ARC Review: Deceived - Julie Anne Lindsey

Title: Deceived
Author: Jullie Anne Lindsey

Published: September 18th 2013 by Merit Press
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Summary from goodreads: When Elle's father, a single parent and a big shot in corporate insurance, moves her to yet another boarding school for senior year, Elle is disgusted when nothing changes. Her night terrors don't go away, and, soon, despite her father's caring calls and visits, Elle starts to believe she's losing her mind. She knows she's being followed; a ribbon is tied around her doorknob, and there are those cigarette butts that keep turning up on the doormat, in violation of a strict smoking ban on campus. Then there's Bryan, an intriguing boy Elle meets at a flea market and later finds out is a student at her school. Yet on campus, he pretends he doesn't recognize her - until the day he divulges just how much danger she's in. In her search for an answer to all the madness, Elle unravels the truth about her dad's real identity, why someone has lied to her all her life, and the terrifying truth that she may be the only one who can save her from the one who's following her now.

What I think: I really enjoyed Deceived, even though I'm usually not really into thriller/mystery books but I'm glad I was able to read it in the end. 

I was not really fond of the start of the book, it didn't really drag me in and I even had quite a few breaks because the story was just not there yet. When I finally found out what was going on the story got me hooked and I read it in one breath (so I'm really glad I kept on reading!). 

There is quite some mystery and they got me thinking about possible outcomes up till the end of the book. The main character Elle is a likeable girl. She isn't very special and doesn't have any abilities that make her more interesting, you could say that she is quite normal. I really liked the fact that the first part took place in a boarding school. For some weird reason I really like books that take place there. 

I really don't want to spoil the story by telling too much so I will stop here. I recommend this book to YA mystery/thriller fans.

I received an ARC of Deceived in an exchange for a fair and honest review.

ARC Review: Promise me Something - Sara Kocek

Title: Promise me Something
Author: Sara Kocek
Publication date: September 1st 2013 by Albert Whitman & Company
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Summary from goodreads: As if starting high school weren't bad enough, Reyna Fey has to do so at a new school without her best friends. Reyna's plan is to keep her head down, help her father recover from the car accident that almost took his life, and maybe even make some friends. And then Olive Barton notices her. Olive is not exactly the kind of new friend Reyna has in mind. The boys make fun of her, the girls want to fight her, and Olive seems to welcome the challenge. There's something about Olive that Reyna can't help but like. But when Reyna learns Olive's secret, she must decide whether it's better to be good friends with an outcast or fake friends with the popular kids. . . .before she loses Olive forever.

What I think: Well, what to say about this book. The beginning was quite alright, further on I thought it was just straight out boring and the ending had a really nice twist, got more appealing but was also really predictable. All in all this book is a nice read!

I enjoyed the book, the description of the ambience is done marvelous, you really get a feel for the surroundings and it makes it a lot easier to visualize the story.

Reyna is the main character of the book, or at least the book is written from her point of view. Reyna just finished middle school and is now entering her first year of high school, but what should have been a great experience with all of her friends beside her turns into her own little nightmare. Because Reyna isn’t in school with her friends, she is actually the only one in the group that has to go to a different high school. And the stupid thing is that it is only due to the fact that her street is in another neighborhood.

In her new school Reyna is kind of a loner, until one weirdly dressed girl starts talking to her and this is where Olive comes in. A strange love hate friendship builds up between them, up to a point where there is only love. Olive is displayed as the weird girl that no one talks to; this of course could have something to do with the fact that she has her heart on her sleeve. But I have to say that this was refreshing and in some ways funny and loveable.

When Olive tells Reyna one of her biggest secrets the two girls start growing apart. This is where the life lesson of this book comes in. A friend should be someone who is always there, in the good and the bad and; never lie to a friend (or anyone else), lies always come out in the end.

I don’t want to spoil the book, so if you want to know what happens next, start reading the book!

To end this review, I wanted to say that the part that I disliked most of this book was how predictable it was. Maybe some of the younger readers won’t notice this (not that I’m that old ;) ) and maybe it was just me, I guess you could say that I’m a real detective when it comes to plot twists. I just can’t stop myself from figuring out ten million ways of how the story could end.

With thanks to Netgalley and Albert Whitman & Company for providing me with the ARC of this book.

ARC Review: Viral Nation - Shaunta Grimes

Title: Viral Nation
Author: Shaunta Grimes
Publication date: July 2nd 2013 by Berkley Trade
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Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Summary from goodreads: After a virus claimed nearly the entire global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed.

Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover’s refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future.

When one of Clover’s missions reveals that West’s life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West’s fate, they’ll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company’s rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined… and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever.

What I think: Dystopian novels are my favorites, when I got the opportunity to read this book I immediately grabbed it.

Clover Donovan is not as many other main characters in normal Dystopian Young Adult books. When reading the book description I didn't know what to aspect of an autistic main character, but Clover definitely surprised me. I liked her more than many of the other girls I’ve read about lately. She has a different way of thinking and this made her unique and loveable, it’s not often that disabilities are so well described in books. Even someone with no earlier experiences with autistic people can understand what it must feel like for someone like Clover.

West is Clover’s older brother, he is the one who has been taking care of his sister since their father started working for the company. West seems (and is) like the perfect older brother, with every step he takes he thinks about how it would affect his little sister. In my opinion he is often to overprotective, he doesn't seem to notice that eventhough his sister has a disability, she is still growing up, and with every day learns to take care of herself a little better. 

West has had a crush on Bridget for years, but since she is way out of his league he thinks he doesn’t stand a chance. Throughout the story there are some developments in this relationship. I think there could have been more about this love story. I know not every book needs a love story, but in this case it was there but on the other hand it wasn’t totally. Also the relationship between Jude and Clover could have been written in a little more detail, but this is in my opinion and I know that not everyone likes romance in every book. 

The story itself is not that unique, but has some nice twists throughout the book. I loved the parts about time travelling, gathering information on the future such as foreseeing a crime. But there are also people who use time traveling for their selves and not always use this information for the good. 

The end of the book makes you want to keep on reading into the next one, although there is no name for this series yet. I sincerely hope that a second book will be written and published soon.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.

ARC Review: Invisible - Marni Bates

Title: Invisible
Author: Marni Bates
Publication date: August 1st 2013 by K-Teen
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Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Summary from goodreads: Jane Smith has survived three years of high school without making a single enemy, all by keeping a low profile. Not even her three best friends, Kenzie, Corey and Isobel, can say the same. But with Corey dating the lead singer from ReadySet and Kenzie in a relationship too, being invisible tends to be lonely. But now she's written an article for her school newspaper that has accidentally snagged the attention of some celebrities. Turns out, people get really upset when their innermost secrets are splashed all over the front page. And new her well-ordered life is being blasted to hell, with results that are wildly unexpected.

What I think: This book started very unreal to me, who is able to become visible in only a few days after years of being a shadow. Jane definitely craved being visible, after being overshadowed by her 'famous' friends she sets herself a goal. Becoming visible and actually write something in the school newspaper instead of editing for others. 

It was hard getting into the main character 'Jane'. She annoyed me on more than one occasion with being bald, dramatic and overreacting on a lot of things. She is not just obsessing on her own life but also on that of everyone else.

Without even noticing it at first I got over my annoyance of Jane, and couldn't stop myself in wanting to finish this book. The main reason of not quitting was that I really wanted to find out what she was gonna write on the front page and how her love life would turn out. 

The other characters really made this book a fun read. I especially loved the mean girl in this story, Chelsea. Normally there is no debt in these kinds of characters and it was great to read here why the other characters were afraid of her. Scott was by far my favorite character; even though he is mentioned as one of the mean kids in the beginning I loved him anyways. He never really did anything wrong and as I said before Jane just totally overreacted on the situation in my opinion. Scott is a charismatic gentleman who isn't afraid to tell the truth. He is totally adorable and plays a big part in Jane's quest of becoming visible.

All in all, I guess this book needed a bit more depth. Yes, there was an intriguing story line otherwise I would never have finished. But maybe the case was that there was only one story and it was not that hard to foretell what was going to happen.

To end this review I would like to say that this book is worth a read. It’s fun and light and at some points quite entertaining. I will also be looking forward to Marni Bates next book 'Notable'. I'm curious if we are going to see more of the other characters in this book, and of course I want to know more about Chelsea’s view on life. 

With thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.