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.
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.
Paperback Heart 