Nearly Gone Review (Official)

Gr 9 Up--In this suspenseful and thrilling murder mystery, high school junior Nearly Boswell is struggling to get by in a Washington, DC trailer park with her single mother, who works the night shift at a local strip club. Any chance she has of escaping her miserable life is dependent on a highly competitive scholarship for which she and her best friend are vying against each other. Everything is going according to plan until Nearly spots an eerie personal ad in the local newspaper-an ad that ends up being a clue in the attempted murder of one of her classmates. She soon finds another clue in the following week's paper leading to another murder. And then another. The police won't take her seriously, and when the hints start pointing in her direction, Nearly becomes their number one suspect. The only person she can trust is bad boy Reece, whom she suspects is working with the police to keep a close eye on her. The clock is ticking, and Nearly must hurry to solve the homicides, and prove her own innocence, before it is too late. There is a hint of the paranormal in this murder mystery, as Nearly has an unusual gift that allows her to "taste" the emotions of others when she touches their skin. Eloquently written and packed full of suspense, debut author Cosimano strikes gold with this page-turning thriller that will have teens chomping at the bit to get to the end. Give this to fans of Kimberly Derting's "The Body Finder" (HarperCollins, 2010) or anyone else who is looking for a captivating murder mystery.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Flame

I reviewed Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan about a year ago when it came out, and I just finished reading Flame, which is the third book in the Sky Chasers series. I felt a little iffy about the first book, Glow, but after reading Spark I was hooked. Flame was a little slow to start off, but I loved it every bit as much as the second book. I can't wait to see where Amy Kathleen Ryan decides to take her writing career next. 

Flame Summary:
In the thrilling conclusion to the Sky Chasers series Waverly, Kieran, and Seth struggle to survive on-board the New Horizon—and take down their enemies before it's too late.

Waverly and the other members of the Empyrean have scattered, and their home ship has been destroyed. Their mission to rescue their parents didn't go as planned, and now they're at an even greater disadvantage: trapped with their enemies on the New Horizon, trying to find a way to survive. Kieran has been pulled under Anne Mather’s wing, but is she really trying to make peace, or just using Kieran to build her own power? Meanwhile, Waverly is taken in by a mysterious old man who wants to help her bring Anne Mather down—but the more Waverly cooperates with him, the more dangerous her position is, and the more at odds with Kieran she becomes.
Seth's situation is even worse. After setting out from the Empyrean on his own, with only a vague strategy to guide him, he is a fugitive aboard the New Horizon. He's doing what he can to challenge the power of Anne Mather, but he's badly hurt, and getting sicker.

Will Seth ever see Waverly again? Will his health hold out long enough to help her topple their enemies? And will Waverly find a way to unite with her friends before they all fall? Nothing is sure and every moment is a risk in this explosive finale of the Sky Chasers series.

Flame Review:
Since I was already invested in the characters, it was easy for me to get sucked into the story from the beginning. Since it had been almost a year and a half since reading the previous book, I had forgotten some of the finer points of what had happened, but Ryan did a good job of reminding the reader without spending too much time re-hashing it. 

To be honest, my only complaint is that the book is a little slow at times. But other than that, this book is filled with action and romance, and all of the elements of a good YA novel. I definitely wouldn't recommend reading it without reading the other books in the series, but as a whole, I would highly recommend the series. 

There were a few points in the book where I wasn't sure how the characters were going to make it out of their sticky situations, and I thought Ryan did this in a really great way. She also did an excellent job with character development, not only with the main characters, but also with the villains, who readers will love to hate.

I usually hate it when YA dystopian series wrap everything up at the end just a little too nicely, but this wasn't one of those. In fact, I loved the way it ended. The book's last chapter tells the reader about the character's lives eight years into the future, which is something I love to see in YA series. You spend so much time being invested in the characters and the story that it's always exciting to see what happens to the characters when they grow up. 

Enjoy!

Those Darn Beginnings...

Where to begin...that seems to be the thing that could drive any writer crazy. Especially this writer in particular. The first six drafts of Desiderium involved switching the beginning scene so many times it almost made my head spin. And now I've finally found the point where it should begin. But now the aggravation stems from how to start it. The first page of my manuscript is no doubt the most edited part of the whole manuscript, because beginnings are the most difficult. They're what suck the readers into the story. They're the first impression the author makes on the reader. And they're hard. The first sentence alone has been revised so many times that I've lost count. And I still don't know if I've gotten it right. The moment I think I do, I give it to one of my beta readers and realize that it won't work for the beginning.

So I've decided to post my current beginning. It's definitely a lot better than it used to be if you look back on posts I did a year or so back on the beginning of my book. But is it good? Let me know your thoughts. Or if you have any of your own stories about beginnings...I would love to hear them.

The Current Beginning of Desiderium:

If I never see this blinking yellow light again it’ll be too soon—way, way too soon. I mean, a girl can only handle so much stress. My gaze falls to the cold shackle clinging to my wrist, and the profanity of a thousand disgruntled pirates swirls around my head.

Okay. So maybe shackle is a bit of a strong word. But this bracelet (which, by the way, is never even the slightest bit annoying or inconvenient) has been stuck to my wrist since the minute I was born, and has been following me around ever since. So to me, the word shackle seems rather fitting.

Now, if I could just go a month without making it mad, I would be golden. I’m pretty sure they would honor me with an award and everything. I can picture the headlines: Seventeen-year-old Rhiley Winters Goes a Full Month without Setting off Desire Sensors—A Role Model to Us All.

But unfortunately for me, this month has thirty-one days, which is about thirty days too many if I’m ever going to meet my goal. They gave me the most temperamental bracelet in the world, so what do they expect? Seriously. This thing starts going off if I even so much as think about how much work I have to do, and how little time there is to do it. (In my defense, though, no teenager should have this much work.)

Actually…to be completely honest, it might maybe be more than just thinking about not having enough time. I might maybe, kind of, sort of let my thoughts become something more—almost, just almost, wanting more time. And then bam, the next thing I know, my bracelet is quick to blink its yellow light of discontent and the Class-D markers in my bloodstream become dangerously close to the legal limit. Which, if you ask me, is unrealistically low. Honestly…point zero two percent? Even the legal blood alcohol level was four times that when people used to drink alcohol. But I somehow doubt that argument will keep the officials from arresting me. In fact, putting up that kind of an argument in front of the officials is exactly the kind of thing that would land me in prison. And I’m way too busy today to make time for going to jail. Maybe tomorrow.

Notable by Marni Bates Review

Another one of my SLJ reviews was recently published. Notable is definitely more for girls, but I thought it was cute. Here's what I had to say:

Gr 9 Up--Following the events of "Awkward" (Kensington, 2012), popular socialite Chelsea Halloway is still recovering from her heartthrob boyfriend leaving her for the most awkward girl in school. Just when she thinks that life can't get any worse, her parents decide to ship her off to Cambodia for a semester abroad with a bunch of know-it-all college students. The trip is torturous for Chelsea, and when she finally starts making friends with some of her travel companions, she and her professor accidentally get caught in the middle of a nefarious drug deal. Her professor is beaten and thrown in jail, and Chelsea is chased out of the hotel by a crazy gunman when she inadvertently steals some of the drugs. Shaken and fearful, she must work with the other students to get everyone out of the sticky situation, and perhaps even get cute and intelligent Houston to notice her in the process. Although part of a series, this fun and humorous coming-of-age story also works as a stand-alone book. The excellent pacing and witty voice will have teens anxious to find out if Chelsea gets the guy and gets out of Cambodia alive. For fans of Meg Cabot and Louise Rennison.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Nearly Gone Review (The Unofficial Version)

I have to say, I was really dreading reading Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano, which is the book I needed to review for SLJ this month. I don't usually do thrillers/horror, and the cover is more than a little bit creepy. But I absolutely loved it. Usually for my SLJ books, I'll wait to post my review on the blog until they're published, but I thought this book was so good that I would do an unofficial review of it here too. The book doesn't officially come out until March of 2014, but I wanted to throw it out there anyway to hopefully help it gain a little early exposure. 

Nearly Gone Summary:
Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

Nearly Gone Review:
I was definitely reading outside of my genre with this book, which can definitely be a good thing, but I don't usually like being scared when I read (especially late at night when my husband is already asleep), but this murder mystery thriller had the perfect balance of tension and moments of easiness. And it wasn't especially scary at most points in the book. It was just good.

There were quite a lot of characters introduced at the beginning of the novel, and I had a little trouble keeping all of the side characters straight, but it definitely made the story stronger in the end. After all, if you're trying to figure out who the killer is, and you only have three options to choose from, it's not as fun. And by the end of the book, I definitely didn't know what to think.

The writing was incredibly eloquent, and I thought the author did an excellent job of nailing the descriptions and the dialogue. And she had a really good balance between the two, which is something that I struggle with as a writer. I also loved Nearly's character, but didn't really care for the two best friend side characters. Which was most likely done intentionally by the author to cast suspicion on them. And it if was intentional, it worked wonders, because throughout the entire book I was thinking it was one of them who was the killer. But I won't tell you if I'm right or wrong. If you're looking for a really gripping read that will keep you up late at night pushing through to the end, then definitely keep an eye out for this one when it comes out in March.

The Taming of the Tights Review

This last post will officially catch you up on all of my published reviews to date. There is one more that is written, but will not be published for two more weeks, so you'll have to hang tight for that one. And I'm a little bit anxious about the next book I have to review because it's a horror novel, which as a general rule, I avoid like the plague. So we'll have to see how it goes.

But without further ado, here is my latest book review, which finally has me all caught up. Yay!

The Taming of the Tights
by Louise Rennison

Gr 9 Up--In this fun and quirky installment in the series, Georgia Nicolson's 15-year-old Irish cousin, Tallulah Casey, is about to begin her third term at a performing arts college in England. She is excited to be reunited with her friends, the Tree Sisters, and hopefully bump into Charlie-the cute boy with the "tiny girlfriend" who she snogged not too long ago. And of course there's bad-boy Cain, the Dark Black Crow of Heckmondwhite, who Tallulah swears she won't have anything to do with after having her first proper snog with him out on the moors. But trouble abounds once school starts, as her teacher, Dr. Lightowler, is out to get her yet again and Cain won't stop getting in Tallulah's way of finding her first real boyfriend. Told in the entertaining style that readers have come to love, Rennison's story is sure to guarantee more than a few laughs. While the pacing is a bit slow in the middle, girls will find themselves pushing through to the end, eager to see how Tallulah works herself out of predicament after predicament. It is not necessary to have read the first two books to enjoy this one. Fans of the "Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" series (HarperCollins) are sure to fall in love with Tallulah and her crazy antics, and will be eager to devour her next misadventure.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Six Months Later Review

Of all the books I've reviewed for the School Library Journal, this one was perhaps my favorite. It kept me on the edge of my seat (figuratively, of course) until the very end. The review was published in October, and just a couple of weeks after it was published, the marketing director for the book sent me a copy of the published book along with a hand-written card thanking me for the nice review. If you're reading this, you're very welcome, and I look forward to reading the author's next book. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did.

Six Months Later
by Natalie Richards

Gr 9 Up--Chloe leads a mediocre life as a high school junior in a small Ohio town-until the day she falls asleep in study hall and wakes up to find it's six months later. She now has exceptional SAT scores, the perfect boyfriend whom she's been crushing on for years, and a buzzing social life. However, Chloe can't remember anything about her previous life. Nor can she remember why her best friend, Maggie, isn't speaking to her, or why her heart races whenever she sees bad-boy Adam, with whom she seems to be all too familiar. She knows that she should be happy about her new life, but everything feels wrong. As she tries to figure out what happened to her, she uncovers a chilling conspiracy surrounding her memory loss, and the only person she can trust is the one who won't take her calls. The story is well paced and beautifully written, with fully developed characters teens can easily relate to. This romantic thriller will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. Recommend it to fans of Gayle Forman's "If I Stay" (Dutton, 2009) and Lissa Price's "Starters" (Delacorte, 2012).--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

The Namesake Review

Normally when I review a book, I either love it or feel neutral about it. But the book I discuss below I really didn't care for. You know how when you read a really good book, it only takes you a few days to find time to race through it (or one day if it's really good)? This book took me almost the full month to get through it, because at no point did I ever think, "I really want to find out what happens next." In fact, I dreaded reading this book. And I procrastinated as much as I possibly could. But when it came down to it, I had to finish it before the submission deadline. If the author of the book is reading this, I'm really really sorry for the negative review.

I also have to say that the first time I saw this book where I work at Barnes & Noble, judging from the cover I had thought it was a horror book. I guess that's true to a certain degree.

The Namesake
by Steven Parlato

Gr 9 Up--Fifteen-year-old Evan Galloway is struggling to deal with his father's recent suicide, but going to the same Catholic school that his father attended and dealing with his mother's emotional detachment don't make it any easier. So when his grandmother gives him a footlocker that belonged to his father, Evan is all too eager to discover some answers to his nagging questions. He expects to find old posters and mementos, but what he doesn't count on is finding his dad's old journals. As Evan goes on a journey to connect with his late father, he makes a chilling discovery that as a boy, his father was sexually molested by a Catholic priest, and Evan is able to slowly piece together the role this played in the man's suicide. The story is powerful, and the plot is well crafted, but the writing alternates between choppy and engaging, and the dialogue often feels forced. The story is slow to unfold, and reluctant readers are unlikely to push past the first few pages. Committed and patient readers, however, will take something away from this thoughtful coming-of-age story.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

The Distance Between Us Review

After loads of work, I've finally made it two-thirds of the way through my current round of editing. I'm actually at the point where I feel fairly confident in my current draft (or at least I will be after I finish this round of revisions). That being said, I've decided to go through one more time for spelling/grammar checks, and then I will be trying my hand at submitting to agents. I know I've said this before and never actually worked up the courage, but I think it will finally be ready. Hopefully.

And to further catch you up on my published book reviews, this review was published back in August about a YA romance novel. If you decide to pick it up, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Distance Between Us
by Kasie West

Gr 8 Up--Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers works in her mother's shop selling porcelain dolls to wealthy patrons. Even though she and her mom know that the rich can't be trusted, they rely on them to keep the store afloat. Then charismatic Xander walks into the store and seems to understand cynical and sarcastic Caymen better than anyone else, and she begins to wonder if maybe she and her mother were wrong. That is, until she's mistreated by Xander's friends and, after reading a tabloid, discovers that he may already have a girlfriend. Ultimately, however, Caymen realizes that she has a love worth fighting for, and the star-crossed lovers end up together. Despite the predictable ending, the charming story is beautifully written, and the characters are well developed. Similar in feel to books by Susane Colasanti, West's novel is sweet and captivating.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Dare You To Review

I've spent the last few months away from the blog-o-sphere because I more or less took a break from editing. I edited a few things here and there, but nothing super substantial. But now I'm back, and in the next few weeks will be catching you up on all of the book reviews I've had published in the School Library Journal.

The following review was published back in July. Let me know what you think.


Dare You To
by Katie McGarry

Gr 10 Up--Narrated from alternating viewpoints, this contemporary novel tells the story of 17-year-old Beth, a troubled "skater girl" with a hard past, and Ryan, a high school jock with a seemingly perfect life. It all starts at a Taco Bell in Louisville, Kentucky, when Ryan's friends dare him to get Beth's phone number, and she turns him down. Their lives become intertwined after she is uprooted from her abusive home by her uncle and is forced to move to a small town and transfer to Ryan's school. At first he sees it as an opportunity to win the dare, but she resists his offers of friendship. Nonetheless, the two gradually fall in love and learn to trust each other with their secrets, which is equally difficult for both of them. The characters are well developed. The use of drugs, profanity, and violence make this title edgier than a typical teen romance. The plot often feels drawn out, and Beth's constant attempts to run away throughout the book will likely frustrate readers. However, young romantics should find the story engaging.--"Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT" Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.