Book Review: The Exceptionals by Erin Cashman

The Exceptionals
by Erin Cashman
ARC Provided by Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Published Date: February, 2012
Publisher: Holiday House
Book Format: Hardback; pp 236
Age Demographic: Young Adult
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Born into a famous family of exceptionally talented people, 15-year-old Claire Walker has deliberately chosen to live an average life. But everything changes the night of the Spring Fling, when her parents decide it's high time she transferred to Cambial Academy--the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities.

Summary taken from Goodreads.

❝My Thoughts❞

In The Exceptionals, Claire Walker was born into an exceptionally talented and well known family. Her grandfather, founded the prominate and prestigious bording school, Cambial, for those gifted with "special" talents. She has chosen to ignore her "gift," in favor of being a normal teen, since there is no way for her to prove it, but when things go wrong the night of Spring Fling her parents make the decision to transfer her to cambial. It was refreshing to see that the students of Cambial aren't of the paranormal variety as is the case in most books like these in young adult fiction. They can utilize the different regions of their brains to develop their "specials," which is an interesting and appealing concept to the reader.

Erin Cashman, slowly develops a wonderful and highly captivating blend of fantasy, element of surprise, and romance with this enjoyable novel. The mystery of this story really starts to take place as Claire's friends begin to disappear and she has to use her power to discover where they are. It was an intriguing way to not only develop her character and give her a sense of purpose, but to also begin to unravel the suspsense and raise the intensity of the novel as well. It was also endearing to witness Claire's self-discovery in learning to believe in herself and never doubt her own "special." Watching her begin to slowly come alive and learning to trust her basic instincts by coming into her own was heart warming and just as interesting as the mystery on a more personal note.

While certain bits of the story or slight character development mishaps might have occurred or fallen a bit flat, the book was definitely a fun and interesting read. At times, it just seemed as if a few of the more pertinant details could have been explained nearer to the beginning of the story, rather than having the loose ends tied up a bit later on, so readers could understand the story being told and the why behind certain actions that occurred a little better. However, putting all of that aside, I think the best thing about this novel is the illustration that nothing and no one is perfect. We all possess flaws and are human in our errors to a degree. I definitely think that Erin Cashman is a young adult author that readers will want to keep an on, as she begins to write more and her stories only get better and better from here. She seems to be a promising new young adult author, with a wonderful sense of writing style, imagination, and the integrity to pull it out with no stops.

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Other stops for the tour can be found here.

This book was received from Holiday House via TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain.

Book Review: Dead Beautiful by Melanie Dugan

Dead Beautiful
by Melanie Dugan
ARC Provided by Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Published Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: UpStart Press
Book Format: Paperback; pp 177
Age Demographic: Adult Contemporary
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Dead Beautiful is a contemporary retelling of the classic Greek myth of Persephone. This was the myth the Greeks used to explain how we came to have the change of seasons. In the traditional version of the myth, Persephone – the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of agriculture and fertility, and Zeus, the top god on Olympus – is abducted one day by Hades, God of the Underworld (which is also called Hades).

Demeter refuses to do her job until her daughter is returned to her, and the earth is plunged into the first winter: no crops grow, cold settles on the earth. It turns out that while in Hades, Persephone has eaten six pomegranate seeds. As a result, for six months of the year, she must live with Hades; this is when it is fall and winter on earth. For six months she lives with her mother – then we have spring and summer.

Dead Beautiful asks, what if Persephone, like many adolescent girls, didn’t tell her mother the whole truth? What if Hades didn’t abduct her? What if she made the decision to go with him? (She is, after all, 18 millennia old.)

The result is a novel that examines the complex dynamics between mothers and daughters, and explores the challenges faced by young women as they move from childhood into adulthood and independence. It is smart, fast-paced, funny and profound; a book that will appeal to women young and old, to mothers and daughters.

Summary taken from TLC Book Tours.

❝My Thoughts❞

Melanie Dugan has penned a beautiful mondern contemporary re-telling of the Greek myth, Persephone. For those who aren't familiar with Greek mythology, this particular myth explains how we came to have the change of the seasons. It's a refreshing take on a wonderful myth filled with originality all its own. The writing is gorgeous and flows wonderfully well, the characters are likable yet still possessing realistic flaws of their own, and the sense of plot is quite captivating. Readers will find themselves lost within the pages of this beautiful compelling new look at a classic Greek myth that Melanie Dugan has breathed fresh new life into.

Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, who is the goddess of agriculture and fertility and Zeus who is the highest god on mount Olympus. When told in its original form, Persephone is said to have been abducted by Hades the god of the Underworld against her will. While in the Underworld she eats six pomegranate seeds and because of that is forced to spend six months in the Underworld with Hades and six months with her mother, Demeter. During the time that she lives with her mother, spring and summer are in full bloom. When she's living down below in the Underworld with Hades, fall and winter are in full swing.

Melanie Dugan takes this story and explores it in such a different way, making Persephone into a normal young teenage girl, who might not have told her mother the entire truth. What if Persephone wasn't abducted, but was somehow seduced or became enamored with Hades and fell in love with him choosing to go to the Underworld with him? It was intriguing to see the way she took this story and to get to see another side or possibility to such a wonderful classic Greek myth. I've always wondered myself, personally, what if. Those kinds of scenarios are always churning over in my mind and Melanie wrote such a gorgeous contemporary re-telling that is filled with amazing humor, smart witty characters, and fast paced action all packed into a short novel sure to blow the socks off of anyone who enjoys the exploration of Greek myths.

I enjoyed seeing Persephone portrayed as a willful almost rebellious teenage girl who is tired of being overprotected by her mother. Hades was mysteriously swoon worthy and incredibly sexy and alluring, who wouldn't fall head over feet for him the way that Persephone did when she caught him looking her way?! Despite the fact that she deliberately and willfully did whatever she pleased when it came to Hades and choosing to be with him, she was still a very likable presence in the book. It was interesting to see the consequences that came about, along with the dynamics between the mother and daughter bond.

Dead Beautiful is a must read for any fan of Greek mythology.

Melanie Dugan is the author of three novels, Dead Beautiful (Upstart Press, 2012) Revising Romance (Sumach Press, 2004), and Sometime Daughter (Second Story Press, 2002). Her short story, “A Map of the Human Heart,” was shortlisted for the CBC Literary Contest.

Melanie’s writing has appeared in Toronto Life, The North American Review, the Kingston Whig-Standard, and other magazines. Melanie has studied at the University of Toronto’s Writers’ Workshop, the Humber School for Writers, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She was born in San Francisco and grew up in Boston, Toronto and London, England. She lives in Kingston, Ontario with her family.

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Other stops for the tour can be found here.

This book was received from HarperCollins via TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain.

Book Review: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers

The Testament of Jessie Lamb
by Jane Rogers
ARC Provided by Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Published Date: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Format: Paperback; pp 256
Age Demographic: Young Adult
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A rogue virus that kills pregnant women has been let loose in the world, and nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake.

Some blame the scientists, others see the hand of God, and still others claim that human arrogance and destructiveness are reaping the punishment they deserve. Jessie Lamb is an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl living in extraordinary times. As her world collapses, her idealism and courage drive her toward the ultimate act of heroism. She wants her life to make a difference. But is Jessie heroic? Or is she, as her scientist father fears, impressionable, innocent, and incapable of understanding where her actions will lead?

Set in a world irreparably altered by an act of biological terrorism, The Testament of Jessie Lamb explores a young woman's struggle to become independent of her parents. As the certainties of her childhood are ripped apart, Jessie begins to question her parents' attitudes, their behavior, and the very world they have bequeathed her.

Summary taken from Amazon.

❝My Thoughts❞

The Testament of Jessie Lamb is a powerfully suspenseful dystopian novel, that readers will be unable to put down. It is wonderfully engaging, full of so many questions, and terrifying realism underneath its own breed of chaos and destruction. The pages are full of consequences, actions, decisions, and determination through strength of courage and sacrifice. It's an unsettling world that Jane Rogers has penned, but an incredibly captivating and intoxicatingly dangerous one as well. The twists and turns are unpredictable, the characters are interesting and likable with their own personal flare, and the world building and main plot of the novel is very well developed and executed flawlessly.

Jessie is an incredibly determined heroine who is easy to relate to and likable. She's grown up in a scarey society brimming with biological terrorism. Human survival is pretty much at stake, when dealing with MDS "Maternal Death Syndrom" a virus that pregnant women have become very susceptiable to. It isn't known where the virus originated from, but the affects are extremely deadly laying waste to the brain cells of any pregnant woman that contracts it. Jessie has the strength of conviction and belief that she can make a difference, the only problem is that her father has a difference of opinion. She believes that she, along with her friends, can change the world and and help to find a vaccine for the virus in an effort to save the human race.

The Testament of Jessie Lamb is an incredibly compelling story filled with desperation and hope, for a better future. It's is chilling and suspenseful in many ways, which have readers on the edge of their seats catching their breath in anticipation of the outcome. The scary thing is, the events that are occurring in the novel are hauntingly realistic and could possibly happen in the near distant future. This book would make such a fantastic discussion for any book club, as it leaves readers questioning so many things going on within the pages. It was a deep riveting and wonderfully engaging read.

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Jane Rogers has published eight novels, written original television and radio drama, and has adapted work (her own and others') for radio and TV. Her novels include MR. WROE'S VIRGINS, ISLAND, THE VOYAGE HOME, and most recently, THE TESTAMENT OF JESSIE LAMB, which made the 13-title long list for the 2011 Booker Prize. She has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Writers' Guild Best Fiction Book, has been a finalist for the Guardian Fiction Prize, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is Professor of Writing at Sheffield Hallam University, and lives near Manchester in the north of England.

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Other stops for the tour can be found here.

This book was received from HarperCollins via TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain.

Book Review: More Like Her by Liza Palmer

More Like Her
by Liza Palmer
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Expected Publication: April 17, 2012
Pages: 336
Age Demographic: Adult Contemporary
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What really goes on behind those perfect white picket fences?

In Frances's mind, beautiful, successful, ecstatically married Emma Dunham is the height of female perfection. Frances, recently dumped with spectacular drama by her boyfriend, aspires to be just like Emma. So do her close friends and fellow teachers, Lisa and Jill. But Lisa's too career-focused to find time for a family. And Jill's recent unexpected pregnancy could have devastating consequences for her less-than-perfect marriage.

Yet sometimes the golden dream you fervently wish for turns out to be not at all what it seems--like Emma's enviable suburban postcard life, which is about to be brutally cut short by a perfect husband turned killer. And in the shocking aftermath, three devastated friends are going to have to come to terms with their own secrets . . . and somehow learn to move forward after their dream is exposed as a lie.

* Summary taken from Goodreads.

❝My Thoughts❞

More Like Her is an emotionally engaging and compelling murder mystery, that has intriguing plot, wonderfully developed characters, and more twists and turns than any reader could ask for. It's highly entertaining and wildly suspsenseful, with the drama, secrets, and lies. It just might be the perfect little crime, all on its very own. The crime being, deliciously enjoyable and fun to read. It's simply the best read example of how the grass isn't always greener and Liza Palmer does not disappoint readers in the least little bit.

Frannie is a wonderfully delightful and fun character to get to know. Though sometimes her worst enemy, she definitely has her friends and loved ones best interests at heart. She's caring and loyal to a fault, while still possessing realistic flaws that will have readers finding her character likable and easy to connect with. They are the most basic human flaws most possess, like lack of self confidence and potentially standing in her own way. The romance between her and Sam is beautifully written, as he seems to be the perfect match for her.

Sam is an incredibly swoon worthy handsome southern gentleman, who's attempting to find a new lease on life of his own. He's the kind of guy that any woman would be lucky to end up with, strong, solid, and stable. He has spent long enough standing in the shadow of his father and now it's time for him to step out into the light and experience his own personal rewards of what life has to offer. He's wonderfully charming and sweet, with a heart of gold. It's delightful to watch as these two grow closer and spend time together, discovering how much they care for the other. Together, these two make such a beautifully entertaining couple.

In many ways, Sam and Frannie were simply the highlight of the book for me, in terms of the emotional and realistic turmoil that brimming just underneath. Liza Palmer has penned the perfect blend of chick-lit with harsh reality and off-set it against a charming yet secretive town full of mystery and intrigue all its very own. More Like Her is a book that will change and shift readers perceptions of having everything you ever wanted as oppossed to the appearance of everything you ever wanted. It will tug at heartstrings and leave them breathless and aching. The inner-most struggles of each of the characters as they go through life and are affected by the outcome of what's rocked their little town, will change the way readers think.

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ABOUT LIZA PALMER

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Liza Palmer is the internationally bestselling author of Conversations with the Fat Girl. Conversations with the Fat Girl became an international bestseller its first week in publication, being named a Target Breakout book, as well as hitting Number 1 on the Fiction Heatseekers List in the UK the week before the book debuted.

Her second novel is Seeing Me Naked and her third novel is A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents was published in January 2010. She currently lives in Los Angeles and is hard at work on her next novel as well as several film and television projects.

Author information taken from her personal amazon page.

This book was received from William Morrow Paperbacks an imprint of HarperCollins via TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain.

Book Review: The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

The Thirteen

by Susie Moloney

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Expected Publication: March 27, 2012

Pages: 336

Age Demographic: Adult Paranormal

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The Witches of Eastwick meets Desperate Housewives in Susie Moloney's The Thirteen, a Globe and Mail Best Book.



Haven Woods is suburban heaven, a great place to raise a family. It's close to the city, quiet, with great schools and its own hospital right up the road. Property values are climbing. The streets are clean, people keep their yards really nicely. It's fairly pet friendly, though barking dogs are not welcomed. The crime rate is practically non-existent, unless you count the odd human sacrifice, dismemberment, animal attack, demon rape and blood atonement. When Paula Wittmore goes home to Haven Woods to care for a suddenly ailing mother, she brings her daughter and a pile of emotional baggage. She also brings the last chance for twelve of her mother's closest frenemies, who like to keep their numbers at thirteen. And her daughter, young, innocent, is a worthy gift to the darkness.



A circle of friends will support you through bad times. A circle of witches can drag you through hell.



* Summary taken from Goodreads.

❝My Thoughts❞

The Thirteen is a dark tantalizing paranromal filled with enjoyable characters that are realisticaly portrayed with hidden flaws of their own. Susie Moloney crafts a fascinating story full of unexpected suspenseful plot, an eeriely intriguing town that's full of drama and gossip, and the unraveling of secrets that stem from the past. It is intensely gripping, fast paced, and completely unpredictable with every twist and turn that is sure to keep readers guessing. Susie Moloney sets the tone for the novel early on with subtle eerie touches of the Stepford Wives and intermingling hints reminicent of a Stephen King novel that is sure to woo any paranormal fan and get their blood pumping in anticipation. The atmosphere of Haven Wood is unsettling in a way, showcasing how it may be a little too prim and proper within its own community.



Haven Woods has a dark eerie secret of its own, that will chill readers to their bones. It's one that's brimming with dark mischevious magic and occult sacrifice involving a coven of witches. The unraveling of these secrets, juicy plots with interesting twists, sometimes gritty violence, and delicious steam romance are sure to keep any fan of the paranormal mystery genre enticed and engaged. It's chalk full of drama, gossip, and scorching humor and brilliant sarcasm akin to any Charlaine Harris novel. The dialouge is extremely witty and cleverly written, with each turn of the page.



It is definitely a novel that's enjoyable and filled with likeable characters involving danger, mystery, and intrigue bound to keep readers invested. Susie Moloney pens the perfect blend of paranormal intrigue and contempoary sure to wow readers who mystery with a dash of supernatural thrown in the mix. The Thirteen is a highly charged and compelling novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats with anticipation leading up to an ending they won't necessarily see coming. The mystery is in the writing itself and how the story is crafted, which is such a wonderful element that Susie Moloney brings to the table and explores with brilliant candor. Fans of Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, and other amazing authors of this fantastic paranormal genre would definitely enjoy this highly engaging and suspenseful novel.

Susie Moloney is the bestselling author of Bastion Falls, A Dry Spell, and The Dwelling. She has been published in numerous countries and assorted languages. She divides her time between the wilds of Canada and the wild world of New York City. She’s not a witch, except maybe a little in the morning.

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Other stops for the tour can be found here.

This book was received from William Morrow Paperbacks an imprint of HarperCollins via TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain.