Dead Ringer Review

Rating: ★★★★

Title: Dead Ringer
Author: Jessie Rosen
Genre: YA, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Publication: November, 2015
Format: Arc E-Galley, 302 pages
Source: Thanks to Full Fathom Five Digital for sending me a copy of this book.

"Every girl appreciates a little attention. Even a dead one"

She looks just like her. Uncanny. The hallways are filled with whispers that Laura Rivers, the new girl at Englewood High, looks just like a girl that used to go there - the girl who committed suicide two years ago. Sarah Castro-Tanner. Laura doesn't want this new label as she starts a new high school and is determined to begin a new, fresh life where she can be herself. Fortunately, that plan goes to work and sparks fly between her and Charlie, the it-boy of Englewood High. But as Charlie and his close friends, Amanda, Kit and Miller, begin to receive creepy messages, Laura begins to notice their constant paranoia and dishonesty and she can't help but think that maybe Sarah Castro-Tanner has something to do with it. 

Dead Ringer was such an impressive take on the classic dead-girl-haunting plot. When I read the first chapter I thought I wasn't going to like it but I was dead wrong. Jessie Rosen's execution of this novel and the suspense was so unerring I didn't suspect half of the plot twists that were thrown at me. It is written in third person through the eyes of the three main characters, Laura, Charlie and Sasha. I loved how the different POVs layered different mysteries and stories on top of each other and I got to see the perspectives of the characters and understand their feelings and roles a lot better. Writing related, there was too much mystery. Literally everything was a mystery and I think that if they were just knowledge to the reader than everything would have played out the same way.

Dead Ringer has a very detailed and tenuous plot that needed a lot of thinking in order to get it right and Jessie Rosen rendered me speechless. The tension and suspense remained throughout the whole novel and I just wanted to keep reading to unravel the mystery. I loved how there were so many surprises that threw my theories and the characters courses off balance. It was fun to be constantly guessing and asking questions. The plot also flowed very smoothly and developed quite well - plot holes were nonexistent. The one problem I found plot-wise was the pacing. It took too long, approximately 300 pages, to explain everything and get to the point. But if you enjoy suspenseful novels, then you might even end up eating this up in one sitting. 

All the characters were so likeable and relatable and quite realistic too, except for their ages. In the book they're 16 and most of what the novel is based around was two years ago, meaning they would have been roughly 14. Being 14 and having whatever (I won't say anything that will spoil it) happened to them is really unbelievable and maybe increasing their ages would have made it more plausible.

Dead Ringer is a great suspenseful novel to keep you on your toes and I definitely recommend this one because it hits thriller right in the centre. It will leave you bewildered and mind blown and will prevent you from sleeping when you start reading it. Also, keep in mind that this book will most likely have a sequel as it ends in a serious cliff hanger. I can't wait to read the next instalment.

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If You're Lucky Review

Rating: ✭✭✭

Title: If You're Lucky
Author: Yvonne Prinz
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary, Mental Illness
Publication: October 25, 2015
Format: Arc E-galley, 288 pages
Source: Thanks to Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of If You're Lucky by Yvonne Prinz

Georgia's brother Lucky drowns while surfing in Australia, but Georgia knows her brother. She knows that he couldn't have drowned. When all his friends come down to False Bay and host a memorial, Georgia meets Fin. A charismatic and charming boy claiming to be Lucky's best friend. 
The voice in her head begin to tell her that she can't trust Fin, that he killed Lucky. In an attempt to make these voices clearer, Georgia stops taking her medication and sacrifices her sanity.

If You're Lucky was a good book and had many elements that I liked enough to give 3 stars but I just thought it was lacking build up and energy. Being in a genre of mystery, I would expect a lot of tension and the feeling of needing to continue reading, but there was none of that. It had the perfect amount of twists and turns to keep me engaged but I never really felt like I was fully enjoying the book or really invested in what was happening. Even at the end, everything kind of just happened and I was confused because it wasn't very clear. Despite this, I believe that it's a difficult feat to tackle a mental disorder like schizophrenia head on but If You're Lucky has portrayed this perfectly and realistically.

Georgia investigates Fin as she begins to notice strange behaviour, but as her actions and moods become completely unstable, it becomes a challenge for the reader to determine reality from fabrication. Writing this through Georgia, the MC with the mental disorder, was a really amazing aspect of the novel because it kept me guessing throughout. I found myself more invested in what Georgia was going to do and how she would react rather than caring about what Fin would do next or how the story was progressing. Sadly, the plot was quite predictable for me, even from just reading the synopsis, but I could tell that Yvonne Prinz worked hard to articulate and develop a well thought out plot because it really showed. 

Each character was a hit for me and I liked all of them because they all had a personality. Fin was probably the best character in the book because he was so charming and really fit into the role of an identity thief stealing his dead best friend's life. I didn't find it difficult reading through Georgia's perspective either and quite enjoyed her unreliability - it was fun and intriguing to be confused about whether something was happening or not in the book. 

Overall, If You're Lucky was a great read, and a unique one, as it is written through the perspective of Georgia, a sufferer of Schizophrenia and I would recommend it for anyone searching for a refreshing, mysterious and riveting read.

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The Raven Boys - Book Briefing

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family, money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

I started reading The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater last night and I'm super excited to get into this series. The whole premise seems really interesting to me and the ratings are pretty high which must mean that it has to be good, if not great. I'm not much for the paranormal genre but after reading this synopsis, I've decided to widen my horizons. I've also wanted to read this for a while due to the hype and a few years ago, I decided to pick up Maggie's other trilogy, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, (When I had an obsession with books about hunky werewolves) but I decided not to read it due to a couple of poor reviews. Hopefully, The Raven Boys will live up to my high expectations and if I enjoy this I will most likely read Maggie's other series too.

I'll update you when I finish this and include a brief review too. Comment if you've read this or want to.

Quote Compendium: We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is my one of my favourite books and expectedly, there are many quotes that I love and would like to share with you. Also, If you are intending to read this book be very aware that this will reveal spoilers and highly recommend you do not spoil yourself for this book.

Note: I have the paperback version with 225 pages by publishing company Allen & Unwin

Suffer.
You could say it means endure, but that's not exactly right.
- C2, P4

Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears, 
my mouth.
It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps of the porch. My heart spasmed among the peonies like a trout.
- C2, P5

He was contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee. I could have looked at him forever.
- C4, P10

We looked at the sky. So many stars, it seemed like a celebration, a grand, illicent party the galaxy was holding after the humans had been put to bed.
- C8, P21

"Can I hold your hand?" he asked.
I put mine in his.
"The universe is seeming really huge right now," he told me. "I need something to hold on to."
"I'm here."
- C8, P21

We were warm and shivering,
and young and ancient,
and alive.
- C9, P24

Silence is a protective coating over pain
- C11, P29

Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishments. I get the same thing spending an hour with you.
- C11, P30

I'll be fine, they tell me.
I won't die.
It'll just hurt a lot/
- C13, P34

Does she stay because she loves him as meat loves salt?
Or does she stay because he has now promised her the kingdom?
It is hard for her to tell the difference.
- C16, P45

She is sugar. She is curiosity and rain.
- C23, P64

Be a little kinder than you have to.
- C38, P101

 Do not accept an evil you can change.
- C38, P101

Alway do what you're afraid to do.
- C38, P102

One day, she ventured to the palace library and was delighted to find what good company books could be.
- C40, P105

If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces.
- C40, P106

Life feels beautiful that day.
The four of us Liars, we have always been.
We always will be.
- C45, P122

This island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever.
- C45, P122

That first day you came back I noticed Gat. He looked at you like you were the brightest planet in the galaxy.
- C50, P132

Now he was free to go forth and make a name for himself in the wide, wide world.
And maybe, 
just maybe,
he'd come back one day, 
and burn that
fucking
palace
to the ground.
- C57, P148

Grow up Cadence. See the world as it is, not as you wish it would be.
- C67, P173

What if we could stop being
different colours, different backgrounds, and just be in love?
What if we could force everyone to change?
- C71, P180

He was a person who couldn't fake a smile but smiled often.
- C71, P180

Gat and I talked to Mirren and Johnny.
Convinced them to take action.
We told each other
over and over: do what you are afraid to do.
We told each other.
Over and over, we said it.
We told each other
we were right.
- C71, P181

A self-punishment. He built himself a home that isn't a home. It's deliberately uncomfortable.
- C71, P183

"I can't even say sorry," she tells me. "There is not even a Scrabble word for how bad I feel."
- C74, P189

She confused being spartan with being charitable, and gave away her possessions without truly doing good with them.
She confused being sick with being brave, and suffered agonies while imagining she merited praise for it.
She confused wit with intelligence, and made people laugh rather than lightening their hearts or making them think.
- C79, P197

Here I am frozen, when I deserve to burn.
- C82, P209

Be sad, be sorry - but don't shoulder it.
- C84, P216

My full name is Cadence Sinclaie Eastman.
I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools.
I like a twist of meaning.
I endure.
- C87, P225

52 Likes Book Review

Rating: ✭✭✭

Title: 52 Likes

Author: Medeia Sharif
Genre: YA, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

Publication: Jan 16 2015

Format: Arc E-Galley, 172 pages

Source: Thanks to Evernight Teen for sending me a copy of 52 Likes through Netgalley.

"I am alive. I had survived that night."

- page 177

Valerie only wanted to go to the party, she didn't want to be a victim of rape. Now she is plagued with the feelings of victimhood as well as the bullying from the kids at school after a few racy photos leaked. To make things worse, Valerie is beginning to see ghost-like figures in the shadows that she believes are the ghosts of the girls who are victims of her masked rapist. Not only that, but girls have started to send her creepy messages, all with 52 likes, asking her to help them.

Personally, I had a problem with Medeia Sharif's writing style. It felt clumsy, rushed and wasn't able to convey emotion and mood properly. With the kind of plot that 52 Likes had, a longer story was needed to portray the mystery and build up more tension. The lack of depth in the writing made me feel disconnected and I didn't care about what was going to happen in the story. On a more positive note, Medeia incorporated many messages in the writing such as staying strong, the power of determination and the ability to not give up through the difficult topic of rape; which I am extremely glad she addressed and addressed well.

The premise for 52 Likes sounded so promising, but once I read it I was disappointed. At first, I was immediately drawn into the plot with the opening scene, but from there I felt the book went downhill. The idea had so much potential and I applaud Medeia for this unique idea but I think that a little improvement could have been made in the conveying of it. It just seemed to lack the suspense it needed to give it that little boost and complement the 'mystery' element of the novel. I enjoyed the sense of drama that the supernatural element added. It was refreshing to read a good creepy book that made my spine tingle. The realness of the situation was also a very good aspect of the book. It didn't sugar coat the horribleness of rape and the effect it's repercussions have on its victims.

Valerie, the main character, had a vey strong personality and a vigorous determination to live her life not feeling like a victim. Apart from this, she was a bit flat. I wanted to relate to her, I really did, but I just couldn't. Whenever she felt upset or afraid, I didn't feel any empathy and it ruined the experience of reading this. I also disliked how Valerie insulted others constantly and picked on them because of the way it did; it was very annoying and I developed a love/hate relationship with her. 

All in all, 52 Likes was an okay book. It discussed harsh topics that people need to understand and a very unique idea that I enjoyed reading about. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a quick thriller.

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For You Fridays

Here is a good one (my absolute favourite), perfect if your looking for a mystery novel with a hint of romance that packs a punch of literary genius-ism (oops, not a word).

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Sooooo in love!! I read We Were Liars in one sitting, and no wonder. The writing, plot, characters and ideas were all so engaging and interesting, I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Such a beautiful style of writing, E. Lockhart really has a way with words and using words to create so much suspense and drama. My favourite aspect of We Were Liars was the concept of fairy tales to explain situations. I absolutely recommend this novel for anyone looking for a mysterious, captivating YA read that will make you explode in excitement and definitely be worth the while. 

Go ahead, read it, and have an absolute ball.

- Georgia