 Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense Gisselle's Rating: 3/5 DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers for We Were Liars. In brief summary, there is one word that I can use to describe this book: Ouch. But the word itself carries multiple meanings for how I felt about We Were Liars, and not all of them are good. E. Lockhart's We Were Liars takes us to the tropical and beautiful Beechwood Island, a piece of land owned by her the patriarch of the Sinclair family. The Sinclairs are tight-knit and close family, spending every summer together at Beechwood Island, reuniting the Sinclair family once more as well as the Liars, a group among the children that consisted of three cousins and their friend. But something happened to Cadence (or Cady) last year on Beechwood Island, something apparently so horrible that everyone refuses to tell her. Nothing is as it seems within the Sinclair family, and by the time the story ends, you will wish you remained in the sunny bliss of Beechwood Island.
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 Title: The Witch Haven
Author: Sasha Peyton Smith Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Witchcraft, Mystery Gisselle's Rating: 3/5 I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers for The Witch Haven. I'll be perfectly honest, I stopped reading this book about halfway through. As I type, it's open on my Kindle and I am planning on finishing it for sure, but I've been trying to finish this book for two weeks now. I'll come back with edits to my review once I finish it. I'll start with what I enjoyed so far. I love fantasy and magic and witches in my stories, and that's primarily what drew me into this story. I LOVE stories that focus on the gritty and grim side of magic and those that world it, and with this story's setting in early 1900s New York, there is plenty of grim and gritty to go around. Sasha Peyton Smith does a great job at illustrating the darkness in the city and in the emotions of our protagonist, Frances. The pacing of the beginning was incredibly well done, and the beginning packed a powerful punch (warning for distressing themes such as sexual assault and murder). Unfortunately, the beginning is mostly where my enjoyment of the book has been limited to thus far. As the story progresses, the pacing becomes a little more erratic and uneven in compassion to the beginning. The introduction of characters such as Maxine and Lena felt half-executed and their development did not feel complete. As a result, I didn't find myself relating to anyone or really caring for them. Additionally, it feels as though the author dances around a lot of great topics that are introduced but never fully explored. For example, the concept of feminism, especially during the early 1900s with the women's suffrage movement, is mentioned through the book in pieces, and Frances finds that even the fanatical world of magic was submissive to the world of men; she learns only what she can use to make her life as a housewife and lady easier, such as how to clean, sew, and arrange flowers with magic. Yet, for the first half of the book, that plot point felt like it was acknowledged, but never actually discussed it the confines of the characters' voices. There was even a mention of acknowledging the existence of transwomen and non-binary people in the academy, but there is no attempt at further exploration. Also, maybe it'll get better in the second half of the book, but Finn having the ability to dream-walk and the revelation that he had been visiting Frances in her dreams felt more like a violation than anything romantic to me. He felt like an Edward Cullen archetype, just Irish and with magic. I just wasn't sure of him or his motives. I'll continue reading to give this book a fair shot, but these are my thoughts after the first half of the book. The rest is still to be determined.  Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction Gisselle's Rating: 4/5 DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers for Stalking Jack the Ripper. Victorian London has always been one of my favorite eras to visit when reading novels, and in Stalking Jack the Ripper, the first installment in a series, Kerri Maniscalco brings us the high brow, wealthy society of the upper class in London in the midst of the Jack the Ripper murders. Audrey Rose Wadsworth is a young English woman that comes from a prosperous family in the late 1880s. She is also apprenticing under her Uncle Jonathan in his forensic lab, dissecting cadavers and analyzing the manner of death, a entirely unsuitable for a young woman of her status. When a string of brutally murdered women are brought into her uncle's laboratory, Audrey Rose is wrenched into an investigation of what - or who - could have caused these vicious killings. Inspired by the real-life unsolved case of the Jack the Ripper killings, with some chapters prefaced by grim period photographs of the time, Maniscalco tells a fictional tale of who was the true monster that was Jack the Ripper and of a woman who tracked him down.  Title: One of Us is Lying
Author: Karen M. McManus Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense Gisselle's Rating: 4.5/5 DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers for One of Us is Lying. The first novel that I read of Karen M. McManus was One of Us is Lying, following the recommendation of my younger brother. Similarly to my response of The Cousins, McManus captured my attention from the beginning of One of Us is Lying. I was riveted by the plot and the story's concept did not allow me to truly put the book down. If I had my physical copy, I would read without pause, and when I couldn't physically be reading, I would instead turn to the audiobook. I could not help but keep myself tuned in with One of Us is Lying's story: five teenagers stuck in after-school detention... and only four emerge alive. One of Us is Lying follows the lives of teenagers Bronwyn Rojas, Nate McCauley, Addie Prentiss, and Cooper Clay as they deal with the aftermath of their classmate, Simon Kelleher's, death during detention. They don't just grapple with the sudden trauma of witnessing a classmate die, but must also abruptly adjust to scrutiny from the public eye after their images are featured in the media and in their school, labeling them as either possible suspects or unfortunate scapegoats by the local police. One thing was apparent, though: someone in that detention knew what happened to Simon, and no one is immune to the uncovering of secrets that they would rather keep buried.  Title: The Cousins
Author: Karen M. McManus Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Gisselle's Rating: 3.5/5 DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers for The Cousins. In Karen M. McManus's most recent young adult suspense-thriller, three cousins - Aubrey, Millie, and Jonah Story - are mysteriously invited to the Story family's famed island resort by their grandmother, Mildred Story. After their parents had all been disinherited by Mildred years ago, this invitation brings much confusion, but also opportunity for the Story children; Mildred's invitation could allow for the cousins to ease their way back into her good graces... and find out exactly why their parents had been cut off in the first place. But nothing is what it seems; the Story family has many secrets, the cousins each have their own agendas, and all of them will be unveiled in the sunny resort of Gull Cove Island. I began reading McManus's novels only a few weeks ago, beginning with One of Us Is Lying (review coming soon) and moving quickly onto The Cousins. Getting through novels as quickly as I did with The Cousins was a relatively good sign for me. I was enraptured enough in the story to keep my focus trained on it. I would read my physical copy when I was still and listen to the audiobook while at work and driving, caged in my desire to keep reading. I flew through the pages of The Cousins, and I did find myself enjoying the story - hah! - and the thrill of unraveling complex secrets and finding answers to the question that was the Story family. I did manage to reach my own accurate conclusion of the partial reason the Story siblings had been disinherited, and although predictable through various tells and hints in the text, it did still shock me to the extent of the damage that this disinheritance caused. The biggest twist of the novel had me physically lurching forward into a sitting position from where I was laid back on my pillow, startling one of my pups with incredulous "What?" Any book that can inspire such a physical reaction from me is usually pretty good, in my book (lol, puns). Yet, as much as I enjoyed it, there are a few elements of the plot that I critiqued just as much. |
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