Five Total Strangers

Nat Richards latest YA thriller might be my favorite one yet.

Five Total Strangers is a gripping thriller that is told over the course of a dangerous blizzard induced road trip home. I was a little skeptical because my mind kept thinking two things. One, there's no way that much can happen on a road trip. Two, is the car haunted? Obviously, I was wrong for asking both questions.

High school student, Mira, is flying home for the holidays when a massive blizzard grounds all the flights out. But lucky for her, her seatmate, Harper, mentioned renting a car. Desperate to get home to her mother, Mira sets off to find Harper. When she does, Harper introduced her to a few friends; Josh, Kayla, and Brecken. The five of them pile into the SUV Harper rented and set off on a trip that has everyone questioning their sanity by the end of it.

Harper seems like a normal, put together, college student who has the world figured out. Anyone would be lucky to be in Harper's (expensive) shoes. 

Josh has that sleepy, coffee shop vibe about him. He has psychology student written all over him. It doesn't make sense for him to be in a knee brace, no way he plays sports.

Kayla seems to be sleeping her life away. When she's not sleeping, she twitchy and irritable. Possibly going through withdrawal symptoms.

Brecken feels like the boy whose daddy buys him everything he could ever want, as long as he follow directly in his family's footsteps.

Then there's Mira. The aspiring art student who just needs to go home to be strong for her mother.

Everyone just wants to go home. They want to be with their families, work through their family drama, and get back to real life as soon as possible. None of them wanted to be stuck in a rental with 4 total strangers. But when the blizzard starts, they're in for a long ride.

Looking for other books by Natalie D. Richards?

One Was Lost

We All Fall Down

What You Hide

Six Months Later

Gone Too Far

My Secret to Tell

Seven Dirty Secrets

Greenlights

I've been crushing on this man for the last fifteen years.

So you best believe I pre-ordered this book immediately.

Matthew McConaughey has been keeping journals, diaries, and random writings for the past 35 years. Greenlights is all of those writings in one perfect little book. We get to hear about his childhood, his rise to fame, his Hollywood hiatus, his wife and kids, and so much more.

 

I have to say, the first 25% of the book was not the spark I was looking expecting from Matthew McConaughey. I expected to hear crazy sibling antics, stories of growing up in Texas, more about his family. It almost felt like this portion was glossed over. He mentions his brothers and parents, who all appear in more stories down the road. It almost felt like there was a disconnect between who he was as a child and teen, as to who he is now as a fifty year old husband and father of three.

As we approach his rise to fame, we do get stories that are a little crazier.

I mean, who would have thought that Matthew McConaughey had big dreams of becoming a lawyer. But instead found his calling in film school. Many of his early roles embodied the typical attractive party boy. He starred in several of my all time favorite rom-coms (I'm looking at you, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). But I didn't know that his breakthrough role in Dazed and Confused is the character who gave him the iconic line, "Alright, alright, alright," which was actually improvised by McConaughey himself AND were his first words ever spoken on film.

I never knew he traveled the open road with his pup, Ms. Hud.

I never knew he regularly took backpacking trips all over the world.

I never knew the story of how he met his wife, Camilla.

I never knew any of this, but I'm grateful I do now.

My Secret to Tell

Apparently, Natalie D. Richards is going to set the tone for my spooky season.

This one felt different than the rest of her books.

My Secret to Tell follows sixteen year old Emmie, whose mother dreams of her being a lawyer. Which leads to her working as Joel's assistant at his office. It wouldn't be a teen book without a little romance, so obviously this office overlooks the boat tours, run by none other than Emmie's everlasting crush, Deacon.

It's a cute book with a bit of suspense.

 

-BUT-

  

I was fully prepared to make this one of my favorite Nat Richards books, but then she brought the teens-solving-mysteries-before-the-police aspect in and I'm not usually a fan of that. I just can't wrap my head around the logic of kids uncovering a smuggling ring of some sort, AND THEN STEALING THE EVIDENCE AND MOVING IT AWAY FROM THE CRIME SCENE and the the cops are like "Golly, kids, thanks so much we've been working with the FBI on this and couldn't get any leeway, but this backpack filled with stolen goods will definitely help!"

Like, no. Stop.

Regardless, I still devoured this book.

 

Looking for other books by Natalie D. Richards?

One Was Lost

We All Fall Down

What You Hide

Six Months Later

Gone Too Far

Five Total Strangers

Seven Dirty Secrets

We're Going to Need More Wine

Gabrielle Union is an amazing human and we need to protect her at all costs.

I love her. I really, really do. But I am ashamed to say I really didn't know that much about her, other than she played a cheerleader in Bring It On, guest starred on Friends, and played as Chasity in 10 Things I Hate About You.

 

I never knew the struggles she went through, most of which are struggles many kids go through during their childhoods. She really didn't break through in Hollywood until her late teens, early 20's, but looked young enough to snag all the teenager roles. This woman just doesn't age. It's insane. Let me put this into perspective for you. I showed my husband the cover of the book and asked, "How old do you think she is in this photo?" He responded, "Like 25." I then showed him a picture of her in Friends and asked the same question, to which I got the same response. His jaw DROPPED when I told him those pictures were nearly 20 years apart.

Besides her acting roles, Gabrielle Union does loads of other work. She advocates for sexual assault survivors, women's health, mental health awareness, and a variety of others. All of these things have directly affected her life. She, herself was a victim of sexual assault. Her friend, Sookie, passed away from breast cancer. She's also spent years working towards becoming a better version of herself, even if that means cuddling her dog under her bed. All of the things she mentions in this book have happened to her and to countless other women throughout time, specifically women of color.

So next time Gabrielle Union pops up in the news, instead of reading the clickbait, pick up her book and your favorite glass.....because trust me, We're Going to Need More Wine.

 

Looking for other books by Gabrielle Union?

You Got Anything Stronger?

Gone Too Far

My go-to author for YA thrillers is Natalie D. Richards.

I'm obsessed with really anything she writes.

 This year she began releasing her books with updated covers, which means they match all her newer books.....you best believe I've bought all of them.

 

Gone Too Far is told in typical YA thriller fashion.

Piper's running late for her big chemistry test. She spots a notebook on the way in and grabs it with the intent to put it into lost in found. Without time to run to her locker, maybe by some small chance, this notebook is also filled with chemistry notes.....but what she finds is sinister. It's almost like a burn book.

Honestly, the entire time I was reading this book I kept thinking, "Oh my god, this is Mean Girls meets Pretty Little Liars."

So she finds this notebook filled with gossip about everyone in the school.

But to make it even creepier, all the photos show the students with their eyes gauged out. Pretty weird. But it starts to get under Piper's skin when an unknown number starts texting her. This person is seeking revenge and wants Piper's help. He wants Piper to pick names of students for him to absolutely humiliate in their ultimate take-down. Before long Piper and her partner have exposed a bully, a shoplifter, and a cheater. But when it starts to get personal, Piper wants out.

I loved how twisty this book was.

By the end of it, I was kind of convinced Piper was the mastermind behind the whole thing. Obviously, I was wrong. But either way, this kept me up all night to finish it.

Looking for other books by Natalie D. Richards?

One Was Lost

We All Fall Down

What You Hide

Six Months Later

My Secret to Tell

Five Total Strangers

Seven Dirty Secrets

Closer to Nowhere

Ellen Hopkins has written a beautiful middle-grade novel.

Closer to Nowhere follows cousins, Cal and Hannah.

Both of them have been only children for a very long time, that is until Cal moves in with Hannah's family. Cal's had a rough go of it; his dad is in prison, his mother's cancer just killed her. So the closest relative he was placed with was Aunt Taryn, his mom's identical twin sister. Hannah wasn't ready to share her family, her home, her school, and her friends with Cal. He struggles with PTSD, so some of the other kids think it's funny to pick on him. His explosive episodes aren't something he can control. When things like this happens, his fight or flight kicks in.....so he's either screaming or running to the only safe place he can think of.

Hannah lived a pretty sweet life before Cal came along. School comes easy to her, but gymnastics is where she shines. She has two parents who love her. Friends she can confide in. But it seems like everything begins falling apart when Cal moves in. She knows her cousin has some quirks that he can't control but she doesn't understand why. It's hard to explain PTSD to a child, and even harder for that child to explain it to her friends. 

In typical Ellen Hopkins fashion, she writes about what she knows.

Closer to Nowhere is loosely based on her grandson, whom she currently has custody of. If any of you have read her series, Crank, you know all about the struggle her daughter has had with drugs. "Cal" is one of her babies. I love that Ellen Hopkins doesn't shy away from tough subjects, even this middle-grade novel includes topics such as addiction, adoption, abuse, incarcerated parents, alcoholism, and gun violence.

Looking for other books by Ellen Hopkins?

 

Middle Grade:

What About Will

 

YA Fiction:

Crank Trilogy (Crank, Glass, Fallout)

Flirtin' with the Monster (Crank Anthology)

Burned (Burned #1)

Smoke (Burned #2)

Rumble

Tricks (Tricks #1)

Traffick (Tricks #2)

The You I've Never Known

People Kill People

 

Adult Fiction:

Love Lies Beneath (LLB #1)

 A Sin Such as This (LLB #2)

Triangles

Collateral

 

 Anthologies:

One Death, Nine Stories

Behind the Song

Life Inside My Mind

Dear Justyce

 

This is a message of hope.

A few years ago, I found a copy of Dear Martin at my local library.

I devoured it in a matter of hours.

When Dear Justyce was announced, I immediately pre-ordered it.

 

Justyce McAllister set out on a peace project, which turned into his collection of letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Soon after he concluded this project, he passed these letters on to his friend Quan. Quan is currently spending some time in a detention center, awaiting trial for a crime he didn't even commit. He's been locked away from his family and friends for nearly two years. The only thing getting him through it is his support from Justyce.

 

Justyce becomes a glimmer of hope to Quan. Their letters create a sense of security for Quan; they become a staple in his day-to-day incarceration. Justyce not only writes to Quan, but he helped him find a new legal team. He helped find him representation who actually wanted Quan to see the outside world again. Justyce set him up with a tutor who actually wanted to see Quan graduate. Having a support system who actually wants to see the best in Quan really changed his perspective.

Again, I was not totally impressed by the character development in this book. This was the same issue I had with Dear Martin, as well. It feels like Nic Stone has a great story to tell, but she's just brushing the surface. The topics she chooses to write about are things that happen every single day. The story could be so much deeper. Racial profiling, abusive relationships, incarcerated parents/siblings/friends, tumultuous home lives, all of these things are real issues mentioned in the books. However, I think I would have a stronger emotional connection to these characters if there were more stories that screamed, "THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME."

Looking for the rest of the series?

Dear Martin

Blood & Honey

My heart actually broke while I was finishing Blood & Honey last night.

Do you ever just hit a point in a book where you're like, "She's going to kill my favorite character. The author is going to kill my favorite freaking character." So yeah, at midnight last night I had 30 pages left. I'm sitting there, crying, knowing what's about to happen.

Anyway, Blood & Honey still follows Lou and Reid's whirlwind romance. They're on the run from Morgane who literally just attempted to murder her own daughter. Reid, Lou, Madame Labelle, Coco, Ansel, and Beau are on the run to find allies to defeat Morgane once and for all. They have to mend bridges with their families and enemies. Coco has to face her Aunt Josephine and the rest of the blood witches, knowing she abandoned her people when they needed her. Reid has to face the pack of werewolves whose young cub he killed many moons ago. Beau has to face his father, who is fully prepared to cut him out of the family will for his alliance with witches. But mostly, Lou has to face Morgane. The woman who has been hunting Reid's half-siblings, the woman who bore Louise strictly to become a weapon, the woman who has never cared for anyone other than herself.

But darkness will always follow them.

Darkness will always find them.

Darkness will find a way in.

Looking for the rest of the series?

Serpent & Dove (S&D #1)

Gods & Monsters (S&D #3)