Review: Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Release Date: March 22nd, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Reader, I murdered him.

A Gothic retelling of Jane Eyre.

Like the heroine of the novel she adores, Jane Steele suffers cruelly at the hands of her aunt and schoolmaster. And like Jane Eyre, they call her wicked - but in her case, she fears the accusation is true. When she flees, she leaves behind the corpses of her tormentors.


A fugitive navigating London's underbelly, Jane rights wrongs on behalf of the have-nots whilst avoiding the noose. Until an advertisement catches her eye. Her aunt has died and the new master at Highgate House, Mr Thornfield, seeks a governess. Anxious to know if she is Highgate's true heir, Jane takes the position and is soon caught up in the household's strange spell. When she falls in love with the mysterious Charles Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: can she possess him - body, soul and secrets - and what if he discovers her murderous past?

My Thoughts:
This was not my usual read, but the idea behind it really intrigued me so I picked Jane Steele up without any expectations.  This proved to be a good thing, but I ended up really liking this one.

The story is sort of what the description says.  In the story we have Jane Steele who meets some unfortunate individuals and thus takes matters into her own hands more than once.  The first time happened as an accident, but it sparked something inside Jane that changed her forever.  How could murder not change a person?  Jane let it change her in more ways than one and throughout the story we see her be as calculating as a serial killer and as cunning as a thief all the while keeping one step ahead of any danger to herself. 

Her road was not an easy one though. After the death of her mother she finds herself at a horrible school ruled by a madman who punishes students gleefully all the while naming the punishments as an act of God.  I was worried that the story would stall here and that the religious aspect would take center stage, but it did not thankfully.  The story does gain a lot of speed in this section and we see Jane grow into who she will ultimately become in those school walls, but er true adventure starts after her and her best friend flee.

Here's the thing though. I really got into the story up until the last 3/4 or so.  At that point another side story took center stage and I felt myself becoming more and confused by historical facts and names.  I am not a history buff so all this was WAY over my head.  I just kept wishing the story would stay focused on Jane and her life.  As I sit here writing this review I still can't tell you what really happened during the war that was described.  I found it hard keeping up with the details with the writing style.  Which is something else that took me a very long time to get used to.  This wasn't a bad thing just something that slowed me down.  It was very downtown abbyish and very classic like if that makes any sense.  I found I could not skim or read fast because there were so many word puzzles.  By the end I liked this because it did suit the story, but I feel like this will turn a lot of people off.

In the end I did like this like I said. The characters were all interesting and I found myself rooting for Jane and her love interest.  I would have liked a better ending for her and Rebecca though.  I felt like Rebecca kind of got the yucky end of that deal and even though I was mad at her for what she did I don't think she deserved that ending.  I don't like big bows tied around every plot line, but for that one I really wanted one.

I think it that I haven't read Jane Eyre.  Yes I know that's not something I should openly admit, but I haven't.  I have read other reviews stating that this isn't close to the original classic so I am glad I didn't have anything to compare it to.  So if you have read the original just bewarned that this is different from what I have been told.  This story in my opinion will definitely stand on it's own though so you shouldn't be worried about that.

4 snowflakes

Review: Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 1st, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds—and the people who must thrive there. The combination of ethereal fae powers, tumultuous romance, and a bloodthirsty faery queen will have longtime fans and new readers alike at the edge of their seats.
Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she's half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born her very blood has been illegal. A war has been raging between humans and faeries, and the Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of the fae courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir due to the actions of reckless humans.
Lily's father has always shielded her from the truth, but when she's sent to the prestigious St. Columba's school, she's delivered straight into the arms of a fae Sleeper cell—the Black Diamonds. The Diamonds are planted in the human world as the sons and daughters of the most influential families, and tasked with destroying it from within. Against her will, Lilywhite's been chosen to join them . . . and even the romantic attention of the fae rock singer Creed Morrison isn't enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the familiar world she knows.

My thoughts:
I love Melissa Marr. I have been waiting and waiting for her to release another fae book and Seven Black Diamonds was amazing!!!  Marr always manages to amaze me and this book was pure brilliance!

This new fae world is different than her last in my opinion.  It felt more like a kingdom than her previous ones and for me at least it was a whole new spin on her lore.  I really enjoyed it and I thought it brought something new and fresh to her audience.  The story included a whole new cast of characters who I loved fiercely and brought an interesting plot line that kept me on my toes the entire time!

The story centers around Lilywhite.  She is fae-blood and in her world that is punishable by death so she keeps her secret to herself with the only exception being her father who just happens to be a drug lord.  See interesting from the start right?!  This story has so many different lines that I won't lie were a little hard to keep up with, but they all blended well together so even when I didn't totally grasp something I knew later I would get it. 

I think one of my favorite things about this book was the way Marr created her characters.  We don't have the annoying love triangle even though she could have put one in, we also finally get a heroine who has the training and logic to fight.  I hate when the whole damsel in distress pops up and then all of a sudden knows how to fight.  How did she learn??!  Lily from the get go knew how to handle herself and I think adding that her family was basically the mob was brilliant.  It set her up so that when she had to fight we as the readers knew she could.  I loved this!

I also really loved the rest of the characters!  They were fun and deep and I honestly can't wait to see where they go from where the book ended.  I like that they all had there own problems, but they were there for one another when it counted.  I hope this stays true for the rest of the series.

I'm really curious how the next book will play out.  I can't wait to see more from The Hidden Lands and since I love all things dark and twisty I can't wait to see what the Queen of Blood and Rage has up her sleeve.  She was definitely one of the reasons I kept reading.  Her character showed no mercy and she was truly one to be feared. I hope Marr keeps her this way!!

The one and only thing that bothered me was the whole Abernathy Commandments.  Lily repeated these constantly and it got to be a little much. I get that they were showing the reader her calculating side, but after the first ten times I really didn't need them recited.

I really loved this book and after a string of books that failed me and I am so glad I read this one. It showed me that some authors will always deliver and that Marr still holds a spot in my top five favorite authors of all time!

5 snowflakes

Review: The Last Time We Were Us by Leah Konen

The Last Time We Were Us by Leah Konen
Release Date: May 10th, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

A passionate summer love story about a girl, her childhood best friend recently released from juvie, and the small-town lies that have kept them apart. A teen romance debut with a dark edge.

Liz Grant is about to have the summer of her life. She and her friend MacKenzie are getting invited to all the best parties, and with any luck, Innis Taylor, the most gorgeous guy in Bonneville, will be her boyfriend before the Fourth of July.

Local teen convict released early.

Jason Sullivan wasn’t supposed to come back from juvie. A million years ago, he was her best friend, but that was before he ditched her for a different crowd. Before he attacked Innis’s older brother, leaving Skip’s face burned and their town in shock.

“Everything is not what you think.”

Liz always found it hard to believe what they said about Jason, but all of Bonneville thinks he’s dangerous. If word gets out she’s seeing him, she could lose everything. But what if there’s more to that horrible night than she knows? And how many more people will get hurt when the truth finally comes out?

“You’re the one person who believes in me.”

Leah Konen’s southern romance swelters with passion as it explores the devastating crush of lies, the delicate balance of power and perception, and one girl’s journey to find herself while uncovering the secrets of so many others.

My Thoughts:

Oh my... I hate it when books that I have been excited about disappoint me. When I first heard about The Last Time We Were Us, statements like like "Southern small town setting" and "former best friend" instantly drew me in. I am a sucker for stories set in the Southern US (Southern guys are my absolute favorite) and I was so ready to fall in love with this book, but nope.... that didn't happen.

Liz, for so long just a "normal" high school student has finally entered the popular crowd with the help of her new friend MacKenzie. She is now invited to the best parties of Bonneville and it looks like Innis Taylor, pretty much like the prince of Bonneville, is interested in her. Liz's mother, who seems to be all about appearances, is over the moon - with a boyfriend like Innis, there seems to be no limit to what Liz can do. But then Jason Sullivan, Liz's childhood best friend, shows up after spending time in juvie, and while Liz tries to stay away from him, it is not that easy to just ignore a guy that knows her probably better than anyone else.

The Last Time We Were Us had all the ingredients for a YA contemporary I could love, but the way Leah Konen mixes those ingredients didn't work for me at all. Liz's family and her relationship with her mother and sister are aspects I would have liked to see more of, while the novel definitely could have been lighter on the love-triangle between Liz, Innis and Jason. Innis is a douche, there's no doubt about that, but unfortunately Jason is not really developed to be the charming, "right" choice for Liz. Yes, he is a better guy than Innis is, but I must admit that while reading this novel, I really felt nothing for him. I was so ready to swoon for this misunderstood, brooding Southern guy but unfortunately that didn't happen...

I am not quite sure what Liz makes me feel. I was annoyed by her actions towards Veronica, her previous best friend. I feel like when she is with MacKenzie, she is definitely not on her best. She is young and has just gained popularity, which is something she has wanted for a long time, so I do get why she acts in certain way, but at the same time, I was continually annoyed by her. There is a definite change to her thoughts and behavior when she is with Jason, but Konen never really develops that and thus the whole novel falls kind of flat. The synopsis mentions a "passionate summer romance", but nope... I did not find that from here.

Despite all these somewhat negative aspects, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Leah Konen writes extremely well, in my opinion, and it really was her prose that kept me reading despite the fact that I did not enjoy the story itself very much. Because of this, I am really looking forward to what Konen comes up with next! I hope that it also includes a Southern setting and romance, but also more well-developed characters.

The Last Time We Were Us was in no way horrible or something that I wanted to thrown in the wall of something like that. It just fell flat for me - the characters felt very one-sided and undeveloped, the main plot is often overshadowed by little side plots that don't add much to the overall story and just make things confusing. On the up side, the writing works and shows promise, and as I said, I am definitely interested to see what Leah Konen comes up with next.

2 Snowflakes

Review: Harmony House by Nic Sheff

Harmony House by Nic Sheff
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: March 22, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Jen Noonan’s father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.

After Jen’s alcoholic mother’s death, her father cracked. He dragged Jen to this dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to “start their new lives”—but Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It’s got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Strange visions follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father’s already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes. As the forces in the house join together to terrorize Jen, she must find a way to escape the past she didn’t know was haunting her—and the mysterious and terrible power she didn’t realize she had.

My thoughts:
This book was such a mess!  From the description I was all set for a creepy thriller ride, but what I ultimately got was a crazy father spouting insane offensive nonsense and a daughter who couldn't quit self medicating and cursing like a sailor.  SO not what the book description promised.

This review will be filled with spoilers so you have been warned!!!!

Starting off I couldn't stand the main character Tessa.  She was rude and I am totally a fan of free speech and I know teenagers curse, but her language was WAY out of hand.  At times I felt completely uncomfortable and I just wanted to wash her mouth out with soap!  I get people talk like this I do, but in a book I would prefer the language toned down especially in a YA book.  That wasn't my only problem with her though.

She, in the beginning, seemed to be somewhat level headed and I did feel bad for her because of her father who was completely bat crap crazy, but she wasn't much better by the end!  She self medicated even after she found out something important about herself (which came out of left field since nowhere in the book did this particular topic come up) and she chose to make bad choices repeatedly.  Tessa was not a character I could ever stand behind even with her bad situation with her father.

Which brings me to her father.  Nowhere in the description of this book does it say anything about religion being inside it's pages.  Religion was ALL OVER this book and not in a good way or really even creepy way. It was very insane and offensive and just not what I signed up for when I picked this up.  If I had known going in this was going to be the main focus I would have completely passed on this book.  I don't like religion in my books for the most part, I can handle them in creepy ones because they do add an interesting spin at times, but this was not one of those times.  At one point I felt like the author had an agenda and was preaching through his character, not good AT ALL!

The biggest reason why this book didn't work for me though was the overall story line.  It made absolutely no sense!  And here is the biggest spoiler....the house had nothing to do with the craziness!!  There were a few scenes and I mean maybe two where the house might have had something going on, but in the end it was all about her crazy father and his past!  The author could have made this amazing if he would would have focused more on that factor and less on trying to make his readers feel icky.  I liked the backstory honestly, it was intriguing, creepy as all get out even with the religion aspect thrown in and I would have loved if this was the main focus.  And it was to a point, but the author got to caught up in trying to make this book about something else and it just all fell apart. 

The last thing I'll talk about it the writing.  I just didn't like it.  Every time someone came into the picture they were laughing!  I don't think the author ever used other verb to describe anybody and it drove me insane.  I also noticed a lot of inconsistencies like on one page the sun had set and then on the next page same scene she was out just before the sun set.  I know this is an ARC and I should overlook those things, but there were just so many of them that it got to be impossible to overlook.  Makes me wonder if the author rushed his work.  With some good editing this could have been so much better.

OH and one more thing, in the end I swear the author threw everything but the kitchen sink into this story. We have powers, religion, weird boys who come out of nowhere, and a medium.  I mean does the description mention any of these????  NOPE! 

Okay that's it I'm done. 

1 snowflake

Review: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
Expected publication: May 3, 2016
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Hadley St. Clair's life changed the day she came home to a front door covered in slips of paper, each of them revealing the ugly truth about her father. Now as her family falls apart in the wake of his year-long affair, Hadley wants everyone-her dad most of all-to leave her alone.

Then she meets Sam Bennett, a cute new boy who inexplicably "feels like home" to Hadley. Hadley and Sam's connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret about his family that could ruin everything.

Funny and passionate, Suffer Love is a story about first love, family dysfunction, and the fickle hand of fate.

My Thoughts: 

Since I heard about Suffer Love, it has been among my most expected 2016 releases list. When I noticed that it was on Edelweiss up for review, I couldn't believe my luck. The synopsis, the cover and the awesome Twitter presence of the author all played a role in increasing my excitement, and pretty much the moment I downloaded the eARC of this to my Kindle, I started reading it and simply couldn't put it down until I reached the last page.

Hadley's life turned upside down the day she got home and found her yard covered in papers revealing the truth about her father's extramarital activities. Soon, Hadley's mother also learns the truth about what her husband has been doing behind her back and inevitably, Hadley's family starts to crumble apart. In the wake of learning that her father has been unfaithful, it seems like Hadley herself loses trust not only in her father, but in the male population in general. She starts to fool around with guys - the shorter the connections, the better. She does not think things like "love" and "romance", something that only seems to work in movies, are for her. Then she meets Sam.

Sam's family is falling apart too. Ever since his father packed his bags and left, Sam has been trying to take care of his younger sister while dodging his mother as much as possible. While his relationship with his sister is good, he feels like whatever relationship he used to have with his mother is now non-existent, ever since she started to blame him for all that has happened. When Sam is paired up with Hadley for an English project and they start to spend time together, they start to feel like they can be themselves when they are around each other. But both have secrets, especially Sam, that could change everything in an instant and wreak the budding relationship.

The pacing of Suffer Love is incredibly well done! I loved how the author is able to mix together high school romance, family drama and friendship narrative in a way that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly turning the pages to learn more. Hadley is such an interesting character to read about - she is flawed and occasionally her opinions and actions are ones that I do not agree with, but despite that, I thought she was likable and I really did feel for her. The whole "family breaking apart because of cheating" scenario is something I can identify with very easily, because it is what happened to my parents back in the day. The thoughts especially Hadley has about her father and how she feels betrayed, mainly because she thought she really knew her father, is something I was able to relate with SO MUCH. She still loves her father, but at the same time feels like he does not deserve her love anymore. Can they start again or is everything ruined for them?

Ashley Herring Blake writes extremely well, mixing together witty dialogue, family dysfunction and drama, Shakespeare references and tangible chemistry between characters. Though parts of this book are funny and cute, Suffer Love definitely isn't the most lighthearted YA contemporary out there, which I loved. It tackles with serious issues like forgiveness and trust through a set of complicated, well-established, lovable characters. Though the book includes scenes dealing with a lot of anger and sadness, there is an undercurrent of hope out there, especially towards the end. And that ending.... OH MY.

5 Snowflakes