Sooo...once upon a time I used to request ARCs. Then I discovered I am THE WORST at reading and reviewing books on time. Lo and behold I still have 9 books I was supposed to have reviewed...almost a year ago. These books have been HAUNTING me. So I figured late is better than never and maybe I should get these reviews out...and maybe the book ghosts will be exorcised.
The Vault of Dreamers - Caragh M. O'Brien
I really wish I had reviewed both of these books on time because they really deserved it. Having just read The Vault of Dreamers, I can tell you it was basically a recipe of everything I love in a book: big on action, low on romance (although there is some); MC has a good relationship with her mom and sister, and a good platonic relationship with both a girl and a boy; conspiracies galore, a narrator who may or may not be progressively getting crazier. I mean it's got it all! That being said, the prose tries a little too hard, particularly in the beginning, and I don't have a CLUE what happened at the end. Like not even a little. Either way I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.
The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu
I actually read this one last year, but just didn't have the time to write the review. So it should tell you just how important this book is that I still remember the impact it had on me clearly. There were so many times I would come across a line in this book and think...oh my god. Whether I was 14 or now, at some point I have thought these words - almost exactly. This book paints a fairly realistic portrayal of how something innocent can be turned into something dark and ugly and spread like wildfire, particularly in a small town. This book is powerful. If you like contemporary reads of the nonfluffy type - this is a book for you.
The Vault of Dreamers has a good family dynamic? Yes! And I do love romance, but you knwo, sometimes you can do without it so yay for being low on it. I NEED to read The Truth About Alice, sounds like one of the important ones, and I love how the stories told through others, shows you exactly how things can escalate from one person saying something.
ReplyDeleteI really liked The Truth About Alice too! Although, when I got to Alice's section, I thought it was weird how little she addressed the rumors and how romance-y it was. It was almost a separate story entirely! But overall, it made for a really good book club discussion.
ReplyDeleteWeird, I got Vault from @Pinkindle because everyone was saying it was weird and I usually like weird books. Anyway, when I received it I was bogged down with review books (what's new), so it sat around for awhile. In the mean time bloggers that usually black sheep with me were saying they were really confused by the story, especially the end beause it was s standalone. Next, other bloggers started saying, "No way!", if it is a singleton then it is even worse than I thought. So, they were asking the author if it was a standalone from disbelief, and she said, "Yes." Anyway, I thought no way am a reading a book that leaves you dangling; I loathe both books an movies that do this. So I told The Book Nut I would send it to her because she was asking if I ever got a chance to read it. Now, because of your review, I looked and there is a #2 on GR! I guess reader/blogger feedback does work! Now I want to read it. Lol. I had wanted to read The Truth About Alice, but the ebook never came down in price. I'll have to check again because it's been a while.
ReplyDeleteTTAA is still a $10 ebook. Wow. One good thing about books in a series, as the new ones come out the older ones usually get cheaper. :)
ReplyDeleteIt does! It still allows for the lead character to make all the stupid not talking to an adult mc things that most sci-fi things get, because she's away at a sort of boarding school. So she's effectively removed from a safe way to communicate problems to adults AND you get to see how much she loves her mom/sister, which I thought was a good way to get all of that sorted.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think you'll like The Truth About Alice - it's 100% up your alley!
Yeah, I was a bit surprised by that! But it wasn't an all bad surprise for me, and it turned out much less bleak than I was expecting haha. It does seem like a great book club choice! I wish I had people in my area who read YA (or at least would be willing to mix them in) because I'm only likely to do book club things if I'm forced to see people in real life haha. I'm awful at reading books I'm supposed to! ...hence this very, very late review post
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, it was originally a standalone?! Yeah, that ending would have REALLY pissed me off if that was the case. Like...if you ever get to the book you'll understand. It's not a kind of open ending (I actually like those when they're well done)...it's a serious like....what even just happened?? ending! Man, $10 for an ebook is pricey! Well hopefully it will comes across your path (much cheaper) at some point!
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