Flipping Bookworm

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp Available January 5th Goodreads So, if you haven't heard anything about this one be warned, it is not an easy read. It's a very intimate story of a school massacre, it is not a shooting. There are several narrators in the story and each one added something complex and valuable to the story except one, Claire. Every time I read her narrative she took me out of the story so that I ended up skipping her parts eventually. They added nothing to the story to me and actually made me think of her as a very self absorbed person. I enjoyed the different perspectives. It kept the story interesting although honestly I don't know how you couldn't be interested in this story once you commit to reading about something like this. It's a hard decision to make. I have kids in school and I am a substitute teacher. There is an elementary school next door to me. This stuff scares the shit out of me. But I can't pretend it doesn't happen. ...

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate A Fallen Novel Available Now Goodreads Let's just start with the fact that I cut my YA teeth on Fallen by Lauren Kate. I was a newbie to this genre and I was browsing the very lean shelves when I saw that gorgeous cover of Luce. How could I pass that up? I was so tired of reading the same tired mysteries and I wasn't interested in other adult genres or Oprah's latest pick. I devoured that book and fell for the storyline instantly. But almost six years later.....it is a newbie story to my tastes now. I will always have a special place in my heart for Daniel and Luce's story, but let's face it, I didn't even read the last book, just the last few pages to see if I got my HEA.  Cam was never ever a factor for me but I was hoping to recapture some of that newbie magic. It didn't happen. Lauren Kate doesn't seem to have developed much as a writer from Daniel and Luce's story. Maybe she intended it to be very much like their story....

copyright  You might have wondered where I am. Or you might not care. But then you wouldn't be here reading this post. As Hazel Grace would say from TFIOS (The Fault in Our Stars by John Green) we "had a touch of cancer" in my family. Funnily enough, not the ha-ha funny but the coincidentally funny, it was the same kind of cancer Hazel Grace started out with. Thankfully, the prognosis is good, curable, and we've been through the treatment. I say "We" because it is a family process. Though we don't have the treatment done to us, we are right there waiting in the waiting room, changing our diets, holding hands, talking about our fears (or not in the case of teenage boys) and visiting doctors. It is scary for everyone. But my husband seemed the least worried. Why is it that the person who is sick always seems to be the bravest? Maybe it's just in the movies and books.But it's also my husband. So anyway, from April until just a few days ago, that...

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall Available Now YA Thriller Putnam Juvenile To Buy Links- Amazon / Kindle / Audible / Audio CD / BN / BookDepository / Indiebound/ Kobo Goodreads-  A fast-paced international escapade, laced with adrenaline, glamour, and romance--perfect for fans of Ally Carter Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.  To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are ...

Compulsion by Martina Boone Heirs of Watson Island Series YA/Paranormal Available Now To Buy Links- Amazon / Kindle / MP3 CD / B&N/ BookDepository / Indiebound/ Kobo Goodreads-  Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse. All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions. Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What sh...

ASK ME by KIMBERLY PAULEY Available Now YA Magical Realism Publisher- Soho Teen To Buy Links- Amazon / Kindle/   Audible / MP3 CD / B&N / BookDepository/ Indiebound / Kobo Goodreads:  Ask Aria Morse anything, and she must answer with the truth. Yet she rarely understands the cryptic words she‘s compelled to utter. Blessed—or cursed—with the power of an Oracle who cannot decipher her own predictions, she does her best to avoid anyone and everyone.     But Aria can no longer hide when Jade, one of the few girls at school who ever showed her any kindness, disappears. Any time Aria overhears a question about Jade, she inadvertently reveals something new, a clue or hint as to why Jade vanished. But like stray pieces from different puzzles, her words never present a clear picture.   Then there’s Alex, damaged and dangerous, but the first person other than Jade to stand up for her. And Will, who offers a bond that seems impossible for a girl who’s always been alon...

After the End by Amy Plum Available Now YA/Dystopian/Realistic/Supernatural Amazon / Kindle / Audible / AudioCD / B&N / BookDepository/ Indiebound / Kobo Goodreads-  She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future. World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there. At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life. When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie. Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue...