Review: The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock

Title: The Book of Lies

Author: Mary Horlock
Genre/Age: Literary fiction, historical, adult
Publication: 2011
Source: For review, TLC

Summary: The Book of Lies tells two alternating stories that took place on the island of Guernsey. One is that of Cat, an intelligent 15 year old girl in 1985, who killed her best friend Nic, the popular golden girl and new arrival on the island. Once best friends, a betrayal and cruelty from Nicolette sends them far apart from each other. The other story is of Cat's family history, and the German occupation on the island. Her father Emile, now deceased, is obsessed with the story of the occupation in hopes of repairing his brother Charlie's tarnished reputation.

My Thoughts: Oh how excited I was to read this novel. I love murder, suspense, and intrigue in my books, and I've also always been fascinated by the Holocaust. However, I have to admit I was let down, despite the exciting sounding premise.

First things first, I LOVED Cat. She was pretentious, snarky, and a little bit crazy. Her narration was pretty hilarious and I loved the casual style of it and the way she spoke. She used an awful lot of parentheses to express unrelated thoughts, which I do often, and I really appreciated that. For example, after using some "big" or interesting words, she would go "(excellent word)." She was a bit conniving and manipulative, but she did crack me up.

Despite the excellent narration and characterization in this book, for me, it kind of dragged, and it was extremely confusing at times. There were a lot of names and characters mentioned and I had no idea who they were throughout the entire novel. I'm definitely one for detail, and I often flip back to re-read things, so not knowing who certain people were was quite frustrating. I also think the book just never picked up its pace. I thought it was going to be full of suspense and mayhem, but it was mostly a long, drawn out account of Cat and Nic's friendship, and Charlie's history with the German occupation.

The idea of this book was great, as was Cat herself, but the execution wasn't the best and it did not hold my attention.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Review: Stay by Allie Larkin

Title: Stay
Author: Allie Larkin
Genre/Age: Women's fiction,
contemporary, adult
Publication: 2010
Source: Won

Summary: Savannah "Van" Leone has just watched the love of her life, Peter, marry her best friend Janie. Wallowing in sadness and Kool-Aid vodka cocktails, Van impulsively orders a German Shepard puppy online from Slovakia, who she names Joe. After the purchase, she realizes he cost $6,000, and when he arrives, he's a lot bigger than expected, and only understands commands in Slovakian. Though he's a bit much, Van loves him something fierce. He helps heal her heart, broken from losing the love of her life, and the death of her mother a few years earlier to cancer. While putting the pieces of her life back together, she meets Joe's cute new vet, Alex, who may just be the (rest of the) answer to mending her heart.

My Thoughts: Stay and I have quite a history together. It's kind of a funny story. Well, not really, but I do love that line. One year ago, I won this amazing contest from Allison Winn Scotch that included 28 autographed books from female authors. It was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. One of the books included was Stay. When it arrived in the mail, I was admiring the cute dog on the cover and reading the inside flaps when I noticed: Allie Larkin lives here in my hometown! I had no idea and I was ecstatic.

Then, a few months later, Allie was doing a reading at one of the local colleges that my best friend attends, so she invited me to come along. The reading was awesome! Afterward, we got to meet Allie, and I got my book autographed again! Yes, it is double autographed (well... triple autographed now... more on that later). She was super nice and the book sounded amazing, yet I still hadn't read it. See, I have this weird thing about books that I am so excited for. I put them on a special shelf in my room and there they sit. I think I get nervous about reading those books that I'm dying to read because I don't want the magic to be over. I know. Weird. Anyways, then I started a book club last month and we decided to read Stay and invite Allie Larkin to attend (more on this in another post) and so, down from its special shelf it came and I read it last week.

What a wonderful and moving story about the love of animals and the special bonds we form with our pets! As a huge animal lover, I was touched by this story, and also laughed in recognition at all the funny dog antics. I loved Joe and wish he was mine. My dog's cute and all, but he does NOT understand Slovakian and let me cry on his fur.

I knew I was going to love this book from the opening scene in which Van is attending the wedding of her two best friends/love of her life. I loved Van's tone. It was dry, sarcastic, and pessimistic. Plus, I kept hearing it in Allie's voice from the reading and she's a good reader!

While this book had its light and fun moments, I liked that it also explored some deeper, more serious issues. Van and Janie have a unique past and the relationship is somewhat hurt by it. Van's mother worked as a housekeeper for Janie's rich family. Van and her mother lived in their carriage house, and Van and Janie became quick friends, while Van's mother and Janie's mother, Diane, became best friends as well. When Van's mother dies, the dynamics are entirely thrown off, and Diane pushes Van away, leaving Van feeling hollow and alone.

When Van meets Peter in college, she loves him instantly. He keeps her as a best friend, but rejects her as a potential love interest when his rich family rejects her because she doesn't live up to their high (read: rich) standards. She keeps loving him though.

Van has suffered a lot of heartbreak and Joe was the perfect catalyst for all of it. For once, Van felt loved and less alone. For those of you who understand and cherish the love of an animal, this is a must read! For those of you who also love exploring the intricacies of friendships and love, this is a must read for you, too.

My Rating: 5/5

*Please note that, as always, my review is honest and is unbiased by my personal connection. I truly loved the book. I will post about our book club meeting with Allie later this week, so stop by!*

Review: Click by Lisa Becker

Title: Click: An Online Love Story

Author: Lisa Becker
Genre/Age: Chick-lit, romance, adult
Publication: 2011
Source: For review, CLP Tours

Click is a fabulously fun debut novel told entirely in e-mail. Renee, upon reaching her 30th birthday, agrees to try online dating with her best friend, Mark. Her experiences are wild, hilarious, and fun, making me both regret and be grateful that I've never done online dating. She shares all of her experiences via e-mail with her best friends: anal-retentive but super sweet Mark, man-eater Shelley with her wild flings, and uptight Ashley with her on-again off-again relationship , all of whom also share their own love life with Renee.

Seriously, this book was a ton of fun, from Renee's crazy friends and their bickering, to the creepy and (sometimes) nice guys she meets online. There's a crazy, angry guy who goes nuts when she doesn't e-mail him back, to a B-list actor who is totally conceited, to a gay wardrobe stylist, and many, many others. While I had so much fun laughing at these experiences, I was also wondering and hoping that Renee and her friends would find true love... and of course share it, via e-mail!

I really enjoyed this light, fun read... I loved the humor, the crazy dating, the romance, and of course, the close friendships. I'd highly recommend this to those of you who love books in e-mail format, like myself.

My Rating: 4/5

Guest Post: Author Melissa Foster (2)

I'd like to welcome Melissa Foster back to StephTheBookworm today. I have reviewed both of her novels, Chasing Amanda, and Megan's Way, two really interesting and unique books! Last month, Melissa was here talking about how to make writing a daily habit. Today is a quite different topic: helping others. I think this is really fitting since I reviewed Chasing Amanda today. The main character, Molly, desperately tries to help in a missing persons case. Anyways, without further ado, please welcome Melissa!

How Helping Others Helps You to Succeed, by Melissa Foster

I really enjoy helping women to find a happy balance between work, family, and personal goals, and I enjoy helping aspiring writers. Reaching out in these two areas of my life fills me with happiness and rejuvenates me.

I spend time on The Women’s Nest chatting with women on a daily basis. We share our daily challenges, help each other through difficult times, and applaud the large, and the small, accomplishments of life. I often find myself speaking with aspiring writers about the challenges of creating alternative worlds with fictional characters, and what it means to be a writer. Together we create marketing plans and work through the angst of solitude that many people transitioning their careers experience. Sound boring? Not to me. These conversations invigorate me.

The act of helping others offers more than adding another element of happiness to my life. Some of the most creative and interesting people that I know are people whom I’ve met through these channels. In turn, it has helped me to become more inspired and more successful. I love to make personal connections with my readers. I’d reach out and speak to every one of them if I had the avenues to do so! Discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly about my books helps me to become a better writer and understand what readers want. In addition, reaching out has broadened my vision of the world and expanded my thought process, which carries over to my writing.

I met my publisher through a fellow author, my assistant through The Women’s Nest, and some of my closest friends because they approached me as readers of Megan’s Way and Chasing Amanda. Every day holds an opportunity for you to reach out and network. I encourage you to do so in all aspects of your life. You might be surprised at how much you can learn and how good you will feel when you help others to succeed.

I love to chat with book clubs and readers. If you’d like to chat, drop me an email; thinkhappygirl (at) yahoo (dot) com

Review: Chasing Amanda by Melissa Foster

Title: Chasing Amanda

Author: Melissa Foster

Genre/Age: Suspense, adult

Publication: 2011

Source: For review

Summary: Nine years ago, Molly witnessed a kidnapping, and the child was later killed. She couldn't deal with the pain and guilt, so she and her family uprooted out to the country. Now, a 7 year old girl, Tracey, has gone missing. Meanwhile, Molly, who has psychic abilities, which she calls The Knowing, continues to have visions and feelings about the missing girl. Molly believes if she can find Tracey, she will alleviate her guilt and pain. She gets heavily involved in the case, and into some danger. The real question is, will she find her before it's too late?

In alternating chapters, we also see from Tracey's viewpoint, who is hidden underground, with her captor, a character we know. Just as desperate as Molly is to find her, we are desperate to find out why she was stolen and why her captor believes it was justifiable.

My Thoughts: I really love reading books about missing people, kidnappings, and disappearances. One of my favorites in this category is The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. Although it is a very sad topic, it is fascinating too and I find myself captivated by these kinds of stories. Chasing Amanda was an interesting story about kidnapping, made even more interesting by the fact that we see Tracey, the abducted child, and hear her point of view while she is missing. I've rarely come across missing persons stories like this, and really thought this was a cool concept, rather than having the abduction shrouded in complete mystery... but don't be mistaken! There still is plenty of mystery surrounding it, in that we know who kidnapped her, but are left wondering why they did it. The kidnapper states repeatedly that they saved Tracey, and were doing what they had to do. Since we knew where Tracey was, I wasn't on the edge of my seat with the suspense, but I still really enjoyed it. I also liked the psychic visions that Molly had, giving the book a touch of the supernatural but in a very realistic setting.

The story is quite interesting and I think it could be even better with some excellent editing. On numerous occasions, I would come across a sentence that really should have been two, as there were two different statements separated only by a comma (Example: "Molly put on her jogging clothes, the familiarity of them felt like an old friend..." p. 201). Because I am a stickler for grammar, this detracted slightly from my reading experience, but I don't think it would bother everyone.

All in all, I think this is a good read for those who like suspense and some supernatural too!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Title: Beauty Queens

Author: Libba Bray
Genre/Age: Humor, satire, young adult
Publication: 2011
Source: Library

Summary: The 50 Miss Teen Dream pageant contestants were expecting a fun-filled, sunny beach trip. Instead, their plane crashes on a seemingly desert island, and only a handful of them survive. Together, they fight snakes, search for food, and practice their pageant moves. They're in for a surprise when the heartthrob pirates show up, and they discover there is more to the island then they initially thought...

My Thoughts: Okay, the first thing that you should know about this book is that it is entirely satirical. It is all a giant play on today's materialistic society and the idea of beauty vs. brains. Can you have both? What does it mean to be beautiful? It also speaks a lot on media influence. The story is full of irony, wit, and pure satire, as stated before. It even has "commercial breaks" for various products sold by The Corporation who is basically running America.

While I truly appreciate the satire, uniqueness, and sense of sarcasm that is shown throughout the book (seriously. I'm one of the most sarcastic people you'd ever meet), I think it went a bit too far. By that I mean that the ENTIRE book was focused solely on being clever and making a point rather than focusing on the storyline at all. Because of this, the story was really hard for me to get into, and I found I had no problems putting it down at all.

There were definitely aspects I enjoyed about this book. It was pretty funny and clever at times, and the characters were developed extremely well. Despite there being a ton of characters, I felt a sense of knowing each of them. The girls really started to learn about and better themselves too. The ending also really picked up pace, and the last 75 pages or so finally captured my attention, which is what prompted a slightly higher rating from me. Despite all this though, I was simply not engaged for the first 300 pages or so. I think satire can be done really well so long as there is still a real and enjoyable story underneath it all. With Beauty Queens, though, it just seemed like every single thing was a big joke and I was quite bored.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Review: 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter

Title: 32 Candles

Author: Ernessa T. Carter
Genre: Women's fiction, contemporary
Publication: 2010
Source: For review, TLC

Summary: Davie Jones is ugly. On top of that, she's poor, and living with her abusive single mother in Mississippi. She's teased relentlessly at school, given the nickname, Monkey Night, and desperately in love with the handsome, popular, and rich, James Farrell who doesn't know she exists. But one thing gives her hope: Sixteen Candles, and her dream that one day, she too will have her very own "Molly Ringwald Ending." She clings to this hope until a cruel joke pushes her to the edge, and she runs away to L.A. without a second thought. There, she reinvents herself into a cool and successful lounge singer at a ritzy nightclub. Everything is different for Davie now - until she runs into James again, years later, and he falls desperately in love with her, not remembering or recognizing her at all. Their relationship is passionate and wonderful, until Davie's past comes back to haunt her, with the threat of destroying the new life she's created for herself, especially the love she and James share.

My Thoughts: Ya know, foolishly and unnecessarily, I wasn't sure about this book. Davie seems quite the opposite of me. She's a poor, black Southern girl with an abusive mother. I'm a middle class, white girl from New York with two of the best parents in the world. But you know what? I absolutely loved this book, and I completely mean it when I say I COULD NOT put it down. I came to realize that Davie really was like me in so many ways. In fact, Davie Jones is every woman, with her insecurities, jealousies, and things she'd sometimes like to forget. I love Davie and I was sad and reluctant to finish this book because I did not want to say goodbye to her.

This story sucked me in from page one. Last night, I started it, standing up in my room while waiting for my boyfriend, and today I finished it. I just thought, "hey, I'll read a few pages real quick," but soon, I sat down, and started flipping the pages compulsively. I read it at 7:00 this morning before going to work, I read it on my lunch break at work, and both times I was so reluctant to put it down. Then, I got home from work and I gulped down the last 200 pages without getting up, except to go for a quick walk with my mom, during which I raced home to finish. Reading a book this quickly and this compulsively is rare for me, but I just couldn't stop reading.

To say I love this book is an understatement. I'm telling you now, this is one of my favorite books I've read in 2011, and will without a doubt remain that way through the rest of the year. Davie was such a unique character, completely lovable, despite her many errors and flaws, which made her all the more real. She was quirky, strong willed, and brave, never letting anyone break her completely, despite their best efforts. She was an ideal female heroine, one that can be looked up to, and will never, ever be forgotten. Davie kind of "comes of age" in this story, but in her own unusual ways, and I'd like to be half as strong as her.

There were so many quirky things about this book too that I just loved. For example, as a side job, Davie starts up a business called Soul BunnyGrams in which she delivers singing telegrams dressed as a bunny. What in the world?! I freakin' loved it.

In addition to loving the story line itself, I also love the way the story is told. It is broken into sections, "then," "now," and "between then and now" covering approximately 20 years of her life, from childhood to adulthood. Each chapter and section reveals more of her story and past, culminating in a shocking and vengeful act that Davie schemes, that inadvertently has the potential to destroy her life and everything she has worked for.

Ernessa T. Carter is a strong and amazing new voice in fiction and I anxiously await her next novel. I am so elated that I decided to step out of my normal reading comfort zone by picking this book up, because it is a real treasure that will stay on my bookshelf (except for when I'm passing it around for all my friends to read) for years to come. I suggest you read it as soon as you can. I would recommend this to just about anyone who appreciates a good story with excellent writing.

My Rating: 5/5

Review: Things We Didn't Say by Kristina Riggle

Title: Things We Didn't Say

Author: Kristina Riggle
Genre/Age: Contemporary, women's fiction, adult
Publication: July 2011
Source: For review, TLC Tours

Summary: 26 year old Casey comes with a past that her 36 year old fiance, Michael, knows nothing about. She recently moved in with him and his three children, and now they're falling apart at the seams. His teenage daughter, Angel, appears to loathe Casey, and eight year old Jewel watches as the silence and tension in the house deepens every day.

Then, Michael's 14 year old son, Dylan, runs away, and things come to a head. Michael's very mentally ill and former alcoholic ex-wife, Mallory, rushes to the home in hysteria over her missing son, and fights and manipulates Casey while they frantically try to locate Dylan. In the midst of this family crisis, Casey also faces an internal crisis, as her past threatens to be exposed after Angel reads her diary and spills the information to Mallory. All the while, she wonders whether she should stay or go, and whether she should say the things she's been afraid of saying for far too long.

My Thoughts: Sometimes it's hard to find the right words to describe a book you loved. I loved this book and I will do my best to share why.

Things We Didn't Say is an incredible novel full of dark secrets, hidden pasts, and a helluva lot of family drama. Dysfunctional characters are almost always my favorite, and this was chock full of them. I flew through this book in a couple of days, and was sad when I had to turn the last page.

Riggle has true talent for capturing emotions and accurately portraying them through a variety of voices. The chapters alternate narration between all of the major players, and we get to hear from about six different characters. All of their voices are distinctly different and frighteningly realistic, from an 8 year old girl, to a 36 year old man. Riggle's voice is flawless, and all of these characters shine through in their own unique ways. Not a one of these characters had weak or unrealistic writing in their respective chapters.

So, the writing obviously blew me away and drew me in to all of the characters lives. But more importantly, the story line was so compelling and dramatic. These people's lives are like train wrecks and you just can't look away. So flawed, they all are, and painfully real.

Mallory was fascinating in that she was so mentally ill and manipulative in nearly everything she did. She basically gave up her children to alcoholism, and is completely irrational and hysterical nearly all of the time.

I really liked Casey, flaws and all. Her chapters were amongst my favorites. She is full of secrets and shame, both of which she needs to overcome in order to move on with her life and live peacefully in the present. God, how my heart broke for her, so many times. She was the runt of so much blame and guilt, even from Michael at times, despite her best efforts and good heart.

The three children were great. Dylan was quiet, sweet, and introverted, Jewel, bubbly and full of life. Angel was emotional and snotty in her teenage ways, and was the only one of the children who didn't like Casey.

Anyways, I could go on, but all you need to know is that I loved this book and all the drama that came with it. It sucked me right in and I will definitely re-read this again in the future to absorb all of the details and revisit the characters.

My Rating: 5/5

Author Interview: Janet Ruth Young, The Babysitter Murders

Okay, this is probably one of the most fascinating interviews I've ever had here on my blog. Please welcome Janet Ruth Young, author of the forthcoming The Babysitter Murders (July 26, 2011), which I just reviewed. I am just pleased as punch to have her here today. :)

1. Was any of this story true or based on anything true?

Yes. I had to leave a babysitting job because, like my character Dani Solomon, I had persistent thoughts of harming the children I was responsible for.

2. What interests you in mental illness? Did you do a lot of research on OCD?

I have up-close experience with several mental illnesses---enough to write five or six books, in fact. Which is sort of a curse from the suffering angle, but a blessing because I get to be the person to bring certain kinds of information to the world. I like shedding light on mental illness from a new and different angle, and I like examining the place of mental illness in society and the culture, in seeing how a culture identifies ill people as scary or dangerous and therefore isolates or stigmatizes them.

For The Babysitter Murders, I had my own experience to draw on, but I also located an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) expert, Kimberly Glazier of Yeshiva University, who discussed my ideas with me, reviewed several drafts, and made sure that both Dani’s internal experience and the treatments Dani received were accurate. Kim’s input shaped the story to a significant degree. It was great to work with Kim, too, because more than once we marveled at the fact that although we work in different fields we had the same goal. We’re both frustrated that the illness Dani has, which is actually not uncommon, goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed and therefore untreated, and we’d like to make sure that more people can recognize it as OCD.
In addition to working with Kim, I consulted two of the leading nonfiction books on OCD, The Imp of the Mind and Getting Control, both by Lee Baer. And I always, always, always, when writing about mental illness, use the book Your Mental Health by Allen Frances and Michael B. First, which is the layperson’s version of the DSM-IV, the manual psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose their patients.

3. Do you think Dani was a "bad" person? How would you have reacted if you were the little boy's mom?

Whether Dani is bad or not is one of the key questions the books tries to raise. It really depends on whether you judge thoughts the same way as you judge behavior. If you judge them as equivalent, she’s definitely bad, but if you judge her only by behavior, by the way she treats people around her, she’s pretty wonderful. Several reviewers have pointed out how considerate she is. Despite the ordeal she goes through figuring out how to cope with the crazy thoughts she’s having and people’s reactions to these thoughts, she barely even becomes irritable. She’s always protecting others from hurt. When the police semi-arrest her, she thanks them for driving her home.

In terms of the second part of this question, if I were me now, obviously I would know enough about OCD to suggest to Dani that she and her mom look into the possibility that OCD is causing the thoughts. If I were ignorant of the illness, as Cynthia Draper is, I hope that out of respect for all that Dani has done for me and my family I would not overreact in a way that would damage Dani. For instance, I might give Alex to a neighbor for safekeeping, then call Dani’s mom and ask her to take Dani to the emergency room.

4. What do you think of the people who were after Dani? Good people seeking justice, or monstrous?

Again, one of the key questions of the book. (These are great questions.) I’m playing around with the idea represented in the phrase “protect our kids.” Just about everyone in the book has the goal of protecting kids, but they act out that motivation in different ways. Dani’s mom, Beth Solomon, wants to protect her own child. Others who don’t understand Dani’s illness want to protect kids from Dani, even if that means having to hurt Dani. I tried to make all these characters’ motivations legitimate enough that readers have to keep re-evaluating which side of the question they’re on.

5. How should people have reacted to Dani?

Someone along the way---perhaps not Dani herself or her mother or her best friend or her boyfriend or the woman who hired her as a babysitter---should have realized much earlier what was wrong with Dani. I have to lay some blame at the door of Dani’s first therapist, Dr. Kumar, who, since she’s unfamiliar with Dani’s illness, assumes that Dani’s violent thoughts are the product of unresolved anger.

6. Who would you envision in a movie of The Babysitter Murders?

A natural redhead such as Julianne Moore to play Dani’s mother, Beth. Tom Hanks and Nicolas Cage to play the good cop and the bad cop. And someone really exciting and newsworthy, like Lady Gaga, to play Dr. Mandel. I don’t know the current crop of teen actors well enough to cast the teen roles. Perhaps those roles would be filled by unknowns.

Review: Zombie Blondes by Brian James

Title: Zombie Blondes

Author: Brian James
Genre/Age: Zombies, Young Adult
Publication: 2008
Source: Library

Summary: Fifteen year old Hannah and her dad are always moving to run away from his problems. When they arrive in Maplecrest, things seem strange. The town is eerily quiet, and most of the houses are deserted and up for sale. When she meets the popular girls at school, nearly identical pale, blonde cheerleaders, she's desperate to fit in. So desperate, that she doesn't heed her friend Lukas' warning: they're zombies, and they'll turn her into one too if she's not careful...

My Thoughts: I love zombies. I'm waiting for the day a zombie apocalypse befalls us, and I. will. be. ready! So, I was excited to read this book. It seemed like a fresh, unique take on the zombie tale. But, *sigh,* was it ever disappointing.

First of all, this was hardly a zombie tale. No zombie action happened until the very end. Leading up to that, the zombies seemed like regular people, if a little strange. It was lacking all the excitement and action of a zombie story, and until the end, the zombies were very unconvincing. They don't act like zombies at all. Robots, maybe, with their (nearly) identical appearances and actions... but zombies? Notsomuch.

Okay, so aside from that major issue, the book wasn't bad. Hannah is the new girl in town, she wants to fit in but struggles, she meets boys, has problems at home, etc. See, this could have been a good story, if it wasn't trying to be a zombie story. I wanted zombies and I barely got them. Either there needed to be a lot more zombie action, or this should have not been a zombie book at all, just Hannah's story and struggles with moving all around and whatnot.

The writing was good. The characters were interesting. The book moved along at a really fast pace; I read it in a day and a half... so I definitely didn't hate it, I was just disappointed because my expectations were much different from what was presented.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Review: The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young

Title: The Babysitter Murders

Author: Janet Ruth Young
Genre/Age: Contemporary fiction, Young adult
Publication: July 26, 2011 (anticipated)
Source: For review, Teen Book Scene

Summary: Dani has strange, disturbing thoughts and images in her head that she can't control. When she has visions of killing Alex, the five year old she babysits, her life turns upside down. She fears she will truly hurt him, even though she loves him, and tries to quit her job to protect him. When his mother refuses to let her go, Dani reveals her visions to her. His mom immediately notifies the police, and the information gets leaked to the media. Now, "Dani Death" is threatened and bullied on a daily basis, even having rocks thrown through her window. She decides to run away from home, and now a violent and malicious group of "child protectors" is after her, searching high and low to find her. Dani just wants to know what's wrong with her, but can she escape and find out?

My Thoughts: I loved the premise of this book and eagerly awaited my chance to read it. It sounded deliciously creepy, something I love. I did enjoy the story, but was thrown off quite a bit by the writing style. It was written in third person present tense (I think that's what it would be called), and this was incredibly awkward to me. An example of this writing style would be something like, "Nancy walks down the street and sees her ex-boyfriend. She feels embarrassed and goes the other way." This just does not flow with me at all, so I felt distracted the whole time I was reading. I felt that this really detracted from the story.

As far as the actual story line though, it was quite intriguing, if a bit over the top. The reactions to Dani's visions were crazy, especially the child protector group who basically wanted to kill her. I can see that her visions were in fact disturbing, but she was innocent. She didn't hurt anybody, and didn't intend to. I can't see a community reacting the way hers did in real life, but maybe there are some crazy enough people? I'd like to believe that people would be more understanding of mental illness in a case of innocence, but who knows. If she had acted on her visions, that would have been one thing, but this was something entirely different. The big question of this story is: do bad thoughts make someone a bad person? Or do only bad actions make someone a bad person? This idea is SO thought-provoking to me, and I still don't have an answer.

So, all in all, an interesting and very unique story, with an even better underlying question. I would have enjoyed it better if it had been written in a different style, but it's still worth the read! Very controversial!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Giveaway: Starring In the Movie of My Life by Laurel Osterkamp

So, I just read this book, Starring In the Movie of My Life, by Laurel Osterkamp.

Aaaand, I loved it so frackin' much that I gave it 5 stars. Really. Check it out.

Aaaand, I'm so excited to say, I have an extra (brand new) copy to give away to one of you (please note, the copy you will be receiving has a different cover than what is pictured here).

Giveaway Details:
Comment below with your e-mail
Followers only (old or new)
US only
Winner selected July 9 2011, via random.org


Good luck! The winner will be in for a real treat with this book!!! :)