Review: Genuine Fraud

Title Genuine Fraud
By E. Lockhart
Genre NA Psychological Thriller
Format Audiobook
Rating ⭐️

Synopsis
Spoiled rich girl and slightly psychotic girl equals a recipe for disaster.



First Sentence 
It was a bloody great hotel.





E. Lockhart is a hit or miss with me. I love her Ruby Oliver series but her serious books, We Were Liars and this one, apparently aren't for me. My biggest problem with this one, after the completely unlikable characters and the pointless story was, how similar it was with The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was a complete ripoff of that one. Some similarities would have been fine but this one was nearly identical.

Since I find The Talented Mr. Ripley pointless and full of crappy characters as well you can imagine why I didn't like this one.  Sadly, I really don't have much else to say. Lockhart is a great writer but sometimes her stories and me just don't get along.

Review: Jane Unlimited

Title Jane Unlimited
By Kristin Cashore
Genre Magic Realism
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Before her Aunt Magnolia died, she made Jane promise if she ever got invited to the elusive Tu Reviens house to go. Such and invitation has come and Jane, true to her word goes. But no one could have prepared her for the crazy world she's about to enter.


First Sentence
The house on the cliff looks like a ship disappearing into fog.





How I came upon this book was a stroke of pure luck. No, publishers weren't pounding at my door or littering my inbox with requests to read the newest book by one of my favorite authors. No, I'm not one of those bloggers. However, one of THOSE bloggers received an ARC of this book in THEIR mail and they, hopefully after reading it, donated it to my local thrift store. Imagine my delight when a book not even published yet fell into my lap because I happened to be at the right place at the right time. And if that wasn't good enough, I only paid a dollar fifty for it. Giddiness ensued.

So, I quickly lapped it up. For some reason I thought this was going to be a fantasy novel like Cashore's other books. I was WAY off! This reads more like a contemporary NA and a choose your own adventure. At first, that's what I thought it was but there was no instructions to skip ahead to a certain page for such and such choice so I read it front to back. (which, I saw later in the author's notes, was exactly how she meant for it to be read)

I enjoyed reading all the different possibilities Jane's choices presented. I'm glad it wasn't a choose your own adventure because the endings of some of those choices were pretty gloom and unsatisfying. Seeing how they all coincided was fun too.

I loved how real all the characters felt. Cashore does such a great job with her characters. By the end of the book you feel like you actually know these people. I adored Jasper the very best. I'm sorry, but basset hounds are my favorite type of dog and, yes, he's only a dog but animals are often the very best of characters. Am I right?  I loved him so much!

I found Jane's umbrella making fascinating to read about. I loved what a unique talent it was. I've never read a book about someone who makes umbrellas, have you? No? Exactly. It was so fun. And it was interesting seeing each different umbrella she created with each different choice.

The house. Oi! On the one hand I want to visit this crazy house and on the other I want to stay far far away from it. A house full of art with a indoor pool, bowling alley and atrium on its own island surrounded by the ocean...yes please. But I could do with out that creepy library. Yes, I called a library creepy. Read the book and you'll know why.

I won't go on and on anymore. I think I've praised the book enough. You'll notice I only gave it three stars and perhaps you're wondering why if I appear to have loved it so much. Well, I'll tell you. ;) I found it a titch long and a little slow moving at parts. And books like these tend to get a tiny bit repetitive. But other than that it was a delightful journey. One I found unique and entertaining.

Should you read it
This book is in bookstores September 19th and yes, I'd recommend you go pick yourself up a copy.

Review: Fangirl

Title Fangirl
By Rainbow Rowell
Genre NA Contemporary
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Cath and her twin sister Wren are starting college. Wren has decided the girls need to live their lives separately so Cath is on her own. Luckily she has her fan fiction to keep her busy. But college isn't like high school and Cath has a lot to learn about herself and growing up.


First Sentence
There was a boy in her room.




As I've been pushing myself through the Raven Cycle I've periodically needed a light book to break up the drama. Fangirl sounded like such a book. And it was...to a point. I flew through it in two sittings. I was addicted to the story of Cath and her life. The fan fiction...I couldn't seem to get invested in. I expected a light fluffy book about a girl obsessed with a series of books and her fan fiction and what I got was an issue book. Everyone has issues. Cath and her crippling social anxiety. Wren and her partying too hard. The mother that abandoned them. Their father is bipolar. The only one that didn't have any issues was Levi and he was way too perfect. Annoyingly so.

Fine. I can accept that it't not a light, silly story. It's an issue book. That's not realistic at all. Cath's Fiction Writing teacher giving her a break and letting her have more time to write the story. How Cath manages to even write the story at the last moment and win the prize. Levi's perfection. Wren's miraculous turn around. It was all too nicely and neatly wrapped up. Completely unbelievable. So what kind of book was it? A fluff read or an issue book? Make up your mind!

I didn't hate the book, but truthfully, I wasn't as enamored with it like everyone else seems to be.

Should you read it?
If you haven't read it go ahead. It's a fast read at the very least.

Review: Not In The Script

Title Not in the Script
By Amy Finnegan
Genre NA contemporary
Pages 392


First sentence "Celebrity Seeker claims that I'm dating Troy again," I say as I skim the pages of the gossip magazine.


Synopsis
When Emma Taylor, famous actress, starts a new TV series and discovers that her new costar is "The Bod", who's real name is Jake, who's also the guy her best friend Rachel has obsessed over for years things might get complicated. Emma's sworn to not get into anymore relationships with costars but there's no denying her growing attraction to Jake. Can Emma hold to her vow to not get into a relationship with a costar? And if she does how will she tell Rachel? Can their friendship survive?

What it has going for it
If you read my Read Along Discussions, you probably can tell this wasn't a favorite book. However, I didn't outright hate the book and there was one good thing about it. The peek behind the scenes of a Hollywood TV series was so fun. Especially since the author's brother has been in the industry for years sharing stories and Amy, herself, has been on the set of the TV shows Parenthood and Parks and Recreation. So you know this glimpse of Hollywood is legit.

What's lacking
Where do I begin? There were just too many things about this one that bothered me. I couldn't get invested in any of the characters. None of them felt real to me. I wanted to like them. I wanted to like the book. All my book club friends loved it. I just couldn't get on board, I guess. The book, while perfectly clean and great to recommend to younger audiences without fear of exposure to "scary" scenes, was almost too clean. Everyone knows Hollywood is far from squeaky clean. The author even omitted swearwords. Now that's fine but it just didn't ring true to me. But my biggest hangup with the book was it's length and lack of plot. 392 pages with only a tiny, minor plot conflict was just too long! And don't believe all those people that tell you that this one had a slow building romance because it simply isn't true. The characters are instantly attracted to each other and admit as much. They even start hanging out almost immediately. But, because of the tiny little plot hiccups, they don't officially become a couple. That's not slow burning romance, people, don't be fooled!

Yea or Nay
This book takes light and fluffy up a notch to cotton candy. Sweet and cute but no substance!

Review: Bone Gap

Title Bone Gap
By Laura Ruby
Genre NA Magic realism
Pages 373


First Sentence 
The corn was talking to him again.



Synopsis
Finn and Sean O'Sullivan are used to losing things in their small town of Bone Gap. Their mother left them to fend for themselves and Sean gave up on his dreams to raise Finn. When the beautiful Roza joins their lives it seems things might be getting better but just as quickly as Roza appeared she's disappeared and the only witness to her kidnapping is Finn. Finn the boy they call Moonface, Sidetrack and Spaceman.

What is has going for it
I could just tell you that this was my first five star book of the year and leave it at that but  I loved this book too much to not talk about it. First of all, how did I not know about this amazing author? Laura Ruby's writing...,guys, it's so beautiful and poetic. And then comes this wonderful story. It's mysterious and heart wrenching. The feels! This has it all, a hint of magic, with a side of romance topped with suspense. Argh! I guess I'm not going to talk about it too much after all. I don't want to give anything away. You just need to read this book!

What's lacking
Nothing is lacking but I will warn you this is more of an NA than a YA so there was a scene that was for more mature readers.

Yea or Nay?
Seriously? You're still on the fence? Read. This. Book!