Violent Ends, by Shaun David Hutchinson and Others

Violent Ends offers many different perspectives on a a school shooting, but it left me wanting more.

I like the concept. Each story is written by a different author from the perspective of a character that somehow knew Kirby Matheson, the shooter. Some had negative opinions of him and some positive, but no one really thought he'd so something like this. Some perspectives were from before the shooting, some during, and some after. The list of contributing authors is quite impressive, and for that reason alone, Violent Ends is worth it.

This technique does get the reader thinking. Especially someone like me, who is in a high school environment every day and encounters all kinds of kids. Quiet ones, popular ones, and those that just don't fit in. It's really impossible to know and that is scary.

However, the book just left me wanting more. I really wanted Kirby's perspective. I don't think Violent Ends is complete without it. I get the reasoning, but I think Strasser's Give a Boy a Gun does this much better.

Violent Ends is unique. It made me uneasy, since as seen from these perspectives, it seems we are helpless to prevent these incidents.

Published by Simon Pulse, September 1, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
352 pages

Rating: 3/5

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Book Review: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis @MindyMcGinnis

Not only did I love the historical element of A Madness So Discreet, I was surprised by the path the story took, and that's always a good thing.

Grace has been put in an insane asylum because she is young, unwed, and pregnant. And there's more to that, but I won't tell you. She's the daughter of a rich and powerful man. Back then fathers and husbands could commit their daughters and wives for pretty much any reason. When she loses the baby, she's expected to be returned to her family, but things take a turn, and that's not at all what happens.

She ends up posing as a mental patient in a different asylum, far from her family. Because of her astute powers of observation, she's assisting a doctor who studies murderers. In today's terms, we would call him a profiler.

Every character in A Madness So Discreet is distinct and memorable. Each one has their own motivations and challenges and the reader understands them completely. When characters are that real, the book just comes alive and you feel like you are IN it instead of reading it.

Wow. I didn't expect Grace to do what she did. What an interesting turn, and that's not even the end of the book. Love when people get their just deserts. That's all I'll say...

Read it. Recommend it.

Published by Katherine Tegen, October 6, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
384 pages

Rating: 5/5

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Stacking the Shelves - A Kindle Daily Deal

Happy Weekend! Hope you have a good one. Here's what I got this week:

Purchased:

The Cove, by Ron Rash, eBook

I enjoyed Serena, so I couldn't pass this one up.

So what did you get? Leave me a link in the comments. Be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews. Thanks for stopping by.

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Book Review: The White Rose, by Amy Ewing @amyewingbooks

The White Rose, the second book in The Lone City Trilogy, is a substantial addition to the series that enriches the world and the characters that we were introduced to in the first book.

May be spoilers from The Jewel.

I don't think it's any secret that Violet and Ash are somehow going to escape from the seemingly inescapable predicament they were in at the end of The Jewel. (How could there be a second book if they didn't?) They are assisted by many people, all part of an underground group called The Black Key. This society is out to destroy the royals and take back the Jewel. During their dangerous travels to the Farm and also after their arrival, Violet learns much about what the surrogates really are and more about her powers called the Auguries.

We get a lot of development of the world and of both Violet and Ash, and we meet a new and quite interesting character at the White Rose. The pacing kept me wanting to read and thinking about the book when I wasn't. There are certainly surprises and the dreaded cliff-hanger ending, but I'm all-in for the third installment of The Jewel.

I've decided I need to push this series to my teens a bit more. I think The Jewel and The White Rose have a lot to offer in a familiar dystopian trope with a lot of unique elements.

Published by HarperTeen, October 6, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
320 pages

Rating: 4/5

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2015 EBook Challenge - Post You October Reviews Here

Here's the sign up page for the 2015 EBook Challenge if you are interested.

You can see my progress for the year on my 2015 Reading Challenges page.

You can post your September reviews here.

Add your October reviews below:

Happy Reading!

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Book Review: Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith

I had some problems with Dreamstrider. Granted, fantasy isn't my favorite genre, but there's more to it than that.

Livia is a Dreamstrider. She can take over people's bodies while they are dreaming. Or, something.... She's working for her government, the Barstadt Empire, to help determine if and when their enemies are going to attack and to help find a way to stop them.

Livia used to be a tunneler, a low class citizen that lives in poverty underground. She was saved by a professor who studies dreams because of her talent. The deity in this Empire is the Dreamer. Livia is devout; fervently praying to the Dreamer for his guidance. And the "devil" is the Nightmare. But supposedly the Nightmare no longer exists. Livia believes Nightmare is coming back, because she has encountered the Nightmares while she is dreamstriding. Or something...

The politics and the religion are intertwined. The whole Dreamstriding experience was confusing and I never really understood what was going on. There are a lot of characters introduced, but many are superficial. I couldn't sink my teeth into the magical lore of this world. And, one of my biggest problems with fantasies, things are sometimes resolved too easily by using magical elements.

The ending was confusing. I can't really say much without giving it away, but Livia figures something out, and I didn't understand how or why it "fixed" everything like it did. There is also a lot of verbose, flowery language that maybe was supposed to explain her revelation, but really didn't mean anything. The romance was the best part of the story, and that part I understood!

I didn't know any of the characters well enough to care about the outcome, with the exception of Livia. The explanations of the dream world and dreamstriding was unclear, and the rules seemed to keep changing. I never understood why priests can be in the dream world, but they aren't dreamstriders -- because they are priests? Or something... I can just keep on with my questions, but you get the idea. Dreamstrider was just really muddled for me. Kind of like this review.

I hate writing negative reviews. I respect authors, including Smith, because I certainly couldn't do any better. But I also think that when I have to read passages over and over, and try to make lists of places and characters and still don't fully understand what is going on, then I need to reveal my difficulties. I can't recommend this book, but I encourage you to look for other reviews that are more positive.

Published by Roaring Book Press, October 6, 2015
ARC obtained from School Library Connection Magazine
391 pages

Rating: 2/5

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Audio Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

If you require characters that you can love, then The Girl on the Train is not the book for you. The characters are all pretty much despicable. And if you can't handle cheating, then stay away from this one. Other than that, The Girl on the Train is a great read.

Rachel is The Girl on the Train. She rides the train to work every day, passing by the house she used to live in with her husband, Tom. He still lives there with his new wife, Anna, who he dumped Rachel for. And they have a new baby. Talk about painful. Rachel deals with this pain by drinking. A lot.

Rachel becomes interested in a house just down the road from her old house where another young couple lives. She names them "Jess and Jason." And they seem to have the most perfect, loving relationship. "Jess," whose real name is Megan, takes care of Anna's child. Megan does not have the perfect life, as Rachel thinks. Megan has lost the art gallery she used to run and now has nothing to do with her days except mope around.

Rachel sees something shocking from the train and after someone disappears, she goes to the police with the information. But she's been drunk so many times, she can't even be sure of what she's telling the police, and they don't believe much of what she says.

Hawkins weaves an intricate web around these five people. They become intertwined, unwillingly, in unexpected ways. These characters are awful. The more we learn about them, the more we loath. I get that they are unhappy for different reasons, in different ways. But jees. Do something for yourselves instead of complaining. I think the story takes a while to get going, but when I'm listening I tend to be more patient with a slow-building plot.

I did suspect (not right away) who the bad person was (well, they were all bad, but I mean the perpetrator.) That didn't take away from the fascination I felt while watching this all play out. The Girl on the Train has been compared to Gone Girl, and while it did have the contemptible characters, it's a different story.

If you are a fan of the twisted who-done-it, (as long as you can handle the characterizations and subject matter) then you should definitely pick up The Girl on the Train. Teens should like this one too.

Published by Riverhead Books, January 13, 2015
Audiobook obtained from the library
336 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

While Another Day was well written and quick to read, I don't really think this book is necessary.

If you haven't read the companion novel, Every Day, you probably shouldn't read the rest of this review.

This is the same story as Every Day told from Rhiannon's point-of-view.

In the letter at the beginning, Levithan says this book is for those who have read Every Day as well as those who haven't. Well, it takes 25% of the book before Rhiannon meets A. That took too long for someone who already knows the story.

I didn't feel Rhiannon's POV added very much. It's a POV that I could decifer from Every Day. I might not have known every detail about her relationships with her boyfriend and other friends, but knowing those details just didn't add anything.

I read 52% of Another Day, then skipped ahead and read the last ten percent. I don't think I missed anything.

Published by Knopf BFYR August 25, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
208/336 pages

Rating: Incomplete

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Stacking the Shelves - An Author that Has My Attention

I got one ARC for review this week and that's it.

For Review:

The Guest Room, by Chris Bohjalian from NetGalley

A few years ago I read The Night Strangers (creeeeeepy!), so when I saw this I wanted to read something else by this author.

What did you get? Leave me a link in the comments please. Don't forget to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend!

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Book Review: The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

The Scorpion Rules has a unique and enjoyable premise, however at times the storytelling got a little confusing.

The world is run by an artificially intelligent being, Talis. In order to deter wars, each nation's leader must send an offspring as a hostage. These offspring are taken to a Precepture where they are educated but captive. If their country goes to war, the child is executed.

Greta is the Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy, one of the largest nations. There is a worldwide water shortage, so the Pan Polar Confederacy guards its supply and is likely to go to war to protect it. Greta is sure she will soon be executed. A new government is formed, so a new kid comes to the Precepture, Elian. Elian's country is next to Greta's vying for the same water. He's not cooperative and disrupts the routine. Not only is Elian tortured for his behavior, the rest of the kids must suffer too because they are supposed to help him learn to cooperate.

They don't escape. That's what you think is going to happen. So that's not it, which I found refreshing in itself.  But all hell breaks loose, and it changes everything for these kids. I'm not really going to say any more than that.

For as bad as the water shortage is, it doesn't seem to affect the Precepture very much. Yes, they mention not taking showers, and it never rains. But they have lush gardens and livestock, so they must be using water. My favorite part of the book is the beginning when we are introduced to the characters and their world. The scientific aspects were also very interesting, and sci-fi buffs will certainly appreciate that aspect. After "all hell breaks loose" I thought the story got a little muddled, sometimes going too fast so that I felt I needed more information. I didn't always understand the motivations of the characters and the reasons they made the choices they did.

But the story is fascinating and leaves room for a lot of thought and discussion. And it's also a bit brutal at times, so be warned. Something very significant happens at the end that makes me think the next installment of Prisoners of Peace will be very different than The Scorpion Rules.

I liked it. I just lost some of the details that might have made The Scorpion Rules exceptional.

Published by Margaret K. McElderry, September 22, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
384 pages

Rating: 3/5

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