Lindsey Lost

Lindsey Lost by Suzanne Marie Phillips

 Even though Micah's a star pitcher, his older sister Lindsey is the real deal--a runner so good, she has a shot at the Olympics. The two of them urge each other on, and are each other's best support. Then the unthinkable happens: Lindsey is murdered, and Micah may have been the last person to see her.

But he can't remember what happened, no matter what their parents tell him, no matter what the police say. Did he witness his sister's murder--or commit it? Can he recall the truth before his life is sentenced to end, too?

I was looking at my book shelf trying to pick a wintry read for you guys and this one popped out at me. The main character of this book is Micah. He is a very insecure character because he can’t remember anything about the night of his sister’s murder and he’s doubting himself. The worst part is his family doubts him too.

At the beginning of the book we get to see the bond between Micah and his sister Lindsey. They have a very strong relationship and it is a good example of friendship among siblings. The time in the book before Lindsey’s death was longer than I expected.

Phillips really took the time to build up the characters and let you connect to them first. She allowed you to build opinions about them before throwing you into the mystery that ensues; let you build up a conclusion and then she tore it down with some more “solid” evidence. My idea of who the murderer was changed at least four times throughout the book. At the end I was surprised that it was someone who I had crossed off the list of possible suspects.

I also thought it was creative how the chapters where set up. There were pages dividing the book up into days. Then, in each day was the chapters marked by the time of day. The book takes place over the course of six days and ends with an epilogue that takes place the next year.

In the end I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It’s not going to make it in my top five favorites of this year but it was definitely a good book. This was my first time reading a “who dun it” type mystery and it was so much fun! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Language: Moderate with one, non-sexual f-word

Alcohol/drugs: There was mention of alcohol

Violence: 1.2

Sexual Content: There is mention of whether or not certain couples are intimate but that’s it

Spiritual Content: None

A Lady Never Starts a Fight...

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

Okay, so just gonna say this has to be one of my favorite reads of the year. I related with the main the character Harper so much (she says her lips are naked without lip product and drinks Earl Grey tea). I felt like I would have made most of the same decisions she did in the different situations that arose.

          She is a strong character who works hard, takes the high road, and has admirable morals. Rachel Hawkins’ writing style is fun and easy to read. I have to confess this is a 345 pg. book and I read it in 2 ½ days. I couldn’t put it down. The dialogue was snappy and fun and I couldn’t wait to see what happened to the characters next.

A southern belle turned ninja-like warrior? The premise of the book intrigued me from the moment I saw a book review of it on YouTube. It was something I hadn’t seen before and something I couldn’t really imagine. I wanted to see how Hawkins pulled it off. The answer? Flawlessly.

As far as content goes I couldn’t find a content review online in the time I needed (of course I found one afterwards) I but decided to wing it anyway and was pleased with what wasn’t in it rather than what was. At the beginning of the book Harper scolds a friend for using the F-word and says “I just think that the F-word should be saved for dire occasions. And having to park a hundred yards from the gym is not a dire occasion.”

I thought this was admirable for a secular book. Now, when someone does say the F-word Harper either notes whether or not they said the actual word or it will be replaced with “effed”. They use it a moderate amount of times but since It is not an actual swear word I will not be including it in the final rating.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book immensely and as  I said it will probably be included in my top five books of this year which I will be doing a post on in late December or early January. I will also be picking up the second book Miss Mayhem which I am looking forward to devouring.

Language: Moderate, but probably not above 10 words

Alochol/Drugs: There is one mention of “huffing” not related to the main character and there is mention of a teen who was killed while under the influence of alcohol.

Violence: 7 (detailed but cartoonish, at one point somebody gets stabbed with a stiletto).

Sexual content: It is implied by Harper that some of the teens are in a sexual relationship and there is also one or two semi-passionate kissing scenes but nothing graphic.

Spiritual Content:  The whole book’s main theme is mythological powers and magic. One woman is a witch like figure and there are a couple spells and herbal remedies produced throughout the book.

Mirror, Mirror

Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen

             A fourteen-year-old girl escapes her evil stepmother by running into the woods. She comes upon a cottage of seven dwarfs and lives with them. All is well, until one day an old woman with a basket of shiny red apples asks for Snow White’s help. And, being the naive but kind girl that she is, she helps her. To show her gratitude for Snow White’s help, the old woman gives Snow one of her apples.

 It turns out that the old women is her stepmother and the apple is poisoned. Snow White dies and the dwarfs mourn her death. They hold a ceremony in the woods with all the forest animals Snow had befriended. As she lays dead beneath a glass coffin the prince arrives. She had met him once before and they sang a duet but that was it.

Well, it must have been pretty spectacular duet because he is so grief-stricken he removes the glass lid and kisses her. A dead, fourteen–year-old girl. She miraculously wakes up and they ride off into the sunset.

Now, don’t get me wrong I love Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It’s such a cute movie and the animation is beautiful. But, when you look at the story-line so literally it seems kind of well…stupid. So, when a book entitled Snow in Summer caught my eye I picked it up to see what it was all about.

With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. 

Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good - and is afraid she's powerless to stop her.

This young adult fantasy novel has a hint of historical fiction as it is based during the early twentieth century (the 20’s I think) in Appalachia. I love fantasy novels and so I was eager to see how Snow White was portrayed in this re-telling. Jane Yolen’s portrayal of Snow didn’t make her out be a naive, stupid girl. She was smart, kind, and wanted the right thing to be done. She was respectful towards her stepmother even when her stepmother was nasty to her.

Her character was much more mature and realistic, as was the story. Her decisions were necessary and well thought through. The seven dwarfs were short men who came to America from Germany with their parents when they were kids. I really like this change in the story and enjoyed their German accents in the dialogue. They were each different but not stereotypical at all which made that part of the story so much better.

The stepmother is so well written. She wasn’t the vain woman filled with hatred for Snow that she is often portrayed as. She’s dark, cunning, deceitful, and manipulative. You don’t really realize what she is doing until a good ways through the book which was refreshing. I actually liked her character a lot.  Not because she was a great step mother (because she's not) but because she broke through the stereotypical evil stepmother persona.

This book made the story of a fourteen-year-old girl who goes to live with seven men into a realistic story of a young girl, who has everything ripped away from her and is trying to uncover the evidence of her misery.

Language: None

Alcohol/drugs: Summer is offered beer in one scene but refuses

Violence: 1.5

Sexual Content: None

Spiritual Content: Summer’s aunt goes to a Baptist church and her step-mother takes her to a church where they practice snake handling as a religious ritual taking Mark 16:17-18 and Luke 10:9 literally. Snow can tell something is wrong with the people there and does not agree with their rituals but her step-mother makes her go.