With Their Eyes by Annie Thoms

Amazon Description:
I could have died that day.
September 11, 2001
Monologues from Stuyvesant High School
Tuesday, September 11, started off like any other day at Stuyvesant High School, located only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. The semester was just beginning, and the students, faculty, and staff were ready to begin a new year.
But within a few hours on that Tuesday morning, they would all share an experience that transformed their lives.
Now, on the tenth anniversary of September 11th, we remember those who were lost and those who were forced to witness this tragedy. Here, in their own words, are the firsthand stories of a day we will never forget.

My Review:
With Their Eyes by Annie Thoms is written as a play. On September 11th, Thoms was the English teacher at the Stuyvesant High School which is just four blocks from the World Trade Center. The monologues were taken from a series of interviews with a number of students, teachers and staff from the school.

Reading the monologues was like reading short interviews from 9/11. There are no complete stories within the book. It was all small glimpses from different perspectives, just like the media got by pulling people aside on the street. There were also a tremendous amounts of "like's", "you know's" and "uh's" which may have flowed naturally in the play but did not read nicely at all.

What I really could not get over was that these monologues were played by actors telling stories that were not their own. In essence, it would be a reenactment of interviews. This is NOT a "first-hand account" as the description of the book states, but a second-hand, recycled and edited portrayal of interviews.

I did not enjoy this book. I wanted the stories of what these kids experienced on 9/11/01. The whole time I was reading, I hated the idea of this book and was disgusted that this teacher capitalized on these people's stories with a play and now a book. I only finished reading so I could write this review and warn people that they will not get what they are probably expecting when they purchase this book.

I rate With Their Eyes by Annie Thoms 1 star and would NOT recommend it. I suggest reading real stories directly from the survivors and families that were effected by 9/11.

The Long Walk by Stephen King - Book Review

In The Long Walk by Stephen King, 100 teenage boys are chosen to walk what would be the last walk for 99 of them. The must walk at a pace of 4 miles per hour, if they fall below the pace or break any other rules, they are given a warning. They get three warnings and if they break the rules again, they are shot right on the road. They have a canteen of water that can be refilled any time and each day they're given a good concentrate. They can't stop for anything.

I read a Stephen King novel about once a year. I go through what's listed on Amazon, reading all of the descriptions and convince myself that this time I am going to like the book...and I am wrong every time. The Long Walk bothered me by the third chapter. Only walking 8 miles and people are already getting shot. These boys are not randomly selected they WANT to be on the walk for they want the prize money and gift at the end. Why wouldn't they train so they could at least make it as far as a half marathon?

The whole book is walk, whine, warning, and someone gets shot. You only get to know a few characters and only on a surface level. It's never enough to actually care when they are shot. The ending was no ending at all really. It was more like Mr. King just didn't feel like writing the book anymore- not that I can blame him for that.

I listened to the audiobook which probably made this book all the more painful. The narrator's change of voices were great but the impossibly slow pace made me wish for my "4th" warning!

I rate The Long Walk by Stephen King 1 star and wouldn't recommend it...to anyone...ever.

Hooked by Catherine Greenman - Book Review

Thea is just seventeen when she falls in love with Will and everything seems perfectly in place ith her upcoming graduation. hen she becomes pregnant, she chooses to have an abortion but can't go through with it and decides to keep the child.

I chose to read Hooked because I thought it would be a realistic look at what life is like when a seventeen year old decides to keep their child. It wasn't even close. The relationship between Thea and Will rings true as time goes on but I was disappointed that 290 pages didn't even begin to describe how hard it can be to raise a child.

There are a few problems that Thea had to face but the solutions were unrealistic and seemed to glorify a fantasy teen-pregnancy situation. I kept waiting for a real problem that her well-off parents wouldn't bail her out of -  but it never came. The solution that Thea comes up with to support her new family was so unrealistic it made me cringe.

Overall, I rate Hooked by Catherine Greenman 2 stars and I don't see myself recommending it.

Season of Lies by Monica Shaughnessy Book Review

Amazon Description:
Robin Calloway has always been "special"--a misfit who lives more in her own head than the real world. Some, including her father, even think she's crazy. So when her brother is found murdered, Robin's father suspects her of the crime and sends her to a mental institution for observation. With the help of Dr. G, Robin begins to untangle memories of the killing, but admits a terrible truth about herself in the process: she can both hear and speak to animals, and this cursed ability forces her to "sleepwalk"--or blank out--for most of her day.

Fearing both the local sheriff and the label of "schizophrenic," Robin escapes the hospital and flees into the Texas Hill Country. To survive hunting season in the woods, however, she must accept her unique senses and gain the help of a whitetail deer herd. But Robin soon finds herself in the path of a killer desperate to hide the truth.

My Review:
Robin can speak to animals in her head, or at least she believes she can. She is a resident in a psychiatric hospital and is accused of the murder of her brother while he was hunting. She knows she is innocent but can't prove it without escaping the hospital and using her gift of speaking with the animals to retrace her step of the night her brother was killed.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. Although the bulk of the book is too peaceful for me to consider it a "thriller" it as definitely suspenseful. Robin is believably portrayed as an innocent soul. The way her gift is written felt so realistic I wondered (almost) if it were really possible to speak to animals like Robin.

The ending was filled with some twists which was surprising considering how straight forward most of the book seemed to be. It as a pleasant surprise to see how the characters were connected.

My biggest complaint was the slang that as used in the narrative sections. Words like "nekkid" and "woulda" really bothered me and made Robin come off as uneducated.

Overall, I rate Season of Lies by Monica Shaughnessy 4 stars and would recommend it to someone looking for a unique read.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult: Book Review

Amazon Description:

One moment June Nealon was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. Now her life is a waiting game. Waiting for time to heal her wounds, waiting for justice. In short, waiting for a miracle to happen. For Shay Bourne, life holds no more surprises. The world has given him nothing, and he has nothing to offer the world. In a heartbeat, though, something happens that changes everything for him. Now, he has one last chance for salvation, and it lies with June's eleven-year-old daughter, Claire. But between Shay and Claire stretches an ocean of bitter regrets, past crimes, and the rage of a mother who has lost her child. Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

My Review:

I am kind of torn when it comes to Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. There are things I loved about the book and things I really hated.

First, I'll get the negative out of the way:

1. There are some elements of this book that are obvious rip-offs of The Green Mile to the point where I even checked to see if Stephen King sued Jodi Picoult. (He did not.)

2. The big plot twist was predictable and the character's reactions to the twist was INFURIATING because no decent person would react in such a way.

3. The lack of information on the crime that landed Shay Bourne on death row was disappointing.


The good aspects that kept me reading on were

2. I enjoyed the relationships that developed throughout the book, particularly between Shay and his lawyer.

3. This novel had me thinking about different religions which I always enjoy. While Change of Heart has a explores a few religions, it was always in a questioning manner and I never felt like any belief system was being shoved down my throat.

Overall, I don't think Change of Heart is Picoult's best novel, but it wasn't awful either so I rate it 3 stars.

Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein (Book Review)

Pretty Amy is a contemporary YA novel centered around a girl named Amy who is hanging out with the wrong crowd. She's the quiet one of the group and tends to go along with what her so-called friends do just to fit in with them. Their prom night changed the course of their friendship and possibly the course of Amy's life.

Pretty Amy was highly recommended to me and after seeing the beautiful cover, I had to add this book to my collection and I am glad I did. Amy is a well-developed character who doesn't have such a positive attitude about her life. In general, she's a perfectly normal teenager trying to figure out who she is and when she falls into a sticky situation she has a hard time dealing with it.

Pretty Amy is written from Amy's perspective and a lot of times she is making a mountain out of a mole-hill but that is such a realistic teenage voice. Don't most teens feel incredibly lonely and frustrated when they lose a friendship they depended on? I know I did.

Lisa Burstein has a great way with one-liners that had me laughing throughout the book. I like how her characters are real and nothing is sugar coated with beautiful looks, money or straight A's. Amy could be the poster girl for the average teen in today's world.

There are some topics in the book that could be considered controversial so if you're sensitive to things like drugs and alcohol, you might want to choose a different book. That being said, I don't feel as though any of the issues are glorified and they made me understand Amy better.

One issue I did have with Pretty Amy was the pacing of the book. There were times where I didn't feel like it was going anywhere but right when I was ready to take a break from Pretty Amy, there was a new detail thrown in that made me keep reading.

I do feel like this is a great book for mother-daughter reading as it can open up conversations about things that aren't easily brought up around the dinner table. It is definitely one I will be reading again with my daughter when she's a little older. (She's only 10 right now.)

I rate Pretty Amy 5 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for any teenager who's looking for a main character they can really relate to. If you're out of high school or have trouble channeling your inner teenager, you might not be able to appreciate the book as much as I did, but it doesn't hurt to try the sample and see if you can relate.

Abducted (Lizzy Gardner #1) - Book Review

In Abducted by T.R. Ragan, fourteen years ago, Lizzy Gardner was kidnapped by a man she calls "Spiderman" because of his obsession with using poisonous spiders to torture the girls he kidnaps. She manages to escape after two months, the only victim of Spiderman's to live. Now, Lizzy is a private investigator and also teaches self-defense to help young girls if they are ever attacked.

After Lizzy escaped from her abductor, Spiderman has stopped killing but has the need to find the "one that got away." She has betrayed him and now he seeks his revenge.

This "thriller" was incredibly disappointing. I was bored before even getting halfway through the book, and then I was annoyed at all of the problems with Abducted. I am just going to list them...

1. All of the characters seem to forget their cell phones in their car or the battery dies, just when they need it the most.
2. The common link between ALL of the victims is missed by the police and it's way too obvious to miss.
3. Lizzy is the WORST private investigator on the face of the earth. She ignores her intuition and ignores odd behavior every other scene. Plus, there's several times where she doesn't contact the police when any person would.
4. There are some really pointless characters in this book and I felt as though their mini-stories were just a way of dragging the plot along.
5. I read almost 400 pages, waiting for a twist that never came. When it was revealed who Spiderman was, I was not in the least bit suprised.
6. For a book released in 2012, I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that you don't have to wait 60 seconds before a trace starts on your phone when set up by police.
7. Nobody ever takes Lizzy seriously besides her love interest.
8. There are dates and times (Law & Order style) which indicate a change of scene. In my opinion, if you're going to do that, add the place as well so you know which character you're supposed to be following at the time.
9. Anything exciting or action that happens is short and quickly cuts to a new scene and when the author goes back to that storyline I was always disappointed.

I don't understand why this book has so many five star reviews. There was nothing amazing about it at all. There was only one character, Hayley, that I actually liked and her storyline wasn't very long. She is the only reason I am rating this book 2 stars instead of 1.

Abducted is the first book in The Lizzy Gardner Series. Luckily, there's no huge cliffhanger at the end where you need to read the next one to find out what happens. Yes, there's some unanswered questions, but I don't care enough to find out those answers. I will not be picking up any more books in this series.

Overall, I rate Abducted (The Lizzy Gardner Series #1) 2 out of 5 stars. I would not recommend this book considering the amount of great thrillers out there.

Audiobook Released!

I am very excited right now.  My book, Unbreakable, is now available on Audible.com! It's a short story, so it's not even an hour long, but it was a lot of fun to work on with Amanda Friday.  The process was so easy on ACX.  I spent a couple days listening to demos of different narrators and I emailed the ones I liked the best.  Then, they read a clip of your book as an audition and you choose who you want.  It took Amanda about a month to produce the book.  It would have been less but she went on vacation.  She was my first choice and she did a really great job.

I am looking forward to having my other books produced as an audiobook.  It was a lot of fun!

Certainty by Eileen Sharp

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After reading the synopsis of Certainty by Eileen Sharp, I had to read it. Ren can see the future through ghosts who speak to him. When he meets MacKenzie, the girl he knows he's going to fall in love with, things are complicated because of the information he knows about her brother's tragic accident. The cover made the synopsis even more intriguing and I really thought it would have a creepy type of storyline and a forbidden love thrown in for flair, but I was wrong.

 

Unfortunately, the story was weak. I was shocked at the amount of filler in this book.  A ton of unneeded information that built up to nothing. You are halfway through the book before anything actually happens.  Certainty is told in first person through the perspective of Ren and MacKenzie.  While I like this idea, it just didn't work out so well.  There were no defining characteristics between the two and when the internal personal monologue went on, I had to think about who's perspective it was.  In all honesty, it felt as though maybe this was meant to be a short story but the author decided to put more information than what was needed just to make the book longer. You could read the first 10, middle 20 and last 20 pages and not be lost as to what the story is.

 

Certainty needs an editor as well.  There weren't too many spelling or grammar errors but certain characters' actions were repetitive and not described any differently. Also, some of the language was not really convincing for any 16 year old.  I don't know any teen who's used the word "derriere" in today's society.

 

All that being said, I did see a glimmer of promise in Certainty. There were a few descriptions (mostly when there was raw emotion) that were flawless and the actual story without the filler is pretty good.  Really what this book needs is an editor not afraid to hurt the author's feelings and willingness to chop off about 100 pages of this 220 page book.

 

Overall, I rate Certainty by Eileen Sharp 2 stars.

 

The Lonely Mile by Allan Leverone (Review)

It's fairly easy to guess what's going to happen in The Lonely Mile by Allan Leverone right after you read the synopsis on the product page.  A man named Bill Ferguson witnesses and stops a near kidnapping by the "I-90 Killer."  Although the girl is safe, the sociopath escapes and is seeking revenge on Bill and targets his precious, 17 year old daughter Carli.

I am sure if you think about it, you can figure out what happens, or come close to it.  That's okay, it is not what makes this such a great novel.  The intricate details of the story and the way Leverone manages to sneak twists into the story is part of the making of this fantastic thriller.  Bill Ferguson is determined to make his daughter safe and the way he tries to go about it had my hairs standing on end some of the time.  Also, you are put into the mind of the "I-90 Killer" which is incredibly creepy and made my skin crawl.

I do not normally read thrillers because (quite honestly) they aren't that thrilling to me.  I chose to read The Lonely Mile because I live just a few minutes away from I-90 and I thought it would add a little extra thrill factor to the read, but I don't think that extra bit is needed to feel the thrill of this novel.  I literally could not read this book fast enough for my liking.  I had to know what was going to happen next and there's no skipping a paragraph or you might just miss something important.

I am glad I jumped out of my comfort zone of YA fiction and tried out Leverone's suspenseful book.  I would recommend it to any adult who likes to go along with a fantastic thrilling read. I rate The Lonely Mile 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to read another of Leverone's books!