OFF THE RECORD By Camryn Garrett

February 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

OFF THE RECORD By Camryn GarrettOff the Record by Camryn Garrett
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 5/18/21
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 307
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to write a celebrity profile for Deep Focus magazine, she's equal parts excited and scared, but also ready. She's got this.

Soon Josie is jetting off on a multi-city tour, rubbing elbows with sparkly celebrities, frenetic handlers, stone-faced producers, and eccentric stylists. She even finds herself catching feelings for the subject of her profile, dazzling young newcomer Marius Canet. Josie's world is expanding so rapidly, she doesn't know whether she's flying or falling. But when a young actress lets her in on a terrible secret, the answer is clear: she's in over her head.

One woman's account leads to another and another. Josie wants to expose the man responsible, but she's reluctant to speak up, unsure if this is her story to tell. What if she lets down the women who have entrusted her with their stories? What if this ends her writing career before it even begins? There are so many reasons not to go ahead, but if Josie doesn't step up, who will?

Short and Sweet Review

Josie wants to be a writer, writing is basically her identity. When Josie wins a contest to write a celebrity profile for Deep Focus magazine she’s nervous and excited. Josie and her sister, Alice, set off on a multi-city tour. Josie meets celebrities, but the main focus of her article is Marius Canet an up and coming actor. But her mission for one profile ends up on the back burner after learning an actress has dealt with sexual assault at the hands of a director. More actresses start telling Josie their story, Josie knows that this is important but this story could also end the writing career that is just beginning.

Josie is our main character and she was okay, I’m sure she was written to be relatable, she’s a plus size girl, all for black inclusion, and she likes speaking out about topics that are important to her. My thing about Josie is that even though she was written to be relatable I found myself annoyed with her. Josie’s romantic interest is Marius and he’s obviously smaller than her in the weight department and he likes Josie but Josie will ruin the moment talking about how she could crush him and how he couldn’t like someone like her because she’s fat. Anyway it felt like Josie was way more interested in a relationship with Marius than writing her profile about him. Josie is also approached by an actress named Penny who tells her about a director who has sexual harassed her and others. Josie tells Penny she’ll help by writing an article to expose this director. Things start to get complicated because she believes Marius doesn’t care and the director threatens to sue. I also mentioned Alice, Josie’s sister, she’s on this trip as a chaperone and I feel that she was more level headed than Josie. Josie and Alice fought a lot and that’s normal between siblings but Josie would take everything to heart.

I could see the direction that this book was going in, and how important it is to help victims but Josie made loving this book hard. This book just didn’t meet my expectations.

Filed Under: Reviews

DASH & LILY’S BOOK OF DARES By Rachel Cohn AND David Levithan

January 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

DASH & LILY’S BOOK OF DARES By Rachel Cohn AND David LevithanDash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan, Rachel Cohn
Series: Dash & Lily #1
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 10/26/10
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 274
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

16-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on her favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. Dash, in a bad mood during the holidays, happens to be the first guy to pick up the notebook and rise to its challenges.

What follows is a whirlwind romance as Dash and Lily trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations all across New York City. But can their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions, or will their scavenger hunt end in a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Short and Sweet Review

It’s the holiday season and while at a bookstore Dash finds a notebook waiting for someone to accept the challenge and complete the dares inside. Lily is just trying to find the right guy and hopefully the notebook will help her succeed. These two end up leaving the notebook in different places and doing different dares and at one point it’ll bring them together, but are these two right for each other?

This book has a fun plot, two teens going around New York City around Christmas time completing dares and maybe finding true love in the process. The problem with this book is the characters. Dash is like a hipster or something and Lily is awkward and quirky and doesn’t really have friends her own age. Lily’s dialogue is childish she’s a child in a teenagers body. I didn’t connect with either character. This is the second book I’ve read by Cohn and Levithan and for some reason I just don’t connect with their characters and somehow end up regret the time I spend reading their books, that being said, I probably won’t continue on with this series.

Filed Under: Reviews

NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST By Rachel Cohn AND David Levithan

August 19, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST By Rachel Cohn AND David LevithanNick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan, Rachel Cohn
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 11/13/07
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 194
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.

Short and Sweet Review

Nick is in an Indie rock band and has just broken up with his girlfriend. Norah has also broken up with her boyfriend and by a stoke of luck is at a concert that Nick’s band is having. When Nick sees his ex girlfriend at the concert he asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes and that is the beginning of their “relationship.”

This book was one of the worst books that I’ve read this year maybe of all time. I don’t know if it was because it was published in 2007 and the authors think that teens talk the way Norah and Nick do but I just cringed anytime these two talked even their inner monologue was awful. These two basically had a curse in almost every sentence they spoke. Besides the awful dialogue this book was boring, They’re both trying to get over their exes and realize that they like each other. I’m still not quite sure what the plot was because my brain has been trying to erase everything about this book from my memory. I will say I’ve read quite a few books with the lets pretend to date and then the characters fall for each other trope and unfortunately Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist does not pull it off. There’s really not much else I can say about the book it was pretty short and that’s the only positive thing about it.

Filed Under: Reviews

HUNTING NOVEMBER By Adriana Mather

April 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

HUNTING NOVEMBER By Adriana MatherHunting November by Adriana Mather
Series: Killing November #2
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 5/5/20
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

After surviving a crash course in espionage at the mysterious Academy Absconditi, November has only one purpose: finding her missing father. Along with fellow student (and heartthrob) Ash, November follows the clues that her father left, embarking on the deadliest treasure hunt of her life. The first clue is in her hometown, where old friends beckon and unexpected enemies lurk around every corner. The second clue is in Europe, where revelations about her family's history will plunge her into an international web of deception, lies, and intrigue. The third clue is deep in enemy territory, surrounded by the most skilled assassins and master strategists, and where everyone wants her and her father dead. Can one girl with limited training infiltrate a centuries-old organization that is powerful enough to topple empires? November only knows that she'll do whatever it takes to save her father . . . or die trying.

Short and Sweet

After enduring what the Academy had to offer November is ready to leave and look for her dad. November leaves with Ash to follow the clues her father left for her and now she just needs to find him before her enemies find her.

Characters

November: I liked November she still doesn’t know everything about Strategia, but she views things differently than the other kids at the academy and its interesting to see how she would solve things. I was proud of November she was determined to find her dad and I liked seeing how she deciphered his clues. November still made mistakes but she owned up to them.

Ash: Ash was great I liked that he knew more about Strategia and the family politics so he was a lot of help when it came to that. He had a lot of insight to offer and I thought it was great that he always thought things through more than once and tried to find the best way to approach a situation.

Romance

November and Ash: I liked November and Ash together they brought out the best in each other. I also liked reading about how different their upbringings were. They both had different ways of viewing the situations they were in. They were cute and they looked out for each other and I’m glad that he decided to leave the academy with her.

My Thoughts

~ We’re not in the academy any more and that was probably my favorite thing about this book seeing November venture out and taking what she learned from the academy and applying it to the outside world.

~ November and Ash follow the clues her dad left her and it takes them from the States to Europe and I liked the following the clues aspect and seeing where they would lead.

~ I was always worried for November and Ash it felt like their enemies were one step behind them all the time and they had to look over their shoulders at all times.

~ We see more of the other families in this book and I liked seeing the interactions its very interesting how strategia works.

~ For me the first half of the book was kind of slow but it picked up during the second half and I think that’s because we have more characters and leads to follow so it becomes more risky.

~ My other favorite thing was seeing the other students from the academy join in and help November and Ash during their adventure, it just made it feel like they were all a team and more people to have each others backs.

~ There were some bombshells that I was not ready for and they were so good and I wasn’t expecting them, my mind was blown. They were honestly so satisfying it was perfect.

~ The ending was great and I was captivated I did not want to put my kindle down!

Overall

This was a great sequel, I loved how everything came full circle and everything was answered. It was nice to see how everyone came together to accomplish a common goal. The plot twists and secrets that were uncovered left me on the edge of my seat. I think that this book was amazing, it was a great sequel and I would recommend the Killing November series!


Filed Under: Reviews

KILLING NOVEMBER By Adriana Mather

July 11, 2019 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

KILLING NOVEMBER By Adriana MatherKilling November by Adriana Mather
Series: Killing November #1
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 3/26/19
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 416
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

November is trapped.

At the mysterious Academy Absconditi, a school that's completely off the grid, there's no electricity, no internet, and a brutal eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes include everything from knife-throwing and poisons to the art of deception. And the other students? All children of the world's most elite strategists, in training to become assassins, spies, and master manipulators. November Adley doesn't know why she's been sent to this place, or the secrets that make up its legacy, but she'll quickly discover that allies are few in a school where competition is everything. When another student is murdered, all eyes turn to November, who must figure out exactly how she fits in before she is found guilty of the crime...or becomes the killer's next victim.


Short and Sweet

November is trapped at  Academy Absconditi, a school that is completely off the grid and doesn’t even offer normal classes but classes such as; poisons, deception, and knife-throwing. November has no way of getting or contacting home her only choice is to adapt fast in a school full of strategists, and manipulators. When a student is murdered all eyes are on November and now she has to find out what actually happened in a school where allies are few and everyone has a reason to attack her.

Characters

November: Our main character. November has no idea what she’s doing at the academy and she thinks her stay is going to be short, but thats not the case at all. I liked November but sometimes she did things that annoyed me like when Layla would advise her not to do certain things she would still do them. I did like that November had a different way of thinking about how to solve problems than the other students did.

Layla: Layla is November’s roommate and Ash’s sister. She’s smart but she was looked at as an outcast and I think it was mainly because she liked to keep her distance from the other students. Layla is good at history and she likes to do her research. Layla isn’t very welcoming to November at first, but in the end she learns to trust her and accept her as a friend.

Ash: Ash is Layla’s brother they’re actually twins. I would say Ash is more social and he has a special relationship with his sister. I liked Ash he was willing to help November and ends up being a suspect along with her in murder so they both have to work together to clear their names.

Romance

November and Ash: This was an interesting relationship, these two grew closer the more they spent time together and I actually think that they’d be better as friends then as a couple. I don’t think there was much chemistry at least for me.

My Thoughts

~ I liked the mystery aspect of the book and I was never sure who actually committed it or what was actually going on at the school. Everyone basically had a motive and it was hard to determine who would have actually done it. When the murder is solved there’s still some weird things going on at the school so its basically a two in one kind of murder.

~ The school was interesting considering it wasn’t like a normal school, they taught poisons, deception, and knife throwing classes. Most of the students have been at the academy for a while so when November got in as an upperclassmen it made her a target.

~ The students were all skilled at certain things some in deception some at accents, so it was interesting to see how November navigated the students and how she got through the classes.

~ November’s father taught her how to think about problems differently which is shown while she’s in class with the other students.

~ One of November’s skills is knowing what a word means so if she hears a students name she can tell you the history and meaning of the name.

~ There’s also a lot of politics going on in this book. There are different families and some of those families don’t get along which means that there are sides that are being chosen.

~ November has been kept in the dark about this other life, which kind of leaves her at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding the politics and why certain students are aligned with each other.

Overall

I really liked this book, theres a few twists and it makes you think. I plan on reading the sequel when it’s released to see how things unfold. I like how November, Layla, and Ash eventually joined forces to solve what was going on in the academy. Check out this book if you like mysteries that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

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Filed Under: Reviews