Flourish: The Story of Anne Fontaine by Sarah M. Cradit

Following the death of her dominating mother, Anne Fontaine decides to leave the bayou to reconnect with her estranged half-sister, Adrienne Deschanel. Her hope is to forge a relationship with Adrienne that was not possible when her mother was alive. Secretly, she also hopes to find out if her extraordinary supernatural talents are shared by anyone else.

When Nicolas Deschanel gets wind of Anne's presence, he suspects that she is one of many con artists after his sister's money. Not knowing that her story is true, he engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with her, deciding to have a little fun.

Eventually, circumstances find both of them back at the Deschanel family seat, Ophélie, where secrets and stories come to life.

This one actually kind of threw me off. I have not read the Crimson or House of Night Series, so I was not familiarized with this author’s work. I enjoyed the back story behind it and the cunning twists that the brother made, which, by the way resulted in some pretty embaressing things for both of them. I was really confused about the whole ‘making the garden her b****’ thing until it was clarified that it was a family thing. In the end, this was a good short story and I would love to read more by the author, I give it a 4/5 stars.

[downloaded from Amazon.com]

Chaos Theory by M. Evonne Dobson

Seventeen-year-old Kami is into science, way smarter than she should be, a little obtuse, and born to investigate. The kind of girl who excels in Martial Arts and runs a chaos theory experiment in her locker.

Kami finds a way to focus her talents when she meets Daniel, whose younger sister Julia died from an overdose of prescription drugs—drugs that the cops think came from Daniel’s stash. First Daniel turns up at Kami’s MA class, and later she saves him from a couple of drug dealers at the local skate park. Neither episode endears him to her, but Kami views life as a series of data points, and in Daniel’s case, the data do not add up.

I was not thrilled to start this book, but once I did, I couldn’t stop. I was literally getting lost in the words and it was like a movie going on in my head. The story was very developed, but slightly unlikely or unrealistic. I understand that this is a work of fiction but it would’ve been nice to say “Wow! I can’t tell whether this is real life or not!” It was a truly wonderful book nonetheless.

I did not, however, like Kami. She was just slightly more than annoying throughout all this ordeal. I did appreciate her love for science though.

This book was a complete shocker. The blurb doesn’t do it justice. It was a really good book and by the end (SPOILER) I was crying. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. This book is getting a hardy 4/5 stars.

[ I received a free copy of this book on a read to review basis thanks to its publisher and Netgalley.] 

The Vanishing Game by William Boyd

A down-on-his luck actor is paired with a weather-battered Land Rover Defender on a seemingly innocuous courier job. But some things are too good to be true and this innocent journey quickly unfolds into a dangerous plot with a shadowy cast of characters.

This book started out great, fantastic even. I wish the author would’ve taken a little more time to develop the story and characters though. It was like we were being thrown right into the life of some dude. Also, it seemed it a little whack that he would take that job, I mean you’d think he’d know better and that something was a little fishy. It bugged me a lot how everything he knew was from being in a movie. It was like he never had any real life experience in anything and wanted to make his movies his reality. I give this book a 3/5 stars.

[source: Amazon.com]

Where There's Smoke by Jodi Picoult

Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.

This one was definitely different. In, my opinion, it had sort of a hidden message behind all of it. Serenity was given the gift and she used for all the right reasons, but when she wavered off the past and began to use her gift to make herself the sole beneficiary, the gift was taken away. For me, that said that you should use the things you are given more as a privilege, because it might not be there the next day. Everything we do comes at a price, and sometimes we have to pay that price. This was a great read, from beginning to end. Even though it was short, it felt like the story was complete. I give this book a 4/5.

[Source: Amazon.com]

The Spookshow by Tim McGregor

Life used to be normal for Billie Culpepper. Drab even. That all that changed after an accident left her in a coma for three days. That's when the spookshow really began, when Billie realized that she could see the dead.

And the dead could see her.

Now, they won't leave her alone.

Accompanying two friends through a haunted house, Billie uncovers a terrible secret that brings, not only the police, but the homicide detective responsible for putting her into the hospital in the first place. He's also the one man she sworn to stay away from.

I actually really like this one. Billie wasn't as, for a lack of a better term, "psychicy" as I'd hoped. I mean, you see people getting famous all the time for having apparent "psychic abilities" and here you have young Billie, who actually CAN see and feel ghosts and behold, no one believes her! Except for the crazy chick, but I don't want to get into that. 
 

All in all, I really enjoyed this story, it was a rather quick read, but it was fast paced and eventful. However, the whole backstory between Billie and the homicide detective are a little iffy. It was a great book though. It was delightfully scary and it made me want more. I give this book a 5/5 stars.

[Source: Amazon.com]

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

In all honesty, when I picked out this book it was because of the cover. I had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time and I had no idea what it was about. When I first began to read it,I thought, oh great, ANOTHER love story. Until Ari met Dante and the book began to bloom. Their curiosity in not only life but everything around them in life was beautiful and breathtaking. What I thought literally meant "discovering the secrets of the universe" actually meant "discovering the little things in the universe that revolves around our being" and it was amazing. The ending really surprised me a bit but it was a good way to end such a story. Although, you couldn't really say it was a story but more of a telling, a telling of an important time in their lives. This book was beautifully written, from cover to cover and I couldn't out it down; I had it finished in one day. It's just one of those books that you have to read. 

Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez

This was an amazing young adult book that took me for a serious loop. I was really lost in the beginning because when the book starts, you get thrown right in the middle of the story.

Honestly, I liked Marcel from the beginning. He was a likeable character, even with his wittiness and his shenanigans. By the end, I was almost in love with who Marcel was. He definitely made the book a real page turner. The whole time I was hoping that Valentina would end up with him in the end, and not the two timing scumbag FBI agent Emilio.

All in all though, I really enjoyed the book. It almost made me insane about money though, just reading about Valentina's struggle with everyday things such as food.

This book was extremely enjoyable and I loved every minute of it. I recommend it to any fan of the young adult genre. 
I received this book from a goodreads giveaway.