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ARC Book Review: Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney

Dec 5, 2013

First Published: January 2014

Pages: 400 (paperback)

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

ISBN: 9781743313268

Synopsis

Macey’s life has been turned upside down. Her mother has left, her father is absent and her two best friends (her brother Seth and his girlfriend Willow) are MIA. On top of that Macey is being visited by ghosts who need her help to ‘move on’. But as wild as all that sounds, it’s all under Macey’s control until a rakish, good-looking spirit called Nick turns up … in her bedroom!

Nick’s a spirit with spirit who insists he’s not dead, he’s astral travelling and has a message for Macey: someone is out to get her. Macey’s biting wit has got her in trouble before, so she’s not surprised but when the threatening notes start turning up, she’s seriously shaken. Does someone want her dead?

It’s all rather disturbing but she’s finding it hard to focus on who could mean her harm with the annoyingly handsome surf god Finn turning up at the most inopportune times and a father with a rather large surprise of his own.

Is it a case of bad timing? Or are these things somehow connected? And if they are, what on earth should she wear when she’s solving the mystery?

Review

I received an ARC for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Almost Dead, the perfect contrast of humour, family issues, mystery, romance and so much more, made Almost Dead a quite enjoyable read.

I was very intrigued that Almost Dead was set in Australia, even though I don’t live in Queensland I have been to the Gold Coast many times before so I know some places that were talked about pretty well. It felt different than reading a book that is based in America or England I think because I somewhat felt at home. It is really hard to find books that are set in my home country, so for that part I quite enjoyed it. I also like it was set near a beach, come on surf boys in the summer without any shirts on.

The storyline was very unique and it was really interesting, especially when the elements of mystery come about, I was not expecting it at all. It made the strong that more interesting. At first I was very wary with the paranormal side because I have never read many novels about ghost as they are not really my thing but in saying that, I did quite enjoy it. Macey Almost Dead’s main protagonist has been seeing ghosts for not that long when the novel starts and I found it quite funny her attitude towards the ghost that come to her for help. She is very strong minded on what she has to do for them when the ghost appears so when Nick appears the reaction of Macey is amusing.

I have mixed feelings about Macey, the main character of this novel. I really like her for the most part but at some points she really just got on my nerves, I don’t know exactly what about her got me so frustrated I just wanted to hit her out of it. I think maybe it was her attitude to things that were happening, like how she sometimes brushed big things off, but then the little things got to her. Other than that I really enjoyed her character. She was angry when I wanted her to be angry, when I felt she should be angry. She felt upset when I felt she should be upset. Macey had this spark about her, this front that I really liked about her, she was strong but then she shows all types of emotion.

I love Nick, he was just so comical. He was a smart ass but not over the top nor in a way that made him a horrid kind of person. That like Macey used his humour to hide his real emotions. I felt sorry for him many times when reading Almost Dead.

Finn again I have mixed feelings about him, maybe that is because at one point there I starting fearing that there was going to be love triangle, between Finn, Macey and Nick. Thankful there wasn’t. I did like him, but I did find him a touch over protective and that really got on my nerves.

Kaz Delaney wrote the mystery element wonderfully, I didn’t know what to expect, pretty much the whole novel, even at the end. I hadn’t guessed what was happening at all apart from what Macey had figured out. It was totally unexpected, especially the reasoning. This was very unusual for me as I am normally pretty good with this kind of stuff. That is what happens when I love watching crime shows.

There was only a few little things that got on my nerves throughout the novel but a somewhat major thing that got me frustrated was the family issues. I am tired of having broken families in every novel I read, I know it happens in real life, but not to every single family. It gets annoying reading it alot just because I want a happy family. One that everyone loves each other. I really didn’t care much about that fact that her mother left. But what her dad did. Just no. It got me so frustrated; I understand his reasoning but come on.

Overall I did enjoy the book. It was an entertaining , suspenseful, funny read.

I give this a 3.5 Stars out of 5

ARC Book Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Nov 24, 2013

First Published: 26^thNovember 2013

Pages: 296 (hardcover)

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 0373210558

Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US

Synopsis

YOU CAN BE A VII IF YOU GIVE EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked – surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed, and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

Review

I received an e-arc through Netgallery for an honest review.

What can I say about Pawn, it was such an amazing, fresh, unpredictable story. I have read so much dystopian in the last couple of mouths but Aimee Carter took it on in a new way, but still keeping the somewhat fundamental’s of a dystopian novel, such as the way people are categories on certain things .

In the world that Aimee created, you took at test on your 17^th birthday, and from that test you are put into a group from 1 -7. This number was where you stood in society, what advantages you had in living, where you lived etc number 1 being the lowest and getting absolutely nothing and number 7 getting more than you need . Aimee took on the theme that alot of Classical novels convey of Society Structure and how that determined on what you were in life, but a little twist.

Our Main protagonist is has taken her test and already marked with the number 3, and let’s just say, that is pretty much next to nothing. I really liked Kitty Doe even though she may not seem that strong, from the outside, she is damn strong from the inside, I don’t know how she survives the whole book with that went on. I felt for her so many times in the book, I just wanted to just give her a big hug.

I loved the Plot; it was different, interesting, different. I could never pick what was going to happen next, as there was so many twist and turns and I loved it. I hate when I can predict things that happen in books, it just makes them boring, but in Pawn I thought something was going to happen and then something the totally the opposite took place. I also loved that the book was Fast Paced. At the start some people might have say its slow, but I believe that was the world building and it was done perfectly.

I really don’t know why or if it was just me, but I found the first few chapters very emotional, they just really hit me in the gut, the way that Kitty was feeling, the way it was described was like BOOM. I am not that ashamed to say that I did tear up a little, but to why, I really don’t know the answer to that at all.

Through the whole book I had no idea who I trusted. Which made it that more interesting. You thought someone was good, or bad. And they did or said something that totally flipped your option on them.

Also the whole idea of being ‘masked’ was intriguing and terrifying at the same time. I would never want that done to me or any one I loved and cared about. But I was completely into finding out so much more about it and the big question of why someone would do this. The way that Aimee incorporated this was very smart.

I really enjoyed the romance concept in Pawn it wasn’t fully of snappy romance. It was carefully placed throughout the novel. I adore the romance between Kitty and Benjy. It was so cute and I really like going into a YA novel where the couple is already together, they already went through the awkward first stage that, I sometimes really don’t like to read. It was refreshing. Throughout the novel we see there relationship build and go through tough times. I was really concerned when I thought there was going to be a love-triangle, but thankfully there wasn’t one and our main focus relationship wise was on Benjy and Kitty.

I really don’t know how I feel about Benjy, I don’t know if I love him or I want to it him and cut him up in pieces. He loved Kitty to his core anyone could see that but it was a little over protective and just made me so angry sometimes. But in saying that I wish I had a boyfriend like Benjy, whom is so sweet and caring.

I also really like the theme of family vs power again it was very intriguing. The idea that being corrupt by power can make you turn on anyone even your own family.

I can whole heartily say that Pawn by Aimee Carter is one of my favourite books on 2013. From the writing style, characters to the story it’s self it wrapped me into the world and I cannot wait to pick up the next book the Blackcoat Rebellion. And I don’t mind paying money to get a physical copy of it either.

I give this nothing else but what I think it deserves a 5 stars out of 5

Book Review: Catching Jordan (Hundred Oaks #1) by Miranda Kenneally

Nov 22, 2013

First Published: December 1^st 2011

Pages: 283 (Paperback)

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

ISBN: 1402262272

Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US

Synopsis

One of the boys

What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though–she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she’s ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he’s also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan’s feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart’s on the line?

Review

I have just really started reading contemporary in the last couple of months and I’m really enjoying and Catching Jordan was not a disappointment. It was a fun, sweet yet somewhat emotion read, that drew me in right from the start.

I really enjoyed the Story line, it wasn’t all that new, but it was different. As you may tell from my reviews, I don’t really read that much contemporary, so this is all new to me. But books like this are reason why I have fallen into the contemporary trap.

At first it was really hard to grasp the book in the sense of the football side of it. I’m from Australia, so the whole concept of American Football was new to me and as I love AFL (Australian Rules Football) it was hard for me to try to remember that it was America Football they are talking about not Australian. But after a while I got the concept and was able to understand was going on in terms of all the football stuff.

I really loved Jordan, she was a really likeable character, she didn’t annoy me, or get on my nerves. She plays football, and considered ‘one of the guys.’ She is loveable and a sweat heart. She may be a tomboy, but she isn’t one of those whom don’t have a girl side to them at all, she has all those emotions any other girl has. I really connected with her alot, even though we don’t have much in common at all – She made me cry and laugh, she made everything feel real, when you heart fluttered, mine did to, when her heart broke, so did mine. I loved the way that Miranda Kenneally could make the reader feel that like that, the way she could captivate me just with Jordan’s Character.

There was so many different types of relationships in Catching Jordan and they all had different meanings or made me feel different. All the Relationship were very well written; I loved the dynamic that Jordan had with the Guys on the team, oh my, I just loved it. They way they interacted, made me just smile alot. The Chemistry between the team members just I adored it and wish that I had this with a team if I was in one, they made me laugh so many times.

The relationship with her family was … very rocky. I dislike her dad with a passion. I just wanted to scream at him so many times. It made me so angry when he was just never there for her. He was never there for her, for anything, he never believed in her. Though I disliked her Jordan’s dad with a passion, I loved that Miranda shown different sorts of relationships, including bad ones. It made the book seem more real.

The romantic relationships’ I just don’t know how to feel about them. I really dislike Love –Triangles, so that sort of frustrated me throughout the book especially because I liked them both. They both had different things about that shone to me, which made me want them to be with Jordan. So I just got frustrated with myself. It wasn’t full of cheesy romantic moments, but it was there and I loved the cheese.

It was overall I an amazing read that I would suggest to anyone that likes contemporary or anyone that is trying to get into contemporary and doesn’t know where to start. It has the perfect combination of romance, sport, humour and every day like dilemmas. I cannot wait to pick up the rest of the novels in the ‘Series’

Some of my Favourite Quotes;

“One thing I learned a long time ago is that even if you think you’re meant to be with someone, that doesn’t necessarily mean you get to be with them.” “When unrequited love is the most expensive thing on the menu, sometimes you settle for the daily special.”

I give Catching Jordan 4 stars out of 5

Have you read Catching Jordan yet? What did you think of it? If you haven’t do you want to?