This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32333615-this-is-our-story" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is a #yabookchat discussion Sunday 12/4 at 9pm EST and this book is the ultimate mystery. Read this book and join our chat! Kate Marino has been secretly texting Grant Perkins until the morning he is shot by one of his friends. The title is APT, all 4 friends give the SAME story, OUR STORY. As Kate works part time in the DA's office, she is devastated with Grant's loss, his friends sticking to their story, and as she learns more and more through transcripts, videos of the friends, and others who were with the boys the night before at a party at the hunting lodge, she takes her camera and takes hidden photos of the boys as they gather together, argue and fight. What are they hiding? Kate will be beyond surprised as she finds out more and more about the case, and the boys. It was beyond creepy when the murderer narrated a chapter in bold black type (I never figured out who it was). What will the DA and Kate uncover? A gripping whodunit with suspense and hostile witnesses.

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Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This "look" at what happened before the Alice in Wonderland story was dark, funny, sad, and definitely magical. Catherine is the eligible daughter of royal parents who want her to marry the King of Hearts (who is foolish, bumbling, and useless) but Catherine and her best friend, who happens to be her maid, Mary Ann, want to go into business together - Catherine will bake luscious treats and Mary Ann will run the bakery and take care of the bills. But life is not so simple for Catherine and as her reality of becoming the king's wife becomes sickeningly true, Catherine wants to say a great big NO to the king. Enter the new court joker, Jest, and Catherine finds she has feelings for this funny, special, adventurous joker. How Meyer spins the story of Cath & Jest is marvelous; there are enough scary goings on (the Jabberwock killing people and animals), traveling between worlds, scheming and lying from all sides to keep this a page turner to the end.

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The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, what a great book!!! I listened to this audio book and the narrators were awesome! As Natasha, the voice of Bahni Turpin was so real - a young girl with anger, depressed with having to leave the home she has grown to love over the last 8 year and the voice of Raymond Lee as Daniel, the Korean American teen who falls in love with Natasha as he watches her jam out to music with her headphones and follows her and saves her from being hit by a car. Nicola Yoon has stated in interviews and written in her books how much her love for her husband is responsible for the love she writes about in her books. And readers agree, Yoon has crafted characters and a love story that grabs readers and you root for Natasha and Daniel as they make their way through their first day of knowing one another, taking romance quizzes on Daniel's iPhone, going places, taking trains, eating, dancing, kissing, meeting parents, confronting their realties---it ALL works. The voice of Dominic Hoffman helps the reader with histories, characters, realities. The book and audiobook were truly favorites for me; teens will love this book but the diversity of Natasha and Daniel's worlds makes it a must read for adults too; a great crossover book!

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The Midnight Star (Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The final book of Marie's Lu's The Young Elites did not disappoint. I loved the world building and characters as they race against the clock to help themselves from the devastating effects of their powers. There is so much more time spent on the characters and I enjoyed the depth Lu delves into Teren, Rafaele, Lucent, Enzo and Violetta. As always I appreciated Magiano's joyful heartfelt influence with Adelina since she really tried to listen to him as the voices drove her crazy and forced her evil forward again and again. I enjoyed finding out more about the gods and folktales that ruled their worlds. I could not put down this novel and I will not soon forget the Roses, The Daggers, and Young Elites!

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A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by Victoria Schwab

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this 2nd in the Shades of Magic series!!! This audiobook version by Michael Kramer (his voices of Kell, Rhy & even Nina were spot on and Kate Reading (as Delilah captures her personality perfectly) was superior. I have listened to both of these Shades of Magic books and loved them. I continue to be totally amazed at the fearlessness of Delilah Bard- her scheming, thievery, and pure delight in pushing ALL Boundaries lands her on a boat, learning magic & returning to London to participate in the Games (after taking out a participant and sending him in a crate on a boat to wherever). Princes & brothers, Rhy & Kell now have a much closer tie since Kell saved Rhy by binding his life to Kell - they can feel each other's pain and much much more. I can't wait til February for #3 A Conjuring of Light; the ending was A Gathering of Shadows was OMG!!! Great characters, world building and nonstop action all provided for a nonstop listen-read. Highly recommended.

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Color Blind ( Dr. Jenna Ramey #1) by Colby Marshall

Color Blind by Colby Marshall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First in a series, this psychological thriller was thoroughly enjoyable and I have already order the 2nd in the series, Double Vision from my public library. Dr. Jenna Ramey is a forensic psychologist who is famous for profiling serial killers because she has a specific ability to see colors as a way to read people and situations. Her mother is in jail because she a serial killer who tried to kill her latest husband (as well as her first 3) and Jenna's brother. Isaac Keaton has landed in jail because he killed many people at a park while a comrade in arms shot innocents at a ferry. As Jenna tries to unravel the clues, she races against time on little to no sleep, and worry for her family to catch a killer.

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Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My mother gave this book to me and my reader friend Ruth recommended it years ago. I loved seeing Major Pettigrew grow, become bold, become forthright and fall in love with Mrs. Ali. The English village was beautiful but very tough on who and what they considered outsiders. There was humor, sadness, grief and so much more to enjoy in this book about older characters who change, grab at life, and turn their backs on tradition. Readers will enjoy the Major, Mrs. Ali, Grace, Alice, George, Amina, Sandy, and the Vicar and be chagrined with The Major's son, neighbors, Abdul and lots of others. It was a tug of war to see who could win the war of religion, race, and real estate, and I am so glad I was surprised by this book!

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Bad Blood (The Naturals #4) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved The Naturals series and was very happy with this final book, story, and the many heart stopping twists and turns it took! Cassie has always blamed herself for her mother's murder and she continues to try to find the killer(s) but she and her team and the FBI are also dealing with a cult that kills people (certain amounts, certain dates, etc), looking for a missing person (who one of the profilers grew up with) and interspersed with chapters narrated by YOU, which is super horrible with gore, torture, blood, death, and forces beyond YOU's control. I loved the continued "family" feeling of these naturals (they are flawed, have bad backgrounds and specialties hones to solve heinous crimes) and I liked the addition of new characters (Laurel, Celine, Kane) as the plot thickened. Barnes really knows how to write mysteries, psychological thrillers, dealing with serial killers, murderers, people gone bad and the Naturals trying to save the world one step at a time. Highly recommended, read this book & the whole series!

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Iron House by John Hart

Iron House by John Hart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, I do love John Hart novels and Michael and Elena tore my soul apart. This book has it all psychological thriller with lots of torture, death, mob ties and political machinations thrown in also. This is a must read about 2 brothers, 1 strong and 1 weak in an orphanage with bullies all around. Something horrible happens and Michael flees while something good happens to his sensitive brother, Julian. I could not stop reading this book; there was so much horror in Michael and Julian's life that to know them, you needed to start at the beginning of their lives and oh what a tangled web that is. Abigail Vane wants to adopt both brothers but death and lies FORCE Michael to flee. As all of John Hart's book are- this is a must read if you like heart stopping writing, believable characters you root for and lush storytelling.

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Dare you to (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie McGarry

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Katie McGarry's series Pushing the Limits and so did my students when I was a librarian McGarry takes Beth, a teen with a drug addicted mom and abusive boyfriend who can't think straight about caring for her mom. When forces collide, Beth is sent to live with her uncle, forbidden to see her mom and old friends. Beth resents her uncle, his wife and those who remember what "her family" is like. But Ryan is someone who accepts Beth for who she is even as she tries to keep him at arms length. There is so much tension, drama and chemistry between these two, I rooted for them to find and keep one another in each other's lives and hearts. Even reluctant readers will love these books! They move quickly, plots are believable and there is lots of attraction going on with many of the teen couples.

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A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Brittany Pressley's narration of Grace and the doctor were perfect; McGinnis' story of insane asylums during the early 1900s, the injustices perpetrated against patients and just victims of society as a whole and the work Grace performs trying to catch a serial killer had me riveted. The plot was thick with mystery and the horrors of life in the Ohio asylum and I appreciated the change to the Boston asylum where the patients were treated as humanely as possible. Grace's friends were real and very supportive of her; it was Grace who really had to figure out who she was and what she wanted in life. A great psychological thriller, McGinnis is one of my new favorite authors!

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Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, I could not put this book down, #2jennsbookclub certainly picked a winner and even better, it is the first book in a series and the second book is due out April 2017. Celestine's family and boyfriend see her as perfect and lives in a society where people deemed FLAWED must live by strict rules, be branded and be treated as less than human. One day she makes a decision that costs her the love of her life and makes her fear for the safety of her family and herself. Who can she believe and trust? Cecelia Ahern builds a scary believable world where life seems perfect until you are deemed flawed. But Celestine is so believable as a character who is so sure of her place in society that when she intervenes to help a flawed older man putting her life into danger; Celestine just as believably becomes a symbol the reader roots for - she is vulnerable, afraid, but convincing as she wades through fear, secrets, and lies to obtain information and truth. I loved Celestine, her grandfather, mother, father and Carrick. I can't wait to find out more in the 2nd book and I hope there is a 3rd book too!!! Highly recommended dystopian series!

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