Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

Title: Moonrise

Author: Sarah Crossan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children

Publishing Date: May 8th, 2018

Pages: 400
Audio Length: 3 Hours and 49 Minutes

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Source: ARC 

'They think I hurt someone.
But I didn't. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.'
From one-time winner and two-time Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this poignant, stirring, huge-hearted novel asks big questions. What value do you place on life? What can you forgive? And just how do you say goodbye?

What made me pick this book up: 

The cover is gorgeous, and it was on netgalley to review. 

What did I like about the cover: 

I thin it's beautiful, the colors and the night sky are gorgeous.

What made me read this book: 

It was for a task and I wanted to review it. The synopsis was really interesting too.

What did I like the most: 

Okay, let me just start by saying this book broke my heart. I haven't cried this hard in a book in a very long time With that being said...
This is weird, given my rating, but up until the end I really didn't like anything, except the lady from the diner. She was funny. But honestly that was it. And she wasn't even that important since I can't even remember her name.

What didn't I like: 

I feel like up until the end, this entire book is a waste of time. I understand the need for build up, but this had so much bouncing back and forth that it didn't make sense. I disliked the characters and I didn't care what happened. Up until the end that is. The rest was just annoying. I based my star rating solely on the end and all the feels it gave me. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Well, it did give me a lot of feels. If she has another book that the entire book is like that, I might like it.

I disliked about 90% of this book, but the ending was so powerful.

“Will you be ok if I'm not around? he asked.
Sure, I said,
but I didn't mean it.
Ed was my brother but also sort of like 
my dad
and my best friend too.” 
― Sarah Crossan, Moonrise

Sarah Crossan is Irish. She graduated with a degree in Philosophy and Literature before training as an English and Drama teacher at Cambridge University and worked to promote creative writing in schools before leaving teaching to write full time.
She completed her Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick in 2003 and in 2010 received an Edward Albee Fellowship for writing.
She currently lives in NYC.

Review: Insanity by Susan Vaught

Title: Insanity

Author: Susan Vaught

Publisher:  Bloomsbury USA Children

Publishing Date: February 18th 2014

Pages: 384 

Genre: YA Horror

Series: Stand alone

Source: ARC

  

Never, Kentucky is not your average scenic small town. It is a crossways, a place where the dead and the living can find no peace. Not that Forest, an 18-year-old foster kid who works the graveyard shift at Lincoln Hospital, knew this when she applied for the job. Lincoln is a huge state mental institution, a good place for Forest to make some money to pay for college. But along with hundreds of very unstable patients, it also has underground tunnels, bell towers that ring unexpectedly, and a closet that holds more than just donated clothing....When the dead husband of one of Forest's patients makes an appearance late one night, seemingly accompanied by an agent of the Devil, Forest loses all sense of reality and all sense of time. Terrified, she knows she has a part to play, and when she does so, she finds a heritage that she never expected.
With her deep knowledge of mental illness and mental institutions, Susan Vaught brings readers a fascinating and completely creepy new book intertwining the stories of three young people who find themselves haunted beyond imagining in the depths of Lincoln Hospital.

This is a book about ghosts, haunts, shades, and many other spirit types. It is told in several different point of views.

What made me pick this book up?
The cover really, I love spooky/scary books, and they aren't always easy to find in YA. So I thought this was going to be a great one to read. 

What do I like about the cover?
The spookiness. It almost gives me shivers to look at, I love the editing of it and the fact it actually looks like she's a ghost.

What made me read it?
Ghosts. Like I said, I love scary books. And this one really looked like it was going to be a really scary one. 

What did I like the most?
The cover. That's about it, honestly. 

The least?
It was incredibly hard to follow. It was confusing and quite boring in places, and it jumped around way too much. I think it could have been great, definitely has lots of potential, but it just wasn't what I was hoping it would be. 

Would you read the rest of the series/Other books by this author?

Based off of this book, no. But I have been looking at some reviews on other books, some of them have great reviews. So maybe I would. 

I honestly really did not like this book. I only finished it because I wanted to know how it ended. I wish I hadn't. 

Website: http://susanvaught.com

astrology sign: Libra

favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)

favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.

Review: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Title: Going Vintage
Author: Lindsey Leavitt
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publishing Date: March 26th 2013
Pages: 320
Genre: YA Chic Lit
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

 

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:1. Run for pep club secretary2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree3. Sew a dress for Homecoming4. Find a steady5. Do something dangerousBut simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.

I waited a while to finally get to this book. Due to some reviews and ratings, I was a bit afraid that I wouldn't quite enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. I was wrong. This book was super cute, a bit humorous, and just all around fun. I loved the main character, she had some minor issues, but that was OK for me. I thought the story was cute, and I really enjoyed the writing. 

Mallory's boyfriend is caught cyber cheating. Mallory is crushed and angry and embarrassed. She hides out a couple of days helping her father go through her grandmother's things. She finds a list and decides things were much simpler back when her grandmother was a teenager and decides to go vintage. Live like her grandmother did and complete the same list. She finds out soon that it isn't easy but does't give up. Along the way she finds herself, discovers a family secret, and even falls a bit for a new guy. Oh and she learns a bit about life too.

I thought this book was super cute. I loved the characters, well not all of them but I did love to hate the ones I didn't love. The story was just adorable. The writing was fun, fast, and very entertaining. I can't really say what was the best part for me but there are a few that stand out. I love the idea of going vintage. So the story was really so awesome. I enjoyed all the little details, the clothing, the furniture, the lifestyle. It was so much fun. The details were very well written and it brought the life of another time to the present. 

I really liked the main character too. She was intersting. She was strong but she still needed to find strength. She was always a lot stronger than she thought she was and she proved it to herself in the end. She had a great loyalty to her family, especially to her sister and to her grandmother. She saw things that most people would miss and miss much of what others could see. She was very likable and I had no problem connecting to her. I also really liked her sister, Ginnie, her grandmother, and of course Oliver, her ex's cousin. 

Ginnie was a great addition to the story. The bond between Ginnie and Mallory was one I wish all sisters shared. They were good together, looked out for each other, and of course bickered over stupid stuff and then made up. They laughed together and cried together. They were two years difference in age but they did everything together. I loved it. 

Oliver, the love interest, was pretty much awesome. He was a bit shy on relaying his feelings in obvious ways. Although I thought it was pretty clear that he had a crush on Mallory, she wasn't so in on it. Oliver felt and read like a super good looking geek. Just my type. He was smart, good looking, sweet, and snarky. He wasn't the average love interest in YA books, but he was just right for me. 

The romance was cute and wasn't overbearing. It was building from the very beginning and never really made it past the sweet. The story was about Mallory and coming to terms with herself. It wasn't about the romance, but there was just a tinge of romance in the book. It was just perfect for what I wanted and expected out of this read. 

The narrator was just perfect for this book. I felt she did a wonderful job bringing Mallory and the others to life. She kept me very interested and very invested in the story. 

So much awesome and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Lindsey Leavitt is a former elementary school teacher and present day writer/mom to three (mostly) adorable little girls. She is married to her high school lab partner and lives in Las Vegas. She is the author of the PRINCESS FOR HIRE series (www.princessforhire.com), SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD and GOING VINTAGEVisit her on the web at www.lindseyleavitt.com

Review: Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George

Title: Princess of the Silver Woods

Author: Jessica Day George
Publisher:  Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publishing Date: December 11th 2012

Pages: 336
Genre:  YA Fairytale Retelling

Series: Princess #3
Source: Digital ARC 

  

When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor's twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it's not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse. The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for all.

Finally the time came. I was able to read the last book in this wonderful trilogy. I was not disappointed, I absolutely loved the last book. By far my favorite and I am left with a bit of my heart broken that its over and a very warm feelings because ahh... a happy ending. 

This story is about the youngest of the twelve sisters. She probably thought they would never get to her story! We really never see much of Petunia, she was so itty bitty in the first book. She is now 16 years old and is on her way to a little getaway at the Duchess' house. On the way she has a bit of bad luck and her carriage is robbed, well attempted to be robbed because Petunia is a bit of spitfire. She doesn't put up with bullying, not since King Under Stone. She turns it around and the robbers end up going on their merry way, well that is until Petunia takes a bit of walk in the woods. She runs in to the bandits again... this time she is kidnapped. Oops. Her kidnappers are not the viscous kind and they have a very kind mother who slaps their hands and tells them to take the princess to her rightful place. Before they take her the the Duchess' home, she learns some very interesting truths about these bandits and that is where the story really takes off. 

Just wow. I am really in love with this book. From the very beginning I could not put the book done. Awesome characters. Love the plot mixture of Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood. Two great fairytales. I also love the dark and sinister doings in the book. Jessica Day George does a wonderful job of making the unexpected almost expected. 

Petunia is a wonderful character, I am pretty sure she is my favorite. She is a spitfire. She doesn't put up with any stupidness, meanness, or anything else that is not called for. She puts her foot down. Being the youngest of the sisters, I see where the Midnight Balls really messed her over. She was so young when everything happened, but she came out tough! Just like them all. 

 I loved loved loved Oliver. I loved seeing his character develop throughout the book. At first he was  a tough guy who was doing what had to be done to keep the people he cared about safe, fed, and warm. Once Petunia is added into the realm of people he cares about, he is all kinds of mixed up. He knows what the right thing to do is and he struggles with it but in the end, he is a knight in shining armor. 

We do get to see quite a bit of the sisters in this story. More so than the last installment. I love the  sisters are always there for each other. I loved seeing bits of Poppy, Rose, and Lily again. Oh and Galen made his appearance So much yum... in one book. 

Very fast paced read again. Jessica Day George knows how to captivate the audience and keep them hooked til the end. 

So happy its over but I still want more! It ended perfectly and I couldn't have asked for more.