ARC Review: Lying Out Loud

Tags

fiction, love, lying, romance, Ryder Cross, teen, the duff, YA

Sonny Ardmore is an excellent liar. She lies about her dad being in prison. She lies about her mom kicking her out. And she lies about sneaking into her best friend’s house every night because she has nowhere else to go.

Amy Rush might be the only person Sonny shares everything with – secrets, clothes, even a nemesis named Ryder Cross.

Ryder’s the new kid at Hamilton High and everything Sonny and Amy can’t stand – a prep-school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the friends see it as a prank opportunity not to be missed.

But without meaning to, Sonny ends up talking to Ryder all night online. And to her horror, she realizes that she might actually ‘like’ him. Only there’s one small catch: he thinks he’s been talking to Amy. So Sonny comes up with an elaborate scheme to help Ryder realize that she’s the girl he’s really wanted all along. Can Sonny lie her way to the truth, or will all her lies end up costing her both Ryder and Amy?

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first I wasn’t sure of this book, it’s didn’t hold my attention, but about a third of the way in I could not put it down. I stayed up until 4am last reading it (Not something I do often, I like my sleep). I know this was a companion novel to The Duff, but that didn’t really matter to me, yes Wes and Bianca were in it a little, but for all the contributed they might as well have been random characters.

Sonny was a good main character, very hyper and a lot going on in her life. I know it’s what the whole book was about but some of the lies really annoyed me. She didn’t treat her friend Amy very well. She also seemed to take some the Rush’s hospitality for granted.

Amy, I was glad she gained her voice later in the novel and stopped putting up with Sonny’s schemes and bossing. She was always a good friend even when she was mad.

Ryder was a nice love interest, I like how Sonny got to know him then started to like him, it wasn’t insta-love which is good. Insta-love annoys me. He also had a lot going on in his life which is good to see all sides of characters. Also he didn’t judge Sonny on her upbringing, he judged her on her actions.

Since this took me a while to get into and I would have liked a little more too the ending pertaining to Ryder, I am only going to give it 4 stars.

4 stars out 5

 

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ARC Review: Fairy Keeper

Forget cute fairies in pretty dresses. In the world of Aluvia, most fairies are more like irritable, moody insects. Almost everyone in the world of Aluvia views the fairy keeper mark as a gift, but not fourteen-year-old Sierra. She hates being a fairy keeper, but the birthmark is right there on the back of her neck. It shows everyone she was born with the natural ability to communicate, attract, and even control the tiny fairies whose nectar is amazingly powerful. Fairy nectar can heal people, but it is also a key ingredient in synthesizing Flight, an illegal elixir that produces dreaminess, apathy and hallucinations. She’s forced to care for a whole hive of the bee-like beasties by her Flight-dealing, dark alchemist father.

Then one day, Sierra discovers the fairies of her hatch are mysteriously dead. The fairy queen is missing. Her father’s Flight operation is halted, and he plans to make up for the lost income by trading her little sister to be an elixir runner for another dark alchemist, a dangerous thug. Desperate to protect her sister, Sierra convinces her father she can retrieve the lost queen and get his operation up and running.

The problem? Sierra’s queen wasn’t the only queen to disappear. They’re all gone, every single one, and getting them back will be deadly dangerous.

Sierra journeys with her best friend and her worst enemy — assigned by her father to dog her every step — to find the missing queens. Along the way, they learn that more than just her sister’s life is at stake if they fail. There are secrets in the Skyclad Mountains where the last wild fairies were seen. The magic Sierra finds there has the power to transform their world, but only if she can first embrace her calling as a fairy keeper.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the idea of this book. It was original and refreshing. I love the faeries, I would love to have had them in the book more. I found the story exciting but a little slow at times and the ending a little rushed, like the author was trying to get it all out before she forgot what she was going to say.

Sierra was a great main character although I would have liked to see more of Nell, Sierra’s hatred for her was clouding her true personality. I actually really liked Nell, even though I am guessing we were not meant to.

Corbin was another one that I didn’t feel had much personality to him, when I come to think if it, Sierra was the only person that really had a personality.

The world was well written and full or magical surprises. Near the end I could not put the book down, that started when the fairies were introduced. I will read more from this author.

3.5 stars out of 5

Harry Potter Covers from Around the World : Original French

These are very 90’s style and I love it. Especially the first one. The fourth one intrigues me, I love how it looks the dragons are kites (it does to me anyway). I also love how the seventh one has a sad moment rather than a moment of drama or adventure. I would love to have these, maybe I would learn French quicker 🙂

Would you buy these?

ARC Review: Moletown

The talented author illustrator of Lindbergh The Tale of a Flying Mouse, returns iwth another illustrated tour de force.
Torben Kulhmann’s stunningly illustrated, nearly wordless tale offers a fascinating window into an imaginary, yet hauntingly familiar word under our feet, where a mole suddenly recognizes the precarious balance between progress and preservation. Kulhmann’s open ended text encourages thoughtful exploration into possible solutions, and his delightful endpapers depict a montage of solutions that could very well save the moles’ world and ours.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations were beautiful and very compelling. I did found it a little strange that there were not many words, most of the story was told by the pictures. It was a simple message, that expanding and surviving can kill the earth and it’s not always the best option, it can destroy what’s true.

It was a nice simple book.

3 out of 5 stars

ARC Review: The Silent Ones

Tags

mystery, thriller

He’ll do whatever it takes to find his missing sister.

Darren Evans was only eleven when his beloved sister Carly and four other teenage girls disappeared, sparking a huge police investigation.

Eventually, a woman confessed to their murders. But although she admitted her guilt, Olivia Duvall refused to say what had happened to those five missing girls. Or where their bodies might lie.

Ten years later, Darren’s family are still no closer to the truth. Desperate to alleviate his parents’ heartbreak, Darren gets a job as a cleaner in the psychiatric hospital where Olivia was committed, hoping he can make her tell him his sister’s fate once and for all.

But playing a killer is a very dangerous game . . .

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book full of mystery and intrigue and I lapped up every moment. I was guessing  my through and never coming up with the right until the very end. Through the book I found myself distrusting the wrong characters and loving it. I liked that it wasn’t predictable and I was kept guessing. I sometimes got confused at the change of POV, especially when it was characters that I deemed not important and not really necessary.

Darren was a great character, I liked learning along with him, seeing his anguish and need to find his sister. Although he knew the risks of what he was doing, he did it anyway.

I loved how the start we saw from Olivia’s POV, it started the book off with a bang of mystery. I was wracking my brain through the whole book, as to why she did it.

The ending cleared all mystery’s for me but one. Which wasn’t really a mystery it was more of a guessing on my part and I want to know!! But all the main mysteries were cleared up and I enjoyed the ending, not at all what I was expecting.

4 out of 5 stars

Harry Potter Covers from Around the World: Original Dutch

I find these all very pretty, but the 4th, 6th and 7th are not exactly clear to me what they have to do with the books. The 4th one, it’s underwater but I don’t remember anyone going in the lake with a cape on, might meant to be Cedric? The 6th one is possibly the fight at the the end? Cannot remember exactly where that happens. Is that meant to be a dragon in the 7th one? Looks like a giant lizard.

I love the little picture in the author’s name, which also correlates to story. Nice detail and clever.

I would still buy them, they are really pretty, especially the first one.

ARC Review: Five Little Ducklings go to School

It s time for the five little ducklings to go to school. Four of the little ducklings shout, YIPPEE! HOORAY! OH BOY! THAT S COOL! The fifth little duckling sobs, BOO-HOO! I won t go to school! I m going to miss you! But when Mama reminds them, Even though we ll be apart, we ll still be in each other s heart, the little ducklings go forth and soon discover School is great! “

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the bright colours and art work in this book. The story had a good message and the rhyming was well done and charming. I wanted the book to keep going, keep telling me the story of the five ducklings. I think kids would love this book, it’s quick and fun and has some great pictures for them too look at.

5 out 5 stars.

ARC Review: The Magic Straw Hat

The Magic Straw Hat is the story of a little girl named Caitie, who takes us on a journey full of adventure and excitement as she discovers her great-grandmother’s straw hat, and the magic it brings along for the ride. Drawing from her Irish roots and family memories, Karen Jonice Bricker combines the real experiences of three generations of women to tell the story of one enchanted afternoon. Like her great-grandmother’s arrival in America, Caitie faces many ups and downs, but she ultimately discovers a new-found hope, and a special friend. Join Caitie as she learns the true magic of her great-grandmother’s straw hat, and reveal a little true magic of your own.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The drawings in this book were beautiful and eye catching. I loved the way they faded at the edges. The story was simplistic but sweet. The writing was nothing too complex but nice. I think kids who like stories and want to start to read themselves will love this book. It’s not too complex and there’s enough pictures to keep them happy.

All in all, a great children’s book.

4 out of 5 stars

Harry Potter Covers from Around the World: New US Covers

These covers are beautiful and very inviting. I especially love the third one. They are colourful without being too bright and each one does remind you of what is inside the book. I also love the writing it’s very like the style in the films.

Would you buy these covers?

ARC Review: The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House

Tags

ARC, fiction

Stephanie Lam’s stunning debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House, is a gripping read laced with mystery, secrets and love.

It’s 1965 and eighteen year-old Rosie Churchill has run away to the beautiful but run-down Castaway House in the seaside town of Helmstone. But when she uncovers a scandal locked away in the walls of the old house, she soon comes to realise that neither her own troubled past nor that of the house will stay buried for long. . .

In 1924 fresh-faced Robert Carver comes to Castaway House to spend a languid summer in the company of his much wealthier cousin, Alec Bray. But the Brays are a damaged family, with damaging secrets. And little does Robert know that his world is about to change for ever.

As Rosie begins to learn more about Robert, the further she is drawn into the mysterious history of the house, and their stories, old and new, entwine.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book took me ages to read, I was reading other books at the same time, but this just dragged for me. The premise was good but the book was slow and every time I thought a secret was going to resolved, it was just put on hold. It was a long book for what happened it could have been shorter, and in my opinion, it would have been much better.

The story was fine but the secrets were not enough to hold my attention for long, I only finished it because it was a review book. I wish the secrets were stronger and held more clout. I did really like the separate time lines and how both sets of stories came together at the end.

I did feel with Rosie and Star that what happened between them came out of the blue and didn’t feel real. It was like it was an afterthought and just shoved in.

I wasn’t a fan of Clara Bray, she was mysterious and hard to predict, she was also selfish and moody.

The name of book wasn’t really fitting, it wasn’t a mystery as such, it was more a bunch of secrets.

3 out of 5 stars