Category: Review-Blog Tour

Review/ The Lost Causes

Review/ The Lost Causes

Posted on by Cindy
Review/ The Lost CausesThe Lost Causes by Alyssa Embree Schwartz, Jessica Koosed Etting
Format: ARC
Published by Kids Can Press on September 5th 2017
Pages: 344
Goodreads

They're the kids that no one knows --- or no one wants to know. The rich depressive, the OCD chick, the hypochondriac, the drug abuser, the athlete with anger management issues. All chosen for intensive group therapy because they're out of other options. They're lost causes, the therapist tells them. She promises this support group will help them heal.
There's only one problem. She's not a therapist. And that water she offers? It contains a dangerous serum that gives each of the kids a psychic power.
Suddenly, they can think clearly, speak to ghosts, see the past, even move objects with their mind. Their earlier problems have vanished, but their new freedom comes with a price. Sabrina, Gabby, Z, Justin and Andrew are to help the FBI solve the grisly murder that has rocked their small town. Their new powers will help them uncover clues and follow leads that have eluded the authorities. Their outsider status gives them the perfect cover.
But the same traits that make them top investigators also make them vulnerable. As they close in on the murderer, they expose a much larger conspiracy that puts them directly in harm's way and makes them wonder who --- if anyone --- they can trust.

You probably have noticed that I have been doing quite a bit of reading once again and I have to thank blog tours for getting me back into reviewing as I need to review the books so its been a win win situation.

Before beginning this review I quickly want to thank Rockstar Book Tours for allowing me to be on the tour stop for The Lost Causes and to netgalley for allowing me to download this book and finally  to kids Kids Can Press for approving me to read this.

When I started to read this I quickly thought of my all time favorite movie, The Breakfast Club with the mix of quirky characters who probably wouldn’t be thrown into a situation like this. I should say this is in no way a remix of the movie but when you read it you instantly think of it.

I really enjoyed reading the book. It was a pretty quick read and did it with a few days. I have to say that that I don’t know if this is something I would have picked up on my own because I didn’t hear much about this book before seeing it in my email but once I read the description I had to give this book a try and I am happy that I did. Plus this book was right up my alley with the mystery and suspense.

As I was reading the book I loved how you were kept in suspense because you had no idea what was coming next and I love books like this because as you are reading its nice not having the predictable things happen. I thought it was the perfect pace and one that you can absorb it all before something happens.

The Lost Causes is centered around 5 teenagers who are from all walks of a normal high school life, the jock with serious anger issues, a rich depressive, an OCD chick, the hypochondriac and the drug abuser. This kids might pass each other in the hall and not really pay attention to each other until the FBI brings this group together to help them solve the mysterious death of a local resident.

Can this group manage to help the FBI solve this mystery?

Each of the characters are far from perfect and I think that as once of the nice things about the book because even though you have the jock who has it all in reality he doesn’t and I think that makes the book more relatable to the teens who will read this.

I really hope that there is a book two coming out because there was so many things I am left questioning and I still have a lot of feelings about the characters in the book. I want to know what happens next.

 

 

Blog Tour & Review/ The Littlest Bigfoot

Posted on by Cindy

littlest-bigfoot-blogtour

Title: The Littlest Bigfoot
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Series: Book #1
Pub Date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 304

Source: I was provided with an advanced readers copy from Simon & Schuster Canada for my review and participation in the tour. Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada.

About the Book:

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a laugh-out-loud funny and painstakingly real tale of friendship, furry creatures, and finding the place where you belong.

Alice Mayfair, twelve years old, slips through the world unseen and unnoticed. Ignored by her family and shipped off to her eighth boarding school, Alice would like a friend. And when she rescues Millie Maximus from drowning in a lake one day, she finds one.

But Millie is a Bigfoot, part of a clan who dwells deep in the woods. Most Bigfoots believe that people—NoFurs, as they call them—are dangerous, yet Millie is fascinated with the No-Fur world. She is convinced that humans will appreciate all the things about her that her Bigfoot tribe does not: her fearless nature, her lovely singing voice, and her desire to be a star.

Alice swears to protect Millie’s secret. But a league of Bigfoot hunters is on their trail, led by a lonely kid named Jeremy. And in order to survive, Alice and Millie have to put their trust in each other—and have faith in themselves—above all else.

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I am honored to be a part of the book tour for The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner. I am a huge fan of Jennifer’s books and I have read them all so it was nice to see something new and completely different from her. I can’t wait for the second book to come out in this series.

Be sure to check out the other blog stops this week to read everyone’s thoughts on the book.

This was a fun and quick read. I think this is the perfect read for everyone to read. There is so much you can take away from the book.

Alice is a 12 year old girl. Alice is taller then most girls her age, awkward like I think most girls are at this age and has a hard time making friends. When you have one thing that is different about you its always hard to find someone who can share something with you.

Alice’s parents have in all reality checked out of their daughters life and in my opinion think of themselves as the couple who do what they want when they want because its clear when for them instead of being a parent they are shipping their daughter off from one school to another when things don’t go right instead of trying to find the perfect solution for her.

The other main character of the book is Milie. Millie is just like Alice she doesn’t fit in but for Millie her case is completely different from Alice because Millie is a Yare, and in english terms it means a bigfoot. Millie also doesn’t fit in with her tribe because she is smaller then the normal Yares, her fur is a different color and texture then the other yares and Millie is curious about everything and everyone around her especially people in the outside world.

Alice’s new school is in upper New York State right beside a beautiful lake in a quiet little town. This school is a little better then what Alice has been to but Alice is still encountering the same problem and issues of making friends. She is thrilled when it suddenly happens but realizes fairly quickly that its not all it seems and before long she is being picked on by a bully. She soon realizes that not everyone has good intentions. Being embarrassed she seeks refudge by the lake when she suddenly hears someone drowning so Alice rushes out to help the person. This person is Millie and they quickly become friends just what both girls wanted. Although at first Alice has no idea who or what Millie is and I honestly don’t think this would be a problem for Alice because all she wants is a honest and a good friend.

When a 12 year old boy threatens to expose who Millie is and where she is from the girls bang together to put a stop him. Will Alice and Millie be able to stop him before all the secrets are exposed on Millie?

I love this story and I think all young girls need to read this because we need to learn to accept ourselves for who and what we are and that we are unique for a reason. We need to be open and accepting and become friends with others who are different because that  is what makes us all unique.

When I got to the end I was like what the heck just happened. Jennifer threw that little twist in there that came out of no where and left me hanging…I am left hanging with so many questions..I need book two asap…

(Review) Flat Out Love

Posted on by Cindy



Title: Flat Out Love
Author: Jessica Park
Format: eBook (to buy)For Kindle users and for Nook users.
Pub Date: April 2011

Source: I received an ecopy of Flat Out Love for being a part of the blog tour for this book.

About the book: (take from BN)
Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie’s off-campus housing falls through, her mother’s old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side … and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there’s that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That’s because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie’s suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that … well … doesn’t quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.
Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

I absolutely loved this book.

I was curious after reading Ashley from the Book Labyrinth’s review of the book and was super excited when she decided to host the blog tour for the book. I had to jump on the bandwagon to find out for myself what was so fantastic about the book and I quickly realized once I was reading it why it was so great.

The only thing is I have to figure out how to download it on to my Kobo now because I actually read this on my computer and I think this will be a book I will reread again.

I loved how real the characters felt and the story was believable and that it could happen to just about anyone.

Julie from Ohio, is going to school in Boston but gets a rude awakening when she arrives because the apartment she thinks she got off of craigslist really isn’t an apartment but a restaurant. Julie got scammed. Basically stranded and alone with not much money she has no idea what she will do so out of fear and desperation she calls home. It was nice to see Julie’s mom not freak out and panic because within minutes she calls Julie back letting her know that an old college friend of hers has stepped in to help her out letting her stay until she finds something.

The family she is staying with is the Watkins. The parents are Erin and Roger and the kids are Finn, Matt and Celeste. You can see right away that even though Erin and Roger really love their kids but they are distant and very much driven by their success. Finn is a young 23 year old who is off seeing the world, while Matt who is 21 and a junior in college is basically left to take care of Celeste who is 13.

From the outside you would think that this is a well put together family and its all picture perfect but Julie soon realizes that this isn’t the case. Matt and Celeste are quite similar both being very smart and a little socially awkward. The only difference is that Celeste Carry’s around a life size cardboard cut out of her brother Finn. Which seems a little odd for a 13 year old to do but I have to admit that I thought it was a little funny and the conversation she has with him is funny.

I loved how Jessica added the facebook status updates, chats and emails to the book because it made the story line seem that much more real and enjoyable. As I was reading the interaction between Julie and Finn, even though it was happening all online I couldn’t help but feel like I was getting butterflies in my stomache for her. I thought it was a sweet little romance and left you wondering if something could happen in real life for them.

Another thing I loved was that it just wasn’t about a romance but also what was going on within the family no matter what there was issues that were brought up at just the right times giving the book just enough balance. The emotions just flowed within the book.

I really enjoyed this and for me to want to reread a book that says alot about the book.

Thanks so much Ashley for pointing out this book to me and for hosting the blog tour. I am definitely going to be checking out Jessica’s other books and I think you should check out Flat Out Love for yourself.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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