SYNOPSIS: Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. Rating: 4/5
My first Spooky October book! I really enjoyed this one! If you read my October TBR / Book Haul you might remember me saying I got spoiled for this book. Turns out I wasn't! I misread a question from a Book Club on Instagram and spent the whole time thinking this one person did it, and by the time the ending rolled around it turned out that person hadn't done it and I was so confused! I'm really glad I wasn't actually spoiled though, and I guess I got a first-hand view into what tunnel vision is like ;) This book got right into the action, and kept introductions short and to the point. I was surprised to see Simon die so early on in the book, but you don't hear me complaining. I loved all the characters, and how they were essentially their stereotype, but also grew to be more than that. Sometimes all the background characters got a little overwhelming and I had to really try hard to remember who's dating who and who's sister is whose, but that wasn't too annoying. Bronwyn was my favourite character, what a surprise, as I am essentially her. I am an overachiever who thinks everything can be solved by tactical thinking. I loved her growth in this book. Also!! I loved the portrayals of family relationships! Parents weren't always the best, but siblings came to the rescue and it was so lovely and refreshing to read about sisters getting along really well. I appreciate that the background characters got a little story of their own too, so they weren't just two dimensional blobs scuttling around at the back of the stage while the play took place. I'm always going on about feminism and representation and what not on here, so I think it's good to mention some positives on this front sometimes too! This book was a great on the representation part, with different ethnicities and sexualities, and although the female characters had me sceptical at the start of the book, they stepped the heck up and I loved them at the end of the book. Seriously, Addy made a proper 180 and turned out so amazing and strong! It was awesome to read her transformation! The plot itself was thrilling and kept me guessing till the very end, where it was unravelled just a bit too quickly too my taste, and I wasn't a big fan of the ending itself overall, but it was fine and fitting, I suppose. As the book went straight into action instead of spending 100 pages waffling about world building (as some books do, I hate it) I would say that the overall page to page enjoyment of this book was very high. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun mystery read, for either Halloween or any other time of year! Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/32571395-one-of-us-is-lying Amazon: www.amazon.com/One-Us-Lying-Karen-McManus/dp/1524714682
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SYNOPSIS: Arthur Braxton runs away from school. He hides out in an abandoned building, an old Edwardian bathhouse. He discovers a naked woman swimming in the pool. From this point on, nothing will ever be the same. Rating: 4/5
[ Warning. Review contains mentions of sex ] I read this book because one of my favourite Youtubers, Lukeisnotsexy, is making a movie for it. And although he's been working on it for like three years already, he's now finishing up, so I wanted to make sure I'd read the book before it came out. Unfortunately I didn't love it as much as Luke did, but I did really like it. This book is bluntly and unapologetically magical. We aren't given any explanations for all the magical things, nor are we told if these things just happen in the Bathhouse or if they happen everywhere, apart from the water goddesses. I loved this a lot. We waste no time in trying to make up rational explanations, we just dive straight in. The thing that made me like the book less than Luke did is probably that I really disliked Arthur. He's a gross teenage boy who objectifies women, and is rewarded for that by getting a pretty girlfriend who is genuinely in love with him. At least she thinks so. I'm not entirely sure if this book had a message of love or one of hopelessness in love. Arthur is bullied, his mum ran off, and his dad is completely depressed, so I did feel sorry for him, but his obsession with naked women and genitalia really put me off him. One of the other main characters Lauren, had a very intriguing story. The book opened with her story and her narrative was interesting and pulled me in right away. I was sad that we didn't get much else from her in the rest of the book, but I suppose her story was just necessary to explain the rest of the book. I love her and she deserved better. The story itself was a pleasant read and I was mostly trying to unravel the mysteries the whole time. Arthur and Delphina's romance wasn't too interesting to me, but fortunately their relationship furthered the plot and revealed more secrets. Overall a fun read and I look forward to the film. Also, I'm curious to see how Luke makes the film, as half the characters are naked the whole time. Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/17701852-the-drowning-of-arthur-braxton Amazon: www.amazon.com/Drowning-Arthur-Braxton-Caroline-Smailes/dp/0007479093 I've never been much of a Fantasy or Paranormal reader, but I've recently been reading more of that. But today's Top 5 Wednesdays topic is Witches, so I will obey. Although I don't think we're going to get to 5 for this Wednesday's post! Harry Potter - J.K. RowlingThis is a bit of a cop-out, but of course I had to mention it. Quite possibly the most-read book series ever is all about witches and wizards. My favourite witch is definitely Hermione. Heir of Fire - Sarah J. MaasThe witches are introduced in the third book of the Throne of Glass series. I'm not quite sure what happens to them in the next books, as I haven't read them yet! I did very much enjoy Manon's storyline in Heir of Fire. Hex - Thomas Olde HeuveltI keep seeing this book at my library and I really want to read it, but they only have the Dutch version and I kind of want to read it in English. My October Halloween TBR is pretty full, but if I end up finishing earlier than expected I might pick up the Dutch version of this anyway. This witch is a bit different from the first two books', as she is a myth, whereas the witches in the previous two books were all active characters. That's all the YA books with witches I can think of right now. Any I missed? Let me know!
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AuthorHi! I'm Marcella. As you might have guessed, I quite like YA books.. Archives
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