Books and Sensibility

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Kat C

Book Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

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  • 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.

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Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Delirium #2)

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“In a world without love, this is what people are too each other: values, benefits, and liabilities, numbers, and data. We weigh, and the soul is ground to dust.” 

― Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium

 

  • Release Date: February 28th 2012
  • Genre: Dystopian
  • Publisher: Harper Teen
  • Pages: 375

Synopsis: I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do.The old life is dead.But the old Lena is dead too.I buried her.I left her beyond a fence,behind a wall of smoke and flame.Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Sequel reviews are always hard for me but, here we go. It was a bit of a shock going from listening to the audio book of Delirium to reading the print copy of Pandemonium. I was finally seeing names and places on the page instead of just hearing them. I had to remind myself our protagonist was Lay-na and no Lean-a and there are In-val-ids not In-val-eds

That said, Pandemonium is pretty much nothing like Delirium, in fact, it feels like a different series entirely.

Pandemonium is erratic with a  faster paced and more passionate story than Delirium. Whereas Delirium is a discovery story, Pandemonium is one about a journey. This book embodies the kids in the woods phenomenon seen in a lot of post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction. This idea where it’s mostly the teens and young adults that leave civilization to fight the status quo.

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Book Review : Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn

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  • 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. 

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Book Review: I Hunt Killers

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“You won’t even know you’ve crossed the line until it’s way back in your rear view mirror.” ― Barry Lyga, I Hunt Killers

  • Release Date: April 3, 2012
  • Genre: Contemporary/Horror
  • Publisher: Little Brown for Young Readers
  • Pages: 359

Synopsis: What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. …In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows? 

The tagline on the front of this book pretty much tells you everything you need to know.What if the world’s worst serial killer was your dad ? This is the situation for Jasper “Jazz” Dent and guess what ? Bodies are piling up up again. I Hunt Killers is a grotesquely humorous novel that will leave you screaming to the end and then begging for more.

The set up for the novel reminded me a lot of Criminal Minds, so if you are a fan of that show, you will enjoy this novel. As for me ? I stopped watching that show so I could sleep at night. I Hunt Killers is pretty much run on And I Must Scream andHigh Octane Nightmare Fuel. This is especially evident seeing as most serial killer victims are young women and the people who read YA are well….yeah. To soften the impact there is a healthy dose of black comedy thrown in, but the humor peters out towards the end.

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Hey, I Know That Voice ! : Famous Voices in YA Audiobooks

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What do audio books and the red carpet have in common ? The stars ! Some of Hollywood’s hottest stars lent their voices not to Pixar, but to some of our YA audiobooks.

Jesse Eisenberg

Academy Award nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg brings his awkward charm and slight New York accent to numerous audiobook including Holly Black’s Curse Workers series. It was announced at BookExpo America that he will  narrate the 2012 novel Colin Fischer by debut authors Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz.

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Book Review : Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

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Synopsis: Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name. 

I purchased the Kindle version of Deadly Cool on a whim when Amazon had it on sale for 2.99. This is the second book I’ve gotten from the Harper Steals and Deals sale (the first being Unearthly) and  I have to say,these steals have yet to disappoint.

The book opens right into the plot and instantly took me into the world. When Hartley finds the corpse of a popular girl in her ex-boyfriend’s house, she finds herself trying to solve the murder and clear her ex’s name.

Deadly Cool is similar to a cozy mystery, but with a  modern high school face lift and pop culture sprinkled narrative. Having a murder mystery driven plot was an interesting take on the contemporary genre.

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