Book Review: Twenty-one Year Rule by Alaina Stanford

  Publisher: Hypnotic Publishing; 2 edition

  Format: E-Book

  Released: July 15, 2014

  Grade Rating: B –

 

Amazon Summary:

Bash sacrificed everything to save his sisters life, including his freedom. After three years of parole, he’s finally ready to start over. When he meets a young ski instructor named Grace, falling in love was the last thing he expected. Bash can see his future in Grace’s eyes, but his past won’t let him go.

 

Review:

Let me start this review by saying, this is the third book in a series, and I have not read the first or second book. I however, did not find the story to follow because of this. This book is a fast paced thriller, and was a truly enjoyable and easy read for me, however I just could not bring myself to give this book an A because of the poor writing.

Let me just get the negative out of the way first. This book needs to be proofread, multiple times. There were so many simple grammatical and spelling errors that it was distracting. I’m pretty sure at one point near the beginning of the book she even calls one of the characters by the wrong name. The other thing that drove me absolutely insane during this entire book is that the narrator changes so frequently it makes the story hard to follow at times. I will be completely honest and say I have yet to find a book with multiple narrators that I absolutely love, because I feel it’s unnecessary and distracting. I would not be complaining as much if the narrator would change every chapter, but there are literally changes every few paragraphs, which I just personally do not enjoy at all.

Now on to the positive. The opening scene to this book is amazing. Literally AMAZING. If you want something that’s going to come out slap you in the face and say this is why you are reading me, this is it. The author continues the adrenaline pumping scenes throughout the whole book, and she does not set you up for disappointment. This book is part thriller, and part romance, which sounds bizarre but somehow works perfectly together.

I would love to go on and give details, but I would ruin the story. If you are looking for a quick and easy read and enjoy crime or thriller novels I would pick this up. If you are a true romance lover and you do not like thrillers, then definitely skip this one. This novel is somewhat graphic (in the gore sense not the sexual sense) at times, and I would be hesitant to give this book to young readers. Although the writing style is not my favorite, I will be putting the first and second books on my list of books to read, because these are the perfect quick leisure reads.

Book Review: Unrequited: Girl Meets Boy Band by Emma Grey

 

  Publisher: BookBaby

  Format: E-Book

  Released: May 26, 2014

  Grade Rating: A

 

Amazon Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Kat Hartland loathes Unrequited, the world’s biggest boy band. Is she the only girl in Sydney who can’t be bothered with perfect-looking Angus Marsden? 

Give her 5 Seconds of Summer. Now. 

Or maybe the seriously-hot med student who rescued her on a train—and who could be Douglas Booth’s twin! Perfect formal partner, much?

But when Kat comes face to face with Angus Marsden himself, things start to get complicated. Very. Throw in a deranged female popstar, final exams, a part in the musical and a mum who just doesn’t get it—and where is her best friend? 

When did life get so crazy? Kat’s just an ordinary schoolgirl. 

Isn’t she?

 

Review:

When reading the summary I was questionable whether it was going to be a flop or not. This is such a cute story, and because of that I had to give it an A. I am aware that this is not a remarkable, world changing novel, however it is everything you want in a YA novel. It’s a very quick read, and the author does a great job of capturing the mind of a teenage girl, and made me very reminiscent of my high school days.

First of all, the characters are written perfectly in this book, and Kat is the perfect depiction of a girl in high school. The first kiss, the confusion about her feelings, her insecurities are all depicted perfectly so that she is 100% relatable. Every relationship in the book makes sense, and goes perfectly together to create a truly page turning novel. SPOILER ALERT: the two love triangles in this book could not have been more perfect, and made sense. I also like that although the characters were younger than I am, I could easily see them as one of my peers, and they were rather versatile, which is unusual for me in most YA novels.

The story is clearly a stretch to what would actually happen in real life, but a good YA book isn’t a good YA book without some reality stretching. The author progresses the story in a natural way, without feeling too over-embellished, and stretching from what could turn out to be a series of perfectly aligned coincidences. She knows exactly when to add in a twist or development to keep your attention.

Overall, this story is perfect for a beach read. The story has some romance, but nothing steamy so it is appropriate for yonger readers as well. I highly recommend it to any teen, YA, or someone looking to re-connect with their inner teenager.

Book Review: The Shadows of Paradise City by Brad Allen Hoover

 

 Publisher: BookBaby

  Format: E-Book

  Released: May 30, 2014

  Grade Rating: C-

 

 

 Amazon Summary:

The Shadows of Paradise City follows fifteen-year-old Benjamin as his post-high-    school-dropout world unfurls, chronicling his time as a graveyard dishwasher at the  campy International Café, his time at the library where he pursues an education and      prepares for the high school proficiency exam with eighteen-year-old college dropout Bayer Eitenne’s help, and his time as an unwitting drug runner for a shady cafe patron. Things go bad the night before the exam when Benjamin is robbed of a drug delivery he has stuffed into his pants. Johnson, Benjamin’s drug dealing boss, pursues the thieves on a maniacal quest to get the drugs back, dragging Benjamin along with him. As his world closes in around him and the stakes increase, Benjamin must come up with a plan to escape this mess, which threatens not only his future but his life as well. The Shadows of Paradise City humorously explores the nature of education and friendship, but more importantly, chronicles the significant and often ironic events and people who shape our lives.

 

Review:

When thinking of a grade for this book I teetered between a B and C because I did enjoy the book, and it was quite a good read I just feel that it was missing something, and that is a good ending. The story progresses naturally, and the complex characters keep you engaged throughout the whole story.

The dark humor of this story is intelligently written, and the author created the perfect characters to relay the message in a non-offensive way. When I first started reading this book I thought it was going to have a strong political undertone, and the author wanted to use dark humor point out how society is becoming dumb. As the story progressed I realized that the author did not actually want to feature this idea. So I then thought he was going to highlight how bureaucratic our education system is, well I ended up being wrong again. I am not a firm believer that every book has to have a deeper, more meaningful message, but the beginning of this book was written so perfectly to deliver these two messages that I must say this is the main reason I am not giving this book a higher rating.

Along with the fact that I feel the author passed up a rather great opportunity to add some real meaning to an enjoyable book. I feel that the ending was rather lack-luster. It does leave it open for a sequel to be written, however, I am unsure that a sequel would improve upon this story, as it seems it was originally intended to be written as a single book.

Overall, if you are a fan of dark humor, or a hipster, I feel you would enjoy this book. I do think that younger readers, may be less disappointed by this read as they will likely miss the fact that the ending was only so-so and the author had the ability to make such a bigger impact.