Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books That Came Into My Possesion

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday was an excellent fit for me this week because I had been approved several books on Netgalley and I do look forward to reading them in the future.

                                                              Breakaway - Kat Spears                                      

Confessions Of A Queen B* - Crista McHugh

Concentr8 - William Sutcliffe

  

                                                Operation Josh Taylor - Melody Fitzpatrick

After Dark - James Leck

Being Layla Hart - Amanda McKelt

Come Sit By Me - Thomas Hoobler

A Devil Under The Skin - Anya Lipska

                                                   When Darkness Falls - Liz Kreger

                                              Rise Of The Iron Eagle - Roy A. Teel Jr

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link up in the community originating from

The Broke And The Bookish 



Confessions Of A Queen B* - Crista McHugh

I was granted the right to read this book before its official publication date and I'm grateful for the opportunity.




Title: Confessions Of A Queen B
Author: Crista McHugh
Publisher: Crista McHugh
Publication Date: 28th July 2015
Available Editions: EBook


NetGalley Synopsis:


Alexis Wyndham is the other type of Queen B—the Queen Bitch.

After years of being the subject of ridicule, she revels in her ability to make the in-crowd cower via the exposés on her blog, The Eastline Spy. Now that she's carved out her place in the high school hierarchy, she uses her position to help the unpopular kids walking the hallways.

Saving a freshman from bullies? Check.
Swapping insults with the head cheerleader? Check.
Falling for the star quarterback? So not a part of her plan.

But when Brett offers to help her solve the mystery of who’s posting X-rated videos from the girls’ locker room, she’ll have to swallow her pride and learn to see past the high school stereotypes she’s never questioned—until now.


Review:


What attracted me to this book when I saw it on Netgalley was definitely the bright colour used on the cover, that was enough to spark my interest and I have no idea why. after reading the description I had basically pleaded with my email to refresh and tell me I had been allowed to read it. Thankfully I got the email. This book was the third book in my sleepless marathon after finding a spider close to my face so it was around 3 am when I started reading it and 6:42 ish when I had completed it.




There were so many good parts in the book I found it kind of hard to choose only a few. First of all the story progression was excellent, there was a seamless flow between events and the level of description was just right, it wasn't just a sentence to describe something but it wasn't a 30 page paragraph on describing the colour of a shirt which is excellent. The hidden messages aren't hidden when you read them because the messages are literally there and you're reading it and there is no need to interpret things even though that is also possible. As much as I love hidden messages, at 3am until nearly 7am I'm really grateful they were spelt out for me. One other grate thing about this book was that there were enough characters to make it interesting but not too many to confuse you on who's who which is always a plus.


Sticking with the characters the book focuses on two characters, Alexis and Brett. They were certainly what I class as total opposites when I first read them being in social interactions with each other. Alexis' character is quite fierce, she intimidates everyone, she's very clever and if you have skeletons in your closet? she'd find them and then publicly expose you on her blog. Brett is what people assume to be the biggest asshole of the lot, he would be perceived as the guy who sleeps around a lot and cant hold a relationship longer than a week but in fact Brett is completely different, he is more knowledgeable and friendly, he aims to correct the ways of his stupid jock friends and unlike everyone else, isn't intimidated by Alexis. There are of course other characters like Alexis' best friends Morgan and Richard but I never felt like they fully supported Alexis, I mean yes Richard was always there to talk to but Morgan was always so pushy for Alexis to lose the V card with the possibility she may not be so up tight. I definitely went though a faze of disliking and liking her best friends but overall they weren't so bad.


As I've mentioned a few times it took me over 3 hours to finish this book, but that was continuously so I didn't even stop to drink at any time it was just a straight page after page read and in all honesty even if I wanted a drink I probably wouldn't of stopped for one because I was so into the book that if I was to stop maybe id miss something or id forget something and the whole book would of been ruined.




                                                SPOILERS ALERT: you have been warned.


Okay so as you can probably figure out, Alexis tried to deny her love for Brett but after having to put up with each other for a while the two begin to soften around each other. Alexis always trying to find something to hold against Brett to post on her blog and humiliate him much like she had done with several other students and even teachers, but she feels he never really deserved to be humiliated so never does post a Brett post. However, the more undeniably in love with each other they become, the more weary Alexis becomes because she isn't sure she trusts him enough to open up but having kept a secret to herself about the secret camera in the changing rooms that she took down after it streamed footage of the cheerleading squad naked onto YouTube, she can only seek Brett's help to find out who it is on the other end when it happens for a second time. They both remove the second camera but end up having a steamy moment when they are avoiding the detection of the principal and the coach. Soon they find out who's behind the streaming of the videos and everything calms down and then the couple finally admit their love for each other but Alexis cant take the step yet, she simply isn't ready and agree on being friends but its clear at the end of the book that she clearly wants to be more than friends but just needs a little time, and a little more time alone with Brett.


Much like any book, this book had a problem, I wouldn't call it a major problem but more of something id of liked to of seen. This was the relationship between Alexis and her sister Taylor, they are both opposites but Alexis still cares for her sister, hence the frantic search to find whoever was streaming the footage from the changing rooms which features Taylor. I'd if liked to of seen the pair bond and spend more time together.


It wasn't until I was nearly finished writing this review that I found out this is actually going to be a trilogy. This book alone is great and could be left at the point it ended but the fact the author had made two more books is simply exciting and I cannot wait to see more Alexis and Brett.
I have no trouble giving this book a 5 out of 5 and I cannot wait for the seconds and third book.

Come Sit By Me - Thomas Hoobler

I had the greatest pleasure to gain access to this book. Thank you to the publisher for granting me the right to read and review this book.


Title: Come Sit By Me
Author: Thomas Hoobler
Publisher: Booktrope
Publication Date: July 15th 2015
Available Editions: EBook




Netgalley Synopsis:

The boy who shot seven people in the school library is dead. But did his secrets die with him?
Something terrible happened at Hamilton High last year, and those who survived don't want to relive the past. But Paul has just arrived, and gets the same locker that the shooter used. He wants to know what really happened...and you know what curiosity did to the cat.




Review:

In all honesty when I came upon this book on Netgalley I had to request the right to review purely down to the description and the cover itself. To anyone who had watched American Horror Story: Murder House will be able to see why. To anyone who hasn't seen AHS:MH what I'm referring to it Tate Langdon played by Evan Peters who shot and killed 15 students in Westfield High, the librarian survived but was paralysed. A few of the students he shot and killed died in the library which is also where those murdered in this book die. The art work for the book also resembled Tate/Evan from AHS:MH because of the face pain, Tate is shown in several scenes to be walking through school wearing similar face paint. None the less for the sake of review and interest I went ahead and requested the right to read and review the book.




Lets start with what I loved about the book shall we? Even though I believed it to be a basic story based around a version of Tate I was deceived. This book follows Paul, a boy who moves to a new school from New York. It's great to get to know Pauls back ground and reasoning's for moving and there is never a moment where I had lost track of the moment, everything tied together perfectly. There were several characters but never so many that you would lose track of who was who and what happened to who and I'm grateful for that. You could say there were some secret messages throughout the book but they aren't for me to spoil or even interpret for you, everyone understands things differently.




Picking up on the character aspect once again, each character attracted my attention because they were all relevant to the story and not just passers by. The story mostly focus' around Paul who is just a boy who does his homework, reads, writes for the schools paper and socialises, even though it sounds bland put like that Paul is a dedicated investigator even when he's told its not worth it and is always up to try something new. Terry is a red headed independent and straight A girl with red hair, she runs the schools paper and is far from dumb, she absorbs everything she observes including activities carried out by Paul. She is an independent and strong willed female and always supportive and good to be around. Caleb/Cale is the gunman who we hear a lot about throughout the first part of the book before we finally take a look into his life. He seems quite dumb and seems to be the loner of the school but he has a certain look on life that isn't all a load of poop. Even though he's portrayed as the bad person in the book you do get to know of his reasoning and such, this is great to see as it isn't just 'oh he's a baddy because he's bad' there is an actual explanation as to why.


Consisting of 103 pages I would call it a short read but it took me one hour less to read this than to read an 151 paged book somehow. No matter anyway, I was surprised to say the least, everything was clear and intriguing to read, never a dull moment. The reason I sat to read this today/tonight/this morning  was only because after I had posted my review on Being Layla Hart, I found a spider right by my face on the wall and couldn't sleep so I spent 3 hours reading to be just as awake as I had been three hours earlier.




I'm not actually go into a brief description of the plot because it was so marvellous, I'm highly recommending you to read it yourself and not just read what I write. As much as I mention American Horror Story at the beginning, that is by far the only criticism I can have for this book. It's a great book and I recommend it to anyone who A. wants a quick read B. loves investigation. If you apply to B I want to know if you figure it out before the end of the book. By it I mean it, you'll know when you read it. I have no regret to give this book a 5 out of 5

Being Layla Hart - Amanda McKelt

So I was granted the amazing right to read this book before its release and I cannot thank the publisher enough for allowing me to do so.











Title: Being Layla Hart
Author: Amanda McKelt
Publisher: Amanda McKelt
Publication Date: April 26th 2015

Available Editions: Ebook



Netgalley Synopsis:
April Collins is freaking out. She completely embarrassed herself in front of the most crushable guy in school. There's no way she's returning to school,like, EVER. Why can't she be pretty, popular and perfect like Layla Hart? Layla is a phony online profile - that is, until April wakes up as her! Will popularity prove as easy as it seems? And what happens when April's crush finally notices her... as Layla?

Review:


Reading the description on Netgalley and seeing the book cover was what sparked my interest. Mostly because I wanted to see how the author would manage to make this concept work. Not only this but I was also happy to read it for review to build up a profile of reviews.

I'd like to start with a few points that I loved about the book. There is an overall message in the book, about how April must accept who she really is and to be okay with herself in order to get rid of Layla. Not only this the topics and characters all were what I could call relevant to teenagers and some people could relate to some and maybe all of the characters and topics throughout.

Continuing on the line of characters, they are very interesting, Layla/April is just a normal teen, just wanting popularity and the cute and totally crushable boy. Sofia seemed to be a strong and independent female in terms of her self worth and was a good person for April to be around because of how supportive and independent she was.

This book was also a quick read, taking me only around 4 hours to complete after dedicated long reading periods. As quick of a read it was, it was also very strange, I found it confusing in terms of the parenting within the book and also the explanation of what is occurring.


ALERT: SPOILERISH PART: You have been warned.

So of course April becomes Layla Hart, I wasn't really sure at how I wanted the change to occur but when it did occur and I managed to figure it out as how it happened, I wasn't too disappointed but slightly amused at how the author had gone about it. Having actually become Layla, she cannot reveal it to her mother or brother and no one but her best friend and one other person knows who she is. What confused me here is that after making up an exchange programme where April went to America and Layla had turned up in her place, Aprils mother didn't even call the school to talk it over, she just simply let it happen, for the sake of staying engaged in the story, I went along with it.

I managed to grasp the concept of location, so the book was set in Australia with the mention of the United States, however it was never clearly pointed out when the story started out. However I picked it up and it wasn't too much of a confusion for me.

My last point is the lack of explanation of what actually happened to April/Layla, the books just seems to rush at the end like in the matter of a page or so was back to normal no questions asked nothing and it ended in the blink of an eye. Considering its anti climatic ending I did enjoy the book and have no problem with giving the book a 4 out of 5 on rating I just wish that the ending was explained maybe an update of how April finally accepted herself.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something quick to read and enjoys a little bit of secret meaning to a book.

All I Know Now:Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully - Carrie Hope Fletcher

We all know that growing up is at sometimes, hard. At times we rely on the reassuring words of someone who had walked along that winding road a few strides in front of you and has ended up as a fully-functioning adult.

Carrie Hope Fletcher is that person. Thanks to her massively popular YouTube videos, Acting and Singing, Carrie has become an 'honorary big sister' to hundreds of thousands of young people across the world who turn to her for advice, friendship and, most of all, the knowledge that things will get better on a daily basis. Being the younger sister of Tom Fletcher, the lead singer of Mcfly currently 1/6th of McBusted sounds like the perfect life but even so, Carrie grew up facing problems every teenager/young adult has.

Carrie has created a positive place for young people to connect and share their hopes and concerns online, and now she shares her personal thoughts and experiences in her first book. Part memoir, part advice guide, it includes Carrie's thoughts on some of the topics she's asked about regularly: bullying, body image, relationships and one of the scariest question of all: what does the future hold? With warmth, humour and a sprinkling of hard-won wisdom, Carrie provides the essential tools for growing up gracefully... for the most part.

Being a fellow McBusted/Mcfly fan I grew up knowing the Fletcher family but none of the deep personal  experiences until Tom released a small part of his life in the Mcfly book. This book is so different due to is humour and advice. Watching Carrie on YouTube had often bought me happiness in tough times, or just so I could keep up to date with her. She's played a sister role to so many young people it takes my breath away and even at time Carrie can not see how she is anyone's roll model.

Throughout the book my emotions were riding a roller coaster, I laughed cried and shrivelled up into a ball and wailed like a banshee at times. I somehow always found the will to carry on reading until the end. I'm always touched by the stories of people due to how truly underestimated they are, just because they seem to have abetter life than you or just because they're famous to a point doesn't mean they get an easy life, the book really does show the truth behind it all. From the front page to the final one I imagined it was Carrie reading it to me because they were all her words, I couldn't find one word that didn't feel like she had written to explain something, it all seemed so her.

I fully recommend this to any teenager who has or currently is finding it hard to be a teenager just so they know they are not alone and be able to see things to get better. I also recommend it to anyone who wants a good read because even if you don't think anything in the book could relate to you, you could find something. My hat goes off to Carrie for creating such a beautiful book.

Book Rating /5
5

Geek Girl Model Misfit - Holly Smale

After having such fun and enjoyment out of reading the first book I thought it was worth diving into the second. Of course I read it all in one day once again.

In Model Misfit, Harriet takes an trip to Tokyo, Japan, where she has wanted to travel to since she was six years old. She begins to create a New and Infinitely More Glorious Summer Plan 2 flow chart since she has been dumped by Lion Boy, abandoned by her best friend and her family don't seem to want to be around her any more.
I couldn’t help saying ‘awgh Harriet’ every few chapters, and if you read it, you will see why. It’s full of surprises, and not just for Harriet.

Model Misfit is as funny as Geek Girl, with little moments which are made even funnier because they actually happen. I loved it because I came to know every character well, i do say to anyone who reads it, expect the unexpected.
I simply enjoyed reading it.

Since reading it I've decided Japan is rising on my To Visit list. Maybe I won't live in a model flat, or have to wake up at 4am for a photo shoot or in fact experience any of the things Harriet did but even still.

One great thing about Geek Girl is that it's full of those facts you wouldn't ever come to know just by coincidence when surfing the Internet the whole day.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a giggle or a quick read or simply just needs more books on their shelves.

Book Rating :
5/5

Geek Girl - Holly Smale

I discovered the first two books of Geek Girl in the middle of the book Isle in a store and I spent several minutes there lookin at what to buy. In the end I bought both of the Geek Girls that I found and planned to take them on holiday that was coming up.

These books didn't make it out on holiday because of the heat, it begun to crinkle pages and I didn't want it to happen to these books. So I read John Green books I side in the room with air conditioning and never got round to reading the Geek Girl books until now. 8 months or so after buying them I sat to read the first of the series, after discovering the one book I had read was hard to get into. So at 10:30 I sat in bed and begun reading, 2:33pm came and I was still in bed and I had read Geek Girl cover to cover.

Geek Girl is a quick read, it’s the story of 15-year-old Harriet Manners.
You see, Harriet is a geek. She knows this because she looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary sitting on her bedside table. Harriet has one friend (fashion loving Nat) and a stalker (even geekier Toby), and everybody hates her. But I cany understand why: Harriet’s personality shines through from the very first page, and I was hooked.

Geek Girl shows us, like we didn’t already know, that people with intelligence and enthusiasm, especially when they are teenagers, can (unfortunately) sometimes fall subject to bullying,  as Harriet discovers when her biggest enemy Alexa Roberts humiliates her in class. But is her modeling career going to solve all of the problems?

Aside from our protagonist, Geek Girl is full of wonderful and witty characters. From Annabell, Harriet’s suit-wearing stepmother and her overly enthusiastic father, to her wild fashion agent with a talent for turning any phrase into a nickname.
It’s delightful and funny and silly, yet you’ll learn some fantastic conversation-starters (or stoppers). I must admit I giggled a lot when I read this book but thats because well written books dont take much to make me giggle aha.

I enjoyed every page of the book and would recommend this book to any geek or any none geek. Hell  I recommend it to anyone.

Rating:/5
5/5