Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds Review

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.

My Review:
I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This book tells the story of a boy who loses his brother. Determined to get revenge, fifteen year old Will sets out to use his brothers gun on the person who killed him, only following the rules. On the way to do the deed he’s stopped in the elevator by his dead family. Is he hallucinating? Doesn’t matter, they have important things to say. Most of them died following the same rules that Will is, the most important one being if someone shoots your family, you shoot them. Just hopefully they don’t also follow the rules.

The story mostly takes place in the elevator, going floor by floor with the characters chatting and smoking the whole time. It’s dramatic but in the quiet cold and calculated way, written entirely in poetry.

I enjoyed reading this book, though it’s super short, the characters are pretty realistic despite most of them being dead, and the situation is completely unique to anything I’ve read lately. Maybe not my new favourite, but I still liked it. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to buy the book on amazon, and another link to the authors twitter in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Long-Way-Down-J…

https://twitter.com/JasonReynolds83

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Rock candy

Went to some thrift stores today and picked up some paperbacks among other things. Have you read either of these? I’m excited to start them.

Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand Review

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
In the beginning, there’s a boy standing in the trees…
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

My Review:
There’s a war brewing between good and bad, fallen angels and angels alike. Angel-blooded are either being killed or recruited, depending on what sure they’re caught on.

Clara has received her purpose. In the form of many visions, she sees a forest fire and a boy standing in front of her, back towards her. She can feel the heat and smell the smoke. She sees the trees burn she sees it again every couple days, while her and mother and brother prepare to go wherever it takes her.

Clara the angel-blooded, Clara the supernatural. She and her family have powers such as incredibly fast healing, speed, the ability to understand all languages even if they’re not human, and incredible stamina, due to their angels blood. Her mother is over one hundred and ten years old, and has fulfilled her purpose, although she won’t talk about it. Her younger brother is waiting for his purpose.

I had this book on my to read shelf forever, and only just got around to reading it. There are different kinds of angel bloods, they now of three so far. Intangere, full blooded, Dimidius, half blooded, and Quartarius, quarter blooded. I really enjoyed reading it, it’s not like any of the other books I’ve read about angels. The story kept me sucked in from the beginning of the book, and I didn’t feel too old reading this, even though the main characters were in high school. I definitely recommend checking it out if you haven’t already, and I can’t wait to read the second book in the series.

Here’s a link for where you can buy the book on amazon, and also a link to the authors twitter in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Unearthly-Cynth…

https://twitter.com/CynthiaHand

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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A receipt from the hotel spa

Just finished putting some new stickers on my e-reader case! I think they’re hilarious. I have a sony reader at the moment, I really like it, I’ve had it for a couple years. What kind of ereader do you like the best? 

Ugly by Margaret McHeyzer Review

Ugly by Margaret McHeyzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
New York Times Bestselling YA Book

If I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to see.
If I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to feel.
If I were dead, he’d never raise his hand to me again.
If I were dead, his words wouldn’t cut as deep as they do.
If I were dead, I’d be beautiful and I wouldn’t be so…ugly.
I’m not dead…but I wish I was.

*This is a dark YA/NA standalone, full-length novel. Contains violence and some explicit language.

My Review:
I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This was a hard book to read, but in a good way. It was so good and so unlike anything I’ve read lately, but it was all about abuse and that’s hard to read. Lilly starts the book as a seventeen year old girl who lives with her dad. She makes up, goes to school, doesn’t get to eat hardly ever, and hen she comes home her dad more often than not is already drunk and beats her. She’s been convinced it’s all her fault. This is her life.

Finally she thinks she’s caught a break. After eleven horrible years with her dad, she meets a boy named Trent who seems like he really cares about her and wants what’s best for her. One night after being beaten black and blue by her dad, she calls him and escapes to his house away from the danger. Little does she know Trent and his family are not what they seem. She’s just dragged from one abuse to another and never seems to get a moment to breathe.

This book deals with a lot of hard issues and I really feel bad for Lilly, for the stuff she’s put through. She’s grown up with this for all her life and it continues to happen. By the end of the book she’s twenty seven. I wish I could help her. She really grows and develops as a character as she’s pulled away from all the bad things and replaces them with good things. She shines. I absolutely loved this book and although I see it getting a lot of low rates and reviews for the trigger warnings, I think they make the book better. I did cry reading this a couple times. It’s a real issue and these things actually happen to people. It’s definitely one of my new favourites, despite the low points in the book. Definitely check it out if you get the chance! Push through the parts that scare you because the end is worth it.

I’ve included a link to buy the book from amazon, and a link to the authors twitter in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Ugly-Margaret-M…

https://twitter.com/MargaretMAuthor

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Kaboom

Brought some paper books back with me and ill start on them as soon as possible. So many books, so little time. Can’t wait to read them, they’ve been on my shelf forever. Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought about them! 

Under the Dusty Moon by Suzanne Sutherland Review

Under the Dusty Moon by Suzanne Sutherland
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
She’s with the band, whether she likes it or not.

Victoria Mahler is the sixteen-year-old only daughter of rocker Micky Wayne, whose band, Dusty Moon, took the world by storm when Micky was just a teenager. The band broke up under mysterious circumstances, but, after years spent off the road being a mom, Micky’s solo career is finally starting to take off.

When an offer to tour Japan falls into her mom’s lap, Vic is left to spend the summer under the care of her distant grandmother, and without her built-in best friend. Fortunately, a boy with a secret geek side and a group of feminist game-makers save the season, and Vic starts to see herself as her own person, out from under her mother’s shadow.

But when Micky finally comes home — with a poorly chosen boyfriend in tow — all bets are off. Will Vic be able to maintain her newfound sense of self amidst the building thunder of Micky’s second chance at stardom? And through it all, will Micky still really be her best friend?

My Review:
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Micky Wayne is a from the semi famous band called Dusty Moon, before they broke up that is, and she’s trying to get back into music. Victoria is her daughter, and the main point of view character in this book. Although a little embarrassed by how open her mother is about her feelings in her songs, she’s proud of er. She has a friend named Lucy who likes video games, and a crush on a boy. She has a pretty normal life, and she isn’t recognized at all, really.

Honestly I felt a little old to be reading this even though Victoria was seventeen by the end of the book, and that’s not that much younger than I am. I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but this wasn’t it. I like the cover and the description sounded intriguing, that’s why I requested it, but the book just didn’t do it for me, and was filled with cringey things like the quote her crush wrote at school for example, “Never stop believing in your winged dreams of tomorrow. Forever and ever, ape men.” and even the part here she was talking about begging her mom to tell her about hen she lost her virginity. Are people really like that?

I tried to really get into this book, but found myself thinking more than once, where is this going? Where’s the hook? Some of the fights with her mom were vicious and it hurt to read them. I feel like this book was mostly teen drama and that’s not my favourite. Victoria seemed ungrateful and unforgiving. I understand why she only had one friend, because I wouldn’t want to be around someone like that if she were real.

I really wanted to like this book but in the end nothing really stood out about it for me. Not ever book is going to be my favourite though. The characters got everything they wanted in the end, and that’s it.

Here’s a link for amazon where you can buy the book, and also the authors twitter handle in case you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Under-Dusty-Moo…

https://twitter.com/sutherlandsuz

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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All the Wrong Chords by Christine Hurley Deriso Review

All the Wrong Chords by Christine Hurley Deriso
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Scarlett Stiles is desperate for a change of scenery after her older brother, Liam, dies of a drug overdose. But spending the summer with her grandfather wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. Luckily, Scarlett finds something to keep her busy–a local rock band looking for a guitarist. Even though playing guitar has been hard since Liam died, Scarlett can’t pass on an opportunity like this, and she can’t take her eyes off the band’s hot lead singer either. Is real happiness just around the corner? Or will she always be haunted by her brother’s death?

My Review:
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

I picked this book not only because I like books about bands or music in general, but also because it sounded really intriguing. Scarlett lost her brother Liam to a drug overdose, and her entire family is having a hard time coming to terms with it. She decides to move in with her grandfather for the summer to help him out, after all its just him all alone in his house, and lets face it maybe he shouldn’t be driving anymore. She meets a boy, or two, or four, and joins a band called the beastings.

I don’t know what I expected from this book, but it wasn’t this. The main character Scarlett, although pretty lifelike, only cared about boys. The story just wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, more so just about a girl and her boy drama. Half of it didn’t even focus on the loss of her brother. Sometimes time would pass in the middle of a page without warning and I would be completely lost for a little while until I realized what had happened. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but it just didn’t do it for me.

All in all, I don’t regret reading this book, but it’s not my new favourite.

Here’s a link to amazon where you can purchase this book for yourself, and another link for the authors twitter if you have any questions.

https://www.amazon.ca/Wrong-Chords-Ch…

https://twitter.com/CHurleyDeriso

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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The Memory Jar by Elissa Janine Hoole Review

The Memory Jar by Elissa Janine Hoole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Since the accident, Taylor’s memory has been fuzzy. But at least she’s awake. Who knows what her boyfriend, Scott, will remember when he comes out of his coma. Will he remember that Taylor was driving the snowmobile when it crashed? Will he remember the engagement ring? Her pregnancy?
Will he remember that she tried to break up with him?
Taylor doesn’t know. And she doesn’t know if she wants him to remember. Plenty of things happened that night and before—secrets wrapped in secrets—that she’d prefer be forgotten.
Facing choices she’d rather ignore, Taylor searches for something more solid than whispers and something bigger than blame, so that she can face the future and forgive herself.

My Review:
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but I loved every bit of it and I’m so glad I read it. 
Taylor has been in a snowmobile accident with her boyfriend, Scott. He’s in a coma, and she can’t remember if they broke up or got engaged before it happened. She also can’t remember the accident itself, and is riddled with anxiety and unanswered questions. She’s also pregnant with his baby, and isn’t sure what to do.
The story switches between Taylor now, and then, and a couple other peoples stories while they’re talking around Scott at the hospital, trying to wake him up. The characters are super realistic and react to things the way I think any real person would. I didn’t feel too old to be reading this, and I the cover is really pretty. 
The book is heart wrenching and I really loved every moment, happy or sad. I thin it’s one of my new favourites, I want to buy a copy. It faces very real issues that not a lot of books want to talk about, and I appreciate that. I loved the ending too, and remember going into this is that this is not a story with a happy or sad ending. The ending is to always remember to keep moving on. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s the amazon link to the book, and also the authors twitter handle in case you had any questions or wanted to buy the book for yourself.

https://twitter.com/elissajanine

https://www.amazon.ca/Memory-Jar-Elis…

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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3:25am

I know its late but, do you ever just feel like you’re never going to read all the books you want to read? 

I just checked on goodreads and noticed that my to-read list has over 1700 books on it. Not to mention most of the books I’ve been reading haven’t been on that list. That’s a crazy amount of books, don’t you think?

So many books so little time

Sigh

-Radioactive Bookworm-