Book #61, Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

The blurs (taken from goodreads):

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)

Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.

There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)

Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain... magnetism.

And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)

Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

Wow what a ride. I loved the way this book was written. It starts off with our narrator, sixteen year old Jenna, in the E.R. having just been pulled out of a frozen lake. The story continues from there through Jenna's words on a detective's tape recorder telling the events that led up to this moment during the last four months or so.

**Spoilers**
I feel weird saying this (because you know student/teacher relationships are bad okay) but I really liked Jenna and Mitch together. They were a pretty perfect match. I was kind of disappointed by the Mitch lying/stalking bit at the end. I was hoping he would be a good guy all the way through but honestly the stalking didn't bother me that much. Wait let me explain! Because through the whole book I kept expecting Jenna to go online and try to find info on Mitch and Kathy. I was really surprised that she never did and since Mitch had well.. it put him more on Jenna's level to me rather than an obsessive level. I did not like his lying though, it did not make sense to lie about siblings and such if you planned to be with someone since the truth would come out eventually. Well actually since these lies were told when they barely knew each other maybe Mitch was just being awkward and trying to relate to Jenna to get to know her better. As you can tell I am confused about how I feel about him!

All I know is that I do not see him fully as a bad guy. Mitch and Jenna both are so mentally and emotionally messed up that despite the age difference I see them as equals rather than victim and predator. I will tell you that open endings bug the hell out of me. I really wished we knew what happened to Mitch, if he was telling the truth about his time with Kathy and his reasons for lying to Jenna. Oh! And what happens to Jenna's mom?? Having had an alcoholic mother myself, I really understood Jenna's relationship with her mother.

Quote:  
“Everybody breaks sooner or later, Bob. Anyone can drown. Sometimes you see it. Most often, you
don’t because the body protects and the skin hides, so drowning doesn’t look like drowning and some
people scar so nicely. Take it from an expert.”

Book #60, The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

The blurb (taken from goodreads):

 "A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.

It begins the day Anna finds the child's doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it's claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart.

It's a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha's abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth.

Despite friend's warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.

But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it's Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?"

Wow. I loved this book, couldn't put it down. The Storyteller is so beautifully and vividly written that I had no trouble immersing myself in this world. The story takes place in the wintertime and even though it was over 90 degrees here today I wanted to curl up with a hot cup of tea and a blanket reading this book.

I love how Abel explained to Anna (and Micha) about his and Micha's life through storytelling. It reminded me a lot of my favorite movie "The Fall" (staring Lee Pace). If you have not seen it, you must! It is the tale of a stuntman from the silent film era who is hurt and maybe be paralyzed. He is depressed lying around in the hospital when he befriends another patient: a cute little girl with the sweetest accent. She comes around often to hear pieces of an epic story but Roy manages to string sweet Alexandria along promising her more of the story if she brings him strong medications from the medicine room. The film took four years to film and was shot in 28 countries. It is a truly beautiful film.

Back to The Storyteller. This is definitely not a lighthearted read and although I wanted more happiness and found myself questioning what the characters could have done differently to come to a different conclusion, there isn't a thing I would change. Also I feel this is more of an adult book than a YA book, there is some very serious material in here so I highly suggest mature readers only. All in all I really look forward to exploring other works by Antonia Michaelis she is a very talented writer.

Quote:
 “Go away princess. Leave your outlaw alone. You won't change him... go away, Anna, far away, and don't ever come back. The fairy tale doesn't have a happy ending.”

Book #59, Captive Heart by Elizabeth Bourgeret

I won this book through goodread's first reads program. I thoroughly enjoyed Captive Heart. At first I thought the pace was a little slow but looking back I believe I thought this due to the fact that the book starts off with a mystery. Sarah is being held captive, she is in much pain, doesn't know where she is, who has taken her and to top it off she is devastated by the loss of her young son at the hands of the Native Americans that have taken her. We, the readers, have to go along at Sarah's pace as she puts this puzzle together and that is what gave me the slow feeling. I wanted to know and I wanted to know now!

All in all I found this book captivating. The lines between good and evil, friend and enemy are constantly blurred. Sarah finds herself heartbroken, scared and devastated time and time again while her faith is tested and she tries to navigate herself into the unknown. The is a great story of love and loss and even love again and (if you are a believer) hope that there is a plan for you and faith will see you through. Wonderful

Quote:
“Sometimes, for revenge to be as sweet and painful as it is intended, some time has to pass. Time enough that people have forgotten about past hurts and humiliations. Time enough to make the poison of bitterness consume a soul. It was to be that time...
Two worlds collide and find a common link. A plan was made, a price was paid and revenge was set in motion.” 

Book #45 A Four Letter Word by Michelle Lee

Won this book from goodread's First Reads! Shipped fast, signed by author and came with a matching book mark.

After reading the prologue in 'A Four Letter Word' I immediately thought to myself "yup know the ending to this one". Sure this is your typical, predictable love story however, good stories are good stories. Even if the subject has been repeated time and time again the story itself can be different and interesting. I did not expect to get engrossed in this book but was shocked at how quickly I finished it.

Unlike most love stories I related a lot to this one. After seven years of friendship my best guy friend confessed he had been in love with me the entire time, we celebrated our 10th anniversary this year. The characters were a bit cliche and a bit immature at times but overall I liked them all. And I was pleasantly surprised at the twist in this story that I did not see coming at all!

I have seen some reviews slamming this book for being Twilight fanfiction and honestly, who cares?!?! Lots of works be it literature, film, music or art are inspired by other works. Why would anyone discourage others just because they got an idea from somewhere else? You never know, some of these fanfiction writers might go on to write some wonderful original works just because they took at shot pulling from another story they loved. Maybe if it wasn't for that original book, they would never had tried writing their own stories at all. Lift one another up, not tear each other down.

Book #44 Slip by Leslie J. Portu

Won this book through goodreads from first reads program!! Which by the way was sent by the author herself, arrived very quickly and with a cute heart-shaped personalized note inside. Very sweet touch. On to the book:

Soon to be seventeen year old Vivien is falling in love for the first time. Due to a rocky childhood she is a very reserved and guarded girl making her first real relationship a little tough to handle. Throw in the handsome, young and understanding exotic French substitute teacher and things get more complicated than ever. He befriends Vivien and in her quest to open up, try new things and finally let people in she turns a blind eye to the dangers right in front of her.

I LOVED this book! Two nights in a row I had to force myself to put it down so I could get some sleep. I thought the characters were complex enough to be consistently interesting and the story line was exciting even in the more mundane parts.

I cannot wait to read more in this series or more from Leslie J. Portu in general. I must add I did not see an editor listed and was pleasantly surprised to see very little, maybe even no, grammar or spelling errors.

Book #42 Unconscious Lies by D. W. Brown

I won Unconscious Lies from goodread's First Reads program! Very thankful for that.

This is the story of Peter. Peter was in a coma for quite some time. He has moments of consciousness while in this coma, he is in his bedroom and surrounded by people who refuse to acknowledge him or answer his questions. Furthermore he remembers talking to a group of people while being unconscious.

When Peter awakes from the coma for good he does not remember his past and must take his wife's word on everything. Soon he discovers she has been lying to him, so much so that even her place of work doesn't even exist.

Worst of all? Peter remembers killing people while in the coma and clues start to surface in his new life hinting at the reality of these crimes.

Overall I really liked this book. I thought the story line was great and different. Unlike a lot of books, Unconscious Lies was not very predictable and had surprises up until the very end. To me there were some holes in the story but it is such a ride they are easy to overlook.

I did however have two minor issues (and one major) and they were editing and rambling.

The editing was pretty spotty in the beginning and in the last third either the editor checked out completely or got too engrossed in the story to continue editing (lots of "me" and "I" mistakes there).

Rambling. In two parts of the story I felt I was conducting a google search. The author went into too much detail explain what microbursts are and the history of studying comatose patients. You do not need to know any of this information to enjoy the story being told.

And last but most important: the anti-gay marriage rambling at the end of chapter 16. Honestly I almost stopped reading right there. I understand we all have different opinions on this subject so being that this "character" feels vastly different than I do is not the issue at all. My issue is the fact that this commentary comes completely out of left field and has absolutely no reason to be in the book leaving me wondering if this is just the author injecting his own feelings through the main character, Peter. Peter and his wife are discussing a very, very minor character referred to as "gay Marcus". The wife Vicky states that she believe marriage is for men and women only and Peter goes on and on in his narrative about homosexuality being a choice and gay marriage leading to marriage between cousins (btw cousin marriage is legal in 26 states and has been since before gay marriage was even an issue) which will open the floodgates on marriage. Completely unnecessary but it was only a page or two so it didn't totally ruin the book for me.

Book #18 Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

I literally JUST finished Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. What can I say? Freaking LOVED it. The characters are charming and surprisingly human. They mess up, they make mistakes, they learn, they love and they forgive. The story was new and fresh for a zombie tale.

R is a zombie. He doesn't know why, how old is he (or was), his full name or any details of his "life". R is just going through the motions waiting impatiently for the final death. He spends his days wandering the empty airport many zombies call home, "talks" with his buddy M and feeds off the life energy of the Living in order to stay alive.

Next thing you know R finds himself ambushing a group of Living teenagers. He takes down a boy and begins eating his brain absorbing his memories. In them he sees Julie for the first time only to look up and see her in person in the very room fighting for her life. R grabs Julie and saves her from the hoard of zombies and takes her back to his 747 for safe keeping.

Day by day R is feeling more Alive than ever and other zombies are feeling the change as well. Soon though R and Julie are battling hurtles from all sides. There is Julie's father, the leader and military man who cannot accept the change, and the "Boneys", fast and fiercely strong skeletons trying to stop the change in it's tracts.

I loved it. Warm Bodies is funny, exciting and heartwarming all at once. I was rooting for R and Julie the entire time. This book was over all to quickly for me and I hope we see something new from first time novelist Isaac Marion soon. I haven't seen the movie yet but I hope it does the book justice.

Quote:
“There's no benchmark for how life's "supposed" to happen. There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, it's up to you how you respond to it”