“Making Friends with Alice Dyson”

“Making Friends with Alice Dyson”

Written by Poppy Nwosu

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

As a nostalgic fan of teen / young adult romance novels, I felt excited to begin reading Making Friends with Alice Dyson. I have long enjoyed these types of novels, and I was hoping to find them similar to those I read when I was in my teens. However, I have learned in my twenties, that teen fiction does not always hold my interest anymore, with new slang, technology, and pop culture references. To my surprise and pleasure, I found that Alice Dyson held my interest and entertained me in many different ways.

To continue, Nwosu impressed me, with witty yet realistic dialogue, appealing characters, and a very handsome love interest. Alice Dyson is reserved, shy, and intelligent, while her best friend, May, has become obsessed with dating and popularity. Alice has become tentative friends with Teddy, a mysterious new kid who is rumored to have been violent towards teachers and students at his previous school. The plot centers around Alice’s friendship with May, changing for the worse, as May becomes cruel and uncaring towards her friend. Alice also is consumed by her budding interesting in Teddy, about whom she learns and realizes that he is not the dangerous bully people say he is.

In all honesty, this story is fresh and sweet, but it does not feel incredibly unique. The plot does not feel very complex, when I would have hoped it to be a bit stronger. The themes of first love and loss of friendship are important, but I felt that Nwosu could have dug deeper and made them more meaningful. Also, I felt that some scenes were memorable, but many of them feel similar to any other book from this age and genre. I wish that this book would stand out a little more, but it felt very basic.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this story, but I felt it could have been more elaborate, with more details and better scenes. If Nwosu continues Alice’s story, I’d happily continue reading it in a series. I also plan to read Nwosu’s book Taking Down Evelyn Trait shortly. I recommend Alice Dyson to those who enjoy the work of Jenny Han, John Green, David Levithan, and Gayle Forman.

I received a complimentary copy to read and review, from Walker Books US. Thank you for the opportunity.

"Crave" - Book Review -

"Crave" Book Review

Written by Tracy Wolff

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

Crave is the first installment of a new series, written by Tracy Wolff, about a teen human, named Grace, who begins the school year at a secluded, fancy boarding school in Alaska. Reeling from the accidental death of her parents, Grace feels welcomed by her uncle Finn, the school's headmaster and her cousin and new roommate, Macy. All too quickly, Grace becomes caught up in a strange mystery around the school, bordering on the supernatural. She soon discovers that many of her peers are vampires, witches, dragon shifters, werewolf shifters, and even gargoyles. Although supernatural and romance stories with these archetypal characters are not new to teen readers, the story feels familiar, like an old friend. To many, Crave is reminiscent of many popular installments, such as Twilight, Riverdale, Sabrina, The Vampire Diaries, Jennifer's Body, and even Harry Potter. Though there is an abundance of literature, television, and film surrounding this type of story, I still think that Wolff brings nuance and a new, fresh take to the genre. Let's elaborate.

Grace's character is familiar. The beautiful yet mousy girl who has had a great deal of family tragedy falls in love with a movie monster. She is a cocktail, combining many of the famous and well-loved characters so much like her. We spy Elena Gilbert's spirit and vigor, Bella Swan's sweet and literature-loving personality, and Sabrina Spellman's eye for adventure. She isn't meek and mild; she is bold, funny, and interesting. Grace feels so incredibly fleshed out, that she is jumping from the pages to become a well-loved and inspirational heroine. Her willingness to put others before herself but her unwillingness to back down and stand up for herself shines. The folklore and history of each supernatural being excited me. I always find in books and media like this, that I look for creative, new biology for each being. Vampires are physically shocked by crystals, dragon shifters breathe ice and fire, and many cool types of telekinesis. Although I found many parallels to previously established mediums from this genre, I enjoyed the similarities. Certain scenes felt similar, such as a snowball fight, action sequences, and conversations. I personally enjoyed deciding which romantic interest I would choose for Grace, like I have enjoyed with Team Jacob or Edward and Team Damon vs. Stefan. I think it can be quite difficult to read a new supernatural teen romance without comparing it to its predecessors, but I think that many of us who have enjoyed the predecessors would love Crave. For those of you concerned with the healthiness of the main relationships in this genre, I found the love between Jaxon, lead vamp, and Grace to be extremely healthy, with some lies of omission but no clear manipulation tactics or gaslighting, as previous vamps have exhibited. In a few important, intimate scenes with Grace and Jaxon, consent was approached and executed well.

To continue, I did not see many issues with the novel, except the terribly cheesy chapter titles. They did grow on me, but I found it amusing to compare them to pop punk songs, like ones from the music groups, Fall Out Boy or Panic! at the Disco.  Many scenes felt cinematic, so realistic and so well-written. The quality of Wolff's work impressed me, as I expected a parody or the quality level of fan-fiction. Her dialogue is superb. The scene pacing was impressive. The war between species was so interesting, and I loved how the history of each character played out into the war. Additionally, the scenery of a dark, elusive Alaskan school felt atmospheric. The tunnels, the cold, and the Northern Lights brought a curious, new element to the setting.  I was grateful to find that although the majority of this novel was establishing the characters and world-building, that all other elements were still written well, without sacrificing in any category. The final reveal of the major villains was so exciting, allowing the climax to breathe and truly grip the audience. Lastly, I appreciated that while this is a teen romance, there were no obnoxious or smutty sex scenes, just a whole lot of hot kissing. Woohoo!

In conclusion, the series will be continued in Wolff's next installment, Crush, and boy am I excited for it. I enjoyed this novel so much more than I thought I would, and I highly recommend it to all reading this review. I think there's something for everyone. Even that I am now a twenty-four year old, I do believe this novel can appeal to those my age, without it seeming too modern and trendy with its texting, pop culture references, and slang. It takes me back to when I was a teen, and I like the feeling of that nostalgia. I eagerly anticipate works from Tracy Wolff in the future.

I rate this novel at 5 stars out of 5 stars. I absolutely believe it will be a new classic and a new favorite of mine.

Thank you to Entangled Teen at Entangled Publishing for the advance proof and all of the fun PR goodies, such as salted caramel marshmallows (I now get the fun reference), a great coffee cup, a bookmark, and a few other goodies. I appreciate the opportunity and cannot wait to represent Entangled again.

"Kill the Boy Band"

“Kill the Boy Band”

Written by Goldy Moldavsky

Review written by Diana Iozzia

What a wild, wild ride. This teen thriller / comedy was an absolute romp. “Kill the Boy Band” allows its readers to live vicariously through Beatle Mania, One Direction pandemonium, and murder in a delicious fashion. In the vein of “Heathers”, “The Craft”, and “Jennifer’s Body”, we are absolutely treated to an exciting and superbly comedic tale.

The satirical voice is strong with this one. “Kill the Boy Band” follows four teen girls who are purely obsessed with a boy band, The Ruperts. The singers of the band are all appropriately named Rupert. Our story begins in the middle of the story in one of my favorite styles: in media res. In media res is a fun film and book technique that drops you right into the action, with flashbacks and exposition that allows readers to fill in the details. The girls have kidnapped a Rupert. We beg the answer of “Why?”

This book has a lot of fun twists and turns, with a very comedic cast of characters. Goldy Moldavsky creates likeable and certainly murderable characters that feel very real but also surreal. They throw strange pop culture references in, use terrible dialogue. I believe that this is the new “Heathers”. I personally really enjoyed this realization, while also listening to the audiobook reading of this story, narrated by the original Veronica in “Heathers: The Musical”: Barrett Wilbert Weed. She’s also playing Janice Ian in “Mean Girls: The Musical”, another teen comedy. Her narration was comedic and extremely entertaining, with the bad English accents and exaggerated dialogue.

I think that one should go into reading this book, realizing that this is not going to be the best book ever written. The pacing is a bit strange and a bit slow at times. The dialogue, at times, is funny but mostly just irritating. Although this book is satirical, it still includes all of the annoying teen tropes. I think adding murder into the mix made this book much more entertaining, than if it was just teen girls stalking hot boys. I would have really enjoyed this as a teen. I think if you go into this book too critically, the magic is lost. Enjoy it for what it is.

"The Goodbye Summer"

"The Goodbye Summer"
Written by Sarah Van Name
Review written by Diana Iozzia


"The Goodbye Summer" is a fun young adult romance that takes on many different aspects but fails to fully address its most important topics. As this book's demographic is female teenagers, we should consider how female teenagers could read this.

Our main character is Caroline, who is spending her time working at a local aquarium's gift shop, trying to save money for the fall. She's in a relationship with boring and slightly abusive Jake, who plans to convince her to drop of out high school and work on his father's farm in a different state. I did not like him from the start, but his personality gets worse throughout the book. Caroline befriends a group of counselors who work at the aquarium's summer camp. She becomes closest with Georgia, who is from a wealthy family but feels neglected by them.

Georgia and Caroline strike up one of those unbelievable teen friendships, and it's lovely. In the back of my mind the whole time reading, I just kept thinking, "wouldn't it be nice if they turned out to be gay or bisexual?" I felt this book would have been a really nice entry for young girls wanting to read about LGBT, but I was disappointed. Now, there was not any inclination that this book would turn out that way, but I felt the characters had a really cute friendship and hoped they would date.

The other characters are stationary but fun to read about nonetheless. This is a great summer read, but I'm glad that it touches on neglect, manipulation, and more importantly consent. There is a very uncomfortable scene in which Caroline does not want to have sex with Jake in any circumstance. She does not say no, so he continues. She does not say yes. She does not say that he raped her. However, I think this should have been a more important note to touch upon, rather than brush it off as 'bad sex' as Caroline referenced.

In conclusion, I did enjoy the book, but I beg those who read it to realize that the serious topics addressed should have been explained better, rather than the thousandth reference of the girls eating gooey pizza.

"The Hate U Give"

“The Hate U Give”

Written by Angie Thomas

Review written by Diana Iozzia

 

“The Hate U Give” is an intense, character and action-driven young adult novel, encompassing many themes such as racism, ageism, sexism, and especially police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Our main character, Starr Carter, speaks in first person present tense, bringing an “in the moment” intensity to the story line, as if we are in the room where it happens. She is a teenage girl who chooses to go to the wrong party on the wrong night. While speaking with a childhood friend, Khalil in his car after the party, a policeman pulls them over. There is a strange friction in the air as Officer 115, or Brian, asks for the license, registration, and uncomfortably talks to Khalil. Officer 115, as Starr calls him, kills Khalil by shooting him thrice, without any clear threat or instigation. This is clearly an act of racism and police brutality, which causes a firestorm of events in the small community of Garden Heights.

I think this book was interesting to me, as a white girl from the suburbs. I learned a lot about a different culture then mine in an interesting and understandable way. It was interesting to see how the characters acted differently in front of certain groups of people. For example, Starr refers to herself as Williamson Starr when she is at the wealthy boarding school with her white friends. To continue, it was hard to read the mixed messages, the blurred lines, and the grey area that follows during riots and violence for the Black Lives Matter movement. I think this book opens a great dialogue for those who read to see how they would act and where their morals lie.

Additionally, this was a very well-written book. For the subject material, I had wished the book focused a bit more on this rather than Starr’s high school ‘drama’. I understand that this book is aimed at a teen audience. As it’s well written for a teen audience, I would have preferred it to be equally as enjoyable for older generations. This felt very modern and that it will be dated in ten years with the Beyonce and Taylor Swift references. I guess for the teen drama and romance, I enjoyed the more serious topics that are the foundation for the fights and the disagreements. First and foremost, my favorite part of this story is the family relationships.

Lastly, I think this book would have been more interesting if it focused on more than Starr, family, friends, and riots. Although my favorite character is Starr’s uncle Carlos, I felt the book centered too much on Starr’s family. One of the main background aspects is the gangland environment of the community. Seven, Starr’s brother, is scouted to join the gang, and Khalil was also involved in the gang. It would have been interesting to have more of an influence by the antagonist, King, the crime lord in the community. He felt like an afterthought, rather than one of the main forms of conflict in the book. His followers appear every now and then to threaten. We hear how terrible a father he is to Seven, Kenya, and Lyric. I plan to see the movie, and I am curious to see how the film portrays the balance of all these aspects.

I fully recommend this book. I felt that if you’d like to know more about the Black Lives Matter movement, this isn’t the best book for it. Perhaps a nonfictional account would be more informative. However, this book makes learning about the movement accessible and age appropriate for young teens, without shying away from uncomfortable actions and decisions.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free as a giveaway prize to promote the film’s release. I did not receive this book in exchange for writing the review.

"The Lies They Tell"

“The Lies They Tell”

Written by Gillian French

Review written by Diana Iozzia of Bookworm Banter

            “The Lies They Tell” follows our main protagonist, Pearl Haskins, as she discovers the mystery of why the house of one of the richest families in town has burned to the ground. Nearly all of the Garrison family perished, except their eighteen-year-old son, Tristan.

            Pearl is stuck in a love triangle, or square, I guess, as she tries to help her father and his alcoholism. Pearl works as a waitress at a country club during the summer, still planning her way out of the town to college in the fall. Pearl befriends a group of rich kids from the club, soon starting to fall for Bridges and Tristan, while still sort of pining for her co-worker, Reese.

            This book reminds me of 90210 meets “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. Who killed the Garrisons? Was it their surviving son? Was it Pearl’s father, who was there working as the caretaker that night? Could it have been someone else entirely?

            I enjoyed some of this book, but not much. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was younger. As a twenty-two-year-old, sometimes it can be difficult for me to get into the mindset of a teen to read young adult fiction. Most of the characters, barring Bridges, were a little too unrealistic for me. I really enjoyed the dialogue, it is very realistic and representative of teens. Often in young adult fiction, we’re “treated” to talk of Facebook and Snapchat and Instagram and Kim Kardashian, so it was nice to have a break from “teens”.

            There’s a bit of uncomfortable sexual harassment in this book, but the characters did call out the harassment which I appreciated. As for the alcoholic father premise, this pops up in too many teen fiction novels. I’m tired of the teens having to be responsible and fix their parents. The names are very glamorous and of course make sense for the novel. Bridges, Tristan, Hadley, Quinn. They all sound a bit like the author researched wealthy teen names.

            There were scenes that I enjoyed. I enjoyed the boat sailing scenes, because it offered a new location / setting that’s not often incorporated into teen fiction. I felt a little “Talented Mr. Ripley” in some parts, which I liked. The climax and the reveal behind the murders was good, but I don’t think it was a shocking enough plot twist that made the book feel worthwhile. The book is slowly paced, and I don’t mind a slow paced book if it eventually builds to a fantastic reveal, with great little tidbits in the middle. I recommend it for teens, but if you’re above the age of 20, perhaps this book may be a little too young for you.

I received an advanced review copy for my honest reviewing purposes.

"Orphan Monster Spy"

“Orphan Monster Spy”

Written by Matt Killeen

Review written by Diana Iozzia, at Bookworm Banter, @bookwormbanter

“Orphan Monster Spy” is my favorite read of 2018 so far. This book is engrossing, adventurous, and so vivid I can imagine every second of it as a film in front of my eyes. I do not often visualize books as I read in depth the way that I did while reading this book.

For a debut novel from the author, Matt Killeen, I was deeply impressed. The book hits me in all of the best emotion, intrigue, suspicion, fear, adventure, action, breath-stopping, and it can be a bit violent. All of this is completely justified in the pages that unfold. This book reminds me of many different novels and books. I feel reminiscent of “The Book Thief”, “The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo”, “Schindler’s List”, “Never Let Me Go”, “The Golden Compass”, and “Cabaret”. For some reason, I pictured the relationship between Lyra and Lord Asriel and pictured the characters in my mind being played by both actors. The best way I feel to relate this book would be “The Book Thief” at a boarding school with a kickass young girl. The note from the executive editor at Viking Books had actually compared the book to “Inglorious Bastards” for teens, and I can definitely see the similarities, but I hadn’t drawn the conclusions to that myself, nor the ‘“Mean Girls” for Nazis’ from the note as well.

We follow Sarah and her companion, the Captain. They rescue each other on a ferry in Nazi Germany. Sarah is young, but fierce and independent at fifteen. Not often do you read characters who are supposed to be strong, intelligent, and savvy at a young age without them seeming over the top, but I do not feel that way about Sarah. She hits all of the emotional sides that a fifteen-year-old would, but she’s also smart enough to survive an adventurous book as this. Sarah becomes a spy at the Rothenstadt Academy, a boarding school that teaches and trains the sons and daughters of the elite National Socialist Party members. Sarah pretends to be Ursula Haller, as the Captain pretends to be her uncle. As Ursula, she is instructed to spy on and find intel on a young classmate of hers whose father is possibly creating a bomb. I personally love books that take place at certain, slightly unnerving locations, like colleges, private schools, and boarding schools. The narration and the plot lines at the boarding school hit the nail on the head and definitely left me fulfilled with what I was hoping for.

We have a saga, an epic of events that unfold through this book. As Sarah survives the cut-throat, ruthless boarding school, she proves herself to be worthy of the terrible, controlling, and violent classmates. She also befriends a girl everyone calls Mouse, because she’s afraid, but secretly Mouse is spying for her parents. Then, at Christmas time, we find Sarah spying on her classmate’s family and father, and we continue the intrigue. Without giving away any spoilers, the last third of the book, in which Sarah is away for Christmas is incredibly gripping and fascinating.

I’d like to go over some of aspects I enjoyed most about this novel. This book is intriguing. We read through Sarah’s perspective which is riddled with strange narrative devices. We hear her mother’s imaginary voice, we read Sarah’s terrible nightmares from the events leading to and the night of Kristallnacht. In addition, we also have letters, journals, all of the chapter title pages look like old fashioned newspapers or war documents. However, sometimes, her narration can be a bit much. Like an ordinary teen, she repeats certain words or phrases to herself, which can be a bit repetitive, but it didn’t detract from the novel. To continue, I liked the dynamic between Sarah and the Captain. They’re cute and funny and he can be a wonderful father figure to her as he protects her. I appreciated how this was written, although the amount of times she refers to herself as a “dumb slut” can make me gnaw my teeth a little.

As I mentioned earlier, Sarah is extremely clever and intelligent for her young age. We see her navigate many encounters with National Socialists who could easily kill her or arrest her for treason. She can tell from hundreds of feet away from danger how she will make her next move.  We have an incredible race sequence where to prove her trust and loyalty to this clique she joins, she must compete in a race through the woods. It’s thrilling and fascinating, and it’s so beautifully visualized. I can just see every breath she takes as she moves, every branch that she runs past. This would be an incredible film. Sarah can pick locks and find hidden objects, even better than James Bond could. This book can be so intriguing for young readers, perhaps we can have a renaissance of young readers interested in espionage. I like that this book was published by a children’s book company, for young adults, but this book does not feel it’s only for young adults. Lately, I’ve fallen out with young adult books, because they often have too many troubles with relationships or romance or things that I just don’t care to read about anymore at 22. This book could be incredible for all ages.

There’s a fascinating section, in chapter twenty-six that used an amazing level of juxtaposition. Sarah and Elsa, who Sarah is spying on, are riding in the car taking them to Elsa’s home for Christmas time. We have Sarah notice many uncomfortable things, juxtaposed by wonderful luxuries. This is reminiscent of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”. Think, Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus, Edmund being spoiled by the White Witch. Sarah smells the wonderful car, how clean, how cozy with all of the nice warm blankets, but the driver is wearing an SS uniform. Elsa has wonderful sour, delicious sweets that she shares with Sarah. Then, we notice a machine gun sitting on the passenger’s seat. Beautiful books sitting in the back of the car, with wonderful adventure stories. Then, Sarah notices a book that was about warning children of all of the dangers of Jews. This was one of the most memorable scenes, and I think it really stuck with me.

I have a bit of a spoiler section I’d like to include, but I won’t give too many details. I have to mention that in many young adult storylines, there can be plots including sexual assault or harassment. There was a certain section of the plot including this. All too frequently in books lately, I feel very uncomfortable and disheartened when a writer decides to include this in female-driven young adult books, because it feels a cheap way to have a plot be driven, but I’m glad it resolved itself the way it did. Another aspect I need to mention here, I do often also notice that young girls in young adult fiction novels are a little sexualized. This can make me completely distant and start disliking a book, but this only popped up after the racing chapter where Sarah’s “armpits and nipples were rubbed raw”. Not necessary for the narrative at all, but I’m still glad there wasn’t more of this.

Also, I swear this is my last spoiler, but I find in books relating to children and violence, that these books in the action / adventure genres do not have the children feeling sad or disheartened about the negative choice they have to make. For example, when I read the Chronicles of Narnia series as a child, the characters, who were all children (until Peter and Susan grew older), were involved in battles and sadly had to kill. I never felt they regretted or felt sad afterwards about their first kill. This happens all too often in material digested by children and teenagers. In other examples, “The Vampire Diaries”, “Twilight”, “Harry Potter”, quite a few Disney movies, and more. We have a bit of a near death / near kill experience in “Orphan Monster Spy” and I really appreciated Sarah’s response to this.

I think this book would make for a fantastic film as I mentioned earlier. However, I think the best thing in the world would be to have a sequel. I’m so curious to read on to see Sarah’s next move and where she will go after this. We see her make her decision, who she would like to protect.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of “Orphan Monster Spy” to participate in Viking Books’ and Penguin Random House’s book blogger tour! Thank you very much for inviting me to participate. Please consider following me on Instagram, @bookwormbanter   for photographs of books and my beloved doggy, Luna! Thanks for reading!

"Sweet Hearts"

“sweet hearts”

Written by Bella Ryan

          Bella Ryan is a great poet, so it’s funny to even say, “because she’s so young, it’s surprising”. Many fantastic parts of literature were created by young artists. Bella Ryan is one of them. As a self-published writer, Bella’s created a beautifully designed book with many poems about her initial infatuation with her now husband, their love story, and their lives together now. From speaking with the poet, she’s lovely, kind, and interesting. Bella’s poetry speaks wonders to the love story she and her husband have.

          Like myself, Bella and her husband have been in a long-distance relationship. As I am still in mine and haven’t “closed the distance”, I find it really calming and soothing to read poetry of a couple who have moved in together. Bella uses great poetic techniques in her writing. She includes many metaphors, similes, interesting juxtaposition. Her poems seem very nostalgic and fairy tale like, in some instances. I also enjoy that the poems feel very consistent throughout the book. I always feel that a collection reads best if the poems are similar and in the same writing style. The words are quiet, but very sweet and nice to read. I had the lucky chance to listen to her read out some of her poetry today, and it gave the same warm fuzzy feeling that I had as I read along. Her book is great to read along to with a nice hot drink and a couple of snacks. If only I had a fireplace.

          My favorite part of “sweethearts” is the New Year’s Eve poems. These poems, I assume, were written annually, or about each year that Bella and her husband have been together. I personally find myself to be a romantic and very sentimental, so these hit me hard in the best way. Realizing that one year they’re just at the beginning of their love. Another year they’ve moved in and are settled together in a home of their own. Her poems are very real and caring. I can become a bit funny with poetry that sounds like it’s completely imagined. Poetry feels best to me when it’s natural and based in truth. Not “I was walking by the ocean today and I thought of our love”. Were you, were you really at the ocean? I feel that Bella’s poetry is coming from the heart. The words feel like love letters or like bed time stories. There are also many allusions to Greek mythology, which I thoroughly enjoy as well.

          I have many favorite poems. Quite honestly, I think “sweethearts” could have just become my new favorite book of poetry. From a new, self-published, smaller, indie poet, no less. I hope all the best for Bella, this book is exciting. My favorite poems include:

·        “Goldilocks”

·        “Airports”

·        “Implode”

·        The New Year poems ***

·        “Between Us” **

·        “Confection” **

·        “Shadow” *

·        “Vertigo”

·        “8.8.16”

·        “Moving In”

·        “He Is” ***

·        “I Wonder What He Dreams”

·        “Sculptor”

·        “A Collection of Him”

·        “Storms At Midnight”

·        “Platonics”

·        “Homecoming”

          With all of my reviews, I often try to mention what I disliked or didn’t find interesting about a book. I am happy to report I didn’t have any of the such. I thoroughly and honestly loved this book. Please, if you’re looking for a scathing, determined review, look at some of my other ones. This is a great poetry book, and I am so happy to add this to my collection.

* I received a complementary copy from the author for reviewing purposes. *

"One of Us Is Lying"

"One of Us is Lying"
Written by Karen M. McManus
Review written by Diana Iozzia


I read this book a couple of days ago, after finding a ruined, beat up copy with the red paint from the pages leaked out all over the cover. Needless to say, I wasn't bothered by the condition. I had heard some negative reviews of this book, and I was curious when I saw it severely inexpensive at a charity shop. 

"One of Us Is Lying" follows four characters who are investigated after their classmate is poisoned in the detention in which they were all in attendance. All are suspects. Simon was the outsider. Bronwyn is the smart, but secretive student. Nate is the bad boy. Cooper is the baseball star. Addy is the pretty princess of the school. Who killed Simon?

This is a very obvious cut and dry young adult mystery in all of the Breakfast Club-soaked stereotypes. There's lots of timely jokes and mentions of popular social media. Tumblr, 4chan, Reddit forums, Instagram, and Facebook are full of curious insiders and intrigue into the mystery. 

I read this in about three hours on an empty afternoon, and it didn't disappoint. There are some irritating bits about sexism and mental illness, but I got over them. You know, "Oh, the boys are more popular in the news, because people like boys more". Okay, whatever, sure. I guess the book has to appeal to some feminists too. 

The ending was more surprising than I figured, but I figured the ending out right about the time that I think everyone else did. Some people I've read reviews by mentioned that they figured it off right off the hat. I felt that when reading "Murder on the Orient Express" in December, my entire focus was solving the murder, rather than soaking up the mystery. With this book, I just enjoyed it and had suspicions towards the killer, but I wasn't too worried about solving it myself. The ending is good, surprising, and necessary. As I mentioned, there are lots of story elements that fit in with the social climate nowadays, lots of political correctness and tropes of the past years, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but it was just a good YA mystery.

"The Academie"

“The Academie”

Written by Amy Joy

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            “The Academie” is a science fiction and dystopian YA novel about a dystopian United States that has created a high school and college school system of boarding schools that requires students to live on campus until 23 years old. Allie’s younger brother, Matt, is suspiciously different after studying there for a year. Allie had made a friend, Bryan, previous to going to this school, and she longs to reconnect with him.

            This school is more mysterious and suspicious. Events and occurrences are unexplained and very mysterious. This is a great young adult novel, in my favorite genre: the science fiction/dystopian genre. This intrigued me, because when I was eighteen, I had started writing a story about a corrupt and dystopian boarding school, so I was excited to read this when I received it. I only took about five hours total to read this! It was fantastic.

            I had not previously heard of this novel, I had seen it in a list about Dystopian themes, so I was very interested in it. This book is very well-written, with themes similar to “The Matrix” but it felt very sweet and feminine and full of young love. I really hope for a sequel.

I received this as a complementary review copy.

"The Whole Thing Together"

“The Whole Thing Together”

Written by Ann Brashares

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            This fictional novel about complicated families, summer romances, and discovering selves was a really interesting read, from one of my favorite childhood writers. (Maybe this makes me a little biased, but it has been a solid 5-7 years since I’ve read one of her books).

            A couple who’ve had three daughters together goes through a very ugly divorce. Mom marries new man, has a boy with him. There are two sons from new man’s previous marriage. Dad marries new woman, has a daughter. 17 years later, we begin reading about one unforgettable summer. Mattie is interested in a boy. Emma and Jamie are hiding their relationship from their father (original couple’s father.) Quinn is a free spirit. Sasha and Ray (the two youngest in the clan who are not technically related) share a strange bond, because the two families share the original beach house, switching off every other week.

            Lots of events are kick-started this summer. Some happy, some confusing, and some sad. Although the family is very confusing to understand at first, who’s whose daughter or son, who’s stepmom is whose. Lord almighty.

            I really enjoyed this book, read this in about a total of five hours, I’d say 3 hours yesterday, two today. A very easy young adult read with no sexual content, no illegal content, but like I said, some sad events. I feel that every character is relatable, but I really enjoyed Emma and Jamie’s storyline the best, second with Sasha and Ray’s. I could easily see this book having a sequel or a third novel later on. Lots of interesting characters and plot lines that I could imagine be very interesting to read on about.

            Cons:

            1. Confusing family tree, but there is a slight diagram at the front of the book. Had to bookmark that!

            2. Mattie’s storyline is subpar.

            3. The resolution to most of the plotlines feel very rushed and a bit forgettable.

            4. Sasha and Ray’s bond/relationship/story line seems very pushed on the cover, but it’s not the main plot. I feel that all of the plots coincide well, and none of them stands out as the most important, but the description speaks differently.

I received this as a complementary advanced reading copy from the site, Blogging for Books. Thank you.

            

"The Secret Year"

“The Secret Year” by Jennifer R. Hubbard
Review written by Diana Iozzia


Young love lost. It’s a very important and very sad theme in many young adult fiction novels, but I think this is one of the best ways to describe a young love falling apart due to the death of one partner. In “The Secret Year”, Julia dies in a car accident, and we learn how she and Colt were in a secret relationship. You have your tropes; a beautiful blonde popular girl falls in love with the awkward yet handsome and kind boy from the wrong side of the tracks. His life is so wrong he has tires and old cars strewn across his front yard.

Julia and Colt had a lovely sugary high school relationship when they were together, often swimming together in a lake at night. Their love feels very pure, and it reminds me of many young adult novels, such as “Thirteen Reasons Why”.

I feel compassion for Julia, because she was never happy in her own shoes. She liked stepping into Colt’s and loving him, so it’s very sad when you remember that she was dead. I fully recommend this to anyone who wants a very different and sad young adult novel to sulk with. It’s not happy clappy. Boy meets girl, boy loves girl. Girl dies. Boy mourns girl.

"Ruined"

"Ruined" by Paula Morris
Review written by Diana Iozzia






"Ruined" is a young adult fiction novel starring the main character, Rebecca. She recently moved to New Orleans, near the French Quarter, to live with her aunt and her younger cousin. Rebecca starts making new friends at her new school, and naturally, she makes a few enemies. Rebecca visits a cemetery nearby her apartment, which is practically in shambles post Hurricane Katrina. Rebecca meets a girl who she later finds out is a ghost named Lisette.

Throughout the novel, Rebecca finds herself hallucinating that she is back in the times of slavery, when Lisette's family were slaves. Not to give away the ending, which is pretty climatic and intriguing, Rebecca finds out that her ancestors are much more involved in the history of New Orleans than she'd like them to be.

I've read this book at least three to four times as a teenager, and it still holds a place in my heart as probably the first thriller book I read other than "Goosebumps".

"Dark Souls"

"Dark Souls" by Paula Morris
Review written by Diana Iozzia

"Dark Souls" is a young adult fiction novel, full of ghosts, thrilling romance, and exploration in historic York, England. I read this when I was in my teenage years, but I re-read this two summers ago, when I was visiting York, England.

Miranda and her family are on vacation in York for the summer, so her mother can participate in an orchestra program. Miranda makes friends with a hipster-like guy named Nick, who shows her around the city. Soon, you realize that Nick is very shady and might not be telling the entire truth about himself. With lots of haunted folklore, it creates a creepy setting for the lovely city. 

I personally enjoyed "Ruined" by Paula Morris much more than this book, but for a second novel, it was quite creepy and interesting. There is a great sequence before the final climax. Good read for a young adult novel with some thrills and chills.