Final Gambit – book review

The Final Gambit The Inheritance Games #3 by Jennifer Lynne Barnes Mystery Romance Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Pretty satisfying conclusion to the Inheritance Games trilogy. Avery Grambs manages to unravel the mystery surrounding her unexpected inheritance as well as survive the terms of its settlement. Family drama! Romance! Secrets! Puzzles! The game/puzzle-solving elements are fun. What will she do with the money? What would you do? It’s interesting to speculate. For … Read more

Innocence Treatment – book review

The Innocence Treatment by Ari Goelman Dystopian Mystery Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Lauren Fielding has always been extremely trusting, generous, good natured, and friendly – so much so that her condition is viewed as a disability, because she can’t tell when people are trying to take advantage of her. She has to be supervised outside of her home and at school and has aides assigned to her to keep … Read more

Diper Overlode – Read It and Rate It

Diper Overlode Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17 by Jeff Kinney Funny Illustrated Fiction Realistic Fiction Grades 5+ Review #1 * * * Stars (Pretty good) This book is about Rodrick, the older brother, and his band. Rodrick and his band want to be very famous so they decide to enter a competition. They practice a lot, but at one poin tthey stop because they think it has gotten too extreme for them. Rodrick now … Read more

Upgrade – book review

Upgrade by Blake Crouch Dystopian Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) After a near apocalyptic event, the world really cracks down on any sort of genetics research and technology. Logan Ramsay, whose mother (renowned scientist) was ultimately responsible for the Great Starvation, has become an agent committed to stomping out the illegal genetics black market. During a sting, he’s caught in a blast and infected with a gene-altering virus that essentially … Read more

I Am Not a Serial Killer – book review

I Am Not a Serial Killer John Cleaver #1 by Dan Wells Horror Mystery Supernatural Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) 15 year old John Wayne Cleaver is a sociopath and he is obsessed with serial killers. While he finds them fascinating, he’s also concerned that he might become one, so he comes up with rules he has to follow in order to keep that part of himself locked away. When a series … Read more

All These Bodies – book review

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake Historical Fiction Mystery Supernatural Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) It’s 1958 and Michael Jensen, aspiring teen journalist, gets the opportunity to interview the prime suspect in a string of unusual murders, 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale, where the victims have been found exsanguinated (drained of all their blood). She’s caught red-handed (and red everything else as she’s covered in the blood of the dead when she’s arrested), … Read more

Lines of Courage – Read It and Rate It

Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen Historical Fiction Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) One wrong turn. That was all it took to fire Austria-Hungary and Germany into war after the assassination of their Archduke. Of course, this war grew as other countries joined their allegiances. The war was titled, “The War to End All Wars.” WWI. The story is told from five different points of view. Felix Baum – a … Read more

Summer of June – book review

The Summer of June by Jamie Sumner Realistic Fiction Tween (grades 5-8) * * * * Stars (Great!) Summer just started and eleven-year-old June Delancey has shaved her head. She experiences a lot of anxiety and uses hair pulling as one of her coping mechanisms. She figures she’ll have to find some other way to cope if she doesn’t have any hair… That works for about 5 minutes and then she feels BOTH anxious AND … Read more

Strong Poison – Read It and Rate It

Strong Poison Lord Peter Wimsey series, book #6 by Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Lord Peter is solving another mystery. This time, it’s the mystery of mystery novelist Harriet Vane – who supposedly murdered her own fiancée. But as he is investigating the mystery, Peter finds himself falling in love with Harriet. Before long, he is racing to prove her innocence – and get her … Read more

Thrones and Dominations – Read It and Rate It

Thrones and Dominations Lord Peter Wimsey series, book #12 by Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * Stars (Pretty good) Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet have returned from their slightly chaotic honeymoon and are now moving into life together. Before they come back they meet a couple in Paris – Rosamund and her husband who backs plays. Wimsey’s slightly incorrigible sister organizes a dinner for them to … Read more