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.

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!