January 2018 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Traitor: A Thriller

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Title: Traitor: A Thriller
Author: Jonathan de Shalit
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the exhilarating tradition of I Am Pilgrim comes a sprawling, international high-stakes thriller that pits the intelligence of one man against one of the most successful spies ever to operate against American interests.

When a young Israeli walks into an American embassy and offers to betray his country for money and power, he has no idea that the CIA agent interviewing him is a Russian mole. Years later, that young man has risen in the ranks to become a trusted advisor to Israel’s Prime Minister and throughout his career, he’s been sharing everything he knows with the Kremlin. Now, however, a hint that there may be a traitor in the highest realms of power has slipped out and a top-secret team is put together to hunt for him. The chase leads the team from the streets of Tel Aviv to deep inside the Russian zone and, finally, to the United States, where a most unique spymaster is revealed. The final showdown—between the traitor and the betrayed—can only be resolved by an act of utter treachery that could have far-reaching and devastating consequences.

Review:

The plot of this story was great, but it wasn’t executed very well.

The storyline was very interesting. I’m not familiar with all of these organizations and governments so it was something new to me. There was a lot of tension when the spies were threatened to be revealed.

The writing became better as the story progressed. At the beginning, there was minimal description. The characters would give long speeches about things that had happened, which are not natural in a novel. It could have been improved if those scenes were told in the narrative, rather than spoken by a character. There was a lot of telling, rather than showing.

This story was good, but the writing could be improved.

‘Waiting On’ Wednesday – January 31

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is American Panda.

Here’s the synopsis:

An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

I just started this book yesterday, and it’s so good! Look for it when it comes out on February 6.

What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: A Road to Nowhere: A thriller short story

Title: A Road to Nowhere: A thriller short story
Author: Ted Galdi
Genre: Short Story, Thriller
Publisher: Precipice Books
Source: Author
Release Date: January 7, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

“Where nowhere is the only place to escape”

An empty highway at midnight in Montana. A serial killer on the loose. An abandoned girl who desperately needs a ride. A man in a pickup truck offering to help. The surprising consequences of her getting inside.

Do you like quick reads?

Do you like hold-your-breath suspense?

Do you like shocking endings?

Then you’ll love A Road to Nowhere, the first short story by Ted Galdi, an Amazon #1 bestselling author who’s won Reader Views and Readers’ Favorite awards, and been featured by FOX, ABC, and iHeartRadio. He’s the author of the novels Elixir, An American Cage, and Lion on Fire.

Review:

I really enjoyed Ted Galdi’s novel, An American Cage, so I was excited to read this short story.

This story was very good. A girl on the side of a deserted road gets into a truck with a strange man. The whole time I kept thinking she was making a big mistake. He was kind of creepy and she didn’t know him, so who knows what he could do.

I predicted what would happen at the end, but it was still good. It had a good twist for a seemingly predictable story. This is a great short thriller!

Top Ten Tuesday – New-To-Me Authors in 2017

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Books I Can’t Believe I Read, but I couldn’t think of anything for that list, so I’ve chosen a past topic that I missed: New-To-Me Authors in 2017. Here’s my list:

1. S.J. Kincaid

2. Leigh Bardugo

3. Kevin Kwan

4. Adam Silvera

5. V.E. Schwab

6. Ashley Poston

7. Raina Telgemeier

8. Ruth Ware

9. Fiona Barton

10. Sophie Kinsella

(all images taken from Goodreads)

Blog Tour: Right Kiss Wrong Guy

Title: Right Kiss Wrong Guy
Author: Natalie Decker
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Source: Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

You’d think a girl with the most romantic name in the world would have her pick of boyfriends.

But Valentine’s Day sucks when you’re single. Just ask Juliet Valentine, whose last name happens to also be the name of the most dreaded made-up holiday ever.

A romantic at heart, this year is especially hard on Juliet. Her sister, Layla, is in a new relationship, her mom’s match-making business is doing great, and her school’s new fundraiser is “Love-Grams.”

Juliet’s miserable, a little jealous, and lonely.

Quarterback Jared Black is the most popular guy in school. A star athlete, Jared tops the most-eligible bachelor list year after year. But to Juliet Valentine, he’s all but invisible. She isn’t impressed.

Jared’s never had to work hard to get the attention of a girl before. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and he’s determined to ask Juliet out. After all, if Tyler can win over Layla, Jared ought to have a shot with Layla’s sister.

Unlike Tyler and Layla, charm, flattery and good looks won’t work on Juliet. So with the V-Day dance coming up, Jared uses the school’s Love-Grams to let Juliet know how he feels. Should be simple enough, right?

Wrong. Each attempt ends up either in the trash or thrown in someone’s face. Juliet won’t play his game.

Now, without a date to the dance Jared realizes it’s going to take a Hail Mary to win the girl of his dreams.

Review:

I enjoyed this book.

It is very similar to the first book in the series, Right Text Wrong Guy. Layla’s twin Juliet is the focus of this story. In the first novel, Layla was texting a guy she liked, but didn’t realize it was Tyler. In this book, Juliet slowly falls for her secret admirer who she doesn’t know is Jared. In both stories the guys knew what was going on and we get to see both perspectives of the story.

This story followed the same plot as the first book, so it was predictable. The good thing was the story began right away, since the characters were introduced in the previous story.

Another good thing was that they only discussed what happened in the novella, Right Gift Wrong Day, in passing. Anyone who didn’t read that novella, which takes place between the two novels, wouldn’t feel left out. However, the novella was a great little bonus for fans of the series.

This book is a must read for fans of the rest of the Offsides series!

About the Author:

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Natalie Decker is the Author of Rival Love. She loves oceans, sunsets, sand between her toes, and carefree days. Her imagination is always going, which some find odd. But she believes in seeing the world in a different light at all times. Her first passion for writing started at age twelve when she had to write a poem for English class. However, seventh grade wasn’t her favorite time and books were her source of comfort. She took all college prep classes in High school, and attended the University of Akron. Although she studied Mathematics she never lost her passion for writing or her comfort in books. She’s a mean cook in the kitchen, loves her family and friends and her awesome dog infinity times infinity. If she’s not writing, reading, traveling, hanging out with her family and friends, then she’s off having an adventure. Because Natalie believes in a saying: Your life is your own journey, so make it amazing!

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway:

Amazon Echo Dot

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

January 22, 2018 – Chapters through life – Review and Interview

January 22, 2018 – Little Book Corner – Review

January 23, 2018 – Indie Wish List – Review

January 23, 2018 – Haddie’s Haven – Review

January 24, 2018 – Up ‘Til Dawn Book Blog – Review

January 24, 2018 – BookHounds YA – Guest Post

January 25, 2018 – Writing Pearls – Review

January 25, 2018 – Firstbooklove – Review

January 25, 2018 – Amanda Gernentz Hanson – Review

January 26, 2018 – The Avid Reader – Interview

January 26, 2018 – Between Books – Review

January 29, 2018 – Smada’s Book Smack – Guest post

January 29, 2018 – Jill’s Book Blog – Review

January 29, 2018 – Sascha Darlington’s Microcosm Explored – Review

January 30, 2018 – The Book Drealms – Review

January 30, 2018 – Margay Leah Justice – Review

January 31, 2018 – Sincerely Karen Jo – Review

January 31, 2018 – Adventures in Writing – Review

February 1, 2018 – More Books Than Livros – Review

February 1, 2018 – Fishing for Books – Review

February 2, 2018 – The Bookish Introvert – Review

February 2, 2018 – Bookaholicvsglobe – Review

February 2, 2018 – Chapter by Chapter – Guest Post

Thank you to Chapter by Chapter for letting me participate in this blog tour.

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – January 29

It's Monday! What Are You Reading

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Anatomy of a Scandal. My review can be found here.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Traitor by Jonathan de Shalit.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading American Panda by Gloria Chao.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Anatomy of a Scandal

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Title: Anatomy of a Scandal
Author: Sarah Vaughan
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart.

Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes.

Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy.

Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?

Review:

I want to preface my review by giving a trigger warning. This story is about a trial for rape. There were some graphic scenes that made me uncomfortable.

This book really wasn’t for me. The beginning was a little hard to follow because there were so many characters that were introduced all at once. Also, the timelines jumped between when the event happened to the trial, as well as back to 1993, when some of the characters were in school at Oxford.

There was a twist halfway through the story, but it fell flat for me. I had already predicted what would happen before it was stated. After that, the story changed from being about a man on trial to a woman seeking revenge. That changed the morality of the story and made justice seem less important.

The ending was supposed to reveal a big event, but I didn’t think it was as controversial as implied. I was really disappointed in this thriller, because it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be.

Review: Harry Moon: Snow Day

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Title: Harry Moon: Snow Day
Author: Mark Andrew Poe
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Rabbit Publishers
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kligore’s halloween alarm fails to awaken him so that he can cast his daily early morning spell over Sleepy Hollow. Harry and his friends awaken to three feet of freshly fallen snow as winter punches through Halloween for one wonderful moment. Sleepy Hollow Middle School’s very first SNOW DAY! The Good Mischief Team has a whole day to figure out what to do with a glorious, magnificent, juicy twenty-four hours, a gift courtesy of Mayor Maximus Kligore.

Review:

This is another great middle grade story about the Moon children.

I love the “moon” refererences in the children names: Honey Moon and Harvest Moon. They are so cute.

The mayor is quite a villain in this story. He doesn’t cast a spell to prevent snow from coming to Sleepy Hollow, so it snows there the next day. I can’t imagine a town without snow, or a spell that can prevent snow from falling! We have had so much snow in Toronto already, and it’s only January so we have a few more months of snow to go!

This is a good twist on the snow day story. Most kids are always wishing for a snow day so they can be off school, but the kids in Sleepy Hollow had never had a snow day before so it was an extra special occasion.

This is a great winter story for kids!

Review: Ruin and Rising

Title: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Review:

This was a thrilling conclusion to the Shadow and Bone trilogy!

This story was quite fast paced. One of my favourite parts about Bardugo’s stories is that when the characters explain their plans and what they want to happen, something comes to ruin it. Even when you think you can predict what is going to happen, someone comes in to crash the plans so it doesn’t happen and it turns the plot in a completely different direction. It keeps her readers on their toes.

I found the ending of the story so emotional. The characters go through so much love and loss through this book. Some losses were very hard to take.

This may be a bit of a spoiler, but I liked the epilogue. The characters went through so much throughout the series that it was calming to see how it all ended. I was satisfied with the ending, but I am glad that there are more books in the GrishaVerse for me to read!

Review: We Were Liars

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Purchased
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review:

This is an original story.

The unusual style that Cady, the narrator, uses takes a while to get used to. She often drifts off into her own fantasies. For example, at the beginning she describes when her father left her and her mother. She says he got into the car, then shot her in the chest and she started bleeding. When I first read that, I was shocked! But that’s not what really happened. Cady often exaggerates events or makes up stories.

The mystery of what happened to Cady was really suspenseful. Since she lost her memories, she couldn’t remember everything that happened the night she was injured. As Cady remembered events, the reader was also told what happened.

I also liked the family dynamic of the story. The different generations all come together on their own island. The mothers used their children to try to manipulate their grandfather into giving them their inheritances. It’s sad to think about, but I can see that happening in very wealthy families.

The ending gave me goosebumps! I was definitely not expecting it. It left me speechless. You’ll just have to read the book to find out how it ends!