Fill Up Those Shelves: My August Recommendations

Says one book addict to another:

Isn't it time you hit the stores and showed your bookshelves a little love?

If you only buy a few books this month,  I HIGHLY recommend these August releases :)

The Wednesday's by Julie Bourbeau
Why I love it:
It's fun and quirky and exactly what a book aimed at middle grade readers should be in my opinion. At it's core it's a mystery story and the suspense was fantastic.

Skylark by Meagan Spooner
Why I love it:
A dystopian world mixed with magic! The characters are awesome and the story line original. I had a hard time putting this one down as it was so easy to get completed immersed in the story. I seriously didn't want it to end and when it did I was a little shaken - in a good way. A perfect debut!

Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman
Why I love it:
A true blow your mind completely away type of story - right up until the very end. The suspense was amazing and the thrill of it all made for a fast paced fantastic read. I have yet to be disappointed by Jessica and I'm eager to get my hands on all her books!

False Memory by Dan Krokos
Why I love it:
I believe I've said this book was freaken awesome about a million times now - because it is! It's an out of this world yet right in your backyard type of story with a stellar cast of characters. An ending that leaves so much open to explore yet ties up a lot of loose ends very awesomely. Awesome awesome awesome! :)

Book Review: Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

"A perfect ally executed thriller that messed with my mind in all the right ways "

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 2012
Publisher: Walker Children's
Pages: 422
Series: no
Acquisition: I received an ARC free for review from the publisher

Summary:

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself? (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
There is really a lot I want so say about this book but it all really boils down to - holy mind f-ery Batman!

Beautiful Lies is a psychological thriller at it's best, made all the more poignant by it's first person narrative.

Twins Alice and Rachel share everything, including each other's pain. When one goes missing, the other knows something horrible has happened but no one will believe her. The reasons no one believes her were a total plot twist - and this is only in the first couple of chapters. With such a big 'secret' revealed so early on I was preparing myself for a disappointing climax. I really had no reason to worry however.

Beautiful Lies ends just as powerfully as it begins. Some serious edge of my seat reading was happening by those last couple of chapters! Even if I could have plotted out what I thought was going to happen I wouldn't have been prepared for the emotion behind it all.

Final verdict:
This book is amazing - Warman as done it again!

I really had no idea how things were going to play out until it was all over - and even then I was still left with a few questions. A perfect ally executed thriller that messed with my mind in all the right ways.

If you're looking for a neat and tidy happily ever after, Beautiful Lies might not be for you. BUT If you're looking for a healthy dose of actually being scared out of your mind then you need to get this book now!

Overall Rating:

5 / 5 Stars

Author's website / Goodreads / IndieBound

Book Review: Between by Jessica Warman

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 2011
Pages: 447
Series: no
Acquisition: BEA 2011

Summary:

Elizabeth Valchar--pretty, popular, and rich--wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday on the yacht where she'd been celebrating with her closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, she finds her own drowned body is hitting the side of the boat. Liz is dead.

She has no memory of what happened to her, and can only observe in horror the fallout of her death. She's also soon joined by Alex Berg, a quiet boy from her high school who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The two keep each other company, floating in and out of memories and trying to piece together the details of what happened to each of them. In her regular life, Liz was a runner. It wasn't abnormal for her to run 8-10 miles per day. But as memories from closer to her death begin to surface, Liz finds that she'd been running much more than normal, and that she'd all but stopped eating. Liz's mother, who died when Liz was nine, had battled with anorexia as well, and those around her worried Liz was following in her mother's footsteps. But something more sinister was consuming Liz from the inside out. . . . (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Ghost story, murder mystery, love story - Between has a little of all of these and more. I know I was in for a good read when after, only intending to read a page or two, I realized I had read about 100. The story was always moving and there seemed to be something waiting around every turn of the page that even with the slightly hefty weight of almost 450 pages, Between never dragged along. Instead I was pretty much at the edge of my seat the whole time.

I'm actually surprised I liked Between as much as I did because I really did not like it's MC, Liz. She's conceded, shellfish and shallow and she thinks she is better then pretty much everyone else. And after she dies, she doesn't really get much better. I almost felt like, as a reader, we were suppose to feel sorry for her and I never did. Even after finding out all the details of her life and her death, I didn't have much compassion for her. Might sound harsh, I mean, she is dead and all but...read it for yourself and maybe you'll see what I mean.

Between was a really easy book to get lost in. After Liz dies, she has very little memory of her life. She knows who she is and who her friends are but the details are all a little fuzzy. When Alex appears he explains to her that it was like that for him at first as well. By revisiting old memories, Liz might find out what exactly happened to her life.

As a reader, we're seeing things as Liz remembers them. Her knowledge is ours. I really liked knowing I would get answers only when Liz did.

I had figured out the 'twist' ending before it actually happened but it didn't really take away from the overall quality of the book for me. Some things might have been wrapped up a little too neat and clean and quick but again, it kind of worked with the story so it didn't really bother me.

All in all, I very much enjoyed Between. A different take on a ghost story mixed with a pretty classic murder mystery. Don't be daunted by it's size as it's definitely worth your time.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5 Stars

Linkage Love:
Bloomsbury
Author's Website
Goodreads