Book Review: Secret Society by Tom Dolby

 
Secret Society by Tom Dolby

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publish Date: September 29, 2009

Hardcover, 352 pages
Young Adult

My Review:
Why I read this:  I love private school books and secret society books so I was intrigued.  Plus the second book will be coming out soon and I was getting it from a tour.


How is the novel driven:  Character and action, there is quite a bit going on in this one so I will say more action, but there is character development as we get to know Phoebe, Lauren, Nick and Patch.



My thoughts: An interesting book.  This is not fine literature but it's a fun young adult book.  I enjoyed the secret society aspect and the intrigue of The Society.  Nick, Phoebe, Patch and Lauren are in the middle of things and constantly trying to figure out just what is going on.  While Patch isn't offically in The Society, he did see things he wasn't supposed to and that puts him in the middle of the game where the higher ups in The Society use tantalizing jobs and opportunities to manipulate the new Society members into their debts.

The characters are all different, Phoebe, the girl who has just moved to the city and is neither rich or poor, not really a typical member of The Society.  Nick who is the perfect member of the society, rich, handsome and perfect in every way, yet he is a very likable character, not stuck-up or haughty, he's very down-to-earth.  Lauren another perfect member of the society, though her interior decorator mom's business is going downhill due to her alcohol problem.  Lauren also has her own insecurities to deal with.  Patch's family was once rich, but now Patch and his grandmother live in Nick's building due to the closeness of Patch's family and Nick's family.   I think my favorite character by far is Nick's grandmother - she's made of tough stuff and is extremely likable and fun.


Intriguing and a quick read,  I found Secret Society to be hard to put down.  There's not a whole lot of meat to this one, but it's entertaining and the characters have potential.  I would recommend it to people who enjoy this type of book, it is a worthwhile read and I look forward to reading The Trust to see what happens to Phoebe, Lauren, Nick and Patch next.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

About the Book:
Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone. . . .
An eccentric new girl. A brooding socialite. The scion of one of New York's wealthiest families. A promising filmmaker. As students at the exclusive Chadwick School, Phoebe, Lauren, Nick, and Patch already live in a world most teenagers only dream about.

They didn't ask to be Society members. But when three of them receive a mysterious text message promising success and fame beyond belief, they say yes to everything—even to the harrowing initiation ceremony in a gritty warehouse downtown and to the ankh-shaped tattoo they're forced to get on the nape of their necks. Once they're part of the Society, things begin falling into place for them. Week after week, their ambitions are fulfilled. It's all perfect—until a body is found in Central Park with no distinguishing marks except for an ankh-shaped tattoo.

Tom Dolby makes his teen fiction debut with this riveting novel about a dangerous society so secret that once you get in, you can never get out.


About the Author:
Tom Dolby is the author of the novels The Sixth Form and The Trouble Boy. He was born in London, raised in San Francisco, and now divides his time between Manhattan's West Village and Wainscott, New York. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his BA in the history of art. This is his first book for young adults.

His Website
Twitter
Facebook
You Tube Channel
Goodreads



FTC Information: I bought this book for my Kindle to read, enjoy and review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Book Review: The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur

 
The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur

Publisher:Greenwillow Books

Publish Date: August 31, 2010

Hardcover, 320 pages
Young Adult

My Review:
Why I read this:  I like prep school and college novels, Diana Peterfreund really turned me on to the college set novels with the Secret Society Girl series.  I was intrigued with the writeup and wanted to read it.


How is the novel driven:  Character - this is all about Callie, her roomates, and some other guys in her circle of friends, how they relate to each other and how things change for them.


My thoughts: The Ivy starts off as what I think of as a typical way to start college.  I remember my freshman year and it seems like very rarely does your roommate really match your personality.  And maybe there is good reason - the world is not full of people just like us.  Callie's roommate's are rather diverse in personality.  There is Dana, status-crazed East Coast Prep School Vanessa, Mimi who is a party girl through and through and Callie who is a typical California girl trying to fit in the more uptight world of the East Coast Ivy League school.  Across the hall you have the hottie, Gregory, OK, the foreign prince, Adam, the straight-laced equlvalent to Dana and Matt who is just an all-around good guy.

Then the parties start and the groups form and the elite organizations on campus start recruiting and things go crazy.  Callie and Vanessa become close friends even though they have a rocky start.  Callie also finds a boyfriend who is the dream boy of the school, but that causes ire with dream-boy's ex-girlfriend.  And then there is Matty who also seems to have fallen under her spell and Gregory whose spell she has fallen under.

The Ivy is like a soap opera from start to finish it's a who's dating who, who likes who, who hate who, etc.  But it's a lot of fun.  There was literally one scene in this book that had me laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face.  There are serious scenes and there are heartfelt scenes.  The book is an amazing roller coaster ride of the first months away at college and I enjoyed every minute.  I can't wait to read more of these roommates and what trouble they will find themselves in next and whether certain friendships will be restored or not.

Plenty of laughs, a lot of fun and the craziness of the first semester of college are all in this and make it a really fun read.  This isn't deep, but it's completely entertaining.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

About the Book:
Congratulations! You have been admitted to the most prestigious university in the world. Now what are you going to do?

Callie Andrews may not have money or connections or the right clothes, and she may have way too many complications in her love life, what with—

Gregory
the guy she loves to hate

Evan
the guy she'd love to forget

Clint
the guy she'd love to love

and Matt
the guy she really should love

—all vying for her attention.

But she has three fantastic roommates (best friends or her worst nightmare?) and a wholesome California-girl reputation (oops) and brains and beauty and big, big dreams.

Will it be enough to help her survive freshman year at Harvard?


About the Authors:
Lauren Kunze grew up in Piedmont, California, and is the author of The Ivy. She enjoys reading, running, theater, writing bad poetry, and making Rina read her writing. At Harvard, Lauren studied English and neurobiology, and she has indefinitely deferred graduate school to focus on creative writing.

Rina Onur grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and collaborated on developing the storyline for The Ivy. She enjoys traveling, new restaurants, the Mediterranean coast, and reading Lauren's writing. After majoring in Economics at Harvard, she has worked at investment banks and in private equity management, where she comes up with story ideas when the boss isn't looking.
The Ivy Website
The Ivy on Facebook
Lauren's Author Page
Lauren on Twitter
Rina on Twitter



FTC Information: I received this book through Good Golly Miss Holly's Book tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

September Summary

September Summary 

1. Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler - finished 9/1/10 
2. Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers - finished 9/2/10 
3.  The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff - finished 9/3/10
4. God is in the Pancakes by Robin Epstein - finished 9/4/10
5. Candor by Pam Bachorz - finished 9/7/10
6. Last to Die by Kate Brady - finished  9/10/10 
7.  Crusade by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie - finished 9/11/10
8.  The Strain by Guillermo Del Tor & Chuck Hogan - finished 9/13/10
9.  Tough Customer by Sandra Brown - finished 9/14/10
10. Finny by Justin Kramon - finished 9/14/10 
11. Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales - finished 9/15/10 
12. Terminal Care by Christopher Stookey - finished 9/17/10 
13. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff - finished 9/18/10
14. Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck - finished 9/18/10 
15. Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin - finished 9/20/10 
16. Bitter Frost by Kailin Gow - finished 9/21/10
17. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris- finished 9/22/10
18. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich - finished 9/23/10 
19. Secret Society by Tom Dolby - finished 9/23/10
20. The Trust by Tom Dolby - finished 9/24/10
21. The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur - finished 9/24/10
22. The Skull Ring by Scott Nicholson - finished 9/26/10
23. Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Brendan Halpin and Emily Franklin, finished 9/29/10
    

Review books:17
Library Books: 4
Books from my bookshelf:2


Favorite of the month: Really tough call this month with lots of great books.  So I'm going to break it down a little:

Favorite YA:  Tie between The Ivy and Mostly Good Girls
Favorite Paranormal: Personal Demons
Favorite Audiobook:  Hard Eight - I laughed until I cried

Favorite Adult/Suspense:  Tough Customer with The Skull Ring and The Strain running very close.

Progress in Challenges: 

• Support your local library challenge: 42/75
• 100+ Reading Challenge: 156/225
• 2010 Pub Challenge: 35/30
• A Tournament of Reading Challenge: 1/3
• Debut Author challenge: 20/20
• Twenty Ten Challenge: 12/20
• Audio Book Challenge: 16/20
• What's In a Name 3 Challenge: 5/6
• Romance Challenge: 20/20
• Finish That Series Challenge: working on this one
• Take Another Chance Challenge: need to work on this one
• 2010 Reading From My Shelves Project: 3/30
• 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 99/75
• Awesome Author Challenge: 8/10
• Countdown Challenge 2010: 52/55

So how was your reading month?

Book Review: Crusade by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

 
Crusade by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Publisher: The EDGE

Publish Date: September 7, 2010

Hardcover, 240 pages
Young Adult Paranormal

My Review:
Why I read this: The title, the blurb for the book, and the cover all three sucked me in and no I have read the Wicked books yet, but I have them.


How is the novel driven:  This one is mainly event/action/plot-driven, but there is some character-development as well.



My thoughts: Honestly, I had a hard time getting into this one at first, but once I caught on to the society and how things worked and what was going on I was able to get into it.  It's an interesting premise, a group trained to kill vampires even as society as a whole is starting to embrace vampires.

The characters were interesting, this book focuses on Jenn, I'm not sure if future books will focus on the others, or she will remain a main character.  Jenn feels she is the weakest of the group she is a part of and really has no self-confidence.  Then she has to return home for her beloved grandfather's funeral, and what awaits her at her home is not what she expected.  Things go crazy and Jenn is just trying to stay alive until she can meet back up with her group and find her sister.

After the world-building is set up the book starts to speed along, though at times I thought it felt a little choppy.  No matter that, it is still an entertaining book.  One I would recommend, but not one I'm shouting from the rooftops.

If you enjoy a different take on vampires where they can be bad guys and where an elite group hunts them, then give this book a try.  I think the series has promise so I will be checking out the next one as well.


My Rating: 3.75/5.0

About the Book:
The ultimate battle. The ultimate love.

For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain’s Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones. She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun.

Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire strong-hold. As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated—and at risk. She craves the company of her fighting partner, Antonio: his protection, his reassurance, his touch. But a relationship with Antonio comes with its own dangers, and the more they share of themselves, the more Jenn stands to lose.

Then Jenn is betrayed by one who was once bound to protect her, causing her to doubt all she had held as true. To survive, Jenn must find the courage to trust herself—and her heart.


About the Author:
Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or cowritten twenty Buffy and Angel projects. Her books from Simon Pulse include the New York Times bestselling series Wicked and the novel The Rose Bride. A graduate of the University of California at San Diego, Nancy is currently a writing teacher at the school. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, and their growing assortment of pets. Visit her at nancyholder.com.

Debbie Viguié has been writing for most of her life and holds a degree in creative writing from U.C. Davis. Debbie loves theme parks and has worked at both Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland in California. When Debbie is not busy writing she enjoys traveling with her husband Scott. Debbie grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives in Florida.

Nancy's website
Nancy's fan page on Facebook
Nancy's Blog
Nancy on Twitter
Debbie's webpage
Crusade's fan page on Facebook


FTC Information: I received this book through Book It Forward Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Book Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

 
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Publisher: Dial

Publish Date: October 18, 2010

Paperback, 180 pages
Young Adult

My Review:
Why I read this:  Since my teens I have had a fascination with the book of Revelation and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are very much a part of that book.  So it was a given when I heard there would be a book series based on the Four Horsemen I was intrigued.  Add to that dealing with hard teenage issues and I was definitely in.


How is the novel driven:  Character, this is all about Lisabeth and her coming to terms with her own self and her problems.



My thoughts: A fascinating and short book.  But somehow the shortness works, I don't feel like it should have been longer or it was limited, to me the length worked perfect.  Hunger deals with the difficult subject of teenage girl self-esteem and how so much of that is wrapped around body image and weight.  Lisabeth has an eating disorder, and she's trying to hide it.  Then she is told she is Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  At first she doesn't accept this but as she travels as Famine she learns what power she has can do and while that takes her away from  her problems for awhile, it ultimately shines a light on her real problems.


As I said before this book is fascinating and felt very original.  I don't think I've ever read or heard of a book like this so I feel like Ms. Kessler took an difficult subject and used a very different scenario to bring it to light.  Hunger is well-written, reads quick and made me think.  It's dark, but eating disorders are a dark subject and an epidemic we need to know about.  The darkness suits it and sets a great tone for the book.  In the beginning I wasn't sure if I liked Lisabeth, but as the book went on I felt I could relate to her more and more.


Interesting and original plot, fascinating characters and well-written, Hunger is a great YA book to pick up and read and I look forward to the next in the series.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

And here is the cover of the next book in the series (Isn't it amazing), Rage will be out April 18, 2011.

About the Book:

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world." 

 

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

     

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?

     

A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.

About the Author:

JACKIE MORSE KESSLER is the author of several paranormal and dark fantasy books for adults. Hunger is her first book for teens. She lives in upstate New York.

Her Website
Her Blog
Twitter


FTC Information: I received this book through 1-ARC Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Fall Into Reading 2010

You know me - I love challenges and I especially love the ones that Callapidder Days hosts.  They are easy going, just list books you would like to read, it can be modified any time and then read from September 22 - December 20.  I think I will set my goal at 45 books.  Here are some of my titles high on my tbr.

Join in Callapidder Days by signing up here, more information is available on the site.  She will be having weekly questions and other things to participate.  I look forward to the fun and the reading.

My Tentative List:

1. I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
2. Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten - finished 10/2
3. You by Charles Benoit - finished 10/2
4. Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
5. Love Means Zero by Daisy Jordan
6. Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn
7. The Unidentified  by Rae Mariz
8. Call Me Kate by Molly Roe, Mary Garrity Slaby
9. Sloane Hall by Libby Sternberg
10. Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Linn
11. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
12. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
13. Hothouse Flower by Margot Berwin
14. Solitary by Travis Thrasher
15. What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen
16. Don't Look Back by Lynette Eason

This is just a few - I'll mark these as I finish them and add more as I get them.

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-A-Thon is next weekend and I can't wait, I'm already trying to figure out what to read and if I can send my kids somewhere for the weekend. :)  It's so much fun.  I hope the weather is nice and fall-like so I can sit on my porch swing and read.  Last year I think I would read for about 50 minutes an hour and then get on my computer, blog hop and make update posts.  It was just amazing.  I even had my kids at home and one had a friend over, but it was okay, they were really cooperative, plus Daddy helped out quite a bit - what a wonderful husband!

So do you want to join?  Or be a cheerleader?  Then check out this website for more information.