Lisa Loves Literature: Amulet Books

Showing posts with label Amulet Books. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2019

L-L-L-Little Reviews: Two YA Contemporary ARC Reviews

So I was just going to do the one book on its own, but then I remembered I had another ARC to do, and I've done the other two Christina June books as part of double mini-reviews, so decided to kill two reviews with one post!

No Place Like Here by Christina June:

Genre: YA contemporary
Release Date: May 21st, 2019
Publisher: Blink YA
Source: ARC received from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating: 5 stars

I'd enjoyed the other two books by this author, so was happy when this next one came out. And once again I was not disappointed! Ashlyn was someone that while we definitely felt for her in the beginning, with what she was going through with her family, she also did a lot of growing and changing through her summer. The other people she met at the summer camp were a great cast of characters. Her cousin, while abrupt at first, grew to be a great friend, and we learned that abruptness was just her. And then there was the boy, Marcus. Yeah, he saved her at the beginning of camp, but there was just something about how he behaved around the new camp manager's daughter that made me unsure of him from the start. But then Baxter, the mountain-man/teen, whatever. Maybe it's just because of all the books I've been reading lately with bearded mountain guys, but something about him made me crush a bit from the start. So it was easy to tell that Ashlyn would probably lean more towards him in the end. But this wasn't just a romance, there was so much family drama, but done so well, as this author always has in the past books I've read. Another winner from Christina June.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Life leads you to unexpected places. Love brings you home.

Ashlyn Zanotti has big plans for the summer. She's just spent a year at boarding school and can't wait to get home. But when Ashlyn's father is arrested for tax evasion and her mother enters a rehab facility for "exhaustion," a.k.a. depression, her life is turned upside down.

The cherry on top? Ashlyn's father sends her to work with a cousin she doesn't even know at a rustic team-building retreat center in the middle of nowhere. A self-proclaimed "indoor girl," not even Ash's habit of leaving breadcrumb quotes—inspirational sayings she scribbles everywhere—can help her cope.

With a dangerously careless camp manager doling out grunt work, an overbearing father trying to control her even from prison, and more than a little boy drama to struggle with, the summer is full of challenges. And Ashlyn must make the toughest decision of her life: keep quiet and follow her dad's marching orders, or find the courage to finally stand up to her father to have any hope of finding her way back home.

From Christina June, author of It Started with Goodbye and Everywhere You Want to Be, comes No Place Like Here, a modern twist on Hansel and Gretel.

Happy Messy Scary Love by Leah Konen:

Genre: YA contemporary
Release Date: May 14th, 2019
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: ARC won from author during Spring YA Scavenger Hunt which did not influence my opinion
My rating: 5 stars

So this is the first book by this author that I've read. I know now that I'll have to keep trying more of her books in the future, and maybe go back and try some of her past stories. First off I totally connected with this main characters awkwardness. I get it so much! There was a lot that happened in this, and so much to keep me turning the pages quickly. I also totally clicked with her obsession with horror movies, and I really want to know if the one that Elm-Jake recommended, The Haunting of Sophia Blaine, is a real movie. I can't find it anywhere unfortunately. Of course while I think she had a perfect way to get out of sending the wrong picture, much earlier than she did, I know that was part of the drama of the whole story. A great summer read, and I can't wait to read more by this author in the future!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
As everyone at her Brooklyn high school announces their summer adventures, Olivia harbors a dirty secret: Her plan is to binge-watch horror movies and chat with her online friend, Elm. Olivia and Elm have never shared personal details, apart from their ages and the fact that Elm’s aunt is a low-budget horror filmmaker. Then Elm pushes Olivia to share her identity and sends her a selfie of his own. Olivia is shocked by how cute he is! In a moment of panic, assuming she and Elm will never meet in real life, she sends a photo of her gorgeous friend Katie. But things are about to get even more complicated when Olivia’s parents send her to the Catskills, and she runs into the one person she never thought she would see. This sweet and funny summertime romance is perfect for fans of Love and Gelato and The Unexpected Everything.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway - Odd and True by Cat Winters

Book info:

Title: Odd and True
Author: Cat Winters
Release Date: September 12th, 2017
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: Finished copy received from publisher for honest review
My rating: 4 stars
Find it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, The Book Depository, Goodreads
Synopsis:

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

My Review:
This was a really good book. It's one that as you read you may start out thinking that for sure it is going to be about monsters. But then as you get going, there are things that happen that make you start to wonder if the book is really going to have monsters, or if they are all the product of some wild imaginations and used to help put more normal, human "monsters" in an easier place to deal with in their minds. But really, it doesn't matter which part of the story it is, which type of chapter, it kept you reading. While I really love all things monster and supernatural, and that is what drew me to the story in the first place, there was actually parts of the book where we were getting a look at what really happened, real world stuff, and I was upset when that part would leave off in order to go back to the part of the story that was in the supernatural world, or at least you thought it was.

I'm not going to tell you for sure whether it actually was a supernatural monster or monsters in the story, you need to read and find out for yourself. But the hunt to get there to find out is definitely worth your time. And I wasn't disappointed in the way it all ended in any way really. The book did a great job at looking how not all monsters are supernatural, and how you don't have to be a big strong man or have a gun or other fancy tools in order to defeat the monster. It makes you see how there are chances for redemption, and there really are reasons to keep your family close and stay with those who are there for you and have been there for you. The reasons why people do things may not always be what you expect. And everyone deserves a chance.

I also like how at the end of the book you get a really great epilogue, as well as a little section from the author with a list of resources in case you want to know more about any of the aspects in the book, both supernatural as well as scientific or historical. This is my first book by the author, although I've had her other books on my TBR, and now will have to make sure to go back and read them soon!

About the Author:

Cat Winters’s critically acclaimed debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was named a 2014 Morris Award Finalist, a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, a 2013 Bram Stoker Award Nominee, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013. Her upcoming novels include The Cure for Dreaming (Amulet Books/Oct. 2014) and The Uninvited (William Morrow/2015), and she’s a contributor to the 2015 YA horror anthology Slasher Girls and Monster Boys. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit her online at www.catwinters.com.

Photo by Tara Kelly

Find Cat Online: