The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Pages: 336
Pub Date: March 16, 2010
Author Website/Blog: http://kimberlyderting.blogspot.com/
Synopsis: Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers. Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him. Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.


I really wish I could just say this and finish the review. This is the girl Susie Salmon needed 30 years ago. Granted, it took me a while to get into the book, because Im not the worlds biggest fan of third person, but I still loved the book. It had an incredible cliff hanger, that to be honest, I had to go back and reread to help figure out a lot of the ending. This was a great story, with a hidden mystery that no one expects. No one knows it is there. Granted, tehre are several parts that had me rolling my eyes at the obviousness, yet I forgave the book. Because well teh actual story line was soooo much better. The characters feel real, like they are sitting right next to you. Again, a captivating book taht I couldnt let out of my hands. Enjoy it, dont question it,  and just go with it :)

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Pages: 290
Pub Date: June 1, 2009
Author Website/Blog: http://sarahockler.com/blog/
Synopsis: According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.


I honestly think I was crying by chapter 2. Yes, it was that heart breaking. I couldnt help it. The book was just... I cant even describe it, yet I am trying to review it. Sarah Ockler basically ripped out my heart. She stuck it in a blender. And then she served it to me on a shiny white platter saying, "Just wait ten chapters, then youll feel like taking this back," with a bright smile on her face. I honestly, can not remember the last time an author did that to me. Twenty days, calculates somehow to twenty smiles, twenty tears, and twenty i told you so's. A few, extremely predictable parts, but then parts that just, drag you in and make you forget that some cliches may have occured. This book has a rocky, but beautiful start, it had me reading all night, yet, it almost had me in tears at the discovery that we do not learn all we want to learn by the end of  the book. But, that is also what a great book does, leave you wondering.

Care to give a hand?

So I have discovered, that school is making it impossible for me to stay awake long enough to read enough books. So I was wondering if theres a kind soul out there who would like to help me out?? :)

If you could pretty please email me. You know ill appreciate it to the ends of the earth and ill find some gigantic way to tahkn you!

Ari

Happy Halloween (Blogging shall return within the next week :P)

Happy Halloween from your resident Lena!


Well be back sometime this week, because well I was dumb enough to sign up for the school musical ;)

So enjoy your free candy! (wee)

See you guys soon!

Sea by Heidi R Kling

Sea by Heidi R Kling
Pages: 336
Pub Date: June 10, 2010
Author Website/Blog: http://seaheidi.livejournal.com
Synopsis: Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met. She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers. And Sea’s real adventure begins

First off I would just like to warn all of you, that Heidi is an evil genius, and for some reason she WANTS TO MAKE US CRY! I will not tell you when or how I will just tell you that seems to be her GOAL! Okay now onto the flattering OH MY GODS! Loved this book. Just like I knew I would :) Granted it took me *thinks* 2 months to get past the first painful ten pages (sorry Heidi!) but after that I loooved it. I think its just because Im not the worlds biggest fan of Spider. Spider is one of those friends that used to be friends that the MC thinks she has a crush on and he totally loves her but hides it, people. So yeah he made it hard to read the book. Then the book got much better when Sienna arrives in Indonesia, however, events happen to make it well, not as amazing as it should be. No. This book is NOT about mermaids. No Heidi I do NOT love Damon. But aside from those facts I love Heidi and I think she should take up my idea for a sequel ;) (I gave her an AMAZING idea. I forgot what it was but she should do it!)

One Is Not A Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger

One Is Not A Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger

Pages: 456
Pub Date: June 9, 2010
Author Website/blog: http://www.oneisnotalonelynumber.com/
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Talia Shumacher is the only child of a wealthy orthodox couple, known for their hospitality. As Talia becomes a teenager, her parents' open-door policy begins to irritate her. When Gabrielle Markus, an eccentric twenty-three-year old ballet dancer shows up one day, Talia's life is turned upside down. Convinced that Gabrielle is harboring a secret, Talia and her friends set out to uncover it. Along the way, Talia must deal with the loneliness she feels as an only child living in a religious community that celebrates large families. In discovering Gabrielle's secret, Talia discovers secrets about herself and her parents. Talia's gift for math and her unusual way of thinking about numbers is woven into the story along with themes of friendship, individuality, and acceptance.

I really enjoyed this book. ALthough I think the publisher was aiming for a YA genre I think its more middle grade based on the age of the main characters. So, I myself am a reform jew so I actually really enjoyed learning about how the more conservative families live. However, if your not into jewish lit it also does an amazing job of informing the world of problems that come from death, money, and even your family beliefs. Granted you need to order teh book from teh website or amazon I still really enjoyed it. It was hard to put it down. Its great if your a jew trying to find yourself, or your religion. Or even if you enjoy a good story. I love any good story that doesnt preach and this book did that. I hope you enjoy it also :)

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Pages: 512
Pub Date: October 12, 2010
Author Website/Blog: http://www.beautifulcreaturesthebook.com 
Synopsis: Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending. Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Beautiful Darkness was a huge step up from the first book, Beautiful Creatures. I really felt we get to connect with so many characters even more. We even got to meet some more characters, that may have only been mentioned in passing originally. This book opens a ton of new doors, that frankly should not be opened, but we as readers cheer the authors on in opening them. This book is a no put down, you simply can not start it, then come back to it a few months later. You cant even come back to it a few minutes later. This was a thrilling, heart pounding sequel, that simply leaves you wondering and hoping. This perhaps is even better than the first book. Beautiful Creatures left us on a ledge, Beautiful Darkness is the bridge, from that ledge to another. Another ledge, that simply leaves us hoping for more from Kami and Margie.