Fatal Abduction (IFICS #3) by Julia Crane

03 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, IFICS, Science Fiction, Young Adult Tags: , , , ,

Published: 3rd November 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Valknut Press
Format: ebook
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

There’s a serial killer at large. His victims just happen to resemble Kaitlyn—dark haired, pale skin and athletic build. Kaitlyn goes undercover, attending a prestigious high school to try to lure the killer into a trap and save the lives of other potential victims. Will she be able to catch the killer before his body count rises? Or will she become the next victim?

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book for review 

I love this series. I think Crane has taken a brilliant idea and made it into a clever and engaging story that is fun while being technical and enthralling. Following Kaitlyn adjust in the real world is always a joy as Crane highlights many difficulties and complexities human nature has that we never consciously realise.

The story Crane has written is one that adds a great reality into Kaitlyn’s life and it shows that sometimes not everyone can be saved and things can take time to heal. The aftermath of the previous book flows over into this one as two storylines flow side by side. There is a traitor in the team that almost jeopardised the previous mission and while there is a pressing need to find out who is leaking sensitive information to the other side, Kaitlyn is eager to stop the serial killer that has been abducting and killing young girls in the area. I liked the duel line as it demonstrates that things aren’t always tied up neatly at the end of a book. The aftermath and consequences remain and these can lead to additional problems as Crane demonstrates.

Being the third book in the series the focus solely on Kaitlyn and her abilities is lessening. It is still there, but after a strong introduction in previous books the movement is on how her abilities are being used and what missions she is undertaking. There is also a greater focus on the team environment. Kaitlyn works with Lucas and others in tracking down the killer and it is great to see the diverse relationships Kaitlyn has with various members of her team. Her confusion over certain feelings and actions remain which bring humour and fun into the story, and it is great to see how she interprets and interacts with people, her passion and loyalty bringing out the best in her and others.

Being part machine Crane doesn’t neglect the fact that no matter how hard Kaitlyn tries to fit in there are still issues and concerns, and Crane manages to display Kaitlyn’s attempts and misunderstandings brilliantly as you see how her mind works and how she is trying to process the information she is given and social behaviours she must follow, things people never normally have to think about are suddenly broken down into conscious decisions.

Just like the previous book, Crane shows us the perspective of others, not just Kaitlyn, meaning there is a wonderful contrast between the narrative voices as we enter the mind of the serial killer Kaitlyn is trying to stop as well as Kaitlyn herself. I really liked this duel approach because Crane doesn’t try and influence the reader by intentionally making the killer appear obviously crazy, instead we see his thought processes and actions, we follow his line of thinking and make our own minds up without Crane swaying us one way or another. Of course with Kaitlyn’s point of view there is her judgement on the situation, but by getting into the mind of the killer brings an added fascination to the story, one where there is an understandable, yet mad, logic to his actions.

The narrative is filled with suspense and Crane builds up the tension and intrigue well. With both sides being depicted there is a definite feeling of the two coming to a head and you watch as there are near misses and close calls on both sides that only make it more exciting and make you wonder how and if the man dubbed the Dollhouse Killer will be caught.

Once again Crane has created a story that is fascinating to read that is a wonderful example of the imagination. Crane writes with an intensity that gets you hooked and keeps you reading meaning not every scene needs to be filled with action, drama, or suspense and yet Crane manages to keep you interested and involved, unable to remove yourself from the gripping and wonderful story she has created.

Purchase Fatal Abduction via the following

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The Boyfriend Sessions (City Love #1) by Belinda Williams

23 Oct 2014 1 Comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, City Love, General Tags: , , , ,

Published: 23rd October 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Momentum
Pages: 339
Format: ebook
Genre: Contemporary Romance
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Please take your seats. The journey to happiness may involve some turbulence.

Christa Morrison has commitment issues, a fact that quickly becomes apparent after she flees a romantic proposal in Paris, the thunder of impending wedding bells ringing in her ears.

Back in Sydney, she turns to her closest friends for reassurance. Instead they offer her a startling and painful diagnosis: she’s a relationship junkie. The cure? An extreme rehabilitation program guaranteed to reform even the most L-word illiterate.

With her girlfriends along for the ride, Christa commits to their radical plan and the chances of recovery look good. The only problem is Max Spencer. The one guy Christa—and her friends—never expected her to fall for. But he’s proving to be a temptation she may not have the willpower to resist …

For a shot at happiness, is being with Max worth betraying her friends? And will Christa have the strength to trust her heart when her colorful relationship history comes back to haunt her?

It might just be enough to make a poor girl leave the country (again).

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review.

After fleeing Paris after being proposed to, Christa’s friends make her promise to be single for awhile and take a look at why her relationships have been unsuccessful. But what starts out as a fun and good-humoured discussion about Christa’s past boyfriends soon turns into a serious evaluation of her life and her past. With this story Williams has created something that is quite complex beneath a jovial exterior, and it isn’t until you are submerged in its characters and narrative that you realise there is a lot more going on, and is sometimes a lot more serious than first impressions suggest.

As soon as Christa promises to swear off men for six months you just know that is when she is going to meet someone but the way Williams explores it is clever and she doesn’t rush anything narrative wise or make it too cheesy or simplistic either. It is interesting to see how it plays it out considering the ban, and it does not always go in the direction you were expecting either which gives it another level.

Williams is very good at capturing the dynamic between the girlfriends and the relationship and friendship between them. The conversations are natural and Williams demonstrates the friend discussions well, each girl talking over the top of one another, interrupting one another, and getting sidetracked onto other things.

There are diverse personalities among them and the friendships differ in strength and style. Williams doesn’t try and make everyone perfect and she doesn’t make each woman a certain type, so different from the others that there are the four totally different people who happen to be friends. Instead she shows characters with unique personalities but who have a strong history and connection with one another, each with strengths and weaknesses and flaws of their own.

I loved that things are hinted at in Christa’s past that didn’t need a huge revisit or recapping. Details about her parents and her boyfriends get the right about of mention and detail. The reader does not need a huge, detailed, information overload about who they are as characters, instead Williams uses them to focus on Christa and expand on her character. Williams also uses this technique when providing information about Christa, her friends, and Max. Details and histories are skilfully woven into the narrative and are provided through Christa’s thoughts, casual remarks, and dialogue between characters. This adds to the realistic nature of the story and makes it feel more natural.

While there are times when Christa got on my nerves, especially concerning Max and her questions about his past relationship, most of the time she was great to read about. With her own ignorance about her relationships and her emotions it didn’t feel like she was intentionally being difficult and seeing the realisations slowly emerge was a great character development and one that made you understand her more.

This is not a typical romance novel where Christa’s past relationships are looked at and analysed adoringly. Williams has created a story that looks at how relationships affect people and how not understanding or acknowledging the impact that these cause can have lasting effects. There is a wonderful serious underside to the laughing and the wine and it brings the best out of the narrative. Seeing this switch from the informal and humorous discussions to a real reflection is great and it changes Christa for the better. I really enjoyed this novel because it didn’t go in any of the directions I thought it would and it is complicated, unexpected, and satisfying. Williams has managed to balance the light heartedness and seriousness wonderfully which has resulted in an engaging and thoughtful story.

Purchase The Boyfriend Sessions via the following

Amazon AU

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Momentum

iBooks

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James Games by L. A. Rose

18 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Romance Tags: , , , ,

Published: 30th September 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Self Published
Pages: 243
Format: ebook
Genre: New Adult Romance
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

James Games CoverEvery year, the girls of Phi Delta Chi, Fiona Arlett’s dream sorority, hold a competition.
The prize?
James Reid, king size bar of eye candy and famous actor turned haughty undergrad.
The rules?
No girl but the winner can touch him.
The problem?
Fiona miiight have unknowingly banged his brains out last week.
Losing the competition may mean wearing a chicken suit to the sexiest Halloween costume contest, but she’d rather have feathers up her butt than let the truth out.
Unfortunately, she and James have lots in common and more chemistry than the science wing. Soon they’re sneaking around behind the backs of UCSD’s hottest and most vengeful girls.
If they find out?
Fiona’s screwed.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review.

The story Rose has created is one that is very addictive, and it is one that is engaging and easy to read. There is a wonderful pace to the story and nothing is rushed, nor is it drawn out. There is depth to the characters and not everything about them is revealed immediately, with more information about who they are emerging as the story goes on. This gives a realistic feel to the novel where things are learnt about people gradually, not in a single moment and typically only as a friendship develops.

As a character Fiona can come across as arrogant, but she is more self assured and confident. She has a determination and stubbornness that can get her into trouble but she is also enjoying life and emits joy which makes her fun to read about. It was great to see her grow as the novel progressed, and it is clear towards the end that while she has not exactly changed who she is, she has learnt from her experiences and instead becomes more comfortable in herself and in her life. This calms her down a bit but does not remove the confidence she had before and she is certainly wiser in its use.

I liked that at no point did Rose indicate any real judgement towards Fiona’s actions or make it a bad thing, instead we understand why she behaves like she does and what it is she is looking for in life. As adults in college there is no reason to doubt they are able to make their own decisions but Rose also makes it evident they are still young, a combination that makes for great reading and understanding to why they do what they do.

What I really liked about this story was that it wasn’t what I was expecting. The characters are different and detailed, with complications of their own and personalities that both clash and work well with others. I also loved the story. Rose could easily have gone a different way with this but instead it has a complexity and depth that makes it unique while still being light and fun to read, and with characters that are so different from one another and that have such depth themselves, it only works to its advantage.

In particular I really liked the relationship between Fiona and James, even at the very start. Together they work well but it is their own personalities and histories that make them great, James especially. His past and secretive nature makes him protective of himself, and there is a charming but tough when necessary side to him that makes him admirable and likeable. Compared to Fiona’s outgoing nature they balance each other well, influencing one another and bringing out more in each of them.

One part I both liked and didn’t like was that for me, it highlights the ridiculousness and cruelty of sororities. In a confusing way it made the story great but it also pointed out how stupid they can be. But looking at characters like Brooklyn it is clear the hazing and ridiculous activities is not what the sorority was intended to be, and it is certainly isolated to a few members, not the group as a whole.  But it shows just how horrible and demeaning they can be, bringing down people and making them subservient and under the control of others who are deemed higher ranking. I’m glad Rose made a point of showing the outcome of hazing and the effect it can have on people when it taken too far, it really added another depth to the story and it is woven skilfully into other elements of the narrative as well.

I am glad this book was nothing like I expected, it became a lot more but without taking away the essence of what it is trying to be either. It is light and fun but also serious and meaningful meaning it has the ideal balance and creates a great reality for the characters and something believable for the readers as well. When you finish you can’t help but admire the characters and you certainly admire Rose for what she has created, and with the revelations of secrets and twists and the unexpected, there is never a moment of disinterest.

 

Purchase James Games at the following places

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Traveling Left of Center by Nancy Christie

17 Oct 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Short Stories Tags: , , ,

Published: 9th September 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Pixel Hall Press
Pages: 232
Format: ebook
Genre: Short Stories
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

“”Girl,” my mama had said to me the minute she entered my hospital room, “on the highway of life, you’re always traveling left of center.” (from “Traveling Left of Center)” What happens when people face life situations for which they are emotionally or mentally unprepared? They may choose to allow fate to dictate the path they take-a decision that can lead to disastrous results. The characters in “Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories” are unable or unwilling to seize control over their lives, relying instead on coping methods that range from the passive (“The Healer”) and the aggressive (“The Clock”) to the humorous (“Traveling Left of Center”) and hopeful (“Skating on Thin Ice”). But the outcomes may not be what they anticipated or desired. Will they have time to correct their course or will they crash?

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

I think the thing I love most about short stories is the fact that they can have the power to move you, and that you can get so caught up in a character and their lives in such a short amount of time. There is a skill in creating a story that is capable of this and Christie does just that.

With her collection of stories, Christie demonstrates the consequences and reactions of people who are faced with situations and circumstances for which they are not mentally or emotionally prepared for. Through 18 captivating and unique short stories, Christie explores the way in which each of these characters responds to the pressure placed upon them and she does so with variety, style, creativity, and poignancy.

What makes these stories great to read is the diversity Christie includes; not only in how each character responds to these pressures, but the circumstances and types of scenarios in which they appear. There is also an air of dark humour, despair, and hopelessness for Christie’s characters. They express feelings of human experience and emotion well and show that there are numerous ways one can be trapped in their own life, bound by forces conscious, physical, or otherwise.

Each one of Christie’s stories has a character with a voice and a story that is unique and fascinating. She uses her characters nicely and makes them shown us their stories and with just a few lines, words, and actions, demonstrating who they are extremely well and capturing the despair, the loss, and the frustration in their situations. The use of voice is so well done and with the style and tone varying from story to story each one manages to pull you into their world immediately and understand who they are.

What I liked about some of these characters is that they give the impression that are in control, or that they know what they are doing, but it is clear that this isn’t the case. The stories are full of people who seem to be lost, insecure, and lacking confidence and conviction, looking for something they can’t find or are unaware they’ve even lost. They seem trapped by circumstance and the lies they tell themselves, convincing themselves and others they are in control when in fact they are simple consciously or unconsciously ignoring the problems with themselves or their situation.

This is a collection you definitely cannot stop reading. The pace is fast but engaging, and you never know what a story will bring nor how it will end up. Christie captivates you with characters and stories from the very first page and you get drawn in the lives of each character so completely and so quickly it is wonderful.

You can purchase Traveling Left of Center
and Other Stories via the following

eBook
Amazon     Apple iBookstore
Barnes & Noble  Books-A-Million   Kobo

Paperback
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Maggie’s Five (#1) by Sandra Fitzgerald

08 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Romance Tags: , , , ,

Published: 5th July 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Self Published
Pages: 266
Format: ebook
Genre: Romance
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

I had a great life. Not perfect, but really good. I was happy. 
I had a husband and two children. But now I’ve got Red. 
He’s using me but, that’s okay, because I’m using him too, only for a different reason. 
He wants sex and leverage. I want numb. 
But then Luke came back. 
Don’t be stupid. Luke’s not my husband. My husband is dead, like my children. 
Luke came back and things have started changing. And I think, maybe, that I’m okay with change, but I’m worried it’s too late, that I might be too far down the Rabbit Hole. 
I’m Maggie Cartwright, and this is my story. But be warned, it may not be the happy ever after you dream of.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

It took me a couple of days to read this book and each time I had to stop or was interrupted I found myself continually thinking about it. The first book in the Five series, the story is about Maggie, a woman who tragically loses her family in a freak accident and tries her best at dealing with the aftermath The story drags you in to Maggie’s world almost right away, a world that starts off as being about family, love, and great memories and is replaced by one that is filled with pain and loss.

The way Fitzgerald has constructed Maggie is wonderful. She isn’t anything too special, she is a mum and a wife, and she is a regular person who has a tragedy in her life and must find a way of dealing with it. This makes her real and someone who was never expecting to have to deal with something like this.

I really liked how Fitzgerald depicted Maggie’s grief and how she was coping. She makes it clear that there is no overnight downfall, nor is there an overnight recovery. People do not succumb to temptations and bad situations in one week and we see this slow decline in Maggie and in how she acts and how she feels as the days pass on.

By telling the story through Maggie it allows you to see the reasons and justifications for her actions and really get a deep sense of the emotions and the hollowness she is feeling. I loved that Fitzgerald doesn’t even make it terribly complex, but the emptiness is evident and it is clearly portrayed that Maggie is at a loss of what to do and shuts herself down and becomes a shell of herself.

Fitzgerald demonstrates her grief and her decent gradually; from the initial shock and pain you can see where things start to slip away from her and it takes over her life. One of the heartbreaking things to read is when you see how each knock adds another blow to her torment and watch as she tries to convince the world she is fine, covering her pain with a smile and a laugh before retreating to the safety of solitude once more.

There is a wonderful use of subtle references to show how Maggie is not coping with her loss, how she is eating less and wasting her days doing nothing. With Maggie’s perspective we see how these things sneak up on her, she doesn’t realise she is losing weight, and doesn’t realise that she is being consumed by grief. Fitzgerald never takes the reader’s sympathy away from Maggie, even when she gets worse, because we understand it so well from her point of view and we know what she is feeling and why she does what she does. There is no third party judgement, and even other characters like Luke do not judge, he lets her go through what she needs to go through without making her recover too quickly.

As Maggie begins to lose control of her pain she turns to drinking and bad company to numb it but it still isn’t something that you judge. You pity her and hope she won’t go too far but it isn’t stereotypical behaviour either. While it may seem that way, the way Fitzgerald has written it doesn’t come across as a cliché reaction. Instead, we see the pain and torment Maggie goes through and the reasons why she goes down this path and it is entirely justified, and as it continues it’s clear how it gets out of control which, in a way, is through no fault of her own. Influenced and controlled by the company she has sought comfort in rather than her own destructive forces.

Maggie pushes away her family and convinces them she is fine, but she is also in part, abandoned by her friends as well because they believe her when she says she is fine, and Luke is the only person who really cements himself in her life to make sure she is as fine as she says she is. Luke is an interesting character, he seems like he is imposing and it seems odd he is staying with Maggie but his reasons are soon made clear and he is someone that is there for Maggie even when she believes she doesn’t need him.

What Maggie does and feels remains real in my opinion, is never becomes too extreme or unbelievable. It is clear she doesn’t know how to handle what has happened and her toxic relationship with Red is more about his actions than hers which highlights her emotional state and vulnerability, not to mention her intense need to escape from everything.

By the end of the book it feels like you have been through as much of a journey as Maggie, one that is never certain there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Fitzgerald offers a chance of hope and redemption but she makes sure that it is worked for and not freely given which is something that makes this book that much better and unforgettable.

Purchase Maggie’s Five via the following

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