BOOK REVIEW: A Different Blue – by Amy Harmon

Title: A Different Blue
Author: Amy Harmon
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: March 29th 2013
Finished reading: September 17th 2017
Pages: 322

“I keep wishing you had had a better life…a different life. But a different life would have made you a different Blue.” He looked at me then. “And that would be the biggest tragedy of all.”

I became an instant fan of Amy Harmon‘s work after my first experience with one of her stories. And it’s definitely one of the main reasons I still decided to give A Different Blue a go despite my doubts about the fact it’s classified as a contemporary romance and wasn’t sure if it would be for me. I guess those who follow my blog are already aware of the fact I’m not a big fan of the romance genre in general and to be honest I was quite worried this story wouldn’t be a right fit. But Amy Harmon managed to do the impossible and made me enjoy another contemporary romance read. It did help that A Different Blue didn’t have as much romance as I expected initially in the first place. And even though this wasn’t my favorite story of the bunch I’ve read so far, I still very much enjoyed it. And this has a lot to do with the writing, which was excellent as always and had me hooked right from the beginning. There is no doubt that A Different Blue is a beautiful, raw, strong and emotional story! The plot is interesting and will have quite a few surprises in store… Both the plot and character development were done very realistically and this made it really easy to fully emerge myself into the story. Blue was a great character and even though she isn’t exactly easy to like, there is just something about her that makes you want to keep on reading. And I just love her art and what it symbolizes! I wasn’t a big fan of Darcy though and I could have done without the love triangle… His actions started to frustate me at times and he didn’t manage to charm me. There is no doubt this is still a very good read though and one of the few contemporary romance stories I have actually enjoyed over the years. And A Different Blue has both the wonderful writing and its main character Blue to thank for that.

Blue Echohawk was abandoned when she was little and raised by a man without a real home. She doesn’t know her real name or when she was born; she simply feels she doesn’t know who she is. The fact that she didn’t attend school until she was ten years old slowed her down, with the consequence she is still just a high school senior at nineteen. Blue is what you call a troublemaker and uses her appearance and tough attitude as an armor. But the cracks are starting to show when a young British teacher decides he is up for the challenge and is determined to get through to her.

Even though I didn’t LOVE love A Different Blue like the other Amy Harmon books I have picked up so far, there is no denying this is still a very good read. It might have just been the fact contemporary romance normally isn’t my thing in the first place, but the main reasons I couldn’t add the final star were my aversion to Darcy and some of the romance. The writing is flawless and the plot both intriguing, emotional, powerful and realistic. Blue is such a great character and even though she is hard to like, you grow attached to her anyway. Fans of the genre will enjoy this story!  Make sure to have some tissues ready, because you will find yourself on an emotional rollercoaster with this one.

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ARC REVIEW: The Car Bomb – by T.V. LoCicero

Title: The Car Bomb
(Detroit I’m Dyin Trilogy #1)
Author: T.V. LoCicero
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: May 7th 2013
Publisher: TLC Media
Finished reading: April 27th 2017
Pages: 220

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

April ARC month is slowly coming to an end and this is probably one of the last titles I will be able to read before the month is over. I’ve had this first book of a trilogy on my ARC list for a while… The Car Bomb belongs to one of my favorite genres and I was looking forward to what looked like an action-packed thriller. Unfortunately, I ended up having a hard time reading this story. It’s without doubt a superfast read and I managed to finish it in less than a day, but I can’t say I actually enjoyed it. During most of the story the different chapters just didn’t connect together and I had to struggle to follow the plot. Most of the story felt messy, chaotic and some things just didn’t make sense… Things did improve in the final part, which I enjoyed considerably better, but I have to be honest and say I’m not sure if I would have made it to that part if this wouldn’t have been an ARC. This wasn’t my biggest problem with The Car Bomb though. It wasn’t the excessive swearing either, although it did started to frustrate me. No, it was the main character of this story: Frank. Words cannot describe how much I dislike that cheating (note: on both his wife AND mistress), womanizing, drunk, arrogant bastard. It was practically hate at first sight and it was really hard for me to try and enjoy a story I had already issues with having to deal with a main character I simply can’t stand. I mean, he is a popular TV star, so he gets away with all the despicable things he does?! Not in my world. I guess male readers might be less offended by his character, although I sure do hope they don’t take him as an example. As you might have guessed, this story definitely wasn’t for me even though the general idea behind this story did sound interesting.

Frank DeFauw is a very popular TV anchor with a colorful personal life full of booze, drugs and womanizing. After a car bomb kills a mother and her two children, Frank decides to investigate the case and stumbles upon something a whole lot bigger than just a simple bomb. He is on the border of discovering a big corruption scandal, and one of the persons involved might actually be one of his best friends. Frank is faced with a complicated decision to either discover the truth or protect his friend and family… Because some people are trying very hard to keep the truth from coming out, and things are becoming dangerous.

I normally enjoy reading thriller reads, but The Car Bomb was definitely not for me. Male readers might enjoy this story better than I did, but I just couldn’t recover from my VERY negative feelings about the main character. I don’t care that he is a famous TV anchor; both his behavior and character in general are simply inexcusable and disgusting. The case itself might be interesting and it does have potential, but unfortunately I just couldn’t enjoy this story.

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BOOK REVIEW: Never Fade – by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade
(The Darkest Minds #2)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Paranormal
First published: October 15th 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Finished reading: April 10th 2017
Pages: 507

“Sometimes you’re the one speeding along in a panic, doing too much, not paying attention, wrecking things you don’t mean to. And sometimes life just happens to you, and you can’t dodge it. It crashes into you because it wants to see what you’re made of.”

After reading and enjoying the first book back in January, I made a promise to read both sequels as soon as possible. It took me a bit longer than expected, but I finally picked up book number two this month… And I have to say that unfortunately Never Fade doesn’t live up to the first book at all for me. While I enjoyed The Darkest Minds even though the plot isn’t all that original anymore, I found Never Fade to be overlong and at times even on the border of boring. The writing style was as good as ever, but it sure took me a lot longer than expected to finish this one… And that is probably due to the fact that both the plot felt a bit thin and some of the characters started to annoy me. Basically, the sequel is about Ruby trying to find someone and messing up along the way, with various people betraying her or not being what they seem to be. Which might still be interesting, but it mostly felt like a ‘copy-repeat’ plot to me instead. Warning: this feeling might also be caused by the fact that Ruby started to frustrate me with the whole ‘I’m dangerous/I can’t be around others/I need to be alone’ thing. It does have a pretty explosive ending though! All in all not what I was expecting at all and yet another series that suffers from the ‘weak-sequel-syndrome’… I will still be reading the final book some time soon though, and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed In The Afterlight will make me enjoy this series again.

WARNING: Possible spoilers! Please don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the first  book yet. I’ll keep the summary super short but it’s impossible to keep it completely spoiler-free…

Ruby never wanted her abilities in the first place and doesn’t like using them, but now she’s in the Children’s League she is forced to use them on a daily basis. She has to go on dangerous missions and get the truth out of their enemies, and she only agrees because it’s a way to keep the others safe. But then she finds out something that will change everything… And this new secret mission might just be the most dangerous one yet.

I was really looking forward to this sequel, especially since I enjoyed The Darkest Minds that much. Unfortunately Never Fade turned out to be another case of ‘weak-sequel-syndrome’. I actually struggled to continue at points as the plot just felt too drawn out; I feel that a similar story could have been told with 150-200 pages less and would probably have been a lot more entertaining. This has nothing to do with the writing style itself though, because Never Fade is without doubt well written. It’s one of the reasons I’m still hopeful for the third book!

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ARC REVIEW: Making Faces – by Amy Harmon

Title: Making Faces
Author: Amy Harmon
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
First published: October 12th 2013
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Finished reading: January 28th 2017
Pages: 405

“I don’t think we get answers to every question. We don’t get all the whys. But I think when we look back to the end of our lives, if we do the best we can, and we will see that the things we begged God to take from us, the things we cursed him for, the things that made us turn our backs on him, are the things that were the biggest blessings, the biggest opportunities for growth.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Spencer Hill Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

It’s been over two weeks since I finished reading Making Faces and I still find it difficult to put my thoughts properly on paper. It doesn’t happen all that often, but Amy Harmon was able to give me another book hang over with this little masterpiece. I’m ashamed to admit I have only recently discovered her work, but I’ve already become addicted to her lovely prose and diverse plots. Making Faces is no exception. I had already heard great things about this book and I basically broke down the request button as soon as I saw it was available at Netgalley. All the raving reviews were absolutely right: this story is simply brilliant. I fell in love with both the characters, writing style and plot and this story will definitely stay with me for quite some time. Sure, some of it might be a little cheesy if you think about it critically. But if you have characters like Fern, Bailey and Ambrose, it is really easy to put those thoughts aside. I loved the war veteran elements as well; it’s such an important topic and definitely deserves more attention, especially as they are often misunderstood by society. As you might have guessed already, I simply adored Making Faces and I can definitely recommend it to any contemporary fan. I promise you that you will fall in love with the characters and their story! This new edition published by Spencer Hill Press later this month has some nifty bonus content as well.

Ambrose Young’s looks and talent have made him really popular during his high school years. He isn’t just tall, muscular and good at sports, he also seems to have walked right off the cover of one of those romance novels. Fern Taylor should know, because she has been reading them since she was thirteen. Fern has had a crush on him for years, but she isn’t exactly the ‘prettiest’ girl in town and she doesn’t think Ambrose would ever look at her that way. But life isn’t just about physical attraction and works in funny ways. After the 9/11 attacks, Ambrose and his four friends decide to join the cause and were sent off to war. Only one comes back… And the whole town struggles to deal with the loss; each in their own way.

I kind of feel I’m not doing the story justice with this summary, but I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot… This line in the blurb describes the general idea behind Making Faces beautifully though: “a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast where we discover that there is little beauty and a little beast in all of us“. It’s contemporary romance with a healthy dose of realistic fiction, a cup of tears and mixed with lovely characters and a very important topic. I basically loved everything about it and this story has confirmed Amy Harmon is one of my new favorite authors.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown – by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Horror
First published: September 3rd 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Finished reading: October 15th 2016 
Pages: 419

“Even from the beginning, that was the problem. People liked pretty things. People even liked pretty things that wanted to kill and eat them.”

I’m ashamed to admit I’ve had this book collecting dust on my shelves for ages, and it was actually on last year’s Halloween TBR as well. Oops?! I’m glad I finally gave in though, because The Coldest Girl In Coldtown turned out to be a perfect Halloween read. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that I enjoyed this story that much, because I normally detest vampire stories. Kudos to Holly Black for showing me there are also decent vampire stories out there! Because it doesn’t happen often that I give a so-called ‘bloodsucker’ story such a high rating. Why is The Coldest Girl In Coldtown an exception? First of all, the vampires are actually dangerous like they should be. Their world is still a bit too glamorous to my taste, but I like the background story behind it all. The Coldest Girl In Coldtown is also fast-paced, well written, has a lot of action, not too many romance scenes and the right dose of creepy. In short, a very entertaining Halloween read that has convinced me I will definitely need to read more of Holly Black‘s work in the future.

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. There are monsters in the world and they can infect humans with the Cold. If either infected humans or monsters are found, they are quarantined inside those cities, living in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. And once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave… One morning after a party, Tana wakes up surrounded by the corpses of her friends and classmates including her ex-boyfriend. She wasn’t infected somehow, but he is, now tied up in a bedroom together with a mysterious boy with a terrible secret. Tana shouldn’t help the two and just save herself, but she cannot just leave them there. She now enters a race against the clock to save the three of them by facing danger straight on…

I honestly wasn’t too sure about this book, but The Coldest Girl In Coldtown turned out to be one of the few vampire stories I actually enjoyed reading. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that there is almost no romance involved and the vampires are actually dangerous. I liked the worldbuilding and the story is without doubt well written with a lot of action scenes. It also has just the right dose of creepy and it is definitely entertaining to read. Recommended!

BOOK REVIEW: The Private School Murders – by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Title: The Private School Murders
(Confessions #2)
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Genre: YA, Mystery, Fiction
First published: October 7rd 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown And Company
Finished reading: August 31st 2016
Pages: 422

“There is truth in dreams, but especially in nightmares.”

I enjoyed reading the first book of this series back in January, so I decided it was about time to pick up the sequel The Private School Murders hoping it was going to be just as good. And while it’s without doubt a super fast-paced book with a prose that is very easy to read, I felt like it suffered a bit from the weaker sequel syndrome. It seemed like there were too many different storylines squeezed into just one book, with the consequence that each storyline was only described quite superficially and some of them lacked credibility. Also, Tandoori is quite arrogant and it’s difficult to like her. She was the same in the first book, but somehow she felt more annoying in The Private School Murders. The ‘cases’ she is trying to solve are still quite intriguing though; I just wish that at least the whole James/romance sub plot would have been left out… But then again I’m not really a sucker for romance in the first place. Overall I can’t deny it’s still a pretty decent sequel though.

WARNING: Possible spoilers! Please don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the first book of this series yet. I’ll keep the summary super short but it’s impossible to keep it completely spoiler-free…

After solving the case of her wealthy parents’ mysterious deaths, Tandy Angel doesn’t seem to be done with playing detective. Her brother Matthew stands on trial for murder and young girls are found murdered all around New York’s Upper West side. Tandy is determined to use her skills to get to the bottom of both cases, although another case is still distracting her as well. The biggest mystery of all may be what actually happened to James Rampling, the son of a family enemy who Tandy fell in love and ran away with. She cannot seem to remember much about the whole affair, but she is desperate to find out more…

While this sequel was by no means as strong as the first book, it is still a pretty decent and superfast read. Not all of the storylines are all that credible, but most of the ‘cases’ are intriguing and the story reads like a train. The main character Tandoori (Tandy) is a quite annoying know-it-all, but she does seem to deliver in the end. If you are looking for an easy and entertaining mystery read, this series might just be the one for you.

BOOK REVIEW: Vicious – by V.E. Schwab

Title: Vicious
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal
First published: September 24th 2013
Publisher: Tor Books
Finished reading: August 22nd 2016
Pages: 340

“When no one understands, that’s usually a good sign that you’re wrong.”

Ever since I read both Shade Of Magic books earlier this year I’ve been an instant V.E. Schwab fan. I have debating which of her books to read next, and most people seem to think it would be best to pick up one of her earlier books Vicious first. And who am I to doubt that? I already knew I was probably going to like this book since I loved her writing style in the past, and I was right. While the Shades Of Magic books are still my absolute favorite, I thoroughly enjoyed Vicious. It wasn’t perfect and I would have liked to see some things differently, but in general the story more than made up for it. This book has a superfast pace and the prose is brilliant, just as I already expected. Vicious also has superpowers and a revenge plot… What’s not to like? I do admit it could have done without the romance, religious angle and some of the melodrama, but overall I can definitely recommend this book. Fingers crossed she will end up publishing a sequel some time soon! Vicious doesn’t end up with a cliffhanger and was originally ment as a stand-alone, but I wouldn’t say no to more superpowers, awesome prose and another great plot.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates: two brilliant, arrogant and lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. During their senior year they want to research a similar theme for their thesis, and they decide to work together. What they are working on? Adrenaline, near-death experiences and the possibility that those can give you extraordinary abilities under the right conditions. But when their thesis strays from the academic path and turns into an experiment, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison and is determined to stop his old friend: Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person on the planet. Both sides have terrible powers and have set course for revenge, but who will survive?

Like I said before, Vicious is without doubt an excellent read even though I had minor problems with a few things like the romance, melodrama and religious angle. There is no doubt that the prose is brilliant and I loved the revenge plot and superpower angle. It just works perfectly together and any science fiction fan would probably love this book. More than recommended!