Book Reviews

Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For her first offering, I have to say author Lizzie Friend did a fabulous job. Giving characters with vibrant personalities, a great plot and perfectly timed twists, this was a story well written.

Sadie, the protagonist, earns a scholarship to Keating Hall, a prestige boarding school for the rich. She knows she'll be a sore thumb in the mix, but with great friends and two famous British royalties as roommates, she blends in very nicely. Of course in any prestige school, there is the stuck up you know what included(Thayer) who gives Sadie some grief on the lacrosse team (Thayer's the captain after all)and there's your great antagonist (she is a PITA). No worries though, Sadie gets herself a hunk of a beau (Jeremy) who among many great attributes is also humble, which now makes pavement towards a knight in shining armor.

Pulled into a sorority, one that dates back, this makes things all the more glamorous for Sadie, but with anything perfect, there always is a crack in the to good to be true pristine mirror. Something sneaky is going on behind the reflection and Sadie has to figure who's foe or who's just being folly before she finds herself floating in deep dark waters(literally).

Loved it! A must read!



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Book Reviews

Wake by: Amanda Hocking

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I enjoyed this book, it is a good story, however it was one that also  fell short for me. I love connecting with my characters. I want to root for them, hate with them & fall in love along with them; I want to feel their despair or seek vengeance at their side- a guaranteed no guilt, no consequence and no jail time way to have fun. :0)

With Gemma, Harper and Alex, I didn't get that so much. Daniel I did. Loved him. Imperfect, humorous, charming and humble, he's the guy you want to love and so I did.  I hope I'll get a lot of him in the next book(in which I will be reading).

 As for the nasty sirens, I didn't like these girls right along with the  other characters, but I didn't hate them. I definitely didn't fear them. There just wasn't enough scare factor about them. I knew they were something to be considered sinister under the foxy exterior illusion, but there wasn't enough to evoke that. For gals having  lived for centuries, they sure acted childish, ditzy even. Having killed for so long, they were too careless. I know the bodies needed to be discovered, but how about half buried? Or better, a peek of the hand with the green lantern ring on it? 

The protagonist- Gemma, I liked her, but didn't love her. I felt sorry for her situation, but didn't feel sorry with her. The story was good, original, but there were too many things unrealistic. A teenage girl allowed to swim alone at night in the bay? No way. After finding some gutted bodies, that's bad parenting and not at all realistic. Most parents wouldn't let that happen. In reality there would  have been a curfew set for the town so Gemma wouldn't even have that option, but in this story she did.

 I know with paranormal stories, there is that bend to the rule leniency/play on reality, but with paranormal within a story that is supposed to be a reality, you have make sure to keep it realistic. Things have to happen how they would in reality, people have to react how they would in reality and things have to play out as they would in reality to make it believable. Its those stupid meticulous things that keeps the reader drawn in. 

For example, I get that Harper and Alex needed to stumble upon these bodies in order to move the story along, get them to where they needed to help them figure this mystery with Gemma and the girls, but in reality, in a section of the woods, going on a trail that people so commonly used they made their own path, why did only Harper and Alex find the bodies? Two of the boys had been missing for months. How did those bodies go so easily missed so close to the trail and for so long? And with a swarm of flies and a stench? 

 Again, I did enjoy the story, heck I'm eager to read the next offering, but I wish this first book had more.  It certainly wasn't awful, those are four stars up there and that isn't bad. I liked the author's writing style for the most part, but there was a tiny bit of struggle at times that slowed the flow for me. Using their names so much. He or she would have worked at times for me and why Brian and not Dad? No matter, this was a good book and one I will recommend.  I look forward to reading the next offering.