Silver and Stone by J.D. Thompson

Summary

Welcome to high school high society hell.

As if senior year at Weatherford Preparatory School wasn’t hard enough, sixteen-year-old Alexis Bardolph had to add school outcast to the curriculum.

A new found notoriety following a family scandal, her lacrosse star boy-friend dumping her for a former BFF and a string of perpetually bad hair days were among the many things going wrong in her already turbulent teenage life.

But when the haunting nightmares that have plagued her since childhood begin to take an eerily tangible form and several Holler Creek residents are reported missing, Alexis can’t help but wonder if there isn’t more to her hellish dreams than meets the eye.

The unexpected arrival of a mysterious and dangerously handsome new student ultimately leads Alexis to troubling truths that not even her wildest imagination could have conjured.

• Number of pages: 132

Review 

Society hell sounds like fun the way JD Thompson writes it. Ok, maybe not fun exactly, but I loved reading this book and JD Thompson did a great job making this book where it was balanced by scariness, mystery, and humor. This review is going to be a little hard to write though because most of the book consisted of giving you the facts and occurrences little by little throughout the book, so for me to spoil it here on my review would be unfair to you, but I’ll try my best.

For some huge reason in which I can’t tell you, Alexis is the ex-popular girl in this huge castle like mansion, and all but her two best friends don’t completely hate her guts, even her sister is having a hard time accepting her sister’s situation and where this puts her in the society food chain that everyone in this book lives by. Depression is the right word to describe Alexis at this point in her life and the incredible guilt and confusion she feels. For what reason I cant say unless a spoiled story is what you want, but once you read the when’s and why’s of Silver and Stone you will be left stunned and craving more. Add Lucas into the mix and things get a bit more dangerous.

The setting was perfect for this type of story. The castle and the small town made everything seem a little more supernatural, and creepy. There is so much I want to say because the twist and turns in this story was absolutely riveting and I wish I could just blurt it all out and tell you what happens, but I’ll control myself and let you all read and figure it out for yourself. Just have a little patience to go to the end to find things out, and you should get hooked onto Alexis’ crazy story.

And you can imagine my excitement when I see that there was an excerpt for the next book that will come out soon! This may not be the most clear of reviews, but take it from me, Silver and Stone is not a book you want to miss out on. From 1-10 on entertainment alone? I give Silver and Stone an 8!

A note on the cover: I didn’t very much like the cover of this book since it looks kind of creepy, but don’t let that stop you from reading the book. Really! 

Ten Years Ago . . . 9/11 Tribute

Outside the day is clear and blue, a typical Floridian sky. They say it was also just a typical clear, sunny day ten years ago to this day in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania. No one, least of all the parents and loved ones of many families, expected to end their lives short because of the sadistic and heartless terrorist planning to make a statement on this country. The high jacking of four commercial planes, the strike on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, the heroic efforts of the passengers on flight 93, the shocking and inevitable collapse of our beautiful Towers, and the destruction of the many lives involved only took a couple of hours, and yet it is something that to this day, 10 years later, it still brings tears to our eyes.

There isn’t much I remember from that day, I was about six years old when it happened. The events from that horrible day just seemed to blur together into a day when everyone cried, everyone seemed to have a frown on their face as if it were permanently etched into their faces. A woman who would always pick us up on days when my parents were out of town on work picked up my sisters and me from school that day. I remember my sisters crying nonstop, asking questions and questions about our parents who happened to be in New York City on September 11. I remember crying along with them, along with everyone. I can’t say whether I understood, but I remember feeling like something big was happening, and the sadness from everyone around me was enough to make me sad. 

Now, a decade later, I know that my parents had overslept and stayed in their hotel that morning instead of going to work, safe and sound. It took them days to return home to us again because they had to drive all the way here, but I remember being picked up by them at school and everyone was alright again. A decade later, and now 15 years old, I am so grateful to God for bringing them home to us again. I think back to the kids who lost their parents from those attacks and it makes me tear up thinking that they all went to school that day like me, but never got picked up by their mom or dad. Many people lost their live—firefighters, volunteers, regular businessmen and women, people of surrounding buildings, plane passengers—but for some reason this year, I also thought a lot of the kids who lost their parents. How old would they be now? 10? 13? 16? 20? How much did they lose from this? Their parents, but also the normalcy of their childhood. Their day to day routine of having their dad tuck them in or their mother pick them up from school, all lost because people they didn’t know and had nothing to do with decided to make a statement and see America panic. We were united that day and we are still united ten years later. Did they expect that? Not a year has gone by that we haven’t remembered, haven’t reflected on the events of that day. Though left behind by those we cherish now dead, we move forward with the grace of a nation who knows how to stick together. We never forgot. 

All That Matters by Youseph Tanha

Summary

Ethan Wright is just like any other high school kid that is one day lucky enough to meet the girl of his dreams. Throughout the course of high school the young couple learn to cope with incredibly difficult odds to discover all that matters.’All That Matters’ is a novella about love and life and all that the heart can endure. With memorable characters and a deep story you will find it difficult to put this book down.

Review

I read this book because the author, Youseph Tanha, contacted me telling me about this story and asking me to review it. I always love when I’m asked to review a book, and this was no exception. I believe this story, All That Matters, is only available on ebook.

So what can I say about this book? Well, it’s not your typical story, and it’s definitely not something I would read without a little push. It was interesting to be sure. I found it very realistic. The story is about a man who is telling you why he became a doctor. It tells of his story and his high school sweetheart. My guess is love can sometimes be hard, but especially when the girlfriend has cancer. I could feel him worry and excitement at being with the girl he wants. The story was really sad, especially near the end, but for some reason it seemed like besides the fact that she had to go to the hospital for chemo and radiation treatments, I didn’t feel much emotion from her family or other characters. Their concern was big, but the emotion behind that just didn’t seem palpable enough to me. What really surprised me was how—I don’t exactly know how to say this—close Ethan (the protagonist) and Amanda (his girlfriend and the girl of his dreams) were in their physical relationship. I found it gave a little too much info into their love life. And what were their parents thinking? I just didn’t understand.

The story ends in a way that is not the ending I would hope for. Not much of a happy ending, but then again does life always have a happy ending? To the protagonist it must have been a decent ending to his life, but I had wished he would find more than contentment. Maybe I understood it wrong. The bottom line is that this is the story of life, sickness, loyalty, and moving forward. From 1-10? I give All That Matters a 5.5!! 

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Summary

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s family, she is forced to move from Los Angeles to New York City to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she has never met. In their historic Fifth Avenue mansion, filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers the biggest family secret of all—an ancestor’s diary that, amazingly, has the power to send her back in time to 1910, the year it was written. There, at a glamorous high society masquerade ball, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life. And she finds herself falling for him, and into an otherworldly romance.

Soon Michele is leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves—and to complete a quest that will determine their fate.

• Number of pages: 280

Review

The thing about this book is that the story is a very interesting one, but the way it was written isn’t great. At first reading this book everything was great: the main events were set up perfectly, and the characters started out good. I just didn’t enjoy reading how the rest progressed. I can’t really explain it any better than saying that it wasn’t how I thought it was going to be. I just wasn’t captured. From the beginning I should have gotten hooked like I do with most books, I just wasn’t feeling it with this one.

The story is about Michele who’s suddenly thrown into the life of the wealthy when her mother dies, and she is sent to live with her super rich grandparents. Somehow she gets this key that can somehow transport her to a time in the past, 100 years to be exact. There she meets the boy who has been occupying her dreams for years. It was all cute at first, but then Michele makes a discovery and does everything she can to change the past, and the boy’s future. There were some times where the events were stretched put too much and some random things that I just didn’t understand what it had to do with. And sometime it just seemed overdone to me. Like the corny parts of the book had just too much. The end bothered me. The book wasn’t bad, it’s just that at the end I figured, “ok at least now she did what she had to do and it’s over”. Apparently I was wrong, though. I think that the way the author was ending it was fine, she fixed the past and she was going to learn to move one. Then right when the book was going to be over . . . BAM! Something big happens and the story is stretched out even more to encompass this new turn of events. I probably am going to read the next book because I hate leaving things unfinished, but to be quite honest it would have been great to me if it ended here; it’s probably safe to say that it’s not going to be at the top of my list. But who knows? Maybe I’ll end up loving the next book. All in good time of course. But for now from 1-10? Timeless gets a 4.5

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Review

Every girl who has taken the test has died.

Now it’s Kate’s turn.

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails . . .

• Number of pages: 293

Review

I’ve had my eye out for this book for quite some time. It caught my eye expressly because it dealt with some Greek mythology. I actually adore mythology. Reading The Goddess Test was very interesting. The concept of the story was good. I always thought that Hades (in this case Henry) to be misunderstood. It was great seeing someone recognize it as that. But there were lots of stuff that really bothered me about it.

The characters seemed quite annoying to me. I don’t know why, they just seemed very fake to me, like they didn’t have much substance. One in particular was Henry. God, it killed me that he was portrayed as an empty shell for the most part. I mean I get that Carter was trying to make it out that he had given up, but there just wasn’t any spunk to him! He didn’t have any special qualities about him that separated him from the rest. And honestly I don’t know why Kate fell for him. There was nothing in this book that made sense as to why she loves him. And if I can’t understand why she loves him then I, as the reader, can’t fall in love with him either! Kate sometimes came out as . . . I don’t want to say annoying (again) but somewhere near that. I just couldn’t understand her

Another thing was that some stuff was just way too predictable to me. Then again, somethings weren’t. It just all depends, but there were times when this piece of news, or that piece of news was suppose to come out as a surprise, and I had already predicted it. Then again, there were some moments when I was in shock that I hadn’t seen it coming. I think I would have liked it if this book just ended its, that there wouldn’t be more to the story to come in a sequel because this book could have ended itself right, and I would have been happy. But I guess I can understand why there would be given more to the story. I will be putting book two down in my list of books to read, maybe it’ll come out better than this one. So from 1-10? I give The Goddess Test a solid 5.

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Summary

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed. Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

• Number of pages: 304

Review

Kat Bishop and her crew are back for an all new riveting adventure including traps, yachting, curses, and cons. I devoured the first book, Heist Society, and I couldn’t stay away from Uncommon Criminals for long. After taking some solo jobs around the world Kat Bishop is finally going back home when she and her oh so suave best friend, the infamous and gorgeous W. W. Hale the Fifth find themselves with the opportunity to steal the Cleopatra Emerald . . . which happens to be cursed (of course). And Kat of course can’t resist such a tempting job, but when things start to go terribly wrong, she and her crew of teen thieves work together to undue the mistakes made and return the emerald before it can make any more trouble for them.

I think this book was just as wow worthy as the first book, and I believe that over and over we can see in the books how Kat is maturing and making her way through the family business without technically becoming the bad guy. Really, every one of the characters were maturing in their skills and personalities, and yet always had those funny ways about them that made them special and quirky and fun. I really loved Ally Carter’s work again in this second book. So much tricks and turns that kept me guessing until the very end—literally. I think that was one thing that kind of bothered me even if it was for a little. Near the end of the book when all the pieces were coming together I had to strain my brain a little to keep up with the book. And even after the way they pulled off everything was revealed I had to pause and think a little while to understand everything better. From 1-10? I give Uncommon Criminals a 7 (:

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Summary

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the vest boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected. Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster’s art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history—and, with luck, steal her life back along the way.

• Number of pages: 304

Review

Completely ignoring what I was taught since birth about stealing being bad I totally wish I were part of this society. Is that bad? Probably, but I can’t help it. The Heist Society is so cool. This was a good book with lots of excitement and brainwork I guess you could say. Kat is not the average thief—even by her family’s standards. She’s the best of the best (ignoring the fact that she’s just a teen) and has amazing strategist skills, but one thing she has is a conscience—at least for a thief. So she makes her way out of the family business, which is like a HUGE no no. When she is expelled from the boarding school she snuck herself into she finds herself in the biggest job she’s ever done . . . that will also save her father. And along with the rich and handsome best friend, Hale, Gabrielle, The Bagshaw Brothers, Simon, and Nick they are about to find out how much talent they actually have.

This book was very entertaining in the way that Ally Carter makes everything out to be like a real society. One that not many people know of course, but one that exits nevertheless. I loved how it is like a type of living (even if it is corrupt). These people got skills. I kind of got jealous. So from 1-10? I think this society of thieves gets an 8!