Book Review: The Believing Game by Eireann Corrigan

"By the end...I had a pretty nasty taste in my mouth. I felt like I should have been wowed...but unfortunately I wasn't."

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 2012
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 320
Series: no
Acquisition: I received a free e-galley for review from NetGalley

Summary:

A private academy. A cult leader. A girl caught in the middle.

After Greer Cannon discovers that shoplifting can be a sport and sex can be a superpower, her parents pack her up and send her off to McCracken Hill-a cloistered academy for troubled teens. At McCracken, Greer chafes under the elaborate systems and self-help lingo of therapeutic education. Then Greer meets Addison Bradley. A handsome, charismatic local, Addison seems almost as devoted to Greer as he is to the 12 steps. When he introduces Greer to his mentor Joshua, she finds herself captivated by the older man's calm wisdom. Finally, Greer feels understood.

But Greer starts to question: Where has Joshua come from? What does he want in return for his guidance? The more she digs, the more his lies are exposed. When Joshua's influence over Addison edges them all closer to danger, Greer decides to confront them both. Suddenly, she finds herself on the outside of Joshua's circle. And swiftly, she discovers it's not safe there. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
I have to come right out and say it - I did not like this book. There isn't any one thing fundamentally wrong with it but overall, I can't say that I very much enjoyed reading it.

Everything about this story and it's characters are, for lack of a better term, messed up. The kids have issues, the adults have issues, the setting is just strange and the things that happen are beyond dysfunctional. Nothing makes much sense, the storyline moved at a snail's pace until the end where everything happens at once. It all doesn't amount to much of anything and the epilogue was a little ridiculous.

Maybe it's important to note that at no time did I consider not finishing this one. I think I kept waiting for something. Not sure what it was but for me at least, it never came. You might have a different experience though.

Final verdict:
By the end of The Believing Game I had a pretty nasty taste in my mouth. I felt like I should have been wowed by the psychological what-the-f-ery of the story but unfortunately I wasn't. I felt nothing for these characters and the absolute ridiculousness of the situation was just too over the top.

Not a book I could in good conscience recommend to fans of contemporary thriller stories, which is what this book is intended to be, I think? Still not totally sure what I was suppose to take away from this one but I don't think my feelings will chance over time. A disappointing read overall.

Overall Rating:

2 / 5 Stars

Goodreads / IndieBound

Book Review: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

"There's a type of raw energy about this book. Nothing held back..."

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 304
Series: no
Acquisition: I received a free ARC for review at BEA 2012

Summary:

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
This book is good. Like, I'll read a chapter or two before bed but no really I'll be staying up till 2 in the morning to finish it good.

I don't know how it happened but I got so caught up in Whitley's story that seriously, the book did not leave my hands until I read every word on every page. And! And? I cried. For serious. Real tears. Whitley had so much pain in her life and she went through so much and so many horrible things happened and so many wonderful things happened it was really just too much for me! In a good way :)

There's a type of raw energy about this book. Nothing held back, tell it like it is rawness that really got under my skin. Whitley is entirely herself and at the same time, she's been so molded by the people and circumstances of her life that she doesn't really know who she is.

And oh god I hated her father. I hated her mother. I hated everyone who had ever hurt her. Because even though she's a bitch to most people and she never lets people get close and she really doesn't give a shit you can't help but love her. You can't help but feel her pain and want to make everything better. You want her to have her happy ending.

The amount of emotion I felt reading this book is hard to compare. Damn you Kody! (the happy kind of damning...I swear) .

Final verdict:
In the end, it's a story about a girl and her family. But it's not just any girl and she doesn't have just any family.

She's full of piss and vinegar and I bet that you've met a girl like her before. A girl who always gets the guy and laughs off the horrible names everyone calls her. A girl who uses people and lets herself be used. A girl who stopped caring a long time ago. Ever stop to think about what happens to that girl in the end? Kody did. She wrote A Midsummer's Nightmare to give us Whitley - at least it feels that way to me. Whitley you won't have to wonder about. Whitley you won't forget.

Overall Rating:

5 / 5 Stars

Author's website / Goodreads / IndieBound

Book Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

"...layered worlds...hidden secrets...veiled and not so veiled threats and horrors...it all really got to me..."

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 306
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: I received a free ARC for review from BEA 2012

Summary:
In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures--if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls. (from Goodreads)

MY THOUGHTS:
I honestly thought I was going to love this book. And while that turned out to not be true, I'm still glad I read it.

Carnival of Souls takes place in two different worlds. The 'real' world we all inhabit and a magical world called 'The City', which is full of daimons and once upon a time, witches as well. The powerful witches now reside in our world...for the most part. And the daimons keep to The City...usually. And everyone hates each other...unless they don't.

Honestly, it was all rather confusing at first. And the characters - there are tons of them. The entire book is in third person and I'm sure there's a term for 3rd person narrative where the point of view is from a particular character but I have no idea what to call it. This POV changes from chapter to chapter and sometimes from paragraph to paragraph. A character that seemed really important in chapter 1 doesn't make an appearance again till more then halfway through the book. Another character who was given the briefest of introductions turns out to be a key player in everything that happens.

Again? A little confusing. Or maybe rather then confusing I should say complicated. Not a bad thing but still a thing. A very big thing that at times, took over the story.

And there's romance. But I hated it. It's insta love and magic and a whinny heroine who you really couldn't care less about and I found the whole thing a little distasteful.

And then there's the part that I found REALLY distasteful. It was only a very small piece of the over all story but honestly, I almost stopped reading the book because of it. It was crass and vulgar and in my opinion, had no place at all in a book that 13 year olds will be reading. And coming from me, that's pretty harsh as I believe that children should not be sheltered and they are more then smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong, fantasy and reality. In this case however, this thing that happened did nothing for the overall story and didn't seem to even have a point.

FINAL VERDICT:
Carnival of Souls is a very dark book - and really, this is what I loved about it. The layered worlds, the hidden secrets, the veiled and not so veiled threats and horrors. It all really got to me and I'm very glad to have read it.

On the other hand, most of the characters left a sour taste in my mouth and I found it really hard to make connections with anyone. There is a lot of sex, a lot of violence and a lot of really brief glimpses behind the curtains of secrets everyone hid behind. Taken as a whole, it just wasn't for me.

The writing is spectacular but it was still hard for me to see this as a book meant for teens. I really wish it had been written for adults. I would have loved to see more grit and more horrors.

WILL I CONTINUE WITH THE SERIES? 
I'm a little disappointed right now but I know for sure that I'll be reading book 2. Even if the characters didn't quite mesh for me. The fantasy that Marr has created begs for more. Maybe a re-read before book 2 comes out? We'll see.

If you've read Carnival of Souls, I would love to know what you thought!

Overall Rating:

3 / 5 Stars

Author's website /Book website / Goodreads / IndieBound

Book Birthday Tuesday (9)

Mega October's end edition!

Tuesday's are typically birthday days in the book world. 

I've missed the last couple of weeks so this 'Happy Birthday' shout out is a big one!

Here are some that have caught my eye.

What do you guys think?

Links are to Goodreads :)

NEW

 Blind Spot by Laura Ellen

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1) by Julie Kagawa

Death of a Kleptomaniac by Kristen Tracy

Deviants by Maureen McGowan

Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini

Venom by Fiona Paul

Dark Star by Bethany Frenette

CONTINUING SERIES

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin

Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Sacrifice (Legacy #3) by Cayla Kluver

Rebel Heart (Dust Lands #2) by Moira Young

NEW IN PAPERBACK

Flyaway by Helen Landalf

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

So, what books are you adding to your shelves this week?

I'm back!

Well, that was unexpected!

Frankenstorm didn't hit my area nearly as hard has it was projected to and for that I'm very grateful. 

My home town area, not so much.

The devastation to New York City and Long Island has been off the charts and to say I've been stressed this last week would be an understatement!

My family and friends are all well - no one was injured, no one I know lost their house but life for my loved ones is far from back to normal. My teenage sister hasn't been to school in over a week and a lot of my friends are still without power. Not to mention the gas shortages!

As my stress levels return to a more manageable state, I ask that you all keep those affected by Super Storm Sandy in your thoughts. I fear the recovery period for this one is going to take a while :(

Also, if you can, I urge to you donate to those in need. The Red Cross, local agencies - there are tons of organizations out there trying to help.

So!

My brain is a little more back on it's regular track and hopefully that means more blogging!

I hope everyone is safe and doing well this gloomy Tuesday morning - happy reading!!