the plot devices used were just…predictable and I feel like if it had been an honest to god attempt at a fantasy novel, it would never had made it past some unpaid literary agent intern’s slush pile.
The characters are what pulled this story through. Rowell is very good at characters and character development, but the relationship in this novel was just too forced. It was like, ‘well everyone knows it is going to happen because of Fangirl, so I don’t have to put forth much effort’.
So, I like it, but I didn’t love it. I saw every plot point coming from miles away, and the romance I love Rowell for was not entirely there. I will continue to read everything she writes though.
Reading is hard sometimes. Especially when you’ve gone through a slump and can’t find a book that sparks your interest. I was reading Carry On but because I didn’t read it fast enough, my loan from the library expired and I had to be put back on hold. I have it checked out again, and am going to finish it this time.
Wink Poppy Midnight I was really into, so much so that I took it to the gym on Friday to read on the elliptical. It was great, until I got a call on Saturday saying it had been returned to them, sopping wet. Apparently, it fell out of my bag on my way from the gym to my car and then it rained Saturday. So I owe the library a new book. I’ve ordered it and am going to finish reading it before I hand it back over.
So the reviews may be long in coming, but they’re coming. Just stick with me y’all. The struggle is real some times.
I’ve added Six of Crows, Wink Poppy Midnight, and Red Queen to my TBR pile. Felt like YA, what can I say. Librarian checking me out said “these books look dark and scary”. I guess? Lol.
So, have any of y’all read these? I’ve seen them all over tumblr and have wanted to read them for a while. I’m excited!
Love Rainbow Rowell, loved Fangirl, but am skeptical on how her Drarry (Draco/Harry) fanfic will turn out. Full review to come.
*Note: This isn’t actually Drarry Fanfic but it’s damn near close.
*The book was provided free by the publishers though Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Pub. Date: April 14th 2015
4.5 stars of 5 ★★★★★
Death can be weird. What with having to attend your own funeral, having everyone sitting around waiting for you to die, not to mention that sometimes you only get seventeen years, death can be a real downer. For Denton Little, a normal life is all he wants, but because science has provided the world with deathdate prediction technology (which is 99.99% accurate), Denton’s life has always been shadowed by his looming demise. So when the time comes to face the final countdown, Denton accepts his lot and tries to make the best of things.
…but then things start to get weird. Mysterious doctors appear, secrets about his dead mom bubble out, horrible grandpa cops start making trouble, and a weird rash/virus appear on Denton, his girlfriend, his best friend, and his best friend’s sister. The once calm Denton starts to question his serenity about death. Here’s the summary:
Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day they will die. For 17-year-old Denton Little, that’s tomorrow, the day of his senior prom.
Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle (as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend’s hostile sister. Though he’s not totally sure. See: first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters…. Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.
Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, furious, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager’s life as he searches for love, meaning, answers, and (just maybe) a way to live on.
This book was hilarious, entertaining, and interesting. The characters were one dimensional, but the story was very original, and honestly refreshing, because it’s nothing like the other *don’t trust THEM* type books out there. It’s by a male author, so there’s an attempt at making this into a “dude read”. I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of quirky reads.
*This title was provided free of charge by the publishers through Netgalley in return for an honest review.
3 of 5 stars ★★★☆☆
Pub. Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
You want a cute, light read about a girl who’s spunky, awkward, and out for love or something like it and is willing to chronicling it with her guy best friend, then look no further. This book is similar in tone and feel to Louise Rennison’s books (albeit not as funny)and if there’s ever a movie version, our MC Riley could easily be played by Emma Stone. If you’re going to the beach and need a light read or feeling down and need a pick me up, this will meet your criteria. Here’s the summary via Goodreads:
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist meets Easy A in this hilariously realistic story of sneaking out, making out, and playing in a band.
After catching their bandmates in a compromising position, sixteen-year-old Los Angelenos Riley and Reid become painfully aware of the romance missing from their own lives. And so a pact is formed: they’ll both try to make something happen with their respective crushes and document the experiences in a shared notebook.
While Reid struggles with the moral dilemma of adopting a dog to win over someone’s heart, Riley tries to make progress with Ted Callahan, who she’s been obsessed with forever-His floppy hair! His undeniable intelligence! But suddenly cute guys are popping up everywhere. How did she never notice them before?! With their love lives going from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye, Riley and Reid realize the results of their pact may be more than they bargained for.
It’s super cute. Stephanie Perkins and Courtney Summers are mentioned in the acknowledgements. This is not a deep book or anything that will make you think. It’s basically “New Girl” in book form. What else do you need? Read this book and feel better about life.
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