Month: January 2019

Review: Two Can Keep a Secret

Title: Two Can Keep a Secret
Author: Karen M. McManus
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: January 8, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

Review:

I was so excited to read this book when I first heard about it. It didn’t disappoint!

I couldn’t put this book down. It was such a page-turner! There were so many pieces of the puzzle that kept popping up. I figured out who did it halfway through the story, when I heard one of the clues. I was still excited to read the ending.

The last 50 pages or so were so fast paced. I kept holding my breath just waiting to see what would happen next. The final lines of the story gave me chills!

I loved this book! I can’t wait to read everything Karen M. McManus writes in the future!

What to read next:

One of Us Is Lying by
Karen M. McManus

The Window by Amelia Brunskill

Have you read Two Can Keep a Secret? What did you think of it?

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It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – January 7

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 The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading White Stag (Permafrost #1) by Kara Barbieri.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1) by Laura Sebastian.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – January 6

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 8 weekly blogging memes:

I also posted two additional posts:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Six for Sunday – Bookish Wishes – Sequels

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Bookish Wishes. For this week, I will the books I wish had a sequel:

1. The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

2. Kens by Raziel Reid

3. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

4. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

5. S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett

6. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Did you write a #SixforSunday post? What was your list of Bookish Wishes?

Sundays in Bed With… The Field Guide to the North American Teenager

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I’m reading The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.

Yet, against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris. Be it loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making. He even starts playing actual hockey with these Texans.

But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.

What book are you in bed with today?

Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within, Vol. 1

Title: Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within, Vol. 1
Author: Tania del Rio
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Archie Comics
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The magic returns like never before in Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within!

Sabrina Spellman is your average teenager by day, attending Greendale High where her major crush, Harvey, plays for the school basketball team. But by night, Sabrina enters the Magical Realm, where she hones her witchcraft and attends Charm School with the handsome and mysterious Shinji.

Start from the very beginning as Sabrina deals with her two eccentric aunts and her conflicting lives in the Mortal and Magic Realms . . . and stumbles into the beginnings of a plot that will reshape the magical world at its foundation! 

Review:

This book was so much fun! It was funny and entertaining.

Sabrina is turned into a manga character in this volume. Salem has always been my favourite character and he was so funny in this book. He was even made into a popular toy in this book, but he didn’t enjoy the fame until it was over.

There was a love triangle in this book which reminded me of the Archie, Betty, and Veronica love triangle in Archie comics. Sabrina liked both Harvey and her wizard friend Shinji. She couldn’t decide between them, just like Archie can’t decide between Betty and Veronica. The choice is made for Sabrina when one of the boys gets another girlfriend.

I really enjoyed this book. I laughed so many times while reading it. I can’t wait to read the next book!

What to read next:

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within, Vol. 2 by Tania del Rio

Have you read Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within Vol. 1? What did you think of it?

Stacking the Shelves – January 5

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I received had two books approved on NetGalley this week:

The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters

Narwhal’s Otter Friend (A Narwhal and Jelly Book #4) by Ben Clanton

Thank you ABRAMS Kids and Penguin Random House Canada for these books!

I also bought two books from Indigo:

The Belles (The Belles #1) by Dhonielle Clayton

The Kingfisher Secret by Anonymous

What books did you get this week?

Review: The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1)

Title: The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1)
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 15, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.

One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction…
 
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it’s already been stolen. 
 
London’s underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.
 
Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself…

Review:

This story was a lot of fun. It begins right in the middle of the action, with Irene on a mission to get a book for the Library. It took a while for me to get into it because I had no idea what was happening in the first chapter. Now, looking back on it, I understand it, but it was a little confusing at first.

The Library is a dream place for book lovers. The librarians find books and bring them back to the Library so they have every original and unique copy of every book. They travel to alternate universes to find alternate copies of books. The one that Irene has to find in this book is a unique copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Once I got into this book, I loved it. The ending was so good, it made me want to start on the next book right away! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

What to read next:

The Masked City (The Invisible Library #2) by Genevieve Cogman

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1) by Jasper Fforde

Have you read The Invisible Library? What did you think of it?

First Lines Friday – January 4

This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.

Here are my first lines:

“The sky was perfectly blue. Not a single cloud marred its surface. I lay on my back on the seat of my WaveRunner, my feet up on the handlebars. I let me hand drift down to the water and skim along the surface.”

Do you recognize these first lines?

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And the book is… Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West.

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Goodreads synopsis:

Talking to other people isn’t Kate Bailey’s favorite activity. She’d much rather be out on the lake, soaking up the solitude and sunshine. So when her best friend, Alana, convinces Kate to join their high school’s podcast, Kate is not expecting to be chosen as the host. Now she’ll have to answer calls and give advice on the air? Impossible.

But to Kate’s surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the podcast gets in a call from an anonymous guy, asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is gorgeous Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend … until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego. Suddenly, Kate finds that while doling out wisdom to others may be easy, asking for help is tougher than it looks, and following your own advice is even harder.

Kasie West’s adorable story of secrets, love, and friendship is sure to win over hearts everywhere.

Have you read Listen to Your Heart? What did you think of it?

Review: The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party (The Princess in Black #2)

Title: The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party
Author: Shannon Hale, Dean Hale and LeUyen Pham
Genre: Children’s
Publisher: Candlewick
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Inconvenient monster alarms, a sparkly array of princess guests, and spot-on slapstick pacing make for a party readers will celebrate.

Today is Princess Magnolia’s birthday party, and she wants everything to be perfect. But just as her guests are arriving . . . Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! Princess Magnolia runs to the broom closet, ditches her frilly clothes, and becomes the Princess in Black! She rushes to the goat pasture, defeats the monster, and returns to the castle before her guests discover her secret. But every time Princess Magnolia is about to open her presents, the monster alarm rings again. And every time she rushes back—an inside-out dress here, a missing shoe there—it gets harder to keep the other princesses from being suspicious. Don’t those monsters understand that now is not a good time for an attack?

Review:

I love the Princess in Black series! These stories are a lot of fun.

The Princess has to hide her secret identity as a crime fighting princess from all of her princess friends. When her monster alarm rings, she must find an excuse to duck away and fight the monster.

The monsters were so funny. They only go after the goats in a neighbouring field. The Princess is able to go and fight them, but she comes back to her party more and more disheveled each time, drawing suspicion from some of the princesses. However, she always gets the job done.

This is a cute story for young kids. I think adults would enjoy it too, because I kept smiling while I read it.

What to read next:

The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde (The Princess in Black #3) by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and LeUyen Pham

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko

Have you read The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party? What did you think of it?