The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Goodreads
372 pages, YA Contemporary
Standalone
My rating: 5 stars

Synopsis

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

My 2 cents

When I saw that Laurie Halse Anderson had a new book out, I knew I had to read it!  Luckily, my library got it in right away so I checked it out, and I am thrilled I did!

There wasn't a lot of fan fair with this new release, which kind of surprised me.  Laurie Halse Anderson is a brilliant writer, and pretty well known.  I honstly didn't know she had a new book out until it was out and I started seeing it a little bit on the blogosphere.  

This is a pretty dark and deep contemporary story about a teenage girl, Haley, and her father, Andy.  Andy is a veteran from the Iraqi war, and is suffering from PTSD.  Haley is more of the adult in the relationship.  To make things even harder for her, Haley has been homeschooled for the last several years, when Andy decides she needs a proper education, and enrolls her in high school.  Haley sees high school as a joke, and just a way to get kids to conform to society.  

What I loved best about this story was that Haley's view of high school mirrored my own while I was in it.  I had extremely different circumstances, but I could really relate to her in that way.  I had no way of relating to her dealing with her dad.  This part of the story is very sad and somewhat depressing, but very real.  This is a subject that is not written about much, especially in YA.  I really tip my hat to Laurie for having the courage to tell it.

I also loved the realness of the characters.  Every single one had their own voice, and I was easily able to get lost in Haley's story.  Her boyfriend, Finn, was just plain awesome.  He was everyone Haley needed, but still had his own secrets and flaws.


The ending was heart wrenching, freaky, and just plain emotional.  I really loved how we mostly got a happy ending out of it, but it was still realistic.  This was an amazing read, and one of my favorite contemporaries ever!

Going Rogue by Robin Benway

Goodreads
320 pages, YA Contemporary, Espionage
Also Known As #2
My rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis

Being permanently based in a local New York City high school as an undercover operative has its moments, good and bad, for 16-year-old safecracker Maggie Silver. Pros: More quality time with her former mark-turned-boyfriend Jesse Oliver and insanely cool best friend, Roux. Getting to spend quality time with her semi-retired and international spy honorary uncle, Angelo. Cons: High school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. But when Maggie's parents are falsely accused of stealing priceless gold coins, Maggie uses her safecracking skills to try and clear their names. Too bad it only serves to put her and everyone she loves in danger. Maggie and her "new team" flee to Paris where they must come up with a plan to defeat their former allies.

My 2 cents

The follow up sequel to Also Known As was just as good, if not better! I love this fun world that Benway has created for the reader, and I absolutely love the headstrong MC, Maggie. I also really the supporting characters of Jesse, Roux, and Angelo. 

In this adventure, Maggie's parent's reputation and the family's very way of life is on the line. Maggie must prove her parent's innocence, or they will be kicked out of The Collective. But what starts as a seemly easy case for Maggie soon becomes quite complicated.

What really loved about this one was how high the stakes became. It really ratches up the tension for the reader, as well as the relationships with Maggie and her parents, as well as her relationships with Roux and Jesse. Also the setting felt more "spy." It starts out in NYC, but the last half of the book takes place in Paris, which was so cool! We also get to meet an entire new cast of spy characters, which was really fun!

I'm not sure if Benway has planned any more books for this series, but I'm hoping she does! I really want some more Maggie, Jesse, and Roux!

Book Haul 1/18

This was a pretty quiet week in books for me, although I got some books I am really excited about!  

Review Books

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

Emilie and The Sky World by Martha Wells

The Garden of Darkness by Gillian Murray Kendall

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg 

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Truth Against the World by Sarah Jamilla Stephenson

Grim by Christine Johnson

The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow

Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Ebooks

Destiny by Cindy Ray Hale

Spychild by Harper Alexander

Library Books

Pantomime by Laura Lam
Shadowplay by Laura Lam
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorenson
Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Purchased Books

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Horde by Ann Aguirre

What did you get in books this week?

Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always by Elissa Janine Hoole

Goodreads
349 pages, YA Contemporary
Standalone
My rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis

Cassandra fears rocking the family boat. Instead, she sinks it. Assigned by her English teacher to write a poem that reveals her true self, Cassandra Randall is stuck. Her family's religion is so overbearing, she can NEVER write about who she truly is. So Cass does what any self-respecting high school girl would do: she secretly begins writing a tarot-inspired advice blog. When Drew Godfrey, an awkward outcast with unwashed hair, writes to her, the situation spirals into what the school calls "a cyberbullying crisis" and what the church calls "sorcery." Cass wants to be the kind of person who sticks up for the persecuted, who protects the victims the way she tries to protect her brother from the homophobes in her church. But what if she's just another bully? What will it take for her to step up and tell the truth?

My 2 cents

This was definitely one the most interesting contemporaries I've read this year. It focuses on Cass and her very religious family. I have very strong feelings about religion in society in general, and this book just confirmed those feelings. I didn't love it, but that may have been a more personal taste kind of thing.

The book itself is good--the writing was excellent, and I wasn't bored at anytime through it. This book might have gotten 4 stars except for the one thing that really irked me--the perpetration of the Tarot. I myself am not Wiccan, but I have used the Tarot for years. And this is one of those subjects that's really hard to portray in a YA novel, so I will forgive the author that. The Tarot was either portrayed as evil Devil's work, or something really silly, kind of like a fortune teller's game. I don't want to get all preachy, but neither is correct. 

Moving on! The part of the novel that had my glued was Cass's older brother, who is gay and trying desperately to hide it from their parents. Cass and her brother are extremely close, and she worries about him. The story has a lot of bullying going on, and I loved how the author took Cass's character, and made her a standby bully with the outcast, Drew, or standby victim, concerning her brother. Cass was really on a tightrope, and the bullying part of the story felt very realistic. This is what made the book so relevant to today's world. I think a lot of people are standby bullies or victims and I loved how the novel showed this in a realistic way.

Red River by Kelly Van Hull

Goodreads
318 pages, YA Dystopian
Tent City #2
My rating: 4 stars

Synopsis

No one knows Brody’s secret and Dani plans to keep it that way.

It's been seven years since the first plague. Things seem safe - until the river runs red and the blood-filled waters set off a series of catastrophic events. Seeking refuge once again, Dani and her group make their way back to Tent City, unsure of what the future holds. 

Can Dani keep Brody safe long enough to fulfill the prophecy? Who can she trust? Will she be able to bring down The Council before they destroy what she holds most dear? With the plagues looming, is there a bigger threat than just The Council? 

In the midst of chaos, Dani finds love, but is forced to choose between two brothers - the one who can’t live without her and the one she has promised herself to – knowing the decision could destroy their relationship forever. 

Red River is the second book in the Tent City series. It is a young adult dystopian novel of biblical proportions set in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

My 2 cents

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to continue this story, and to find out what happens next--especially with Brody! Overall, I'd say that I liked this one better than Tent City. I thought the story improved, and we got a little more world building.

We also got to meet, I think, my favorite character of this story, Milo. Milo was awesome, and I really would have liked more scenes with just him and Dani. What I loved was there wasn't a romantic interest between them, that it was just friendship.

I also could have used some more clarity on the Advancements. We start to learn more about them, and how they tie in with Brody and the Plagues, but I was still pretty confused by the end. I also felt like we needed just a bit more action and less of Dani's thoughts. Instead of Dani telling us what was happening, it would have been better to experience it ourselves as readers!

But other than these small gripes, I really enjoyed this story, the characters, and especially the ending. The ending was epicly amazing, which made the book for me!

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Goodreads
YA Contemporary, Espionage
Also Known As #1
My rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis

Which is more dangerous: being an international spy... or surviving high school?

Maggie Silver has never minded her unusual life. Cracking safes for the world's premier spy organization and traveling the world with her insanely cool parents definitely beat high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. (If it's three digits, why bother locking it at all?)

But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York City for her first solo assignment, her world is transformed. Suddenly, she's attending a private school with hundreds of "mean girl" wannabes, trying to avoid the temptation to hack the school's elementary security system, and working to befriend the aggravatingly cute son of a potential national security threat... all while trying not to blow her cover.

From the hilarious and poignant author of Audrey, Wait! comes a fast-paced caper that proves that even the world's greatest spies don't have a mission plan for love.

My 2 cents

I really enjoyed reading this book! Totally surprised me! It was a very fun, quick read! Anyone who likes Ally Carter's The Heist Society should really enjoy this one!

So Maggie is a real life spy. She and her parents work for the good guys, an organization called The Collective that takes down the bad guys. Maggie is a born prodigy, and is known as a safecracker. She can break into any lock within minutes. She and her parents work on their cases as a team, and normally she comes in at the very end to "crack open the safe."

But this time is different. After dreaming about it for years, she has her own case to solve in NYC. Her target is a teen boy named Jesse Oliver, a rich "bad" boy type. Maggie soon makes friends with him, and an outcast girl, Roux. She just didn't realize how hard it would be to keep her professional and personal life separate!

I LOVED this story! Maggie was spunky and fun, and I really loved her as an MC. It was hilarous to watch this top-notch spy try to be a normal teen. Drunken parties, detention, failing French pop quizzes--made it so fun to read! Roux was also really spunky and fun, and a total mean girl drama queen. And then there's Jesse, who you couldn't help falling in love with. 

I loved that we got all the contemporary teen drama, complete with parental fights about "curfew", but there was plenty of action, spy work, and mystery. I was totally wrong on who the bad guy was (thankfully!) so I loved the surprise at the end. I can't wait to read the sequel! 

Book Haul 1/12

Like the picture?  It really has nothing to do with books, its just one I took fairly recently at a very cute little soda fountain/diner.

Anyways, Book Haul time!  Its been a long time since I've done this, so there is quite a bit!  This covers about the last month! Here we go!

Books for Review

Salt by Danielle Ellison

A Million Little Snowflakes by Logan Bryne

The Gleaning by Heidi R. Kling

Witch's Brew by Heidi R. Kling

The Destiny of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorenson

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

The Edge of Always by J. A. Redmerski

The Ever After of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorenson

Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always by Jessica Sorenson

Knightley & Son by Rohan Gavin

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

Windwalker by Natasha Mostert

The Midnight Side by Natasha Mostert

Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert

Such Sweet Sorrow by Jenny Trout

eBooks

Crash by Nicole Williams

Taken by Erin Bowman

Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand

In the After by Demitria Lunetta

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Touching Melody by Rashelle Workman

Blood and Snow--Vol. 1-4 by Rashelle Workman

The Cindy Chronicles by Rashelle Workman

Text Me by Shana Norris

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Tragic by J.A. Huss

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Broken Silence by Natasha Preston

Silence by Natasha Preston

Water by Terra Harmony

Witch Song by Amber Argyle

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Starters by Lissa Price

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Lady of Devices by Shelly Adina

In Your Dreams by Amy Martin

Library Books

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Meant to Be by Lauren Merrill

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin

School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari

The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston

Purchased books

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

The Pretty One by Lucinda Rosenfeld

A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz

A Clockwork Heart by Liesel Schwarz

Christmas Present

I only got one bookish present this year, but that's all right, because its all I really wanted and asked for!  I got the new set of HP books--aren't they beautiful?  Unfortunately, the box case was damaged somehow after it was wrapped, and I need to fix it.  But the books are absolutely beautiful!

So that was my haul for the last month!  Any books look interesting? Any comments on ones you've read?  Leave comments below!