Review: Bet Your Life

Second in the Jess Tennant mysteries
By Jane Casey
Available now from St. Martin's Griffin
Review copy

When I finished How to Fall, I was eager to find out what happened next in Port Sentinel. By the time Bet Your Life came out, I'd forgotten what happened in the first book but picked up the second anyway since I remembered liking the first. Then it sat on my shelf for ages.

In the first book, Jess Tennant sought out the truth of what happened to her cousin Freya. In Bet Your Life, the stakes are far less personal. Local cad Seb Dawson is attacked and left in a coma, and Jess searches for the truth because Seb's younger sister asks her to - even though all signs point to Seb getting what he deserved.

Meanwhile, in Jess's romantic life, she's hung up on Will even though they broke up (which I didn't remember why), and she might be interested in Ryan. Meanwhile, Will's shady father keeps involving himself because he wants them to stay broken up. (Will's father, of course, also being one of Jess's mother's exes and the guy who is supposed to investigate the attack on Seb.)

I find this series very readable but forgettable. They're disposable mysteries about the dark underbelly of a small town full of rich people.

There is a third and final book in the Jess Tennant series, Hide and Seek. I might pick it up if I see it on sale one day, but I'm not seeking it out.

Review: From Where I Watch You

By Shannon Grogan

Available now from Soho Teen

Review copy

From Where I Watch You was Shannon Grogan's debut (and so far only) novel. I think it is an ambitious novel with lots of promise, but that Grogan didn't quite have the experience to bring all the storylines together naturally.

Kara McKinley is a star baker. Only 16, she's in the running for a baking competition that would get her a scholarship to culinary school in another state. She wants to escape from her home and the shadow of her older sister's death at college, and her mom's resulting holy roller ways. She also wants to escape her stalker, whose notes are becoming increasingly threatening.

 

Those plot drivers are covered by the blurb. What isn't covered is that From Where I Watch You details Kara and her sister Kellan's history between the present chapters, building up the reason why Kara isn't sorry her sister is dead. Kellan's betrayal is horrible, but I'm not sure what happened to Kara fits the rest of the novel. It is a heavy subject to add to a book, and I'm not sure there was enough room to give it proper weight. There could have been tension between the sisters without it.

Kara is also hallucinating her dead sister. Oh, and falling in love with Charlie, who is finally noticing her now that he works in her mother's cafe and who might be homeless. There's a lot going on, and I feel like paring down a few of the minor plots would have helped From Where I Watch You hit harder, particularly the reveal at the end.

As it was, it felt like there was barely time for the mystery. Kara never tells anyone who might help her and never does much to solve it. In the end, the stalker has to reveal himself, which felt anti-climatic to me.

Review: Hero Complex

The second Keaton School mystery
By Margaux Froley
Available now from Soho Teen
Review copy
Review of Escape Theory

Because I enjoyed Escape Theory, I wanted to read the sequel, Hero Complex. However, it had been a while since I read Escape Theory, so I wanted to reread it first, and eventually I decided to just dive into Hero Complex any way.

I had forgotten quite a bit, but it came back to me. Devon Mackintosh was working at a peer counselor at the private school she attended on scholarship to help boost her college applications. Her knowledge from those sessions made her suspicious of the apparent suicide of popular Hutch, which led her to become embroiled in a mystery.

At the beginning of Hero Complex, Devon has figured out who killed Hutch but she's still trying to figure out the why, which could be the key to getting the testimony needed to put his murderer away. But soon a new mystery arises when she goes to a boat party with her friend Cleo and gets clobbered over the back of the head. No one believes her that the assault happened, much less that it was attempted murder.

What I found most delightful about Hero Complex was that Devon never would have known the secrets she uncovers in the novel even existed if the villain hadn't attempted to get rid of her. I love seeing a bad guy hoisted by their own petard. At the same time, Hero Complex feels like the middle novel in a trilogy. The mystery at the center doesn't have the emotional drive of Hutch's death, and the revelations feel like they're setup for the fallout in the third novel.

... which doesn't exist. As much as I enjoy Escape Theory and Hero Complex, I have trouble recommending the Keaton School mysteries since the third novel was never published, leaving the story feeling unfinished.

Review: The League of Unexceptional Children

First in a series
By Gitty Daneshvari
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

Gitty Daneshvari, author of the School of Fear series, is back with the first in a new series: THE LEAGUE OF UNEXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.  While I love the premise, I think this will be the only book in this series I try.

THE LEAGUE OF UNEXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN posits that children who are unremarkable, forgettable, utterly average make the best spies.  Very few notice them in the first place, and no one remembers them.  (The book promptly deflates its own premise by having the children accompanied by an adult, because there are many places where unaccompanied twelve year olds are quite noticeable.)

The issue for me was that Daneshvari never convinced me that Shelly and Jonathan are completely average.  Shelley's wacky outfits are described in detail, as is her habit of just making up sayings and otherwise saying nutty stuff and trying to take it back.  She's funny, and quirky.  She has an easily recognizable schtick.  She's more Stargirl than Jane Doe.  Jonathan seems a bit more uninteresting on the surface, although surely a kid wearing khakis isn't an identifiable trait with the current school dress codes.  Daneshvari makes it clear that unexceptional kids are not losers, yet doesn't support it well with the text.  Most people (that is, the average) are at least kinda good at one thing.  Shelley and Jonathan seem to have no talents aside from being easily overlooked.

The plot centers around a kidnapped Vice President.  The current league members might be compromised, so Shelley and Jonathan are recruited.  They fail their training, but are sent out into the field anyway.  However, they aren't alone: they're teamed up with a pair of exceptionals from Britain.

I like the central message of THE LEAGUE OF UNEXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN: everyone has something to offer.  The book is lightly humorous.  Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I just don't think it hangs together.  I'll always love books about kid spies, but this one is a miss for me.

Review: I'm Glad I Did

By Cynthia Weil
Available now from Soho Teen
Review copy

Songwriter Cynthia Weil drew from her own life for her debut novel I'M GLAD I DID.  JJ Green is an aspiring songwriter who gets a job as an assistant at a music publishing company, where she comes to find love, a mystery, and personal success.  The summer of 1963 setting is used well, and the racism of the time is definitely a factor in how the story plays out.

The mystery in I'M GLAD I DID takes awhile to show up.  I knew there was a mystery, so I kept being afraid of who would die.  I was right to be afraid, because it did wrench my heart.  But this is not a dark murder mystery, if you can't tell by the bright colors on the cover.  Much of it is just about tracking down the truth of the victim's life, honoring who they were and how much they'd managed to overcome and how sad it was that their hopes for the future could no longer be accomplished.

I didn't know there would be a romance at all, but I liked it.  JJ is a strong personality, steadily pursuing her dreams despite her parents' disapproval.  She's young, but she knows what she wants from life and how to work for it.  She's dazzled by her love interest's green eyes, but their relationship really takes off because it is about more than looks, or even their shared interest in music.  Both of them have a passion for doing the right thing, for doing the difficult thing if it is what they believe in.

And the music side of the story gets plenty of attention too.  There's lots of interesting detail about how the music publishing and recording companies worked (and how writers often got screwed out of royalties).  There are references to contemporary artists, including the recently deceased Leslie Gore, and to past giants, especially in the jazz and blues genres.  Weil deftly gives Rosetta Tharpe, Bessie Smith, and other often forgotten women their due.

I'M GLAD I DID is sure to delight music and mystery fans alike.  The historical detail isn't overwhelming, but it is never forgotten.  The story works wonderfully with the setting.  I can see I'M GLAD I DID having a strong appeal for Nancy Drew fans looking for something more complex.

Review: How to Fall

First in the Jess Tennant mysteries
By Jane Casey
Available now from St. Martin's Griffin
Review copy

Jess moves, with her mother, back to her mother's childhood town.  It's a real two-horse town, and Jess doesn't just stick out because she's new, but because she looks just like her cousin who died last summer.  No one knows if Freya fell, jumped, or was pushed.  But Jess becomes determined to find out.

HOW TO FALL is filled with suspicious characters.  Freya's former best friends, former romantic rivals, and former suitors are all potential murderers.  (If, that is, someone murdered her.)  But even as Jess suspects everyone, she can't help being drawn to Will, the cute boy next door (who no one in town likes). 

The mystery of Freya's death develops fairly predictably.  (Although the actual resolution surprised me.)  At the same time, Jane Casey seeds intrigue for future books.  Jess's mother burned some bridges when she left, including leaving behind a former beau.  A former, very creepy beau.

If you like mysteries set in secretly sinister small towns, give HOW TO FALL a try.  It has some neat character work, making Freya feel developed even though she is dead the whole time.  She's very distinct from Jess.  Jess is a more realistic, tougher sort.  She fights fire with fire.

HOW TO FALL isn't the most complicated mystery, but it's full of interesting characters and a few intriguing twists.  The preview of the next book in the Jess Tennant mysteries has me eager to learn what happens next in Port Sentinel.

Review: Girls' Night Out and Devil Doll

I reviewed five Shebooks back in January, and I mostly enjoyed them.  I've read a few since, including the two I am reviewing in this most.  I must say that they continue to be high quality, but priced a bit high for me.  I know Amazon gives greater royalties at the $2.99 price point, but it took me one lunch break to read both of these stories.  That's not much reading for $6.  It might be a better option for slower readers.

Girls' Night Out: a mystery by Kate Flora
Available now from Shebooks
Review copy

The blurb for the novelette is simple and enticing: When the man who date-raped a friend is found not guilty, the women in her book group decide to take matters into their own hands.  The story opens with the friends moving a body, letting the reader know the plan has gone wrong.

I selected "Girls' Night Out" because the blurb reminded me of Fern Michael's Sisterhood series.  I must have good instincts, because that is exactly what I was reminded of.  Local district attorney Jay Hanrahan date raped Ellen Corso - and was found innocent.  Ellen's book club decides to take matters into their own hands and give Jay a taste of his own medicine.

"Girls' Night Out" is a fun bit of black comedy.  It's pretty slight, but it is a fun bit of comeuppance.  I'd certainly try a full-length novel by Kate Flora based on this work.  She's got a nice, wry humor.

Devil Doll: a friendship gone awry by Bonnie Friedman
Available now from Shebooks
Review copy

"Devil Doll" reminded me of one reason why I don't usually read memoirs.  I really felt for Catherine (name changed?) who has quite a bit of her personal life exposed in this memoir, in addition to author Bonnie Friedman's generally low opinion of her.  It can't be nice to have yourself immortalized negatively in a true story.

Bonnie and Catherine were fast friends when they studied abroad, but years later Bonnie dropped her without a word.  "Devil Doll" explores why.  Their relationship had strange ups and downs, including Bonnie sleeping with Catherine's husband, with her permission.  Neither woman comes off very well.  Catherine has a bit of a superiority complex, while Bonnie is judgmental and capricious.  It's well written, but not that enjoyable.

Review: Blonde Ops

By Charlotte Bernardo and Natalie Zaman
Available now from St. Martin's Griffin
Review copy

I've read two books set in Rome lately, and I can tell you that I vastly prefer BLONDE OPS.  It's a zippy novel about a hacker sent to live with a family friend in Italy for the summer who ends up interning at a fashion magazine edited by that family friend and getting involved in foiling a plot to kidnap the First Lady.

The first thing you should probably know is that the title is a lie.  Rebecca "Bec" Jackson has pink hair.  It's mentioned so often that, even though the title is cute, it started to bother me.

Second, there is a love triangle.  There's local bike messenger Dante (who has useful cousins all about Rome) and visiting fashion blogger Taj (who is also a hacker).  Both boys are very attractive, of course, and appreciate all the trouble that Bec manages to get herself into. 

Thirdly, BLONDE OPS is full speed ahead.  The characters beyond Bec don't get much development, but she is a firecracker.  She can't resist prodding her nose where it doesn't belong, and spotting something fishy just makes her more determined to get to the truth.  She's quite clever in how she goes about getting information, not just relying on her computer skills.  The focus is really on the zany plot, which combines the madness of getting a magazine published with protecting a political figure from a serious threat.  It isn't a serious book by any means, but co-authors Charlotte Bernardo and Natalie Zaman clearly know what kind of book they're writing.

BLONDE OPS will appeal to fans of Ally Carter who are looking for more books with a nosy heroine, cloak-and-dagger hijinks, and a cute boy willing to take a few risks himself.  There are a few hooks for a sequel, but this adventure stands on its own.

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves

By Sarah Strohmeyer
Available now from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Review copy
Read my review of Smart Girls Get What They Want

Lily Graves is a mortician's daughter, and she lives up to potential stereotypes with her love of fancy black dresses.  She's also tutoring a local football star, Matt, for instance.  Then, when she's cleaning up in the cemetery (her mom makes her volunteer), Matt's girlfriend Erin swings by and attacks Lily for breaking them up.  By the end of the day, Erin is dead.  It's up to Lily to prove that she and Matt had nothing to do with it.

THE SECRETS OF LILY GRAVES is Sarah Stohmeyer's first foray into mystery, and she does a good job of it.  There is a dark tone to this book, which only increases as Erin's secrets come out.  There are many more potential suspects than there seems to be at first, and I know I found the resolution surprising.  I guessed a little of it, and it made sense, but I still didn't see it coming.  Nor does Lily, who gets most of her clues through the policeman her mother is dating.

The romantic plotline, between Lily and Matt, wasn't quite as good as the mystery for me.  It was very nice that Lily trusted Matt, but I still couldn't believe she would go off with him alone so often while he was suspected of murder.  (Especially after he proves to be somewhat less than honest.  And even if she does take a scalpel with her.)  I did appreciate that, as they both said, nothing happened before Erin's death.  I'm not big on cheating plotlines.

I also appreciated that Stohmeyer didn't forgo her roots entirely.  THE SECRETS OF LILY GRAVES is frequently funny.  There's also lots of delicious irony from the contrast of Erin's post-death sainthood and the truths that Lily uncovers.  This book might be dark, but it's not depressing.

So throw THE SECRETS OF LILY GRAVES into your bag this summer, to add a little shade to your beach reading.

Review: Knightley and Son

April is National Poetry Month, and Clear Eyes, Full Shelves celebrates every year with a novel-in-verse week.  Sunday started their third-annual Verse Novel Week.  Be sure to check it out, especially my guest review of THE CROSSOVER by Kwame Alexander.

By Rohan Gavin
Available now from Bloomsbury
Review copy

Darkus Knightley is the son of Alan Knightley, a detective who has been in a coma for years.  Darkus has been studying the record of his dad's cases, eager to help him when he wakes up.  But Knightley's cases weren't quite normal, and they drove him to a breakdown.  It is not the best future for Darkus.

I loved the idea of KNIGHTLEY & SON, father and son detective tackling strange cases, including the current one, involving a bestselling self-help book.  (It's clearly modeled after THE SECRET, but it is somewhat more sinister.)  The execution never quite won me over.  Based on the premise I wasn't expecting many female characters, for instance, but Darkus does have a stepsister who is smart, resourceful, and often notices the few things he misses.  So she gets sidelined for most of the book, despite being a character who would clearly add something to the mix.

The father-son relationship didn't quite work for me either.  Knightley keeps falling asleep due to the effects of his coma.  That gets him out of the way too and leaves most of the book to Darkus alone.  When they do work together, Knightley is reluctant to involve him.  That's responsible parenting, but I was expecting to see them work together as a detective team.

Then, there was Darkus himself.  He strives to be totally logical, like his father.  This has the effect of having him behave entirely unlike most human beings.  He also comes off as rather stilted.  It's a deliberate choice on the part of the character, but it's a ridiculous one.  Maybe I would've rolled with it when I was the age of the intended audience, but maybe not.  The book does seem to realize it's a silly choice that Darkus needs to grow out of, but then it also realizes his name is silly.  That doesn't change the effect of reading it.

There are several fun scenes in KNIGHTLEY & SON, including a shining moment for Tilly, the stepsister.  I wish it had been more of an ensemble story (the pieces are all there!) instead of focused on Darkus, but the detective working alone isn't an unknown trope.  I would give this to a 10-12 year old who likes mysteries and conspiracies.  There is series potential.

Review: Palace of Spies

First in the Palace of Spies series
By Sarah Zettel
Available now from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR
Review copy

PALACE OF SPIES is a zippy historical set slightly before the Regency period, in the court of King George.  Peggy Fitzroy, the heroine, is an orphan who is thrown out of her uncle's house when she refuses the marriage he sets up for her.  (And not for a small reason either; her fiance attempts to rape her.)

Fortunately for Peggy, she's recruited to take the place of Lady Francesca.  She'll be a lady-in-waiting to Princess Catherine and report what she sees to a trio with unknown motives.  But Peggy is suspicious and curious about the girl she's imitating.  As secrets of Lady Francesca's life start to come to life, Peggy suspects that she didn't die of illness.  And Peggy could be next if she can't put everything together.

While quite frothy, PALACE OF SPIES has a strong grounding in real history.  It's almost a mini-lesson in Georgian social customs and the Jacobites.  It's a nice blend that will appeal to history fans as well as those who just like a pretty background of elaborate dresses and wartime spies.

There are some issues.  The premise stretches credulity quite far.  Not even Lady Francesca's best friend or lover notice she's been replaced by a completely different girl.  The romance plotline is underdeveloped.  And, well, the spying isn't that action packed.  All of the true action really comes at the end of the novel.  I enjoyed the setting and the character interaction, but PALACE OF SPIES is a more subdued novel than I expected, given the title and cover.

I enjoyed PALACE OF SPIES and think it is a good start to a mystery series.  There's a likeable detective, a detailed setting, and plenty of opportunity for intrigue. 

Review: Chasing Shadows (A More Diverse Universe)

By Swati Avasthi
Graphics by Craig Phillips
Available now from Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review from last year's Diversiverse

Today is the first day of the second annual A More Diverse Universe.  It lasts from November 15-17, and all you have to do to participate is write about a speculative fiction book by an author of color.

I've had CHASING SHADOWS in my to-read-and-review pile for about a month.  Charlotte reminded me about it in her reminder about this event.  Now, CHASING SHADOWS isn't straight-up speculative fiction.  It's a contemporary novel that incorporates elements of superhero comics and Hinduism in a very visceral way, which gives some passages the feeling of speculative fiction.

CHASING SHADOWS begins with Holly, Savitri, and Corey running across rooftops.  It's a tight-knit group: Holly and Sav are best friends, Sav and Corey are dating, and Holly and Corey are twins.  But it's when they get in their cars to go home that tragedy strikes - Corey is shot and killed and Holly ends up in a coma.  CHASING SHADOWS alternates between Sav and Holly's points of view, and Holly's point of view alternates between prose and graphic novel panels.  It's a wonderful effect that demonstrates her breaks from reality quite well.

I wasn't expecting to ugly cry throughout this book, but I did.  Both girls are extremely traumatized and CHASING SHADOWS is about Holly and Sav reclaiming their lives, their futures, and eventually their friendship.  Because yes, their relationship is under quite a bit of strain.  I particularly liked the way Swati Avasthi wove the cops' search for Corey's murderer into the girls' story.  Because Holly was shot and Sav got a better look at the guy, they are defined as only a victim and only a witness respectively.  But both girls are victims and witnesses, and those labels are important to their internal story, even if it doesn't help the case.

(Side note: I loved that Sav can't give a great physical description - white, not tall - but notices exactly how the guy walks because that's what is important to her as an athlete.)

Two graphic novels shape the girls' stories.  One is a series about the Leopardess, a heroine Holly admires.  The other is a telling of the legend that gave Sav her name.  The girls are both inspired by these comics and shamed by them, feeling guilty because they weren't fast or clever or something enough to save Corey.  Holly's reality is distorted by them, the imagery and iconography bleeding into her waking world.  It's a very interesting look at the way that fiction can shape lives.  And, in the case of Sav, it's very clear how important her collection of comics starring Indians is to her and the ways it shaped her childhood.

CHASING SHADOWS is a real gut-punch of a novel.  It's dark, and heartbreaking, and the triumphs are tempered by tragedy.  It's also, I think, the book I wanted when I read WHAT WE SAW AT NIGHT.  The freerunning and the mystery are incorporated better into the characters' story, as is the Chicago setting.  I don't think I've ever read a book quite like CHASING SHADOWS, and it's more than just the inventive format that makes me say that.  This is a book well worth reading.

Review: The Naturals

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Available now from Miramax (Disney Hyperion)
Review copy
Read my review of Raised by Wolves

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of those authors that routinely has interesting new books coming out but has never found mainstream success.  Personally, I'm very fond of her work.  She's not someone who comes to mind when I'm making favorites lists, but I've never been disappointed by one of her books.

THE NATURALS is the story of Cassie, a seventeen-year-old girl who is a natural at profiling, who joins a group of teens at the FBI who have their own natural special abilities that can be used to solve crimes.  They each have their own reason for wanting to spend their days studying serial killers, statistics, and other related topics.  Cassie is driven by the unsolved murder of her mother, whose body was never found.

Obviously, that becomes relevant to the case the teens find themselves pursuing.

What really makes THE NATURALS work is the characters.  Cassie falls into a love triangle with Michael and Dean, but it doesn't seem forced.  They're attractive, intelligent guys and while they're both a bit standoffish at first, they explain their reasons and are generally perfectly nice to her.  The other girls, Lia and Sloane, both develop on their own.  Cassie becomes closer to Sloane, and not just because they're roommates.  All five teens have their own personalities.  It made me kind of sad that THE NATURALS is a standalone, because I'd like to see how their relationships would develop.

I'm totally not sad it's a standalone.  More standalones!

As for the detecting, it could use a little work.  THE NATURALS has a villain POV, a trope I'm not hugely fond of.  In this case, I don't think it really added or detracted from the story.  There are a few gory moments in those passages that might turn off more sensitive readers.  The kids aren't experts, of course, despite their abilities, but I wished they'd contributed more to finding out who the killer is.  The identity is a plot twist instead of a mystery solved by the characters.  That keeps things exciting, but I found it left satisfying after I finished.

THE NATURALS is a quick, fun read that will appeal to fans of ensemble procedurals.  I like that it doesn't resolve absolutely everything and that while there is a love triangle, it comes in a distant second to catching murderers.  The premise is a little silly, but I like bought into it, especially since a large part of the book is the characters training to use their talents effectively.  This isn't Barnes' strongest book, but it probably has the broadest appeal.

Review: Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things

Book One of the Mister Max trilogy
By Cynthia Voigt
Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
Available now from Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

Maximilian Sterling is the son of two actors, which comes in handy when his parents disappear.  He dons a variety of disguises to keep strangers out of his house and earn enough money to survive.  After some unsuccessful ventures, he begins to gain a reputation as a detective, although Max doesn't feel like a detective.

I liked the way the various mysteries withing MISTER MAX wove together.  Several of the solutions will be obvious to an older reader, but I would've loved seeing everything fall together as a child.  I'm not too big on how the question of the whereabouts of Max's parents.  There's a nice hook at the end for the next book, but it seemed odd that Max would pay so much attention to other things instead of searching for his parents.

I do like to say that detective series rely on character, and there's enough here to sustain a trilogy.  Max has some wisdom beyond his years, which is good since he's called upon to act as an adult.  Fellow twelve-year-old Pia is a good match for Max, asking all the right questions and refusing to sit on the sidelines.  I also liked Max's grandmother, a librarian, who struggles to keep order and guide her grandson who thinks he's a grownup.  She's not always right, but she's in a tough position.

The setting is nice.  Max has an interest in painting skyscapes, which frequently takes the action outside.  I liked the sense of the city and it's various districts and class divisions, but I had trouble narrowing down the time period.  Sometime in the past, but post industrial, I think.  I would've liked a year or something.  

Young mystery lovers will find much to like about MISTER MAX.  There's an engaging story, gorgeous illustrations, and a nice balance of male and female characters.  Despite Cynthia Voigt's bona fides, I don't think this is one that has much appeal for older readers.  That, however, does not mean it's not a perfectly pleasant read.

Review: Taste Test

By Kelly Fiore
Available now from Walker Children's (Bloomsbury)
Review copy

There's something fascinating about cooking shows.  Unlike a lot of scripted television, there's true talent involved.  But unlike something like So You Think You Can Dance, there's little way for the viewer at home to judge the talent.  There's no way to participate in the best part: eating the food.  Still, it's strangely fun to watch.

Nora isn't a watcher, but a competitor in the teen cooking show Taste Test.  She's worked in her father's barbeque restaurant all her life, and this is her chance to get a free ride to culinary school.  She's certainly not going to be bested by someone like Christian, the son of a famous chef who has plenty of money and can always work in his father's respected restaurants.  It doesn't help that the first time Nora meets Christian, he insults her background. 

Nora is extremely competitive, and like most teenagers, quite judgmental.  It's little wonder that she instantly dislikes Christian, especially since he doesn't appear to have made it past grade school when it comes to flirting techniques.  But there is a real, obvious chemistry between the characters, particularly when they have moments alone.  However, I would have liked a little more of the female friendships.  Nora quickly makes friends with fellow contestants Angela and Gigi, but things happen.  And honestly, one of those things makes sense from a narrative standpoint, but I don't think it worked that well with the character development.

In addition to the romance and cooking competition, there's a mystery.  Someone is sabotaging the competition - the kind of sabotage that puts people in the hospital.  (And the kind that requires you to suspend disbelief that they wouldn't halt production.)  I'm not sure the mystery was the best move, as it pushes Nora's worst judge-y qualities to the fore.  Not to mention there's little time to get into any real detecting.  Perhaps I just miss the days of plain old teen contemporary romance.  It's pretty thin on the ground.

I think TASTE TEST will appeal to fans of cooking shows (or just cooking!) looking for something light and funny to read.  The show mechanics don't make complete sense, but the challenges are described well and the montage through the judge's score sheets is hilarious.  As a bonus, there's a section of recipes in the back.  TASTE TEST would do well paired with FLAVOR OF THE WEEK by Tucker Shaw.

Review: Night Film

By Marisha Pessl
Available now from Random House
Review copy

Marisha Pessl's debut novel SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS was hugely successful.  I first came across it as a college sophomore, when my roommate received a copy from her dad.  She'd read me the best passages aloud, and we were both captivated by Pessl's writing.

I was quite eager to read Pessl's sophomore novel as a fan of her style and of cult films.  Now, the cult films in NIGHT FILM are somewhat unbelievable.  They're like Polanski and Hitchcock and The Navidson Record all in one, and the later films are banned abroad and have no US distribution.  (And, apparently, no torrents.)  It's tough to buy in to Stanislas Cordova's amazing skills as a director, but NIGHT FILM is so much fun once you do.

Scott McGrath is a disgraced journalist due to his past attempt to uncover the skeletons in Cordova's closet. But when Cordova's daughter Ashley commits suicide, the story grabs McGrath again.  He can't resist poking around, uncovering Ashley's last days and what led her to take such drastic action.  Along the way he falls in with Nora, a young woman who was the last to see Ashley alive, and Hopper, a drug dealer who received a mysterious package from Ashley.

NIGHT FILM is stylish and well constructed.  Web pages and transcript notes are spaced throughout, giving a nice grounding to Pessl's world.  The middle sags a touch, but it pays off when everything starts coming together in increasingly convoluted ways.  The complexity is so much fun, particularly in how it mirrors the structure of Cordova's films.  I particularly liked the ending, which was pretty terrifying reading alone at night.  I decamped to a restaurant, both because I needed to eat and for the brightly lit companionship.  (When I left, I was so frazzled by McGrath's adventures it took me the length of the parking lot to realize that the reason everything was so dark and creepy was that my lights weren't on.)

I also have to give NIGHT FILM props for this: it has perhaps the best resolution I've read regarding a young companion developing a crush on her mentor.  I also liked that Ashley Cordova was a large part of the novel.  At the same time, she only kinda sorta resolves into a person by the end.  She's still basically an idealized, larger-than-life figure.

I thoroughly enjoyed NIGHT FILM.  It's an engrossing, creepy mystery with a strong literary bent.  The middle goes on a touch too long, but the whole book passes by so quickly that I can't complain too much.

Review: The Weight of Souls

By Bryony Pearce
Available now from Strange Chemistry (Angry Robot)
Review copy

THE WEIGHT OF SOULS does not suffer from a lack of ambition.  Main character Taylor Oh has one of those superpowers that really sucks.  She gets Marked by the murdered dead, then has to find and Mark their killer in turn or be dragged into the Darkness herself.  It's also killer on her social life.

I found the bullying to be a bit too much in the earlier chapters.  James, the ringleader, is cartoonishly malevolent.  Also, I am apparently not up on current racial slurs, but I'll just take that as a good thing.  The bullying drops off, thankfully, but I think it's to prevent it from being too obviously tied to the murder mystery plotline.  Because, you see, Taylor's latest Mark comes from Justin, one of her bullies.  Even worse, he has no idea who killed him.  He didn't even know he was murdered.

THE WEIGHT OF SOULS combines two common plots: the murder mystery involving a secret club (a la THE LIAR SOCIETY) and paranormal girl meets boy and further discovers her powers (a la ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD).  It's a lot for a relatively slim novel, but Bryony Pearce makes it work.  It helps that both plots work together to move each other along.

It also helps that Taylor is a terrific heroine.  She's a girl at the end of her resources, but she's still fighting.  She's trying to go it on her own, but it's no wonder that she doesn't trust her friends.  After all, her own dad thinks she needs help.  The scenes between Taylor and her dad are really tough, since he obviously loves her and wants to keep her safe and healthy, but he just doesn't get the truth.  Those scenes ring painfully true in a way the bullying doesn't.  (Although the bullying does result in a cameo by the world's best bus driver.)

I thought THE WEIGHT OF SOULS was a standalone, but there's definitely room for a sequel.  In fact, there's room for a whole series if Pearce intends to write more.  The secret society still exists, and there are more questions about the origins of Taylor's family curse than ever.  I'd definitely be willing to read more books about Taylor chasing down murderers against the clock.

Review: Sketchy

Book One of the Bea Catcher Chronicles
By Olivia Samms
Available now from Amazon Children's
Review copy

Olivia Samms' debut novel is an interesting blend of paranormal, mystery, and contemporary issue novels.  Bea Washington is an addict who has been clean for a little more than three months.  She's trying to regain her balance after getting out of rehab and starting over in a public school.  But she has a secret ability - when she sketches, she can draw images from peoples' minds.  There's a serial rapist murderer on a spree, and local cheerleader Willa Pressman survived.  Bea quickly realizes Willa knows more than she's telling police.

SKETCHY has a dynamic premise and interesting characters.  Bea got hooked on drugs pretty young, and it's hard for her to stay clean.  The temptation is pretty constant.  But she is resisting.  Throwing herself into the mystery helps her have something to focus on.  There's also a great deal of personal guilt driving her to find the perpetrator.   Bea is well aware of many of her faults and mistakes, but she doesn't let them define her.  And sometimes she is blind to them - she's a teenager, perfect self awareness would be unreal.  Most hilariously, she wonders why her parents don't trust her again after three whole months of sobriety.

The side characters are well done too.  Willa must have a reason for not telling the truth, so there's a mystery to unravel there.  And Bea reconnects with an old friend from art camp, Chris.  He listens to Bea and helps out, but he's got his own goals too.  He's a photographer who has her model for him in return.  There are also two police detectives who keep running into Bea, one of whom is much more willing to listen to her when she tells them things she couldn't possibly know.

The mystery isn't the strongest aspect of SKETCHY.  I guessed who the killer was pretty easily.  But there are some nice touches.  I enjoyed how involved the cops were.  Bea can't just solve the case through mystical means.  Evidence is needed to arrest people and take them to trial.  Finding out who the killer is is important, but so is proving it.  (But Bea could make things easier on herself by making more of an effort to be civil to the cops.  At least the one that doesn't flirt with her.)

I think SKETCHY is a brilliant start to a series.  The characters are flawed people, but they have many good qualities.  There's also some interesting social dynamics at play.  (For instance, Bea is biracial.  Her father is black and her mother is white.)  Plus, SKETCHY ends with a massive hook for the next book in the Bea Catcher Chronicles.  Be warned, SKETCHY is upper YA - if the drug addiction, rape, and murder didn't give it away.

Review: Blind Spot

By Laura Ellen
Available now from Harcourt (Houghton Mifflin)
Review copy

BLIND SPOT came out in October, but I've just now gotten around to it.  It was a difficult read for me.  I wanted to know what happened, but there was a character in particular who made me so mad that I had to keep setting the book down.  Really, that's a compliment to Laura Ellen.  She made me feel, even if I didn't always like what I felt.

BLIND SPOT begins when Roswell "Roz" Hart hears that Tricia Farni's body has been found and she finally starts questioning her own memories and why she can't recall the evening Tricia disappeared in any detail.  The book is then divided in three sections covering before her disappearance, during, and after.  This is no simple mystery.  There are many characters who could've done it and plenty who were capable of it.  BLIND SPOT is populated with some nasty people.

Tricia had problems.  She was battling drug addiction and traumatized by the violence of her past.  There's a reason she and Roz met in Life Skills.  Roz is there because of her vision - she can't see anything dead center.  She doesn't want to be there, however, nor does she want to be partnered with an obvious crazy like Tricia.  There begins a long rivalry between Roz and the Life Skills teacher Dellian.  But things aren't all bad.  Roz starts dating super hot Jonathon and makes friends with Greg and Heather.  Things start getting nuttier, especially after Tricia's body is found.

I'll be straight.  Roz makes some of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen a protagonist make.  I can stomach it because she faces some major consequences for her stupidity.  Ellen does not let her off the hook easily.  But I can see many readers getting frustrated with Roz.  She wants to find Tricia's murder, but her bumbling actions could help the guilty party go free.

I kind of loved how messy BLIND SPOT is.  Every answer leads to more questions.  There is no obvious suspect because there are too many obvious suspects.  It is a story populated by flawed characters.  Even Greg, sweet boy that he is, sometimes acts like a jerk.  However, I think Ellen held back from pushing it too far.  There isn't so much meanness that it leads to despair.  The book really succeeds on the fact that there are people who cared about Tricia and want to find out what happened to her.  It's that small core of love that kept me going through the rough patches.

I think Ellen shows great promise as a writer.  I like that BLIND SPOT is different and not afraid to be abrasive.  I did have to keep some space between me and it at times, but I'm interested in what Ellen will be able to do once she becomes a more polished author.

Review: Escape Theory

The first Keaton School mystery
By Margaux Froley
Available now from Soho Teen (Soho Press)
Review copy

Jason Reed Hutchins just committed suicide.  He was popular, rich, intelligent, handsome, and his friends can barely believe that he took his own life.  Devon Mackintosh didn't run in the same circles as Hutch, but she knew him well due to one special, emotionally intimate night back when they were both freshmen.

Now, Devon is a Peer Counselor and the one assigned to support Hutch's closest friends in their time of grief.  Their sessions reveal aspects of Hutch Devon never suspected, but they also make her suspicious about his untimely death.  The more she discovers, the more she's convinced that someone murdered Hutch.  But everyone is a suspect and many know about Devon's obsession.

I liked that the mystery within ESCAPE THEORY is self contained, but that there are hints of a larger mystery at work, one that has to do with the history of both Keaton school and Hutch's family.  I love the development of the school.  It has a drug problem, like most rich kid schools, and there are major privacy issues as the faculty try to get Devon to reveal what was shared during her supposedly confidential sessions.

ESCAPE THEORY definitely tugged on my heartstrings at times.  It goes back and forth between the past and present.  In the present, the mystery unfolds and in the past it's revealed just what happened between Hutch and Devon.  It's painful to learn more about what an awkward-but-charming kid he was and know that he dies young.  But it helps illuminate Devon's motivation and why she can't just dismiss her concerns.  I did like that Devon wasn't solely motivated by justice for Hutch.  She really does try to help her peers even though she hasn't had much training.

ESCAPE THEORY is an absorbing, character-driven mystery.  I highly recommend it to fans of Lisa and Laura Roecker's Liar Society mysteries.  I enjoyed Margaux Froley's debut and look forward to subsequent Keaton School mysteries.