Review: Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson

Title:  Conspiracy Girl 
Author: Sarah Alderson
Published February 12th 2015 by Simon & Schuster
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Why didn’t I know about this book sooner? Was my first thought upon finishing Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson. It was that amazing.

Honestly it was action-packed and the pace was neck-breaking. It even starts right away with a break in, one that happens to be in the bunker-style apartment of Nic, a girl who was the lone survivor of a horrific crime where her mother and stepsister were murdered. And not even in the next chapter we are introduced to the conflict. Now Nic has to trust Finn—the same young computer genius that is responsible her mother’s murderers walked free—to help her figure out who is following her and what do they want. What this ensures is an awkward, uncomfortable but very, very interesting story development.

The mystery/thriller aspect of this book is also awesome, though I did figure out what was happening, in no way did it deter me from reading along excitedly. Mostly because the main characters, Nic and Finn were so likable.

I loved Nic’s confidence and her strong willed nature. She had a horrible family tragedy but she still worked to move on one step at the time. And her relationship with her dog Goz was the cutest.

And then Finn was dreamy too. He is not only a genius but a good-hearted one that wants to make the world better and safer. His relationship with his grandma and his nieces was also so charming and adorable.

What I loved the most about this book was that it is so young-adult feel, but yet is not. What I mean is that it has the essence of the awesomeness that is the YA genre even though the ages of the characters don't match people's assumption of YA, and not to mention there is not a high school in sight. *Claps*

I would recommend the book to everyone honestly, but especially to those who love thrillers, well-crafted and lovable characters, and fast-paced stories. This one is a must re-read for sure! 

Review: Boomerang by Noelle August

Title: Boomerang
Author: Noelle August
Published July 8th 2014 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
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I was really excited to start Boomerang. It's a new adult book yes, but the plot seemed to stay away from the over the top dramatics that surround your typical NA.

I liked it from the start. I liked the humoristic approach to the story and the dual POV allowed me to connect to both main characters and get to know them better. Mia and Ethan are the new Boomerang interns, both are competing to get a job there at the end of the year, and as you can see this calls for a cutthroat fight between them. But no. Since they had a fling the night before this all started, they had already realized they were good people so most of the time they were just fighting the attraction instead of each other. Which calls for a very steamy read ;)

Like I said, I also really enjoyed that the authors didn't take their characters too seriously and instead put them in situations that made the book funny and entertaining. Even the secondary characters were awesome. I especially liked Rhett, he always made me crack up. And the kids on Ethan's youth soccer team were adorable and hilarious too.

So I guess I would recommend this to you if you want to read a New Adult that stands aside of the others, or just if you want to have some fun because this is a perfect read for the summer.

Review: Four Seconds To Lose by K.A. Tucker

Title: Four Seconds To Lose
Author: KA Tucker

Paperback, 400 pages

Published April 1st 2014 by Atria Books (first published November 4th 2013)

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depo
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Four Seconds to Lose is my first experience with a book by K.A. Tucker, and wow, I wish I would have been smarter and have grabbed them before because this one is amazing. Seriously, I have such a difficult relationship with New Adult books but it's books like this one that make me see why they are so popular.

The most outstanding thing about it is that it is hugely entertaining. I never once got bored, and I loved that the story progressed so quickly, you were never left hanging on any of the "mysteries" because they were always almost instantly resolved and yet not really because so many things were yet to be unraveled. I loved the main characters and I loved the dual point of view. Both Charlie and Cain were great characters; it takes talent to make characters likable when they do what these two do. But K.A. Tucker did it.

Another thing that I really, really loved was that Cain, our hero, was not a jerk. I can't even count how many times I've read a New Adult whose main male character is a "bad boy" (which nowadays seems to be a synonym for "huge jerk"). Cain was a genuinely good guy even if his job and past were edging the bad side. I loved Cain and his caring nature. And I also loved Charlie. She was so strong and brave and my heart ached for the lonely little girl living inside her. She might have been afraid most of the time but I could see her real strength shinning through.

Some might argue that the story was too over the top drama, and while that might be true what really counts is that it was so engaging and entertaining that it was impossible to put down. There were minor details that kept me from giving it five stars but they mostly have to do with personal pet peeves and not really with the story. I enjoyed the story and eat it up like it was, I don’t know, I guess any kind of delicious food. Totally recommended for New Adult fans.

 

 

Warning: This is a NEW ADULT book, and it contains scenes that are only for mature audiences.

Review: Roomies by Tara Altebrando & Sara Zarr

Title: Roomies 
Author: Tara Altebrando & Sara Zarr
Expected publication: December 24th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository 
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Roomies is about two girls that spend a summer emailing each other before they will meet in person in school. So you know what you’re going to get, yet not really because these are teenagers after all, taking the biggest step in their life, moving from their homes and starting to live with a stranger, so there is a lot of catharsis going on.

I sort of liked this novel because of what it means. It’s about an incredibly exciting phase, when you leave the nest and start a new chapter in your life, when you start adulthood. The thing is though, that even though I have already been through that, I found it hard to empathize with both girls, Lauren and Elizabeth. Mostly Elizabeth, I couldn’t really find it in my hard to like her, she seemed a little shallow to me, and her mother didn’t help matters.

Lauren was alright, but then she started to date a guy who is black-skinned. I high-fived the authors in my head because that is a bold move for today’s Young Adult Literature, but then the truth came out. Lauren apparently really likes Keyon but her natural reaction and her parents’ reaction and Elizabeth’s reaction, while very appreciated for the honesty, I was severely disappointed to see kids these days still grow up kind of prejudiced against these meaningless things.

At the end, I think this book is going to be very helpful for everyone out there who is about to experience a situation when they are going to have a new roomie. I think one of its strongest messages is that you don’t need to be best friends with your new roomie, you just have to accept them and their personality, no matter if they are different or similar to yours. It’s all part of growing up. But I wouldn’t really call it a requisite read, though, and it is probably more appealing to the younger crowd.

Review: Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Title: Let The Sky Fall 
Author: Shannon Messenger
Published March 5th 2013 by Simon Pulse
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository
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I read “Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents.” and was like WOAH I have to read this boy’s story!

Turns out I was wrong and this book is not about a tragic F-5 tornado that hit some town. No. It’s about super-powered people that are made of air or control air or something, and can (and possibly will) destroy the human race.

Like I have stated before, I hate it when a book tries hard at making me believe the heroine is kickass. It’s like, let me decide that for myself and not shove down my throat how wonderful and deadly this girl is. You know, the kind of problem I have with Divergent. I think it’s more important to portray a girl with a healthy amount of vulnerability so we readers believe that maybe, just maybe there’s also force within ourselves that will allow us to become awesome heroines too. The thing is, Audra was too unapproachable to me. Yes, she did have a sad story behind her, and her family situation sucked, but it was hard to believe she cared about it, because she never showed emotions for it, mostly what she talked about were her duties as Vane’s guardian and her oath to protect him and it was hard to believe any teenager would not have a bit of a pity party once in a while.

And then, I am sorry to say, that Vane was kind of dull. I loved that he thought he was human, though so he went through a lot of emotions and struggled to catch on to the new reality of him being an air-elemental. It was a realistic approach to the way a boy would handle the news, and that is what saved the book for me.

But then again, I am not one to be easily awed by new realities and super powers and strange worlds. It is very rare to get a supernatural/paranormal book in my hands that I can say blew my mind or captivated me enough to continue reading the rest of the series.

On a happier note, I am absolutely in love with the cover of this book. Not only is gorgeous but it also makes a lot of sense once you read the story and captures perfectly these two characters.