ARC Review: Riptide by Lindsay Scheibe

Name of book: Riptide
Author: Lindsay Scheibe
Publication: May 8th 2013 by Flux
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

Grace has one summer to prove she’s good enough

For Grace Parker, surfing is all about the ride and the moment. Everything else disappears. She can forget that her best friend, Ford Watson, has a crush on her that she can’t reciprocate. She can forget how badly she wants to get a surf scholarship to UC San Diego. She can forget the pressure of her parents’ impossibly high expectations.

When Ford enters Grace into a surf competition—the only way she can impress the UCSD surfing scouts—she has one summer to train and prepare. Will she gain everything she’s ever wanted or lose the only things that ever mattered?

-- My Rating --

3.5 / 5 Oscars: Liked it...

-- My Thoughts --

     I love light contemporary reads with cute, unforgettable characters. But contemporary reads are also a 

great risk. Since, one little slip by the author and it may be too much and turn the book 180 degrees. This 

book was not my favorite but it had its nice moments.

     Grace is an ambitious surfer with over-achieving parents who want her to attend the Ivy Leagues. But Grace has other  plans, including getting accepted at a surfing college and getting her best friend, Ford to notice her in a new way. But the universe seems to be against any of her wishes working out.

---

Quotes are buoys in the ocean. I hang onto them fo sanity, for life, for hope. Quotes keep me going. Sometimes having someone else's words encourage me. They give shape to my feelings 

                                       - Grace

---

     I loved that this book concentrated on many different subjects all at once. Racial differences. Immigrants getting deported. Abuse. Pursuing dreams. And teenage angst. What is remarkable is that the author succeeded in blending all these subjects into one book and never confusing the reader. The two main characters, Grace and Ford,  have very distinctive voices,  and I liked them.  But never really felt what they FELT. The secondary characters were more like cardboard cut-outs for me and I didn't connect very well.
     The character development is evident in this book and I liked witnessing it. The plot is quick and not action-packed, but it's thrilling. Although this book had its own ups and downs, with perfect moments, and moments that made me say "Ugh" and "Meh", it still was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it.

Review: The Truth about Breaking Up, Making Up, and Moving on by Chad Eastham

Name of book: The Truth About Breaking Up, Making Up, and Moving On
Author: Chad Eastham
Publication:  January 8th 2013 by Thomas Nelson Publishers
Genre: Non-fiction, Self-improvement
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

Relationships are like road trips.

Sometimes they're an exciting adventure. But sometimes they're like a traffic jam going nowhere. Or even worse, they're a wrong turn that's taken you hundreds of miles off your course.

With much-needed humor and honest advice, bestselling author and speaker Chad Eastham helps you think through tough but necessary relationship issues such as:

- Why some people find happiness, while others find heartache

- Why pain hurts so much

- When to break up

- When to make up

Chad's conversational tone, facts, and advice encourage young people to rethink life's conversations, even the difficult stuff like heartbreak. There is nothing in life that is too big, too painful, or too difficult that God cannot make better and use to teach us about love. Nothing.

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars: Liked it...

-- My Thoughts --

     Relationships are a huge part of teenage lives. The way teens deal with relationships can make or break them for the rest of their lives. So, Chad Eastham has written an epic guide into the utterly-confusing, emotionally-charged mind of the teenage boy/girl and he has nailed it.
      I am not a good fan of self-improvement books, and while, I might not consider this book under that topic, it was a really good one. The way the author divided the book into parts, and parts into chapters was a very easy way to follow and I was never lost. I am a teenager, and I will still be for another couple of years. So, i know that Chad really KNOWS what happens in a teenager's mind, as I could relate to everything he explained. One thing that I loved was the letters Chad posted of teenagers who had problems, they were so easy to relate to. It could have been no different if my name was written at the end of each letter.
     Also loved Chad's amazing quotes and cute, smart-ass connections. He connects two absolutely random things together and threads them into such a meaningful thing. I love a book that I can benefit from and this book did just that. I won't be the same after reading this and I know that my actions, ideas, choices, and reactions will be much better in relationships than before. So thank you, Chad! For showing me such a great guide into my own mind!

ARC Review: Peregrine Harker & The Black Death by Luke Hollands

Name of book: Peregrine Harker and The Black Death (#1)
Author: Luke Hollands
Publication: June 3rd 2013 by Sparkling Books Ltd
Genre: YA Historical Fiction, Thriller
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

MURDER. SPIES. EXPLOSIONS. REVENGE.

Peregrine Harker is about to learn you're never too young to die.

London 1908: A secret society stalks the murky streets, a deadly assassin lurks in the shadows and a series of unexplained deaths are linked by a mystery symbol…

When boy-detective Peregrine Harker stumbles across a gruesome murder he sparks a chain of events that drag him on a rip-roaring journey through a world of spluttering gas lamps, thick fog, deadly secrets and dastardly villains.

Every step of Peregrine’s white-knuckle adventure brings him closer to the vile heart of a terrifying mystery – the true story behind the Brotherhood of the Black Death.

-- My Rating --

4/5 Oscars: Really liked it

-- My Thoughts --

     I didn't know what to expect while reading this book. I didn't know whether to classify it as middle grade or YA. But no matter what genre it is in, I definitely fell in love with its uniqueness and action-packed plot!
     Peregrine Harker is a journalist boy with a wide imagination and a strong backbone in the never-aging London. He would do everything to get a good scoop for the newspaper. And when his boss tells him to investigate the reasons for the current rise of tea prices, he is swept in into a network of lies, deceive, The Black Death, and empty coffins. One that he might not get out of alive.
     Well, if you weren't intrigued by the summary, you have no damn taste! I was pretty hooked up with the summary and The Black Death! And this book did not disappoint. I loved it that Luke Hollands gave Peregrine such a unique voice. It was unlike anything I have read before. Peregrine Harker is like the old friend you had, the one that you will always adore and recognize even after years of not seeing them. The secondary characters are just as intriguing.
     The mystery and the thrill woven into this book were a perfect dose. When I found out the culprit, I wanted to smack myself for not finding it out sooner! The plot is action-driven, you will never get bored. And the descriptions of the beautiful, vast London are so wonderful, I could imagine being there, right at that moment!
     This book might not make it to my all time favorites list, but this is one book that you will 

throughout-ly enjoy. One that you will pass around to all your friends to read. And one that will 

leave you satisfied with the ending but still anxious to read about Peregrine's next adventure!

ARC Review: Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Name of book: Dark Tide
Author: Elizabeth Haynes
Publication: March 12th 2013 by Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary Thriller
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

The author of the acclaimed debut thriller Into the Darkest Corner returns with a taut, gripping murder mystery featuring a compelling heroine who unwittingly finds herself caught in an underworld of murder, corruption, and betrayal.

The first time Genevieve saw it, she knew it was the one: Revenge of the Tide, "an odd sort of a name for a boat." Genevieve had finally escaped the stressful demands of her London sales job and achieved her dream--to leave the city behind and start a new life aboard a houseboat in Kent. She left the boat's name as it was. Revenge had character after all, and living in a marina made her feel a bit safer, a little less lonely; almost as if the boat looked after her, hid her away from view.

But her dreams are shattered the night of her boat-warming party when a body washes up, and to Genevieve's horror, she recognizes the victim as a close friend from nights dancing on-stage at a private members' club, the Barclay. She isn't about to tell the police, though; next to no one knew what Genevieve did every Friday and Saturday night to save money for her escape, and she sees no reason to reveal her past. The death can't have anything to do with her. Or so she thinks.

Soon the lull of the waves against Revenge feels anything but soothing, as Genevieve begins to receive mysterious calls and can't reach the one person who links the present danger with her history at the club. And then there is the parcel on her boat she's meant to be safekeeping for an old flame, which seems to be putting her in jeopardy. As Genevieve begins to fear for her safety, she recalls the moment when it had all started to go horribly wrong: the night she recognized her day-time boss in the crowd of customers at the Barclay. . . .

With Dark Tide, Elizabeth Haynes builds on the promise of her outstanding debut Into the Darkest Corner. Told in dual narratives that interweave past and present, this dark, sexy, exquisitely chilling thriller proves her "initial success was no accident" (Sunday Express).

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars

-- My Thoughts --

     I dove blindly into this book. I had not idea what it was about, or who the author was, nothing. Well, I liked some parts, some other parts were just not my cup of tea.
     Genevieve escaped her London life and moved to an isolated boat in a little town for many reasons. One of them being associated with a mysterious package in her boat. But the past is never too far behind, and when one night, she invites her old friends to a party on her boat, everything starts to unravel...
     The plot is the one thing I adored about this book. The complicity and the irony of it is never lost. Yes, it is predictable and yes, it may tackle a subject that not many people like, but it never failed to impress me how different the kind of life was that Genevieve had lived in the past. There wasn't a lot of romance in the first half of the book, but it really picked up towards the end.
     There were somethings that kept me from giving this book five stars (Oscars). First, the character, Genevieve. Her decision-making skills irritated me. She could have done so much better and saved herself all the ache and the problem. Second, the pacing, I admit it, I passed a couple of paragraphs just to get to the ending fast. But the thing that redeemed the bad side, was the complexity and the uniqueness of the plot.

Review: The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

Name of book: The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers #1)
Author: David Estes
Publication: June 30th 2012
Genre: YA Dystopian
Source: Provided by the kind author...
Goodreads

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms. 

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.

In their world, someone must die.

-- My Rating --

3.5 Oscars: Liked it

-- My Thoughts --

    Wow. I read the anthology, Furthermore (my review here) and there were two contributions from David Estes and they were both my favorites. I was SO happy that after I finished the book, I had the Moon Dwellers right on my digital shelf, waiting to be reviewed. So, I dived right in, and I am so glad I did.
     Adele has been taken away to the Pen, the prison for the teenagers, and 

she has a life sentence. Her parents are gone, her sister is in an orphanage and there is no hope left. Until the day she catches Tristan's eyes and meets her two new friends, Tawni and Cole. With them, everything changes. Tristan is the son of the president, but he is not like his father and he cannot help but be captivated by Adele's bravery and strength,
     The first thing that I loved about this book was the plot. The dystopian 

genre has been raiding the book world for years now, but David  Estes brought something new to the field. Although I would have appreciated it if he added a bit more detail to his descriptions, they were perfect, really, but I 

still wanted to know more about this cruel, dark world.

     Another thing I praise David Estes for, is his characters. They are 

superbly-crafted with believable motives. Adele and Tristan have claimed the spotlight. Though, I have to admit that I didn't like Tristan that much. He is the typical "book" guy, for now. There was a lot of character development in both Adele and Tristan and I loved watching (reading about, actually) them grow up.
     David Estes has started one captivating series and I am looking forward to reuniting with Adele in The Star Dwellers!