Review: Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Summary from Goodreads:
Ugly people don't have feelings. They're not like everyone else. They don't notice if you stare at them and turn away. And if they did notice, it wouldn't hurt them. They're not like real people. Or that's what I used to think. Before I learned...


After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan. Ryan's a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her; he can't imagine why this place shouldn't be as unwelcoming as the rest. Until he meets Jenna. But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found.. 


Skin deep is a book that I have been wanting to read, so I was very excited to see it in my local library. I'm not the biggest fan of romances that don't have a paranormal edge but I quite liked this one.  Skin Deep is a book that isn't just about love against 'the odds', it's about overcoming what people think of you. 

Jenna is struggling to recover from the car crash that left her best friend dead and her with a disfiguring scar  on her face. Jenna is very self conscious about her scar and ts understandable especially as one of the boys that was in the car with her that night taunts her. She can't bear anyone looking at her. Then she meets Ryan, who faces prejudice and abuse because of his background. Ryan is a traveller and understands what its like to be judged and stared at. The two seem perfect for each other and I loved the interaction between them.

Ryan treats Jenna just as she wants to be treated, as if she was a normal girl with no scars. Ryan understands how she feels being stared at in the street and he makes sure that she feels normal when she's with him. 

The one thing that I found hard to understand was the age of the characters. Jenna is FOURTEEN and her family allows her to go out at all times of the night!

The story with the body was very interesting. A nice turn in the plot. I shall not reveal who was killed, you have to read it for yourself!

Laura Jarrat writes a book outlining prejudices that are rife in society, but she deals with them in a sensitive way. 

Overall this is a cute, fun book to read! 

Review: Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Summary from Goodreads:

Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.


W.O.W! This book is AMAZING! I spent so long waiting for it to arrive in the Library....and then it finally came in! 

Katelyn
I was immediately hooked with Katelyn's story and I really felt for her. She is so strong in situations and that's why I love her. Katelyn is definitely one of my favourite heroins! I love reading books with strong female characters and Katelyn is definitely one of them. She is unpredictable. When something happened I didn't know how Katelyn would react and that kept me reading. She is definitely on my top heroins list along with characters from the Night World series by L.J Smith.

Cordelia and the Fenner's
When we first meet Cordelia I didn't know what to think of her. She is mysterious and slightly twisted, but not in a bad way. She changes her mind ''like a girl changes clothes''. (yes I am aware that it is a Katie Perry song but its right for Cordelia.) The Fenner have to be the strangest fictional family that I have ever read about but that's why I kept reading, I wanted to find out why they were so strange. Even when we find out why Cordelia changes her mind so much and why the Fenner's are so strange I was still wary of them. Cordelia is sweet but she is so difficult to understand. She says something and you don't know how to take it. Justin. How do I describe Justin? Well hes brilliant! I completely understand Katelyn's reaction to him, I felt that way just reading about him! 

Trick and Katelyn's grandfather
I love Trick and I think that he just wants to protect Katelyn. How many guys would you find that are like that? Katelyn and Tricks 'relationship' kept me hooked and I couldn't stop reading! Katelyn's grandfather is a bit of a strange man to me. I felt the way Katelyn did towards him. He's nice and he just wants whats best for her and I'm glad that he was featured as often as he is. A lot of books feature the parents/guardians of the main character in about 5% of the book and it was nice to have him in for more than that.

I am so glad that the love triangle in this book was so real and believable. I could fully understand Katelyn's feelings about each boy. I myself wouldn't know which to pick!

I loved the ending. I think it ended amazingly! It kept me wanting more! I cant wait for the sequel!

This book is an amazing read and it kept me up all night. I can't wait for the next book as I want to see what happens to Katelyn and the rest of the characters.

The bad news just kept coming in Wolf Springs.

Review: Taste by Kate Evangelista

Summary from Goodreads:
At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn't realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

When I first read the summary I thought this would just be another book about vampires, and that genre is written about way too often. However, I was pleasantly surprised!

When I began to read Taste I was completely taken in. It all begins when Phoenix McKay breaks Barinkoff Academy one and only rule: no students on campus after curfew. When Phoenix firsts meet the  night students it was a scene that for some reason I just couldn't get out of my head. Maybe it was the way it was written or it was the idea, whatever it was I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I hate books with weak characters, but with Taste I didn't have a problem at all with any of the characters. From the moment we meet Phoenix I knew that I would like her. She never annoyed me which is a big deal! I am very easily annoyed with characters but Phoenix didn't at all!

The cover of this book is gorgeous! I am a sucker for a gorgeous book cover. However, my problem with pretty covers is that you get all hyped up about it and you end up being disappointed! It was not the case with Taste. 

If you hate books that have a slow build up then you will love Taste. I was excited at the beginning and I was excited at the end! 

Go read it NOW!

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Summary from Goodreads:
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon. 

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

As soon as you start The Selection you are overwhelmed with information. I found it hard to concentrate on the rest of the book after reading the first chapter. It felt like the author wanted all this detail out of the way so she threw it at us all at once without giving us a chance to digest it. 

When I read about this book my head screamed "The Hunger Games". However when I began reading I knew that it was a lot different compared to The Hunger Games. The feel throughout the book was much lighter in The Selection compared to the dark theme of The Hunger Games. 

America Singer is, well, a singer. I'm firstly going to comment on her name, I don't like it. Moving on, America was just not my sort of character. She spends a lot of her time saying how normal looking she is especially when people call her pretty. She was rather whiny and seemed to be a bit of a shell character without much of a personality of her own. At times I did quite like her though.

The world that they lived in didn't feel very real to me. It may have been the fact that information is thrown at us all at once rather than gradually that made it unrealistic. I just could quite grasp the concept of the world of The Selection at all and it made the book harder to read.

We have quite a lot of secondary characters. I just wonder if there was a need for some of them to be there. They didn't really play much of a role in the plot. 

On the other hand, there was a few moments that I did actually enjoy. The Selection was, at times, an enjoyable read. It wasn't really for me.

Author Interview: Cat Patrick

Today I have the pleasure of having Cat Patrick author of Forgotten, Revived, The Originals and co-author of Just Like Fate with Suzanne Young.

Hi Cat. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me!

What is the first thing you do when you sit down to write a book?

I obsess about the character’s names. I take my time naming them: looking up meanings, creating nicknames, etc. I will have to spend a lot of time with those names, so I want them to be right. I’m not an outliner, so from there, I just pretty much start writing.

All of your books have had very unique ideas. How do you come up with them?

Inspiration really does come from everywhere: You just have to be open to noticing the people, places, things around you. Specifically, the idea for Forgotten hit me when I was thinking about amnesia; I thought: What if you could remember forward instead? The concepts for Revived and The Originals were both products of my reading strange science news on the internet and letting my brain run away with the ideas. Just Like Fate is similar in concept to the movie Sliding Doors: I’ve long wanted to explore the “what if” moments in life in that way, but it took for me to meet Suzanne Young to really get that idea right.

All of your books, so far, have been stand alone. Do you plan on writing a series?

Yes, the (unsold) book I’m writing now will be the first in a series.

Of the books that you have written, which is your favourite and why?

That’s like asking me to choose between my babies! I love them all for different reasons: Forgotten for being the first, and for its twist; Revived for the emotional side of it: Audrey’s story was inspired by a family friend’s; The Originals for its exploration of the bonds of sisterhood; and Just Like Fate for the new—and amazing—experience of writing with another author.

What would you like to do in the next 10 years?

Be the best mom I can be. Travel. Write a TON. Sell a series. Be healthy and happy and spend time with people who make me laugh.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Well, write. We all make excuses for putting it off, but the way to get better is to write all the time. Also, read. I get so much inspiration from others’ amazing work. 

I would once again like to thank Cat for being here! Make sure to check out her books.