Category: Realistic Fiction
Awake by Natasha Preston
(Cover courtesy of Goodreads.)
Scarlett doesn’t remember anything before the age of five. Her parents say it’s from the trauma of seeing her house burn down, and she accepts the life they’ve created for her without question—until a car accident causes Scarlett to start remembering pieces of an unfamiliar past.
When a new guy moves into town, Scarlett feels an instant spark. But Noah knows the truth of Scarlett’s past, and he’s determined to shield her from it…because Scarlett grew up in a cult called Eternal Light, controlled by her biological parents.
And they want her back.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that sort of bugs me when I read YA (or really anything in the urban fantasy genre) is that a lot of the main characters find out about magic from someone else. Usually there’s a token skepticism that’s quickly washed away at the slightest hint that the other person might be right. But what happens when a main character doesn’t believe in magic because there really is no magic? Instead, there’s just a bunch of crazy people in a cult that want to sacrifice her in an insane attempt at immortality.
While I like the general idea for the story quite a bit, Awake was disappointing in that it followed all of the usual high school romance tropes. A more popular best friend that the main character slut-shames? Check. New guy in school conveniently has the same schedule as the main character? Check. They live reasonably close together and are sat together on the first day of classes so they get to know each other? Check and double check. And then they fall into a cheesy teen romance that develops over the course of a week? Yep. I think we’ve hit almost all of the main high school tropes and that’s what really drags this book down. Natasha Preston has a great premise with some very interesting insights into the psychology of cults but it’s just lost in the horde of clichés dumped on you right in the beginning. It’s really sad in that respect.
Scarlett is an unremarkable narrator. She says it’s weird that she doesn’t have memories before the age of four and everyone around her seems horrified at the idea. But in the real world? People would go, “Oh, that’s weird” and move on with their lives, not try to get her to see a therapist and bend over backwards to find those ‘lost’ memories. Most people I know don’t have memories from before they were around the age of 3 or closer to 4 so I really don’t see how unusual that is. It’s sort of like Preston was trying to create suspense where there was none instead of focusing on creating suspense in a more believable way. Other than her weird fixation about not having memories from before she was 4, Scarlett doesn’t stand out at all. She doesn’t really have any notable hobbies or interests other than Noah once she meets him. She’s just boring. Noah is a little more interesting because of his Eternal Light background and his conflicted feelings about love versus duty but other than that he’s a pretty stereotypical love interest. Generically attractive, somewhat athletic and of course a little bit sheltered. The perfect boring boy for the perfect boring girl.
As I said earlier, what I did like about the book is that Awake did have a great premise in theory. I love that Natasha Preston sort of takes the trope of the narrator discovering they have an amazing background and turns that on its head. It’s really refreshing after a string of fairly decent YA novels with the same boring premise of “girl discovers she has magical powers from a boy who was sent to save her”. Although I don’t want to give too many plot points away, once we actually meet the members of the Eternal Light cult, it’s very interesting from a psychology perspective. They engage in highly complex rituals and they’re almost completely beholden to their leaders under threat of violence. Most people don’t seem to need violence to conform, however, as they’re very glad to have a purpose in life. Even if it means sacrificing another human being.
In the end, Awake was a fairly decent book ruined by too many clichés and predictable plot twists. It had a great premise that got lost in that avalanche of tropes and while there was some suspense near the end of the novel, I never felt especially compelled to turn the page to find out what happened next. Really, it was just boring and unremarkable. Another book that you may read once and then completely forget a few hours after reading it. It wasn’t terrible and it wasn’t great; it was just in that middle ground that leaves you feeling unsatisfied.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
Starlet’s Man by Carla J. Hanna
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
“If you live courageously, you have scars.” -Beth, Starlet’s Man
From the award-winning author of the Starlet Series, comes Starlet’s Man, a story about a boy becoming a man amidst the mixed-messages in Hollywood culture. Discover why the Starlet Series took Gold and Silver medals in the Readers’ Choice 2014 International Book Award Contest.
Lights, Cameras, and Lies. High school student athlete, Manny Biro, is caught between the boy he should be and the man he wants to become.
Everyone around him accepts the Hollywood life. He doesn’t. Manny wants no part of acting. On the surface, his childhood best friends seem to have it all: money, power, success. Between the lines, they are all confused. Alan is a messed up want-to-be director focused on pushing scenes to their sexy potential. Beth is an athlete driven to escape from a dark past. Janet is Manny’s kid sister caught up in fashion and trends. And Marie is a lonely actress exhausted by the culture that makes everyone’s favorite stories.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things I really didn’t like about Manny in the beginning of the first book (this is a prequel) was his self-righteousness. He criticized everything about Hollywood but proceeded to act like he was a part of that culture by fooling around with different girls and such. I wasn’t really sold on him being Lia’s love interest at first but he did grow on me as the books went along. However, in this prequel we get a really good look into his mindset while he was transitioning from boy to man
In the beginning, Manny is a pretty confused young man. He sort of likes his friend Beth, who he trains with in the mornings. At the same time, Liana Marie will always hold a special place in his heart even though she seems to be in love with her current costar Evan. And all of this takes place in a catty environment where publicity is more important than doing what you actually feel like so even if he and Liana finally admitted their feelings for each other, Lia’s bosses would not be happy with her dating a no-name. This, understandably, puts Manny in a very brooding mindset and leads to some of the stupid decisions I’ve alluded to as well as some of his hypocritical self-righteousness. Do I particularly like him at this point in his life? No, but he is an interesting character and it really does make me appreciate how much he’s changed by the second and third books in the series.
My only real complaint about this prequel is that the plot is a little disjointed. Sometimes it feels like there are random scene changes that I had a hard time keeping up with and it certainly wasn’t because of formatting issues or anything like that. I think that sometimes Carla Hanna pared down her writing a little too much and should have left in some more descriptions of the different locations and the transitions between locations. It does make for a fast read but I really would have appreciated a little more description so I wouldn’t have to deal with the occasional confusion.
The plot, however, is pretty good. It starts out with Manny learning about the kerfuffle over Lia’s last movie and it goes through her filming of Constantine’s Muse and all the screwed up things that come along with it as I saw from her perspective in Starlet’s Web. Her trials and tribulations are always at the forefront of Manny’s mind but he has his own things to worry about: money, Alan’s gossip blog spreading lies about his love life and his growing willingness to admit to Lia that he really does love her. It’s by no means a straightforward journey but that’s probably in part why I loved Starlet’s Man so much. Life isn’t a straightforward plot line and neither is this book. Manny has his ups and downs but finally comes through as a caring young man who is no longer the messed-up, self-righteous boy we meet in the beginning. It’s a satsifying journey.
Since this is a prequel you can absolutely read it before you read the main series but as a matter of personal preference I’d recommend reading Starlet’s Web first because I just like Liana more as a character. Manny is interesting enough and grew to be a better person, but being introduced to his self-righteous younger self so soon could turn you off a wonderful series. But if you like reading the prequels first, go ahead! This is a good book.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Losing Heart by Donna Brown
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
“I hate you. I hate you with all of Sylvia’s heart.”
Helen has waited for months for the heart that will save her life. After reaching out to the grieving mother of her donor heart, Helen realises that a second chance comes at a price. The price, she soon realises, is much steeper than she’d ever have chosen to pay.
There’s more than one way to break a heart. There’s more than one way to destroy a life…
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through Masquerade Tours’ Reader Round-Up in exchange for an honest review.]
I didn’t even really read the blurb all that closely before I requested the book, to be honest. So the events of the book were somewhat of a shock for me. A pleasant shock, as it turns out.
Helen is an amazing character. At first she learns that she’s dying of congestive heart failure when she’s still so young, only in her 40s. Then, thankfully, she gets a donor heart from a young woman killed in a car accident and thus gets a new lease on life. Of course she feels guilty that she thrives from another family’s suffering but she is very eager for life to go on. Except that everyone around her really is acting weird. Her husband calls her an ingrate for being tired while recovering instead of going around and volunteering to house the homeless and be perpetually cheerful 24/7. The donor’s only living family, her mother, contacts Helen and at first seems rather nice but starts to reveal a darker side involving some pretty interesting mind games. And of course Helen starts an affair with a doctor, who turns out to be a really awesome guy but feels guilty that she’s immediately doing a ‘bad’ thing upon getting a new lease on life.
So Helen is going through all of these crazy emotions at once and as a reader it was absolutely fascinating. The fact that she didn’t immediately turn into a saint but rather continued living as a normal person was far more believable and her guilt over her affair was palpable but we also got to see her happy, which she clearly isn’t with her husband. It’s kind of jarring to see how her new boyfriend treats her in comparison to her husband, who seems increasingly distant and critical of Helen. Especially when Sylvia’s mother is around as a living reminder of the heartbreak that gave Helen a new lease on life.
The plot is amazing. I think you can kind of guess the gist of it from the blurb but I have to say that the actual plot is far better than the blurb really hints at. I can’t really describe it all that much without spoiling the whole thing but let’s just say that not everyone is as they appear in Losing Heart. Donna Brown’s characters are people and that means they are flawed; sometimes they lie, cheat or cover important things up in order to get what they want. Sometimes they have misunderstandings with their friends and/or partners that lead to disaster. Sometimes they put their needs ahead of the needs of everyone else. So while the plot is fast-paced because the book is so short, it really is character-driven and very realistic. The ending is sort of predictable but also sort of surprising.
And no, that last sentence really won’t make sense until you read the book. So go and pick up Losing Heart! It’s definitely worth your while.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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The Mission by Fiona Palmer
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Recruited into the secretive, shrouded MTG Agency, Jaz dives headfirst into her training, regretting nothing about her decision to help save the world at the age of 17. Now she’s ready and anxious for her first mission — to prove she has what it takes… and to start making a difference.
The only thing that stands in her way is Ryan, the dangerous and sexy agent who first recruited her, and is now guiding her. He doesn’t want Jaz to sink too deeply too quickly into his world of secrets and lies, but his inability to trust her to know her own mind only makes Jaz furious.
When a job comes along that only Jaz can do, Ryan has to let go, and Jaz soon learns that she can swim with sharks, but she’ll come away with scars.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that I didn’t like about The Recruit, the first book in the MTG Agencies series, was that the plot was so predictable. That has been improved on a bit in The Mission but it still does need a bit of work. What really improved was the fact that more things actually happened because Jaz is now a full recruit into the MTG Agency and has to go on missions. At first I thought it was going to be fairly predictable just like the first book but although things start out as “hot young female agent has to shadow hot young teenage boy and accidentally falls in love with him”, Fiona Palmer doesn’t play that trope straight. She changes things up a bit and really surprised me with how Jaz’s relationship with Ryan played out throughout the story. So in terms of plot, The Mission was far more enjoyable than the first book.
Jaz, who was such an eager recruit in the beginning, is a little more mature now and although she makes a lot of dumb mistakes, she learns that being a secret agent maybe isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Things get tough, school isn’t always the first priority and she starts to see Ryan and his occasionally morose personality in a whole new light. Being a secret agent, she realizes, is tough on friendships and it’s especially tough when you have to lie to your friends and family. A lot of books involving secret agent main characters wrestle with this idea and I actually liked how Fiona Palmer made it an important conflict for Jaz, but not the main focus of the book because then that would be too boring and repetitive. It’s just like Jaz’s feelings for Ryan are a secondary conflict but the main conflict and focus of the novel is on her actual mission. And that’s how you know Jaz has really grown as a character; her personal conflicts are annoying but she puts them aside in the name of her job. It’s a stark contrast to the first book.
One of the only things I can really criticize was the pacing. In the beginning we have to get our bearings a bit but I just wish that more could have happened in a shorter time frame. It’s important to get character development into the mix and all that but I really would have liked for a little more action in the beginning. I can’t describe things too much without giving away the plot points, but the ending left me only partially satisfied because the events at the end seemed a little forced. It’s like Fiona Palmer was writing and realized she had to quickly insert a climax in a really forced sort of way. Don’t get me wrong—I did for the most part enjoy the plot. However, I was a little disappointed that the ending was more predictable compared to the rest of the book. It left me feeling kind of disappointed but because of how good the rest of the book was I’ll definitely still pick up the third book. I just have the feeling that the ending could have been done better.
To sum things up, here in The Mission we see a lot more character development on the part of Jaz because now she has a job that she takes seriously. She’s no longer just floating around aimlessly through life; she has a purpose and she’s going to fulfill her mission despite the danger to herself. The pacing was generally much better than in the first book but it still needs work and aside from the ending, the plot was so much better than it was in The Recruit. It didn’t have the best ending but it was well written and I enjoyed it enough that I’ll almost certainly be looking out for the next book. Basically? This was a good book, not a great one.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Novella: The Donor by Nikki Rae
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Casey Williams and her family are poor. Her parents work non-stop and so does she, just so they can keep the trailer roof from leaking.
They’re getting by fine enough when the headaches start. Then there’s the nosebleeds. And the inevitable doctor’s bills.
Fortunately for Casey, there’s MyTrueMatch.com: an exclusive, quick, and almost easy way to pay it all back before her parents even have to know.
All she has to do is give a man she’s never met whatever he wants from her body.
Inside or out.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I’ll admit it: I thought this book was about sex when I requested it on NetGalley. Considering the blurb, I don’t think that was an unreasonable assumption because a lot of erotic novel blurbs are. I was honestly looking for a little guilty pleasure.
What I got was a poignant, touching story that left me an emotional wreck for a full day afterward.
So obviously, this book is not about sex. No, it’s the story of Casey and her journey to confront not only her medical reality but her long-ignored emotions. It’s a story of forgiveness and dealing with your past, especially the things that hurt you before. And although I can’t really say much without giving away the whole story but it is also a tale of love; not necessarily romantic love but the kind of platonic love you feel for your family. The Donor is a story that can mean many things to many different people and these are just some of the things I pulled out of it; Nikki Rae’s story is so deep that you will probably take away different lessons and themes.
Casey was just an amazing character and I don’t I’ll ever be able to forget her. She’s young, just about to start her life away from her family, but poverty and those medical bills that were mentioned in the blurb are conspiring against her. So she turns to a sketchy and exclusive website where she meets Jonah Black, a mysterious but kind man who decides to make her his donor. Casey’s character arc as she confronts her problems and finally, finally forgives herself is just amazing and although I’m not an emotional person I’m tearing up just writing this review. Both Jonah and Casey were so real, so vivid, that you can’t help but become attached to them as characters.
The real reason The Donor is such an amazing novella (aside from the characters) is Nikki Rae’s writing. She just has an absolutely amazing writing style. It’s simple but poignant, conveying emotion without being too sappy, using symbolism but not being in your face about it. I know that it’s very hard for authors to find a balance between emotional and overly melodramatic, but Nikki Rae found such an amazing balance that if you aren’t left feeling a little something by the end of the book you clearly don’t possess a human heart.
So what can I say? Not everyone will like the ending but it stays true to the characters and the overall tone of the novella. It will leave you an emotional wreck but it will also make you confront your own fears and live your life just a little more richly because of it. There really are no words for how awesome this book is.
Seriously, just go buy it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.