Review: Liar

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them—and herself—that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

Micah is a liar. Everything she says is a lie, so how can you know what she's telling is the truth? Now her "after school" boyfriend is found dead in Central Park, a place where they spent so much time together, she is forced to tell the truth. But how can anyone decipher what the truth is when everything else out of her mouth is a lie? Rumours start to circulate around the school about who killed Zach, but it's not just Micah who is being accused.

As Micah tells her story, there's only two questions left to answer. What is Micah's secret? And, what really happened to Zach?

What can I say about this book that won't give away all the secrets? Justine Larbalestier does an excellent job of creating a confessional type story told from Micah's perspective. From the first page where Micah promises to tell the truth all the way to the end the reader is kept guessing as they try to figure out which version of the story they should really believe.

Even though Micah is an unreliable narrator, it works. Throughout the story, Micah changes the story and announces that what she's told the reader has, in fact, been lies. This kept the twists and turns coming and had me thinking about what was really happening. Even some of the truths that I thought were lies turned out to be real, or so she leaves the reader believing. The story is split into three parts Before (Zach's death), After and family history. This helped build Micah's character and showed her motivation and reasons for why she's the way she is.

I can't really say much more about what lies or truths she did say without giving away any of the twists. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to be kept guessing or for those who likes to solve a good mystery, because that's what Micah is, a good mystery, as the reader tries to figure out if she is telling the truth, or everything is a lie.

Source: Audible

2011 YA Reading Challenge: #28 of 50
2011 Aussie Reading Challenge: #4 of 12

Review:Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Veronica Roth has created an interesting world in Divergent where everyone is divided into five distinct factions based on five personality traits (brave, selfless, intelligent, honest and peaceful). When Beatrice is put through the standard test to identify which faction she must "choose", she discovers that she's a Divergent. She is one person that has the ability to choose from a number of factions, she also is told that if anyone were to learn her life could be in danger. When it comes time to choose her faction, she has to decide between her Abnegation family (selfless) and that of Dauntless (brave). What she chooses suprises everyone. She chooses Dauntless.

As the initiation starts, Beatrice (who decides to change her name to Tris) has to prove that she is as brave and strong as the others who only sees her as a Abnegation stiff. She soon learns that being a Divergent helps her succeed in the trials, but she has to learn why being a Divergent is so dangerous and who, if they found out what she was, will stop at nothing to kill her.

Divergent is a compelling debut that shows a structured dystopian world and the power struggle that could play out if one group would be given all the power. Tris and all the other characters all come alive. Just like the different factions, she is strong, brave and selfless (even though she doesn't think she is). Four is also a strong character who, even though he does things to pick on and make Tris stand out, really cares for her, and their rollercoaster relationship is  compelling.

The faction of Dauntless, there's no other word but, wow... the scenery Roth has painted inside the mountain and the actions, mostly which include jumping on and off speeding trains and jumping off cliffsides, really provided a thrilling read. Put that with the dangerous mystery of what Divergent really means, and why those who have been named it often are found dead, makes Veronica Roth's Divergent a page turning thriller. Anyone who loves Dystopian novels will definately love the atmosphere that Roth creates. I look forward to the next in this new trillogy.

Source: Audible

2011 YA Reading Challenge: #26 of 50
2011 Debut Author Challenge: #12 of 20

Review: Stolen

Stolen: A letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Amelia knows one thing... she's dead. She doesn't know how she died and she doesn't know who she was before drowning. She is forced to relive her death over and over in what she can only call nightmares. But, when she finds a boy, Joshua, drowning in the same river she did, she knows she has to help (but doesn't know how since she's already dead).

Lucy Christopher has created an intense tale of kidnapping and survival written as a letter from 16-year-old Gemma's eyes to her captor. Gemma is on her way home to London from Bangkok when she is kidnapped. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the Australian outback.

Gemma soon discovers that even if she tries to run, there is nothing or nowhere she can run to. As she gets to know her kidnapper, Ty, she has to find the will to survive if she ever wants to see home and her family again.

Christopher has beautifully written a story on such an intense topic. The letter allows the readers to become close and to understand her emotions as she becomes conflicted over whether to hate, pity or care for Ty. Ty is indeed an intriguing character. Yes, he did kidnap her, but he was always kind to her and did not force her to do anything she didn't want. In his mind, he kidnapped Gemma to get her to a better place.

The Australian outback is painted perfectly. Even though I'm Australian, it is some place I haven't bee yet, but the scenery surrounding Gemma and Ty created vivid images which made Gemma's survival and need for Ty even more apparent.

For such a serious topic, Christopher has created a captivating story that paints the intense scenario that is all-too real through the eyes of the victim. Overall, Stolen was a non-stop rollercoaster as the reader becomes close to Gemma, and even Ty, as she tries to escape, survive and wonder if she's ever going to see home again.

Source: Audible

2011 YA Reading Challenge: #25 of 50
2011 Aussie Reading Challenge: #3 of 12

Review: Between Here and Forever

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could...

All Abby's life she has had to live under her sister's shadow. She has never been able to be as good as Tess. Abby thought that once Tess went off to college then everything would change and she would be able to live her own life away from the comparison. Then the car accident happened which put Tess in a comma. Now she is only seen as poor Tess's sister.

Abby devotes her life to Tess, spending most of her afternoons at the hospital. She thinks if Tess can wake up she will be able to get on with her life and live without the constant stigma of being Tess's sister. Then she meets the mysterious boy, Eli, who she believes will be able to wake Tess up. What she finds on her quest to wake her sister up is something about herself as well as her sister, something that she had never seen but has always been there.

Elizabeth Scott has created a believable story of family secrets and self-discovery. Abby is just an average teenager who lacks self-esteem who has always had to live with to comparison of her perfect sister. Anyone who's had to live in someone else's shadow can easily relate to her. Even when given a compliment, she doesn't know if people are feeling sorry for her or just seeing her as her sister.

Eli is another character that is full of mystery and problems himself. All the characters in the story have their own background and little quirks that makes them believable.

The mystery of who Tess was, drew me into the story as Abby tried to solve the big secret that Tess was keeping, one she had never paid close enough attention to. As Abby searches for the answers, she also has to learn that she can live her own life, free from the stigma of being Tess's sister.

Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

2011 YA Reading Challenge: #23 of 50

Review: Mercy

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Mercy ‘wakes’ on a school bus bound for Paradise, a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business… or thinks they do. But Mercy has a secret life. She is an angel, doomed to return repeatedly to Earth, taking on a new ‘persona’ each time she does, in an effort to resolve a cataclysmic rift between heavenly beings. The first of a brilliant new series sees Mercy meeting Ryan, an eighteen-year-old whose sister was kidnapped two years ago and is presumed dead. When another girl is also kidnapped, Mercy knows she has to act quickly and use extraordinary powers to rescue her, even if it means exposing her true identity. Ages 13+

Mercy is an angel who doesn't know what she's done to be living in this limbo called her life. She is doomed to return to earth repeatedly, sliding into someone else's life in order to fix a problem. Mercy doesn't remember much of the previous lives, all she knows is that the girl's she leaves have ended up in a better place.

When Mercy wakes up on a school bus bound for a small town called paradise where Carmen, the girl she's taking over is participating in a combined school choir she doesn't know what she's in for. The family taking her in while she's in the town has a sad past. Two years ago their daughter was kidnapped without any trace. Almost everyone has given up on finding her alive, except for her eighteen year old brother, Ryan. Mercy knows she has to do something, that this is the reason for her being placed in this life. But can Mercy find the missing girl without putting Carmen in danger or making her life worse for when she wakes up?

Rebecca Lim has created a very unique angel story. Mercy is very confused about who she is and why she has been placed in this life, but she is also a strong and believable character. And as Mercy fumbles to get a grip on this new charge and understand everything about Carmen, this allows the reader to get even closer to her as it really feels like she's experiencing everything for the first time.

There is enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning and heart racing as Mercy discovers more secrets and lies that the family and town has. This book not only has one mystery about the missing girl, but also the mystery surrounding Mercy's past. She is searching for her soulmate and answers as to why she's living these girls lives, and it's hinted throughout the novel, but as the first mystery is solved there are still those questions that makes me want to read the next in the series just to find out more.

Mercy is a perfect book for any angel or paranormal fan. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Source: NetGalley

2011 Aussie Reading Challenge: #2 of 12
2011 YA Reading Challenge: #22 of 50
 

Review: Girl Wonder

Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

Synopsis (From Goodreads): As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket. Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.

But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.

Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?

Charlotte has always been encouraged to achieve her highest and in her family where her father's a professional writer and her mother's a university lecturer, it's important to score the highest grades and think about what she needs to get into the best colleges. Unfortunately life isn't that easy for her. Being diagnosed with a learning difficulty which hinders her maths level, she doesn't have the right grades to get accepted into the same gifted school that her brother is in, it doesn't even admit her to the gifted program at her new school.


So, with a new school, no friends, the need to please her parents and college applications all on her shoulders, she doesn't shy away from Amanda the "Girl Wonder" when she offers Charlotte friendship and also a chance at popularity.  When Charlotte and Amanda join the debate team, Charlotte meets Neal and as the two of them get closer, the more Neal urges Charlotte to keep their relationship secret. But, why does he want to keep it secret? As Charlotte's life begins to crumble, Charlotte must discover what true friendship is and how to make her own decisions without worrying about what anyone else thinks.

Alexa Martin has created a realistic portrayal of family expectations and all the trials someone would go through to find acceptance, especially one with a learning difficulty. Charlotte turned out to be an interesting character as she searched for a place to belong, both in her family and at her school.

Even though the plot started off slow, by the time Charlotte had integrated herself into the school, I was hooked. In a story that doesn't shy away from the serious issues, Charlotte is faced with many heart wrenching decisions to make as she's faced with sex, drugs and family problems. A wonderfully written story from debut author Alexa Martin. I look forward to seeing what else this author has to offer.


Source: Netgalley
Release Date: May 3rd 2011
2011 Debut Author Challenge: #9 of 20
2011 YA Reading Challenge: #15 of 50
Recommend:

Review: John Belushi is Dead

John Belushi is Dead by Kathy Charles

Synopsis (From Goodreads): IN THE END WE ALL FADE TO BLACK. 

Pink-haired Hilda and oddball loner Benji are not your typical teenagers. Instead of going to parties or hanging out at the mall, they comb the city streets and suburban culs-de-sac of Los Angeles for sites of celebrity murder and suicide. Bound by their interest in the macabre, Hilda and Benji neglect their schoolwork and their social lives in favor of prowling the most notorious crime scenes in Hollywood history and collecting odd mementos of celebrity death.


Hilda and Benji’s morbid pastime takes an unexpected turn when they meet Hank, the elderly, reclusive tenant of a dilapidated Echo Park apartment where a silent movie star once stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. Hilda feels a strange connection with Hank and comes to care deeply for her paranoid new friend as they watch old movies together and chat the sweltering afternoons away. But when Hank’s downstairs neighbor Jake, a handsome screenwriter, inserts himself into the equation and begins to hint at Hank’s terrible secrets, Hilda must decide what it is she’s come to Echo Park searching for . . . and whether her fascination with death is worth missing out on life.

Hilda has always felt a bit odd. Together with her best friend, Benji, they prowl the sites where celebrities have died, sometimes taking away a piece of history to remember it. When one apartment they come across has an old man living there, Hilda and Hank form a bizarre friendship. When Hank's downstairs neighbour, Jake, brings himself into the equation, Hilda starts to discover that Hank is hiding a dark secret. As Hilda's new relationships grow, she starts to question whether her fascination with death is making her miss out on life.

I did not know what I was getting myself into when I opened the first page of John Belushi is Dead, but I was not disappointed. From the first page, the reader is introduced to Hilda and her macabre friend, Benji. The two have a bizarre fascination with the dead - especially dead celebrities. All the characters are well thought out and believable, which made some parts of the story gut-wrenchingly realistic. I loved Hilda (and her pink hair) and the journey she took throughout the novel was full of enough twists and turns to keep me reading.

The premise of this story is unique, and even though some of the scenes were confronting and graphic, I couldn't put it down. Besides the melancholic tones, there's also the subtle romance that blooms between Hilda and Jake. His introduction to the story turned the whole plot upside down, which is a good thing because I was never able to see where it was going.

This is an emotional story which will appeal to anyone with the slightest bit of morbid curiosity, or anyone who has ever been interested in a death of a celebrity.

Recommend: Girl Saves Boy by Steph Bowe
2011 Aussie YA Reading Challenge: #1 of 12
2011 YA Reading Challenge: #8 of 50

2011 Reading Challenges

One of my resolutions for next year is to read more, and with the amount of fun reading challenges available out there I'm sure that's not going to be a problem. I've already signed up for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge which is being hosted by the Story Siren, which requires me to read 12 ya or mg books by debut authors (even though I want to read 20).

Here are two more challenges I'm signing up for next year in order to lower the amount of books on my TBR list (if that's even possible):

For this challenge I'm going to be venturous and challenge myself to the Mega size challenge which requires me to read 50+ YA novels. Since I read over 40 books this year I think I'll be able to get myself to 50 (hopefully). I won't list all 50 here, mainly because that's a big list, but since I've got over 200 on my TBR list I'm sure I'll find something to read.

And, the other challenge I'm signing up for is the Aussie YA reading challenge which, since I'm Australian, requires me to read 12 Aussie novels. Believe it or not I've never been a big fan of Aussie novels, mainly because they were mandatory at school and back then I never thought they were interesting, but now, especially after discovering that John Marsden has created a fantastic story, I think I need to discover what other Aussie talent has produced. Here's the story's I'm going to attempt to read:

1. Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
3. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
4. Liar by Justine Larbalestier
5. The Dead of Night by John Marsden
6. A Killing Frost by John Marsden
7. Darkness, Be My Friend by John Marsden
8. The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock
9. A Pocketful of Eyes by Lili Wilkinson
10. Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
11. Hollywood Ending/John Belushi is Dead by Kathy Charles
12. The Named by Marianne Curley

 It looks like I've got my hands full with all the books I'm planning to read in the coming year.

So, in 2011 are you aiming to read a specific number of books? What books are you eagerly anticipating or aiming to get around to in the coming year?