Game by Barry Lyga

Lyga delivers the second installment of the Jasper Dent trilogy with all the suspense and pulse-pounding action of I Hunt Killers.  Intense to say the least, Game will keep you riveted and eagerly anticipating the finale. 

Game by Barry Lyga: 4 out of 5 stars.

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Cross has presented fans with another fairytale retelling that is replete with wry humor, complex characters and dark, twisted plotlines.  A companion to Kill Me Softly, Tear You Apart details the story of Vivian and Henley, who are under a Snow White curse.  We first met them through Mira and Blue, the main characters from Cross's previous book. 

Though it's hard to be sympathetic to either Vivian or Henley, their story is gripping.  Determined to overcome their feelings for each other, they both do everything they can to cause the other to hate them.  Despite all this, though, they can't seem to stay away from each other, even as they freely acknowledge that they will destroy each other in the end.  Vivian is sarcastic, ungrateful, and demanding of Henley.  He is alternately her doormat and just short of physically restraining himself from hurting her.  None of their friends can fully understand, even if they are under curses themselves. 

Cross's writing is sharp, delivering twists where they are least expected and expertly weaving together modern and antique.  None of the curses follow their fairytale predecessors exactly, and there is an overlap of stories.  The dual narration offers insight into both sides of this Snow White curse, giving readers an intimate view of what Viv and Henley are thinking and feeling.  Cross successfully blends hope, fear, despair, love, and darkness in this story, proving that, much like the originals, fairytale retellings can provide as much horror as beauty. 

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross: 5 out of 5 stars.

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

By the end of Billy and Me, I was underwhelmed. Sophie May's secret wasn't really a secret. The relationship between Sophie and Billy seemed to have not progressed at all from when they first met and barely knew each other. Sophie became a character I didn't even like. (How does one relate to a character who seems to do nothing with her life other than be someone's girlfriend?) And what was supposed to be a happy ending felt saccharine and overly sentimental.

The writing is technically correct- too correct, actually. Everything was so formal it felt almost like reading a recitation of facts rather than being told a story by a friend. The use of ellipses drove me absolutely crazy. There was, at a minimum, one per page. Exclamations points were used in even the most mundane of sentences, making me feel as if I were talking to someone who'd indulged in way to many espressos before telling me this (mostly) dull story of a regular girl's love for a famous man. 

It's unlikely that I'll read this again.  I'll give Fletcher's next book a chance, but I don't hold high hopes. 

Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

What begins as the musings of almost sixteen-year-old overworked, severely underpaid, and largely ignored Leigh becomes the beautifully written and narrated story of love- love of family, love of friends, first love, and love of knowing one's purpose in life. 

Leigh's voice is authentic, garners reader sympathy immediately, and gives us insight to everything she observes.  And she observes so much.  She takes care of Kai, her older sister who is in remission from cancer, in any way she can.  She helps her parents by selling grave plots because her dad can't handle it and her mom, for all intents and purposes, is a total flake who is only interested in her painting and getting back to the town they left.  She knows she'd like to be friends with Eleanor, but doesn't know how after losing the only true friend she's ever had.  She helps Dario in any way she can because Dario has helped her to see who she can become if she just lets go and stops overanalyzing everything.

Jennifer Long presents us with a awesome (and awesomely flawed) characters, excellent morbid humor, and a book you won't want to miss. 

Aspen by Rebekah Crane

Aspen is an amazing story of the strength one person can find inside herself.  It is well written, the characters are strong and easily related to, and for many, the ending will come too soon.  Anyone who has ever felt that she won't be accepted if others knew all her truths (and who among us hasn't?) will love this story as much as I did.  A beautiful narration details incredibly hard moments offset by wry humor, Aspen is one story you should definitely read.

I Am the Weapon by Allen Zadoff

 This intense story begins with a nameless boy who excels at his job.  He doesn't try to hide how good he is from readers, and he isn't coy about his skills.  He knows what he has to do, and he does it well.

Because of his training, Ben, as the reader comes to know him, keeps his distance from everyone.  There are multiple background characters essential to the progression of the plot, but just when Ben and readers come to predict those people, things change again.  This not only proves Ben's thoughts that no one can be trusted, but it keeps the true events of the book hidden until the last moment.

Almost as succinct as Hemingway in writing style, I Am the Weapon is full of heart-stopping action, devious plans, and will keep readers guessing until the very end.

John Dreamer by Elise Celine

I was expecting a lot more from this book.  I was thinking that this would be a glimpse into the darkest corners of Andy's fears and dreams.  I was thinking that it would do more than gloss over the surface of seven characters.  I was thinking incorrectly.

This is 200 pages of cute.  Cute guy.  Cute girl.  Cute background cast, if a little quirky.  None of the featured people resonate with me, though.  It's hard to relate to anyone when you get only a glimpse of who they really are.  The fears they had to face for the dreams they wanted to achieve had potential.  If there were another 100 pages (at least), delving into the issues behind the surface stories, I might have been rooting for them a little harder. 

With seven people trapped in a room in  a dream world, it's understandable that friendships would form after a while.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of time, though, during which Andy sees everyone else as a close friend when each of them move on from the dream world to the real world.  The insta-love with John included, there's a little too much of an attachment being formed with these people. 

I really don't understand why there is suddenly a chapter written in the first person perspective of someone other than Andy.  None of the other characters spoke for themselves anywhere in the book.  It makes sense when you find out what Roy's fears and dreams really are, but it doesn't make sense to suddenly have another point of view when the others haven't been there. 

I can't say I'll be adding this to my collection.  It was an okay story without a lot of the grammatical corrections it could have used.