Wink Poppy Midnight
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Published: March 22, 2016
247 pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.
Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.
What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.
Kim’s Review:
I’m not gonna lie: I didn’t get this book. Y’all know that I’m a pretty shallow person and it’s easy for me to miss deep stuff, and I think I may have missed some stuff in this book. I enjoyed reading it, and I couldn’t wait to find out how it ended, which is why I gave it 4 stars. I think this was about a girl who got lost in fairy tales and couldn’t live in reality. Add in some teenager drama, some romance, some mystery, and you have Wink Poppy Midnight. And this is another one of those books that I can’t give much info because then I’ll give away too much. I would suggest going into this book with very little info, the way I suggested to read an E. Lockhart book.
So, I’ll just say that I did enjoy reading it, I may not have “gotten it” but it was an interesting read. I also liked Midnight. He’s a smart kid who, I believe, will mature into a smart adult. There is some language and some adult themes, but nothing too graphic, so I’d say this is safe to read for older teens. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a different read. It was easy, but it was just different.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
This Darkness Mine
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Published: October 10, 2017
352 pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Sasha Stone knows her place—first-chair clarinet, top of her class, and at the side of her oxford-wearing boyfriend. She’s worked her entire life to ensure that her path to Oberlin Conservatory as a star musician is perfectly paved.
But suddenly there’s a fork in the road, in the shape of Isaac Harver. Her body shifts toward him when he walks by, her skin misses his touch even though she’s never known it, and she relishes the smell of him—smoke, beer, and trouble—all the things she’s avoided to get where she is. Even worse, every time he’s near Sasha, her heart stops, literally. Why does he know her so well—too well—and she doesn’t know him at all?
Sasha discovers that her by-the-book life began by ending another’s: the twin sister she absorbed in the womb. But that doesn’t explain the gaps of missing time in her practice schedule or the memories she has of things she certainly never did with Isaac. As Sasha loses her much-cherished control, her life—and heart—become more entangled with Isaac. Armed with the knowledge that her heart might not be hers alone, Sasha must decide what she’s willing to do—and who she’s willing to hurt—to take it back.
Edgar Award–winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a dark and gripping psychological thriller about a girl at war with herself, and what it really means to be good or bad.
Kim’s Review:
I was so excited about this book! I saw it on EpicReads and all over booktube so I asked my mom to get it for me for Christmas. She obliged and so I started reading. I’ll admit that it started a little slowly, which is why I gave it 4 stars. I liked Sasha a lot because I could totally relate to her. I was the one in high school who sat and read and studied while everyone else was hanging out and going to parties. I was sheltered and easily offended by bad language and off-color jokes. Thankfully, I did not find out that I was a twin who absorbed my sibling in the womb! I totally understand how that would throw a teen for a loop!
And unfortunately, that’s when I started really disliking Sasha! I have no patience for kids who are disrespectful to their parents and manipulates the people around them by being fake. By the end, Sasha is just another stupid, millennial teen who can’t take any responsibility for her own actions. But, the story was awesome! Once it got going, I could barely put it down. In a world of the same stories being rehashed and retold over and over again, this was an original book and I loved it! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone. Definitely some language and mature content, so I would save this for older teens.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Unnatural Deeds
Author: Cyn Balog
Published: November 1, 2016
274 pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Victoria Zell doesn’t fit in, not that she cares what anyone thinks. She and her homeschooled boyfriend, Andrew, are inseparable. All they need is each other. That is, until Zachary Zimmerman joins her homeroom. Within an hour of meeting, he convinces good-girl Vic to cut class. And she can’t get enough of that rush.
Despite Vic’s loyalty to Andrew, she finds her life slowly entwining with Z’s. Soon she’s lying to everyone she knows and breaking all the rules to be with Z. She can’t get enough of him—or unraveling the stories of the family he’s determined to keep hidden.
Except Z’s not the only one with a past. Straight-laced Vic is hiding her own secrets…secrets that are about to destroy everything in her path.
Kim’s Review:
Cyn Balog is one of my new faves! I read Alone earlier in the year and it blew my mind!!! I decided to read Unnatural Deeds and I tried really hard not to compare the two books . . . but I don’t think I did such a hot job. I think if I had read Unnatural Deeds before Alone, then I might have given it 5 stars. Alone was just so powerful and shocking and jarring. Unnatural Deeds was far more subtle.
Vic was an odd character and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about her. And my inner teacher came out when Z showed up. Skipping classes, under achiever, ultra-popular . . . I wanted to strangle him! He’s one of those kids with so much potential, smart, able to accomplish anything he could possibly want, yet unwilling to work for it. But I’ll admit that he helped me commit to the story!
There is a nice twist at the end that satisfied my need for the psychologically crazy. So overall, I enjoyed this book and I think its perfect for someone who likes twisty stores, just without being super creepy. I would save this book for older teens because of language and some immature subject matter. A really good book!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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