Review: From Twinkle, with Love

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Twinkle Mehra has always been on the outside, but she has had her best friend to keep her company. Now Maddie has some new friends and Twinkle is not welcome to join them. She feels even lonelier and left out until Sahil offers to help her produce a film for the Summer Festival. Twinkle could finally follow her dream of becoming a filmmaker and let her voice as a director be heard by many. Her life becomes more complicated when a secret admirer begins emailing her and she thinks it is Sahil’s twin brother. Will Twinkle’s ego let her complete the film and keep the friends she has made? Will she find love along the way?

From Twinkle with Love is a stand-alone romance novel that is perfect for young adults of all ages. Menon has created a cast of characters that are easy to relate to and a plight that many readers can understand. Most of the story is told as letters from Twinkle to female filmmakers she admires and some of the story is told through other characters’ text messages and other writings. Although the romance along the way was not surprising, it was refreshingly easy without a lot of drugs or violence. From Twinkle with Love is a feel good novel that will be enjoyed by most readers who enjoy a nice young adult romance.

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Review: Aftermath

Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It has been three years since Skye’s brother was killed in a school shooting and her family made her move away. Due to her grandmother’s health issues, she is forced to move back to the town of the shooting and attend school with some of the victims’ families and friends. What makes the move even more complicated is the fact that her brother was not a victim, but one of the shooters. Will Skye be able to overcome the hatred of the teens and adults around her? What truths will be uncovered along the way?

Aftermath is a stand-alone novel about school violence and the untold impact it has on the community. This story will pull on the reader’s heartstrings, yet the mystery woven throughout will make readers not want to put it down. Armstrong has done a wonderful job creating characters that are believable, lovable and despise-able. I recommend everyone who loves to read realistic fiction to add this to their TBR list, even if you don’t normally read young adult novels.


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Review: Run, Hide, Fight Back

Run, Hide, Fight Back by April Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone thinks it is just another day at the Portland shopping mall when masked men open fire and start killing people in the food court. Some make it out, some are taken hostage and a group of teens hide in a store. This group has three choices. They can run, they can hide or they can fight back. What they don’t know is that the men with the guns are not the only people with secrets. Do these teens have what it takes to get out alive? What sacrifices will they need to make along the way?

Run, Hide, Fight Back is a stand-alone novel that will have readers turning page after page without pause. Henry has included a variety of characters with many flaws and strengths that give vibrancy to the story. Unfortunately, it is a tough topic that is in the news too often lately, yet readers will come away feeling as if they were given a fair interpretation of all sides. Readers will want to get to the end as quickly as they can, so that they may know who survives and who gets what they deserve.


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Review: Moonrise

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It has been ten years since Joe has seen his brother. Ed didn’t plan to be gone that long, but when he is convicted of killing a police officer, his life came to a sudden stop. Now Ed is on death row and his execution date is quickly approaching. Joe decides he will relocate to Texas to help support his brother during this trying time, even if it means he has to deal with people treating him badly because of his brother. Ed still says he is innocent, but will that be enough in the end?

Moonrise is a novel-in-verse that takes a very hard topic and brings it to readers in an easy to experience platform. There are many questions that readers will need to ponder, yet they will leave with no straight answer. Readers who have enjoyed Crossan’s other works will not be disappointed in this story, but be aware that this is not a feel-good story and readers won’t finish it feeling happy.


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Review: Fatal Throne

Fatal Throne by Candace Fleming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Most readers who enjoy historical fiction will dabble at some point in the Tudor legacy. There are too many intriguing stories that surround these people, especially King Henry VIII and his six wives. Candace Fleming along with six other authors contribute to the stories of these royals. Fatal Throne is a young adult attempt at portraying these stories and would be a good introduction to these fateful tales. Readers will learn about Anne Boleyn and the other wives, while also getting some insights into what Henry himself may have been feeling. I will tell readers that this book portrays everyone in a positive light. If readers have never read about these women, they may feel that they were all wronged by Henry. The truth of the matter is we can never really know what happened. Fatal Throne will be enjoyed by most historical fiction fans.

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Review: Surface Tension

Surface Tension by Mike Mullin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jake wakes up in the hospital and doesn’t remember how he got there. He remembers going on a bike ride to train for a race and then the hospital. Apparently, he must have witnessed something because soon after waking up a girl comes to his hospital room and tries to kill him. When that doesn’t work, two more men attempt to take him out of the equation. No one believes Jake that someone is trying to kill him, except his girlfriend. Will Jake survive these professional killers? Will Jake remember what he saw?

Surface Tension is an action filled story about domestic terrorism and how it could happen in your home town. Mullin has taken a topic that we usually relate to big cities and foreign countries and spins it into small town USA. This is a stand-alone novel that isn’t very long, so readers will be able to enjoy the complete story without needing to devote a lot of reading time (or waiting time between novels). Surface Tension will please readers of all genders and is appropriate for even the youngest young adult reader.


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Review: Infinity's Illusion

Infinity's Illusion by Richard Farr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Daniel and his sister Morag have survived their meeting with the Architects, but their life is nowhere near to settled down. They have recently been attacked by an unknown group and must use their ancient mathematics to discover a way out. Will the Anabasis truly unleash what the Babel myth predicted? Will the human race survive what the Architects put in place?

Infinity’s Illusion is the final book in The Babel Trilogy. Readers truly must read the first two books in order to fully understand this mathematically and linguistically complex tale. I am satisfied with how the story concluded and am also glad that Farr did not take the story further. This trilogy was the right length to unravel many myths and legends, while still taking the reader on a literary adventure. Infinity’s Illusion is a good ending to the trilogy, yet the series will appeal to a limited sci-fi group of readers.


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