Showing posts with label ya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ya. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Book Review: Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

Another Little PieceAnother Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pub Date: June 11, 2013
Hardcover, 432 pages
ISBN: 978-0062135957



My Review:

Another Little Piece sounds like a very different and very thrilling/scary book from it's description. And it does deliver on being different. It also has moments where I was flipping pages like crazy to find out exactly what was going on and what would happen next. But it's the in-between that had this book at less than a 5-star book for me.

Let's start with the good. The premise, while sounding kind of exciting, yet been there done that, you know girl goes missing, girl comes back a year later. It's anything thing but been there done that and you get that from the first page. I actually had to go back and read the description because I thought I missed something. So the premise is great, there is some definite excitement to trying to figure out just exactly what is going on with Annaliese. I also enjoy the character of Annaliese, though she can be a little hard to like at times, but I stuck with her and she was interesting. I also liked some of the supporting characters and things going on around Annaliese. Most added to the story, some not so much. It's a different book and I think as long as you understand that going into it you will get enjoyment out of the book. It's kind of an Anna Dressed in Blood yet different.

Now onto what I (that means me personally and I'm not a paid critic) had problems with. First I thought the beginning was a little slow. I kept wondering when I would understand what the heck was going on. But that was probably all part of the author's plan. A good build-up and maybe the day I was reading I wasn't feeling patient. Second the transitions between past and present were a little jerky, but I feel that was part of the story too, and some people may really get the feel of it and go with it, it was just a little off to me, but like I said it may not be to you. Finally I thought there was just a little bit missing, but maybe I just missed it. I felt like some things were gone into in too much detail while leaving some important stuff out.

However even with the things I had problems with I thought this was a very interesting and different book to read. When I write an iffy review I always remind myself of my review of The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff several years ago. I couldn't wait to read it, there were rave reviews everywhere and I felt it was very ho-hum (I think I gave it 3-stars), but it seemed like everyone else loved the book. So sometimes it's just the book and the person. I think there are very good things about this book and definitely think it should be read. I will try another book by Ms. Quinn any day.

My rating: 3.75/5.0

About the Book:
 
The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.



***I received this book from Amazon Vine for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Book Review: The Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab

The Girl in the WallThe Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab
Publisher: Merit Press
Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2012
Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 9781440552700



My Review:

If you are looking for a non-stop thrill ride in the YA category, then this is just the book for you. I love YA, but I love my suspense/thrillers in the adult category. I never have found too many YA thrillers, so reading this one really had me enthralled.

Told from the point of view of both Sera and Ariel, two girls who were best friends until 9 months and 4 days ago, makes the book very interesting and adds to the suspense. From chapter-to-chapter you know what each girl is doing in an attempt to save her and her classmates from the people who have taken them all hostage. There is some belief that you have to suspend, but when don't you in a thriller? I really didn't have a problem with any aspect of the book, in fact I just couldn't put it down. The action is center-stage, but there is also character growth in both characters and very interesting secondary characters as well.

I read The Girl In the Wall in just a few hours. It was hard to put down, had me fully invested in the plot and had me really liking Sera and growing to like Ariel. The fast action combined with the need to find out just what happened to Sera and Ariel's friendship will have you turning pages as well.

My rating: 5.0/5.0

About the Book:
Ariel's birthday weekend looks to be the event of the season, with a private concert by rock star Hudson Winters on the grounds of her family's east coast estate, and all of Ariel's elite prep school friends in attendance. The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: this could be one very long night.

They have no idea just how right they are.

Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera played as children. Only Sera, who forges an unlikely alliance with Hudson Winters, knows where her friend could be. As the industrial terrorist plot unravels and the death toll climbs, Ariel and Sera must recall the sisterhood that once sustained them as they try to save themselves and each other on the longest night of their lives.


View all my reviews

***I received this book from Amazon Vine for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***