Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How do I feel about this book? I'm not quite sure yet. I read it all in one setting, I had to know what happened before someone spoiled the ending.

Let's get the not-so-good out of the way and then concentrate on the good:
Like the last few books, it starts off being quite pedestrian, day in the life of Sookie.
Not everyone is going to be happy with the choices Sookie makes.

The better bits:
The choices Sookie makes are her choices, and she's happy with them.
We get a sense of closure for just about everyone who's ever appeared in the series (and is still alive).
There is actually an element of mystery that has been sorely lacking in the last couple of books.

It's not the best of the series, but it's far from the worst. I give it 4 stars, but I'm adding one for all the enjoyment I've had from the entire series. I won't miss the books, it was past time for them to end, but I have really enjoyed Sookie's adventures over the years, and this was a fitting ending to her story.

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Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Dare you To will be published in May/June 2013 in hardcover and e-book formats.

Dare You To is the sequel to Pushing The Limits, which was one of my favourite books of 2012. It does, however, work as a stand alone novel. Although there are references to characters and events in PTL, this is a distinct story that stands on its own.

We first met Beth in Pushing the Limits. She was the niece of Noah and Isaiah's indifferent foster mother, coming to live with them when her mother's abusive boyfriend hit her one time too many. We don't learn a lot about Beth in PTL, she's sullen and hostile and mostly stoned. We know she's had an unpleasant home life and that her mother has chosen the boyfriend over her, but as PTL is focused on Noah and Echo we don't know much more than that, other than that Isaiah loves her.

Dare You To is billed as Beth's story, but as with PTL it is a shared perspective story with each chapter alternating between the viewpoints of the main characters. I really wanted this to be Beth and Isaiah's story, but it's not.

We start with Ryan Stone, promising baseball player about to enter his senior year. He and his friends play a game of dares, seeing who can get the most girls' phone numbers. They have no intention of calling these girls, it's simply about winning. Ryan is dared to approach a pierced, black haired girl with attitude: Beth. Her refusal to give him her number sparks Ryan's competitive streak. He doesn't do losing.

When Beth gets herself arrested to stop her mother going to jail, her uncle gets involved and takes her to live with him. He asks one of the local boys to show her around the school and help her settle in. It turns out to be Ryan, the obnoxious jock who tried to get her number.

Inevitably, sparks fly and a mutual attraction develops. Can Beth find a way to trust Ryan? And is he worth trusting, or is it all a game to him after all?

I really liked Ryan as a character. Despite his swagger he really is decent and honourable and vulnerable.

Beth's story is heartbreaking. By the end you really want her to find her HEA.

There are a few gratuitous mentions of Noah and Echo, and the book would have worked as well without them. They didn't really add anything to the story, apart from giving Beth a reference for what love looks like.

I didn't love it quite as much as Pushing the Limits, but I loved it enough to read it all in one session, staying up until 2am to do so.

Isaiah's story will be continued in Crash Into You.

My copy of Dare You To was provided by Harlequin UK through netgalley.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The blurb:

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again. 

The story:

"...growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn't necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good."

Echo is damaged, physically and mentally. She has terrible scars on her arms that she tries to hide under gloves and long sleeves and everyone speculates about how she got them, including Echo. She has no memory of the night she was injured. Two years and a procession of therapists haven't been able to help so she doesn't see what the new school social worker, Mrs Collins, thinks she'll be able to do.

Noah had a loving family, once. Now he has a major attitude problem thanks to the screwed up foster care system that took him away from his younger brothers. He will do anything to get them back.

Echo is given the job of tutoring Noah in order to increase his grades and give him a shot at College. Rather inevitably they fall for each other, but more importantly, they help each other to discover the truth and find a way to maybe, one day, be happy.

The verdict:
I loved this book. Really and truly loved it. It reminded me of books that broke my heart as a teenager, books by Judy Blume and Cynthia Voight and John Marsden. McGarry gives us both Echo and Noah's viewpoints. This allows us to sympathise with each character in a way we couldn't if it was just Echo's story. It also creates greater depth. Noah's pain is different to Echo's, but no less important. I'm told that the portrayal of the foster care system is quite accurate. To think that there are thousands of real children going through what Noah has is terribly sad.

This is a romantic coming of age story for two young people faced with gritty reality. I really recommend reading it.

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A year of books

I entered the Goodreads reading challenge for the first time last year. I started low, aiming for 40 books and there were times when I was behind my goal. When I reached that I upped it to 60, and ended the year having read 84 books.

2013 involves a massive move across the world and a lot of changes, so I may not have as much time for reading. I'm aiming for 50 books initially, so around one a week.

My most anticipated book this year is A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I started reading the Wheel of Time series in 2000. It took me three goes to get past the prologue on the first book. In the end I ignored it and just started with Chapter 1 and went back and read the prologue afterwards. It made much more sense then. I read all of the subsequent books, and then Jordan died before he could finish the series. Sanderson was chosen to use Jordan's notes to finish the series, and that finally happens this month when A Memory of Light is published. It's been a long time coming. Will the folk from the Two Rivers overcome the powers of evil? I can't wait to find out!

I have a couple of story ideas banging around my head as well. It's unlikely that anything will come of them, but I'm going to try and get something down on paper this year as well.

What are you aiming to read this year? Is there a book you're particularly looking forward to?

Review: One for the Money - Janet Evanovich

One For The Money by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

This is one that people have suggested I read for quite a while, but I never got around to it. It was released as a film this year starring Katherine Heigl, but it must have been a bit of a flop because I hadn't even heard of it. There is a movie tie in version of the book, but I don't know if that's just a cover change or whether it's been updated a bit.

Stephanie Plum is from New Jersey. She's still expected at her parents' house for dinner at 6pm sharp every evening. She's been without a job for 6 months and has run out of things to hock. Her phone has been cut off and the repo guy (who she went to primary school with) is coming for her Mazda Miata in the morning. Her cousin Vinnie is looking for someone to do some filing, so she swallows her pride and goes to check it out. It turns out the filing job is taken but he does need someone to take over the case load of one of his agents who is in the hospital. Vinnie provides bail to those who need it. If they skip bail, he sends someone to bring them in. After she blackmails him with the threat of telling his wife exactly what he likes to do to ducks (!!!), Vinnie agrees to give her a week to bring in a big murder case. Joe Morelli was a cop charged with murder. He also took Stephanie's virginity when she was sixteen and let the world know about it. She might just enjoy bringing him in.

I enjoyed this quite a bit once the story actually got going. There are a lot of characters to introduce and there's also a lot of description of the neighbourhood. It's dated, almost 20 years old and it really shows. Big hair and spandex a plenty. The story itself holds up well though. It's a fairly standard murder mystery with a bumbling heroine who manages to get herself beaten up far more than is healthy, but it made me laugh in places and I finished it in a day as I was keen to see what would happen next. Next time I have a gap in my reading schedule I'll read the next one.