Wicked (Pretty Little Liars #5) by Sara Shepard

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: November 25th, 2008
Format: download library
Pages: - 
ISBN: -

In idyllic Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four very pretty girls just can’t help but be bad…

Hanna will do anything to be Rosewood’s queen bee.  Spencer’s digging up her family’s secrets.  Emily can’t stop thinking about ner new boyfriend.  And Aria approves a little too strongly of her mom’s taste in men.

Now that Ali’s killer is finally behind bars, the girls think they’re safe.  But those who forget the past and condemned to repeat it.  And they should know by now that I’m always watching…

My Thoughts

Well, this is now the 6th PLL book that I've read (there is a 4.5 book) and they just keep getting more and more entertaining.  It started out how all of them do, reiterating everything that has happened in all the previous books - which gets pretty tiring.  But once all that was out of the way (almost half the novel) it got to the nitty gritty.  I love me a good cliff hanger and the 5th installment did not disappoint.  Can't wait to see what these train wrecks have in for store for them next!

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane #1) by Kristin Hannah

Publisher:

Publish Date: February 5, 2008

Format: Audio

Discs: 15

ISBN:

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eight-grade social food chain.  Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend.  Tully Hart seems to have it all – beauty, brains, ambition.  On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn.  Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her.  They make a pact to be best friends forever, by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate.  Inseparable.

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship – jealousy, anger, hurt, and resentment.  They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart…and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

My Thoughts

This novel can truly be described as a trip down memory lane.  Starting in the 70's, it takes you all the way to present day and all the heartbreak, jealousy, loyalty, friendship that life throws at you.  While I really enjoyed the premises for this story I found parts to drag on a bit and become a bit boring.  Then there were some really great parts that held the story together for me.  I found this a very long book to get through - however I listened to this on audio are thoroughly enjoyed the narration, which in my opinion can make or break an audio book.

I was not a fan of Tully.  I found her character to be obnoxious and over bearing.  Kate was obsessive and was driving me crazy how she was so insecure about Tully and Johnny.  She was staring to sound like a broken record and just down right annoying.  Even to the very end she still couldn't get past it.

The end of the novel was very heartbreaking - probably the saddest that I have read in a very long time and it was very well written and constructed.  The ending is the reason for the 4 star rating, or else it would have just been a 3 star for me due to the dragginess of the novel.  And my constant want to slap Tully.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Unwanted (Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht #1) by Kristina Ohlsson

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publish Date: February 28, 2012

Format: MP3 CD

Discs: 2

ISBN: 978 1624065590

In the middle of a rainy Swedish summer, a little girl is abducted from a crowded train.  Despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one noticed when the girl was taken.  Her distraught mother was left behind at the previous station in what seemed to be a coincidence.  The train crew was alerted and kept a watchful eye on the sleeping child.  But when the train pulled into Stockholm Central Station, the little girl had vanished.  Inspector Alex Recht and his special team of federal investigators, assisted by the investigative analyst Fredrika Bergman, are assisting to what at first appears to be a classic custody fight.  But when the child is found dead in the far north of Sweden with the word “unwanted” scribbled on her forehead, the case soon turns into the investigation team’s worst nightmare – the pursuit of a brilliant and ruthless killer.

My Thoughts

I've never really been a big fan of Scandinavian literature.  I have no desire to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series - although I'm sure I eventually will as they are sitting on my shelf.  I don't know exactly what it is that I don't like about them, but it's possible the dark and twistedness of the stories.  I defiantly did not enjoy this book.  It's possible the reason is because I absolutely hated the narrator for the audio book.  Maybe had a physically read the book I may have enjoyed it more, but listening to it made my ears bleed.

The premises for this story is just wrong.  I found it so disturbing that it didn't even want to finish.  A little girl is abducted  and later found dead with her head shaved.  During the whole novel the author does not portray any heartbreak from the family of the murdered little girl.  The father not only never makes an appearance during the entire story, he becomes a suspect...which I found extremely disturbing.  And I didn't feel any closure of his part of the story.  I hated the background story for Fredrika and Alex, it was unnecessary and had no added value to the story.  There was nothing gripping about this story that left me wanting more.  I simply finished it to move on to something else.

I just found the whole story unrealistic and unbelievable and the ending rushed.  The overall plot of the book was just weak and disturbing.  Overall I did not enjoy this and will most likely not read the rest in the series.

My Rating: ««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon

Publisher: Doubleday

Publish Date: January 14, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 304

ISBN: 978 0385537629

A tantalizing reimagining of a scandalous mystery that rocked the nation in 1930-Justice Joseph Crater’s infamous disappearance-as seen through the eyes of the three women who knew him best.

They say behind every great man, there’s a woman.  In this case, there are three.  Stella Crater, the judge’s wife, is the picture of propriety draped in long pearls and the latest Chanel.  Ritzi, a leggy showgirl with Broadway aspirations, thinks moonlighting in the judge’s bed is the quickest way off the chorus line.  Maria Simon, the dutiful maid, has the judge to thank for her husband’s recent promotion to detective in the NYPD.  Meanwhile, Crater is equally indebted to Tammany Hall leaders and the city’s most notorious gangster, Owney “The Killer” Madden.

On a sultry summer night, as rumours circulate about the judge’s involvement in wide-scale political corruption, the Honourable Joseph Crater steps into a cab and disappears without a trace.  Or does he?

After 39 years of necessary duplicity, Stella Crater is finally ready to reveal what she knows.  Sliding into a plush leather banquette at Club Abbey, the site of many absinthe-soaked affairs and the judge’s favourite watering hole back in the day, Stella orders two whiskeys on the rocks-one for her and one in honour of her missing husband.  Stirring the ice cubes in the lowball glass, Stella begins to tell a tale-of greed, lust, and deceit.  As the novel unfolds and the women slyly break out of their prescribed roles, it becomes clear that each know more than she has initially let on.

My Thoughts

A fictional story based of the actual life of Joseph Crater and his disappearance back when corruption was the only way to the top.  I had never heard of this mysterious tale prior to reading this novel and found myself becoming so interested in the true story itself.  Many times I would stop reading and start googling Joseph Crater to get the real story.  Although no one knows what actually happened to him, it is one still one of the greatest disappearance mysteries in American history.

I loved the way Lawhon wove together fact and fiction and what she thought MIGHT have happened to Crater, as it is still unknown to this day.  My opinion - after doing much research - Owney Madden offed him and buried him beneath the pier of Cony Island.  But that's just my opinion.  He could have remained in hiding for the rest of his life.  Who knows.

I was quickly hooked to this compelling tale and couldn't put it down.  It started slow and quickly gained momentum and didn't slow down.  I really enjoyed the multiple point of views the story was told by, this is always one of my favourite writing styles  as you get everyone's perspective.  I also like the back and forth to past and present, which sometimes can be confusing but in this case worked very well for the execution of this story.  I thought this was such an excellent novel that was well written and highly entertaining.  I love a good gangster mystery set in the 30's - one of the greatest eras for scandal, corruption and love.

I always like when historical fiction novels include an author's note at the end to explain why they chose the writing direction they did and to explain any characters that might be fictional and which are actual people that shaped the history of the story.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Cross Roads by Wm. Paul Young

Publisher: FaithWorks
Publish Date: November 13, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages 287
ISBN: 978 1455516049

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high.  A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU.  He ‘awakens’ to find himself in a surreal world, a ‘living’ landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt.  It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to the authenticity and perhaps, redemption.  The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to ‘see’ through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is “blind” to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerges to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart?  Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

My Thoughts

When I first read The Shack I had very mixed feelings about it.  I used to think it was just okay but now I have great respect for the novel and the author.  It brought a new meaning to my life and it was a breakthrough for millions of others.  When I found out Young had a second book that branched away from The Shack I was very excited to read it.  I don't know what I was expecting when I started this book but I was hopeful that it would be a new and fresh idea.  This one is very similar to his first book in that the Holy Trinity is the starting role.  As I progressed with this read I found it to get a bit tiresome and it seemed to be the same theme.  I found the only difference to be in The Shack you rooted for Mack from the beginning and in Cross Roads Tony was the villain who might of gotten what he deserved.

While both novels were about self discovery and self acceptance, it took much longer to root for Tony.  I also felt like I had to take a more imaginative approach to Tony's story.  What I have come to expect from Young is a compelling and thought provoking story.  I feel like this fell a bit flat to me.  It was full of "filler" and I felt like the story could have been 100 pages less.  Sometimes I was just confused at what the point the author was trying to get across.

It wasn't a horrible read, but I'm not sure if it is something I recommend to others.  It is one of those in between books that I can't love but can't hate.  

My Rating: «««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.