REVIEW: All Unquiet Things

Carly Ribelli was murdered a year ago. Carly and Neily had been friends since Neily started at Brighton, an elite, private school. They were in the same advanced program, and they both enjoyed being on the sidelines instead of with the in crowd. Eventually Neily and Carly's relationship advanced into something more than friendship. Everything was progressing smoothly until Audrey, Carly's cousin, moved to town. Audrey became part of the in crowd and eventually pulled Carly into the in crowd too. Carly publicly humiliated Neily during their break-up, leaving him for the popular school drug dealer. A year after her death, Neily still has trouble dealing with it - he is still mad at her for her actions, he feels guilty because she called him several times the night of her death and he didn't answer, and something inside him believes that maybe there was more to the murder than the police found.

A year after Carly's death, Audrey finds herself in a completely different position than the year prior. Because her father was convicted of Carly's murder and her boyfriend broke up with her, she has been outcast from the in-crowd. After talking with her dad, Audrey does not believe he murdered Carly, and she is intent on proving it. She's needs Neily's help though, which will be more difficult to get because he partially blames her for Carly's abandonment of him and her death. Can Audrey convince Neily to work with her? Can they work through their differences to bring the real killer to light? Will they get hurt in the process?

A great murder mystery! The book is told from two alternating perspectives - Neily and Audrey. Highly Recommended.

REVIEW: Before I Die

Tessa is a 16 year old girl, living with cancer. With just months left to live, Tessa seeks out to fulfill her list of things to do before she dies. Her list is not typical and includes having sex, doing drugs and committing illegal acts to name a few. Meanwhile, she has to deal with her dad who is trying to do everything in his power to heal her and keep her safe, her brother who is trying to cope with her illness, her mother who abandoned the family long ago and her exotic best friend who is self-centered.

Tessa is at time unlikeable with her blatant disregard for her father's and others feelings, but she is a very real character. The things that Tessa experiences... from feelings about her illness, feelings about her mother, reactions her body makes to the cancer, etc.... are extremely realistic. I personally had trouble starting the book because Tessa is from London, and therefore the language in the book has that perspective which I find hard to read at times, but I'm glad I stuck with the book because there were some really great parts to the book. It even brought me to tears.

REVIEW: The Body Finder

Violet has a special ability to sense things that have been killed. She senses "echoes" around all things that have been murdered and on the guilty party... meaning she can't stand the family cat because she can sense all of the mice and other rodents he's killed. Violet discovered her ability at a young age when she found a dead girl buried in a shallow grave in the woods behind her house. Since then, Violet has really only sensed echoes of dead animals. Now in high school, Violet's life gets turned upside down when several local girls go missing, and Violet begins to find them. Knowing that they were murdered, and knowing that her special ability can help track down the killer, Violet decides to seek out the murderer with the help of her best friend, Jay. As Violet gets closer to the killer and begins putting herself in more danger, Jay becomes more protective. Violet begins to realize that maybe Jay's feelings are deeper than friendship. Can Violet find the killer before she becomes a victim herself? Is Jay falling for her?

This book is a suspenseful page-turner. Great book!

REVIEW: Living Dead Girl

Living Dead Girl is a disturbing book about a girl who was kidnapped at age ten from her school field trip. Five years later, we find the girl, "Alice," still living with her kidnapper under the false pretenses to outsiders that she is his daughter. Her kidnapper, Ray, has a thing for little girls - Alice isn't his first. He molests her, beats her, threatens her with her life and her family's life and starves her to keep her in true little girl shape. Alice has succumbed to this lifestyle and accepts that she may never leave it. She knows that the Alice before her was killed when she turned 15 and "grew up" too much for Ray. Ray has now started talking about finding a new girl - will Alice help find her replacement? Can she escape him? Is she too broken inside to ever have a life again?

Graphic, sad and unbelievably horrible - this one is a page turner. Highly recommended especially for those who like books about abuse.

REVIEW: Six Rules of Maybe

Scarlet's father left when she was three and her older sister has moved to the city to pursue her dreams, which leaves her at home with her mother. Scarlet and her mother get along well enough, even though Scarlet has always felt that her mother favored her older sister, Juliet. Scarlet occupies her time trying to help others - her older neighbors with computer problems, the old guy across the street who's lost his wife, the introverted girl in her class who draws disturbing sidewalk images and her best friend who takes without giving. Scarlet is content with her life, never wanting anything for herself until her sister, Juliet, shows up pregnant with a husband, Hayden, who is perfect in Scarlet's eyes. Scarlet develops a quick friendship with Hayden and begins to despise her sister who doesn't appreciate Hayden. Scarlet soon discovers that her feelings for Hayden are more than just friendship, she's fallen in love with him. As Scarlet tries to deal with her feelings for Hayden, all of her good deeds seem to have backfired on her, and her entire life falls to pieces. Scarlet discovers that maybe life isn't as simple as she thought, and maybe sometimes she needs to take instead of always giving.

Slow start to the book, but readers who are willing to stick with it won't be disappointed. There's romance, family relationship issues, jealousy issues, friend issues, an explosion - just about everything you could want in a book. Recommended.

REVIEW: The Amanda Project Invisible 1

Callie is part of the elite girls at her school, has a popular boyfriend and seems to have everything going for her. Secretly, she also has a friendship with a new arrival to their school, Amanda. Amanda is different from all of Callie's other friends; she is eccentric, interesting, daring, self-assured, and self aware. She challenges Callie and makes Callie really think about things. Amanda is known for standing up to people, not caring what others think and playing practical jokes. Callie doesn't know that Amanda has any other true friends besides herself until the day that Amanda plays the ultimate practical joke and implicates Callie, Hal (the dork boy who's suddenly grown up but is still an outcast) and Nia (an introverted, isolated goth girl). Callie can't figure out why Amanda would've included Hal and Nia, and she can't ask her because Amanda has disappeared. Can Callie get along with Hal and Nia long enough to figure out where Amanda has gone? Can they discover how she was able to befriend them all with none of them realizing it? Can they figure out what Amanda's secret messages mean? Will they ever see her again? And lastly, can Callie do all of this without her elite friends finding out and snubbing her?

This book plays out like a mystery, and there's more Amanda Project books to come. I enjoyed trying to figure out who Amanda was, and what exactly her motive was. Good book.

REVIEW: Dirty Little Secrets

Lucy has a secret that not even her closest friends know... her mother has a hoarding problem. It's gotten way out of hand, and there's nothing that anyone can do about it. Lucy's house is completely taken over by boxes, bags, garbage, old food containers, and much more. Her mother literally NEVER throws anything away, so it is as if she lives in a garbage bin. Lucy's two older siblings have now moved out, and so she is faced with this disgrace alone. Throughout the years she's avoided being discovered by never allowing friends over, waiting outside when they pick her up, and avoiding close relationships with boys... hoping to never be found out. She hopes that soon she'll be able to move out, and never have to let anyone know what she's endured for years... until the day that her mother dies, in the house, in the middle of the garbage. Lucy can't decide if she should risk her reputation and call 911 just to be on display for the world to see, or if she should take matters into her own hands. As she struggles with her decision, matters are complicated by the fact that she's falling for a boy. What will Lucy do?

A different take on family relationships and friendships, Dirty Little Secrets explores the obsessive complusiveness of hoarding. As Lucy struggles with her situation, she also struggles with defining her feelings for the mother she once had versus the mother that has shamed her.

Definitely worth a read.

REVIEW: A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember is a moment by moment true account of the events that occured during the sinking of the Titanic. It is touching in places - women leaving their husbands never to see them again, others choosing death with their families over life without them - and maddening at others - the captain and others ignoring the iceberg warnings, the nearby ship that didn't hear the Titanic's cry for help, the lifeboats that left half full. The horrific events of that night are told in vivid detail with first person accounts. It paints a true picture of what the passengers of the Titanic experienced that fateful night.

If you liked the movie, Titanic, you'll love this book. Recommended.

REVIEW: Last Night at the Chateau Marmont

Brooke and Julian have been married for five years. Brooke is a hard-working, dedicated nutrionist who holds two jobs to support her husband who is a struggling musician. Everything changes though when Julian gets discovered. Next thing they know, Julian is on the Leno show, they're staying at ritzy hotels, and they're partying with the elite. At first everything is exciting - it's what they've always dreamed of - until Julian gets so popular that the gossip magazines start tormenting them, publishing photos of them, questioning their marriage, and putting Brooke's career in jeopardy. With their marriage on the rocks and Brooke struggling to keep her job, she has to decide if this is the life she wants.

Great story of rags to riches to wondering if riches are all they're cracked up to be. Recommended!