Review: Better off Dead

Better off Dead by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reacher is always traveling.  Sometimes by bus and sometimes he is walking.  Today, he is traveling west on foot when he sees a single car crashed into a lonely tree.  The woman in the car looks injured, but she isn’t.  Michaela is an army veteran who became an FBI agent.  She believes her twin brother is involved with dangerous people and she is trying to find him or answers.  Reacher knows he is good at locating people, so he volunteers to assist her.  It seems that Dendoncker has everyone in his organization scared.  They are willing to die instead of risking his wrath.  Will Reacher be able to find the answers Michaela is looking for?

 

Better off Dead is the twenty-sixth Jack Reacher book and it is jammed pack with twists and turns to keep the reader going.  This story goes forward without giving any new tidbits about Reacher’s past, but that is OK because that means there were more words devoted to this new storyline.  Child always has big shoes to fill as he continues a saga that has spanned so many novels …how to keep Reacher fans happy without repeating stories?  Admirers of Jack Reader will enjoy this newest escape into the Reacherverse.  

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Review: Bad Girls Never Say Die

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone considers Evie a bad girl.  Evie and her friends wear a lot of makeup and spend too much time with boys.  Even if they are bad, they take care of each other.  Evie’s world gets turned upside down when she is attacked and her rescuer is a good girl.  Is there really such a thing as a good girl and a bad girl?  What are the definitions of loyalty and friendship?

 

Bad Girls Never Say Die is a stand-alone realistic story with a historical fiction feel.  The story does take place in 1964, but I don’t believe it is historical fiction.  Mathieu has taken the storyline of The Outsiders and flipped it into the female perspective.  With that said, readers may want to read (or re-read) The Outsiders after this book just to enjoy the parallels … I know I am planning to do that next.  The storyline flows smoothly and the book ended way too soon.  I recommend this book as a thoughtful escape read whether you know anything about The Outsiders or not.

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Review: Any Sign of Life

Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Paige has just woken up and found herself attached to an IV.  She remembers getting sick and quickly learns that she has been unconcise for six days and that everyone is dead.  Paige was a strong athlete and uses her willpower to leave her home and find food and better shelter.  She discovers that she is not the only survivor, yet the world is not the same.  What caused this illness that had a nearly 100% death rate?  Will this small group of survivors be able to continue in this changed world?

 

Any Sign of Life is a stand-alone post-apocalyptic science fiction novel.  I have to start by writing that the first half of the book did drag.  I know that Carson had to give background and build-up to the reality she was presenting, but after reaching the crux of the story, I wished she hadn’t used so many pages.  The second half of the book kept me hooked and once I made it to the end … I was completely satisfied.  I recommend this book to hard-core post-apocalyptic fans, but if this is your first foray into this genre, please start with a different book.

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Review: Clockwork Igni

Clockwork Igni by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Myla is the Queen of Antrum, yet she still doesn’t like to do queenly things.  She sits through meetings and performances, but she would prefer to be in the action.  She has been told about a discovery in a cavern but it is just background noise to everything else she is thinking about.  That is until the Forbidden Tombs become a part of Purgatory and Myla’s igni rush away from her.  Through all this chaos, Myla and Lincoln are also dealing with their son, Maxon, trying to assert his independence.  How will they handle it all?

 

Clockwork Igni is the ninth book in the Angelbound Origins series.  Most of these origin books have been about other characters with Myla and Lincoln having brief appearances.  I enjoyed learning more about this crazy couple and their firstborn.  This is a very short book that can easily be read in one sitting, yet the ending is extremely satisfying without leaving the reader breathless.  I love the world-building that Bauer has completed and can’t wait for more novels in this universe.

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Review: Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ari and Dante know they are in love, but as of now, only their families know about it.  Ari is used to staying invisible, even when others try and be his friend.  He thought his senior year would be the same, but now that he has experienced love, he can’t go back to being the quiet guy.  Not only is he making friends, he is standing up for what he believes in.  What will Aristotle and Dante learn about themselves and the world?  Will they be able to keep their relationship strong with all the turmoil around them?

 

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World is the second book in the Aristotle and Dante series.  Although there are nine years between the books, there is only a minimum of time that passed in the storyline.  We’ve all heard that hindsight is 20/20 and this book takes that phrase to a new level.  The events that happened in the LGBTQ+ community and AIDS understanding during the late 1980s are still surrounding us today, although differently.   I don’t feel the first book is needed to enjoy the second book, but if you read them out of order you spoil many secrets.

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Review: The Book of Magic

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It has been three hundred years since a love curse was placed on the Owens family.  Some women have accepted the curse and loved anyways, while others have tried to not love.  Jet Owens knows she is about to die and that she isn’t the only one at risk.  Three generations of the Owens family are working hard to break this curse.  They must travel widely and solicit help from unlikely sources.  The newest generation is learning about close-kept secrets and all of them will uncover hidden knowledge.  Can they break this curse?  What will need to be sacrificed along the way to open the path?

 

The Book of Magic is the fourth book in the Practical Magic series.  These books were not written in order and it doesn’t matter if readers tackle them in publication order or storyline order, this is the final book.  Hoffman has created a generational story that weaves mothers, daughters, children, and all love relationships.  This series shows that love is not only needed but necessary for us as humans.  A great ending, but please read the other books first.

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Review: Last Girl Ghosted

Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She wasn’t looking for a relationship when she selected him in her dating app.  It was supposed to be a one-night hookup and then move on, but she likes him.  Sometimes you just can’t help yourself so she decided to tell him her secret … and then he ghosted her.  She doesn’t know if it was something she did, her secret, or something else.  She quickly learns that she isn’t the first girl who fell for him, but the others disappeared.  Who was this man?  Will she be able to find him and get the answers she wants?

 

Last Girl Ghosted is a stand-alone mystery with mini-mysteries interspersed.  Readers will enjoy the flashbacks weaved throughout that slowly reveal events that shaped her life.  We have all heard of dates gone wrong, online predators, and the like, but watching the story play out gave me new insight into how it could happen.  Unger did a wonderful job giving just enough clues to keep me interested with a twisted ending that made everything fall together.  A must-read, especially for those who enjoyed her previous novels.

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