Posts Tagged "Young Adult Fiction"

A serial killer on the loose.
A girl with a morbid ability.
And a boy who would never let anything happen to her.

Violet Ambrose can find the dead. Or at least, those who have been murdered. She can sense the echoes they leave behind… and the imprints they leave on their killers. As if that weren’t enough to deal with during her junior year, she also has a sudden, inexplicable, and consuming crush on her best friend since childhood, Jay Heaton.

Now a serial killer has begun terrorizing Violet’s small town… and she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Fill with suspense, a gripping romance, and deadly consequences, The Body Finder is an impressive debut novel that’s impossible to put down.

Violet has known that she was different since she was eight years old. That was when she discovered her first murdered body, although at the time, she had no idea that it was the start of a supernatural ability for finding the dead. It’s the kind of thing that can’t be explained by normal or natural circumstances and Violet knows that she needs to keep this to herself. Her family knows, and so does Jay – her best friend – but she’s managed to keep it from everyone else.

She’s in her junior year now and there is a lot going on. Over the past few months, Jay seemed to transform from regular old Jay into an irresistible chick magnet, and it’s driving Violet bananas. She knows she shouldn’t care so much; he’s just her best friend after all. But the more attention Jay receives from her classmates, the more Violet realizes that she doesn’t think of him that way anymore. It seems that Violet has jumped on the Jay-loving bandwagon, too, and she wants him all for herself. But Violet knows her feelings are irrational and sets about pushing them aside. He’s been her friend for far too long…

Then, as if Fate was mocking her in the cruellest way possible, Violet gets the distraction she’s looking for. Teenage girls (girls that she knows) start going missing. When Violet stumbles across the first body, she knows it was murder. The echo left behind is a direct indication that it was so. Then another turns up, and another. When the police have little luck uncovering even a hint of a clue that points to the killer, Violet realizes she might be the only one capable of actually finding him. It’s dangerous, sure, but she can’t just sit by and do nothing.

Would you?

But Violet is just a girl and her serial killer is a skilled hunter. In the game of cat and mouse, who normally wins…?

Jay is a lovable character and it’s easy to understand why the girls are falling all over him. He’s very protective of Violet, he’s handsome – he’s the ultimate package really. Although I couldn’t pin point one particular characteristic that may cause a bit of a fangirl frenzy among readers, I think his loyalty and how much he cares about Violet is going to win him many points with the ladies. While he may not top the Fave Male Characters Of All Time list, he’s not exactly forgettable, either.

Violet seems like a regular teen with regular teen problems. There are so many strong female characters around in YA Lit at the moment that are so supernaturally charged they can’t possibly resemble regular teens. Although she does possess a supernatural ability, Violet strikes me as pretty normal. She experiences regular teen emotions and she’s dealing with regular teen problems on top of the whole murder mystery thing. Overall, The Body Finder feels much more like a teen mystery than a supernatural story.

I was a little creeped out by the pages that were written in the point-of-view of the murderer. Being inside someone’s head that is obviously as messed up as he is gives me the heebee jeebees. It goes to show that you just can’t trust anyone these days…

This one has romance, murder, suspense, mystery, and a whole lot more. All in all, The Body Finder has a little something for everyone and is bound to be a hit with readers or any age.

Pages: 327

Publication date: 2010

Rating::

Teaser quote: “But he was bigger and stronger and his hands reached up behind her to the back of her head, ignoring her denials and pinning her in place. When his mouth finally landed on hers, the combination of his alcohol soaked breath and his brutish unrestrained actions made her quiver sickly beneath him …… she felt like she was going to puke.”

Special Announcement:

yaReads is participating in Kimberly Derting’s promotional blog tour for The Body Finder. Tune back in on Feburary 11 – that’s two days from now, folks – for more Kimberly Derting goodness!

Some nightmares never end.

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They’re just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.

Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody’s talking. When Janie taps into a classmate’s violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open – but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie’s in way over her head, and Cabe’s shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability – and its bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what’s to come is way darker than she’d feared…

Janie has slotted into her new life as an undercover detective well. It seems to give her a sense of purpose, that her gift is being used for the greater good. But it does have its downsides – like not being able to be seen publicly with Cabe. They’ve been an item for a while now and they’ve never even been on a real date. Janie’s friends don’t know that she’s even involved with someone. That part really sucks.

But it’s necessary, and they both know it. That doesn’t make it any easier, though. Especially when Janie gets assigned to a case that entails Janie trying to seduce a teacher. Someone at Fieldridge High is doing the dirty with students, and Captain wants Janie to find out exactly who it is.

And Cabel hates every single second of the assignment. When Janie gets herself into a bit of trouble, Cabel does something that only adds to her already big pit of bad.

As if having to seduce her teacher wasn’t enough, Janie starts noticing that stuff with her body isn’t working quite right either. She does some digging and stumbles across a piece of information that breaks her already busted heart.

Although it’s only 248 pages long, a whole lot happens in this novel. Janie and Cabel take their relationship to several places of unchartered territory. I’m sure girls all over the country will swoon, scream in despair, sigh in relief, and throw their books against bedroom walls as the events unfold before their eyes.

McMann has mastered the art of ‘less is more’ and crafts her tale in surprisingly few words. Her writing style is unique, enjoyable, and more than a little addictive. The narrative moves along at an engaging pace and never once did I find myself wanting to skip over paragraphs, sentences, or even single words.

With just the right amount of romance, heartache and suspense, Fade is a real page-turner. I recommend that you set aside a block of time before beginning this one, though,  because once you start, there will be no stopping till you hit the end.

Janie and Cabel’s world is one that I love to lose myself in. I am one hundred per cent invested in their story and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Publication year: 2009

Pages: 248

Rating::

Teaser Quote:

“Are you familiar with these?”

Janie smiles, reaches inside her bag, and pulls out an identical package.

“Excellent.” Captain nods. “Cabel. What’s your job?”

“Watching in agony, sir.”

Captain supresses a smile.

The truth changes everything.

Dear Leonardo,

Truth is important in art, don’t you think?

Truth is important full stop.

Matt

It’s Matt Hudson’s fifteenth birthday and all he wants is some art lessons. Instead, he gets a card from his dead mother. How can someone who died ten years ago send you a card?

Simple answer – they can’t.

This awful truth changes Matt’s life forever.

On the morning of your fifteenth birthday you think it would be a happy situation and a reason to celebrate. Not for Matt Hudson. For Matt, it’s the 10^th reminder that his mother isn’t here to wish him a happy birthday, that it’s just him and his father, Dave, who will probably not even remember and will make up for it with pizza for dinner.

Or that’s how Matt thought it would go.

He wasn’t expecting a card. Especially a card from his mother that is supposed to be dead. Suddenly Matt’s world is turned upside down. Was it just his imagination? Someone’s idea of a practical joke? For Matt can find no record of her anywhere. Relatives refuse to talk about her, no records of any kind linked to the name and a search on Google doesn’t even bring up anything with her name. After all, Zara Templeton isn’t exactly a common name.

Except for a bible found in his Dad’s draw with her name on it, Zara has all but disappeared.

Yet as Matt digs deeper, there are records of Zara. Except she calls herself Zora now. There are mentions of her as an artist. Matt even sees one of her paintings and knows for sure that this has to be his mother. For where else would he have got his talent and interest in art except from his mother?

As Matt discovers more, the anger in him builds. Anger at being lied to for 10 years of his life. Anger at events that took his mother out of his life, but above all, anger at his father for pretending like nothing is wrong, that he hasn’t just created one big lie. For what could make a father lie to his son about his mother?

Dave had his reasons. For Zora would abandon Matt as a child – leave him in shopping centers and home alone for days on end. Zora suffers from bipolar. And she refuses to take medication on the basis that it limits her creative ability.

At first Matt doesn’t believe him. And as events get more and more out of control, risking everything and everyone he loves, Matt comes to realise that maybe his father was right. But will Matt understand before he loses the one person who has stuck by him through thick and thin?

Letters to Leonardo is the moving story of how one family comes to terms with the biggest changes in their life and how it affects both them and those around them. Dee White’s debut novel is oddly compelling and real. The voice of Matt is so strong and true that you feel the confusion and the indecision that Matt feels, and his struggle to understand and deal with the events that has unfolded in his life. White provides an inside into a topic that isn’t often spoken about in ways that can be identified with and understood.

Pages: 246

Publication date: 2009

Rating::

Teaser quote: You were little. It was for your own good. I had to protect you…

What happens when your life doesn’t go according to plan?

Ryden Malby had a plan. Step One: Do will in high school, thereby achieving Step Two: Get a college scholarship. Step Three: Limit her beer intake in order to keep said scholarship (which wasn’t always easy). Now that she’s finally graduated, it’s time for Step Four: Move into a gorgeous loft apartment and land her dream job at the city’s best publishing house. So far, Ryden’s been three-for-three, but she’s about to stumble on Step Four…

When Jessica Bard, Ryden’s college nemesis – the prettiest, smartest, most ambitious girl at school – steals her perfect job, Ryden’s forced to move back to her childhood home. Stuck with her eccentric family – a stubborn do-it-yourself dad, an overly thrifty mom, a politically incorrect grandma, a very odd little brother – and a growing stack of rejected job applications, Ryden starts to feel like she’s going nowhere. The only upside is spending time with her best friend, Adam – and running into her hot next-door neighbour, David. But if Ryden’s going to survive life as a post grad, it may be time to come up with a new plan…

Ryden Malby seems to be on the up. College scholarship, best friend that she has known forever, and promising prospects at top publishing firm Happerman and Browning. It’s The Plan after all. Moving away from home and an eccentric family that Ryden wishes she weren’t related too is all Ryden has ever wanted. It’s graduation day, and if she can get through the ceremony without some form of disaster, tomorrow will be the start of her new life.

And to being with, everything seems to be going great. Until Adam, her best friend who is driving her to look at the gorgeous loft apartment and to her interview crashes. From there everything seems to fall apart. Being beat out for the dream job but perfect, valedictorian college classmate Jessica, being denied the keys to the apartment, Ryden is forced back to the last place she ever wants to be – home.

Facing countless months of un-employment when she can’t even keep a job at her own father’s luggage store, Ryden feels that nothing will ever be right again. A small light in that future however is David – her older and hotter next-door neighbour. Scoring her a small job as an assistant on the set of the commercials that he directs, Ryden finally feels like she has some to talk to. That is, until she messes up again, angering Adam to the point that he decides to take the offer of a law course in New York. Completely on the opposite side of the continent to Ryden, and it seems no amount of apologies will get Adam to talk to Ryden.

In a world with plans go off track, Ryden must work out exactly what it is she wants, and what she is willing to give up to get it.

Post Grad by Emily Cassel is adapted from the screenplay of recent movie release of the same name, starring Alexis Bledel. I haven’t seen the movie from which the novel was adapted, but I have it on good authority that it was a fun, easy film to watch. Shame that the same can’t be said from the novel. I found the plot weak and that the characters lacked development over the course of the events. Nothing ever happened for a reason, things just happened. With an entirely predictable ending, there was nothing in this book that really got me caring about what actually happened to Ryden.

The most notable parts of the book were Ryden’s eccentric family. They at least, made it interesting to read – their bizarre and somewhat random acts breaking up the monotony of the rest of the plot.

To me, Post Grad was a concept that had a lot of potential, but was poorly executed in terms of plot and character development.

Pages: 243

Publication date: America 2009, Australia 2010

Rating::

Teaser quote: If you ever truly want to be stared at, try driving down Wilshire Boulevard in your mother’s pink Le Baron with an enormous, half-shattered coffin strapped to the roof.

Paradise wasn’t supposed to suck.

Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean.

Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Paradise will change them all.

It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting.

It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn’t have to be a jerk just because people think he’s one.

It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences.

And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise. . . .

From confused to confident and back again, one thing’s certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will ever be the same.

Jena is one of those girls that talks way too much when she’s nervous. Babble, babble, babble. At least that’s how she sees herself, anyway. When her mom announces that she and Jena are accompanying her friend Luce and her daughter Skye on vacation to the Caribbean, Jena’s nerves hit boiling point. Spend an entire week with Skye, prancing around in a bathing suit? Please god, no! Skye is beautiful, popular, and a successful teen actor. Her life is oh-so-glamorous compared to Jena’s, and Jena can’t help but feel like a spazz in her presence. Who wants to spend an entire vacation stressing about being in someone else’s shadow like that?

Enter Dakota. He’s also on vacation in the Caribbean with his family and he notices Jena. She’s hot (his words, not mine) and she looks just like the distraction he needs right now. Much to Jena’s surprise, they end up hooking up, but that’s because he hasn’t met Skye yet. Dakota can be a real jerk sometimes, and his vacation in the Caribbean proves no exception.

Cue Skye here. She knows it is wrong, but when she sees Dakota with Jena, Skye knows all it will take is for her to bat her eyelids in his direction and he’ll come a wandering. And he does. It’s cruel, yes, but it makes Skye feel good, even if it is only for a moment or two. As if Jena didn’t already feel lousy enough about who she was … did Skye really have to stoop that low?

This is where Owen comes in. Owen is Dakota’s brother. Deemed a wimp by his brother and his father, Owen’s social life is non-existent. He lives for his blog and the anonymity that having an online profile provides. Where Dakota is athletic and built, Owen is asthmatic and a weedy computer geek. Dakota has picked on Owen all his life and let’s just say that Owen – like Jena – has some self – esteem issues of his own.

If you ask me, Skye isn’t really such an awful person. She’s just got issues. She’s got a charmed life – all the money, beauty, and material possessions anyone could ever hope for – but she’s still not happy. And it’s not because she’s a spoiled brat (although she certainly exhibits traits that would attest to that now and then), it’s because she’s depressed. Money and stuff can’t cure depression and I love how Mackler touches on this within Skye’s journey.

Unfortunately, Dakota does not have the same excuse. He’s not mentally ill, he’s just a jerk. In his defense, though, he’s had a bit of a hard life – but that’s no excuse, if you ask me. What we learn from Dakota, though, is that people can change, and that, my friends, is one of the most important lessons in life.

I loved Owen and Jena. To me, they represent forgiveness and second chances. Even though they are both treated badly by Skye and Dakota, when push comes to shove, they are able to forgive, forget, and make amends. The world needs more people like Owen and Jena.

The thing I loved about this book the most of all is that it demonstrates that the world is full of all kinds of people. Different colors, races, sporting abilities and intellectuality, and those differences are just that, differences. We’re all just people inside and we all deserve to be loved and treated with respect, regardless of where we come from, what we do for a living, or what we look like. Although it may be subtle, Mackler drives this message home, with each character coming to realize this in their own special way.

A mix up of male and female narration, Tangled provides examples of a variety of adolescent troubles. With just a splash of romance and a whole lot of angst, Tangled is bound to be a hit with both male and female readers alike. This one is a rare gem in a pool of glass beads.

I’ve been a fan of Carolyn Mackler’s work for a long while now, and Tangled does not disappoint!

Pages: 310

Publication Date: 2010 (available now)

Rating::

Teaser quote: Lube the conversation? This guy was definitely not from Earth.