Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

Sometimes you have teen mysteries that take themselves seriously, and sometimes the story is a little bit far-fetched. This story with its quirky characters and adventures puts itself more towards the latter category. At times it's a little out there, but it's an enjoyable ride.

As the new girl in school, Zoe hopes to fit in. The last thing she expects is finding herself connecting with the oddball character of Digby. He has no concept of personal space and has a habit of dragging her into insane situations. Despite efforts to stay away from him, Zoe tags along on Digby's mission to finding a missing girl. It turns out that a number of years ago, Digby's younger sister went missing and he thinks the cases are connected. He has his prime suspects and he'd bound and determined to prove it, even if it means stealing, lying, and breaking and entering. His problems don't end with the doctor he suspects - not when he starts a beef with the mysterious, cultish boy who lives across the street from Zoe. Throw in some drug-dealing, missing ambulances and explosions and you've got the crazy ride Zoe finds herself on with Digby at the helm.

Personally, I like my mysteries to be a tab more realistic and serious than this book. You definitely cannot take this seriously. The police would not be so open with their information to some teenagers as they were in this novel and the antics of the characters are just a little too out there - the dramatic breaking and entering of the doctor's office, Digby in his tutu wearing teddy bear costume. He is a true mastermind and enjoyable to read about, but the situations just snowball to the point that you're shaking your head. He has no boundaries and can talk himself in and out of any situation, dragging Zoe and others in with him. In no way is that a bad thing because it makes for a fun read. It's witty and clever and humorous. Not all mysteries need to be dead serious. It just seems a bit unrealistic that a teen is doing all of this and getting away with everything. Then again, it wouldn't be much of an exciting teen novel if they were shut down at every turn.

This book is crazy in a good way. Everything - however off the wall it may be - ends up working together to connect the pieces and solve the mystery. Well, maybe not all of the mysteries. There is still one string left hanging that definitely creates the potential of a sequel. It will be interesting to see what chaos Digby can create next time around.
MMK

The Heir by Kiera Cass

When I read the third book in the Selection series, I thought it was the end of the trilogy and series. I was wrong and the series continues twenty years later with the story of their daughter in much of the same addicting fashion as the first few books.

After everything that America Singer and Prince Maxson accomplished at the end of The One, things in Illea aren't perfect. They've eliminated the caste system, but the people are having trouble adjusting to the new way of life and the fact that their next ruler will be a woman. Eadlyn is the firstborn of four children and the future ruler, ready to do what needs to be done to prove that a woman is capable of leading the country. With the unrest of the people, the king and queen feel that a happy distraction is called for, so they create a new Selection for Eadlyn to find a spouse. Although she eventually goes along with it, she's an independent and stubborn woman who doesn't want to get married and doesn't believe in love. While she initially planned to push the guys away, slowly a number of them start to work their way into her heart, including Kile, the son of her mother's best friend whom she always thought was annoying, Henri from Swendway who doesn't even speak English and his translator Erik who seems to understand Eadlyn even though he's not even a contestant, but then there are the others who have her questioning what her grand plan is with this competition like Ean who is more than willing to her forever companion without demanding love. The Selection is not without its bumps, but if Eadlyn can stop being so scared, she might be able to find the same kind of love that brought her mother and father together during their Selection.

This is the second to last book in the series - there will supposedly only be five books. While it is helpful to have read the first three books, one can pick up this book and work their way through it without complete knowledge of the prior novels. While it has much of the charm of the first books with the whole teenage "Bachelorette" dating game, Eadlyn is a bit of a brat and unlikable. It has been a year since I read the first novels, but I felt like I could root for America and the other characters, whereas for most of the novel Eadlyn is annoying. She comes off as stuck-up, too good for their entire process because she doesn't want a man. She can do it all on her own. Then she starts to grow and you start to like her and in the next breath she's back to her old ways. It's nice to see her come around near the end and it'll be interesting to see how things turn out in the conclusion. Knowing there's only one book left, though, I wish the love connections were a bit stronger come the end of this book - that it was down to the final four so that we could see who really mattered to her. There's a lot going on that it's hard to think it will all get the right amount of attention in one book. Yes, there are the four or five who she keeps gravitating to, but I wish it was a little clearer who she was thinking about (the first three books had the clearly defined love triangle with America). The author has a plan, so who am I to really say anything. I know, though, who my top three are and it'll be interesting to see if that's the direction Eadlyn goes.

This novel succeeds like the previous three to pull the reader in. It creates a dating game scenario and then gives you unique contestants for you to root for as the main character grows and realizes that love does not make one weak. With the conflict of her heart on top of a country uprising, there's more than enough pull to bring the reader back for the hopefully stellar conclusion of this entrancing series.
MMK

Be Not Afraid by Cecilia Galante

Some of the most classic horror stories revolve around demon possession and the accompanying exorcism. This novel doesn't disappoint as the main character comes face-to-face with the demon inside another person and her own identity.

Ever since her mom committed suicide, Marin has had a special ability that allows her to see people's pain in the form of shapes and colors. She can't figure out if this is a blessing or a curse. In the meantime, she's doing her best to make it through school, which means avoiding Cassie who tricked Marin into a horrible experience months ago. When Cassie freaks out in the middle of mass, Marin's ability allowed her to see something odd inside Cassie right before the girl collapses in a seizure. Cassie's brother knows that something more than seizures is going on with his sister. Somehow there's a connection between the two girls, something that they need to explore if there's any hope of saving Cassie.

This book was an interesting experience into possession. While it deals with trying to save Cassie, it also dips into Marin's family issues surrounding her mother's death, coming to grips with her abilities, and typical teenage relationships. This novel has a nice balance and still proves to be creepy.
MMK

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Cady loves to spend summers with her family on their private island with her two cousins and their "adopted" friend Gat. The summer they all turned fifteen was particularly memorable as that was the summer she fell in love with Gat. At the same time, however, it was also the summer of a traumatic accident that stole a number of her memories from that year. After a year of dealing with her amnesia, Cady and her family are back on the island. She's looking forward to reuniting with her best friend because together they make up the "Liars." But things are obviously different as the family home has been torn down and rebuilt, her Liars insist upon not having anything to do with the family that isn't quite the same as it had been, and nobody tells her what happened on the night she lost her accident. As she slowly remembers what happened the year she was fifteen, she recalls a family that constantly bickered, a family darkened with greed and prejudice, a family that tore each other apart. If only Cady could remember what happened to change everything.

It took me a while to get into this novel. It is a little disjointed in the writing. Come the start of the summer seventeen, it switches between the current summer and the one when they were fifteen and sometimes the transitions are not that clear. She throws in these fairy tales that she's rewritten. They don't necessarily add to the story, but through them you can see a reflection of her own story, which is interesting, especially later on when she starts to figure things out. The last one hundred or so pages are the most gripping. It's at that point that the clues to the past become clearer and the reader along with Cady start to figure out what's going on - then and now. I know for me I got an inkling of the truth and desperately wanted to finish just to see if I was right. The payoff is worth it. Come the last half of the novel, the characters become clearer - especially the grandfather and aunts as they fight for power and how the children don't want any part of it. It comes to a point that you can almost sympathize with Cady and her grand scheme - however twisted it may be. The novel builds nicely to the big reveal, once you get past the first hundred pages, although I disagree with the book flap that says it is full of suspense. While there is the mystery of what happened to Cady, it's not edge-of-your-seat like I imagine suspense to be.

Although it took me time to get invested in this novel, I was glad that I stuck with it to the end. 
MMK

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

Sometimes you need to step away from yourself to figure out who you are and what matters. Dark Dude explores that journey for one teen.

Rico is a young Latino boy growing up in 1960s Harlem. The problem is that he looks like a white boy, which leaves him torn in his identity since he's not white, but the Latinos don't count him as one of them either. When his struggles in school lead his parents to threaten military school, Rico makes a drastic decision to run away with his best friend who nearly died in a horrible accident while on drug. Looking for a fresh start, they head to Wisconsin to stay with an old buddy of Rico's. While Rico and his friend start to find their places in the world, Rico discovers that you can't escape all of your problems.

Although this novel takes place in the '60s, it is a timeless story about identity and family. Aside from mentions of hippies and full-service gas stations, it's easy to imagine this story happening now. The target audience definitely feels male, but the message is for anyone. It speaks of the people of the world and how even the most picturesque place will have its problems. It talks of overcoming your demons and finding your place. And it talks about family and the undeniable draw they have on your life.

This book has the potential to speak to a number of impressionable teens as they fight to figure out where they fit in their cultures, family and the world in general. It looks like a long book and that might deter some readers, but it is easy to get through and worth the time.
MMK

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This is a great second novel to series that will definitely have you coming back for more, although it is important to read these books in order. The book, like the first, is Criminal Minds for teens.

The Naturals program is a group of five extraordinary teens who help solve cold cases. The narrator Cassie is a profiler, as is Dean. There's also Sloane who is amazing with numbers and facts, Lia who can detect lies, and Michael who reads emotions. Together they work to solve cases that the FBI hasn't cracked and only cold cases because this program is a bit hush-hush and you can't have teens involved in active cases. But when the latest killer seems to be a copy of the murders Dean's father committed, it's impossible for the teens to take a backseat on this case. Even with the threat of someone shutting down the program, they break and bend the rules to help a friend and solve the case before some else dies. 

I know a number of people who hear "Young Adult" and don't want to give a book another shot. They think that given the teen audience, the books aren't as developed or might come off as superficial - they just don't have the depth that an adult book would have. While I have seen that in some books, that does not happen in this novel. I felt like this book had a great balance of teen connection with enjoyable and quirky teen characters, but it has the depth and development and complexities of an adult murder mystery. You feel for the characters, there are twists and turns with the story, and it is an overall enjoyable ride. Just make sure you read the first book first. Things that happen in the first book are brought up throughout this novel, so it is important to have that background knowledge. Sure there are enough references to get you through if you didn't read it, but it would be best to start this series at the beginning. 

I really enjoyed this novel and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good murder mystery. It's not just blood and guts and whodunit. This novel does a great job getting into the mind of the murder and characters. Definitely pick this book up.
MMK

The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett

This summer, Disney told the story of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of Maleficent. Tracy Barrett has now told Cinderella's story from the perspective of the stepsister. It's an interesting interpretation of the story that seems a bit removed from the original.

Jane's mother has high standards for her daughters to present themselves as ladies like their ancestors always have. That would be easy for Jane to do, if they weren't living in a house that was nearly beyond repair and she weren't forced to work in the family's dairy so that they could survive. When her mother returns from a trip with a new husband and stepdaughter, Jane thinks this might be the answer to their prayers. However, her new stepsister seems a bit stuck-up and her stepfather has his own set of debts. None of this helps them, especially when he suddenly gets sick and dies. In the meantime, Jane forms a friendship with a family of people who lives in the woods, people that she'd initially been warned by her mother to stay away. Then the prince comes with an invitation for all unmarried women as he seeks one particular lady - a girl he met one day on his travels. Jane realizes he means her stepsister Isabella, and while she would love the opportunity to "get rid of" the girl, she begins to realize the prince might not be the happily ever after they were all looking for.

This retelling of Cinderella feels very removed from the original story that everyone seems to know. Given that it's from the perspective of the stepsister, that's to be expected, but at times it felt like a completely different story. For the most part, it feels like a story about a girl whose class status shifts due to unfortunate events and is now living the life of poverty and how she adapts to this life. It addresses misconceptions about people - Will from the family in the woods thinks she's high and mighty because of her class, which is completely wrong because her family has less than his, and she thinks he's too proud to associate with her; then Jane has a misconception about Isabella who has a misconception about Jane. It's a theme throughout the book about how people aren't what you think and how status and title doesn't make a person good. When it comes to the actual Cinderella parts of the story, there's a nice twist to the whole ball and prince that fits with the themes about misconceptions and makes it more original. For the most part, though, this novel felt like it was Jane dealing with their living conditions and trying to survive and keep her family from falling apart. For a while, I kept wondering when the whole Cinderella story was going to happen. I don't know what to make of the Cinderella character, though. For the most part she comes off as a whiny brat and is barely in the book. I would have like more of her, or seen her character develop more. I had very little sympathy for her. I also would have like a bit more clarity with the epilogue. There's closure for a happy ending, but I thought it was a bit vague in terms of where everyone ends up. I wanted more specifics or nothing at all. 

The novel is an interesting interpretation of the story of Cinderella. It is definitely the author's take on the familiar tale, although that tale is more of a secondary story compared to everything else going on in the novel - so keep that in mind. It was an enjoyable read though.
MMK

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This novel is inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd who died before getting a chance to write it. Never having read anything by Dowd, I can't comment on how well author Patrick Ness captured the late author's spirit or style. Nevertheless, this is a powerful novel about a boy struggling with a parent's illness.

Conor's mother is sick. She has been for a long time and doesn't seem to get any better. Ever since she's been sick, Conor's been having nightmares. Now, though, he's having a new nightmare. This time around, the old yew tree that sits in the church cemetery by his house transforms into a huge monster that comes to visit Conor. It claims it wants to help Conor - who is dealing not only with a sick mother, but a school bully, a grandmother moving in whom he doesn't particularly get along with, and a father who left him for a new life in America. In order to help Conor, the monster yew tree is going to tell him three stories. After his three stories, Conor needs to tell his story and finally admit the truth that he isn't ready to face.

This story is a really quick read. The story that at times feels like a fairy tale or fable - especially the stories that the monster tells. The book is filled with eerie drawings, yet the book isn't scary in any way. The monster is just a vessel to get the stories and lesson. Each time the monster comes, Conor is dealing with something big - his grandmother's appearance, his father's momentarily return on top of his mother's declining health, and the bully's final move. Each story is a lesson to help him face not only the situation, but his big truth that he's avoiding. Although the stories are not the most clear-cut and Conor is definitely frustrated afterwards, it all makes sense at the end of the novel (as one would expect). This is a powerful story about a child dealing with a sick parent and the internal struggle that comes from that. Conor's whole life is changing, especially given the fact that his mother is dying. He sees his home life changing and even things at school because now labeled "he's the kid with the dying mother," which means he's treated differently. The book, come the end, forces Conor - and the reader - to face the truth about our feelings in a situations like this and how those feelings can be contradicting - both selfish and selfless at the same time. 

For the most part, it's not until Conor's truth comes out that the novel feels whole. Everything makes sense once the truth is out and the monster explains how it all fits. At that point you realize how strong the novel has been. Given how quickly this book reads, it is worth picking up.
MMK

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

This novel is nominated for the Abraham Lincoln award. It is as much a teen romance as it is about coping with a divorced parent's betrayal and learning to move on.

The last thing Hadley Sullivan wants to do is travel all the way to London to watch her father get married to a woman she's never met. Yet here she is in an airport waiting for a flight because she missed the first one by all of four minutes. As she waits for the next flight, she befriends a fellow traveler - a teenager named Oliver. The two of them hit it off and even manage to sit together on the flight, allowing them hours to form a bond that helps Hadley face seeing her father for the first time in about a year. Throughout the entire flight, Hadley is trying to cope with the anger and betrayal she feels for her father's decision to leave her mother and her for life and love in England. Even when she lands, she's immediately whisked away for the wedding with no time to address anything with her father. Then she learns the real reason Oliver is in England and feels the pull to be by his side, but who is she to do such a thing for a boy she's only known a few hours? Are Hadley and Oliver meant to be together? And will she make peace with her father before it's too late for their relationship?

This entire novel takes place over twenty-four hours. For the first part of the novel it just seems like two teens hanging out - nothing too memorable about the experience. I didn't initially get the feeling that this was two teens falling in love - the type of love that has Hadley frantically trying to find Oliver after they land. Their relationship seemed to be more about what the other person does for their sanity than necessarily how they make their hearts soar. As Oliver says at the end of the novel, "I feel better when I'm with you" (234). Hadley is going through an extremely emotional time - she's exceptionally mad at her father - and Oliver does a lot to help her cope with that. So this novel is subtly not even really about falling in love. I think this novel is really more about both characters working through the relationships they have with their fathers. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a relationship that forms between them and Hadley is crushed when she thinks their time has come to an unhappy end, but this book has a bigger picture which makes it more than a fluffy romance.

This novel is a fairly quick read. Through it you get the joy of a romance and the hope that comes with a character undergoing emotional healing. This is a well rounded book and an enjoyable read.
MMK

Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

Everyone probably has that one person they'd like to kill and this book addresses that desire. Through the eyes of a teenage serial killer, this novel deals with the struggles of being a murderer.

Kit seems like a normal London teenager, but she's really the city's notorious serial killer known as the "Perfect Killer." She's been raised to be a murderer since she was child in order to take over for her mother who had also been a murderer. They receive letters in a secret mailbox from people requesting the death of certain people, and it is Kit's job to answer those letters. After she murders them, she leaves the letter behind as her signature. She's lead to believe that "Nothing is right, nothing is wrong," so she's not doing anything wrong by killing these people. When a letter arrives asking for the murder of a schoolmate, she befriends the victim and starts to make decisions that have her question what she's been raised to do.

This novel has an interesting premise because I'm sure we've all thought about one person we'd like to see killed. This book just takes it a step further and finds a person to make those wishes come true. For the most part the victim has wronged the writer in one way or another, so it's not like they're entirely innocent, right? The fact that it is a teenage girl makes it a smidge hard to believe, but if she's been trained to do this since she was a child, maybe it is a bit more believable. The novel makes Kit this complex character. For the most part she is just a cold blooded killer, she doesn't really try to justify what she's doing. But then she murders without a letter and starts to question everything. I don't know that she necessarily grows throughout this novel, but the author does a good job of getting into the head of someone who sees nothing wrong with murder and believes the people need her.

This was an enjoyable book. It is an easy read that draws you into the world of a teenage murderer.
MMK

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti

Waiting for You is all about the complicated life of a teenager. Marisa is dealing with everything most teenagers face - finding a boyfriend and fitting in. She has the slight complication that she has an anxiety disorder which nearly destroyed her freshman year, but now that she’s a sophomore, she’s got it all figured out, or so she thinks. Things start to get complicated when she becomes lab partners with her neighbor Nash. At first it’s an amazing friendship, but then he has to go and like her more than she likes him. Now that friendship is on the rocks. Then she gets her dream boyfriend Derek, but that puts a strain on her friendship with her best friend Sterling who doesn’t have a boyfriend. On top of that, Derek is still awfully friendly with his ex, which has Marisa questioning his commitment to her. To make matters even worse, Marisa’s parents - whom she always thought were the perfect example of parents - are getting a divorce. While Marisa fights to keep her cool through all of this drama and not give into her anxiety and depression, there’s a podcast by DJ Dirty Dirk, the only guy who genuinely seems to understand everything she’s going through.

This novel spans Marisa’s entire sophomore year. You could relate to the characters and cheer for them to figure it all out. While it is jam-packed with drama, it all felt very basic. This is a decent coming-of-age novel for girls struggling to find a balance in high school, friendships and being true to yourself. It is a quick read that hits the bare-necessities of a novel wanting to make a statement about relationships and identity and the things that matter in life. Marisa finds a way to get through all of the drama and her disorder to come to appreciate everything and everyone she has in her life.

MMK

You Know What You Have To Do by Bonnie Shimko

This novel, while enjoyable and a quick read, seems to miss its potential. It has a great storyline, but it focuses more on the mundane rather than the intriguing.

Mary-Magdalene (aka Maggie or Mare) has this problem where she hears an evil voice in her head that tells her to kill people. The throbbing headache that accompanies the voice makes it so that the only thing she can do to alleviate the problem is to listen to the voice. When the novel starts, she has already killed one person. However, he was beating up his wife and Maggie's friend, so in a way, she was doing them a favor. While Maggie is dealing with this voice, she deals with typical high school things - like a boy who likes her but to whom she doesn't return the feelings, a best friend who is suddenly beautiful and more popular than Maggie will be, and the opportunity to finally get her driver's license. Throughout the book, Maggie tries to cope with the voice and life in general.

As I write the summary for the book, I struggle to create the appeal that the book jacket created because overall, the voices in her head were not as prevalent as I was led to believe - which is where the story faltered. Most of the book felt like Maggie dealing with being a teenager. She's going to therapy and is more concerned with the hotness of her therapist than doing anything to get better. True, admitting you've killed people because the voices told you to do it is basically asking to get locked up, but she seemed so desperate to get help you want to scream at her to actually do something about it. Maggie is more concerned about getting caught than bothered by the fact that she killed people. So are we supposed to feel sorry for her - which you do a good portion of the book - or is she just as bad as the voice in her head? But then, like I said, that whole dilemma seems at times secondary to life in general. Come the end of the book, when tragedy strikes and Maggie ends up in a psychiatric ward, it has nothing to do with her actual issue and it never even comes up until the end of her stay. Then the book ends and you're left wondering if she's embracing this issue or what. During at least one point in the novel (although I'm sure it was more than once) I completely forgot she had this voice issue. Then it comes back at the end and you're simply left wondering why the book didn't start here. This book could very well have been like a teenage Dexter, but that excitement gets muddled with the mundane life of a teenager. The suspense simply wasn't constant.

This book had a lot of potential. It had a great concept that drew me in, but it wasn't built up enough and you're left feeling "meh" about the book.
MMK

Flawed by Kate Avelynn

Flawed is a dark but moving book. It doesn't shy away from the scary reality of abuse and possessiveness under the guise of protection. It's gritty and for every moment of hope, there's a moment of despair that keeps you going to the end.

Sarah O'Brien has always depended on her brother James to save her from her abusive father. He would always step in and protect her with the promise that he'd keep her safe as long as she'd never leave him. She's always been able to keep that secret, but things are starting to change in her world. The summer before senior year, she finally has a chance with her long-time crush, Sam, who just happens to be James's best friend. She thought that since they were friends, James would approve, but his possessiveness pushes forward as he forbids her to see Sam. She struggles with what to do because she knows that if James finds out she's with Sam, he'll kill him, but she can't deny how safe and wonderful she feels when she's with Sam. He gives her hope for a future and an escape from this horrible world she's lived most of her life. Any hope for the future, however, means hurting James and breaking her promise. Her choice gets even more difficult as James starts to spiral out of control and nothing seems safe anymore. 

This is a powerful book that reminds people that bad things happen and there isn't always a happy ending. No matter what Sarah chooses to do, someone is going to get hurt, a fact that constantly pulls her in different directions. You can't help but want to see Sarah come out on top, but you understand the struggles that keep weighing her down. You feel for James who is facing his own demons. He understands his role as Sarah's protector, but since that has been his whole life, his role as her brother starts to blur. On top of that, there's the reality that maybe people aren't as different as their enemy as they would hope. Either way, you want to see these characters overcome their struggles, but the reality is that it's not as easy as one would hope.

I really enjoyed this novel. It draws you in emotionally and then shocks you at the end. This book is real and doesn't sugar coat anything. It was a great read.
MMK

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What starts off as a typical teen romance, surprises the reader with its depth and moral issues.

Samantha Reed lives a charmed life as the daughter of a Senator, but the life next door seems far more appealing. The Garretts are chaotic and messy, while her life is full of order and perfection. When Jase Garrett crosses the border between their homes, Samantha becomes a part of his world and his family. As she adjusts to this new love and new life, her mother is planning her next campaign, with the help of a man named Clay who has as much interest in Gracie Reed as he does her campaign. Samantha feels as if she's losing her mother to this man's influence, but that's not the only thing she's losing over the summer as friendships get questioned. Then her life gets completely turned upside down after a horrible accident affects not only her family, but also the Garretts. Samantha is then faced with a tough decision where, no matter what she decides, someone is going to get hurt.

This book starts off as a simple romance. Samantha meets Jase and at first he's new and tempting, especially because her mother has always disapproved of the Garrett's lifestyle. Then the novel throws in the situation with her mother and Clay and how Samantha can see the man corrupting her, but Gracie is oblivious to everything. On top of that is the character Tim, the brother of Samantha's best friend, who is basically throwing his life away with drugs and bad decisions. While Samantha is finding real love, her best friend Nan is dealing with long-time relationship that doesn't seem to make any sense anymore. Then tragedy strikes and everything is complicated further. It seems like so much is going on, but it all works flawlessly together. You fall in love with all of the characters - even Tim who is an unlikeable character at the beginning becomes a champion at the end. You want to see things work out but you realize that Samantha is in an impossible situation. This book is about sacrifices and second chances and doing what is right despite the consequences.

I've read plenty of "fluff and stuff" romances that are nice for that warm, happily-ever-after feeling. This book isn't like that. Not to say that it doesn't have some form of a happily-ever-after, it challenges the reader and has a depth to it you don't see in many teen romances. It is definitely worth the read.
MMK

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

This novel explores what it means to redefine yourself after a tragedy changes your course. Certain subject matters makes this book better suited for mature teens.

In high school, the name Chelsea Keyes was synonymous with basketball. Her whole like was planned around the sport, until a slip on some spilled soda shattered her hip, thereby ending her basketball career. With her whole sense of self now put into question, Chelsea and her family head out to a lake resort where Chelsea is signed up for a "boot camp" program to get back to the person she once was (with or without basketball). The person running this camp, Clint, has his own demons that have prevented him from pursuing his own favorite sport. The two form an instant connection and spend most of their three weeks together discovering each other as well as re-embracing their past passions. Things get a little complicated, however, when Chelsea's current boyfriend is considered in this equation.

This book is a good romance, although somewhat questionable when you consider the fact that Chelsea is basically cheating on her boyfriend. However, it does factor into the whole "self-discovery" aspect of this novel considering how different Clint is from her boyfriend Gabe. The novel does explore the loss of Chelsea's virginity - at times in some mature detail. For someone wanting a meatier romance, though, I think this book is a good fit.

This novel is more than just falling in love. It is a great story about getting back up and recreating yourself when life throws you a curveball. It's about not letting life's hardships prevent you from living life to the fullest, or - as the book says "Never live timidly."
MMK

Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler

This book came out the year Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility turned 200. This novel plays homage to the classic with a modern twist.

Gabby and Daphne are sisters with nothing in common. Gabby, the older sister, has stepped up to help her mother after her father left them. She's the sensible sister who works hard, studies to get good grades, and does her best to make sure her sister behaves. Considering how her father broke her mother's heart, Gabby doesn't believe in love and wants nothing to do with boys. Daphne, on the other hand, lives in a romantic fantasy world of happily ever afters. She meets the new boy in town and instantly believes he's her soul mate. She is spoiled and irresponsible because she's so wrapped up in her dream world to pay attention to the harsh realities of her family's situation. Then a financial crisis leaves the family dependent on the one boy in town Gabby can't stand - the person responsible for the death of the only boy Gabby ever had feelings for. When her mother has to go out of town, Gabby is forced to be even more responsible for her oblivious sister. Pretty soon everyone has boy issues, whether they want them or not.

This book does a decent job of maintaining the gist of Austen's novel. There are modern issues that fit nicely into the story that all seem realistic. However, for two-thirds of the novel I couldn't stand either main character. Daphne is a spoiled brat who desperately needed a reality check and Gabby was so narrow-minded and critical of everything she was just downright unlikeable. I could understand where each girl is coming from, but they were both so extreme that they were annoying. In the last hundred pages both girls received a bit of a slap in the face which thankfully brought them around to some resemblance of sanity.

Aside from some unbearable main characters, the book wasn't horrible. You could relate to the character even if you couldn't stand them and the book makes you believe change and happily ever afters are possible.
MMK

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Willa lives with her mother, stepfather, and two stepsisters. She's happy in her life, even though she's aware of certain advantages her stepsisters have that she doesn't given their wealthy mother. None of that seems to matter when Willa's father, whom she hasn't seen since she was four, disappears after murdering his family. Fearful that he might come after her, the bonds of her blended family get tested. When the threat is over, Willa begins a journey to discover what it means to be connected to a man capable of killing his family and how that will affect the family she's grown up with.

This book was an enjoyable and quick read. It digs deep into family connections - the ones from blood and the ones created out of love. Most of this book is about Willa returning to her father's hometown, the town her mother desperately tried to escape. Willa goes out of duty to the dead sisters she never knew about in search of meaning behind what happened and how it affects her. Some of the legalise in terms of inheritance seemed really confusing and not entirely realistic if you ask me, but I'm not a lawyer so maybe it is all legitimate. It helps wrap up some issues later on in the novel, so whatever works (this is fiction after all). The characters are complex without being developed enough. Because the novel goes so quickly, it almost feels as if there isn't enough time for the more complex relationships to develop and get resolved, like the relationships between her and her stepsisters. Even with Willa, the writer throws in a certain self-destructive behavior at the beginning and end of the novel and seems to forget about it in the middle. Even the resolution of that problem seems too easy. Everything seems to get wrapped up in a neat bow at the end when there are clearly still issues these characters need to deal with.

The book is good, but it didn't send me over the moon. It definitely could have delved deeper into family dynamics. In the end, it is a decent book but not entirely memorable.
MMK

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

James Patterson is adding to his young adult repertoire with a new series about a teen detective. I was excited about this series because I enjoy an adult series that he also writes with Maxine Paetro, although I was somewhat disappointed in this novel.

Tandy Angel is a unique person who is often times described as robotic given her lack of emotions and extreme smarts. Her parents have just been murdered in their locked penthouse, which makes everyone in the apartment a suspect, including Tandy, her two brothers, and her mother's assistant. She decides that it is up to her to determine who killed her parents, even if the truth is that she's responsible. As her investigation gets underway - she's not shy about accusing anyone - she begins to learn shocking truths about her parents and what they had planned for their children.

To say this family is strange would be an understatement. When I first started the novel I thought that Tandy has Asperger Sydrome, but soon it became clear that her behavior was a product of her parents' creating. A number of discoveries uncover a deep plot around her parents that is both intriguing and disturbing. This book is clearly the start of a series as there are a lot of questions left unanswered. In some ways that's good, but in other ways it's very frustrating. Tandy - the narrator - leaves a lot of holes in her past, some of them eventually being revealed, but there were a lot of situations where it became "that's a story for another time" and it became annoying. The narrator directly communicates with the reader and at times felt awkward and ultimately left me on the fence about this novel.

The story itself is a good story, especially because you don't have any clear suspects or even clues, so it can be anyone and that keeps you guessing. However, I'd personally rather keep the guessing to the mystery rather than guessing about the character who constantly reveals stuff about herself but in tiny doses. True, part of that is her character and how even she has holes about her past, but sometimes you just want answers. There is definitely enough questions to warrant someone picking up the next book to hopefully get closure.
MMK

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

The Book of Tomorrow is an adult novel with young adult appeal given the teenage narrator. While the book starts out slow, eventually a mystery develops and sucks you in.

Tamara's life is turned upside down when her father commits suicide. Now she and her mother have lost everything and have to leave Dublin and head to the country to live with her odd aunt and uncle. Tamara is bored and sulky but eventually meets a traveling library where she discovers an odd locked book. When she finally opens it, she discovers that it's a blank diary. Deciding to finally write in it, she opens the book again and sees that she has already written in it - which is impossible. This diary seems to tell her what is going to happen tomorrow. When what is written actually comes true, Tamara uses it to her advantage to try and change the things she doesn't want to happen. In the meantime, her mother is withering away under a depression that Tamara doesn't feel is right and is desperate to help despite the opposition from her aunt. And her intrigue in some castle ruins leads to a mystery that will blow her mind even more so than a diary that can tell the future.

I struggled to get into this novel because at first it didn't read like a story in the sense that Tamara was telling me everything I needed to know before the story really felt like it started. Once things got going, though, and you were living in the moment with the narrator, things got more interesting. Slowly the mystery started to develop and suspicions began that became really interesting. Even without the diary predicting the future, it's a good story as Tamara's curiosity leads her to discover new things about the people and the world around her. It was nice to see her character change and develop into a better person because she was somewhat of a brat at the beginning. She's not perfect come the end, but definitely more likable.

This book is worth sticking out the slow beginning. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would.
MMK

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Adult author Jodi Picoult enters the world of Young Adult literature with a novel that she wrote with her daughter. It is completely different than what the author has written before but is just as enjoyable.
 
This novel starts in the fairy tale world of a book called Between the Lines, about a young prince who goes on a journey to rescue a princess. In the next chapter, however, you learn that the world inside the fairy tale is real and all of the characters are actors forced to repeat the story every time the book opens. The Prince, Oliver, is desperate to escape the world he feels trapped inside. On the outside world is the reader Delilah, who has fallen in love with a book because she feels connected to Oliver. One day she notices something different in the illustration and suddenly Oliver is communicating with Delilah. Together they try to come up with a plan to help Oliver escape from the book so that they can be together. Will it work? Or will Oliver be forced to live his life on repeat.
 
This is a unique and clever story that was enjoyable to read. It was nicely paced with a steady roller coaster of hope and then let down as the pair came up with plan after plan. I liked the illustrations throughout the story and how it intermingled the fairy tale with the current story of Oliver and Delilah. It was also nice to have different chapters from the two different points of view. My only complaint is that I'm a little confused on how it all works out in the end. I wish it was explained a little bit more and that we got to see more clearly how all of the pieces fit together. Otherwise it was a really enjoyable book.
 
I've been a fan of Jodi Picoult for a long time and this book was a nice change. Although it does not sound like her other books, that gives it an authentic feel that she really did write this with her daughter. It was a great story and well worth the read, especially if you ever considered what happens to the characters of your favorite book when you read the last page.
MMK