Tumble & Fall, by Alexandra Coutts

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A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's Tumble & Fall is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.




Let's just look at the cover for a moment, shall we?  It's gorgeous!  I love the font, the cover models, and the bokeh lights.

Sadly, that's the best part of the book.  Awesome premise.  Poor execution.  What kind of father hires a prostitute for his son?  Disgusting.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

ARC August: Update #5 and Total

ARC August is a meme hosted by Octavia of Read. Sleep. Repeat.  The goal is simple: read and review as many of your ARCs as you can!  I love this challenge; I usually feel overwhelmed by the number of books I need to review, and this is helping me put them in order.  (I love order.)

My goals, prioritized:

1. Read 10 15 ARCs
2. That will be published in August
3. Or September
4. And also coincide with tasks from the Nest Book Club's Summer Book Challenge

I finished or flounced six ARCs this week:

 Four books were/will be published in August & September.  Two qualify for the Summer Book Challenge.

Total number of books read for ARC August:

Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths #1), by K.A. Tucker

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Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgivable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.




This was a good book and a good start to a new series.  I don't normally read series until they're complete, but I loved this cover and the description, so I plunged in.  And I liked it.  Unfortunately, I don't like it enough to continue with the next book.

There isn't a whole lot to distinguish Ten Tiny Breaths from other New Adult books: stereotypical characters; tragic pasts; and insta-love.

The writing is good and it's a quick read, but it's very cookie-cutter.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Twigs, by Alison Ashley Formento

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One pint-sized girl. Ten super-sized crises. And it’s high noon.

They call her “Twigs,” because she’ll never hit five feet tall. Although she was born early, and a stiff breeze could knock her over, Twigs has a mighty spirit. She needs it, as life throws a whole bucket of rotten luck at her: Dad’s an absentee drunk; Mom’s obsessed with her new deaf boyfriend (and Twigs can’t tell what they’re saying to each other). Little sister Marlee is trying to date her way through the entire high school; Twigs’ true love may be a long-distance loser after a single week away at college, and suddenly, older brother Matt is missing in Iraq. It all comes together when a couple of thugs in a drugstore aisle lash out, and Twigs must fight to save the life of the father who denied her.




I seem to be in a NetGalley funk this past week.  I've read some real gems and some real...not gems.  And by "read," I mean "no way could I finish this book."

I really wanted to like this book, but there was SO. MUCH. GOING. ON. that it was hard to keep track of everything.  Really, how much melodrama does one person attract?

This is the review that most resembles what I would write if I wanted to spend more time on this book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Eloise, by Judy Finnigan

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Yesterday I almost saw her.

I was standing on the sun deck, looking out to sea, revelling in the unexpected warmth of the February sun. A butterfly trembled on a nearby buddleia and suddenly I smelled her perfume.

She wasn't there, of course. How could she be when I had seen her lying in her coffin just two weeks ago, the day before she was buried, her casket surrounded by the scented candles she loved?

She lay in Cornish ground now...

She was a daughter, a wife, a mother. She was a friend. But what secrets did Eloise take to her grave? Compulsively-readable and haunting, this is the Sunday Times bestselling debut novel from Book Club champion, Judy Finnigan.




I just couldn't finish this book; I was annoyed almost right off the bat.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Screwed, by Laurie Plissner

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Flattered by the attentions of Nick, the cutest guy in school, seventeen-year-old Grace Warren, captain of the math team, lets down her guard and gets pregnant the night she loses her virginity. Hopeful that Nick will drop to one knee and propose when she breaks the baby news to him, Grace is heartbroken--Nick wants nothing to do with her.

Her best friend, Jennifer, thinks she should get an abortion, but Grace is certain that her morally upright parents will insist that she keep the baby. After she comes clean to her super-religious, strait-laced parents, they surprise her by insisting that she terminate the pregnancy to avoid humiliating the family.

But when she sees the fetus on the ultrasound, she decides she can't get rid of it. Deciding to save the tiny life growing inside of her, Grace must face the consequences of being that girl - the good girl who got knocked up.




I wasn't a fan of Plissner's previous work, Louder Than Words, but I wanted to give her another chance.  I won't do that again. 

This YA novel feels like it was written by a twelve-year-old, not an established author.  And I have a very hard time believing that staunch Pro-Lifers would suddenly want to force their daughter to have an abortion.  I am Pro-Choice and would never ever ever force someone to terminate a pregnancy.

There was a lot that was unrealistic, but what really pissed me off was all of the slut-shaming.  Why do women do that to each other?  Sex is a natural part of life.  It's healthy.  It's fun.  Yes, teen pregnancies happen.  But they don't just happen to the "bad" girls--those who have sex more than once(!).  Grace is portrayed as so.much.better than those stupid whores who got knocked up.  They're all low-class, low-GPA, unambitious leg-spreaders.  Smart girls don't get pregnant, so Grace is at a complete and total loss about how this happened!  AS IS HER DOCTOR.

I just...can't.

I'm so pissed off at this book.  I won't be reading anything else by Laurie Plissner.  EVER.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

(Book Tour & GIVEAWAY) The Silent Swan, by Lex Keating

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Release Date: August 26, 2013
Publisher: AltWit Press

Once upon a time – better known as “now” - Gabriel Pritz reigns as king of his high school. Easy grades, perfect baseball season, a pretty date for prom—he's coasting into a golden future. Until his parents demand he cook dinner once a week. Caught between kitchen fires and ballpark withdrawal, Gabe is thrown into Tam Swann's orbit. Hostile, friendless, and stubborn, she's exactly the sort of person he'd prefer to avoid.

Tam's sphere of influence expands beyond Gabe's sad domestic skills, rapidly invading everything from his favorite game to parts of his soul he didn't know existed. It's uncomfortable, it's hard work, it's...making him a better man. And that's just what she does to people she doesn't like. The better he gets to know her, the more he has to face the truth: this sharp, heart-breaking outcast is worth fighting for. How many families, fairy tales, and felons will he go through to ride to the rescue of the bravest person he's ever met?




I absolutely, positively hated putting this book down.  I was drawn in to Keating's world immediately and loved how the characters grew throughout the story.

There were parts that seemed confusing and choppy--and I felt like I had missed something--but it didn't take away from the story.  That may be the fact that I didn't know the fairy tale behind the story until I finished the book.  It makes somewhat more sense now that I know it's a derivative.

Gabe was highly irritating at the beginning: a spoiled brat who couldn't get over himself enough to cook dinner for his family once a week.

Gabe had nightmares all week, about being chased by oven fires and flying saucepans.

A little melodramatic, aren't we?  But it totally worked in the context of the story.  Gabe is actually pretty funny, even if I didn't enjoy all of the physical fighting and "threats" to kill his brothers.

Mike stood there, staring, as she pedaled out of the neighborhood with considerable speed.  "She has really good balance."
Gabe smacked the back of his head. Hard.
"Ow!"
"You weren't looking at her balance," he said darkly.
Perverts. They started so young these days.

My only other pet peeve in the book was the name-calling and slut-shaming.  A girl who is mean and deceptive should not be called a "ho."  A bitch?  Sure.  An asshole?  Absolutely.  But not a whore.

Gabe's strategic thinking helps him throughout the book.  Not only as a baseball coach, but also when he decides he likes Tam and wants to be with her.

Gabe needed to tackle this less like a game and more like a government grant.  Hard work, dedication, research.  This entire campaign would depend on one woman's vote.  Look out, Tam.  This candidate was coming for her.

And then he starts getting all moony-eyed over her.  It's terribly sweet.

She made his life better--not simpler, but more full--and she challenged his character.

Aw!

But he still snarks about his siblings.

Brothers.  Put on this earth solely to make him look like the smart one.

I also found some great advice re: public speaking.  It's especially timely since I am starting to work on my final speech for my Toastmasters Competent Communicator designation.

A captive audience needn't be entertained, but neither are you best served by talking for the pleasure of hearing yourself.

and

Whether they're interested or hostile, people respond better to sincerity.  It cuts down on a lot of posturing, and it leaves you with only the important words.  Harder to hear, sometimes, but it also makes silence an effective tool.

Point taken!

I doubt I would have read this book were it not for the blog tour, so I'm very happy that I took part.

Highly recommended for fans of YA Contemporary fiction.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lex Keating has been engaged in a passionate affair with books ever since the Velveteen Rabbit wanted to be real. She graduated from a liberal arts college with a BA in literature, and currently resides near Charleston, South Carolina, in a swamp full of barbarians and all their cats. She has been a teacher, a paralegal, a computer programmer, and a hospice caregiver. She currently divides her time between studying old fairy tales and making up new ones.


Quotes used in this review were pulled from the ARC version of this book.  Wording may have changed during the publication process.

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ARC August: Update #4

ARC August is a meme hosted by Octavia of Read. Sleep. Repeat.  The goal is simple: read and review as many of your ARCs as you can!  I love this challenge; I usually feel overwhelmed by the number of books I need to review, and this is helping me put them in order.  (I love order.)

My goals, prioritized:

1. Read 10 15 ARCs
2. That will be published in August
3. Or September
4. And also coincide with tasks from the Nest Book Club's Summer Book Challenge

I finished two ARCs this week:

 Both books were published in August.  Both qualify for the Summer Book Challenge.

One week to go!  Let's see if I can make it to my second goal of 15 ARCs.

Good as Gone, by Douglas Corleone

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Former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk works as a private contractor, tracking down and recovering children who were kidnapped by their own estranged parents. He only has one rule: he won’t touch stranger abduction cases. He’s still haunted by the disappearance of his own daughter when she was just a child, still unsolved, and stranger kidnappings hit too close to home.

Until, that is, six-year-old Lindsay Sorkin disappears from her parents’ hotel room in Paris, and the French police deliver Simon an ultimatum: he can spend years in a French jail, or he can take the case and recover the missing girl. Simon sets out in pursuit of Lindsay and the truth behind her disappearance. 

But Lindsay’s captors did not leave an easy trail, and following it will take Simon across the continent, through the ritziest nightclubs and the seediest back alleys, into a terrifying world of international intrigue and dark corners of his past he’d rather leave well alone.




I think that three stars is being a bit generous.  It's more like a 2.75: better than okay, but not good enough to say that I liked it.

The story was compelling and I wanted to keep reading, but I was constantly rolling my eyes at the melodrama and non-stop action.  Seriously.  Simon starts off all manly and turns into an emo teenager.  He kept talking about how he hated violence, but he was constantly getting into fights with other characters.  

I have a hard time believing that all it takes is one clue or roughed-up bad guy to know the exact location where Big Bad Guy is headed.  I like action in my mysteries, but this was over-the-top.

This was a quick read, but would have been better if it were fleshed out more with another 100 or so pages.  I don't think I'll be reading anything else by this author.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

If You Could Be Mine, by Sarah Farizan

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In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture.

Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light.

So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly.

Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?




I really, really, really wanted to love this book: how do two homosexual women in Iran fight to be together?  What a fantastic premise!

But I hated the characters.  Sahar is a total biznatch to Nasrin the majority of the time and I have no idea why they're together.  Sahar makes this monumental decision for their relationship WITHOUT CONSULTING HER GIRLFRIEND.  That really pissed me off.  I also don't understand why she didn't think about any other alternatives.  Why did she turn immediately to a sex change operation?

I dislike when books tell you what's happening instead of showing you: it bogs the story down and leaves me unsatisfied.

Were this novel put in the hands of the right editor, it would be a fantastic story.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Doctor Who Series 1: Winter's Dawn, Season's End

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Writer Tony Lee is joined by artists such as Matthew Dow Smith, Al Davison, Blair Shedd, and Kelly Yates to bring you the last comic adventures of the 10th Doctor!

The complete 16-issue Series 1 featuring the 10th Doctor, as portrayed by David Tennant, plus the 2010 Annual are collected in this oversized hardcover.







You know what would have been really cool?  If this had been the book advertised on NetGalley.  Instead of 400 pages of the swoony 10th Doctor, I was treated to 101 pages of the 11th.  Which would be fine if that's what I wanted.  I love Amy Pond and the two stories were enjoyable, but it's not what I expected.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War, by Colum McCann

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These stories aren’t pretty and they aren’t for the faint of heart. They are realistic, haunting and shocking. And they are all unforgettable. Television reports, movies, newspapers and blogs about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered images of the fighting there. But this collection offers voices—powerful voices, telling the kind of truth that only fiction can offer.

What makes the collection so remarkable is that all of these stories are written by those who were there, or waited for them at home. The anthology, which features a Foreword by National Book Award winner Colum McCann, includes the best voices of the our wars’ generation: Brian Turner, whose poem Hurt Locker was the movie’s inspiration; Colby Buzzell, whose book My War resonates with countless veterans; Siobhan Fallon, whose book You Know When the Men Are Gone echoes the joy and pain of the spouses left behind; Matt Gallagher, whose book Kaboom captures the hilarity and horror of the modern military experience; and nine others.




The first thing I want to make clear is that my rating has nothing to do with the content and the events experienced by the authors.  I am a pacifist, but I greatly admire the men and women who fight for our country and our safety.

This anthology started out promising.  The second story—Tips for a Smooth Transition, by Siobhan Fallon—is my favorite and deserves five stars.  I love how she transitioned back and forth between the story and the written advice given to military spouses.  

I would give four stars to The Train, by Mariette Kalinowski.  Her writing is beautiful and I could feel the desperation and anxiety of her homecoming.  Another four stars to Raid, by Ted Janis.

Things started going downhill halfway through.  Television, by Roman Skaskiw was hard to understand because each person's rank was used over and over and over.  In one sentence, "Sergeant" was used three times for only two people.  

It was also at this point that stories stopped including any sort of resolution and became simply a recounting of events that occurred: "First we did this, then that, and then this other thing, and then that thing over there, the end."  There was no conflict (I'm not talking about the war here, but the conflict within the story that sets you up for the resolution), no "oh, wow" moment, no conclusion that left the reader sated.  It was more of a "that's it?" than a "holy crap."

The notable exception to the lackluster second half is When Engaging Targets, Remember, by Gavin Ford Kovite.  I do love a good choose-your-own adventure story.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

ARC August: Update #3

ARC August is a meme hosted by Octavia of Read. Sleep. Repeat.  The goal is simple: read and review as many of your ARCs as you can!  I love this challenge; I usually feel overwhelmed by the number of books I need to review, and this is helping me put them in order.  (I love order.)

My goals, prioritized:

1. Read 10 15 ARCs
2. That will be published in August
3. Or September
4. And also coincide with tasks from the Nest Book Club's Summer Book Challenge

I finished four books this week and have hit my goal of reading 10 ARCs!  I'm increasing my goal by five.

 The first three books will be published in August.  Two qualify for the Summer Book Challenge.

Initial goal complete! 

The Girl You Left Behind, by Jojo Moyes

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What happened to the girl you left behind?

In 1916 French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything - her family, reputation and life - in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie's portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting's dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened...

In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most - whatever the cost.





I love Jojo Moyes.  She makes her characters so real and imperfect and TRUE.  I love how she intertwined the lives of Sophie and Liv through the painting and went back and forth between their stories.

Like Me Before You and Honeymoon in Paris, The Girl You Left Behind is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel.   I cried several times, especially near the end.  Thankfully, I wasn't as emotionally overcome as when I read Me Before You; there is more of a sense of relief and hope in this story than in her previous work.

There is one continuity problem between The Girl You Left Behind and Honeymoon in Paris regarding how Liv's husband purchases the painting, but it doesn't affect the story.

I will definitely purchase this book for my personal collection.

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Munchkin Monday #5: Song for Papa Crow

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Little Crow loves to sing, and Papa Crow loves his song. But when Little Crow shares his crow songs with the other birds at the big old tree, they laugh and scatter. Maybe the Amazing Mockingbird can teach him to sing songs with the finches, flycatchers, and cardinals and help him make some friends. 

But Little Crow should be careful what he wishes for...

Using Mockingbird's tip, Little Crow quickly becomes the most popular bird on the block. But, in a moment of danger, he learns that singing someone else's song can have terrible consequences and that his own voice and his father's love is of the greatest value.

Paired with colorful collage illustrations, this inspirational story is complemented by fun facts about North American birds and their sounds.

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I thought this book had a lot of potential, but the kids didn't seem to like it.

They enjoyed the sounds of different birds, but they got bored halfway through.  I powered on, even though I had lost my audience.  Even The Husband was distracted.

The illustrations are beautiful, the moral of the story is perfect, and it was fun to make the bird calls.
 It's really too bad the kids weren't interested.

 I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

ARC August: Update #2

ARC August is a meme hosted by Octavia of Read. Sleep. Repeat.  The goal is simple: read and review as many of your ARCs as you can!  I love this challenge; I usually feel overwhelmed by the number of books I need to review, and this is helping me put them in order.  (I love order.)

My goals, prioritized:

1. Read 10 ARCs
2. That will be published in August
3. Or September
4. And also coincide with tasks from the Nest Book Club's Summer Book Challenge

Now this is more like it!  I only read one book last week; this week I've finished five!

Two books were published in August.  Another two qualify for the Summer Book Challenge.
More than halfway there!