Book Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Summary (as seen on Goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Yays:

• The humor was fun, especially finding out that Caymen has the same humor as her grandfather.
• I enjoyed how Skye was involved in this story. (Although I still think she could've had more involvement.)
• I appreciate that Skye and Henry stayed together for the entire story.
• The doll shop element was unique. While I have had porcelain dolls ruined for me because of Talking Tina from The Twilight Zone, it definitely makes this book stand out.

So-sos:

• This pattern of a love triangle. It was incredibly obvious the whole time that she was going to pick Xander, making the need for a love triangle unnecessary.

Nays:

• Much of West's style involves telling the reader a lot of information, most notably whenever the readers meet Skye for the first time. The information should've been woven in and presented more creatively instead of listed.
• Use of parentheses was excessive, detracted from the story, and those should have been properly edited out.
• There was also an abundance of semi-colon use. Not only that, it didn't seem that the author knows how to properly use semi-colons. Semicolons can be difficult to use; they should only be used by people who know how to use them correctly.
• Xander wiping his mouth on his sweatshirt is uncharacteristic for a rich boy, and Caymen buying a magazine so thoughtlessly is not characteristic of someone who comes from a family with little money. I speak this from my personal life. Money is tight, and I think twice before even purchasing my food, let alone purchasing a magazine just to read one article. If she really is poor, it would be more in character to just read the article there in the store.
• "I don't know how I existed without him because his energy feels like my sustaining force in this moment." Cliche, too much reliance on the boy, and why can't girls have their own lives apart from their guys in YA literature?
• Some gaps in the story. For example, when Caymen's mom went to the Wednesday night thing, this whole part was completely skipped and glossed over.
• High-tension scenes were really short. When people argue, they usually do so much longer than they did in this novel. This detracted from realism and getting into the story.
• The chapter lengths. For some reason, a scene would be broken up into multiple chapters, when really it probably would make more sense to combine some of them. This was stylistically distracting, and perhaps not the best choice.

The thing that really saves this novel is that fact that at least it was funny. Also, the unique doll-store thing. Other than that, this book could have used a lot of cleaning up, and loses a lot of quality and potential that it could've had otherwise. Two jellyfish it is.

If you read the novel as well, please leave your thoughts! I would love to hear them.

Book Review: One Wish Away by Kelley Lynn

Summary (as seen on Goodreads):

Be careful what you wish for…

Lyra has always been ahead of the curve. Top of her class in school, a budding astronomer, and with a best friend like Darren she barely has time to miss the mother who abandoned her family years ago. She's too busy planning to follow in her father's footsteps, and to become the youngest astronomer at Space Exploration and Discovery. 

When a star goes missing Lyra is determined to get to the bottom of it only to discover her braniac dad is the mastermind of a top-secret government experiment. They promise to build a perfect world, one galaxy at a time, but with every tweak of the present, a bit more of the future starts to crumble.

Lyra has to go undercover to reveal the truth and let humanity decide if the consequences are worth more than wishing on a star.

Review:

This book had an abysmally large amount of typos. For example:

Nirvana, recently released another album, the first one... (unneeded comma).

"That someone in this room lead their team to a win at the State Academic Decathlon Competition." (wrong tense - "led" is past and "lead" is present).

He shakes is really old flip phone. (Assuming 'is' is 'his'.)

"Tell the Altair's..." (no apostrophe needed).

"We're very careful" Dad assures me... (missing comma)

"the boy's track team" (pretty sure this is supposed to be a track TEAM of boys, not one boy's track team. boys' track team [wrong apostrophe placement] - same in that come to the girl's games.)

I wonder why my Dad didn't come/that our Dad had picked me up/so my Dad has the ability ("Dad" is not supposed to be capitalized in these contexts - it's a proper noun when she is addressing him, but "my dad" should not have any capitalization. This occurs more often than just these instances, but if I included them all there would be too many to mention).

Also, on page 8 there is a backwards quotation mark.

The list goes on and on, but for the sake of getting to other parts of the review I'll just leave it at that. Needless to say, all of these typos will not help the book's rating.

This book also had very short paragraphs and abnormally short sentences. For example:

It's the eighth astronomy book I've searched, not to mention all the online research I did before I resorted to physical books. Not like anyone would really know what I'm talking about. Or care.

The above quote is only a minor representation of the abruptness of broken sentences. The last two sentences of that paragraph should have been combined for the purposes of flow. This is a pattern that is present throughout the entire novel.

I look past my reflection in the window, out to the night sky.

I guess if they don't want to talk about what's on their mind, I might as well ask them questions about what's on mine.

Those two paragraphs are right next to each other. The first one has one sentence, and the next only has two. Yes, short paragraphs are and can be effective, but when the story is literally only made up of short sentences and short paragraphs, the effect is lost and it interrupts the flow as readers move through the piece. Again, these are just quick examples of what is present throughout the novel.

The narration also heavily relied on telling rather than showing. For example:

she looks like she's going to say something else: what in her expression tells readers this? Readers cannot see this, and this looks different on every person's face. Is it in the eyes? The eyebrows? A hesitation shown by a scowl? This is entirely unknown to readers, who are forced to create their own mental image.

she says defiantly: Again, is it shown in the eyes? Crossing her arms? Does she take a step forward with a fist raised? Considering her niece is in handcuffs, at least some body language should be expected.

in a tone that portrays his desire for this to be over: most likely his tone is not the only contributor to this feeling. Maybe he moves his hand in the air like he's dismissing them, or shrugs his shoulders. Once more readers have no idea what they are supposed to see.

Considering the opening began with a victory of the state decathlon, it's very odd that this almost never comes up throughout the rest of the course of the novel. It should have had a much larger role than just serving to attempt to draw readers into the story. Therefore, a strange disconnect is created, making the beginning not very relevant to the rest of the story.

Darren is actually a wonderful character, and the way he and Lyra show their affection for each other before admitting their feelings is very realistic. However, after admitting their feelings it started to feel weird, and the pacing went a bit too quickly once they confessed to each other. The hints at his lack of money (which should have played a larger role in the story) and other aspects of his character were well done.

As for the story itself, in terms of world building the effects of each wish on the reality were well cataloged, explained, and noticed by the characters. The story was consistent with itself in terms of information; each character was very true to himself or herself throughout every situation. This is one of the greatest strengths of this novel; unfortunately, it is overshadowed by many other issues.

Finally, the novel ended on a cliffhanger. Normally this is fine, but there is no indication that another book will follow. Considering everything that happened, readers (including myself) probably feel cheated by this ending and expected more. The cliffhanger felt like a cop-out because whatever followed was too difficult to write. However, this may merely just be one reviewer's opinion.

Overall, the world building is solid and the characters are solid, but the story was not told well. The big picture idea is there, but the details should have been more thoroughly edited. Therefore, this novel will receive a two-jellyfish rating.

Please leave some thoughts below! I love hearing from you guys!

*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. In no way was my opinion influenced by this fact.

Book Review: Gideon Lee (Gideon Lee #1) by Lisa Orchard

Summary (as seen on Goodreads):

Lark Singer’s relationship with her mother is prickly to say the least. As she enters a musical competition that could launch her career, Lark also searches for answers her mother would rather keep hidden. Throw into the mix the fact her best friend Bean has been acting strangely, and Lark finds herself launched into uncharted territory. Will her quest for answers sabotage her musical aspirations?

Review:

I am a musician, and therefore quite critical of how music is represented and shown throughout a story. That being said, I do play bass guitar and am confused as to why Stevie would be playing chords on his bass when in fact the bass guitar's purpose is to play the bass notes, maybe walk a few chords, but otherwise lacks chords. A chord needs needs at least three notes being played at the same time, and considering a bass guitar only has four strings, this doesn't happen often. Also, I have two pairs of drum sticks, and while I am well aware that they will not fit in my back pocket, I seriously doubt they would be able to fit in any back pocket, especially if someone were to sit down. Ouch! The thought of it is painful.

The story itself doesn't really make sense. It's titled Gideon Lee, which makes readers think that this is what the book is about. That couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, the story revolves around Lark writing lyrics and Bean acting strange. A title should not only be loosely tied to the rest of the novel. It makes it feel much less cohesive, and more like separate parts of a story instead of a whole.

The writing itself is also not as strong as it could have been. For example, in the narration are statements such as the following:

I like anonymity

I see the school in the distance

The sky is the color of slate

These statements tell the reader what the narrator is seeing or feeling instead of showing. Obviously, the narrator is the one who sees the school in the distance. "The school looms in the distance" or something similar would have been much more effective. An enjoyment of anonymity can be shown if someone seems to pause to stare and the narrator ducks her head, silently praying to herself that she isn't stopped. That tells readers all they need to know, and doesn't feel so much like a statement of the obvious.

Several info dumps are also present throughout the story. The one about Lark's grandmother is more understandable, but information presented when Bean is introduced could have and should have been more effectively woven throughout the story so that readers will actually pay attention and remember those things. Clumping too much information together is not strategic or good writing. Similarly, when describing Pearl's, a large info dump followed for a venue that never even physically appears throughout the story.

It also feels like the narrator is aware she is in a book, also emphasized by several strange occurrences. For example, Lark and Bean have known each other for years, but mysteriously his first time entering Lark's mom's room is when they're searching for her guitar. If they really are that close, it's more likely that he's been in there at least once or twice, perhaps while playing hide and seek or when accidentally wandering in during his first time there. Also, for the first time in Lark and Bean's friendship, she brings up the fact that she doesn't know her father. This seems rather odd considering how close she and Bean are supposed to be, and takes away from the idea that they supposedly share everything with each other. Both of these instances make it feel like Lark knows she's in a book, detracting from immersion and realism. Even more strange is the fact that it takes Lark until Chapter 3 to note that her mom was 16 when she was born and how it must have effected both of them. Once again, it feels like a plot device inserted in, when it could have flowed more naturally. Not surprisingly, this is also a piece of information that Bean doesn't learn until it comes up over the course of the story.

However, there were some descriptive elements present throughout the story that showed thought and care in crafting the statements, which is always nice to see. For example:

His voice is raspy, and sounds as dry as the chalk dust that seems to have penetrated his lungs.

like the sun dipping below the horizon on a summer night

this new one takes me prisoner

its squeaks betraying its age

In short, similar descriptions to that were also present and added nice detail to the story.

The relationships in this story were also slightly odd. Francine may have been hiding Lark's father's identity from Lark, but Lark's response is extreme and not very realistic. There is an incredible amount of disrespect present throughout their interactions on Lark's end. Most concerning is the sentence "I almost want to go downstairs and start something with her. Just to relieve the pressure, but I don't." Even when really frustrated and annoyed with someone, it isn't normal to enjoy using arguments as a way to relieve tension, considering the hurt and pain that comes after an argument. Her inability to see through what Bean is doing is also not realistically shown. While warning signs can be present for what was happening, her denial is not portrayed in realistic way.

Finally, while this book is supposed to be the first in a series, it ends on a very abrupt note. While there is an art to ending on a cliffhanger, this just leaves readers confused and feeling like all the tension that was built up had zero resolution. It's understandable that not all tension will resolve at the end of a book, but so little of it actually was confronted that this is very confusing.

Overall, this book wasn't stellar, but it has potential. I would still be interested in reading subsequent books in the series to watch both author and character development. For now, this book will receive two jellyfish.

Thoughts? Please don't hesitate to stop by and say hi! I love hearing from you guys.

Book Review: Seven Minutes in Heaven (The Lying Game #6) by Sara Shepard

Well, at last the series is over. Hallelujah.

Summary (as seen on Goodreads):

My sister wants the truth.

But sometimes the truth hurts.

For months, my long-lost twin, Emma, has been living my life and trying to solve my murder. She's unearthed dark secrets about my friends, my family, and my tangled past. But when it comes to finding my killer, she keeps running into dead ends.

Until my body shows up in Sabino Canyon. Suddenly everyone knows there are two girls who look like Sutton Mercer—and that one of them is dead. At first the police assume the body is Emma's. But as questions and accusations start flying, it's harder than ever for Emma to keep playing me. The truth is bound to come out eventually. And when it does, Emma will be suspect number one in my murder investigation. If she can't find my killer before time runs out, she'll end up behind bars . . . or worse.

Yays:

• I managed to get through this without spoiling anything except Nisha's death from last book for myself. So that's good. I know that has nothing to do with the book itself, but wanted to make a note of that.
• I appreciated the reference to The Crucible. Love that play.
• It was cool that Thayer subtly said Emma's name and got her to pause in her tracks, thus letting him figure out that Emma wasn't Sutton.
• How nice for the MC to not end up with someone at the end of this novel. For that this doesn't get a 1-star review.
• Thayer finally got suspicious! Yay! Although it's frustrating that no one else was really suspicious of anything before this...

So-sos:

• Never really super liked Celeste to begin with, but why basically remove her in this book when she was only so recently introduced? I expected her to have a bigger role. Not that I ever really liked her that much, but still.

Nays:

• I was confused as to why Garrett wasn't investigated sooner. It didn't really make sense, especially re-suspecting Laurel a few books ago.
• Not enough hints to make it realistic that the killer was Ethan. There is something called balancing clues and not being obvious. This didn't have enough clues leading up to the conclusion. A little more instability, more signs of antisocial personality disorder would've been nice. Ethan played his part way too well for it to be realistic.
• Dislike how it was predicted that Sutton's death would be pinned on Emma way early on in the series, and then it happens... not very original.
• It's cool that Emma is able to occasionally see flashes of Sutton toward the end of the series, but it never made sense when it happened. It was always just random, apart from when Sutton is able to help Emma get away from Ethan. That was disappointing.
• While Thayer and Laurel did save Emma's life, it was a deux de machina - in a seemingly hopeless situation, even though Emma had called Laurel for help, it feels like a save just to make sure the heroine wins.

Overall, this series had a lot of potential but didn't quite live up to it. Perhaps if it had been better condensed or something it would've been better, but overall, not my favorite series. 2 jellyfish for this particular book, especially because of who the killer ended up being.

Thanks for tuning in, and as always, feel free to leave suggestions and such for reading or comments below!

Book Review: Hide and Seek (The Lying Game #4) by Sara Shepard

It's nice to be two thirds of the way done with this series. Wonder what's coming next! Thoughts below.

Summary (as seen on Goodreads):

My friends and I used to play lying games.

Now my twin sister is living one.

When I was alive, my family seemed picture-perfect. My adoptive parents adored me, and my little sister, Laurel, copied my every move. But now that my long-lost twin, Emma, has taken my place to solve my murder, we’re both learning just how flawed my family really is.

Laurel is shooting Emma nasty looks and sneaking around with my ex-boyfriend. And it turns out my parents are keeping a huge secret—could it be the reason I’m dead?

How far would they go to keep the truth buried? No one can harm me now, but Emma is still fair game. And if she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried, too. . . .

Yays:

• The author is getting a better grip on handling the dual Emma-Sutton POV thing. At times it still feels a bit jarring, but there is a slight improvement of smoothness.
• The idea that Mr. Mercer might have been the killer was interesting, although I kind of guessed all along that this would be proven false - just like every other novel in the series.

So-sos:

• While the secret behind Becky is very interesting, it also kind of feels like a cop-out. There was a slight hint that it was coming when Emma wonders if she got some traits from some of the family members she was around, but currently the secret really is quite messed up and feels very weirdly placed.

Nays:

• The grounds for suspecting Laurel are shaky and don't make any sense. The book was still dedicated to this idea that it could be Laurel for way more time than necessary.
• Sutton isn't supposed to have a heart, so how is it thumping? This contracts "If I could have shivered, I would have," and "I wished I could cry, too." But somehow this still happens: "I opened my mouth and wailed." This definitely threw me off a lot.
• Too many random italics. If I used capital letters instead, perhaps that would explain some of my annoyance. "I'd FEEL it." "I HADN'T seen it yet." "Unless we...FIND her." Italics usually go for thoughts, not for emphasis of random words. Someone who has published as much work as Shepard has should have a better handle on how to use italics.

Again, I do find it difficult to review and rate work of this genre, but I'll keep giving it a shot anyway with the next two books. For now, this book shall receive two jellyfish, mostly due to the whole Laurel weirdness thing.

Any thoughts about this series, especially the theory that all the possible murder suspects end up being anything but?

Wacky Wednesday: Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

I believe this might be one of the first non-general fiction novels I review on my blog, so hopefully I'll make this good!

Summary (as seen on Goodreads)
Will love conquer all?

Nora and Patch thought their troubles were behind them. Hank is gone and they should be able to put his ugly vendetta to rest. But in Hank's absence, Nora has become the unwitting head of the Nephilim and must finish what Hank began. Which ultimately means destroying the fallen angels - destroying Patch.

Nora will never let that happen, so she and Patch make a plan: lead everyone to believe they have broken up, and work the system from the inside. Nora will convince the Nephilim that they are making a mistake in fighting the fallen angels, and Patch will find out everything he can from the opposing side. They will end this war before it can even begin.

But the best-laid plans often go awry. Nora is put through the paces in her new role and finds herself drawn to an addictive power she never anticipated.

As the battle lines are drawn, Nora and Patch must confront the differences that have always been between them and either choose to ignore them or let them destroy the love they have always fought for.

Yays:

• Nora loses someone she is close to who she really cares about. At least not all of the characters have plot armor.
• The tensions in the story were interesting and waiting for the conclusion was enjoyable. Watching the characters navigate that difficult path built anticipation for how the characters were going to survive, or not.

So-sos:

• Vee being a Nephilim as well as a cool twist, but at the same time, it came out of nowhere. It seemed like a really convenient way to finally introduce Vee to what was going on, and even when she was, she didn’t really get to do much to help. With Detective Basso, it was equally confusing to find out her was an archangel, and felt like a detail placed for the sake of convenience.
• Marcie’s death seemed a bit strange. It would’ve been interesting if she’d known she would have a shorter life and had ended up sacrificing herself for the battle. Instead, she gets away with what she did, just like she always does, which was frustrating.

Nays:

• Nora just doesn’t come across as a very intelligible character. It seems like she constantly needs Patch to rescue her, or Scott, or some other boy. Why can’t Nora just learn to take care of herself? Because she’s human and weak? I wonder what that reminds me of.
• Patch and his dirty jokes are just totally unnecessary. Especially ending the book with that didn’t come across as the best choice. It was frustrating to read.
• Speaking of Nora and Patch’s relationship, what is with their dependency on each other? Yes, it’s healthy to care about someone you’re dating, but to the extent that they do when they literally can’t go on without each other? Especially since the book basically mentions that this entire series only takes place in six months, this seems a bit unreasonable to me.
• Nora and her devilcraft addiction was very confusing, and the way that plot arc ended was very confusing and didn’t really add to the story as a whole. It made it feel like it was just extra words on the page to meet a quota.

Admittedly, I mostly read this book just to wrap up the series, which I started a while ago. I gave it my best shot, but I can only muster up two jellyfish for this one.

Thanks for tuning in! Please feel free to leave book recommendations and give your thoughts below!

Wacky Wednesday: Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter

I've found that I actually am having a really difficult time writing whole reviews without spoiler alerts, so consider this your spoiler alert for this novel. A version will be posted on Goodreads with spoilers hidden some time after this post is published as well.

Summary (as seen on the book cover):

Me: Evelyn, closet good girl turned bad.
When she decided to earn herself a bad reputation, Evelyn was never planning on falling in love.
Him: Todd, supposed Friend with Benefits.
She just wanted to piss them off. To make people take notice.
Them: The cold, distance parents.
She wasn't planning on ruining her valedictorian status or losing her best friend, and she definitely wasn't aiming to get pregnant.
It: the baby growing inside her.
Now, Evelyn needs a plan. And someone to help with the heart-wrenching decisions that are coming up fast.

Yays:

• Tammy and Cecelia. They're really adorable and contribute to the book, and that was enjoyable to see.
• Evelyn's narrative right after leaving the hospital about how she feels about her baby was well written. It was the best written part of the whole book.
• The different characters and their ethnicities. Having a Chinese aunt, Latina friend, and black cousins created some nice diversity for this novel.
• The chapter titles. "__ Days until it's too late to change my name" or "___ months until normal" was a good way to indicate how time passed throughout the novel, and Evelyn's thoughts as well.

So-sos:

• The book subject. It was intriguing and interesting, even though this isn't the first and only book about teen pregnancy, and for that alone it's worth picking up. But beyond that, there isn't really anything special about this book.
• Todd. At least he is appearing throughout the novel, but some of what he talks about is unrealistic. He's a character who gives mixed feelings, but kind of in the "I don't care either way" sort.

Nays:

• Evelyn just comes off as a teenager with a lot of angst for no good reason. Yes, she goes through many difficult things, but she overreacts to everything and is always angry for no reason. She doesn't deal with her anger in healthy ways, and it made her a very frustrating main character.
• Evelyn refusing to tell Lizzie what is happening. Evelyn and Lizzie's friendship just doesn't seem very real, and it's frustrating to feel that way when the reader is being told that they are actually supposed to be very close.
• Never finding out what happens with Lizzie and her dad. This was hinted at so much throughout the novel that it really was a let down to not find out more.
• Evelyn is supposedly a really smart teenage, but that's difficult to see. Her original rebellion doesn't make sense based off of what readers are told about her. Yes, parent issues are difficult and always will be, but as to why that sparked rebellion, this doesn't make sense.
• Evelyn's refusal to deal with her baby. She comes off as extremely selfish the entire time, and it's difficult for readers to sympathize with her.

Throughout this novel, it became less and less enjoyable to read, but it wasn't entirely a waste of time. It just isn't a book high on the recommendation list. There are some good elements to it, but on the whole it was just okay, hence why I will leave a rating of two jellyfish.

Thanks for stopping by to check out yet another review. Look out for the next installment in my review series soon!