Hysteria Review

Title: Hysteria

Author: Megan Miranda

Publication date: February 5, 2013

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Pages: 336

ISBN: 9780802723109

Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past.But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others. In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again

Hysteria is a book that kept my attention throughout the story. We are introduced to Mallory as she is being accused of a murder, her boyfriend’s murder. I was excited to read this book since Fracture; Miranda’s first novel was one of my favorite books of 2012 with her ability to pull you inside a story I had high expectations about this thriller.

We get flashes of the past and the present as Mallory struggles to remember the night that changed it all. Her parents send her away to a boarding school since everybody in town is talking about the situation. But even if she is in another place she still feels Brian’s presence and has terrible nightmares involving what really happened or is it?.

Not everything is as great once she is in Monroe Academy there is more challenges for her to comfront including another murder and some mean situations. I have to warn you it gets a little gory at times but that’s just what makes the story feel more real.

After all of the traumatic events Mallory is left broken and Reid the new love interest is the one to help her, he is charming and it’s at her side in spite of everything. Her best friend Colleen was a nice character but nothing too special.

This book kept my attention and I couldn’t put it down, even if Mallory was just plain strange at times I ended up feeling for her. I liked the complications that where scattered through the story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The only thing that kept me from giving a higher rating was the ending, it just fell a little flat for me, but if you like suspense, Miranda’s books are great in their own way and I’ll keep reading her work in the future.

I received this book from the publisher, all the opinions are hontest and my own.

New Girl Review

Title: New Girl
Author: Paige Harbison
Publication date: January 31, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780373210428

Welcome to Manderley Academy
I hadn't wanted to go, but my parents were so excited…. So here I am, the new girl at Manderley, a true fish out of water. But mine's not the name on everyone's lips. Oh, no.
It's Becca Normandy they can't stop talking about. Perfect, beautiful Becca. She went missing at the end of last year, leaving a spot open at Manderley—the spot that I got. And everyone acts like it's my fault that infallible, beloved Becca is gone and has been replaced by not perfect, completely fallible, unknown Me.
Then, there's the name on my lips—Max Holloway. Becca's ex. The one boy I should avoid, but can't. Thing is, it seems like he wants me, too. But the memory of Becca is always between us. And as much as I'm starting to like it at Manderley, I can't help but think she's out there, somewhere, watching me take her place. Waiting to take it back.

This book is a retelling of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier which I have yet to read so I can't compare the story, we are introduced to the "New Girl" as she gets accepted to Manderley Academy, when she arrives at Manderley all drama unleashes, the New Girl realizes she was accepted just because Becca Normandy disappeared and now she is living under her shadow, nobody wants to know the New Girl, everything she does is compared to Becca and if that wasn't enough, her roommate is obsessed with Becca, this leads to some creepy chapters that I really enjoyed.

The book alternates between the New Girl and Becca's perspective. I like being able to read both points of view, this just adds to the suspense. Becca is extremely difficult to like, she always gets what she wants at any costs, using her beauty to manipulate those around her. The mystery of her disappearance was the reason I kept reading until the end. We get to see how the New Girl starts to stand strong against all the tension.

I didn't cared for the romance. Max was just annoying for me, he was attached to Becca by nothing more than pressure and had me rolling my eyes from time to time. 

I personally found some situations in the book difficult to believe starting for the reason the parents of the New Girl send her to boarding school and the end just fell flat for me, that's the reason I gave only 3 stars.This book had some sexual situations that I don't think where very descriptive.

Overall I enjoyed the writing style and the story in general was entertaining throughout the book.

Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

Always a Witch Review

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights.

Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.

I didn't read Once a Witch, but it wasn't necessary, this book stands on it's own. I understood everything and let me say it's an amazingly written book. Tamsin Greene has gone thru her life without knowing that she had a Talent like everybody else in her family, now, she is starting to get familiar with it, since she is the only person who can save her family's future she is relieved she posses a Talent and afraid at the same time about the prophecy of her grandmother that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever.

This was a nice book. I really enjoyed reading it. At the beginning it was slow for me but that was because I didn't had the reference of the first one. As I advance in the reading found out it has everything, time travel, magic, action, suspense and romance.

Overall it was a nice change from my latest readings, the characters are well developed. Tamsin is a very fun character and a strong female one so it was great.

Thank you NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: August 1st 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Lying Game Review

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

From Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars books, comes a riveting new series about secrets, lies, and killer consequences.

Let the lying game begin.

I can only say so much about this book. I loved it!!, let's say it's my guilty pleasure and just focus on the last word. It really was a pleasure for me read thru this book. The story was captivating since I always appreciate a good mystery. I started this book and couldn't stop reading, actually I finished it in one afternoon.

We follow Emma a foster teen who has been struggling all of her life for a normal family and her long-lost twin sister Sutton who got everything Emma could only dream. One day Emma sees a disturbing online video and discovers some horrible secrets in her sister's life, just then, she knows it's up to her to find out who killed Sutton. I liked having Sutton as a ghostly presence narrating the story.

If you are looking for a really light mystery book, this is it. A great start for Sara Shepard new series that left me holding my breath for the next book. Overall The Lying Game has just the right amount of suspense and you won't know who to trust.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Flawless Review

Flawless by Sara Shepard

This book picks up right where the first one ends. I won’t make a long review because I don’t want to give up much of it. I would really recommend reading the first book if you like chick lit or if you want to better understand this one.

In this book you get to understand the characters in a deeper way, you understand Aria’s relations with men, Emily’s issues with her family not being able to accept her by who she is, Spencer’s problems where no effort is enough to please her parents and stop them from comparing her to her older sister. Hanna’s relationship with her parents where she gets everything she wants just because they don’t want to cope with her.

The story unfolds and you get to know the characters in a deeper way. Still nobody knows who “A” is, rumors in town say there is a stalker on the loose, but for the girls “A” is still a mysterious shadow that sends them text messages and tries to control their lives.

At the end you finish with more questions than answers, when you think you know who “A” is, you may be wrong. This book increases the amount of mystery and drama from the first book in The Pretty Little Liars series.

Here is my review of the first book

★★★★★

Pretty Little Liars Review:

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

This is the story of five friends, Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna & Spencer, these friends are bound by a secret, a secret so terrible, that could potentially change their lives forever.

They are different in so many ways but at the same time all of them just want to fit, be the girl everybody wants to hang out with. They accomplish that by being friends with Alison DiLaurentis, the most popular girl in Rosewood. Things start to get difficult the night Alison vanishes without a trace, she kept them together and now they start drifting apart from each other.

Years later, Hanna is no longer the girl with weight problems, she transformed into the “It Girl”, she has the body and the style. Aria returns to Rosewood from Iceland, with a new daring and audacious attitude with the will to take control of her new self. Emily is the sporty girl, an all-star swimmer and perfect daughter and Spencer, the pretty typical overachiever.

Their lives continue to be awesome until one day each girl starts receiving threatening messages from a mysterious sender who’s signature is “A”. They must face their past and their worst fears in order to find out who is this mysterious character.

At first I got frustrated with the situations they got themselves into, but, as I advanced into the book, these girls started to learn lessons and the consequences of their acts. It managed to keep me interested and I wasn’t able to put it down. It’s a nice mystery book and that is the main reason I liked this book.

Although this book is intended to be a young adult novel, on my personal point of view, I wouldn’t recommend it to all. Many of the events, circumstances, actions or topics can be too complicated for some young readers, if you are mature enough or with some parenting advice this book is full of suspense and mystery.

★★★★

The Blood Books, Volume I Review:

The Blood Books, Volume I by Tanya Huff

Omnibus : Blood Price / Blood Trail.

This book was recommended to me because I was a sucker for anything with a vampire in it. I really enjoyed these books although the writing left a lot to be desired. It kept me engaged until they ended. Blood Price, the first in the series, introduces us to the main characters. Vicki Nelson private investigator, her ex-partner Mike Celluci and 450-year-old vampire Henry Fitzroy.

Viki Nelson left the police forced to become a private investigator, one night on the subway she comes across a murder, a very weird one the corpse has been drained of most of its blood, after several murders the news papers are screaming Vampires in Toronto, Henry worried about the threat of exposure joins forces with Vicki Nelson and Mike Celluci, a Toronto cop and ex lover of Vicki, to track down this killer.

I had no idea there was a television series.

★★★★