Wednesday 28 December 2016

Dare you to- Katie McGarry

Published: May 28, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
456 pages
Goodreads page

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Its been such a long time since i read Pushing the Limits that i honestly couldn't really tell you what happened in that book, so i guess its lucky you don't necessarily have to have read that book to enjoy this one.

The second book in Katie McGarry's pushing the limits series follows Beth and Ryan as they meet and fall in love.
I found the story a little slow at first and Ryan as a character seemed really cliche at the start, but as the book went on i grew more attached to the characters and ended up really enjoying it.
I liked Beths side of things and her story, i found her 'rough' background was the most interesting part of this book.
The last 100 pages i couldn't put the book down, i had to know what was going to happen with her mum. I found that i cared more about knowing what became of her mum than i did the actual love story to be honest.

Overall it was a well written and interesting love story. It had several typical aspects of a teen romance but if you can overlook that its worth a read.

****
Four stars


Wednesday 21 December 2016

A stolen life- Jaycee Dugard

Published: July 12,2011
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
273 pages
Goodreads page

On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends saw of her for over eighteen years. On 26 August 2009, Dugard, her daughters, and Phillip Craig Garrido appeared in the office of her kidnapper's parole officer in California. Their unusual behaviour sparked an investigation that led to the positive identification of Jaycee Lee Dugard, living in a tent behind Garrido's home. During her time in captivity, at the age of fourteen and seventeen, she gave birth to two daughters, both fathered by Garrido. 

Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, utterly honest and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found. Garrido and his wife Nancy have since pleaded guilty to their crimes.


Im not going to call this a review because i feel like with a book like this i can't really look at it and say what is good and whats bad.
The whole story is terrible, its terrible that she had to go through what she went through. Its terrible that she has this story to tell.
I can only say that i think she's brave for telling her story, i was so sad whilst reading this for what Jaycee and her daughters went through, but glad that she's now free and can live her life freely and share her story.

It baffles me that humans exist that can do that to someone and it breaks my heart.
Being a mother i can't even comprehend this happening to a child. 

Im glad i read i give it the rating for the courage it must take to tell a story like this.

*****
Five stars






Tuesday 6 December 2016

Daughter of Smoke and Bone- Laini Taylor

Published: Sep 27, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
418 pages
Goodreads page

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?




Ive heard quite a lot of good and bad things about this book, it seems to have a lot of mixed opinions. I was kind of surprised that i enjoyed it considering it has the paranormal romance type feel to it. I however enjoyed it for a few reasons:

The first thing i really enjoyed about this story was the setting. It wasn't your usual American high school setting,  it was set in Prague which made reading about the scenery all the more interesting.

Secondly, the way the story was written flowed so brilliantly, the deeper you got into the story the more mysteries and secrets intertwined. I felt myself wanting to know as much as i could about the world behind the door.

Thirdly, the love story was tragic and beautiful and even though I'm not one for paranormal romances i found myself swooning for Akiva and his fiery eyes. 
The names of the characters where interesting and refreshing and although i don't know if i actually pronounce any of them correctly i still enjoy the uniqueness all the same.

Overall i think if you have been avoiding this because of the paranormal romance aspects its definitely worth giving a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised. 
I for one and looking forward to the next book and seeing where this story takes us.

****
Four stars