Review: Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage

Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Release Date: Feb 21st, 2017
Purchase: Amazon

Mira and Francesca Cillo—beautiful, overprotected, odd—seemed untouchable. But Ben touched seven parts of Mira: her palm, hair, chest, cheek, lips, throat, and heart. After the sisters drown themselves in the quarry lake, a post-mortem letter from Mira sends Ben on a quest to find notes in the seven places where they touched. Note by note, Ben discovers the mystical secret at the heart of Mira and Francesca's world, and that some things are better left untouched.

My Thoughts:
This was very different than I thought it was going to be.  I expected a dark thriller, but it turned out to be more of a sad story with a dark twist and I have to say it kinda worked.

The whole story is about Ben trying to find out why his neighbors, Mira and Francesca, committed suicide together.  He finds a note shortly after their passing and feels like it's his duty to Mira to find out her story.

Like I said I thought this was going to be a thriller, but it was just really sad.  The more we learn about the two sisters, the sadder it gets and a lot of things start coming to light by the end.  These things are not said in so many words and I kind of wish they had been.  I think it would have given the story another layer that it needed.  Keeping it as it was though did give the story a bit of mystery that was intriguing and let the reader draw their own conclusions.  In my opinion both ways would have worked, but I personally would have liked a better overall explanation.

My favorite thing about this story was the setting.  It felt very Jersey Shorish and mob/old gangster.  I thought this was a fun spin and I liked the way the girls family was described.  They were blood and blood always helped blood.  This helped lighten the story a tad, and it needed that because it was so sad.

One thing that I wished would have been wrapped up was Nick.  I am still not quite sure what his role was and it bothers me a tad.  I think the author left a little too much up to the readers imagination and could have tightened her storylines.  I for one like to have things spelled out for me so I feel a bit off not knowing things for certain.  

I did like this though and enjoyed it more than the authors previous works.  I think this style is just something I will have to get used to if I continue on with Savage (her previous book had the same kind of open endedness) and I think I will because this one was intriguing and fun.

3.5 snowflakes

  

Review: Traffick by Ellen Hopkins

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins
Publisher:
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

Five teens victimized by sex trafficking try to find their way to a new life in this riveting companion to the New York Times bestselling Tricks from Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank.

In her bestselling novel, Tricks, Ellen Hopkins introduced us to five memorable characters tackling these enormous questions: Eden, the preacher’s daughter who turns tricks in Vegas and is helped into a child prostitution rescue; Seth, the gay farm boy disowned by his father who finds himself without money or resources other than his own body; Whitney, the privileged kid coaxed into the life by a pimp and whose dreams are ruined in a heroin haze; Ginger, who runs away from home with her girlfriend and is arrested for soliciting an undercover cop; and Cody, whose gambling habit forces him into the life, but who is shot and left for dead.

And now, in Traffick, these five are faced with the toughest question of all: Is there a way out? How these five teenagers face the aftermath of their decisions and experiences is the soul of this story that exposes the dark, ferocious underbelly of the child trafficking trade. Heartwrenching and hopeful, Traffick takes us on five separate but intertwined journeys through the painful challenges of recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal to forgiveness and love. All the way home. 

My thoughts:
I read Tricks a few years ago and it was one book that really stayed with me.  It was my first Ellen Hopkins book, definitely not my last, but the one that never left my thoughts.  When I discovered Ms. Hopkins was writing a sequel I wasn't sure what to think at first.  My heart hurt after Tricks so I wasn't sure I could go down that road again, but I just couldn't let these characters stay in limbo so I picked up Traffick and I am so happy I did.

Tricks was pure destruction.  Ellen Hopkins took five teenagers and threw them into the fire of child trafficking.  I was completely devastated after Tricks and I realized after reading Traffick that I needed this sequel.  Where Tricks was destruction, Traffick was restoration of the human soul.  Was it all pretty no, not in the least I mean come on its Ellen Hopkins.  What it was though was beautiful in parts, gut wrenching in others, and hopeful throughout.

I wanted the HEA for these characters.  Some got it some didn't quite get the pretty bow tied in a knot, but there was hope that they could if they worked hard.  This novel shows what can happen when you are given hope and a chance.  All these kids needed was a little help from someone and they all realized they needed to turn their lives around.  It was easierish for some, but the struggle was real for everyone of them.

I think I fell most in love with Cody.  I remember thinking his story wasn't as strong as the others, but his rehab story was one of the strongest because of his aftermath from Tricks.  I felt connected to each character this time around though honestly.  I hoped with all my heart that they would each find their way again and I was scared one or more of them would fall off their path.  I won't say what happens because I don't want to give spoilers. I will say each story was unique and heartbreaking at the same time and I really and truly loved Ellen Hopkins for giving her readers this second chance with her characters.

5 snowflakes

 

Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 13, 2013
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was—that I couldn't stick around—and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

My Thoughts:
I am not sure I was in the right frame of mind to read this. It was very dark and disconcerting and usually I can handle that, but this book really tore me apart and I wasn't at all prepared for that.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is like the movie 16 Candles but with a very dark twist.  It is Leonards eighteenth birthday and nobody knows.  All he wants is for someone to say Happy Birthday, but since this probably won't be happening he decides to take some things into his own hands.   Leonard has decided to kill Asher, his ex best friend, and then kill himself on his eighteenth birthday.  This book is centered around him saying his good byes to the people that made an impression on his life and explaining why he has made this decision.

It was all so terribly sad.  I don't even know what to say except that.  What Leonard went through when he was younger was just heart breaking and I really wish I could have seen what happened after his eighteenth birthday.  I find that I want revenge like I have never wanted before in my life and I just want to grab Leonard and runaway with him to keep him safe.  He is beyond broken and I honestly think he is the most broken character I have ever read about.

I love Herr and Walt for what they tried to do.  They were heros and they deserve medals for seeing the signs and being there for Leonard when nobody else was.  If he didn't have these two in his life I am not sure he would have lasted as long as he did.  His mother was a vile creature that again makes me want to scream for revenge, but Asher is the true villain here.  I don't know if I will ever be able to read a hero named Asher because the name is now tainted.  I have never wanted to reach inside a book and hurt a character as much as I wanted to with Asher.  Leonards mother takes a close second though.

This book is not one that should be picked up on a whim.  It is dark and not something that will take the reader on an adventure. Do I think people should still read it, definitely.  It brings up a subject that isn't really talked about and I think it should be since I know it happens.  Bravo to the author for bringing this to life and showing that dark things need to be talked about.

Review: Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Pre order: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

My Thoughts:
Well this was different and I am not quite sure if that is a good thing or not.  What started out really strong ended up being extremely confusing and honestly I am still not sure if I understand it all.

Arclight starts off with a BANG!  And I mean heart pounding, adrenaline inducing bang.  The people who live in this Arc type community fear the dark.  They know that what lies beyond in the dark is bad and so they keep lights on at all times to keep the dark and the monsters called the Fade away.  Well when the story starts off there is a breach and everything gets thrown into chaos from the get go.  Things get very complicated and confusing from this point on and all I can say about the story is that you won't know everything until the last page.  I was floored by a few things and like I said very confused with others.  This world is very different from others that I have read and yet still very similar.  We have the girl who no one likes, the boy who wants to save her for reasons of his own, a scared human race, and a dark unknown that threatens the lives of the humans.

Marina, the main character, has a lot of problems.  She doesn't remember where she came from, all she remembers is waking up in a puddle of water in the dark and being rescued.  Her rescue came at the expense of several others and for that she is treated with disdain from the ones who lost their families.  They blame Marina even though she never asked to be rescued.  When a Fade is left undetected in the community Marina agrees to help this creature so that she can help save the ones she cares about and right the wrong that her life caused.  This is where the book takes a very weird turn and we find out that not everything is as it seems which I am sure you could guess.

This is probably one of the toughest books for me to summarize because I just don't really get it.  I mean I understand the overall storyline, but the specifics I just can't grasp.  What are nanites?  Why were the created?  What made the humans scared to begin with?  In the beginning we are shown one thing and in the end another and I don't get where the two meet up and make sense.  See I am confused as all get out.  The writing didn't really help either.  I had to reread certain scenes because I was completely lost and turned around.  In the beginning I loved the writing but it just took a turn and when things got complicated it made it even more complicated.

If you are looking for something very different, but still holds that YA formula than this might be the book for you and if you do read it please come back and explain things to me because I really want to understand.  I really liked the overall idea and I would love to know more about the background and the whys of it all.

3 snowflakes