What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants
can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"A dull hum. Bonfires on rafts float beyond the docks."
-The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant, Page 93 (I think, my cat conveniently walked across the book and lost my page), by Joanna Wiebe
Suley, Georgia, is home to
Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect
place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter
Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake,
had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost
Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams
anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place
and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time
has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and
her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a
funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they
were lost . . . until they are found.
Best Bits: I love when a new Sarah Addison Allen book is released. The only way I can describe it is comforting. It's like visiting an old friend and being able to chat for hours. Sigh. She has an ability to weave magic into her stories that's almost dream-like in quality. People have small gifts (from the youngest characters to the oldest), and it never overtakes the story. Some gifts are subtler than others, but each person has a big impact on the movement of the plot.
The themes in this book are love and loss, and this read came at a perfect time for me. The reader sees how the loss of a spouse impacts Kate, the love and acceptance Kate gives her daughter as she allows her to explore and enjoy childhood. We explore different facets of the themes through each character, and while the book is fairly short, each character is given adequate time to grow. The real beauty in every one of her books is how it makes you examine your own life, and she really pushes the reader to question if they're living life to the fullest.
Nit Picks: I have no nit picks. It was a perfect read filled with laughter and tears. I can't wait to re-read this in the middle of summer when I'll be able to connect with the setting.
Lost Lake
By Sarah Addison Allen
Published by St. Martin's Press
296 Pages
Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week.
Purchased:
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
In the darkest places, even love is deadly.
Sixteen-year-old
Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid,
attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal
that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her
father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and
continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to
find out if the accusations are true.
Accompanied by her father's
handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway,
Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island,
only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has
experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as
humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is
killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific
curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments
and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island
falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and
madness—in her own blood.
Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The
Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless
Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the
truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.
Published by Balzer + Bray
Find Me by Romily Bernard
“Find Me.”
These
are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up
with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead.
Wick has
the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in
this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next
target.
Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker,
shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the
threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him
sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?
Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.
But she’s going to find this killer no matter what.
Because it just got personal.
Published by HarperTeen
February Comment Contest: Don't forget, we're coming to the end of the February comment contest! You get one entry for every non-meme post that you comment on.
This week I reviewed Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
Next week I'll be reviewing Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (and maybe more!).
Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.
The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt
Acclaimed author Lindsey Leavitt brings her trademark heart, humor, and romance to her hometown--Vegas
Sixteen-year-old
Holly wants to remember her Grandpa forever, but she’d rather forget
what he left her in his will: his wedding chapel on the Las Vegas strip.
Whatever happened to gold watches, savings bonds, or some normal
inheritance?
And then there's Grandpa's letter. Not only is she
running the business with her recently divorced parents, but she needs
to make some serious money--fast. Grandpa also insists Holly reach out
to Dax, the grandson of her family's mortal enemy and owner of the
cheesy chapel next door. No matter how cute Dax is, Holly needs to stay
focused: on her group of guy friends, her disjointed family, work,
school and... Dax. No wait, not Dax.
Holly’s chapel represents
everything she’s ever loved in her past. Dax might be everything she
could ever love in the future. But as for right now, there's a wedding
chapel to save.
Published by Bloomsbury USA
Release Date: May 6, 2014
What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?
When
sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is
grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final
months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend
Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with
a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her
ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope
(doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some
childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes
into remission.
Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of
all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey.
But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the
one person who matters most?
Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.
Best Bits: Am I allowed to say that I really didn't like Alice? You might be thinking something along the lines of "wait, why is this in the best bits?" That's a valid question. I think it's pretty brave of an author to make a character that is relatively difficult to like for over half the book. She makes questionable choices, and while she takes down the people who have hurt her in some way, it isn't all that satisfying for the reader. The thing is, I didn't need to like her to understand her. She's basically grieved the life that she had lived, and had accepted that she was going to die. To suddenly be faced with a future that you never believed you would have has got to be jarring and frightening. That's why, every time she pushed Harvey away, or let anger take over, I got it. I wasn't cheering, but it was realistic.
This also played well when contrasted to Harvey. I felt for him, I really did. He cares for Alice so deeply that he's just along for the ride. He participates in activities that make him feel uncomfortable for the sake of helping Alice with her bucket list (this occasionally includes revenge), and it takes a lot for him to say enough is enough. We get to see the opposite side of things, he hasn't accepted that Alice is dying in the past, and when he finds out that she is going to live he expects her to be happy and relieved (like he is). Murphy managed to juggle both characters pov's in the past and present without it feeling too overwhelming, and that's saying a lot since I don't really like switching back and forth.
Nit Picks: My nitpick for this one has to do with the romance. I won't spoil it for anyone, so this will be a rather vague and confusing nit pick (this is why we shouldn't write reviews late in the evening). The book ended in a way that leaves it clear to the reader if they're going to be together or not. I think after all that had happened between them it would have been okay with an open-ending, since both characters had a lot of growing to do, and a lot to work out.
Side Effects May Vary
By Julie Murphy
336 Pages
Published by Balzer + Bray
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