Review: How to Lead a Life of Crime

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Flick came from a well to do family, but his family has a secret. His father likes to use his fists on his eldest son. When Flick's younger brother dies he runs away from the military school he has been attending and views his brother body. He believes his father killed Jude. Flick decides to stay on the streets until he is able to get back at his father. As a master thief, he doesn't have too much trouble supplying what he needs. On Christmas Day, he is offered the chance to earn $500 by breaking into an apartment and stealing a lease. This act was just a test. He is now offered the chance to attend Mandel Academy, the prestigious school his father attended. If it attends AND graduates, the headmaster will give him the proof that is needed to show his father killed his brother.

How to Lead a Life of Crime has so much to it, it is hard to sum it up in a review. Readers will need to be willing to put in time at the beginning of the book for all of the character development and story building. Miller takes her time ensuring the reader has the information needed to understand many complicated topics (politics, drug trafficking, corporate corruption and many more). I can see where some readers will be turned off by the amount of information being presented. If you are willing to the wade through the information, the underlying story is worth the time.




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Summer Throw Down: Week 4

We have now finished week 4 of the 2013 Summer Throw Down.  Once again it was a busy week, but I feel I was able to give adequate time to my reading and listening.  We only have 3 more days of this month and I have reached my monthly goal, and actually increased it because of my success.

Audio Book Goal: 5 books
Print Book Goal: 3 books

Audio Books Finished: 6 books
Print Books Finished:  4 books

Audio Books
          

          

Print Books
          



It was great to be over my goal for both categories.  Since the last portion isn't a full week, my final update is still up in the air.  Happy summer reading!

Review: The Deepest Night

The Deepest Night by Shana Abe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Lora Jones is at the end of her first year at Iverson. She is unsure where she will be going during the summer months and if she will be allowed to return in the fall. When Armand Louis offers to turn his father’s estate into a convalescence home and invites Lora to be a nurse, her destiny continues to follow the path of the stars. See, Lora is a drákon. Although she is still adjusting to what being a person with magical abilities means, she understands that there are powers in play beyond the human race. Her feelings for Armand are pushed to new limits when they are tasked with crossing enemy lines to enter war torn Germany to rescue his brother.

The Deepest Night picks up shortly after The Sweetest Dark ends plunging further into this historical time period. Shana Abe beautifully composes a book with a variety of points of view that flow easily from section to section. The romantic feelings between Lora and Mandy are constantly tearing at the characters and the reader will find themselves either cringing in anticipation or hoping for more to come. I found myself loving the characters I should love and despising the characters I should despise as the author designed. Who doesn't like to see the underdog be accepted for who she is and the mean girls to be shunned and put in their place. I loved the book and look forward to reading another book in the series and recommend the series to readers of historical fiction and romances. Although it could be deemed a fantasy novel, I feel the other two genres are a stronger influence.




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Review: The Dying Hours

The Dying Hours by Mark Billingham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Tom Thorne has recently been removed from the Murder Squad and is now back in uniform. As he is adjusting to his new restricted authority, he questions a suicide that he believes is murder. The Murder Squad investigator tells him that his concerns are unfounded and reminds him that murder is no longer part of his job description. What does Thorne decide to do? He recruits friends to help and decides to investigate on his own. The list of suicides that he believes are murder is starting to grow and the race to catch the person responsible is getting trickier by the minute.

The Dying Hours is the eleventh book in the Tom Thorne series. As a person who has not read the first ten books, I will assure the reader that they are not necessary to understand and enjoy this volume. Although there are a lot of references to previous cases and relationships, they are not necessary for the case at hand. Billingham did change the point of view often. Although most POV changes took place at chapters, the chapter heading did not tell you who the perspective was from and the reader needs to pay attention to follow the story line. I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in murder mysteries, but I forewarn the reader that the ending hints at an additional book (or more).




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Summer Throw Down: Week 3

Wow! It is hard to believe we are past the 3 week mark with the 2013 Summer Throw Down.  I have had a busy week and had to forgo my TV time in order to get enough reading and listening in, but I was able to reach both of my goals.  I actually surpassed my audio book goal, but a couple of the books were only 4 hrs.

Audio Book Goal: 5 books
Print Book Goal: 3 books

Audio Books Finished: 7 books
Print Books Finished:  3 books

Audio Books
          

          



Print Books
          

This week coming up has a lot planned.  Let's hope I can meet my goals once again.  If you are interested in some of my reviews not on the blog, please visit my on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/booknut7159  .

Review: Trafficked

Trafficked by Kim Purcell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Hannah is helping support her grandmother and herself after her parents are killed in a cafe bombing. A friend of her aunt offers her a chance to be a nanny in America and Hannah thinks it is a great opportunity. She knows that girls sometimes are taken to foreign countries to be prostitutes, but this is America and it must be safe. As she crosses the border and begins her progress to her new home she starts to have doubts. Her real papers are taken and she is given fake documents. She isn't allowed to leave the house and her room is in the garage. Trafficked takes our real world issues and brings it close to home. We sometimes hear of girls (and boys/men/women) being kidnapped and held against their will as a sex slave, but there are other reasons for human trafficking and they are just as terrifying. Teens and adults alike will enjoy this read and most will begin to think hard about these scary issues. Purcell does a wonderful job capturing the fear and sense of helplessness Hannah has to overcome.



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Review: Skin

Skin by Donna Jo Napoli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It’s the first day of her junior year and Sep is staring at herself in the mirror. She isn’t worried about her hair or her summer green feet, she took care of those. For some reason, her lips are white! Not pale; her lips have no color at all. With her olive brown skin, it is obvious. Her mother tells her she still has to go to school so she grabs her pink lip-gloss from when she was 10 and suffers through her first day jitters. After seeing the doctor it is determined she has Vitiligo. It isn’t contagious, it isn’t life threating, there is no treatment and it will spread. While the spots are small and easy to hide with clothing and make-up, Sep decides to live it up. She starts dating Joshua and amps up the relationship before everyone discovers she is a monster and she is shunned. Joshua and Jazz Dance Club are her outlets and her body and soul both develop in new ways.

Skin addresses many teen issues such as acceptance, appearance and friendship that are found in young adult novels and spins additional questions about the same topics. Will people around Sep still be willing to interact with her after they see her skin condition? Will her friends stand by her? Is beauty really more than skin deep? Napoli explores Vitiligo and the stigma many suffer, but she takes Sep further than just the disorder. The characters have depth and real life issues that most readers will relate to. I recommend this book to teens and adults whether they usually read YA or realistic fiction as a matter of course.




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