Review + Giveaway: All the Rage

ABOUT THE BOOK

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact.

Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything-friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time-and they certainly won’t now-but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women in a culture that refuses to protect them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Courtney Summers lives and writes in Canada, where she divides most of her time between a camera, a piano and a word processing program. She is also the author of What Goes Around, This is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are, Cracked Up to Be, and Please Remain Calm.

 

I give All the Rage 4 stars which is generally “really liked it”, but All the Rage is not a book you like. It’s not a book you can say you enjoyed reading. But a book that is strong and important like this does not need to be liked.

Which is much like Romy Grey, who seems to be universally disliked after being raped by the sheriff’s son.  Because we only get the “after” of the rape, it seems hard to believe that Romy was ever friends with any of those people – something I’ve only now gleaned re-reading the summary.

“You know all the ways you can kill a girl?
God, there are so many.”

All the Rage really captures what it is to be a teenage girl (and turns it up to 11) – the anger and fear and betrayal and everything. I’ve been avoiding books like this one for a while, but I’ve been meaning to give Courtney Summers another shot after some of her other titles were only okay for me. And while I’m maybe not glad to have read this one, I AM thankful that books like this exist.

The publisher is providing one copy of All the Rage for me to give away. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada and ends 4/25.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/125002191X
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-rage-courtney-summers/1119182775?ean=9781250021915
Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/All-Rage/Courtney-Summers/9781250021915?id=6229825482952
IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250021915
Indigo: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/all-the-rage/9781250021915-item.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/all-the-rage/id921442373
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Courtney_Summers_All_the_Rage?id=UyudBAAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/all-the-rage-12

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://courtneysummers.ca/
Tumblr: http://summerscourtney.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CourtneySummersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/courtney_s
Instagram: https://instagram.com/summerscourtney/

ARC Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

 

Title/Author: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Publication Date/Publisher: April 7, 2015/Balzer + Bray

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 4 stars

From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

 

For how close SVTHSA (?) comes to being holy freaking annoying, it luckily blazes straight past and into the realm of good.

Actually, it teeters right on the edge most of the time. Simon’s family is almost too zany. His friends are almost too diverse. Simon is almost too adorable and everything works out almost too well. Luckily, the story is cute and fun enough that things never topple over the edge.

I like this one a lot. I think it’s a very modern take on dating – people are now (and have been for years I guess, but it’s probably more now?) in relationships with people they’ve never met and that take place solely online. In this case, Simon and Blue go to the same school but they are keeping their identities a secret. In the age of okcupid, tinder, and “the tumblr”, I thought it was all very realistic.

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

Title/Author: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Publication Date/Publisher: February 24, 2015/Tor Books

Series: A Darker Shade of Magic  #1

Source and Format: Purchased

Rating: 5 stars

From Goodreads:

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London – but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her ‘proper adventure’.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

If any of these are buzzwords that will make you pick up a book: magic, fantasy, adventure, London, multidimensional, and coat-that-is-probably-related-to-the-TARDIS, then you’ve probably already read this book. If you haven’t already read it, then it’s probably coming up real soon.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I saw the love and flailing and I’m happy to say that I’m throwing my vaguely pirate-y hat in with the rest to sing the praises of A Darker Shade of Magic. My only negative is that it’s not an infinitely long book (though there are at least two more, even though it’s also perfect as a standalone).

I LOVED the magic. I loved that there were rules and they were easy to grasp and stayed true. I SUPER LOVED the coat and wish it had more to do. I love Kell and Lila, though I’m not quite on their ship. All my swooniest feels came from Lila knowing herself and being brave and confident and wanting adventure.

I can’t even tell if I hope the series continues with Lila and Kell or if I want to meet new characters and have adventures with them because these worlds are so great and ripe for limitless adventures and just….amazing. I guess it’s high time to move The Archived up on the ol’ TBR…

If you don’t trust my gushing, maybe Shaq can convince you:

ARC Review: Liars, Inc.

 

Title/Author: Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

Publication Date/Publisher: March 24, 2015/Harper Teen

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 3 stars

From Goodreads:

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called “Captivating to the very end,” Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

You could probably hear the exact minute I finished this book. It was the “eeeehhhhhhhhhhh” heard ’round the world.

Liars, Inc. is not without mystery and suspense – it opens with Max making his escape from the FBI – but it just never completely clicked with me. Maybe I thought more of the focus would actually be on Liars, Inc. (the underground high school forgery group Max forms with his best friend and girlfriend) and not the disappearance/murder of Max’s best friend? I’m not sure. I was also able to guess the biggest part of the ending, which I can almost never do, so I was proud but also lost a little of the enjoyment.

I’m not entirely sure why this didn’t quiiiiite work for me. Paula Stokes did a great job with the male POV and kept me guessing for most of the book. I couldn’t connect with Max like I could with Lainey, or it’s possible a suspenseful thriller mystery wasn’t what I was looking for right now.

Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, How to Get Away with Murder: I’m only familiar with the first two and, okay sure. I mean, there aren’t many popular books most Young Adults will be familiar with I guess so these two are acceptable. At least they didn’t somehow work John Green and Eleanor & Park into it.

ARC Review: The Start of Me and You

Title/Author: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Publication Date/Publisher: March 31, 2015/Bloomsbury

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher for taking part in an Open Road Summer promotion. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 4 stars

From Goodreads:

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

(Written in September 2014, in case I didn’t make it clear enough.)

I feel weird writing this review. I read this book in September 2014, when I still had 25 September 2014 review books to read. The heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart needed some Emery Lord. Since I gave up my review schedule, it’s technically “allowed”, but I will admit to feeling a little guilty and overwhelmed. This is the first time I’ve strayed so far.

I was initially disappointed with The Start of Me and You because I was craving Open Road Summer 2: The Opener, Roadier Summer. Once I got a feel for What the Book Really Was vs. What My Expectations Were, I enjoyed it a lot more. The only thing keeping this from being 5 stars for me is not really a huge thing, but it’s the thing driving Paige through the whole book: the boyfriend’s death. Certified Old Person reporting for duty.

Paige and Aaron had only been together for like two months when he drowned after accidentally falling into a lake. The Start of Me and You takes place during the school year leading up to the second anniversary of his death, and Paige is still letting it be the thing that defines her. She thinks it’s how other people define her, but it doesn’t really seem like it. So my whole (tiny-ish) issue is that Paige straight up says she didn’t even know Aaron that well, and that she’s come to terms with his death and is ready to date, but everything she does is about moving on from his death and becoming someone who is not The-Girlfriend-of-the-Dead-Boy.

Enough about all that. I didn’t find The Start of Me and You to be super swoony, but a good, realistic look at friendship becoming something more. Actually, just friendship in general. Paige makes new and unexpected friends, but her tight foursome remains in tact – even with fighting! I loved the girls together, and I looooved they way they were all brought into the new, larger group.

I flew through this one. After a few chunksters in a row, The Start of Me and You was a breath of fresh, contemporary air. The references to so many of my favorite things (FIREFLYYYY) plus one little sneaky bit are so fun. But it was weird to me that Paige is super into TV and wants to be a writer FOR TV but doesn’t worship at the altar of Joss Whedon. Like…girl. Look at your life, look at your choices.

Mini Reviews

Title/Author: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Publication Date/Publisher: February 10, 2015/Balzer + Bray

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 3 stars

From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner.

Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.

Didn’t relate to the characters or really feel the struggle or depression. Overall, I DID like it but based on the other reviews I saw, I thought it would for sure be a 5 star bawl my eyes out read.

 

Title/Author: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Publication Date/Publisher: February 10, /Bloomsbury Childrens

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 2 stars

 

From Goodreads:

The Competition:

Outlandishly wealthy Grandmother VanDemere has decided to leave her vast fortune to the family member who proves him or herself worthiest-by solving puzzles and riddles on a whirlwind race around the globe, from the mines of Venezuela to the castles of Scotland. There will be eight competitors, three continents . . . and a prize worth millions.

The Players:

Seventeen-year-old Avery is the black sheep of the VanDemere clan, the ostracized illegitimate daughter. Finally, she has a chance to prove herself . . . and to discover the truth about her long-lost mother.

Marshall might be Avery’s uncle, but there’s no love lost between the two of them. He’s her main competition, and he’ll do anything to win-including betray his own children.

Riley is the handsome son of Grandmother VanDemere’s lawyer. As the game progresses, Avery falls hard for Riley. Suddenly, losing the game might mean losing him, too.

As the competition takes treacherous turns, it becomes clear there can only be one victor. Who can Avery truly trust? And is winning worth her life?

National Treasure meets Rat Race or The Amazing Race or probably some other kind of race. The writing was incredibly meh to the point where I thought the love interest was the most obviously shady character ever written. I wanted more a The Westing Game feel, but I always want everything to have more of a The Westing Game feel.

This is probably an issue like one other person will have – but I did not really enjoy the grandmother having my name. I have a fairly unique name so it’s SO WEIRD for me to see it like that. I talk about this more in my You Look Different in Real Life review, but I don’t know if like Megan’s and Sarah’s (for example) have this problem because their names are/were very common. JUSTINE has always meant ME so it was…weird.

ARC Review: The Winner’s Crime

Title/Author: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Publication Date/Publisher: March 3, 2015/Farrar Straus Giroux

Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #2

Source and Format: I received this book as part of a tour with Gals On the Same Page

Rating: 5 stars

 

From Goodreads:

Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Wow.

There is so much plotting and deception – and finally the end result is worth it! THAT ENDING!

The Winner’s Crime is amazing, and even better than The Winner’s Curse in a lot of ways – which is pretty rare for the second book in a series/trilogy.

Kestrel and Arin are torn apart by circumstances they can’t control – save for the pieces controlled by the emperor (Kestrel’s father-in-law-to-be). War, political intrigue. lies – Kestrel and Arin (mostly Kestrel, tbh) do what they have to to save each other.

I don’t want to give ANYTHING away, obviously, but The Winner’s Crime is not to be set aside in favor of another read. You need to read it as soon as you can get your hands on it – and then join me in the wait for the soul-crushing wait for The Winner’s Kiss.

ARC Review: Shutter

Title/Author: Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Publication Date/Publisher: February 3, 2015/Feiwel and Friends

Series: No, but I feel like it might be

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 2 stars

 

From Goodreads:

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She’s aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera’s technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn’t exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she’s faced before . . . or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.

 

Shutter just did not work for me. The super eye-rolling started when I saw “analog DSLR” on the back of the book – thankfully this was caught and changed for the final copy (though “analog SLR” is not much better) – and died down once I got into the story…but I just couldn’t connect to the Micheline and I couldn’t connect the writing to the story (more on that later).

I felt like the fact that ghosties were just a part of life in the world of Shutter was really interesting and that the use of a camera as a weapon against the creepy crawlies of the world could have been MORE interesting – it would have worked better for me if Micheline wasn’t the only person who did that. If it’s the only way to get rid of the spiritual undead, shouldn’t everyone be doing it? Unless being a tetrachromat is a requirement for that, it just doesn’t make sense to me (this might have been explained – I did a fair bit of skimming).

Horror isn’t my favorite genre. I’ve never been scared from reading a book, so it can often come across as cheesy to me. I would much rather read some campy horror than something trying to be serious. Shutter is trying to be serious, and has characters that are all very military-esque, so the purple-y prose doesn’t quite suit it. It’s not so bad that I would call it purple, but it’s definitely lavender. It would be a much better fit to a contemporary.

That’s not to say Courtney Alameda is without skill. This particular book didn’t draw me in in the way that I would have liked (there was only about ten pages where I was REALLY into it), but I would definitely read something else from her – just not a sequel to Shutter.

 

Series Review: The Lumatere Chronicles

Title/Author: The Lumatere Chronicles (Finnikin of the Rock, Froi of the Exiles, Quintana of Charyn) by Melina Marchetta

Publication Date/Publisher: 2008-2012/ Viking Australia

Series: Yes, The Lumatere Chronicles

Source and Format: Owned and borrowed from library

Rating: 4 stars

From Goodreads:

Critically acclaimed and universally beloved, the Lumatere Chronicles – consisting of Finnikin of the Rock, Froi of the Exiles, and Quintana of Charyn – is now available in its entirety in this e-book collection! Discover the fantasy trilogy that reviewers have called “thrilling, romantic, and utterly unforgettable” and that School Library Journal recommended for “fans of the intricate fantasies of Megan Whalen Turner or George R. R. Martin.”

 

I am a series binger, for sure. I read a LOT of books and the best way for me to keep the story straight is to just read the whole series at once. The only problem with this is that it becomes one giant story, instead of three consecutive ones, if that makes sense. So I can never quite remember if something happened in one book or the next.

I really enjoyed this series! I had been slightly worried that Melina Marchetta was maybe a “contemporary only” kind of author, but I am happy to be wrong.

Though each book seems like it should focus on the titular character, it only kind of does. Finnikin of the Rock is mostly Finnikin’s tale, but it’s so we can meet Froi. Froi of the Exiles is definitely Froi’s story…but so is Quintana of Charyn, though we do get her perspective sometimes. The Lumatere Chronicles is almost pushing the limit of “too many different perspectives” but it’s such a sprawling story that they’re needed.

The issue I had was with the side characters. They’re at least not similarly named (for the most part), but over the course of over 1500 pages it’s hard to keep them all straight with all the little ways they’ve helped or hindered our heroes.

For a series that is all about warring lands that are cursed in different ways, there is little to no magic happening in The Lumatere Chronicles, which is both refreshing and confusing in a time of so many wizards. A thing I never expect, and am always pleasantly surprised by, is humor in fantasy. Usually the subject matter is so serious – cursed kingdoms at war, no babies, loved ones being savaged – that the humor always stands out. What I enjoyed most about these characters, besides how different they are and how brave and strong and terrific they are, is how FUNNY they are and the jokes they can make as they’re breaking my heart.

ARC Review + Giveaway: The Tragic Age

Title/Author: The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe

Publication Date/Publisher: March 3, 2015/St. Martin’s Griffin

Series: No

Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Rating: 3 stars

 

From Goodreads:

This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn’t always work— not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven’t applied to college.

Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another’s mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie’s. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by　creative acts of the soul.

With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities.Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is—Billy doesn’t trust happiness. It’s the age he’s at.  The tragic age.

Stephen Metcalfe’s brilliant, debut coming-of-age novel, The Tragic Age, will teach you to learn to love, trust and truly be alive in an absurd world.

 

I, like Billy, have a lot of thoughts. Unfortunately, Billy probably doesn’t have any on this book, so I’m on my own.

On the one hand, The Tragic Age is good and interesting and well written, but on the other hand it’s so completely bizarre that I can’t accurately decide how I feel about it.

Billy & Co. are over the top, for sure. I’m not even entirely sure what really happened – you’ll see why when you read it! I worried a lot about THE POINT OF IT ALL and REDEMPTION, but those things don’t really matter. I think if the gang had just turned themselves in or let themselves be caught, the punishment wouldn’t have been thaaaaat bad – for a bunch of mostly white rich kids? In Southern California? They would have been fine.

The writing took a little bit to warm up to – Billy takes a lot of asides to drop some knowledge. If you like knowing/learning trivia tidbits, you may enjoy The Tragic Age more than someone who does not. It’s a lot of very no-nonsense stuff, but I found it very interesting…once I got used to it.

 

And now – the giveaway! My friends at Macmillan have provided 3 copied of Tragic Age for me to give away. This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada and, in the interest of full disclosure: the books will be sent from the publisher, not from me – so I WILL have to give your address and personal information to someone else.
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