Review: Unraveling Isobel - Eileen Cook

Title: Unraveling Isobel

Author: Eileen Cook

Release Date: January 3rd 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 304
Source: Bought

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother. 

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

I've heard quite a lot of mixed reviews about this. But since I love mystery and suspense thrillers, I thought I would give this a try. I'm so glad I did.

I found myself relating to Isobel. She was just so homesick and wants nothing than to go home and back to her old friends. I felt so sorry for her - you would be too if you have a stepfather like Dick. Dick is a dick, plain and simple. I hated him SO much and I thought her mother was so stupid to go and marry some guy like him. He gives me the creeps. Ewww.

I'm really interested in romances where the guy is like their stepbrother or something. (Don't ask me why - I just do), so I really liked her blossoming romance with Nate. Though, I felt like things went quite smooth for them and really quick as well.

There were a few things that I guessed and assumed correctly - which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I would have preferred this massive bomb climax thingy where the ending blows my mind, but some things were just so predictable. Still fun though.

This isn't anything special, but still worth the read if you like mystery thrillers, sweet romance and suspense.  

 ::: Sorry for the short review, it's just that I've read this quite a while ago and can't seem to remember what else I need to put :::

Review: Article 5 - Kristen Simmons

Title: Article 5 (Article 5 #1)

Author: Kristen Simmons

Release Date: January 31st 2012

Publisher: Tor Teens 

Source: For Review

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

First reaction after finishing this book: Shame. What a damn shame. *heavy sigh*. Oh dear, this book could have well been my favourite of 2012 so far, but the characters just ruined everything for me. And you know how picky I am about characters, I prefer having amazing characters and zero plot but IF, like this thing here, if you've written such an original and addictive plot but with annoying and whiny characters, with love interest the charm of a goldfish, well.. you got a bit of a problem here. 

Kristen Simmons is a very talented writer. She can write pretty damn good action scenes. My heart was literally pounding every second while I was reading this book. I couldn't put it down! Every second was valuable and dangerous. Her worldbuilding was fantastic, and unlike some other dystopians or post-apocalyptic YA novels out there, this is realistic. I could actually imagine this happening for real. Which makes it even more frightening and nerve-wracking. Knowing that in maybe a 50 years or so, our society and world could end up as corrupted as this. 

This novel was intense. Like in every stage of Ember's journey there would be this obstacle that they needed to think of a plan for, and I loved reading about it. Especially the first part of the novel, it was very fresh and original, but after maybe 150 pages, when it all became very tedious and predictable. It even went to the point where I knew what was going to happen because it was so similar to the previous part of the story. I felt like everyone was very untrustworthy and I get that they don't/can't trust anyone, but I hate it when our main character does. Even when she's gone through enough shit to know better. 

What brought me down was the main character. OH GUYS. Arrrggghhhhhh! I've lost count of how many times I wanted to smack her for her stupidity and how naive she was. Oh my God! She was like one of those people in a horror movie, the one who does something incrediblity stupid and unjustified and everyone is screaming for her to go back/do something? Yep. That's our main heroine Ember. Oh geez. For someone who claimed to be smart and all that, she was freaking useless. I would have just left her there to go and die or something. And it doesn't help that her love interest soldier has the personality of a brick. Seriously. Not swoonworthy at all. He didn't show any emotion or anything. WTH. 

Call me a heartless bitch or something, but I didn't care for her mum at all. I wouldn't have bothered to go and save her if she acted like a doormat to her ex-boyfriend and had let him abuse her.The only characters that I did like, was Sean and Rebecca. I thought they were really sweet and I would have preferred them as main characters instead of secondary.

Rant over. I still feel like shaking my head at this. Thinking how much I would have loved this book if the two main characters were different. Oh well. Still unsure if I would be reading the next one.

Review: Cross My Heart - Katie Klein

Title: Cross My Heart

Author: Katie Klein

Release Date: March 15th 2011

True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . . .

Jaden McEntyre and Parker Whalen are a wrong fit from the start. Jaden is driven and focused, Harvard Med School within reach. Parker has a past-a reputation-and the rumors about his mysterious habits abound. So there's no reason why, when they're assigned to work together on a project in English, they should discover they have anything in common, or even like each other, and they definitely shouldn't be falling in love.

As they bond over Edith Wharton's tragic novella, Ethan Frome, the "bad boy" vibe Parker plays begins to dissipate. Soon, Jaden finds herself shedding her own "good girl" image: sneaking around to be with him, confiding in him, and ultimately falling hard for this leather-wearing, motorcycle-driving loner who plays into the rebel stereotype.

Still, Jaden can't shake the feeling that there's more to Parker than he's letting on. He's hiding something from her, and discovering the truth means reconciling the Parker she's grown to love with the person he really is. Because it's possible that his life inside the classroom-everything Jaden knows-is one, massive lie.

You're reading the summary right now, and thinking this plot isn't special? Good girl meets bad boy. Good girl starts falling in love.  Everyone hates bad boy for his reputation. Yeah yeah, we know what happens. Think Cross My Heart will be just like any other YA contemporary romance girl-meets-boy story? Well. You are SO wrong. Cross My Heart is a fantastic, coming-of-age story with relatable characters and a super smart plot twist that I definitely did not see coming.

First. Let's talk about characters. I could totally relate to Jaden. She's very focused, perfectionist and is "safe and boring". She doesn't do stuff that would make her parents shake their heads at her, or her brothers scolding her. She's got big dreams for the future. And she's perfect - got perfect grades, perfect friends, even the perfect boyfriend. She was clearly contented with her life. Until. She got paired with Parker Whalen for a school English project. Let me say that I really like Jaden, and her interactions with her family, especially with her two slightly older brothers, are spot on. Her problems and emotions were real, and as you read, you can see that she's got many insecurities and flaws that make her the perfect female lead character.

Parker Whalen was exactly what every other YA angsty boy acts like. He is mysterious, smart and secretive. I really don't want to say this but he was just okay. I was expecting a bit more - more of him, more of their chemistry, more of sexual tension. And I did feel like their romance was a little bit rushed, which as you know, is a MAJOR book pet peeve of mine. Argh. Anyway, moving on.

Can we talk about THAT plot twist? Nuh uh. Totally not expecting that AT ALL. I did know that there was going to be this 'massive' plot twist and my brain was busy guessing (wrong) stuff. And never in a million years, I would have thought about that. It's not amazing or anything, just unpredictable. The more I think about it, the more it actually makes sense. And now I'm wondering why I never thought of that. 

Overall, if you enjoy reading contemporary romance, then I would recommend Cross My Heart.