ARC Review: Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah

Title: Of Scars and Stardust
Author: Andrea Hannah
Release Date: 8th October 2014
Publisher: Flux
Find on: Goodreads

Quick Review: After her little sister mysteriously vanishes, seventeen-year-old Claire Graham has a choice to make: stay snug in her little corner of Manhattan with her dropout boyfriend, or go back to Ohio to face the hometown tragedy she's been dying to leave behind. 

But the memories of that night still haunt her in the city, and as hard as she tries to forget what her psychiatrist calls her "delusions," Claire can't seem to escape the wolf's eyes or the blood-speckled snow. Delusion or reality, Claire knows she has to hold true to the most important promise she's ever made: to keep Ella safe. She must return to her sleepy hometown in order to find Ella and keep her hallucinations at bay before they strike again. But time is quickly running out, and as Ella's trail grows fainter, the wolves are becoming startlingly real.

Now Claire must deal with her attraction to Grant, the soft-spoken boy from her past that may hold the secret to solving her sister's disappearance, while following the clues that Ella left for only her to find. Through a series of cryptic diary entries, Claire must unlock the keys to Ella's past—and her own—in order to stop another tragedy in the making, while realizing that not all things that are lost are meant to be found.

ARC Review: Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett

Title: Words and Their Meanings
Author: Kate Bassett
Release Date: 8th September 2014
Publisher: Flux
Find on: Goodreads

Quick Review: Anna O’Mally doesn’t believe in the five stages of grief. Her way of dealing with death equates to daily bouts of coffin yoga and fake-tattooing Patti Smith quotes onto her arms. Once a talented writer, Anna no longer believes words matter, until shocking discoveries– in the form of origami cranes– force her to redefine family and love.

As Anna goes in search of the truth, she discovers that while every story, every human being, has a last line, it might still be possible to find the words for a new beginning.

Detailed Review:  This book was raw, so raw that it's impossible to read the book in one sitting.  The emotion in this book overwhelms you too easily. It's too much to take in all at once. 

The first thing you should do before reading a book like Words and Their Meanings is to prepare yourself for the impossible to happen. And to prove myself, I'll use Anna, the main character's prized first line: 'The universe is made of possibility.' This book proves this line right.

Anna has lost one of the people she loved most, her 'bruncle' Joe and the ways she copes with his death are coffin yoga and Patti Smith.

One year later, she still can't let go but she decides to take up her mom's suggestion of a summer job just so she won't be sent to 'hell'. The summer job becomes more than she bargains for as she gains the attraction of one of the cooks and Anna is once again forced to acknowledge her own existence.

After breaking into her bruncle's room and she finds a letter in a paper crane, it sends her knowledge of Joe spiralling to the ground. When her grandfather fell into a coma after an accident, everything goes downhill, and secrets are uncovered.

The secrets are the twists; each character in the book has their own, which I think is what makes the book unique because it shows that peple aren't what they seem, even the ones you love most. 

The characters had lots of depth and certainly contributed much to the emotion of the story. Anne's grief and bitterness got to me easily. If she were to exist in real life and hear her story, I'd probably break down and cry. Anne was a beautiful character. She isn't perfect; in fact, she's deeply flawed. She can be selfish sometimes and she's not as tough as she seems. The only thing she's good at is writing. That changed when she failed a highly prized writing program. Her ability to write was lost from then on. However, I still thought Anna was a strong character because she made it through so long and coped with everything: her bruncle's death, her family crumbling to pieces, her grandfather's accident. Finally she proved herself to be strong enough to let go. This is what got to me especially. The realness of her character scored points for the book.

*am on the verge of spoiling this book for you but I won't*

Words and Their Meanings shows how much you would do to keep the people you love close to you so you won't lose them, up to the extent when you become selfish and ultimately cause something unintentional to happen. It also tells you that even the people you love has secrets they will never tell you.

The romance doesn't disappoint either. *wiggles eyebrows* But I think the main focus shouldn't be on the romance. Keep your eyes to the story.

Brief Review: Never have I read a novel that felt so fresh and raw that it leaves metaphorical scars and welts on my heart. This book doesn't disappoint at all, it was more than I expected it to be. Kate Bassett brings you a touching story of grief, love, regret, family and secrets that will ultimately send you into tears as you follow Anna through her story and the reasons for her actions. In the end, what you will get from her story is: to move on you have to let go. 

Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing!'

QUOTE:

 This quote made me think of this book:

A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept---Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Your Reviewer:

Blog Tour Review: L.L Akers, 'LET ME GO'

 Let Me Go by  L.L Akers

Genre: New Adult, Coming-of-age,

Written by: L.L Akers

Available as: Paperback, Kindle version

Buy it here

Published by: SmArt Group Consulting, LLC




Meet Twin sisters Gabriella and Olivia and step into their world of crushing heartbreak, constant fear and anguish.

Reading 'Let Me Go' was almost like an out-of-world experience for me, like I was watching myself read the book, but I was right within those pages, looking out at the person holding the book.

It is a story about a trio of sisters struggling to cope with abuse, while trying to fight for their families survival.

Prior to starting the book, I asked around a little, (as always) to get a feel of other peoples views on the matter and I was shocked to see just how many people either didn't realize or didn't want to realize just how much truth there was to the story. I couldn't believe how often I heard the words

''GROSS EXAGGERATION''

And 20 percent of me agrees, there may have been slight exaggeration in a handful of chapters, for dramatic purposes, but apart from that, I'd say Akers hit the mark dead on.

The issue with domestic and or sexual abuse is, and will always be, that you can never judge the severity of it unless you've experienced it first hand, no matter how much you've read up on it. That's just how it is, you may disagree with that, but that is the truth.

Like reading all about being an Olympic Swimmer doesn't make you any more qualified than the next guy.

The sad reality is- the stories we encounter in Let Me Go are sadly not uncommon and it pains me to read reviews where people speak about it like it's nothing, a mere term that holds no importance whatsoever.
As if one was just discussing the weather or what they've had for dinner.

It's an issue that has weighed heavy on my mind for a couple of years now, but I won't get into it too much otherwise this review will spiral completely out of control!

I've watched so many families being ripped apart by the effects of all different kinds of abuse, (my mother being one of those women affected) that reading and reviewing this book was very important to me on a very personal level and I truly enjoyed getting a copy early on to do just that!

There is so, so much that can be learned from this book, it almost overwhelmed me. Issues like- why does a victim try to keep it all a secret? Surely the first thing you'd do is tell someone?
 But I'm afraid it's not quite that simple.

That said, I think it's safe to say that it was very easy for me to connect with each of the 3 sisters.

 I truly appreciated just how much research had to have gone into the making of this book, especially as  it was written purely as a work of fiction, with no 'real' truth to it.


On a different note, I found it incredibly refreshing that the characters in the book were portrayed as normal girls, no perky blondes with troubled hearts but otherwise flawless appearance, but girls who share their mistakes and let you into their hearts, which for me, resulted in buckets full of tears and raw emotion.



It's wonderful that once again, an author used their power to give a voice to all those victims out there, because believe you me, if you've been affected by domestic and or sexual abuse, or know someone who is/was,
you're not alone in this.
There will always be someone to support you.

If you need help, get it. No matter how dark the way.

Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing'

Review brought to you by: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway