Week 52 Review: Belly Up

From Goodreads:
There's a first time for everything.

First time playing quarters. 

First time spinning the bottle.

First totally hot consensual truck hookup with a superhot boy whose digits I forgot to get. 

First time getting pregnant.

Surprised you with that one, didn't I?

Surprised me, too. I’d planned to spend senior year with my bestie-slash-wifey, Devi Abrams, graduating at the top of my class and getting into an Ivy League college. Instead, Mom and I are moving in with my battle-ax of a grandmother and I'm about to start a new school and a whole new life.

Know what's more fun than being the new girl for your senior year? Being the pregnant new girl. It isn't awesome. There is one upside, though—a boy named Leaf Leon. He's cute, an amazing cook and he's flirting me up, hard-core. Too bad I'm knocked up with a stranger's baby. I should probably mention that to him at some point.

But how?

It seems I've got a lot more firsts to go. 

My Review:
This book was a lot of fun to read! I loved Sara's voice! This book was a honest telling of teen aged pregnancy, of some of the kinda gross things that happen, and the realities of her situation. I loved how she had the support of her mom and her best friend!

Sara was a fantastic narrator! If you enjoy the voice like in the synopsis above (there's another synopsis, but I like this one better) then you'll like this book. Then there's the fact that her mom's side of the family is Scandinavian, and her dad's side of the family is Latino. So she's torn between those two worlds while not fully belonging to either. Which isn't fun!

I really enjoyed Leaf and his friends who become Sara's friends. Yeah for diversity, because he's Roma, and his cultural treatment of food was an interesting part of this book. It wasn't all about her pregnancy! His reaction to her pregnancy and her reaction to his reaction made for great reading!

The relationships in this book were really great and realistic! Sara's with her mom, with her grandmother, with her best friend, with Leaf, with the baby's dad, yeah. They were a great base of this book, and I loved reading about them!

Loved reading this book and it was a really great book!

Author: Eva Darrows
Read: December 22nd, 2018
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Expected Publication: April 30th 2019

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 51 Review: No Good Deed

From Goodreads:
He's not asking for much. All Gregor Maravilla wants to do is feed all of the starving children on the planet. So when he's selected to join Camp Save the World, a special summer program for teenage activists from all over the country to champion their cause, Gregor's sure he's on the path to becoming Someone Great.

But then a prize is announced. It will be awarded at the end of summer to the activist who shows the most promise in their campaign. Gregor's sure he has the prize in the bag, especially compared to some of the other campers' campaigns. Like Eat Dirt, a preposterous campaign started by Ashley Woodstone, a famous young actor who most likely doesn't even deserve to be at the camp. Everywhere Gregor goes, Ashley seems to show up ready to ruin things. Plus, the prize has an unforeseen side effect, turning a quiet summer into cutthroat warfare where campers stop focusing on their own campaigns and start sabotaging everyone else's.

My Review:
This book was hilarious! I mean, the camp was so freaking weird, from the way all the campers were called by their causes, to the competition for the internship, yeah, it was just strange! Also the way it was written, which was fantastic, by the way, was so hilarious!

One thing that I really loved about this book, is that it's a companion book to Kill the Boy Band, because Ashley had been dating on of the Ruperts. And I really loved that book, and this one had that same favour, of what the heck is happening, this is messed up, but with a hilarious undertone. Just amazing!

I felt bad for Gregor. He's been hero-worshiping Robert Drill for a long time, and he has dreams for this camp, of working together to support the various causes. And then an internship is announced, and those dreams are crushed.

There are a lot of ups and downs in this book. From how he develops a friendship with Ashley, because he seems to be the only one not interested in her fame, to his relationships with his roommates, yeah, Wes was a good guy, but Rights, he was pretty awful. And then there was I Like Paint, or ILP for short, that was a complicated and messy and kinda hilarious situation!

This book was so fun to read and I really enjoyed it!

Author: Goldy Moldavsky
Read: December 21st, 2018
Source: Library
Reason Why: Sounded really good and funny, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: May 30th 2017

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 49 Review: In Other Lands

From Goodreads:
Sometimes it's not the kid you expect who falls through to magicland, sometimes it's . . . Elliott. He's grumpy, nerdy, and appalled by both the dearth of technology and the levels of fitness involved in swinging swords around. He's a little enchanted by the elves and mermaids. Despite his aversion to war, work, and most people (human or otherwise) he finds that two unlikely ideas, friendship and world peace, may actually be possible. 

My Review:
This book was so fantastic! And yeah, it's one of the top reads of 2018, maybe one of the top ones. Yeah, it was that good. It was so unique, hilarious, and I loved everything about it! I loved this world, which was a mix of human regular-ness, and then the Other world, with magical creatures.

I felt bad for both Elliott and Luke. Elliott because he didn't fit in this world, but he loved it and Serene, and he wanted to fix it so badly. Luke, he was the golden boy, and from a famous family, and then there's Elliott who doesn't care, and calls Luke loser all the time, which Luke just doesn't get.

The elf culture was very different from ours. It had toxic femininity, the exact opposite of ours, and it was interesting to have all the strength with the females and the weaknesses with the males. It was nice for a short while, but then it was just hard to bear, being unequal.

This book covers about ages 13 to 17, of these kids growing up, and they face a lot of violence, which Elliott hates, and he's always trying to find a peaceful solution. And with every year, he learned more, and was able to make changes. He was pretty persistent!

I really enjoyed watching all the relationships that Elliott formed. He just wanted to be loved, to be picked first, and it seemed like everybody wanted somebody else first, or they didn't love him. And that really sucked. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, though!

Really enjoyed the ending, of the world peace that Elliott had managed to achieve, and oh, yeah, him and Luke. They work together so well as a couple, and I would love to read more about them in the future, where they're happy together and seeing more of this world! It'd be so great!

This book was so fantastic and amazing, and I'm really hope we get more!

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Read: December 1st, 2018
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it sounded really great! And it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Big Mouth House
Published: July 17th 2017

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 47 Review: The Keeper of the Mist

From Goodreads:
Keri has been struggling to run her family bakery since her mother passed away.  Now the father she barely knew—the Lord of Nimmira—has died, and ancient magic has decreed that she will take his place as the new Lady. The position has never been so dangerous: the mists that hide Nimmira from its vicious, land-hungry neighbors have failed, and Keri's people are visible to strangers for the first time since the mists were put in place generations ago. 

At the same time, three half-brothers with their own eyes on the crown make life within the House just as dangerous as the world outside. But Keri has three people to guide her: her mysterious Timekeeper, clever Bookkeeper, and steadfast Doorkeeper. Together they must find a way to repair the boundary before her neighbors realize just how vulnerable Nimmira is.

My Review:
I loved reading this book! I totally wasn't planning on it, but the cover was so beautiful, and it was on a discount book site to buy really cheaply, and it sounded really good, so I had to read it! And it was just absolutely amazing to read!

First off, the world building is spectacular and beautiful! I loved the different countries and their histories, and the magic of Nimmira and how it works! So interesting! The different roles, the Timekeeper, Bookkeeper and the Doorkeeper, yeah, it was interesting how they worked!

Keri has a very fast crash course in this book on politics. She was the bastard daughter of the previous Lord, so she didn't grow up learning about ruling a country. But she puts on a good show, and is a quick study! She was so awesome!

This book was very weird and so enjoyable to read! I loved how everything, one after the other, happened, and how she made the best decisions that she could. Some very weird things happened, and yeah, made for an awesome ending!

This book was absolutely stunning, and I loved it so much! I definitely wouldn't mind a sequel in this world!

Author: Rachel Neumeier
Read: November 23rd, 2018
Source: Bought
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published: March 8th 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 42 Review: Heretics Anonymous

From Goodreads:
Put an atheist in a strict Catholic school? Expect comedy, chaos, and an Inquisition. The Breakfast Club meets Saved! in debut author Katie Henry's hilarious novel about a band of misfits who set out to challenge their school, one nun at a time. Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Robyn Schneider. 

When Michael walks through the doors of Catholic school, things can't get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow atheist at that. Only this girl, Lucy, isn't just Catholic . . . she wants to be a priest.

Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare's outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous, where he can be an atheist, Lucy can be an outspoken feminist, Avi can be Jewish and gay, Max can wear whatever he wants, and Eden can practice paganism.

Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school's hypocrisies one stunt at a time. But when Michael takes one mission too far—putting the other Heretics at risk—he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.

My Review:
I really enjoyed this book! From Michael to Lucy, and all their friends, the different ways that who they are breaks the rules of their school. And how they wanted to fight back. I loved meeting these different characters!

It sucks for Michael, that his dad has a focus on his job, on moving up the corporate latter, which means that they've moved a lot. And that he and his dad have a poor relationship. Part of this book is dealing with his struggles with his dad, as well as learning why his dad is the way he is. It was pretty heart-warming!

The idea of a secret society that finds the loopholes in the hypocrisies in the school rules, yeah, it's pretty interesting. Because these rules are pretty strict and feel like they want to crush the individuality out of the students. And felt pretty unfair, so skirting around them felt satisfying.

Sure, some of them were rules a school should have-but being a Catholic school, and a pretty strict one at that (from my limited knowledge from attending a public school) that there should be some relaxing in rules, a middle ground reached. And I think they started to find that by the end, which was really good!

Really enjoyed this book, it was a really fun and easy read!

Author: Katie Henry
Read: October 14th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a DAC Book and a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Katharine Tegan Books
Published: August 7th 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 42 Review: Sawkill Girls

From Goodreads:
Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.

He'll follow you home, and he won't let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she's sure she'll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she's broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

My Review:
Man, this book was strange and awesome! I really enjoyed reading it! I loved getting into this world, of strange happenings, and I just wanted to know more! There were the butterflies, and the strangeness with Val-we knew she had a secret, but it took a bit for that to come out to us, and for the other girls to discover it.

I really enjoyed the way that this story was told, we alternated between the three girls, who all have a stake in what was going on. Marion who's sister is taken, Val who is intimately connected to what's going on, and Zoey, who lost her friend previously to whomever.

That point where we find out how the "good" guys are going to take down the threat, it's like, step back, let the ladies handle it. Your way is awful and painful and sexist, and the girls' way is better. But no, they had to go and be assholes about it!

That ending, yeah, I didn't quite know what was going on. The magic was always strange, with the butterflies and such, but yeah, that ending was completely out of this world (ha.) But I did like that ending, it was satisfying and I loved the romance!

Yeah, this book was different and weird and I enjoyed it so much!

Author: Claire Legrande
Read: October 13th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Published: October 2nd 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 41 Review: Broken Things

From Goodreads:
It's been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.

The only thing is: they didn't do it.

On the anniversary of Summer's death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.

With all the intensity and whiplash turns of Gone Girl and One of Us Is Lying, this engrossing psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale of exquisite obsession, spoiled innocence, and impossible friendships.

My Review:
Oh, I enjoyed reading this book! I enjoyed the mystery, I enjoyed getting to know these girls, and I enjoyed the short excerpts from the book that inspired so much love from Summer, Mia and Brynn. It all came together so beautifully!

I really enjoyed the back and forth between Mia and Brynn's POV's. They both had different coping mechanisms for dealing with the fact of Summer's death, and that they were blamed for it. Like Brynn pretending to be an addict so she could stay in rehab.

The methods that they had of investigating were limited, given that they were basically pariah in their town. But they had insider knowledge because they had been there. They were Summer's friends, and had the benefit of the book that they were writing together, which was really important!

There was the question when the girls actually entered Lovelorn, was whether they were crazy, it was real and this book was slightly paranormal, or someone was messing with them. Which was a mystery for us, but was only accidentally solved with the solving of the murder for the characters. Which works!

Loved reading this book, it was such a great read!

Author: Lauren Oliver
Read: October 11th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: October 2nd 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: Lady Pirate

From Goodreads:
Valoree no longer has to masquerade as her murdered brother and scourge the oceans as Captain Red. She no longer has to command his pirate band in a quest to regain his birthright. She has been named heir to Ainsley Castle. But no executor would ever hand over the estate to an unmarried pirate wench and her infamous crew—no matter to whom she'd been born. And the will distinctly states that in order to inherit, Valoree must be married to a nobleman...and pregnant.

Upon learning that, the virgin captain is ready to return to the seas—but her crew has other ideas—and for those rascally cusses she would do anything. If they could find a way to put on her a sweet face that would fool the ton, she would handle the rest, even with a drunken prostitute as an "aunt" and her merry cutthroat crew as "servants." But to herself she swears one thing: she will only marry a man who fires her blood, a man who is not afraid of a...Lady Pirate. 

My Review:
Oh, man, this book was so much fun! I think all Lynsay Sands books are fun,. and this was no exception! I loved the idea of Valoree, who had been immersed in the life of a pirate, and pretending to be a guy. And now that she and the crew want to settle down, well, entering the world of the nobles is not something she really wants to do! It's one hilarious thing after another!

Both Valoree and Daniel have to marry to get their inheritances. And it's funny, that it being a condition for one, was the inspiration for the other. But that they would work together and fulfill both at the same time, that just works out fine!

The various supporting cast, the rest of her crew, her "aunt," they were all really great to read about! I loved the way that they were a democracy and voted on things. There was a lot of different personalities, and I enjoyed all of them!

Once they were married, Valoree had to deal with the fact that her crew didn't consider her the leader anymore, but Daniel. That caused a bit of tension because he didn't understand, but they worked it out in the end, and I was happy for them!

I enjoyed this book so darned much, and I can't wait to read more by Lynsay Sands!

Author: Lynsay Sands
Read: October 4th, 2018
Source: Bought
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded good, and it's a Historical Fiction 2018 Book and a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Avon
Published: January 1st 2001

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: The Loving Daylights

From Goodreads:
New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands delivers a "madcap escapade" (Publishers Weekly) in this contemporary romance about a quirky inventor and unexpected love.

Shy Jane Spyrus loves gadgets. She can build anything B.L.I.S.S. needs in the international organization's fight against crime—although its agents aren't exactly lining up at her door. Some of them think her inventions are a little too . . . well, innovative. Like her shrink-wrap prophylactic constraints or her spray-on truth serum.

Of course, you can't use wacky inventions to fix all your problems; Jane knows that better than anyone. Her neighbor has been kidnapped, driving that point home. She will have to team up with another human being—and Abel Andretti arrives just in time. He will help Jane find her neighbor, stop a villain, and, most of all, he will show Jane how to love the daylights out of something without batteries.

My Review:
Oh, another amazing, hilarious and awesome book by Lynsay Sands! I loved the spy agency and the gadgets that Jane created, they were really innovative and creative and kinda pretty hilarious! I enjoyed it so much!

There was just so much hilarity in this book, like when they basically kidnap Abel, because his sister was taken, and they're the ones with the spy knowledge. When the set up house, I really enjoyed all the situations they got into because of the roles the chose to play!

That ending, oh! Jane was vindicated, she was right about the family being the bad guys, and that they had a hidden base. And yeah, there was a lot of action and good use of her gadgets! It wasn't a perfect ending, but it was a happy and satisfying one, which I really enjoyed!

Apparently this is part of a series, with different authors writing about other agents working at B.L.I.S.S. but since I haven't heard of them, I'm not really interested in reading them. I would love another book by Lynsay Sands set in this world!

This book was really fantastic and enjoyable and I loved it immensely!

Author: Lynsay Sands
Read: September 30th, 2018
Source: Bought
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Avon
Published: April 1st 2003

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 39 Review: A Face Like Glass

From Goodreads:
In the underground city of Caverna, the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare—wines that remove memories, cheeses that make you hallucinate, and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer, even as they slit your throat. On the surface, the people of Caverna seem ordinary, except for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to express (or fake) joy, despair, or fear—at a steep price. Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. Neverfell's expressions are as varied and dynamic as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, except hers are entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed . . . 

My Review:
Oh, this book was weird and strange and a little hard to get into at first, but so great to read! I enjoyed it so much! Remembering the different parts of this book to write this review was a great experience, even if I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out what to say!

Neverfell was a bit naive at the beginning of this book, which made this book feel more of a middle grade than YA, maybe upper middle grade. She was very trusting, and she was lucky and she was smart and she got through some pretty tricky situations, and learned from them. I was really impressed with who she became in the end!

One weird/funny/strange bit of this book was the guy in charge, with his two halves of his brain, and how they thought differently, and why he'd set that up. It was a pretty bitter-hilarious bit when both halves started attacking each other!

There were a few mysteries going on in this book. Who Neverfall was, where she came from, who was the thief, and more. It was complicated, and there were a few things going on, and I really enjoyed how they all resolved!

This book was great and I enjoyed it immensely once I got going!

Author: Frances Hardinge
Read: September 27th, 2018
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: I enjoyed her other book, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Amulet Book
Published: May 9th 2017

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4.5/5 Stars

Week 39 Review: Spark

From Goodreads:
Acclaimed author Holly Schindler writes a compelling contemporary tale with a dash of magic. The theater comes to life in this story of family ties, fate, love, and one girl's quest to rewrite history.

The local Avery Theater was just a run-down building to Quin—until her mother told her about the tragic love that played out on the theater's stage many years ago. Quin is convinced it's the perfect story to re-create for her drama class. And when she does, the Avery begins to magically regain its former splendor, clearly setting the stage for her classmates Dylan and Cass to relive the romance from a time before. Quin can see the spark between them, but it's up to her to make sure her friends—and the Avery—can both be saved this time around. 

My Review:
I've really enjoyed Holly Schindler's other books, and I was really fascinated by the idea of a theater coming back to life, of a second try at the romance that ended in tragedy! Really enjoyed it, and the idea that the narrator wasn't the one going on the romance journey!

Quin has a pretty interesting family history. While her adopted mom had a minor role in the past, her birth family memory had see what was going to happen in the stars, and that there'd be another chance. So that was quirky and interesting to read!

Dylan and Cass were the ones who had the romance, while Quin was on the side lines, helping where she could. I was really happy to read that, it was different, to have the narrator not be a member of the romance. And Dylan and Cass were a great couple!

I really enjoyed how everything came together, that the Avery was used to show their production, that the random bits that they practiced came together, that what went wrong the first time, didn't this time around. Made for a good read!

This book was unique and fun to read and I really enjoyed it!

Author: Holly Schindler
Read: September 26th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Loved her previous books, and it's a SAC 2018 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: May 17th 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 39 Review: Good and Gone

From Goodreads:
Honest and emotionally charged, Good and Gone is the story of a teenage girl who must find her way back to herself as she grapples with the truth of what her boyfriend did to her. A gripping YA that will appeal to fans of Jandy Nelson and Sara Zarr.

When Lexi Green's older brother, Charlie, starts plotting a road trip to find a famous musician who's been reported missing, she’s beyond confused. Her brother hasn't left the couch since his girlfriend broke up with him months ago—but he'll hop in a car to find some hipster rocker? Concerned at how he seems to be rebounding, Lexi decides to go along for the ride.

Besides, Lexi could use the distraction. The anger and bewilderment coursing through her after getting dumped by her pretentious boyfriend Seth has left her on edge. As Lexi, Charlie, and their neighbor Zack hit the road, Lexi recalls bits and pieces of her short-lived romance and sees, for the first time, what it really was: a one-sided, cold-hearted manipulation game. Not only did Seth completely isolate her, but he took something she wasn't ready to give up.

The further along in their journey they get, the three uncover much more than empty clues about a reclusive rocker's whereabouts. Instead, what starts off as a car ride turns into something deeper as each of them faces questions they have been avoiding for too long. Like the real reason Charlie has been so withdrawn lately. What Seth stole from Lexi in the pool house. And if shattered girls can ever put themselves back together again.

My Review:
Yeah, this book was really interesting to read. I have a harder time with contemporary books because the conflict is usually internal or the relationships with other people, not always the romantic ones. I did take a longer time to read this book given its shorter length, but I did enjoy it!

So Charlie deals with depression, though its more shown then outright stated. And this trip was a break from the pattern that he'd been in, and going out on the road looking for the missing musician. While he and Lexi did have some sharper comments for each other, they both wanted the other to be happy and healthy, though Charlie didn't realize he needed to worry about Lexi at first.

Lexi was angry. She'd been dating Seth, and then we slowly saw what happened between them. And that Charlie was too entrenched in his issues to notice her own, and that caused some tension between the two of them. I'm glad that they worked it out!

I really enjoyed the investigation that they made looking for the singer, it took them from place to place, and allowed them time to heal, to learn more about themselves. And that ending with the note, yeah, that worked well with this book!

Yeah, this book was a great look into some issues without being preachy or in your face and I enjoyed it!

Author: Megan Frazer Blakemore
Read: September 26th, 2018
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: November 14th 2017

4/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars

Week 39 Review: Uncanny

From Goodreads:
A chilling stand-alone novel by the acclaimed David Macinnis Gill. This original and sinister spin on gothic tradition will appeal to fans of Asylum, American Horror Story: Coven, and The Walking Dead.

When a bolt of lightning causes a Boston-wide blackout on her sixteenth birthday, Willow Jane doesn't think anything of it—until she begins stopping time, until she comes face-to-face with her menacing familiar, until her sister disappears.

But these aren't the only strange and horrifying things to come out of the storm. An ancient witch named the Shadowless has awoken and escaped from her crypt, and she's looking for revenge on Willow Jane's family.

From the critically acclaimed author of Black Hole Sun and Soul Enchilada, this eerie horror story lingers long after its bloody end, and is perfect for fans of Madeleine Roux, The Ghost Files, and anyone who likes things that go bump in the night. 

My Review:
This book was very weird. I would read the first few pages, just not get hooked, and later come back and start over. This happened a few times. But once I really got into it, I was really interested in the weirdness and wanted to know more about this world!

For me, this book had a slow burning beginning, but the heat is really on in the end! We were slowly introduced to this world, and its strangeness, and while we didn't see everything, because it was a whole maze of confusion for me, but once enough of the ground rules were established, yeah, it flew by!

The Shadowglass was pretty terrifying. I mean, she survived being buried for at least a century. Anything that can do that, you be wary of. And that she was able to control various people, well, that just makes it harder, because its not their fault, they're innocent and you don't want to hurt them, but you don't want to be hurt by them, you know?

That ending was pretty awesome and heart-pounding! It didn't end with a happily ever after, there was some cost to their victory, but it was well earned and a really satisfying ending! Though I'm still left uneasy about it, I'm glad that it wasn't me!

This book was strange and enjoyable and I'm still not quite sure what I read. I enjoyed it so much!

Author: David Mcinnis Gill
Read: September 23rd, 2018
Source: Edelweiss/Bought
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: September 5th 2017

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars