When by Victoria Laurie (ARC)

When
Victoria Laurie
Exp. Pub.: January 13, 2015 (TOMORROW!!!)

Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father’s premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.

Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she’s unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?

 

Maddie's never been a true fan of seeing the random numbers on everyone's foreheads. Especially once her father died on the exact same day that matched the sequence on his forehead. Now riddled with guilt, she moves forward always wondering if she could have some how stopped his death had she only understood what she was seeing. These days, she's a teenager who accepts money to tell people their death dates. When a client comes in asking about her daughter, Maddie realizes it's her son she needs to worry about, with a death date just a week away. Unfortunately, the mother takes her remark as a scam and leaves in a huff, calling Maddie a fraud. Even more unfortunate, when her son goes missing and dies by means of torture, she's quick to poke the finger at Maddie, who now becomes the number one suspect in his murder, despite a bunch of evidence pointing elsewhere.

 

Her lawyer uncle runs interference, but Maddie is unable to keep her death dates to herself like he asked. When she spots that her best friend's crush is going to die soon too, he becomes obsessed with finding a way to save her, which only drags him into the suspect pool as well. With her alcoholic mother falling apart even more than usual, the teachers and students turning on her at school and the FBI breathing down her neck, Maddie finds it exhausting to keep her head above water, especially once the serial killer begins taking an interest in her.

 

I'm not really sure if I'd go around telling strangers their death dates if I had that special ability. Would you? Neither would Maddie, but thanks to her alcoholic mother, they needed the extra money to make up for all the vodka bottles. Bad luck really, because it's responsible for spotlighting her gift to naysayers and doubters and attracting attention where she could've gone without. Gotta feel for the girl, especially when she continually tries to get her mother to beat her addiction just so she won't have to continue doing the readings.

 

As for the serial killer, I guess I found it a bit unrealistic that the FBI would focus so hard on as Maddie as a suspect when it was clear that the evidence was screaming someone else did it. Not to mention she was just a female teenager with good grades and not a strike of red on her permanent record. I guess I could've found their interest in her more plausible if at least some of the evidence had a legitimate chance of being left by her before testing results came in... I don't know. It seemed discrimination drove their investigation instead of the hard facts, which I don't see the FBI doing against a teenage girl. This lack of realism is the main reason I've docked it a little in the star department. Otherwise, it was a pretty good read that kept my attention, and I think most people will find it an enjoyable quick read with just enough mystery to keep you guessing.

ARC provided by Disney-Hyperion for honest review.

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs (ARC)

Bones Never Lie (Temperance Brennan #17)
Kathy Reichs
Exp. Pub.: September 23, 2014

In the acclaimed author’s thrilling new novel, Brennan is at the top of her game in a battle of wits against the most monstrous adversary she has ever encountered.

Unexpectedly called in to the Charlotte PD’s Cold Case Unit, Dr. Temperance Brennan wonders why she’s been asked to meet with a homicide cop who’s a long way from his own jurisdiction. The shocking answer: Two child murders, separated by thousands of miles, have one thing in common—the killer. Years ago, Anique Pomerleau kidnapped and murdered a string of girls in Canada, then narrowly eluded capture. It was a devastating defeat for her pursuers, Brennan and police detective Andrew Ryan. Now, as if summoned from their nightmares, Pomerleau has resurfaced in the United States, linked to victims in Vermont and North Carolina. When another child is snatched, the reign of terror promises to continue—unless Brennan can rise to the challenge and make good on her second chance to stop a psychopath.

But Brennan will have to draw her bitter ex-partner out of exile, keep the local police and feds from one another’s throats, and face more than just her own demons as she stalks the deadliest of predators into the darkest depths of madness.

I now remember why I stopped reading these novels. While the murder mysteries are always intricate and well thought out, the facts and science behind them read a little too textbook for me to really sit back and enjoy. Also, Dr. Brennan hardly ever shares her feelings about anything, and the only way I ever know them is if she says them verbally, which let me tell you, is incredibly rare. I was also a little put off about the cliffhanger. Not that there was a cliffy, but how the last scene played out. Really? Who acts like that with such an important decision? Not any adults I know, and most of them are mature and well educated.

Here's the 411. The reason I'm only giving this only two stars is because I didn't feel a connection to the character. Hell, the only character I even liked in this story was Slidell, 'cause quite frankly, at least his speech was amusing. I want to feel an MC's ups and downs, experience her misery and leap for joy for her triumphs. Unfortunately these novels still don't offer an emotional side to Dr. Brennan. She comes off numb, as if everything in life bores her to the point that nothing is significant or worthy of emotion. So, sorry, but I still can't find myself to are about her story when she can't be bothered herself.

If you're a fan of these stories already, nothing's changed, so you'll continue to be happy. But for anyone like me who likes to feel a connection when they're reading a novel, it's still not happening. Which is too bad, because I do like the concept for this series.

 ARC provided by Bantam for honest review.

The Dare by Hannah Jayne (ARC)

The Dare
Hannah Jayne
Exp. Pub.: July 1, 2010

Two jumped off the pier that night...but only one came back alive

Bryn did everything with her best friend Erica. So when someone dared Erica to jump off the pier one night at Harding Beach, Bryn was right by her side. But when Bryn made it back to the surface, Erica was nowhere to be found. Bryn tries to make a fresh start by burying her memories of that awful night. But when a Twitter post from "EricaNShaw" pops up on her feed and a chilling voice mail appears on her phone, she realizes that someone isn't ready to let go of the past...

One night, a group of friends playing games on the beach led to a dare, one with deadly consequences. Besties Erika and Bryn jumped off the pier and into the chilly ocean, but only Bryn made her way back out again. After drowning her grief with drugs and alcohol and forced by the court to go through a mandatory stay at rehab, her parents move her an hour away to start over at a new school. High school was hard enough just being the new girl, especially when you suffer from a heavy case of survivor's guilt, but when messages begin pouring in from Erika's old account, Bryn completely loses it. Now she keeps seeing her best friend everywhere - and it's making her absolutely nuts!

Sorry, but this one just didn't work for me. Bryn came off wimpy and weak, and when someone clearly began screwing with her, she wouldn't tell anyone. Not her friends, not her parents. And she felt everything that happened to her was Erika's doing - who she didn't believe was a ghost, but alive somewhere pissed that Bryn moved on with her life. Her new friends turned out to be anything but. One is an office aid and snoops through Bryn's file, and when Bryn argues she didn't have the right to do that and needed to keep it to herself, she was mad! Like it's a huge inconvenience for her to keep her trap shut now that she knows some things about Bryn's past - who's trying to leave a tragedy behind and start a new life. And when a flyer goes around teasing a friend about something the entire school seems to know anyways, all but one of her so-called friends blame her - without any kind of evidence - and absolutely throw her under the bus. Great friends you've got there.

 

Also, I'm not entirely convinced of Bryn's phobia. As a competitive swimmer from the age of four on, being in the water was second nature to me. Sorry, but if a friend of mine got sucked out by a riptide, I might develop an aversion for swimming in the ocean, but what does that have to do with a pool? I'm not going to fear walking because I tripped and broke my ankle. And I'm not suddenly going to fear drowning in a pool when I'm the experienced swimmer than I am. It was awful luck, but riptide's are fierce, and even the best swimmers can struggle getting out of them. And speaking of riptides, how come all the adults seemed to know about it, but their kids didn't? Tell your freakin' kids people! You live near the beach and you know eventually they're gonna go swimming at night!

 

I also felt the ending was really abrupt. Some things were left unanswered and I find that highly unsatisfying. For instance, we never truly learn who wanted the punch spiked, because if a certain student did it at request of someone else, it would've had to have been a student at school to get him to agree. We're never told how it is all these phone calls and tweets and such were being sent to Bryn. When she dialed one of the phone numbers harassing her, she was told the line couldn't dial out. And I'm not a tweeter, but wouldn't these leave a trace over the internet? Even if they were private, wouldn't she be able to show them as proof of harassment if she didn't delete them? And her own phone is apparently used to get her old friends in trouble. Is the person hounding her some kind of hacker? Hell if I know, because nothing is ever explained. And we're told a certain family member of Erika's had an unhealthy obsession, but we were never really given any kind of insight on that. Like why? What kind of obsession? Jealousy? Sexual interest? There's a meaningful story there somewhere but it goes completely untouched. And as for the eye witness to the account, how could someone who couldn't swim and hanging out on the pier go unnoticed by all that night? Doesn't make much sense to me, because it was never addressed.

 

For me, Dare bobbled in the ocean for a bit, then shot straight to the bottom like an anchor. Too many plot holes made me feel unsatisfied, and at times, straight up annoyed. I do have a couple of Hannah Jayne's others novels, and I can only hope those will make me feel better about her work. 

 

ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire for honest review.

The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz (ARC)

The Dark World
Cara Lynn Shultz
Exp. Pub.: May 27, 2013 TOMORROW!!!

Paige Kelly is used to weird - in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer - and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons - and she might never make it home.

Ever since Paige Kelly rescued a little boy and ended up dead herself before being brought back to life, she's been able to see things beyond her realm. Unfortunately, she can't always tell when the person in front of her is living or dead, so everywhere she goes, she's labeled as the weird girl and forced to shove endless pills down her throat to soothe the minds of her ever-worried parents. Now at a new school, she's slipped up a few times talking to the one person who doesn't see her as a freak - her ghostly best bud Dottie, who keeps her company through the long, lonely school days. Unfortunately, interacting with a ghost from the Dark World has lit a beacon for all things demonic, and it doesn't take long for a group to track her down and try to take her back to their world. Turns out Paige is now a desirable Traveler - one whose energy can open portals freely into the opposite world. And now, everybody seems to want a piece - except Logan, who can't help but try to keep safe the one girl who's ever caught his eye.

 

The Dark World surprised me. Shultz's Spellbound novels were just okay for me, but I see a world of difference between these series and finally I've been captivated - and I need the next book like now! You can't help but feel for Paige as she merely tries to survive her teenage years under the constant scrutiny of her extraordinary-phobic parents and the endless belittling by her classmates. Once a fiery demon attacks her on school grounds and Logan finally reveals his demon-slaying abilities, you can't help but root for the girl to finally have a living, breathing someone accept her for all she truly is. And Logan might be a sword-wielding hottie that's placed on protection detail and training her to defend herself, but this protector is totally swoon-worthy too. Unfortunately for Paige, she knows he'll be gone again as soon as the demons are dead, so what's a Traveler to do when she falls in love with a demon-slayer?

ARC provided by Harlequin Teen for honest review.

Before We Fall by Courney Cole (ARC)

Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken, #3)
Courtney Cole
Pub.: December 3, 2013

Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black...

For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He's a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn't care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays.

23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it's an absence of moments. She's like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other... to fill the void that her father left in her.

Until she meets Dominic.

After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm.

Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated... they've learned a priceless lesson.

Sometimes, before we fall... we fly.

Dominic is simply spending time away from Hollywood by staying at his brother's house in Chicago, but the house is always abuzz with people and parties because his two brothers are in a rock group. Jacey is simply just trying to survive her poor excuse for a life, working parties like those at the Kincaide's because it pays well for a part-time job while she goes to school. The two meeting was just chance, but when Dominic goes to give her a ride home one night, the police find a stash of pot inside his vehicle. Neither will admit it's theirs, so both get arrested and sentenced to three months community service. A beautiful start to any relationship, eh?

 

Needless to say, neither believe the other at first and their relationship is rocky even though there's an attraction on both sides. But both believe their damaged and can only accept the other in a certain way. Jacey can only do with guys who are good-souled and can go all in, but that's the exact opposite of what Dominic can give. The guy even refuses to have sex with any woman after the death of his high school sweet heart six years ago. Yeah, he's that messed up in the head. So what's a couple already in a love-hate relationship to do?

Wow. So Dominic is definitely a tortured soul, but I couldn't help but think if his stubborn ass would've just talked to someone about it, all the secrets wouldn't have weighed so heavily on his soul. And he's sort of responsible for making it worse than it needed to be by keeping to himself and shutting people out of his life. With Jacey, I sort of get where she's coming from, but we're not really given all the deats on her past because she got therapy and doesn't think too much about it. Her past simply guides her life on which type of people are okay to let into her life. But unfortunately, it doesn't keep her from going back and forth with Dominic - who most definitely doesn't fit under the acceptable column - making herself a combination of titillated and miserable. And having her family members constantly tell her she's in a bad way when she's hardly not, isn't helping her self-esteem any. Hell, she was so worried about being better for them she hardly took the time to see what was best for her.

 

Before We Fall will definitely drive you nuts with all the back and forth that barely has any give. You kinda wish they'd just shove themselves off and be done with it already, but you can't help but hope these two wrongs will in some way combine to make a very damaged right.

ARC provided by Forever for honest review.

Vengeance by Megan Miranda (ARC)

Vengeance (Fractured, #2)
Megan Miranda
Pub: February 13, 2004

Falcon Lake wants vengeance. And so, it seems, does someone else... An intense, heart-rending psychological thriller to accompany the chilling and seductive Fracture

When Decker drags his best friend Delaney’s lifeless body out of the frozen lake, he makes a deal: Anyone but her. Everyone but her. The lake releases her. It takes another...

All their friends blame Delaney for Carson’s death. But Decker knows the truth: Delaney is drawn to those who are dying, and she would have tried to help Carson.

Or so Decker believes until a body lies in front of him in a pool of water on his kitchen floor. Until he sees in Delaney’s eyes that she knew this would happen too – and she said nothing. Until he realizes it isn’t the lake that is looking for revenge – Delaney is part of someone else’s plan.

See my review of Fracture (#1) here.

 

This picks up a few months after when Fractured left off and this time, we get Decker's point of view throughout. This small group of friends has had its fair share of death, and they find themselves dealing with one more - Decker's dad. Bad part is, Decker feels betrayed, because there's no way Megan didn't see it coming, nor did she warn him. Her admission solidifies their breakup and Decker's left to mourn and suffer alone. But he soon finds his house vandalized and uninhabitable, and he and his mom move in with Megan's family next door while the renovations are going on.

 

Though they may be broken up, their friends won't allow anyone to be shunned. Their group actually kind of reminds me of Friends, and how no matter who dates who and breaks up with another, as a group, they won't allow anyone to be left behind. Though it's difficult, Decker and Megan try to move forward with as little interaction as possible, but soon Megan's house is vandalized too, leaving them to suspect that what happened at Falcon Lake had to be the connection. Forced to work together to figure out what the hell is going on, they fear they're cursed for saving Megan from the lake the day it tried to take her life, and now it's threatening to collect another in her place.

 

Vengeance can be a little weird for some, because most people aren't going to be able to believe that a lake is cursed and finding ways to torment those who saved Megan. Decker's house gets massively flooded, the smashed windows through Megan's house resembles shards of ice, Kevin's engine gets flooded with water and Justin's lungs get flooded with lake water when forced in by a stupid alumni prank. But when Tara falls and knocks herself unconscious and is pulled all the way to the lake to let it claim her, it's clear that maybe an actual person is helping the lake to reclaim what was unrightfully taken away. Problem is, no one outside their group knows their secrets, nor their true fears of the lake, so the only possible suspects come from their very own limited pool. Is it really one of their own, or has someone infiltrated their group just to take them down for some unknown reason?



ARC provided by Bloomsbury Children's for honest review.

The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant by Joanna Wiebe (ARC)(Giveaway)

The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant (The V Trilogy, #1)
Joanna Wiebe
Pub: January 14, 2014

So many secrets for such a small island. From the moment Anne Merchant arrives at Cania Christy, a boarding school for the world’s wealthiest teens, the hushed truths of this strange, unfamiliar land begin calling to her—sometimes as lulling drumbeats in the night, sometimes as piercing shrieks.

One by one, unanswered questions rise. No one will tell her why a line is painted across the island or why she is forbidden to cross it. Her every move—even her performance at the school dance—is graded as part of a competition to become valedictorian, a title that brings rewards no one will talk about. And Anne discovers that the parents of her peers surrender million-dollar possessions to enroll their kids in Cania Christy, leaving her to wonder what her lowly funeral director father could have paid to get her in… and why.

As a beautiful senior struggles to help Anne make sense of this cloak-and-dagger world without breaking the rules that bind him, she must summon the courage to face the impossible truth—and change it—before she and everyone she loves is destroyed by it.

Sixth Sense meets Pretty Little Liars

Ember by Jessica Sorrensen

Ember (Death Collectors #1)
Jessica Sorrensen
Pub.: August 29, 2012

What if you knew when someone was going to die?

For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven.

Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind.

But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

Haunted by death with just the slightest touch, it's no wonder poor Ember's become quite the recluse.