A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena // Whoa. This Was Mind-Warping.

A Stranger in the House, by Shari Lapena
Publication: August 15, 2017, by Doubleday Canada
Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Pages: 306
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind.
There's a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town.
The accident has left Karen with a concussion and a few scrapes. Still, she’s mostly okay—except that she can’t remember what she was doing or where she was when she crashed. The cops think her memory loss is highly convenient, and they suspect she was up to no good.
Karen returns home with Tom, determined to heal and move on with her life. Then she realizes something’s been moved. Something’s not quite right. Someone’s been in her house. And the police won't stop asking questions.
Because in this house, everyone’s a stranger. Everyone has something they’d rather keep hidden. Something they might even kill to keep quiet. 

My Thoughts:

After devouring Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door and falling in love with this genre of mystery/thrillers, or, more specifically, psychological thrillers, I decided that I was in love with Lapena's writing. Little did I know that she would be releasing a new gorgeous read this summer until I received it from the publisher. A Stranger in the House wasn't as good as Lapena's debut novel, however, it was extremely suspenseful and lovely. Once I began reading it, I was hooked and unable to stop sitting in the world of Tom and Karen. There were so many things I enjoyed concerning the premise of this story, and I seriously recommend this to those who love mind-warping endings and the possible hint of a sequel (which I know will not occur... but it did sure sound like it).

This should just be a movie already. Directors, producers, and film productions, PLEASE GET YOUR HANDS ON THE RIGHTS OF THIS FILM BECAUSE THE WORLD WILL BE OBSESSED. Really obsessed. Obsessed to the point that this will become more popular and well-known that Gillian Flynn's books. I feel like the world is really addicted to suspense stories, and there's only a few that could be better than this book. This book relies on its storyline and premise that involves mystery and secrets left behind in the past. You really don't know what's happening until you reach the middle part of the book. Once you're there, there's no looking back. You become obsessed to the point that you will not stop reading until it's over.

SO. This story revolves around the lives of a married couple: Tom and Karen. They live in upstate New York, and they're happy with their "perfect" lives. However, one day, Tom comes home from his job to find Karen gone, the lights on, the door unlocked, and a dinner that was beginning to be prepared. He panics, and he discovers that his wife was in a rough part of the city, and was caught in a car accident. She has amnesia, not remembering how or why she ended up in that situation. And then, more details begin to pop up, and BAM evidence points towards her having something to do with a crime exactly in that part of town. 

This was action-packed for the beginning part (maybe first 70 pages?) and then it just downgraded, and eventually picked itself up again. It had a teeter-totter pace, if you know what I mean. Through the middle part, I just felt my reading pace slow down as I began to get uninterested with the whole detective work and whatnot. But when it picked itself up again, OH MY. I couldn't stop. We also need to talk about THAT ENDING. I was in complete shock with how Lapena created EVEN MORE POSSIBLE SUSPENSE BY THE END OF THIS. Although the story's "solution to the mystery" was kind of predictable, I really enjoyed it.

 

A Stranger in the House was mind-warping, messed up, and *insert other adjectives to describe a crazy story that you couldn't get out of your mind.* I am a huge fan of Shari Lapena's writing and I will never stop picking up her stories. Please throw more of them at me!

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What are some books similar to this?

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley // Crowley's Writing is Just Not for Me!

Words in Deep Blue, by Cath Crowley
Publication: June 6, 2017, by Alfred A. Knopf BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 273
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.
Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. She can’t see her future.
Henry’s future isn’t looking too promising, either. His girlfriend dumped him. The bookstore is slipping away. And his family is breaking apart.
As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

My Thoughts:

Words in Deep Blue was supposed to be a literal masterpiece. I mean, I always expected it to be. I wanted it to be WAAAAAY better than Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon, which was a literal TERRIBLE piece of literature. However, this fell somewhere in the middle of my expectations. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best read of my life. I felt the poeticness in the writing, the fact that it was written about deep, dark topics like grief and heartbreak, but it lacked something. Crowley is a talented writer, however, I cannot understand the craze behind how her writing is so addicting yet beautiful. I recommend this for lovers of lyrical books, perhaps those written in prose. I really wish that IT COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD - because it looked so GOOD and the cover is gorgeous. 

This was a good story with a good storyline. I just wish that it turned out to be more action-packed, more contemporary. It felt like I was watching a black-and-white movie for a long time, with some burst of colour in between (during the moments that had a strong romance). This can definitely be classified as a contemporary-romance story, don't get me wrong, but I just felt that the author was trying to get too philosophical with the story sometimes, that it just got annoying and tiring. 

I read this a while ago, however, I felt that it was PRETTY MEMORABLE. This is a book in an Australian setting about a girl named Rachel, who moved away from her small town, leaving behind her crush and best friend, Henry Jones. Years later, Henry's girlfriend breaks up with him, and Rachel is back in town, with a new secret that she forbids herself to tell. And of course, with contemporary books' predictability, you can guess that a romance bloomed.

The romance was cute - I appreciated all of the giddy moments and cute stuff. This book had a cute vibe to it and it was definitely pleasing. It's just that I constantly found myself bored out of my mind. Maybe I needed a heart-racing thriller instead?

If you enjoyed Cath Crowley's other books and if you're willing to give a cute, deep romance a try, then go for this. But seriously - beware of the boredom that is involved! 

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the last "deep" book you've read?

OMG Series Mini-Reviews: Scrooge #worstgiftever and Darcy Swipes Left

Scrooge #worstgiftever, by Charles Dickens and Brett Wright
Publication: September 27, 2016, by Random House BFYR
Genre: Fiction, Retellings, Classics
Pages: 112
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Imagine: What if Scrooge, Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and the whole Cratchit family had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this clever adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol!

One grouchy old man who can’t stop asking “How did you get this number?!”
Three ghosts who communicate in the most modern ways, including one who ONLY uses emojis!
And a status update with the most “likes” ever: God bless us, everyone!
This retelling will cure even the worst bout of Bah hummingbird! #darnyouautocorrect

A glossary and cast of characters are included for those who need it.

My Thoughts:

Brett Wright's OMG Series is absolutely a must-read. THIS DOES NOT DISAPPOINT! Scrooge #worstgiftever was the best present a girl can receive for Christmas. If you have read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, or even if you haven't, being entertained by this witty hilarious story is the best. It is so easy for me to understand the goal of the author and what this is leading to because of the emojis and everything. THE MOOD IS JUST JOYFUL, even though the book is focused on a character who is depressed and grumpy about the Christmas season. This definitely turned out to be my favourite #OMGClassics story.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

Darcy Swipes Left, by Jane Austen and Courtney Carbone

Publication: September 27, 2016, by Random House BFYR

Genre: Fiction, Retellings, Classics

Pages: 128

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publisher

Rating: ½

Imagine: What if Lizzy Bennet and Mr. Darcy had smartphones and dated IRL (in real life)? A classic is reborn in this clever adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice!
A truth universally acknowledged: a rich guy must want a wife.
A terrible first impression.
A couple that’s meant to be . . . if they can just get over themselves. #hatersgonnadate
Don’t miss: Lydia taking selfies with soldiers, Mrs. Bennet’s humble-brag status updates, Lizzy texting from her long walks, and Darcy swiping left on a dance card app.
tl;dr Jane Austen’s most famous novel told through its characters texting with emojis, posting photos, checking in at locations, and updating their relationship statuses. The perfect gift for any teen (or any reader with a sense of humor)!
A glossary and cast of characters are included for those who need it. For example: tl;dr means too long; didn’t read.

My Thoughts:

This is the first time I can say I read a classic that an #OMGSeries book is based on. Courtney Carbone's version of Pride and Prejudice is absolutely fabulous and it lies so well with the real story that I NEED MORE. I wish there was a P&P part two so I can read about Darcy and Lizzy's children and so I can grab another addition to the #OMGSeries! I have nothing much to say about these books in general because they are all so enjoyable, but they are feel-good reads. Nothing's better than grabbing one of these, a cup of tea and a blanket by your side. ENJOY THIS.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke // A Touching Comical Adventure

Mighty Jack, by Ben Hatke
Publication: September 6, 2016, by First Second
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Comic
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made.
What starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon.

My Thoughts:

Ben Hatke's Mighty Jack is one of the first comics I have read in a loooooong time. Did I mention a "loooooong time?" Really long. And I must say, that I am so impressed with the quality of the story, Hatke's artwork, and the mark that it has left on me as a reader. Every future reader will fall in love with Hatke's lovely batch of characters who illustrate teamwork, pride and kindness throughout the whole story: Jack, Maddy, his sister, and Lily, his neighbour. I began enjoying this from the first page, where we are introduced to Jack and his family, and especially, their struggles. Hatke importantly stems out a message towards all of his readers, young and old, stating that children even have to deal with struggles and that their lifestyles are not always (and only) about playing and making up things with their imaginations. Jack and his sister, Maddy, spent the whole duration of this graphic novel struggling with themselves (Jack with his freedom and Maddy with finding her voice) and as well as their family's personal issues. I felt so bad for these kids, but them having to deal with these things outside of the seeds and plants made this even more believable.

I expected this to be a retelling of the famous tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. There surely are elements that could be pointed out as similar between the two, like the seeds and plants, but much of the two are completely different. One's modern (this) and the other is taken place in a time far away. The idea of these kids trying to change their lives after naïvely listening to a man at the flea market is absolutely sad, but makes the book even more compelling. I adored reading about their adventures and the numerous plants that they grew in Jack and Maddy's garden. It shows that kids can be busy and imaginative without using technology in their daily lives! *cheers*

I (literally) flew through this book. I believe that it took me less than half an hour to complete. This is a perfect book to quickly enjoy, and one that will boost your Goodreads reading challenge! It's enjoyable, light and meaningful—what else could you possibly ask for in a middle-grade novel? My sister read this after me and she decided to rate it five stars... she loved it!

Mighty Jack has an amazing protagonist who I just want to give a BIG hug to, and everything in between was just great. It's difficult for me to give a middle-grade novel five stars, and this just didn't need that extra star, but I still adored it otherwise. This will definitely be a bestseller. Kids, beg your parents for this adorable read!

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is your favourite graphic novel? What is your newest favourite middle-grade novel?

My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak // I LOVE CONTEMPORARY SO MUCH.

My Life With the Walter Boys, by Ali Novak
Publication: March 1, 2014, by Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: ½

My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.
Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...
Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.
Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.
Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)
Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

My Thoughts:

At the time when I read this, which was, actually, a few weeks ago, I kind of was bored with everything I was reading. Who knows? If Ali Novak's debut Wattpad-turned-published contemporary romance about a girl who lost everything, and then had everything, including a new family after moving into the Walter household hadn't come into my life, I would've went into a reading slump, and my Goodreads challenge would have been even more at stake. It already is, in case you were wondering. I'm like, 60 books behind schedule. Anyways, I must say that My Life With the Walter Boys is absolute literary brilliance. For anyone seeking a new, never-been-done-before kind of story that has every bit of gushing, squealing and ship-creating in it, I would strongly recommend reading this. It changed the way I look at contemporary-romance and how others look at the genre. Many tend to stay away from it because some books become cheesy and predictable, and although this was really, really predictable (I know some of you really dislike that), I loved it. So much that I want to go and read everything that Ali Novak has written. After I grabbed a copy of this at BEA last year, I discovered that Ali is also the author of another book Sourcebooks was amazing to hand out: The Heartbreakers. My younger sister read it and adored it, so I am very excited for it, too.

My Life With the Walter Boys is one of those books that you imagine becoming a TV show slash sitcom. I would love to watch it if that ever became something. It's so real, normal though significant at the same time. I loved our protagonist, Jackie Howard, who reminded me a little too much of myself, being obsessed with school and a total perfectionist. I loved the romance, even the love triangle that formed. This was an exception to all of the bookish things I once said I hated. For some reason, this seems like the book I would dislike, in the end. Somehow, it was the opposite. 

The only thing I have to complain about is the predictability. But that's what occurs when a teenage girl writes a book about romance and releases it on Wattpad. That's the only way that predictability occurs. Only with romance. I knew that the ending would occur the way it did, and there was nothing that was a shocker for me. But thankfully, I liked the characters too much to have to dislike this book even more. 

Jackie, like the title states, is in a house with the Walters. There's eleven guys. GUYS. (I would go nuts) She has just lost everything, including her parents and her sister, in a car crash that she was supposed to be in, if she hadn't caught the flu. She lost her NYC luxurious life, her friends, and has to move to the other side of the country—Colorado, because her uncle cannot take custody of her. Instead, her mom's old best friend and her family are Jackie's new home. Of course, she hates all of them at first, blaming them on her horrible life, but as she forms a connection with the older boys, like Alex and Cole, romance sparks. Duh.

Each of the Walter boys (and Parker, of course, who is the only girl in the family, excluding their mother) had their own personality—that was interesting. It's so interesting to ponder about how an author must conquer twelve different personalities (that's without Jackie) into a single novel. Twelve different characters who have different hobbies, opinions, appearances... this is crazy. Ali Novak did it wonderfully. We have our popular, player boy who Jackie finds herself attracted to, Cole, who has a twin, and then there's Alex, who is the computer-freak and Jackie also finds him attractive. It kind of was instalove between her and Cole, but that's okay. It didn't bother me. Yet again, here I am talking about how INSTALOVE DOESN'T BOTHER ME. Am I hearing myself correctly? I think I am, though.

It was extremely easy to relate to Jackie. Although I thankfully had not gone through what she had, I loved her as a character. She goes through a swift character transition, from good to bad, doing many things that in the past, she would never believe that she would do. Some may think that this is a a cheesy kind of thing to add into contemporary romance, but honestly, it happens to many people. Sometimes, being too good is boring. *twiddles eyebrows* I promise, I don't have anything bad in store.

My Life With the Walter Boys is just such a fun, summer read. Purchase it, bring it to the beach, pool, or even couch with you and just devour it. Ali Novak writes with a very fast pace that keeps us readers addicted, and unable to put it down and take a breath until it's all over. When it was over, I swear, I felt such an attraction to the Walter family that I felt like I, myself, had lost everything.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

Tell the Story to Its End by Simon P. Clark // A Nice Middle Grade "Horror" Story

Tell the Story to Its End, by Simon P. Clark
Publication: October 20, 2015, by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 198
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

In this beautiful, haunting debut, a boy is whisked away to the country in the wake of a scandal, and finds a captivating creature in the attic whose attention comes at a sinister price.
People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him why his dad where his father is. Why isn't he with them? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, and only an old, empty house in the middle of an ancient forest for answers. But then he finds a secret of his own: there is a creature that lives in the attic… Eren is not human. Eren is hungry for stories. Eren has been waiting for him. Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what’s happening downstairs with his family. But what if it’s a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth—or abandon himself to Eren’s world, forever. Reminiscent of SKELLIG by David Almond and A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness, EREN is richly atmospheric, moving, unsettleing, and told in gorgeous prose. A modern classic in the making.

My Thoughts:

What a bunch of 3.5 star ratings I have been giving to books lately. That's not a bad thing!—3.5 ratings are pretty good, if you ask me. Simon P. Clark's Tell the Story to Its End was sent to me a looooooonnnnnggggg time ago, and I am so upset that I chose to read it now. This is a fabulous middle-grade horror story that resembles the gorgeous A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a book that stands as a classic horror story for me, most definitely because I have never read anything close to it and I can only use it as a sample to compare other lesser-good books to. This is honestly so so so similar, which kind of frustrated me because I came here for middle-grade luxury. I wanted to read a rich story filled with dark fairy tales and moments where I wanted to pull my hair out of my scalp. (Sorry for the harsh imagery!)

This wasn't scary, sadly. I am always in for a good horror read, and I will do whatever it takes to seek that perfect scary story that will cause me to have trouble sleeping at night. Whatever it takes. I honestly didn't even suspect that this was middle-grade fiction. I remember requesting it last year, simply for the reason that this was a horror story. I have read some great ones in the past, like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Asylum. I occasionally get so inspired by these stories that I write things based on them, including reviews, obviously. This? It was blander than I expected. Perhaps you middle-grade fans will enjoy this one—it was great, just not 100% me, you know?

Tell the Story to Its End has this foggy, misty feel to it. It screams out eerie, it screams out craziness. I loved the cover from the first time I saw it, and I just wanted to read about this so-called monster named Eren. This book once was called Eren, in case you didn't know. What I really enjoyed was the protagonist's connection to this monster. Oli is our hero, in this case, and instead of that fear factor impacting each of us to death (practically), this was more of a friendship story, something that is really difficult to seek. It's just that I wasn't looking for friendship, but horror, instead.

"Living is the strangest story there is, boy. Try not to forget that. It's swings and roundabouts in the end. Stories define you, but you are the stories that matter. I'm just an outsider, in the end" (73).

This is just such a quick read, which was a HUGE highlight for me. Because of the way Clark has written and formatted the story, it deserves a small story with so much more depth on the outside for readers to explore. It simply was philosophical, and not about what's on the outside perspective—not Eren or Oli, but life. That's why I enjoy reading middle-grade from time to time; I am older, so I always find myself receiving a different message out of the book compared to the direct point-of-view. By the way: Eren is a story-eating monster. He keeps on living by hearing stories that Oli tells him. THAT'S MEGA COOL.

So, for a quick summary, this is your "new kid moves into a new town" kind of book where he has no friends and misses his home. Oli and his mother "temporarily" move into Oli's uncle's house a far distance from London, his previous home and the home he has always known, and Oli discovers Eren in the attic of his new home. He obviously makes some eerie friends outside of the house, and he just spends the novel seeking answers, seeking the answers to life and why everything that has happened to him has happened. It's simple, but carries so much more than the surface story.  

Oli was the cutest little boy, the most heroic hero I have read about in a while. Readers, he compares to kick-ass teenage protagonists, like Four from Divergent and yadda yadda yadda. THAT'S A HIGH STANDING. As mentioned before, Oli makes friends besides Eren: Takeru and Em. TALK ABOUT DIVERSITY AND COOL STUFF. We also need to talk about the illustrations in the book—they were gorgeous and self-explanatory. Without them, Clark's majestic story wouldn't carry the same depth as it actually did. 

This is a book that you need to explore on your own—you need to go out and understand the tricks and twists to really enjoy it. I certainly liked that about Clark's story, because we rarely find these riddles and twists in middle-grade or in fiction at all. I like complexity, and this novel certainly did carry that throughout. I found the complexity as a goal, even. And it absolutely was succeeded.

"As long as there's people, there's tales. Always has been, and touch wood, always will be!" (131)

Tell the Story to Its End is a real story about a kid. You don't have to begin reading to suspect a happy ending, because there will be that voice in you telling you that because of the mood, there might not be that happy ending after all. From beginning to end, I was intrigued with the storytelling-concept and the friendship between Eren and Oli, but I certainly was expecting something different. Patrick Ness, you should take a look at this one and see if you see a resemblance to something else that is quite... amazing.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What are some other middle-grade horror stories? What is a recent book that fooled you?