♥♥ Book Review / The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban ♥♥

Tim Macbeth, a seventeen-year-old albino and a recent transfer to the prestigious Irving School, where the motto is “Enter here to be and find a friend.” A friend is the last thing Tim expects or wants—he just hopes to get through his senior year unnoticed. Yet, despite his efforts to blend into the background, he finds himself falling for the quintessential “It” girl, Vanessa Sheller, girlfriend of Irving’s most popular boy. To Tim's surprise, Vanessa is into him, too, but she can kiss her social status goodbye if anyone ever finds out. Tim and Vanessa begin a clandestine romance, but looming over them is the Tragedy Paper, Irving’s version of a senior year thesis, assigned by the school’s least forgiving teacher.

Jumping between viewpoints of the love-struck Tim and Duncan, a current senior about to uncover the truth of Tim and Vanessa, The Tragedy Paper is a compelling tale of forbidden love and the lengths people will go to keep their love.


Published:    8th January 2013
Publisher:  Knopf Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Not part of a series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
Review:   5 out of 10

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♥♥ Book Review / Three Little Words by Jessica Thompson ♥♥

As a dark evening draws in, the lives of three women are changed forever.

The worlds they have been living in, the people they thought they knew - in an instant it all changes.

But when everything seems to shatter around them, could three little words be enough to help put the pieces back together again?



Published:     15th August 2013
Publisher:  Coronet
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Not part of a series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

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♥♥ Book Haul - 25th Sept 2013 ♥♥

Waiting on Wednesday - Premeditated by Josin McQuein

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.


Expected Release Date:  8th October 2013 (not long now)
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

A week ago, Dinah’s cousin Claire cut her wrists.

Five days ago, Dinah found Claire’s diary and discovered why.

Three days ago, Dinah stopped crying and came up with a plan.

Two days ago, she ditched her piercings and bleached the black dye from her hair.

Yesterday, knee socks and uniform plaid became a predator’s camouflage.

Today, she’ll find the boy who broke Claire.

By tomorrow, he’ll wish he were dead.

♥♥ Book Review / Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand ♥♥

It's June 15th, the night of Nantucket High School graduation. Four juniors are driving home from a party when something goes horribly wrong and there is a crash. 

The driver of the car, Penny Alistair, is killed, and her twin brother, Hobby Alistair, is left in a coma. Penny's boyfriend, Jake Randolph, and Penny's friend Demeter Castle are unhurt--but suffer tremendous emotional damage. 

Jake and his family move to the other side of the globe--to the west coast of Australia--in order to escape the horrors of the accident. Demeter falls prey to alcohol abuse and other self-destructive behaviors that nearly lead to her destroying her own life.


Published:     26th June 2013
Publisher:  Hodder
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Not part of a series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
Review:   7 out of 10

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What I loved about this book...

I absolutely loved the drama and suspense build up in this story.  You have the accident that happens and from then on it is pretty much a guessing game about what actually happened at the accident and the the events that lead up to it.  Although I did guess what had happened well before getting to the end, for the me the journey leading up to the discovery was the best part. 

There are a lot of twists and turns in this story, some surprising, some sad and some happy and that certainly kept me on my toes. 

What I was not fond of with this book...

I did have a little bit of trouble getting into this book to start with, as there were quite a few characters to get to grips with, but that was really all I had trouble with in this book...

Summary...

I really enjoyed this book.  Great drama and excellent suspense.  For me, this book was very much a guessing game; trying to find out what happened and why.   For those of you who like detective books or thriller style books or want to try one out, this is a great one to pick up.

Video Review...

 

Best wishes
Debs :-)

Dusty Reads: Things I Want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble

Dusty Reads is a Tuesday meme that I found at Ya-aholic.com and was originally started at Xpressoreads.com. 

This is a meme where I intend to showcase a book that has been on my shelf for a while and haven’t got to yet.  If you have read this or have heard of this book, I would love to hear your comments on whether you  like it or not, or have heard great things about it.

This week, my  Dusty Read is:

 How do you cope in a world without your mother?

When Barbara realizes time is running out, she writes letters to her four daughters, aware that they'll be facing the trials and triumphs of life without her at their side. But how can she leave them when they still have so much growing up to do?

Take Lisa, in her midthirties but incapable of making a commitment; or Jennifer, trapped in a stale marriage and buttoned up so tight she could burst. Twentysomething Amanda, the traveler, has always distanced herself from the rest of the family; and then there's Hannah, a teenage girl on the verge of womanhood about to be parted from the mother she adores.

But by drawing on the wisdom in Barbara's letters, the girls might just find a way to cope with their loss. And in coming to terms with their bereavement, can they also set themselves free to enjoy their lives with all the passion and love each deserves?

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
    

♥♥ Book Review / The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman ♥♥

A haunting debut of love in all its forms, The Gravity of Birds perfectly
captures the devastating consequences betrayal can have through the decades, echoing right through to the present day.

Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Maggie O’Farrell.

Sisters Alice and Natalie were once close, but adolescence has wrenched them apart. Alice is a dreamer who loves books and birds; Natalie is headstrong, manipulative – and beautiful. On their lakeside family holiday, Alice falls under the thrall of a struggling young painter,Thomas Bayber. Natalie, however, seems strangely unmoved, tolerating sittings for a family portrait with surprising indifference. But by the end of the summer, three lives are shattered.

Decades later, Thomas, now a world-renowned artist, reveals the existence of a portrait of himself with Alice and Natalie from that fateful summer. The sisters themselves have disappeared without a trace. And Thomas is torn between taking the secrets of the girls to the grave, or using the painting to resurrect the past before it closes up on them all for good…

Published:     15th August 2013
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  N/A
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
Review:   100000000000 out of 10

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What I loved about this book...

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book.  This story had the perfect element of suspense and romance, it had me sitting on the edge of my seat the whole way through...  I liked the way the author laid out the story in front of you, piece by piece, revealing a bit more information each time.  It is very rare that I come along a story where I cannot guess what was going to happen at the end but this story really surprised me.  Just when I thought the story had revealed all its secrets, oh look there's a bit more...

To me, this story has many stories running through it.  You have the story of Alice and Natalie back when they were younger, the story of Thomas from when he was younger to present day when he is a world-renowed artist, the story of what is happening now with Alice and Natalie and what happened between the past and the present, the story of two professions who are employed to search out some people (won't tell you too much about that, as it would spoil the story) and the story of what happens when all the above come together.

What I was not fond of about this book...

Absolutely nothing....

Summary...

This was an absolutely amazing read for me.  This story has so many twists and turns, it definately kept me on my toes.  There were times in this story where I laughed and cried and sometimes both at the same time.  I would highly recommend the story to everyone who loves a good dramatic mystery story and for those who want to give it a try, this is an amazing one to start with.

Video Review ...



Best wishes

Debs

Waiting on Wednesday: Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.



Expected Release Date: 22nd October 2013
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

Never, ever cry. . . . Eureka Boudreaux's mother drilled that rule into her daughter years ago. But now her mother is gone, and everywhere Eureka goes he is there: Ander, the tall, pale blond boy who seems to know things he shouldn't, who tells Eureka she is in grave danger, who comes closer to making her cry than anyone has before.

But Ander doesn't know Eureka's darkest secret: ever since her mother drowned in a freak accident, Eureka wishes she were dead, too. She has little left that she cares about, just her oldest friend, Brooks, and a strange inheritance—a locket, a letter, a mysterious stone, and an ancient book no one understands. The book contains a haunting tale about a girl who got her heart broken and cried an entire continent into the sea. Eureka is about to discover that the ancient tale is more than a story, that Ander might be telling the truth . . . and that her life has far darker undercurrents than she ever imagined. From Lauren Kate comes an epic saga of heart-stopping romance, devastating secrets, and dark magic . . . a world where everything you love can be washed away.

♥♥ Book Review / Fathomless by Jackson Pearce ♥♥

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul.

Published:     4th September 2013
Publisher:  Little Brown Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Book 3, Fairytale Retellings
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
Review:   9 out of 10

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What I loved about this story...

Now, I will be honest and say that mermaid stories are not one of my favourite supernatural type stories so going into this story Ianticipated not liking it very much.  I was very wrong about that.  I really enjoyed this story, told through the viewpoint of Lo, a mermaid who cannot remember her past and Celia who tries to help Lo remember the best she can.

I liked how this story explored more about the idea of how mermaids get to be mermaids and what can be done to reverse the situation. 

What I was not fond of about this story...

I have to be honest and say that I was not too fond of the ending.  I was expecting a few certain things to happen but the route that certain characters take at the end of the story I was not expecting and was hoping for a different ending.

Summary...

This was a really fun mermaid story that I did enjoy reading, although the ending I was not too fond of.  If you haven't tried reading a mermaid story, this is definately a great one to start with as it depicts mermaids life in a very interesting way...

Video Review...

 

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Dusty Reads: The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain

Dusty Reads is a Tuesday meme that I found at Ya-aholic.com and was originally started at Xpressoreads.com. 

This is a meme where I intend to showcase a book that has been on my shelf for a while and haven’t got to yet.  If you have read this or have heard of this book, I would love to hear your comments on whether you  like it or not, or have heard great things about it.

This week, my  Dusty Read is:

 Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that's where the sisters' similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents' murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman's victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid, settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.After a devastating hurricane hits the coast of North Carolina, Rebecca and Adam urge Maya to join them in the relief effort. To please her husband, Maya finally agrees. She loses herself in the care and transport of victims, but when her helicopter crashes into raging floodwaters, there appear to be no survivors.

Forced to accept Maya is gone, Rebecca and Adam turn to one another--first for comfort, then in passion--unaware that, miles from civilization, Maya is injured and trapped with strangers she's not certain she can trust. Away from the sister who has always been there to save her, now Maya must find the courage to save herself--unaware that the life she knew has changed forever.

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
    

♥♥ Book Review / The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks ♥♥

Julie Barenson's young husband left her two unexpected gifts before he died: a Great Dane puppy named Singer and the promise that he would always be watching over her. 

Now, four years have passed. Still living in the small town of Swansboro, North Carolina, 29-year-old Julie is emotionally ready to make a commitment to someone again. But who? Should it be Richard Franklin, the handsome, sophisticated engineer who treats her like a queen? Or Mike Harris, the down-to-earth nice guy who was her husband's best friend? 

Choosing one of them should bring her more happiness than she's had in years. Instead, Julie is soon fighting for her life in a nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire....

Published:     1st April 2005
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Bought

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♥♥ Book Haul / 12th Sept 2013 ♥♥

Waiting on Wednesday: Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.



Expected Release Date: 5th November 2013
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together.

But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough.

If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him

Dusty Reads: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Dusty Reads is a Tuesday meme that I found at Ya-aholic.com and was originally started at Xpressoreads.com. 

This is a meme where I intend to showcase a book that has been on my shelf for a while and haven’t got to yet.  If you have read this or have heard of this book, I would love to hear your comments on whether you  like it or not, or have heard great things about it.

This week, my  Dusty Read is:

 For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
    

♠♠ Book Review / The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks ♠♠

After thirty years of marriage, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law of Allie and Noah Calhoun (of The Notebook), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. 

Desperate to win back his wife, Jane's, heart, he must figure out how to make her fall in love with him... again. Despite the shining example of Allie and Noah's marriage, Wilson is himself a man unable to easily express his emotions. 

A successful estate attorney, he has provided well for his family, but now, with his daughter's upcoming wedding, he is forced to face the fact that he and Jane have grown apart and he wonders if she even loves him anymore. Wilson is sure of one thing--his love for his wife has only deepened and intensified over the years. 

Now, with the memories of his in-laws' magnificent fifty-year love affair as his guide, Wilson struggles to find his way back into the heart of the woman he adores.

Published:     1st August 2005
Publisher:  Vision
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  N/A 
(although I would recommend reading The Notebook first as the characters in that book and this are linked)
Source:  Bought
Review:   10 out of 10




Best wishes  

Debs :-)