Invisible Ghosts by Robyn Schneider
Author: Robyn Schneider
Published: June 5, 2018
320 Pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Rose Asher believes in ghosts. She should, since she has one for a best friend: Logan, her annoying, Netflix-addicted brother, who is forever stuck at fifteen. But Rose is growing up, and when an old friend moves back to Laguna Canyon and appears in her drama class, things get complicated.
Jamie Aldridge is charming, confident, and a painful reminder of the life Rose has been missing out on since her brother’s death. She watches as Jamie easily rejoins their former friends–a group of magnificently silly theater nerds–while avoiding her so intensely that it must be deliberate.
Yet when the two of them unexpectedly cross paths, Rose learns that Jamie has a secret of his own, one that changes everything. Rose finds herself drawn back into her old life–and to Jamie. But she quickly starts to suspect that he isn’t telling her the whole truth.
All Rose knows is that it’s becoming harder to choose between the boy who makes her feel alive and the brother she isn’t ready to lose.
Kim’s Review:
I love Schneider’s books! Her first two were awesome and as soon as I saw she wrote another, I bought it pronto! This one isn’t as strong as her first two, but it was still good! The premise of Rose’s brother coming back as a ghost was an interesting twist that I wasn’t expecting from Schneider. But she is the queen of emotional teen stories (the non-annoying kind) and Invisible Ghosts delivered. I loved the easy banter between the friends and they are totally the kids that I wish were at my school. I’m not gonna say much in this review (shocker!) because there isn’t much I can say without ruining the experience. As sappy as it sounds, Schneider’s books need to be felt and enjoyed. So a not annoying, feeling, story about teens . . . Boom. I would keep this book for older teens, due to some language. But I do recommend Invisible Ghosts, a very good book!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Someone Knows
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: April 9, 2019
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: April 30- May 7, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars
Book Description:
Twenty years ago, in an upscale suburb of Philadelphia, four teenagers spent a summer as closest friends: drinking, sharing secrets, testing boundaries. When a new boy looked to join them, they decided to pull a prank on him, convincing him to play Russian roulette as an initiation into their group. They secretly planned to leave the gun unloaded—but what happened next would change each of them forever.
Now three of the four reunite for the first time since that horrible summer. The guilt—and the lingering question about who loaded the gun—drove them apart. But after one of the group apparently commits suicide with a gun, their old secrets come roaring back. One of them is going to figure out if the new suicide is what it seems, and if it connects to the events of that long-ago summer. Someone knows exactly what happened—but who? And how far will they go to keep their secrets buried?
Jessica’s Review:
I adore Lisa Scottoline and she is one of my ‘go to’ authors. I will want to read her upcoming book without even knowing what it is about. That being said, Someone Knows had an intriguing description that failed miserably for me. It was like she went solely for the ‘shock factor’ with this one, with a lot being unnecessary. For me all of the characters except for Allie are 100% unlikeable. They all are dysfunctional in some way, some worse than others. With their issues combined you also see their immaturity.
Scottoline doesn’t usually write teen characters, and this novel shows she may need to stay away from teens and stick with adults. The backstory to all the characters was not needed for me as I was not invested in these characters. I wanted to get to the night in question and back to present day.
The last quarter of the book involved the climax, but I just wanted to get to the end. When I got to the final twist it was so unbelievable I just rolled my eyes. Everything was ‘to the extreme’ on this one, especially with one particular character, and I am still not sure why this character did what they did. The story also comes around full circle and tied in a bow for the ending, but that bow was not pretty.
I hate to say this, but stay away from Someone Knows and read Scottoline’s other novels.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
Author: Kate Quinn
Published: February 26, 2019
560 Pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
In the aftermath of war, the hunter becomes the hunted…
Bold, reckless Nina Markova grows up on the icy edge of Soviet Russia, dreaming of flight and fearing nothing. When the tide of war sweeps over her homeland, she gambles everything to join the infamous Night Witches, an all-female night bomber regiment wreaking havoc on Hitler’s eastern front. But when she is downed behind enemy lines and thrown across the path of a lethal Nazi murderess known as the Huntress, Nina must use all her wits to survive.
British war correspondent Ian Graham has witnessed the horrors of war from Omaha Beach to the Nuremberg Trials. He abandons journalism after the war to become a Nazi hunter, yet one target eludes him: the Huntress. Fierce, disciplined Ian must join forces with brazen, cocksure Nina, the only witness to escape the Huntress alive. But a shared secret could derail their mission, unless Ian and Nina force themselves to confront it.
Seventeen-year-old Jordan McBride grows up in post WWII Boston, determined despite family opposition to become a photographer. At first delighted when her long-widowed father brings home a fiancée, Jordan grows increasingly disquieted by the soft-spoken German widow who seems to be hiding something. Armed only with her camera and her wits, Jordan delves into her new stepmother’s past and slowly realizes there are mysteries buried deep in her family. But Jordan’s search for the truth may threaten all she holds dear.
Kim’s Review:
I loved this book so much!! It has everything historical fiction should. The timeline was clear and flowed easily. There wasn’t a single character that I disliked.They all had chemistry that worked well. And what was so nice was that I already knew who the Huntress was. It was obvious from the very beginning and the story was far more about the journey, the backgrounds of the characters, the research, the legal details. There were certain mysteries that unraveled the further into the book I got. It was interesting learning how Anneliese got from Germany to the US. I thought Ian’s journalism throughout the war was an interesting twist. I absolutely fell in love with Tony! Everything about him was perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing. Nina was a frickin badass and I think there should be more female characters like her! She and Jordan, the young photographer who was never taken seriously but had great dreams, should be the role models put out for girls today!
To be honest, the technicalities of photography never interested me much, but Jordan’s passion was contagious. The emotions were so thick and I felt the tension build more and more. I got so invested in the outcome that I couldn’t put the book down! I definitely recommend this book and I know consider it to be one of my favorite historical fiction books!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
