Review - You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Title: You Against Me
Author: Jenny Downham
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Publish Date: Dec 2, 2010
Hardcover, 413 pages

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I picked up this book expecting fireworks. Rage. Anger. Emotion. Fighting. Blood. Sacrifice. But it was calm. It was quiet. It was inner turmoil. It was loss and confusion. And then there was the possibility of hope, finding truth and will it really prevail?

It begs the question, Does Truth Really Win?

And does winning really mean good things will happen?

You Against Me focusing on the emotional and familial ties when tragedy strikes families. It doesn't just affect the family that was attacked. It pains the family who attacked as well. I was so enthralled with the power Jenny Downham gave the family of the accused rapist. I loved her character, the sister of the rapist, Ellie. She was scared and wanted to do the right thing, but WHAT is the right thing? I wanted to put this book down and run it is such a tough subject, but it pulled me in and I found myself rooting for these people. I wanted to the truth to come out and then I wasn't sure because with truth comes consequences and in this book, no one gets out without pain.

I am very interested in checking out Jenny Downham's other book, Before I Die. I love emotional books that make me think and this one, You Against Me had me struggling with all feelings.

Summary -
If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another.

Wordless Wednesday - Funny sign

Saw this in a bookstore and seriously, it is SO TRUE!! I can't tell you how many random, completely inappropriate telephone conversations people have no problem projecting throughout a bookstore. I do not think people care or realize how loud they can be without knowing it. Especially someone with a bluetooth in their ear. I have heard about drugs, babies, insurance, credit card numbers, you name it.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday - Tune In & Teaser

Another fantabulous song by Journey - Faithfully








A plan was beginning to form in the silence. It was a crazy plan, and Mikey tried to push it away, but it kept building. He thought of home, told himself he should have a kick-about in the courtyard with Holly to make up for not taking her to school, told himself to get some shopping done in case Mum forgot. But the plan wouldn't go away. His family would have to manage - he couldn't look after them all the time. "You busy tonight?"

You Against Me
Jenny Downham

My WANT List

I am waiting with little patience for the following books. Not only are the covers beautiful and very striking, but the summaries make me want to read them right now.


Title: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publish Date: Dec 27, 2011

Summary -
Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.


Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publish Date: Jan 3, 2012

Summary -
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.


Title: The Butterfly Clues
Author: Kate Ellison
Publish Date: Feb 14, 2012

Summary -
Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place--possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.

But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"--a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.

As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined--a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death

IMM - In My Mailbox

You Against Me by Jenny Downham
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Think Like A Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett
No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie
Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

**Don't forget to enter my current GIVEAWAYS - Thirst #1 and #2
AND
** A Love by Any Measure

What's in your Mailbox?

Review & Giveaway - A Love by Any Measure by Killian McRae

Title: A Love by any Measure
Author: Killian McRae
Publisher: Tulipe Noire Press
Publish Date: Nov 8, 2011
Paperback, 344 pages

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I do not remember what I read when reading the summary, but when I finally got my hands on this book and starting reading it I literally stopped and said, "What?" I have no idea what I was expecting when I wanted to read this, but boy oh boy was I pleasantly surprised. This book was fantastic. Reminisce of when I was growing up and obsessed with romance novels. There was some serious sex scenes in this book and boy are they HOT!

Maeve is a woman who is just trying to support her father and live in the home she has known her entire life, but her landlord is threatening to throw them out if she cannot come up with the rent. She would do anything to keep it. Or would she . . . Maeve ends up agreeing to be her lord's beck and call girl. He will get to spend double the amount of time with her, doing what he wishes of her and he will consider it payment. She is a respectable woman who is engaged, but they cannot wed til they have the money to survive with their homes. Problem is her lord is the boy she once fancied. The boy who taught her how to read and showed her his heart, then left with her heart.

A wonderful book of romance the old fashioned way. And I do not mean that literally, if you know what I mean. I loved this book. With the woman's petticoats and the lord's use of language. The proprietary way men and women interact. A lot of fun! OH and there is a HUGE TWIST towards the end! Will Maeve and August get swept up in lust or will Maeve settle with Owen, her fiancee?

GIVEAWAY

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Summary -
An Irish lass. An English lord.
A love that overcomes all boundaries.

August Grayson has secretly dreamt of the girl living on his family’s Irish estate since childhoods spent together in Killarney. Now a proper Lord of the British Empire, he knows that Maeve could never be more than just a distant fantasy. Still, if only...

Maeve O’Connor owns nothing in this world but her good name, which proves just enough to win a proposal for a marriage of convenience to a good, Irish lad. Until the wedding, however, she’s in dire straits. Rent on the cottage she and her father share is due, but there simply isn’t the money to pay. Driven to desperation, Maeve hopes Lord Grayson, her childhood-chum-turned-dashing-English-rogue, will prove lenient when she comes seeking clemency.

The temptation presented proves too much, and August offers Maeve a compromise: should she permit him twice as long on each succeeding visit to do whatever he wishes in pursuit of his pleasure, he will consider her rent paid. Starting with a mere five seconds, pulses soon out race the ticking clock, as August’s desires become Maeve’s own. Passion blinds them to the challenges closing in on both the Irish and English fronts, threatening to destroy the love they’ve discovered.

Working to bridge that which divides them, tempting fate with each stolen kiss, and torn between desire and obligation, Maeve and August must strive to overcome all and find a love by any measure...

Review - Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Title: Deadly Cool
Deadly Cool #1
Author: Gemma Halliday
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: Oct 11, 2011
Paperback, 320 pages

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Deadly Cool is a typical teenage read. And by this, I mean I awesomely recommend this book for EVERY teen. It has murder, trust issues, friendships, laughter, cute boys, bad boys and all the other funny events that make a good book. It is clean, by the by.

I truly enjoyed this book. Gemma did a great job keeping this lively and mysterious as well. I wanted to know who the killer was and I wanted Hartley to get the guy (whichever one was the best - ie: not a killer).

Hartley is the main character. She is funny, trustworthy and just wanting her boyfriend to be true. Unfortunately, in the first page we find he may be cheating on her. Still knowing the facts (what appear to be facts) Hartley continues to search for the truth regarding her ex-boyfriend. She makes new friends and enemies along the way.

Looking forward to the next book in the series, Social Suicide. I will be passing this on to my 15 year old niece. She is not a big reader, but I am working on her. As it is a smaller book, it is less intimidating. It is also light-hearted and a catch.

Summary -
Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool.

But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.