#YA – Donna's Reading Chair

Book Review: A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder @HoJay92 @delacortepress #MomsWhoRead #Mystery #YoungAdult #Book #Reading #ReadMe

This one was popping up everywhere so I threw it into my Amazon cart and the next time my husband made a purchase, in came my new book, YAY! Now I’m off to put the sequel into my cart!

Pip Fitz-Amobi is a small town girl who has just started her senior year of high school. Each of the seniors has to complete a capstone project so her topic…Andie Bell wasn’t murdered by Sal Singh. What?

Five years ago the small town was rattled when Andie Bell went missing. The police blamed the disappearance, and murder, on her boyfriend Sal Singh. He committed suicide a few days after Andie disappeared and evidence found on him implicated he was guilty. Pip felt the police were too quick to close the case and didn’t really investigate…so she decides to investigate herself.

Pip befriends Sal’s brother, Ravi, and the two of them embark on an amateur investigation. Pip starts to receive threatening messages and her project appears to be doomed. It’s too late to change her topic so maybe she’ll just end up failing. Whoever it is wants her to stop…and they aren’t stopping at just idling threats.

This book had me guessing. Every time Pip added someone to her suspect list I thought, “Yup, they did it.” Eventually I thought everything was plausible, so who really did it…or was she just chasing a dead end? Pip has an unbelievable talent at picking up clues and yes, this did seem realistic. Maybe the topic would never really be approved for a senior project, but I could see teenagers putting their noses where they shouldn’t to try and solve a mystery.

4 stars. I seriously did not see the ending coming. I know, I know, I never do, but honestly…this one was great. There was information in every chapter and it kept everything fresh! One of the better young adult novels I have read in a long while!! I cannot wait to read more from Holly Jackson in the future!

Title: A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder

Author: Holly Jackson

Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Release Date: February 4, 2020

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Unpregnant @JenniHendriks @HarperTeen @secretagentbri #MomsWhoRead #YA #YoungAdult #RoadTrip #BookBlog #Book #ReadMe #Reading

Catching up on reviews…yet another read from October. Shout out to my public library for grabbing this one for me!

I am going to start this review off by saying that if abortion is a topic you are sensitive to, do not read this review any further and do not pick this book up. This is essentially a book about friends taking an abortion road trip.

17 year old Veronica finds herself pregnant near the end of senior year and can’t believe it. Her whole life flashes before her eyes and she decides she wants to terminate her pregnancy. The nearest clinic is states away and so she confides in her ex-best friend, Bailey, to help her get to where she needs to be.

What a comical road trip. How she became pregnant comes to light (her ever so loving boyfriend poked holes in condoms) and he ends up chasing them on the road trip. Veronica also manages to tick off Bailey mid-road trip and things go south with her. Can she save a new old friendship?

This was fantastically written. All of the drama that goes on in high school with your friends and boyfriends is so appropriate in this humorous novel. How Veronica and Bailey end up taking off on this crazy road trip is even more realistic. Do they get caught? I don’t read and tell! Read it yourself!

4 stars. I found myself laughing out loud at the things Veronica and Bailey got themselves into. I also loved how feminism was addressed in this book. This book also managed to take a heavy subject such as abortion and turn it into something just a little lighter. Delightful read! I cannot wait to see what Hendriks pens next!

Title: Unpregnant

Author: Jenni Hendriks & Ted Caplan

Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Humor

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: #Murdertrending @LetsTalkYA @DisneyBooks #MomsWhoRead #Reading #Books #BookBlog #BookReview

Here’s another read from October 2019. According to my Goodreads records, I read this in one day. It’s a fast read. I was also out of work and not doing anything all day, so I may not be the must judge of character when it comes to reading books during this time period, haha.

What an interesting, dystopian novel. In case you’ve never heard of a dystopian novel, let me explain. It typically takes a social or political issue/stance and takes it to a deep, dark, twisted world, kind of like a nightmare. This book deals with people (and young people, this is a young adult novel) being found guilty of crimes in court and then going to an island (not just any island, Alcatraz 2.0) where it is every man for himself.

What I mean is, they get murdered. Not by each other, but by “villans” that appear on the island in masks and costumes and no one knows who they really are. The inmates have the opportunity to fight them back and essentially kill them to save themselves…are you asking why on earth this is happening yet? Because this is all ON LIVE FEEDS and America is watching. Yes. Why? Because whoever is behind the show (no one knows) is making money off the live feeds and merchandise. Crazy? Yes.

So the story is told through Dee (who is only 17) who ends up on the island. She makes friends and they try to come up with a plan to live. Between chapters we read the live chat feeds where people are commenting as they watch. It was interesting. I won’t lie, this part tripped me up a little bit and I found it hard to follow. Maybe I’m just old (haha), but sometimes I was not sure what the live chat transcripts were even talking about. Aside from that, it’s a short, easy read. It kept me rooting for Dee.

3 stars. I could take it or leave it. It did not have me running out to read the second book. It reminded me a little of the movie Death Race because they’re along the same lines. It just did not do much for me. If you came across this book go ahead and read it, it is action packed of stuff, I just wouldn’t seek it out.

Title: #Murdertrending

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery, Dystopia

Publisher: Freeform

Release Date: August 7, 2018

Find it here on Goodreads

Book Review: Tweet Cute @dilemmalord @wednesdaybooks @Netgalley #twitter #youngadult #MomsWhoRead #ReadMe #Book #BookBlog #Reading

Look at this, another catch up with my Netgalley reads! Yes, I’m patting myself on the back, haha. Have I ever mentioned how much I love to read young adult novels? Side note, all opinions are mine and mine alone, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for this free review!

This was such a cute read. It is the story of Pepper and Jack and their lives as high school seniors helping their parents with their major businesses on twitter. This is a classic frenemy tale (and I hope one day is optioned for a movie…someone let Netflix know this would be a GREAT movie for them) and I love how it all plays out.

Not only do Pepper and Jack end up getting wound in to a twitter war on behalf of their parents, they are also navigating their senior year of high school and all that goes with it. Mind you, they both to go a private elite high school; however, this book is not written in a snotty manner, no, they are actually real, down to earth kids. Thank you Emma Lord! For me, there was nothing unrealistic about this book. I guess you could argue that these kids are all talking about the colleges they’re applying to and they’re all Ivy League, but that’s it.

This was just such a cute and innocent story…WITH AN EPILOGUE! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We see where all the characters involved in the book end up after a year. Would I call this a romance novel as well? No. There is some slight romance, more flirting than anything. It really just was an all around great, well written novel you could sink your teeth into and read in a day. This book was like opening a can of pringles…one you start, you can’t stop.

5 stars. What? 5 stars. This is probably one of the BEST young adult novels I have read in a long time. Without giving too much away there is just so much you want to know and how things unfold in their lives…who wins the twitter war? What happens with Pepper and Jack? What is all about this crazy app that a high school student made? I know…you’re curious now aren’t you. Don’t let the young adult genre fool you, this was a great book and you won’t regret reading it!

Title: Tweet Cute

Author: Emma Lord

Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Slightly Romantic

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: January 21, 2020

Find it here on Goodreads