Review: The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

When Olivia's mother was killed, everyone suspected her father of murder. But his whereabouts remained a mystery. Fast forward fourteen years. New evidence now proves Olivia's father was actually murdered on the same fateful day her mother died. That means there's a killer still at large. It's up to Olivia to uncover who that may be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?

My thoughts:
I'm thinking I need to part ways with Ms. Henry.  This is my third book by her and while I loved the first one I read these past two have really left me feeling meh.  I'm used to "it's not you it's me", but in this case I really kinda think it was the book.

The first chapter was amazing, full of suspense, girl on the run from the killer, and terror.  I liked it and after reading it I was ready for this story, but it all fell apart rather quickly.  It all just felt very convenient.  From Olivia deciding to move into her mother's old house which just recently became available to the whole town opening up about this unsolved case that happened fourteen years ago.  I just didn't buy it.  The way the events happened also just seemed to work in Olivia's favor.  I mean she decides to go to a certain family members funeral but has no idea how she is going to get in because she wants to keep her identity a secret when in walks the elderly neighbor she used to know.  I can't imagine anybody asking a complete stranger to give them a ride to a funeral.  I know certain things were exposed later, but at this time the neighbor still had no idea who Olivia was so that was no reason for her to even ask. 

I also didn't like how Olivia just moved into her old town and started asking questions about her parents and what happened fourteen years ago.  Everybody in town thought she was a stranger so why in the world would they talk to her?  And when did Olivia decide to start looking for the killer? This was never explained all we get to read is her many inner monologues asking herself could it be this person, that person, what motive.  She was not a detective and she didn't have any clue who these people were.  How did she know this person would even still be in the town??  See very convenient.  I think way more ground work needed to be worked in for me to buy a lot of the things that the author was throwing out.  I also kept having to remind myself that Olivia was not an adult, but the way the adults kept treating her and telling her things that really shouldn't have been shared with a teenager it was hard to remember that she was only seventeen. It almost felt like a TV show where everyone gets stuck in their small town and everybody still acts like they are in high school.  It was so bizarre!

I don't know a lot of things didn't add up.  The ending especially didn't work for me.  The actual villain was out of nowhere and didn't make much sense to me.  I get the why's and how's but the author could have gone in a much darker path and it would have made me forget a lot of the things that bothered me. I know she's capable of this because of her previous book, but she just closed everything up with a weird bow that didn't even match her story.

So I am going to part ways with Ms. Henry.  After two disappointing books I can say without a doubt her stories are just not for me.

2 snowflakes...only because I loved Duncan and the way he didn't let Olivia run away from her past.

Review: Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark

Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark

Publisher-Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Released- March 24th 2015

Pre-Order- Amazon / B & N

Abram and Juliette know each other. They’ve lived down the street from each other their whole lives. But they don’t really know each other—at least, not until Juliette’s mom and Abram’s dad have a torrid affair that culminates in a deadly car crash. Sharing the same subdivision is uncomfortable, to say the least. They don’t speak.Fast-forward to the neighborhood pharmacy, a few months later. Abram decides to say hello. Then he decides to invite her to Taco Bell. To her surprise as well as his, she agrees. And the real love story begins.

My Thoughts: 

Finding Mr. Brightside, is a touching and emotional story about two people who go through the motions of losing a loved one, but it goes a little deeper then grief, see Abram and Juliette may live on the same block and go to the same school but they don't really know each other well, and yet they share a very tragic connection. Abram's dad and Juliette's mother was having an affair and while that should be bad enough, a car accident took them away from their families and leaving in it's wake mixed feelings of betrayal and lost.

Wow, am I ever in love with the way Clark writes! Seriously, it's very strong and punches out some of the best dialogue and inner thought process that makes this so meaningful and thought provoking. Underneath this is a very sad and bitter story but the way Clark delivers this was surprisingly light and amusing given the complex situation. With an almost desperate-dry humor, witty moments and an adorable love story, I found this to be so refreshing different and what I loved about this book the most. I mean, how do you try to have a friendship with a person that reminds you of what you lost and yet is the only person that understands the pain and confusion you feel? 

Abram and Juliette  were such amazing characters. Realistic, likeable and easy to connect with. Abram has a wonderfully optimistic outlook on life and a confident spirit. He just has this way about him that accepts things for what they are. He doesn't need to fight his ghosts, even though they are still apart of him a year after the death of his father. Juliette on the other hand is a little more cynical, jaded, messed up and needs that push to bring her out of the dark.  I love that we have this in both of their perspectives, I loved being inside both their heads and seeing what the other thinks and feels. I also love the gradual but inevitable pull the two have with one another. At first it was an awkward encounter, then morbid curiosity, then finding comfort in just existing in the same space which leads to a strange but natural friendship. They test each others comfort levels, give that push when the time calls for it and try to help one another with they're reliance on medicating. But throughout all the confusion and mess that is their lives they find a genuine relationship that is so utterly adorable and incredibly sweet. They're good together, need each other, a brightside that allows them to remember the good and the ugly but finally be able to let go and move on from darker days. Beautifully done!

Find the author:

Goodreads / Website                               4 Snowflakes

Review: Dream A Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

Dream a Little Dream (Silver #1) by Kerstin Gier
Expected publication: April 14th 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yep, Liv’s dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially this one where she’s in a graveyard at night, watching four boys perform dark magic rituals. The really weird thing is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They're classmates from her new school in London, the school where’s she’s starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But they seem to know things about her in real life that they couldn't possibly know, which is mystifying. Then again, Liv could never resist a good mystery. . . .

My Thoughts

I truly believe I should stay away from books involving dreams. I also feel book blurbs can be very misleading at times. I went into this expecting a tantalizing dream world full of crazy girls with hatchets and was that delivered??? Well, yes but not quite in the way I was hoping.

This story follow Liv as she merges families with her mother's new boyfriend and their children. There is a substantial amount of time/pages devoted to fleshing out not only the family dynamics but events that took place over that move. I wish some of these languid descriptions and interactions at school and family dinners were cut down in wake of more excited dream world fun but no. There is a plus side, Liv & her sister, Mia, are spit fires! The sheer quick wit these two girls put out was a story worth all in itself. I loved the clever banter between the two, especially when dealing with situation they were not so thrilled about being in. Then we get to the dream "stuff". It was interesting at that point and I became super invested in seeing how this would all play out. I then realized I was around 70% and nothing to substantial has occurred yet, in my eyes anyway. I kept waiting for this big revelation to come and it did on the last page of the book. It felt more like a fire cracker than a fire work though. 

The other issue I had that I had discussed with a friend was that the translation made the dialect seem really off. These teens were speaking like Edwardian Era Adults. That really wasn't a big deal but when one of them made a comment about getting "Sozzled in Style" and was dead serious, I couldn't help but  laughed out loud. Perhaps the author was attempting to portray and upper class proper Queen's English speak but that's not quite how it came off to me. What do I know though right? I'm from NJ for crying out loud.

All in all this book had a lot of potential. It dragged and seriously missed the mark with the crescendo BUT, I will still be reading what happens next. I am very much like out M.C. Liv in that I just NEED TO KNOW! You will either love this or feel as I did so give it shot anyway!

3 Snowflakes