Jill's Book Blog

Review: Mad Miss Mimic

Title: Mad Miss Mimic
Author: Sarah Henstra
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Jane Austen meets Arthur Conan Doyle in a historical fiction debut for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Elizabeth Wein.

Born into an affluent family, Leo outwardly seems like a typical daughter of English privilege in the 1870s: she lives with her wealthy married sister Christabel, and lacks for neither dresses nor trinkets. But Leo has a crippling speech impediment that makes it difficult for her to speak but curiously allows her to mimic other people’s voices flawlessly. Servants and ladies alike call her “Mad Miss Mimic” behind her back… and watch as she unintentionally scares off every potential suitor. Only the impossibly handsome Mr. Thornfax seems interested in Leo…but why? And does he have a connection to the mysterious Black Glove group that has London in its terrifying grasp? Trapped in a city under siege by terror attacks and gripped by opium fever, where doctors (including her brother-in-law) race to patent an injectable formula, Leo must search for truth in increasingly dangerous situations – but to do so, she must first find her voice.

Review:

I loved this Victorian novel! As the description says, it has aspects of both Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes novels.

Leo is an interesting character. She’s very secluded because of her stutter, but she is still expected to follow the path of a Victorian lady by marrying into money. Because of her stutter, she has faced many hardships. A unique aspect of her stutter is that she can mimic voices perfectly. But that has led her into more trouble than anything. When she mimicked the voice of her sister’s suitor, her words ended her sister’s engagement and also ruined her relationship with her only sibling.

Most of the characters were unlikeable, which is hard for the writer to do and still create a great story. Right from the beginning I didn’t like Christabel, her husband, or Mr. Thornfax. I didn’t like the way they patronized Leo, solely because of her stutter. But I liked Leo and I rooted for her through the whole book. She was intelligent, and took risks to solve the mystery of the Black Glove.

I’m definitely going to follow this author, because this was a great debut novel!

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – April 9

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 For Every One by Jason Reynolds.

What I’m currently reading:

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I’m currently reading Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Happily by Chauncey Rogers.

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

Review: For Every One

Title: For Every One
Author: Jason Reynolds
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Release Date: April 10, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds’s rallying cry to the dreamers of the world.

For Every One is just that: for every one. For every one person. For every one dream. But especially for every one kid. The kids who dream of being better than they are. Kids who dream of doing more than they almost dare to dream. Kids who are like Jason Reynolds, a self-professed dreamer. Jason does not claim to know how to make dreams come true; he has, in fact, been fighting on the front line of his own battle to make his own dreams a reality. He expected to make it when he was sixteen. Then eighteen. Then twenty-five. Now, some of those expectations have been realized. But others, the most important ones, lay ahead, and a lot of them involve kids, how to inspire them. All the kids who are scared to dream, or don’t know how to dream, or don’t dare to dream because they’ve NEVER seen a dream come true. Jason wants kids to know that dreams take time. They involve countless struggles. But no matter how many times a dreamer gets beat down, the drive and the passion and the hope never fully extinguish—because just having the dream is the start you need, or you won’t get anywhere anyway, and that is when you have to take a leap of faith.

A pitch perfect graduation, baby, or love my kid gift.

Review:

I just discovered Jason Reynolds a few months ago, and I am so glad I did. He is one of my favourite writers now.

This poetic letter was originally performed at the Kennedy Center. It has a great performative, spoken word quality to it. He repeats lines over and over, such as “I don’t know nothing.” This also puts his voice into the poem, since it sounds like something you would say, rather than write.

I could relate to the beginning of the piece, when he said when he was 18 I thought I would make it at 25, but today he still doesn’t feel like he’s made it. I kept thinking of my own writing experience and how difficult it is to “make it” in the publishing world. But then I realized that it could be applied to any dream. He doesn’t explicitly say that it is about writing. It could be any dream you have, and sometimes you just have to take a chance and try at it, whether you’re going to be successful or not.

I loved this poem. I think I will be revisiting it many times in the coming years. And in my opinion, Jason Reynolds has already made it!

Blog Tour: A Mother’s Sacrifice

Book Cover

Title: A Mother’s Sacrifice
Author: Gemma Metcalfe
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HQ Digital
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

God ensured she crossed my path. And that is why I chose her.

The day Louisa and James bring their newborn son home from the hospital marks a new beginning for all of them. To hold their child in their arms, makes all the stress and trauma of fertility treatment worth it. Little Cory is theirs and theirs alone. Or so they think…

After her mother’s suicide when she was a child, Louisa’s life took an even darker turn. But meeting James changed everything. She can trust him to protect her, and to never leave her. Even if deep down, she worries that she has never told him the full truth about her past, or the truth about their baby.

But someone knows all her secrets – and that person is watching and waiting, with a twisted game that will try to take everything Louisa holds dear.

Perfect for fans of Louise Jensen.

Review:

I really liked this book. It was so suspenseful and spooky.

The pacing was good. It sped up as it went along. The beginning of the story was hard to read because there were some problems while Louisa was giving birth. But the story picked up after that. There were twists along the way, so even when I thought I knew what was happening, I ended up being wrong.

Louisa was one of those characters that I found so frustrating. I kept wanting to tell her to do things differently, like tell James what was going on right away. But at the same time, I can understand why she was scared and wanted to keep it to herself. It was so frustrating for me, but it wouldn’t be much of a story if she resolved it right away!

The ending really surprised me! I kept going back and forth wondering who was threatening Louisa. In the end, it was actually the first person I suspected. This was a great ending!

This book is a great thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

About the Author:

Author Photo.jpg

Gemma Metcalfe is a Manchester born author who now lives in sunny Tenerife with her husband Danny and two crazy rescue dogs Dora and Diego. By day, Gemma can be found working as a Primary school teacher, but as the sun sets, she ditches the glitter and glue and becomes a writer of psychological thrillers. An established drama queen, she admits to having a rather warped imagination, and loves writing original plots with shocking twists. The plot for her debut novel ´Trust Me,´ is loosely based on her experiences as a call centre operative, where she was never quite sure who would answer the phone…

Giveaway:

Prize: A Mother’s Sacrifice choccies & a lipgloss set

UK Only

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bf633057172/?

Thank you Neverland Blog Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour.

Review: Wires and Nerve, Volume 2: Gone Rogue

Title: Wires and Nerve, Volume 2: Gone Rogue
Author: Marissa Meyer, Stephen Gilpin
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Purchased
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Iko – an audacious android and best friend to the Lunar Queen Cinder – has been tasked with hunting down Alpha Lysander Steele, the leader of a rogue band of bioengineered wolf-soldiers who threaten to undo the tenuous peace agreement between Earth and Luna. Unless Cinder can reverse the mutations that were forced on them years before, Steele and his soldiers plan to satisfy their monstrous appetites with a massacre of the innocent people of Earth.

And to show he’s serious, Steele is taking hostages.

Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, and Winter and Jacin all feature in this epic new battle. But it is Iko who must face her deepest fears when she uncovers the truth about her own unusual programming.

Review:

I love this series! The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favourite series, so I’m so excited about this graphic novel series!

The first volume was an introduction to the characters. It was a little hard to get used to seeing what they really look like, because I imagined some of them differently. Also I keep getting Thorne and Jacin mixed up… until they speak! (Thorne is very full of himself and is always looking for attention whereas Jacin is quiet.)

This volume jumped right into the action. They have a new villain to defeat, Steele who was one of Levana’s hybrids. He really reminded me of Count Olaf from The Series of Unfortunate Events. He looked a lot like him.

I enjoyed the flashbacks in the story. The characters revisited many places from the original story, which were nice to finally see in pictures. Linh Garan also made a few appearances in saved video files. In those, he describes how Iko was created, which was intense because it was difficult for her to handle.

This is a great story, and I really hope the story continues!

Here’s my review for Wires and Nerve, Volume 1.

Review: Patina (Track #2)

Title: Patina (Track #2)
Author: Jason Reynolds
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Purchased
Release Date: August 29, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons—to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she’s been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. She runs from the reason WHY she’s not able to live with her “real” mom any more: her mom has The Sugar, and Patty is terrified that the disease that took her mom’s legs will one day take her away forever. So Patty’s also running for her mom, who can’t. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it’s building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won’t tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay…where you have to depend on other people? How’s she going to do THAT?

Review:

This story begins seconds after the last story ended. At the end of the last story, Ghost, Ghost was just about to start his first track race. But it didn’t go as planned, which was surprising. This is a great way to join the two stories, especially since they have different narrators.

I love Patty’s distinct voice in this story. She tells the story from her point of view. She is a very strong girl who grows a lot throughout the story.

Patty has a unique family situation. She lives with her aunt (who her and her sister call Momly) and her uncle. But their mom is still alive, though she is unable to take care of them. Her mom had to have both legs amputated due to complications from diabetes. I have never read a story with a character in that condition before, so I learned a lot from this story.

I liked the way that Patty explained things that happened with her mom. Whenever she mentioned medical terms, like diabetes, dialysis, or diagnosis, she noted that they all have the word “die” in them. It was a way for her to analyze what was going on. She was very perceptive and smart when dealing with these difficult situations.

I loved this book. The third book in the series, Sunny, is coming out next week, and I can’t wait to read it!

TBR Thursday – April 5

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake.

When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Blog Tour: The Summer of Jordi Perez (And The Best Burger in Los Angeles)

Title: The Summer of Jordi Perez (And The Best Burger in Los Angeles)
Author: Amy Spalding
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Source: Publisher
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people’s lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby has stayed focused on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a prized internship at her favorite local boutique, she’s thrilled to take her first step into her dream career. She doesn’t expect to fall for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Abby knows it’s a big no-no to fall for a colleague. She also knows that Jordi documents her whole life in photographs, while Abby would prefer to stay behind the scenes.

Then again, nothing is going as expected this summer. She’s competing against the girl she’s kissing to win a paid job at the boutique. She’s somehow managed to befriend Jax, a lacrosse-playing bro type who needs help in a project that involves eating burgers across L.A.’s eastside. Suddenly, she doesn’t feel like a sidekick. Is it possible Abby’s finally in her own story?

But when Jordi’s photography puts Abby in the spotlight, it feels like a betrayal, rather than a starring role. Can Abby find a way to reconcile her positive yet private sense of self with the image that other people have of her?

Is this just Abby’s summer of fashion? Or will it truly be The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles)?

Review:

I loved this adorable story.

Abby is a great character. She was very colourful, literally. She wears tons of colours and patterns that I can only imagine. She knows she’s gay, but she has never had a girlfriend, so she’s still figuring out what that kind of relationship would be like.

I liked the relationship between Abby and Jax. It demonstrates that a boy and girl can be friends without any romance. I also liked that Jax stopped hitting on Abby when he found out she was gay. He didn’t keep pushing her to do something she wasn’t comfortable doing.

The food in this story sounded so good! Well, most of it did. The healthy stuff that Abby’s mom made for her website didn’t sound very appealing, but the burgers and Mexican food sounded delicious! This book will definitely make you hungry!

My Favourite Burger:

My favourite burger is from The Works in Toronto. They have many different combinations of toppings to choose from. I like the one called Malibu Meltdown on a turkey burger. It has brie, havarti, and gouda, an onion ring and Beech house sauce (which is kind of like a ranch/mayo). It is AMAZING! Now I’m hungry just thinking about it…

Author:

Amy Spalding has a B.A. in advertising and marketing communications from Webster University, and an M.A. in media studies from the New School. Amy studied longform improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. By day, she manages the digital media team for an indie film advertising agency. By later day and night, Amy writes, performs, and pets as many cats as she can. She grew up in St. Louis, but now lives in the better weather of Los Angeles.

Follow Amy:
Website: https://www.theamyspalding.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theames
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmySpaldingWrites/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatames/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768552.Amy_Spalding

Giveaway:

- 1 hardcover copy of the book
- 1 pack of FujiFilm Instax Mini Film
- 1 $5 gift card for Five Guys (Canada)
- Details:
- - Canada Only (full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter)
  - Giveaway ends Wed. Apr. 11th @ 12AM EST
  - Winner will be drawn randomly through Rafflecopter, contacted via email and will have 24 hours to claim their prize

a Rafflecopter

‘Waiting On’ Wednesday – April 4

New WoW

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 Isle of Blood and Stone.

Here’s the synopsis:

Ulises asked, “How can I look at these maps, see this riddle, and do nothing? They are my brothers.”

Elias reached across the table and flicked aside two shells with a fingertip. The map curled into itself. “It’s bound to be a goose chase. You know that?”

“Or a treasure hunt,” Ulises countered, “and you’ve always been good at those.”

Nineteen-year-old Elias is a royal explorer, a skilled mapmaker, and the new king of del Mar’s oldest friend. Soon he will embark on the adventure of a lifetime, an expedition past the Strait of Cain and into uncharted waters. Nothing stands in his way…until a long-ago tragedy creeps back into the light, threatening all he holds dear.

The people of St. John del Mar have never recovered from the loss of their boy princes, kidnapped eighteen years ago, both presumed dead. But when two maps surface, each bearing the same hidden riddle, troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young heirs? And why do the maps appear to be drawn by Lord Antoni, Elias’s father, who vanished on that same fateful day? With the king’s beautiful cousin by his side—whether he wants her there or not—Elias will race to solve the riddle of the princes. He will have to use his wits and guard his back. Because some truths are better left buried…and an unknown enemy stalks his every turn.

What books are you waiting on this week?

Blog Tour: Zombie Abbey

Title: Zombie Abbey
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

1920, England

And the three teenage Clarke sisters thought what they’d wear to dinner was their biggest problem…

Lady Kate, the entitled eldest.
Lady Grace, lost in the middle and wishing she were braver.
Lady Lizzy, so endlessly sunny, it’s easy to underestimate her.

Then there’s Will Harvey, the proud, to-die-for—and possibly die with!—stable boy; Daniel Murray, the resourceful second footman with a secret; Raymond Allen, the unfortunate-looking young duke; and Fanny Rogers, the unsinkable kitchen maid.

Upstairs! Downstairs! Toss in some farmers and villagers!

None of them ever expected to work together for any reason.

But none of them had ever seen anything like this.

Review:

I loved this book! I miss watching Downton Abbey so much, so this book filled that hole in my life!

This book is a young adult version of Downton Abbey, mixed with a lot of humour. I could recognize which character in Downton Abbey matched the ones in Zombie Abbey. Fanny was the ditzy kitchen maid, who had lots of opinions on the people upstairs. She reminded me of Daisy in Downton. Katherine was the oldest daughter and Benedict was her distant cousin, who is also her father’s heir. They reminded me of Mary and Matthew in Downton. Those are just a couple of the most obvious comparisons, but almost every character in this story has a match in Downton. These similarities were great because it made it easier to differentiate between the many characters in this ensemble cast.

The story was quite funny too. The Clarke family was very oblivious to the problems of the farmers and villagers. This was different from the Crawley family on Downton, who cared about the people on their land. The zombies that appeared were also funny, because they were so unexpected. When reading about an early 20th century English estate, you don’t expect to see Zombies pop up on their hunting trips. The zombie aspect of the story was a lot like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because though we are familiar with the story, the zombies disrupt the narrative in a funny way.

I loved this story! This a must read for fans of Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

About the Author:

Amelia Brunskill was born in Melbourne, Australia, but she grew up mostly in Washington state where she picked a lot of blackberries, read a lot of books, and failed to properly appreciate the epic beauty of the mountains and the Pacific ocean.

She earned her bachelors degrees in psychology and art from the University of Washington and her master in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She now lives in Chicago, where she eats as much Thai food as possible and works as a librarian.

The Window is her debut novel.

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway