Waiting on Wednesday #32: Things I Can't Forget

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

My pick for this week is:

Companion to Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker.

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt…with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…

---

This sounds like a great book.  I loved Catching Jordan, and I haven't read Stealing Parker yet, but I'm planning on reading it.  I love how this cover complements the other two covers.  I look forward to reading this once it is released on March 1st.

What are you Waiting On this Wednesday?

Katie

Review: The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld. Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles.

My Review:

Over the past week, I read The Serpent's Shadow, the conclusion to the Kane Chronicles trilogy.  This book did a great job wrapping up the plot - defeating the bad guy, and tying up the romantic threads of the story.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The characters in this book are all well-written.  Carter and Sadie occasionally tease each other like they always do, but it is clear that they care about each other.  Neither of them would be okay if they lost their sibling.  They both are brave characters who face many hard things in the both.  They want to keep Apophis from causing the end of the world.  They also want to save their mom's soul.  They encounter many characters in this book, including an interesting ghost named Setne, who was an evil magician when he was alive.

The romantic elements of this book are tied up well.  Carter likes Zia, since he had fallen for her shabti in the first book.  As this book continues, it becomes clear that she returns his feelings.  There are some great moments between the two while they are in some pretty dangerous situations.  Sadie has feelings for both Walt and Anubis, and she doesn't know what to do about that.  On top of that, Walt is dying, and Anubis is off-limits since he is a god.  I'm not going to give this away, but there is a very interesting resolution to this love triangle.

The mythological elements are handled well.  The book does a good job of explaining how destroying the shadow of Apophis will destroy Apophis.  Many Egyptian gods are included in this book, some of them being Horus, Isis, Osiris, Anubis, Ra, Bes, Bast, Tawaret, and more.  All these gods are great characters.  Usually what they're the god of is played with to make things funnier.  Bast is the goddess of cats, and she is very catlike.  All the gods and goddesses are quite interesting.

If you like mythology, read this book.  Make sure you read the first two in the series first, though.

Katie 

Review: If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

IF ONLY ...If only I hadn't gone to that party. I never would have seen what I did. Jackson wouldn't have driven me home. I wouldn't have started to fall for a guy just out of reform school. I could go back to pretending everything was normal. I wouldn't be keeping a secret from my mom that could blow our family apart ... 

My Review: 

I reread this book last week so I could write a review, and also so I could just read it again.  I enjoyed the second time just as much as the first, even though I knew what was going to happen.  There were parts of it that I had forgotten since I hadn't read it in awhile, so it was like I was experiencing those parts for the first time.  Anyway, this book has a great story and characters.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Jaz is a great protagonist.  She has some self-esteem issues, and she struggles with being the only biracial person in her town.  She has felt a connection with her mom's boyfriend before, since they are the same race, and she becomes angry when she sees him kissing her friend, Lacey.  Throughout the book, she knows this secret, and she doesn't know if she should tell anyone.  When she finds out her mom is pregnant with Simon's (the boyfriend) baby, she decides she can't tell her mom then.  Later in the book, she doesn't know if she should tell her, and she can never find the right time to bring it up.

Jaz's family are good characters.  Her grandma is the one who raised her, along with her grandpa, but he has died before the book starts.  Despite the fact that Jaz's mom had her own parents raise Jaz, it is clear that she cares about her daughter.  She was too young to raise Jaz when she was born.  Jaz has never met her father or anyone on that side of her family.

Her friends are also great characters.  Lacey is the girl who kissed Simon, the mom's boyfriend.  She realizes that she made a mistake by doing that, and she feels bad about it.  She has a lot of issues of her, including a drinking problem.  She was drunk when she kissed Simon.  Jaz's friend, Ashley, is a great character as well.  She wants to help Jaz get over her fear of swimming since she is a swimmer.  This is a difficult task for Ashley since Jaz is still scarred by an incident in the pool in elementary school.  Jackson is a great character too.  He has a delinquent past that involved drug dealing, but he seems like a sweet.  They start off as friends and become more.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Waiting on Wednesday #31: Bruised

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

My pick for this week is:

16-year-old Imogen Malley has spent most of her life in the shadow of her popular older brother, but there is one area in which she excels: martial arts.

As the youngest black belt at her dojang, Imogen loves assistant teaching more than anything in the world, and she plans to open her own martial arts studio one day. Per the Tae Kwon Do student creed, she's come to think of herself as a potential hero, a defender of the weak, and a champion of justice.

Her confidence disappears when she freezes up at an armed robbery that leaves someone dead. Guilt-stricken and numb, Imogen is left to wonder if martial arts failed her, or she failed it. Estranged from her family and friends, who don't understand why she's still beating herself up for failing to act, she struggles to get by on her own, and decides to prove herself by teaching another student how to fight –- no holds barred, no protective gear, no rules.

When the image you have of yourself is shattered, how do you make it whole again?

---

This sounds like a great and emotional read.  I like the cover, and it looks like it will match the story well.  I can't wait to read this once it is released in March.

What are you Waiting On this Wednesday?

Katie

Review: The Space Between Us by Jessica Martinez

From the author of Virtuosity, a novel about two sisters and the secrets they tell, the secrets they keep—and the secret that could tear them apart.Amelia is used to being upstaged by her charismatic younger sister, Charly. She doesn’t mind, mostly, that it always falls to her to cover for Charly’s crazy, impulsive antics. But one night, Charly’s thoughtlessness goes way too far, and she lands both sisters in serious trouble.
 
Amelia’s not sure she can forgive Charly this time, and not sure she wants to . . . but forgiveness is beside the point. Because Charly is also hiding a terrible secret, and the truth just might tear them apart forever.

My Review:

The Space Between Us is an amazing book that I read quickly because I couldn't put it down.  I became invested in the story from the first page, falling in the love with both the story and the characters.  This book is also so emotional, and I loved that about it.  So, my advice to you is read this book!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Amelia is a great main character, though she has her flaws.  She clearly cares about Charly, despite being mad at her for a good portion of the book.  Her main flaw is that she is judgmental.  When she finds out Charly is pregnant, she immediately makes assumptions.  She says many mean and horrible things to Charly throughout the book.  Despite what I'm saying, I still did like her as a main character.  I could see why she was mad at Charly, even if I did sometimes want her to be more supportive.

Charly is a great character.  She's sweet and loveable, but she's also hiding a huge secret.  One of the most emotional scenes in the book is when Charly finally tells Amelia her secret.  The relationship between the sisters is showcased so well in that scene.  It's obvious that Amelia really cares about her sister then, and feels guilty for the bad things she's said.  Charly's and Amelia's characters both grow throughout the course of the book. 

Ezra is also a great character.  The relationship between Amelia and him doesn't start off too great.  He comes to pick up Amelia and Charly from the airport in Canada, and Amelia is pretty mean to him.  As the story progresses, Amelia and Ezra become friends, and she feels like they could maybe be more than friends.  Their relationship is so sweet and develops slowly and realistically.  He has his secrets about his family, but he's a great guy.  He helps Amelia to grow as a character.

If you like emotional contemporary YA, read this book.

Katie