We Were Liars

The other day, I found an advanced copy of We Were Liars and finally decided to read it.

There was so much hype for this book and everyone I've talked with LOVED IT.

But honestly, I wasn't all that into it. You know, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either.

So there's a group of teens, who have somehow earned the title of "The Liars" (we never actually find out what they did to earn that title). The group is made up of cousins, Cady, Mirren, Johnny, and family friend, Gat. They spend every summer together on the Sinclair family island. The island is shrouded in family drama. The three incredibly spoiled mothers often try using their children to get what they want from their father. When the oldest granddaughter, Cady has an accident, the family begins unraveling. 

The whole novel is told through Cady's amnesia. She's trying to remember the summer of her accident and hopes that going back to the island might help refresh her mind. But, my God, does she have a knack for the theatrics. Everything that comes out of her mouth is either incredibly angsty or deeply philosophical, which gets annoying fast. She wants to spend time with the Liars, to fill the gaps in her memory. But no one wants to talk with her about the incident. 

I wish there was more to say about the book, but that little paragraph is the basically the gist of the book. But just remember, if anyone asks you about the ending, just lie.

 

Looking for other books by E. Lockhart?

Family of Liars

Genuine Fraud

 

Looking for my updated review?

We Were Liars

Rescue Road

Calling all dog lovers!

Backstory about me real quick. The pup pictured above is my rescue dog, Sophie. My friend found her in an overrun yard with 5+ other dogs. All the other dogs were pups, but I lucked out and got a totally trained, cuddly, senior dog. Sophie was between 6 and 8 years old when I got her. We're going on 3 years together now and we couldn't be happier! So, before you ask, yes we're from the South (Alabama) where much of Rescue Road takes place. The idea behind the book was to get the word out about Rescue Road Trips, run by Greg Mahle. His rescue dog transport picks up dogs in the south and moves them up north to give them a fur-ever home. There are so many neglected, abused, abandoned dogs in the south. The exact statistics are in the book, but it's far more than the rest of the country. What Greg and countless other rescue pet organizations do for these dogs is far beyond what is expected of them. They spend THOUSANDS of dollars a year on a single dog just to make sure he has a better life than the one he was leading. Many of the vets administer vaccines and spay/neuter for free or discounted, just so the stray population has a chance to survive. Not to mention the countless hours they spend actively searching and feeding strays all while hoping they can find foster families for the dogs they're pulling directly off the streets and from the high-kill shelters.

Now, if you're thinking of getting a dog I urge you to do a few things first.

1) Think of the commitment you're making. Essentially you are growing your family and your new pet is going to be family. Pets are not property and need love, attention, room to play. Not to mention they're going to need vaccines, grooming, nail trimming, and who knows what else. (My pup came to me while I was in college, stayed with me after I got married, and made a 14 hour journey to Korea where we currently live. Gotta be in it for the long run.)

2) Read this book. Learn what these pups have gone through; find out as much about their journey as you can because they're going to be living with you until they cross the rainbow bridge. 

3) If you're uncertain if you can handle the responsibility or the commitment, consider fostering! You could open your home to a dog (or a dozen) from time to time until they can find their forever homes.

4) Adopt, don't shop. There are so many strays that still need homes, and so many puppy mills that just need to be done away with. 

One last thing!

Don't be afraid to adopt the shy dog, the black dog, the senior dog, or the special needs dog. These dogs are often overlooked because of those specific traits. My rescue literally meets 3 of the 4 criteria I just listed and I am 100% in love with her.

 

Looking for other books by Peter Zheutlin?

Rescued

The Dog Went Over the Mountain

Mr. Monster

I am FLYING through this series!!

After reading I Am Not a Serial Killer, I was a little skeptical to start Mr. Monster because of the weird supernatural turn it took. 

That being said, I LOVED Mr. Monster!!

It's not as supernatural (spoiler alert the killers are all still demons) but there is still the supernatural aspect to it. However, this one was much more believable. Not to mention names, but the new demon is different from Mr. Crowley. He can still body jump, but his powers are different. He feeds off of the emotions of others. He can feel their fear, sadness, anger, anticipation. But that doesn't mean he can't be defeated. Once John realizes what he has to do, he knows exactly how to stop the demon. He just can't let anything, or anyone, get in the way of what he needs to do. He can't let Mr. Monster totally take over, but he definitely needs him for the task.

There is one thing that I want to point out though. 

The first 150 pages are SO repetitive. I'm not sure if it was like this because it was bringing everyone back up to speed from the first book, or if it was just repeating to get us into John's mindset.

I honestly don't know but don't let it sway you from the rest of the book, I promise it's worth it.

Looking for the rest of the series?

I Am Not a Serial Killer (John Cleaver #1)
I Don't Want to Kill You (John Cleaver #3)
Next of Kin (John Cleaver #3.5)
The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver #4)
Over Your Dead Body (John Cleaver #5)
Nothing Left to Lose (John Cleaver #6)

Anthologies:
Life Inside My Mind

Out of the Easy

So, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction.

Well, I thought I wasn't.

I found this book when I was looking for books told through a prostitutes POV (if you have any suggestions I am more than open to hearing about them). That being said, Out of the Easy is actually written from view of a prostitute's daughter.

Josie Moraine, Jo for short, was named after a well known brothel madam in New Orleans. Her mother has been a trainwreck from the start. By age 7, Josie was well-versed in the art of martini mixing. At age 12, she began hiding out in the bookstore that the owner let her live in. She's had to work her entire life because without working she wouldn't have survived under her mothers care. But she's always had Willie and Cokie to look out for her. They have eyes all over the French Quarter and always know the happenings. So when Jo's mother gets tangled up in a murder trial, things start to get sticky.

Josie, Jo, Josephine, wants more for herself. She doesn't want to stay in NOLA, she wants to get as far away as she can. She wants to go to college. She wants a life where no one knows her her dirty secrets. Somewhere where people don't know her mother is the town whore. Somewhere where she can start over completely.

Honestly, I want a second book. 

The way Ruta Sepetys wrote the ending definitely has the potential for another book.

Can Josie find herself or will she find herself back in Nola?

I would love to know.

 

Looking for other books by Ruta Sepetys?

Salt to the Sea

Shadow Crimes

Earlier this month I participated in the PICT book tour for Shadow Crimes. As I was typing up the excerpt for my post (which you can find here), I realized this book might grab my interest more than I expected. So I hopped on smile.amazon.com and got myself an e-copy.

 

Now before you head over to the excerpt, I want you to know that I have posted a disclaimer that it includes a rape scene. In fact, the entire book has several rape scenes.

 

That being said, let's jump in.

Shadow Crimes starts with the brutal attack on an up and coming redheaded model named Rhonda. The modeling industry was shaken by this startling event and starts looking out for their own a little more. The story then jumps to our protagonist, Anna, a redheaded model who has just been discovered. She moves to NYC to becoming fully immersed in the lifestyle, but at just 18 she might be in over her head. Nevertheless, she keeps her eyes and ears open and always trust her gut. But that might not always be enough. When she takes a modeling gig in Italy, her career suddenly takes off. She's now an international model, who wouldn't want her on their team?! 

Anna has a nagging feeling that she should be more careful because the killer could be near. I mean, he got to one of her dear friends. Nobody is safe anymore.

 

Shadow Crimes was unlike any book I've read before, but it was good. 

Well, it was okay.

It's super anticlimactic because about halfway through the book, you basically can guess who the killer is and I promise you'll be right.

But overall, it was a good, quick read; one that I would definitely recommend to my friends.  

Looking for the excerpt?

Shadow Crimes Exclusive

I Am Not a Serial Killer

John Wayne Cleaver doesn't want to be a serial killer.

He's trained himself for years on what not to do.

He's made a list of rules he has to follow.

He's built a wall inside himself to keep Mr. Monster at bay.

John knows he has all of the characteristics of a serial killer.

He knows he has to fight those urges, but when a killer comes to town, are his rules enough to keep him from his murderous tendencies?

I Am Not a Serial Killer is a 6 book series that follows John through his dark and lonely life.

I'm actually super excited to read the rest of this series, but I will say I had a few issues with the book. Once the climax hits, the whole book kind of takes a supernatural turn that I was not expecting at all. I'm not a huge fan of books with supernatural aspects, so that was kind of a bummer for me. But other than that, the book was fantastic. I'm hoping the rest of the series sticks to the psychological, serial killing side of John.

Looking for the rest of the series?
 Mr. Monster (John Cleaver #2)
I Don't Want to Kill You (John Cleaver #3)
Next of Kin (John Cleaver #3.5)
The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver #4)
Over Your Dead Body (John Cleaver #5)
Nothing Left to Lose (John Cleaver #6)

Anthologies:
Life Inside My Mind

Friends and Other Liars

This book is fantastic!

It starts off from Danny's point a view but what is fascinating about his POV is that, well, he's watching his friends come together at his funeral.

That's right, Danny is dead.

His final wish?

Get his friends together so they can all get to know each other a little better, meaning he has dirt on each one of them and he's finally ready to spill it.

We learn all of the secrets through alternating points of view.

But not just that, it's also told through alternating time frames.

So we hear from High School Ruby, College Ruby, and Now Ruby.

Same goes for their friend Ally, and new friend Steph.

Not going to lie, storytelling in this way is probably one of my favorite things.

It gives such an awesome dynamic to all of the characters; how they grew up, who knew what, when things were happening, it's just fantastic storytelling. This book didn't let me down in that aspect either. Each character had a relationship with Danny that flourished in it's own way. He wanted them all to know that he knew everything. He was the only one who knew these secrets, and maybe that's what led to his death. Maybe they expected too much from him, but really, they only liked him when it was convenient from them. 

Now, when I started reading this, I was getting Th1rteen R3asons Why vibes, which was quickly squashed, but I'm okay with that. After Danny O.D.'s, his mother found letters in his room to give to his friends, letters that contained their secrets. The letter he wrote explaining all of the letters to them also mentioned if the secrets aren't told to the others, someone may have a way of letting the truth out. So 13RW is immediately where my mind jumped.

But then some of the members of their crew get additional letters that all say the same exact thing...

So, hello, obviously they are being stalked (they aren't but ya know, good storytelling). Once the stalker aspect came into play, I immediately jumped to Pretty Little Liars, but again those sneaky little thoughts were quickly squashed too.

But with everything I've said, I thoroughly enjoyed Friends and Other Liars!

It had just the right amount of secrets and tied up very nicely in the end (which I actually read first because I have no self control).

Huge thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc of Friends and Other Liars.

Even bigger thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for thinking of me and sending me a physical copy of the book!