Review: Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten

Title: Bad Girls with Perfect Faces

Author: Lynn Weingarten  
Publisher: Simon Pulse 

Publishing Date: October 31st, 2017

Pages: 320
Genre: YA Psychological,  Mystery/Suspense

Series:  Stand Alone 
Source: Audio

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls comes a stylish thriller about the darkness that lurks inside all of us.

When I looked up, his smile was wide and real. “Ready?” he said.
I faked a smile back. I had gotten so good at faking things.
I thought: You brought this on yourself, Sasha. You will have to pretend forever now.
He squeezed my hand again. He couldn’t begin to imagine what this actually was. He had no idea what I’d done. What any of us had.

When Sasha’s best friend Xavier gets back together with his cheating ex, Ivy, Sasha knows she needs to protect him. So she poses as a guy online to lure Ivy away.

But Sasha’s plan goes sickeningly wrong. And she soon learns to be careful of who you pretend to be because you might be surprised by who you become…

Told in multiple points of view, Bad Girls with Perfect Faces is sexy and twisted with shocks at every turn

I'm gonna be honest, this book was a book I noticed but paid no attention. I didn't think I had any interest in reading it. It sounded like an angsty read to me and I just wasn't in the mood to get involved. Well, looking through audible one day I found this book, it had some pretty glowing reviews... so I said okay I will read this... Oh, am I ever so happy I did. I am totally all over this read. 

There is a girl, Sasha, and she has a best friend, Xavier, who has an ex-girlfriend, Ivy. Sasha has feelings for Xavier who is still hung up on Ivy who cheated on him when they were together. Following... yes see sounds really angsty. Sasha and Xavier go hang out one night and Ivy shows up, talks Xavier into getting back together. Bad Xavier. At this point, things just happen. Sasha takes control. Xavier finds himself in a bad relationship, and bad things happen. Plans backfire, good intentions turn not so good. And this is the mystery... What really happened. 

First off, this book completely screwed with my head. In so many ways. I thought I knew what was going on, who was who, who was the good guy and who was the bad guy. The mystery in this book was so incredibly well done. It was purely psychological and so suspenseful. In the first part of the book, there was a whole lotta character development and story build going on. I could tell things were going to get intense, eventually, something big was going to happen... It just wasn't even close to what I imagined. I was never bored, I was completely wrapped up in this story. I never once thought about putting this read away and doing something else... even things that needed to be done. I was so into this book. There was so much tension being built I just knew something big was going to happen. I could just feel the tension in every word... and something big did happen and it was oh well this is going to be trouble, big trouble. 

I want to talk about the characters. Let me tell you when I say everyone in this book was screwed up, I mean screwed up to the max. In fact, screwed up doesn't even scratch the surface. These teens were off their rockers, angsty, angry, jealous, and were into head games and so much crazy.  And even more crazy, I liked it. I liked the crazy, the screwed up, the missing more than a few marbles. They were likable in all their craze. They were interesting and multi-layered. There was a very fine line between what they thought was good and knowing they went too far. They were so wrong and I knew it was all bad, very bad things.. .but I wanted more. I devoured their antics. I even cheered them on. I know how messed up am I?

The entire story was just messed up, including the ending. The ending was so very disturbing and yet I liked it. I felt it fit and I was happy with how it ended but then not happy that I was happy with the way it ended. It almost felt dirty to like it and to enjoy this book. I am not sure anyone else has had this feeling but its very strange. I feel conflicted. After I finished this book, smiling and a little shell-shocked... all I remember is thinking am I okay to like something so messed up? I loved every moment of this book.

Guilty- I absolutely loved this book and I need more from this author! 

Lynn Weingarten is a New York Times bestselling author living in Brooklyn. Her fifth young adult novel, BAD GIRLS WITH PERFECT FACES, was released in the US on Halloween 2017. It will be out in the UK on January 11th, 2018.

Her previous books include SUICIDE NOTES FROM BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (a NY Times bestseller, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten book for 2016, one of Vanity Fair’s list of Best Books for July, and on The Guardian’s list of 5 of the Best in Young Adult Fiction), and WHEREVER NINA LIES (an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen’s Top Ten Nominee and a Sequoyah Book Award Nominee)

In the past, Lynn edited books and developed ideas for Alloy Entertainment. She is currently Creative Director of Dovetail Fiction, a new sister company from the book packager Working Partners.
She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @lynnweingarten

Review: With Malice by Eileen Cook

Title: With Malice 

Author: Eileen Cook 
Publisher: HMH for Young Readers
Publishing Date: June 7th 2016

Pages: 320
Genre: YA Mystery/Psychological suspense/Thriller

Series:  Stand Alone
Source: ARC 

 

It was the perfect trip…until it wasn’t.

Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last six weeks should be. She discovers she was involved in a fatal car accident while on a school trip in Italy. A trip she doesn’t even remember taking. She was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…wasn’t an accident.

As the accident makes national headlines, Jill finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. It doesn’t help that the media is portraying her as a sociopath who killed her bubbly best friend, Simone, in a jealous rage. With the evidence mounting against her, there’s only one thing Jill knows for sure: She would never hurt Simone. But what really happened? Questioning who she can trust and what she’s capable of, Jill desperately tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life.

This book didn't stand out for me at first but it came highly recommended by Michelle from pink polka dot books. I trust  her judgement... our likes are really similar... so I read it. I loved it and I am so glad I was told to read this book. It was so good. It was full of suspense and mystery and drama. I needed to figure things out and it kept the pages turning. For sure was worth the read. 

Jill wakes up in a hospital. The last six weeks missing from her memory. She doesn't remember her trip to Italy, she doesn't remember a boy she met and fell for, she doesn't remember her best friend dying. She doesn't just wake up with a hole in her memory but she wakes up to a murder investigation. She is the main suspect. Her school trip to Italy is blank but what eye witnesses, classmates from the trip and the Italian police think she did it. She killed her best friend... She can't believe this but is the past, the missing memories, the death of her best friend... worth remembering and can she deal with the truth. When it all comes crashing down or put together will it be something she can live with or something that will tear her life apart.?

I went into this book with high standards after hearing such raving words from my good friend Michelle. I didn't think it would hit the mark. It did though actually, it passed the mark and hit a perfect bullseye. Thinking back on the read. I just don't have anything but good things to say about this book. 

The plot building was so good with this story. The actual story and details were the main points that drove this home for. I think that when I go through so many good and mediocre reads, it's hard to find one that stands out and this one did for me. I know that memory loss and murder investigations are nothing new in books but its been a long time since I read one that felt so original and kept the suspense part and the mystery part on target. I find the combination just not so satisfying in many other books. This one was very satisfying. The drama of the story kept me invested. I wanted to figure it all out, make it all make sense. The story from Jill's point of view was so fragmented. I was able to unravel all the nonsense with her in the same way as she did. Through interviews, therapy, memory restoration, and the actual investigation. I was turning the pages as fast as I could. 

The characters were pretty well thought out. The book mainly focused on getting to know Jill, feeling what she felt...confused and lost while dealing with loss. Not jus feeling what she felt but also figuring it all out when everything was lost. It was a journey and it was hard. It was hard because Jill knew the kind of person she was and didn't think she could ever do the thing she was accused of doing. I believed her.. but what kind of story would this be if there wasn't doubt. Doubt from Jill and doubt from me as the reader. I didn't attach really to her but I did connect with the confusion, the emptiness, and the loss. 

The ending was quite an ending. It was resolved in a way.... maybe not to what I wanted or thought but it ended the way it should have to make for a very good read. It didn't disappoint and that is what I had hoped for. A great read to put up there with all my favorite psychological thrillers/dramas/mysteries/suspense etc. 

Loved it.... great addition to my stash... recommend to everyone. 

Eileen Cook spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.

You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny atwww.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.

Review: Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore

Title: Thicker Than Water 

Author:  Kelly Fiore
Publisher: Harper Teen

Publishing Date: January 5th 2016

Pages:  320
Genre: YA Psychological Drama

Series: Stand Alone
Source: E-ARC

 

Cecelia Price killed her brother. At least, that’s what the police and the district attorney are saying. And although Cecelia is now locked up and forced into treatment, she knows the real story is much more complicated.

Cyrus wasn’t always the drug-addled monster he’d become. He was a successful athlete, but when an injury forced him off the soccer field and onto pain medication, his life became a blur of anger, addiction, and violence. All CeCe could do was stand by and watch, until she realized one effective way to take away her brother’s drugs while earning the money she needed for college: selling the pills.

Soon, CeCe becomes part drug dealer, part honor student. But even when all she wants is to make things right, she learns that sometimes the best intentions lead to the worst possible outcome.

Thicker than Water is an unforgettable dark, harrowing look into the disturbing truth of drug addiction and the desperate love of a sister watching her brother deteriorate before her eyes. 

This was one of those books I knew nothing about until I saw it on Netgalley and thought hmmm looks interesting. I love me some good drama. SO I grabbed it and I read it and I loved it. It was good real good. It was an old story of drugs and family issues, and getting involved with the wrong people, but what made it good was the way it was told. I was grabbed quickly and then I was invested and just couldn't put the book down. 

Cecelia is sitting in a recovery house for teens... teens with issues from anorexia to drugs, to mental breakdowns of any kind. She has been charged for her brothers death. She knows she is responsible but her lawyer things otherwise. In the time she spends in this recovery house- her story comes out in bits and pieces and her current life.... gets a little bit better... but she needs to get her past before she can move forward. 

There was just something heart stomping about the way this story was told. It was haunting, it was tragic, it was memorable. I have read this story... or the story of family problems, drug addictions, and some messed up teens before, but this story was riveting. It grabbed me from the inside out and took me a bit to recover. I want to say the way the story unfolded, the authors writing and tone really set the book for me. 

The story unfolded in pieces. From the very beginning Cecelia says that her brothers death is her fault. How, its not told. We know she is going to trial, We know she has a lawyer. We know she is fully committed to pay for her brothers death. What we don't know are the details, the truth, and the ugliness of the entire mess of things. 

So we are told in memories. Slowly it comes out. In between we see Cecelia deal and start to heal just a tiny bit at a time. With the help of other. Others in the house with her, Her lawyer. Her Therapist. In the end can't say I was happy with the person Cecelia was or is at the moment, but I could see there were possibilities. 

This book held a lot of ugly and a lot of honesty. I have know addicts, dealers, and I have seen the ugly and the truth. It's a horrible life to be in or to watch someone else battle. It never starts off as a problem but always ends as a problem. I really liked how the author tackled all those responsible for Cecelia's brother. There wasn't just one person involved that led him into the struggle of his life. There were many. Some directly and some by just pretending it was all okay instead of getting him help. It was heart wrenching. 

I didn't care for Cecelia much. At first. I mean she did take responsibility for her actions or at least she wanted to but I was pissed at her. Mad she was stupid enough to do what she did in the first place. Angry she trusted the wrong people. Furious that she didn't think more of herself or that she could have made different choices. She was a smart girl. But she threw it all way. I didn't like her much. However when the truth came out. I didn't blame her for her brother's death. It was just a messed up line of bad choices that led to something horrible. She was dumb yes... but that was forgivable. 

When I started liking her was when I found she was healing by taking responsibility for her actions. Not guilt or blame but truly coming to terms with it and healing. She never shrugged it off or try to reason it out. She tool responsibility and she figured out how to move on. Mostly. That redeemed her for her stupidness for me. 

Really it was a great book. There were a few times I was frustrated with the flipping back and forth between past and present... because I was so into what was going on and I had to wait at least two more chapters to continue... but really that was my only gripe. 

Very Good Read. Emotional, Gripping, Heart Breaking. But Satisfying. 

Kelly (Edgeington) Fiore has a BA in English from Salisbury University and an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia University. She received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2005 and 2009. Kelly’s poetry has appeared in Small Spiral Notebook, Samzidada, Mid Atlantic Review, Connotation Press, and the Grolier Annual Review. Her first young adult novel, Taste Test, was released in August 2013 from Bloomsbury USA, and her second, Just Like the Movies, again from Bloomsbury, was releasted in 2014. Forthcoming novels include Thicker Than Water from HarperTeen in 2015.

Kelly taught high school English for ten years and college composition for five. Now, she writes full time and lives in Virginia with three children, two dogs, one hedgehog, and a very patient and loving boyfriend. You can connect with Kelly at her website(www.kellyfiorewrites.com), on Twitter (@kellyannfiore), on Tumblr (kellyfiore.tumblr.com), or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KellyFioreYAAuthor).