Thursday, March 22, 2018

Book Review: Nanny Returns - Emma McLaughlin

6487537
Ten years after the fateful night when Nan was fired, she returns to New York with her husband, HH.  Finally settling in to build a permanent home and get her consulting business off the ground, Nan's plans are derailed by HH's sudden desire to start a family-and her surprisingly strong resistance to the idea.

2/5 stars (it was OK)
So I didn't really feel like a sequel was necessary.  I felt like the first book had a happy ending and gave us hope for Nan.  This book totally ruined that hope.  Nan doesn't seem like she grew up at all.  She gets sucked into the family that fired her.  I think I would have rather read a book through Grayer's perspective and what his life has been like since Nan was fired.

Book Review: Hate List - Jennifer Brown

7893725
Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria.  Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped created.  A list of people and things she and Nick hated.  The list he used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year.  Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends, and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

3/5 stars (like it)
This story was not about the shooting itself but about the recovery from the shooting.  We start out with Valerie going back to school her senior year and through flashbacks we see life before the shooting.  We get to know Nick through Valerie.  We get to know him not as the person that decided to shoot everyone but as the unpopular kid that got bullied and how Val saw him.  We also get to know the people that did the bullying before the shooting and after.  I thought the story was well told and the ending was fitting.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Book Review: The Program - Suzanne Young

11366397
Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone.  With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment.  Sloane's parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they'll do anything to keep her alive.  She also knows that everyone who's been through The Program returns as a blank slate.  Because their depression is gone--but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can.  The only person Sloane can be herself with is James.  He's promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything.  But despite the promises they made to each other, it's getting harder to hide the truth.  They are both growing weaker.  Depression is setting in.  And The Program is coming for them.

3/5 stars (liked it)
I didn't like Sloane at first but grew to like her.  What I didn't understand is why suicide was such an epidemic among young adults.  But other than that the book was good.  Sloane is in the program and as she loves her memories, which happens slowly, we see a little change in her.  We follow her after she leaves the program and meets some people she knew before but doesn't know now.  I will definitely read the next one.

Book Review: Authority - Jeff VanderMeer

18077769
After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X--a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization--has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach.  Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in compele disarray.

John Rodriguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head.  Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X.  But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

2/5 stars (it was OK)
This book was very confusing and didn't really answer any questions.  I didn't care for Control and really was sick of him by the end.  I really would have rather had this book been from the Biologist's point of view like the first book.

Book Review: Overbite - Meg Cabot

Overbite - Meg Cabot Meena Harper has a special gift, but i's only now that anyone's ever appreciated it.  The Palatine Guard--...