ARC Review: Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Book info:

Title:  Before I Let Go
Author:  Marieke Nijkamp
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Release Date:  January 2nd, 2018
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire
Source:  ARC received from publisher
My rating:  3 stars

Synopsis:
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.

Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town's lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she's a stranger.

Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter...

My Review:
Unfortunately, unlike with the first book by this author, This is Where it Ends, I wasn't blown away by this one.  While there were definitely some important topics in it, mental health, bullying, a gay teen couple, an asexual teen, not sure about how well it really touched on those.  I felt like this one hovered too much on trying to have a supernatural aspect, but in the end, it just wasn't enough for me.  It just wavered too much between that and the mental health/other issues.  It didn't really spend enough time to make it a great book for any of the things it could have been.  

At times I was a little unsure about who a certain person was, or how they had related earlier in the story.  I guess I was just left wanting more.  There were some parts that definitely were scary or creepy.  And there were some emotional parts that made me cry a bit.  But it just didn't all fit together well for me.

I will continue to look for future books by this author, but I will hope for one more like the first book.   

Book Blitz with Giveaway: Running with Wolves by Summer Lane

Book info:
Title:  Running with Wolves
Author:  Summer Lane
Publication date: September 22nd 2017
Genres: Adventure, Historical, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Alaska, 1898
“They always come back,” she whispers. “Always.”
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He spilled their blood. Now, she’s out for revenge.
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Jenna Renee is a woman wronged. When her adoptive parents are brutally murdered by an outlaw named Conroy Parker and his gang of thugs, they take everything from her: her family, her happiness, and her money.
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Determined to bring Conroy and his boys to justice, she hires a gruff but dangerous gun-slinging trapper and guide, Jeremiah Black, to help her hunt Conroy down.
But there is more to Alaska than meets the eye.
The cold touch of the arctic winter is dangerous, and the corruption of Conroy Parker and his comrades runs deep. The tundra is unforgiving, and so are the wolves. Nothing is as at seems.
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If the wilderness doesn’t kill Jenna, the pack will. Revenge comes with a price, and so does love. There will be no mercy….only the hunt.
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A romantic adventure from #1 bestselling author Summer Lane, set amidst the gritty and awe-inspiring setting of Alaska during the last great Gold Rush.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Interview with Bestselling Author Summer Lane
(Courtesy of Writing Belle Publishing)

This is your first historical fiction. How different was the writing process, as opposed to the past 17 novels you’ve written – which have all been post-apocalyptic?
A historical novel is more strictly attached to the time period in which it takes place. The way people talk, dress, act, and even eat are different than how we do all of those things modernly. I had to do a lot of research, of course. I have been slowly working on this book for roughly 2 years, when the idea originally occurred to me. I have read so many books about Alaska…toward the end of the writing process, I was devouring whole college textbooks and double fact-checking everything I had until I was entirely sure my eyes were going to fall out of my head.
With my apocalyptic books, the research is tactically-oriented, if that makes sense. With Wolves, I had to make sure the slang and vernacular was correct and that the history was right on target. I took a few artistic liberties with the story, as all writers do, but everything is based in fact. Everything.

Where did the idea for Running with Wolves come from?
I have always loved animals. I have always loved dogs. I first was enraptured by the idea of setting a story in Alaska when I was a little girl, after watching the animated film Balto for the first time. The concept for this particular novel sprung up about 2 years ago. It took me a long time to cultivate the plot to a point where I liked it enough to go ahead and write the book. I have always wanted to write a western-style novel, and that’s what Wolves is. A western novel set in the snow, with adventure and romance.

Where does the story actually take place?
I have constructed a fictional tale within the boundaries of the boomtowns and mining camps that existed in 1898. The main character, Jenna Renee, lives outside of a town called Dyea. I used prominent and famous historical hotspots, such as the Chilkoot Pass and Dawson City, in the book, too.

Can we look forward to some romance, in addition to adventure?
Yes! One of the central themes of the novel is the romance story between Jenna Renee and the rather callous but handsome United States Marshal Jeremiah Black. I love Jeremiah’s character – he’s got a lot of surprises up his sleeve, and I think readers will love him as much as Jenna does.

What are your upcoming projects?
Well, I have a non-fiction novel coming up in the next several months: Prolific: Writing a Hit Novel. I’m also releasing the first installment of the anticipated Resurrection Series in January 2018. Resurrection will continue the adventures, fights, and romances of Commander Cassidy Hart from the hit Collapse Series.

Author Bio:

Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of 18 novels, including the smash-hit Collapse Series. She owns Writing Belle Publishing. Lane is also an experienced journalist and creative writing teacher. Writing Belle is her online magazine, where she has interviewed and featured hundreds of writers from around the globe.
Look for her upcoming books, Prolific: Writing a Hit Novel, and Resurrection: Shadows of Omega, the hotly anticipated continuation of Cassidy Hart’s post-apocalyptic adventures.
Summer lives in the Central Valley of California with her husband, Scott, and their German Shepherd, Kona.

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Review: After the End by Amy Plum

First thanks to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  Now I've only read the first book in Amy Plum's other series, Die For Me, but I did really like it.  So, when I saw this available on Edelweiss, I decided to request it.  This wasn't too bad.  I must admit that at first I was really worried that it was going to be a major copy of a book by Margaret Peterson Haddix that totally had a movie by M. Night Shyamalan that copied it, but then there was a bit of a different twist to it that totally redeemed it for me.

The main character is Juneau, named for the Alaskan city, as are all the other kids in her clan.  They are a group of people who moved to Alaska right before the start of World War III in order to save themselves.  The live off the wilderness, supporting themselves as they are able.  And they also have a connection to the earth, one that helps them to be able to predict things, as well as read about where people they know might be.  They use their connections, or else some kind of tool, like a rock, or an animal, or fire, or water, to see things.  Juneau is set to take over from the main leader one day, as she has the most potential with this power.  One day she goes out hunting to help provide food for her clan, and when she comes back, they are all missing.  But it's like they were taken, their day to day belongings left as if they left them in the middle of making dinner, or whatever. But the worst thing is that all the dogs were killed, and that is how Juneau knows they were probably taken against their will.

The other main character is Miles. Miles is a spoiled rich boy, who has just been kicked out of high school because of getting caught cheating on a test.  And now his chances of going to Yale seem to be gone.  He overhears his father talking about a girl that must be found, and decides he will find her on his own, thus impressing his father, and winning back what he needs to go to Yale.

The two of them will end up together, both of them needing each other in their own way.  But will they become friends?  How will Juneau take finding out that she's been lied to her whole life?  And will Miles go ahead and turn her in to his dad, betraying what trust they may develop in each other.  Not only that, but there are now people after them, so they must figure out how to evade them, as well as try to find Juneau's clan.

Definitely a different type of story than a lot of what is out right now.  A good read for sure.