Lessons In Loving by Peter McAra : ARC Book Review

Title: Lessons In Loving
Author: Peter McAra
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Published Date: January 25th 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Adult Fiction
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
Wanted: Governess. Properly qualified in English, to instruct male pupil in rural location.

Sydney, 1902. Desperate for a job, Kate Courtney travels to the faraway New England Ranges to interview for a governess position. She is greeted by wealthy landowner, ruggedly handsome Tom Fortescue, and is shocked to find that her new charge isn’t a small boy—but the grown man.

It was Tom’s mother’s dying wish that he find a refined, elegant, English bride to marry. But a country man with country manners can never win a lady fair. Tom needs Kate to smooth away his rough edges, make him desirable to the English rose he wants to marry.

But the more time Kate and Tom spend together, the closer they become, and Tom has to decide between the dreams of his childhood, and the reality that is right in front of him.
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 My Review:
"Then he read it, slowly, one word at a time. And I knew that it would be right to have children with you. To live together at Kenilworth till we're old. Till we die, even. And for 

our children, and their children, to grow up loving the spread of those beautiful blue hills. As you do, As I do.  "

Review: A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott : #Blogmas Day 25

Merry Christmas!

Title: A Country Christmas

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre:  Holiday, Classic

Format: ebook

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 

Louisa May Alcott's short romance is about two city debs who go to spend Christmas with their country cousins in Vermont.
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The Library: Where Life Checks Out by Carmen Desousa

Title: The Library: Where Life Checks Out
Author: Carmen Desousa
Audio Narrator: Michelle Babb
Release Date: August 3rd 2015
Genre: Mystery, Adult Fiction, Paranormal
Audio time: 6 hrs and 33 mins.
Format: Audiobook

My Rating: ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
When Mark Waters decided to be a detective, he didn't plan to investigate ghosts.

But as he sifts through evidence of a supposed suicide by train, he learns a murder that took place eighty years ago may directly affect his case.

Six months after the strange occurrences at The Depot, there’s another murder. This time, The Library holds secrets of several murders, and the dead won’t rest until the murderer checks out too.
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My Review: 

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg

Title: Saint MazieAuthor: Jami Attenberg
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published Date: June 2nd 2015
Genre: Historical fiction, Adult fiction
Page Count: 336
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she's the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It's the Jazz Age, with romance and booze aplenty--even when Prohibition kicks in--and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets.

When the Great Depression hits, Mazie's life is on the brink of transformation. Addicts and bums roam the Bowery; homelessness is rampant. If Mazie won't help them, then who? When she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, this ticket-taking, fun-time girl becomes the beating heart of the Lower East Side, and in defining one neighborhood helps define the city.

Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it's discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life.

Inspired by the life of a woman who was profiled in Joseph Mitchell's classic Up in the Old Hotel, Saint Mazie is infused with Jami Attenberg's signature wit, bravery, and heart. Mazie's rise to "sainthood"--and her irrepressible spirit--is unforgettable.

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My Review:
“We all lose sometimes. Life’s plenty easy when you’re winning. It’s what you do when you’re down. That’s the real test.”

When I started this book I was really looking forward to hearing about how Mazie helped so many people out and what had made her want to help so many people in the first place. When we do finally get to this part it is extremely interesting to me especially how she made friends with a certain person and really learned how to truly help people in a good way.. The majority of this story is about Mazie's family and how she interacted with them. This is an extremely important part of who Mazie is and why she is the way she is. At times though I did want her to help out her sister more though and realize that she needed help with certain things.

Attenberg did an amazing job of making you see  New York  throughout the 1920 - 1940 and made you feel like you really could imagine being there while you were reading.

Since this is a fictionalized biography of sorts there is a lot of blank spaces and a lot of things that never get touched on except for briefly making you feel slightly disconnected at times.

“there’s just so many goddamn things we never get to know. We’re not entitled to all the truth.”

The Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson

Title: The Christmas Joy Ride
Author: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Revell
Published Date: September 1st 2015
Genre: Christian, Holiday, Christmas, Adult
Page Count: 176
Format: Kindle
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
Miranda did not put adventure on her Christmas list, but thanks to her eighty-five-year-old neighbor Joy, that's exactly what she's getting this year. When Joy tells Miranda that she plans to drive an old RV decked out in Christmas decorations from their Chicago neighborhood to her new retirement digs in Phoenix--in the dead of winter, no less--the much younger Miranda insists that Joy cannot make such a trip by herself. Besides, a crazy trip with Joy would be more interesting than another Christmas home alone. Unemployed and facing foreclosure, Miranda feels she has nothing to lose by packing a bag and heading off to Route 66. But Joy has a hidden agenda for their Christmas joyride--and a hidden problem that could derail the whole venture.

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 My Review:

"I'm going on a mission, Miranda. I'm going out to spread some Christmas Joy along Route 66. And no one is going to stop me."

Buying Samir by Kimberly Rae

Title: Buying Samir
Series: India's Street Kids #2
Author: Kimberly Rae
Publisher: BJU Press/JourneyForth
Published Date: October 19th 2014
Genre: Realistic fiction, YA, Christian,
Page Count: 134
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★


Goodreads Summary:

Set in the world of international child slavery, Buying Samir is the second book in India’s Street Kid series by Kimberly Rae. Jasmina dreams of the day when her family will all be reunited. When missionaries Asha and Mark go on summer break, Jasmina leaves safety to search for Samir alone and discovers that her brother is now working for the men that once enslaved them. By attempting to free some girls Samir recruited, Jasmina puts everyone’s lives in peril. Has Samir really turned evil? Will he help her get away?

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My Review:

"I ran away to find my brother, and I succeeded. I sacrificed to free him, my first step toward putting my family back together, and in that I failed."

The Death Cure by James Dashner

Title: The Death Cure
Series: The Maze Runner #3
Author: James Dashner 
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Published Date:  October 11th 2011
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, YA,
Page Count: 325
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

The time for lies is over.

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My Review:

May Contain Spoilers

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Title: Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus
Author: Mary Shelley
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Published Date:  May 1st 2004
Genre: Classic, Fantasy
Page Count: 217
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
"I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, & then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life & stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." A summer evening's ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpine's room & a runaway imagination--fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron & Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism & the origins of life--conspired to produce for Mary Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning, it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece,Frankenstein.
Written in 1816 when she was only 19, Shelley's novel of "The Modern Prometheus" chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, Frankenstein remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written & is an undisputed classic of its kind.

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My Review:

“The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” 

I have a lot of mixed feelings for this book. I really did want to like it, but through the majority of the book I just wanted it to be over.

Something I was very surprised to learn was that Frankenstein was not the Monster's name, but infact the creator of the monster. Something else I was surprised by was that it wasn't scary at all and in fact the majority of the story was quite dull and not very interesting.

It did make me feel a lot of emotions, mainly annoyance. Except when "the monster" was telling his side of the story and telling what had happened to him and why he had become the way he was. It was sad and made you want people to be more understanding towards him and to give him a chance to show that he just wanted a companion to spend life with.

I never felt any sympathy towards Frankenstein. Throughout the whole story I felt that he was always oh poor me and oh what have I done. He would always want to take action and protect the people he loved, but he never did it the right way or told anyone what was making him so upset. When I feel like the whole thing could have had a much different outcome if he just would have told people what he had done and that he needed help in getting rid of what he had created or making it so it wasn't so hated. Plus what did he expect to happen to "the monster" when it left his house.

Overall though I was very disappointed with this book and won't be rereading it. At least not for a very very long time.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Marcus Zusak
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published Date: September 18th 2007
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Page Count: 550
Format: Paperback

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

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My Review:

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.”

Disclaimer: I watched the movie first.
Having said that though I'm so glad I did because it gave me a different viewpoint and without it I would have been rather annoyed with how the book constantly spoils itself with Death mentioning things before they happened or going back and forth and visiting other things even though he had already told you what happened. But while you did know certain things were going to happen, they weren't fully described until Death went back to them and told  them to you in detail.

Now for the Characters.
Liesel she was an amazing young character. When the story starts we meet her on the train with her brother where they have been given up to foster care by their mother trying to protector them from the Nazi's. Sadly due to spontaneous events her brother doesn't make it and it is just her. From there she gets taken to Hans and Rosa Hubermann who become her new mom and dad. After being there awhile, and slowly learning how to read and write, she starts feeling more comfortable feeling more comfortable in her surrounding you really see her come out of her shell and become "the book thief".

Hans and Rosa Hubermann I didn't really like Rosa for quite awhile at first she just appears to be a cranky woman who is rude, but as you get to know her you see that that is how she shows her love and that she is mean to people to protect herself from getting hurt. As for Hans you instantly love him and are so thankful that Liesel got him for a father because he teaches her so much and has the patience of a saint with her.

Rudy was such a good character he was funny, and serious when he needed to be. He took care of Liesel and Tommy and tried to protect both of them even if it meant that he got hurt as well. Rudy and Liesel had such a good friendship and were always there for each other when they needed to be. Plus they made a pretty good thieving pair to.

Max was an interesting character he was a fighter before he had to go into hiding and that's what he was known for. But after he had to go into hiding and ended up on the Hubermanns door he became a story teller of sorts. He would write several stories to Liesel, and he also entertained her with stories of him and Hitler fighting.

Overall I really loved this story and I am so glad I waited to read it until I was in the right mood.

"Silence was not quite or calm and it was not peace."

The Good Girls by Sara Shepard

Title: The Good Girls
Series: The Perfectionists #2
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published Date: June 2nd 2015
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Mystery
Page Count: 368
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
Mackenzie, Ava, Caitlin, Julie, and Parker have done some not-so-perfect things. Even though they all talked about killing rich bully Nolan Hotchkiss, they didn't actually go through with it. It's just a coincidence that Nolan died in exactly the way they planned . . . right? Except Nolan wasn't the only one they fantasized about killing. When someone else they named dies, the girls wonder if they're being framed. Or are they about to become the killer's next targets?
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My Review: 

"I mean, that's where you're going with this, aren't you? Just because we rattled off some names doesn't mean we have any control over them dying or going missing or whatever."

While I have noticed some similarities between this duology and Pretty Little Liars (I've only watched the TV Show so far) it also was separated quite a bit due to the things that the girls deal with. One of my favorite things about this story was that it started off right where the first book ended and just jumped right back into their world.

The thing I have really liked about this duology is that each girl has their own story that has made them be who they are, and that what brought them together was a group discussion in a film class that turned deadly. While there were a few little arguments between the girl's there was never a huge fight that made them stop talking to each other and that they all were for the most part in this together and just wanted to protect the people that they had mentioned. I could have done without some of the drama that was going on in the girl's life and a little bit more about how they were going to figure out who, was doing all of the murders.

I will say this though Shepard did an amazing job of keeping us in the dark about who really did it. The whole time I kept going back and forth on three other characters I thought it could have been, but boy was I wrong. I never would have guessed it was that person and that is the main reason I ended up liking this book so much. I still can't believe that ending though. While we did get a nice ending I was still wanting more due to what happened in the last chapter. Does anyone else think that they might change their minds and make this into a series instead of a duology?

If you've also read this book please pm so we can talk about it.

The Sound by Sarah Alderson

Title: The Sound
Author: Sarah Alderson
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published Date: May 13th 2014
Genre: YA, New Adult, Mystery, Romance
Page Count: 320
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
A British nanny looking for a low-key summer finds buried secrets, murderous attention, and unexpected romance when she visits the Nantucket Sound.

The Nantucket Sound is a beachfront playground for the privileged and elite, where the sunny days are filled with scenic bike rides, backyard picnics, and bonfire parties.

But all Ren Kingston - a visiting Brit still reeling from heartbreak - really wants is a quiet summer as a nanny for one of Nantucket's wealthy families. Getting acquainted with handsome Jeremy and his young group of trust fund, private school kids was not part of the plan. Neither was befriending the local bad boy whose reputation is more dangerous than charming.

After a dead body is found next to The Sound's postcard-perfect view, Ren starts to wonder where the real threat lies. Because it's becoming clear that her newfound 'friends' are much more than they seem. They're hiding secrets. Secrets that Ren wants no part of.

But once The Sound has you in its current, it won't want to let you go.

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My Review:

"You Should take people as they are. Stop labeling them. You should get to know people before you start judging them. Get to know me before you decide whether you like me or not."

 Going into this book I was expecting a mystery and a little bit of romance. Instead, it ended up being the other way around. While I'm not saying this made the book horrible. It was quite enjoyable just not what I was expecting.

I really wanted to like Ren and I did at first, but as the story went on and she became more of a cliche (even though she kept stating that she wouldn't become one) I just couldn't like her as much. I mean come on her main worry was that she thought her thighs were fat, but yet two foreign nannies had been killed a year apart and no one has any idea who the killer could be. But yet all she was worried about was finally losing her virginity to the "right one". Not to mention I thought she was a bit of an idiot when she kept sneaking around with the one person that everyone told her was violent and to stay away from.

As for the two love interests Jeremy and Jesse. I knew which one she would end up with halfway through the book. You could tell that while she did like Jeremy it was nothing compared to her feelings towards Jesse. Plus Jesse had the whole mysterious bad boy thing going for him and Jeremy had jerks as friends that made Ren not feel very welcome or comfortable. Plus he turned out to be a horrible person.

The ending of the book is what saved it for me. I never would have guessed that that was the killer. The person was hardly ever in the story and if they were they never said more than more, then two words to Ren and never seemed interested in her. The way Ren ended up acting though and finally taking action towards the killer made me like her again, and showed that she wasn't as dumb as she had been appearing to be for most of the book.

I could have done without her constantly fantasizing about sleeping with Jesse though.

I really wish that this book would have been advertised more as a Romance then a mystery. Maybe I would have ended up liking it more.

Accomplished in Murder by Dara England

Title: Accomplished in MurderSeries: Accomplished #1
Author: Dara England
Published Date: October 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Page Count: 56
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
Murder was never so refined...

When her holiday on the coast of Cornwall takes a deadly turn, it is up to Drucilla Winterbourne to uncover the dangerous secrets the inhabitants of Blackridge House will do anything to conceal. But can a proper young lady from London society comprehend the dark motives of a killer?

Accomplished In Murder is the first in a series of historical mystery novelettes featuring intrepid Victorian heroines up to their bustles in crime. These works are only loosely connected and can be read in any order.
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My Review:
"Yes it is, actually. Knowing everyone's little secrets is a means of gaining leverage over them and I never pass up an opportunity for that."

While I was slightly disappointed with how quickly this novella moved from solving to solved. I still was able to enjoy it and really liked Drucilla's character. I think I would have even been able to like Celeste's character had we gotten to know her more. I did figure out who the killer was fairly early on in the book which was rather disappointing.

I kind of wish this book had been made into a full length novel and not just a novella.


(I read this book in the 24in48 readathon.)

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Title: Code Name Verity
Series: Code Name Verity #1
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publisher:  Disney-Hyperion
Published Date: May 7th 2013
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA
Page Count: 339
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
 Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

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My Review:

“I don't recognize any of my emotions any more. There's no such thing as plain joy or grief. It's horror and relief and panic and gratitude all jumbled together.”

This book was far more than I ever thought it would be.
 It covered so many things that happened in the war from weapons, torture, piloting, planes, spies and coding. All done by women! Not only were the women in this story doing all of these things they were also still acting like women and dealing with every day problems as well.
This book is also about friendships and how so many were made due to the war that would have never happened without it. It showed that even if they were capable of doing certain things that they wouldn't be the first choice because they were women and if they ever did anything wrong that it was far more like for them to be punished.

Julie and Maddie characters are now some of my favorite ever. The friendship these two have is the strongest one I have seen so far in a book and because of that fact it makes the decision Maddie eventually has to make to save Julie even more heartbreaking.

While I'm not going to say much about the plot of the story because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. It was absolutely amazing, while it was slightly confusing at times due to multiple names for characters it was still very enjoyable and never took away any of my love for this story.

I do think I will be waiting awhile to read the next book though due to the heartbreak that this book caused me.

“KISS ME, HARDY! Kiss me, QUICK!”


Side note: Why is this book considered YA the characters aren't really teenagers from what I could tell  and if they were they were older teenagers, shouldn't this be considered more New Adult (I know it doesn't contain anything that most new adults do, but I thought new adult was considered by age mostly)?

Winger by Andrew Smith

Title: Winger
Series: Winger #1
Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date:  September 2nd 2014
Genre: Contemporary, realistic fiction, YA
Page Count: 464
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers,
and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some
happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen
apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional
balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.


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My Review:

“And then it's always that one word that makes you so different and puts you outside the overlap of everyone else; and that word is so fucking big and loud, it's the only thing anyone ever hears when your name is spoken.
And whenever that happens to us, all the other words that make us the same disappear in its shadow.”

I really didn't know much about what this book was besides it was about a boy who was a rugby player. I'm not going to lie I wasn't expecting to like this book at all. But boy was I wrong. I ended up really enjoying it. In this book, for a change a teenager actually acts like a teenager, while that can be annoying at times, but Smith did a really good job of showing the main characters point of view of things so you never got too overly annoyed with him.
While Ryan is very immature you also have to remember that he is the youngest one of his friends, and while he might be super smart the majority of the decisions he makes aren't.
The only downside to the whole story to me was that for the first good half of the book I didn't really care for any of the characters. It wasn't until Ryan got to be good friends with Joey that I started to care for the book. I loved their friendship. I wish there had been more Joey, but then again I don't because I didn't want to get anymore attached to him then, I already was.

I was not expecting that ending. It has been a few days and I still can't think of anything besides heartbreaking to explain it. Just wow.

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen
Series: Red Queen #1
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published Date: February 10th 2015
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Fantasy
Page Count: 383
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
This is a world divided by blood - red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart...
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 My Review:

“But I'm not a princess. I'm not the girl who gets saved.”


Mare is the heroin who is slightly naive but always keeps the bigger picture of what she needs to do in her mind at all times. She knows that she won't
become queen and she doesn't want to be. All she wants to do is to save her family and her people from being treated like dirt by the Silvers. Sadly
she doesn't really know how to do this since she is a Red and knows little about how to actually manipulate the silvers, and how to get around there powers.

Now onto the Princes Cal and Maven. I know we were suppose to have a love triangle with them but I never really fell for either of them. I knew we
shouldn't trust them and that at least one of them was using her if not both. I was surprised though by the one who betrayed and used her the most.


While I do see how this book had some similarities to others, it was still very enjoyable and had me on the edge of my seat. 

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstien

Title: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Series: Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1
Author: Chris Grabenstein
Publisher: Yearling
Published Date: June 24th 2014
Genre: Middle Grade, Adventure, Mystery
Page Count: 336
Format: Paperback

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
Kyle Keeley is the class clown and a huge fan of all games—board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the construction of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot as one of twelve kids invited for an overnight sleepover in the library, hosted by Mr. Lemoncello and riddled with lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!

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My Review:

"Like you said, this is just a Move Back Three Spaces card. A Take a Walk on the Boardwalk when someone else owns it. It's a chute in Chutes and Ladders.
A detour to the Molasses Swamp in Candy Land!"

I really did enjoy this book, but I do wonder if a middle grader will feel the same.

I loved how Grabenstein made libraries sound like such a magical place.
"Using a library can make learning about anything (and everything) fun," he wrote. "When you're in a library, researching a topic, you're on a scavenger
hunt, looking for clues and prizes in books instead of your attic or backyard."
I would love for there to be a library like this. I mean who wouldn't want a mannequin to be able to tell you your family history, or to see a lion walking through the animals' section. This is the stuff of every kid's dream, plus there were even technology references and some social media references as well (but I really didn't see the point of them, as I don't feel like 12 year old's should have a Twitter/Facebook).

While I see a lot of other people didn't really like the ending. I found it to be a good one, and it had been leaning towards that from the middle.

The War Against Miss Winter by Kathryn Miller Haines

Title: The War Against Miss Winter
Series: Rosie Winter Mystery #1
Author: Kathryn Miller Haines
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published Date:   June 12th 2007
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction, Mystery
Page Count: 336
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
It's 1943, and the war escalating in Europe and the Pacific seems far away. But for aspiring actress Rosie Winter, the war feels as if it were right in New York City—what with food rationing and frequent blackouts . . . and a boyfriend she hasn't heard word one from since he enlisted in the navy. Now her rent is coming due and she hasn't been cast in anything for six months. The factories are desperate for women workers, but Rosie the Thespian isn't about to become Rosie the Riveter, so she grabs a part-time job at a seamy, lowbrow detective agency instead.

However, there's more to the Big City gumshoe game than chasing lowlife cheating spouses. When her boss turns up dead, Rosie finds herself caught up in a ticklish high society mystery, mingling with mobsters and searching for a notorious missing script. Maybe she has no crime-fighting experience—but Rosie certainly knows how to act the role. No matter how the war against Miss Winter turns out, it's not going to end with her surrender!

Evocative, entertaining, and wonderfully original, Kathryn Miller Haines's War Against Miss Winter introduces not only an unforgettable new sleuth but also an exciting new voice in the mystery genre, with a fast-paced tale of murder and deception that brings the World War II era vividly to life.
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My Review:

"Believing in something could make you do just about anything. It could even convince you that a script was so dangerous you had to kill someone to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands."

This was a fun mystery novel that kept me guessing the whole way through. Every time I would think that I had it all figured out I would be proven wrong. Some of the Lingo used did confuse me at first but after awhile I got the hang of it and found that it made you feel like you were actually there as well.

Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Title: Waistcoats & Weaponry
Author: Gail Carriger
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published Date: November 4th 2014
Genre: Mystery, YA, Steampunk
Page Count: 298
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style—with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland.

No one suspected what—or who—they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.
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 My Review:

	This is a such a fun series to read. With each book I fall more in love with the characters and the shenanigans they get themselves into. I am so happy to see that the love triangle is ending or at least it appears to be. But that ending why would you do that to me? How are we suppose to wait until November to find oh what happens next?!

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone
Series: The Grisha #1
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published Date: June 5th 2012
Genre: YA, High Fantasy, Dystopia
Page Count: 368
Format: Hardcover
MyRating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
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My Review:

 I loved how easy of a read this book was for me.
The world itself was interesting to learn about, and I loved how it seems to be somewhat based off Russia.

The main problem I had with it though was Alina she was so naive which didn't make much sense to me. Considering the fact that she was in the First Army, and had been an orphan I was expecting her to be more of a hero and less of a damsel in distress.

I am happy to see though that their wont be any love triangle. Well that was also kind of saddening to since it seems like the Darkling could have been an interesting character but seems to have just been made the villain way to easily.

It was nice to see a book in a series end in a way where it could have been a stand alone. But now onto reading the second book!

The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Shadow Cabinet
Series: Shades of London #3
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Published Date: February 10th 2015
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal, YA
Page Count: 376
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Goodreads Summary:
The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series.

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they'll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.
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My Review:

"We were all afraid of the thing in front of us, and the reality of who we were fell on me all at once. None of us were fearless— we were four people too young to be doing this."

Simply put this book was everything I hoped for and more. So many questions got answered and so many things happened. I think this might be my favorite book of the series so far. I cant believe we have to wait over a year for the next one. I need the next one NOW!!