Alterations ~ By Stephanie Scott – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Diversity, Friendship, Romance, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Spark for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: December 6th, 2016

237 Pages

Synopsis: If anyone saw the prom boards Amelia Blanco makes on her favorite fashion app, they’d think Ethan Laurenti was her boyfriend. They wouldn’t know that all the plans she’s made for them are just dreams, and that she’s the girl who watches him from the kitchen while her parents cook for his famous family. 

When Amelia’s abuelita enrolls her in a month-long fashion internship in NYC, Amelia can’t imagine leaving Miami–and Ethan–for that long. As soon as she gets to New York, however, she finds a bigger world and new possibilities. She meets people her own age who can actually carry on a conversation about stitching and design. Her pin boards become less about prom with Ethan and more about creating her own style. By the time she returns to Miami, Amelia feels like she can accomplish anything, and surprises herself by agreeing to help Ethan’s awkward, Steve-Jobs-wannabe brother, Liam, create his own fashion app. 

As Liam and Amelia get closer, Ethan realizes that this newly confident, stylish girl may be the one for him after all…even though he has a reality TV star girlfriend he conveniently he keeps forgetting about. The “new and improved ” Amelia soon finds herself in between two brothers, a whole lot of drama, and a choice she never dreamed she’d have to make.

I knew as soon as I heard about Alterations that I just had to get my hands on it. You see, it’s a YA retelling of Sabrina, which is one of my FAVORITE movies of all time ( the Audrey Hepburn version of course)! The problem is when you’re creating a new adaption of a beloved classic, whether it’s a book or film, people are either going to love it or hate it. I’m happy to say that in this case I absolutely loved it and Stephanie Scott has my deep and everlasting admiration for the courage to take this on. First let me address the elephant in the room. Yes the love triangle (shudder) between Amelia, Ethan, and Liam is a big part of the story, yet it never takes over. 16-year-old Amelia has built Ethan up into godlike status. This is done in a very believable and relatable way. I think even adults reading this will probably think back upon a teen crush, that now with the wisdom of age, we want to smack ourselves in the head over. Amelia is shy and extremely insecure about herself, but she is also laser-focused on her dream of becoming a fashion designer, and her passion for this leaps off the pages. There are plenty of pop-culture references, especially to Instagram, Pinterest, and the tv show Project Runway and its host Tim Gunn, who Amelia idolizes. Even with her ambitions though, Amelia still initially panics at leaving her Miami home when she’s given a scholarship to attend the one-month-long New York Fashion Institute. But, with the gentle prodding of her mom and Abuelita, off she goes, where she not only winds up gaining new found confidence, but also meets girls who understand her passion for fashion. Thankfully there are no mean girls here, just like-minded ones with who Amelia forms strong friendships with. This brings me to the only small criticism I have with the story. Amelia tells a small lie regarding her relationship with Ethan, and as is quite often the case, this small lie snowballs until it comes close to derailing her new friendships. To be honest, while I understood the falsehood in question, I think for a while it took over too much of the story and that it wasn’t necessary. But honestly, this is my one and only complaint and it certainly wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book. Similar to Sabrina returning to her father completely changed, Amelia returns to her mom and Abuelita, more sophisticated and with a newfound confidence in herself. She also starts to realize that maybe Ethan isn’t the right one for her, and instead sees that she and Liam actually have much more in common. Alas, the course of true love does not run smoothly for Amelia and Liam, and there are plenty of miscommunications and comedy of errors, they must get through before attaining their happy ending. Alterations is both a plot and character-driven story. As well-developed as the main characters are, they wouldn’t be nearly as appealing if it weren’t for the diverse cast of secondary characters. Friendship is a huge theme in this book, and all of Amelia’s “crew” bring something into her life. This is also all about diversity as the story is set primarily in Miami, and Stephanie Scott really brings this vibrant city to life. While Amelia and her mother and Abuelita are Latina, it’s never made clear where their family origins are, but they’re such a wonderful and loving family unit, it doesn’t really matter. Ethan and Liam despite being twins, are complete opposites of one another. Ethan is a likable extrovert, but also is a bit shallow. Liam is brilliant, yet awkward in his own skin and ironically it’s Amelia who coaxes him from his shell. The romance between them is so sweet that I wanted to reach in and hug them at the end. After reading Alterations I have to say it’s going on my short list of favorite 2016 reads and I can definitely see it being adapted to film. I think teen girls will love this as well as adults who love Sabrina. I can’t wait to see what Stephanie Scott comes up with next!

Happy Birthday Louisa May Alcott! November 29th, 1832 – March 6th, 1888

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Inspirational quotes, Louisa May Alcott's 184th Birthday

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.

~ Louisa May Alcott ~

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday!

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#givingtuesday, Barbara De Angelis, Inspirational quotes

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.

~ Barbara De Angelis ~

Her Nightly Embrace (Book 1 Of The Ravi PI Series) ~ By Adi Tantimedh – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Mythology, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Leopoldo & Co. for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

320 Pages

Synopsis: Ravi Chandra Singh is the last guy you’d expect to become a private detective. A failed religious scholar, he now works for Golden Sentinels, an upmarket London private investigations agency. His colleagues are a band of gleefully amoral and brilliant screw-ups: Ken and Clive, a pair of brutal ex-cops who are also a gay couple;  Mark Chapman, a burned-out stoner hiding a great mind; Marcie Holder, a cheerful former publicist; Benjamin Lee, a techie prankster from South London; David Okri, an ambitious lawyer from a well-connected Nigerian immigrant family; and Olivia Wong, an upper-class Hong Kong financial analyst hiding her true skills as one of the most dangerous hackers in the world–all under the watchful eye of Roger Golden–wheeler-dealer extraordinaire, and his mysterious office manager, Cheryl Hughes.

Thrust into a world where the rich, famous, and powerful hire him to solve their problems and wash their dirty laundry, Ravi finds himself in over his head with increasingly gonzo and complex cases–and the recent visions that he’s been having of Hindu gods aren’t helping. As Ravi struggles to stay ahead of danger, he wonders if the things he’s seeing are a delusion–or if he might, in fact, be an unrecognized shaman of the modern world…

Before I start my review, I have my confession to make. The main reason why I requested this book was the cover. The eARC actually only shows his face in shadows, but I looked it up on Goodreads before I requested it and saw this lovely cover. I have had a crush on Sendhil Ramamurthy since I first saw him on the tv series Heroes. Not only is he gorgeous, but he has a lovely voice/accent, and he’s a great actor. I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed that somebody would come up with a new series for him to star in and…Yay! Not only is this the first in a trilogy, but it’s also in development for a tv series with one of the producers being none other than Idris Elba. I’m such a happy camper! Okay. Now to the book, which I quite enjoyed. Her Nightly Embrace is actually made up of four different stories/cases, although they’re all tied together. Ravi is the narrator, so everything is seen through his eyes. I absolutely love his character! He’s a former teacher who’s recruited by the Golden Sentinels private investigation firm, which at the onset seems like a rather odd fit, but wait until you meet the other, ahem, quirky employees. Ravi is not only dealing with some of the more unsavory methods his new employer uses to solve cases, but he’s also juggling his demanding family and these visions of Hindu gods he keeps seeing. These visions are tied directly to his internal struggles over the morally and legally ambiguous lines he’s being asked to cross. To be honest, even at the end I wasn’t sure if these are hallucinations or if Ravi is a shaman. It makes me feel better though that he doesn’t seem to know either. Not only is he supremely likable, but he’s highly intelligent as evidenced by the many internal monologues he has. While his morals are high, he never comes across as being too preachy. Instead, he winds up being the moral compass of the agency, which is a good thing given that most of the other employees are unapologetically corrupt. The other characters are quite interesting, but there’s not enough of their backstories told. I’m hoping that we’ll learn more about them in the forthcoming books. There’s a brief kind of awkward romantic relationship that Ravi has with a woman who pops up in the first story, but it mostly takes a backseat to the rest of the story. The cases themselves are interesting and balance suspense and violence, with plenty of humor. Her Nightly Embrace may not be for everyone. The scenarios are a little out there, as are the characters, there’s a few plot holes, and the format reads almost like a screenplay. But in the end I thought it was a fun read that had me laughing out loud more than once. I’m looking forward to not only the second book, but also the tv series, when I’ll be drooling over Sendhil being on my tv screen once again. Only when my husband’s not in the room of course!

Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2) By Brenda Drake – Cover Reveal!

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Brenda Drake, Guardian Of Secrets Cover Reveal

One of my favorite books from last year was Thief of Lies, so I’ve been eager anticipating the sequel. While the actual book isn’t being released until February 7th, 2017, here is the exquisite cover and a brief synopsis to tide Brenda’s fans over. Oh, and if you haven’t read the first book, please check out my review at:

https://cadburypom.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/thief-of-lies-by-brenda-drake-5-0-stars/

If you love books and libraries, and YA fantasy I encourage you to try this!

Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairytales and secret gardens.

Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it. 

And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex”, since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia.

Maybe. If she survives.

Brenda Drake grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

WordPress Spam Gremlins Strike Again!

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Wordpress Issues

Hi All! I’ve noticed the last couple of days that some, but not all of my comments on other bloggers sites are disappearing. I’m assuming they’re going into people’s spam folders. It’s odd, because it’s not happening on every blog I comment on, just some of them. As it’s practically impossible to get a hold of WP administration, I’m keeping my fingers crossed this resolves on its own. I have a feeling I’m not the only one this is happening to so I just wanted to give you all a heads up!

Fate Of Flames (Effigies #1) ~ By Sarah Raughley – 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC  in exchange for an honest review.

368 Pages

Synopsis: When Phantoms–massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness–suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement. 

But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and instead have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.

Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.

Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But what the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together

Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?

Fate Of Flames is a a little rough around the edges, but I think it’s a promising start to this new YA series. I’m going to get the negatives out of the way first. I found the characters for most of the book extremely annoying, although they did start to grow on me in the latter half of the book. Maia is likable but she comes across as being immature even for sixteen-years-old. She makes some questionable decisions that left me a tad frustrated. The other Effigies are, well, there’s really no other way to put this, brats. I understand that they’re forced into this dangerous life of battling the Phantoms, and that the life-expectancy for Effigies isn’t very long, but honestly! They spend so much time sniping and fighting each other, that they lose sight of who the real enemy is. Towards the end of the story though, they begin to work as a team, which gives me hope for the sequel. There are two male characters, Rhys and Saul who are actually much more interesting than the girls. At the beginning of the book, one is a hero and one a villain, but as the story unfolds, things get complicated and they may not be what they seem. There’s the beginnings of a romance between Maia and Rhys, but with all the action going on it stays mainly in the background. What saved this story for me was the unique storyline and fabulous world-building. It’s sort of a cross between Sailor Moon and Pacific Rim with maybe a little of The Avengers thrown in. It starts off with a bang, and the pace never slows down, which had me finishing this in two sittings. Despite my issues with the characters, I believe Fate Of Flames will have wide appeal for fans of YA fiction filled with action, paranormal, science fiction and fantasy. I’m hoping that the wrinkles with the characters are ironed out in the next book, because I think Effigies could truly be a great series. 

R.I.P. Ron Glass ~ 1945-2016

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Ron Glass

And the hits just keep coming. Ron Glass was a prolific movie and tv actor but for me the two roles he set the bar with were his Emmy nominated Detective Ron Harris on Barney Miller, and Sheperd Book on Firefly and it’s follow-up film, Serenity. He was truly a gifted actor and he will be sorely missed.

Until I Break ~ By Kara Bietz – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Dysfunctional Families, Friendship, Gun Violence, Mental Illness, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Albert Whitman & Company for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

256 Pages

Synopsis: Two boys: One is a star athlete and top student with a deep-seated need to prove himself. The other is a chip-on-his-shoulder quarterback who will never settle for second best. When gunshots echo through the halls of Broadmeadow High School, whose finger is on the trigger? A year before the shooting, Sam North has a bright future as well as a problem that no one seems to see, Ace Quinn, his neighbor and teammate. For years, Ace has been bullying and harassing Sam, yet he’s managed to deftly conceal his actions and threats from the rest of the world. As Ace’s secret rage intensifies, Sam becomes more desperate to stop him. But how far will he go? And what if Ace takes his threats even further?

Until I Break is a timely and unsettling book about a completely normal and nice kid, Sam, whose psyche, after years of what amounts to psychological torture at the hands of Ace, finally starts to disintegrate during their senior year, from the unimaginable stress. The story is told in alternating timelines from the present to back to the beginning of the school year. Although it’s not difficult to ascertain what’s going to happen, going back and looking at the events that lead up to the violent outcome, was a brilliant plot device by the author because it’s both incredibly intense but also insightful. I could literally feel Sam’s building anxiety and agony and seeing him unravel after years of psychological abuse at the hands of Ace was just heartbreaking. Sam’s not a loner. He has family. He has friends. He’s an athlete and is well liked, but no one seems to understand what Ace is doing to him, not even his best friend who thinks he just over reacts to Ace. Sam is already vulnerable because of the death of his father and his mother’s struggle with depression. Stepping in as a father figure, is his grandfather who loves him but bonds over football and taking Sam to the shooting range. He has the whole “Men stand on their own two feet!” mentality and doesn’t see what’s happening right under his nose. I have to say I grew quite frustrated at times during the book because no one noticed that Sam was deteriorating both mentally and physically. I think that perhaps the author put so much time and effort into making Sam a sympathetic and relatable character, that she skimped a little on others, especially the adults in his life. The story also features a somewhat twisted love triangle between Sam, Marnie and Ace. I’m just going to say flat out I absolutely DESPISED Marnie. She’s a shallow little flirt who delights in playing Sam and Ace against each other. Honestly, there’s not a single nice thing I can say about her except that she was supportive of Sam when his dad died. Beyond that, she’s an absolute horror show and I honestly couldn’t understand why Sam loves her so much. Ace is pretty much your stereotypical bully: an overachiever who never lives up to the expectations of his demanding father. I ordinarily would have a certain amount of sympathy for someone like Ace, but what he does to Sam is so heartless and cruel, well, I couldn’t summon up one iota of pity for him. I’m not a trained psychologist but if I had to guess, I’d say that at the very least, Ace has sociopathic tendencies. The way that he charms everyone while at the same time secretly torments Sam is truly frightening. The ending gives both Sam and the reader a sense of hope. With the help of a therapist/advocate, he’s given a second chance at turning his life around, which is as it should be. Although Until I Break has quite a few flaws, there are two reasons why I’m giving it a high rating. The first being Sam, who it’s obvious that the author poured her heart and soul into creating. Because of his situation and his wanting to please the people in his life, I think teens will completely relate to and become emotionally invested in him. I know other reviewers have criticized that his not reaching out more to adults isn’t believable, but I respectfully disagree. Growing up with an abusive mother, as well as being bullied in school at one point, I know all too well that feeling of being alone and trapped and not knowing who to trust—who to reach out to. And I think sadly, too many kids will get this also. The second reason I’m giving this 4 stars is because of the important messages this book imparts. Bullying doesn’t have to take on physical form to do the most damage. Those inner wounds left by verbal and psychological abuse can be even more damaging and lasting. Worse yet, someone can be surrounded by friends and family but still feel lost, afraid and alone. One very important part of friendship is listening to and looking out for one another, and I think even as adults we sometimes lose sight of this. I would definitely recommend this book for classroom reading and teen book discussion groups. It’s not an easy read, but I think it’s one that has merits in being shared. 

 

R.I.P. Florence Henderson ~ 1934-2016

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Florence Henderson

I played Carol as the mother I always wished I had, as the mother a lot of people wished they had.