Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Aftermath by Clara Kensie

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,


I’m excited to share my review as a part of the Aftermath Blog Tour. Not only is this book about an issue dear to my heart, but one book blogger has taken her love of the story above and beyond and uses it to support RAINN and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, both resources the author lists for readers in the back of the book. You can win one of the Aftermath tote bags in the giveaway below, too.

Aftermath
Clara Kensie
Merit Press
Available November 1, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Aftermath
Charlotte survived four long years as a prisoner in the attic of her kidnapper, sustained only by dreams of her loving family. The chance to escape suddenly arrives, and Charlotte fights her way to freedom. But an answered prayer turns into heartbreak. Losing her has torn her family apart. Her parents have divorced: Dad’s a glutton for fame, Mom drinks too much, and Charlotte’s twin is a zoned-out druggie. Her father wants Charlotte write a book and go on a lecture tour, and her mom wants to keep her safe, a virtual prisoner in her own home. But Charlotte is obsessed with the other girl who was kidnapped, who never got a second chance at life–the girl who nobody but Charlotte believes really existed. Until she can get justice for that girl, even if she has to do it on her own, whatever the danger, Charlotte will never be free.

My Review
This was a tough read for me emotionally. For the most part, I thought the author kept the details of Charlotte’s captivity to a minimum, mostly hinting at her experience rather than describing it in detail. Some of the most emotional moments for me were the scenes in which she tries to reconnect with her family. I felt like her struggle to process and understand were easy to identify with. There were some moments where things seemed to happen too easily, but I think the story would have been super dark if every victory was hard won.

I really liked that the characters weren’t as simple as we at first believed them to be. Her father isn’t simply a fame-obsessed guy. Her mom isn’t simply a broken alcoholic. Her sister isn’t simply a drug addict. There are a lot of other elements at play, and as the real truth about Charlotte’s disappearance comes out and the truth about what her captor has done becomes clear, we finally understand the larger issues going on in Charlotte’s family. I thought that orchestration was incredibly well done.

If you’re interested in a story that explores a kidnapped girl but has more mild content, try Girl, Stolen by April Henry. If you liked Girl, Stolen and check the content below to see if Aftermath is the right book for you.

Recommended for Ages 17 up.

Cultural Elements
Characters are described as white, middle class, small town people. Both Charlotte and Alexa have pale skin and black hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Spiritual Content
Alexa tells Charlotte about the prayer vigil and memorial service held while she was missing.

Drug Content
Alexa swears she’s done using drugs, but confesses to experimenting with pot, cocaine and even heroin. She takes Charlotte with her to a party and gets drunk. Charlotte drinks beer as well, in an attempt to feel like a “normal” teen.

Romance/Sexual Content – TRIGGER WARNING
Charlotte frequently recalls details from her captivity. She makes a reference to him forcing her to perform oral sex and describes some creepy things, like his preference for brushing her hair. She tells a friend that he forced her to have sex with him every night, and that her fear for her sister’s safety kept her from fighting back. She also knows he killed another girl he kept, The One Before Charlotte. Later she learns he had abused a family member.

Charlotte tries to feel like a normal girl by persuading a boy to have sex with her. Alexa finds them, the boy’s pants are off, and Charlotte’s kneeling on the floor.

Violent Content – TRIGGER WARNING
Most of Charlotte’s flashbacks involve remembering her captor choking her. She briefly describes other instances where he beat her. She has an injury that never healed correctly from one occasion. On another, he beat her so badly that she suffered a miscarriage.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About Clara Kensie

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Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.

Today Clara is a RITA© Award-winning author of dark fiction for young adults. Her super-romantic psychic thriller series, Run To You, was named an RT Magazine Editors Pick for Best Books of 2014, and Run to You Book One: Deception So Deadly, is the winner of the prestigious 2015 RITA© Award for Best First Book.

Clara’s latest release is Aftermath, a dark, ripped-from-the-headlines YA contemporary in the tradition of Room and The Lovely Bones. Aftermath is on Goodreads’ list of Most Popular Books Published in November 2016, and Young Adult Books Central declared it a Top Ten Book of 2016.

Clara’s favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.

Check out the other stops on the Aftermath Blog Tour

1/2: The Irish Banana Review – Review

1/3: Bibliobuli YA – 2 Truths & A Lie Post

1/4: Swoony Boys Podcast – Character Interview

1/5: Novel Ink – Review

1/6: Fiction Fare – Q&A

1/7: Actin’ Up With Books – Review

1/8: The Story Sanctuary – Review – you are here

1/9: Who R U Blog – Review

1/10: Lisa’s Loves – Dream Cast

1/11: Gabriella M Reads – Q&A

1/12: Novelgossip – Review

1/13: Such A Novel Idea – Playlist

 

Enter the Most Awesome Giveaway: Clara Kensie books and Aftermath Tote

1: A “Do It Double” Aftermath tote bag from Blu Bear Bazaar. Inspired by Aftermath‘s message to “Do it double, because some can’t do it at all,” Blu Bear Bazaar designed beautiful artwork for it and printed it on tote bags and throw pillows. Blu Bear Bazaar is generously donating a portion of all Aftermath product proceeds to RAINN and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Click here for more information.

2: Choice of TWO books from Clara’s collection of YA novels. Clara will give the winner a list of the YA novels in her collection, and the winner can pick two. Some of the books are signed by the author.

*US/CAN for the above prizes. If the winner is international, the prize will be substituted by a book from Book Depository up to $18.00, winner’s choice.

Good luck, and happy reading!!!

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Review: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The Wolf Road
Beth Lewis
Crown
Available July 5, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

A reward poster reveals to seventeen-year-old Elka that the man who raised her for the last seven years is not the father she’s hoped for him to be. The poster unlocks details of memories Elka kept suppressed, and she knows she can no longer deny the truth of the monster he is. With a vengeful law officer hot on the trail, Elka knows she can’t return home. Her only choice is to push north, toward the place she keeps locked in her heart, the place her mama talked about in her last letter. The journey spans hundreds of miles of unforgiving wilderness, and Elka will need all her skills to survive everything nature can throw at her. But the deadliest enemy hunting Elka isn’t a beast, but the very man she once hoped loved her.

This novel is a bit darker than the books I usually read. What drew me to it was the psychological elements of the story: Elka’s suppressed memories and the real reasons her adopted father tracks her through her quest. I loved that the story didn’t follow a straight shot from the revelation that the man was a serial killer to his capture.

The Wolf Road wasn’t so much about the violence but about its effect on Elka and how she viewed the world. She didn’t realize how much her views were skewed until she broadened her community to include others. I think that’s an important message—that we need others in our lives to sort of check and balance us. There’s never a moment in the story where the author says, okay, here’s the real message, but it came through loud and clear, which I definitely appreciated, and certainly isn’t an easy feat.

The violence was a difficult hurdle for me, since I’m super sensitive to that. I liked that Elka feels consistently horrified by those moments. If you know me at all, you know I really struggle with stories that seem to revel in a killer’s cruelty or insanity. I can’t handle that. But this story didn’t do that, which made the scenes easier.

Elka’s character definitely felt real and three-dimensional to me. Sometimes I forgot that she was seventeen, but I feel like even that was appropriate. I feel like the incredibly sheltered life she’d lived would have matured her in some ways and left her stunted in others—and that definitely came through on the pages of the story.

This novel is probably not for the faint of heart, but if you like intense stories and wilderness survival, it’s probably right up your alley. See below for more specific content information.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
Elka meets a black man and his son in her travels. She becomes close friends with him and his sister. There are hints at romance between Elka’s companion and the man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content – TRIGGER WARNING
A man tries to rape Elka. She fights back, but it’s clearly traumatizing. Elka and a friend find themselves sold by a human trafficker. It’s unclear what Elka’s companion has had to endure before Elka finds her, but she knows how to use her body to manipulate men.

Spiritual Content
The story takes place following what might have been a world war that some refer to as the Rapture. Elka takes more of her grandmother’s view of it, referring to it as a big stupid event.

At one point, she’s captured by a man who intends to perform some kind of spiritual ritual sacrifice which he believes will ensure a mild winter.

Violent Content
The Wolf Road contains intense violence. Elka hides from her adopted father, who tracks her like an animal. It’s unclear whether he intends to kill her, but she knows he’s killed others. At one point he says some pretty creepy stuff to her, like about how her skin would make a nice pair of boots. Elka hunts and kills/prepares meat for her dinner. A man captures Elka for a ritual sacrifice. Elka stabs a man more than once in self-defense.

As the story unfolds, Elka remembers more and more about her life with the man who adopted her. Some of the details are pretty grisly. The man murdered and dismembered his victims—usually women and sometimes children—sometimes eating them.

Drug Content
A man drugs Elka without her knowledge.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Gilt Hollow by Lorie Langdon

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Gilt Hollow
Lorie Langdon
Blink YA/Zondervan
Available September 27, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ashton Keller has longed for this moment every day for the last four years: the day he returns home to Gilt Hollow for revenge on the boys who ruined his life. He will do whatever it takes to clear his name and prove he didn’t murder his friend Daniel. But the town doesn’t greet him with welcoming arms, and it’s certainly not going to give up its secrets easily. Harder still, being back reminds Ashton of things he’d rather forget, like his best friend Willow.

Willow spent months writing Ashton every day after his conviction, which she believed false. She stood by him, even though all she ever got in return was silence. Now that Ashton’s back, she’s determined to steer clear. But the affection that brought them together once somehow survived their time apart. With Ashton digging up the past, Willow must decide whether to stay away or risk her own life. As the sinister truth about what happened the day Daniel died begins to emerge, Willow and Ashton realize the next murder victim may be one of them.

This story is a bit darker than the Doon series tales that Lorie Langdon wrote with Carey Corp. I wasn’t sure if there would be some kind of supernatural element here in Gilt Hollow. There isn’t, but I didn’t feel like the story needed it either.

The whole perfect pure girl falls for bad boy storyline is not a new idea. I worried that the romance elements would overshadow the rest of the story, but I think there’s actually a really great balance between the plot of solving the murder and the development of the romance.

I enjoyed the antics between her and her best friend Lisa. She was another character who kept the story from getting too swoony. I wasn’t a huge fan of the way Lisa pushed Willow to wear things outside her comfort zone, especially when the goal seemed to be to impress a boy. It’s definitely something that happens, but I guess I would have had more respect for Willow if she stuck to her guts and wore what she was comfortable with rather than trying to be someone else.

The most difficult part of the story for me was the fact that both Willow and Ashton continue to date other people as the romantic tension between them heats up. Neither of them seemed to have any feelings of guilt or remorse for basically leading their dates on or using them to gather information. I feel like at least a pause for reflection or some acknowledgement that what they were doing was wrong or hurtful would have made me like them more. Ashton’s girlfriend does have a frank conversation with him about not wanting to be used, but he doesn’t come clean with her or seem to feel that bad even when he reflects on it briefly afterward.

On the whole, I enjoyed the story, especially the mystery elements. I don’t read enough stories with this blend of mystery and romance. The suspense elements were light enough that I think even younger teens could handle them. See below for content information.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
All major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity. Someone urinates on a popular boy’s football jersey. I’m disappointed in the use of profanity in the book. Blink is an imprint of Zondervan publishing books with no overt Christian message, but even so—profanity? Really? Why is this in a book by a Christian publisher?

Romance/Sexual Content
Ashton and Willow get a little bit fresh with each other in comments that hint at sexual contact. They’re fairly oblique. A boy and girl kiss several times. Both Ashton and Willow date someone else as a means to gather information. They aren’t faithful and don’t really seem to have much remorse about it.

Spiritual Content
Willow’s pastor makes a brief appearance and offers her some spiritual advice. It’s a small moment that doesn’t drive the story, but it felt authentic.

Violent Content
A couple boys have a brief fist fight.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: The Infinity of You & Me by J. Q. Coyle

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Infinity of You & Me
J. Q. Coyle
St. Martin’s Griffin
Available November 8, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Alicia’s hallucinations are only getting worse: more frequent and more intense. Despite that, she doesn’t want to give them up because the hallucinations are the only place she sees her father. Then he shows up in real life, warning Alicia of incredible danger, and suddenly everything shifts. The people Alicia trusted most have been lying to her, and now she’s on the run from them. The hallucinations are real. In them, Alicia journeys to other universes, ones where more than her life is at stake. She must find an atlas, a map to all of them and stop one critical universe from dying if she’s to save the people she loves and her own life in her home universe.

When I first started reading this book, I was worried it would be too confusing. I wasn’t really hooked by the whole hallucination bit—it seemed like asking a lot for me to invest in the most exciting parts of the story believing they were fake. But once I realized that they were real, I definitely wanted to keep reading. I loved Alicia and Hafeez. Jax, the boy from another universe that she meets, wasn’t my favorite—he’s kind of stubborn and I just didn’t really connect with him very well. I’m totally team Hafeez.

I liked how she had an opportunity to revisit the relationships in her life in other universes. Things were often different in other places than they were in her home universe, but often there was some lesson hiding in those moments or some kernel of truth she could grab onto. I also really liked the references to Sylvia Plath’s poetry and Alicia’s connection with her.

The only thing I really consistently struggled with is the fact that Alicia is so young—almost fifteen—which seems to place the story in the lower end of YA, yet there’s a LOT of profanity. I feel like aging Alicia up a little or reducing the profanity would have made it easier to recommend to readers.

The story ends with lots left unresolved, which hopefully means there will be a sequel. If you liked Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton or Life at the Speed of Us by Heather Sappenfield, you need to read this one. I think the characters are more even than Seeker, and I liked the way The Infinity of You and Me handled the multiverse better than the way it was in Life at the Speed of Us.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Alicia’s best friend Hafeez is Middle Eastern. Other characters appear to be white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief boy/girl kissing.

Spiritual Content
Alicia jumps between universes to other realities similar and different to her own.

Violent Content
In one reality, a man shoots Alicia and appears willing to hurt her further. Her mother discusses a surgery that could prevent Alicia from experiencing the jumps to other places. She intends to force Alicia to have the surgery without her consent.

A bully picks on Alicia and Hafeez at school. He punches Hafeez.

Drug Content
Alicia’s therapist tries to regulate her experiences with medication. Later, a therapist sedates her and restrains her. She believes her dad may be on drugs—maybe that’s why he’s gone from her life.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Orphan Trains by Rebecca Langston-George

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, ,

Orphan Trains
Rebecca Langston-George
Capstone Press
Available August 1, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From 1853 to 1929, The Children’s Aid Society and other organizations like it placed 250,000 orphaned children with families using trains to deliver the children to new families along railway lines. Sometimes children found loving homes and parents who brought them into their families and treated them as members of their household. The Children’s Aid Society sought to address the overwhelming poverty and difficulties placed on children in large cities whose parents abandoned them or died. It is the predecessor of the modern-day foster care system. Sometimes the children were seen as laborers or servants and treated far differently from a couple’s other children. The book focuses on the stories of seven orphans whose lives were transformed by their ride on an orphan train.

Reading this book made me think a little bit about the movie Newsies, specifically the parts where the characters talk about how the city thrives on child labor. This would have been around the same time in history as the orphan trains were beginning. I found it interesting (though heartbreaking) that at first the orphans were thought of primarily as laborers, and sent west because farm life would be a better life than city life for a child. The children were instructed to refer to their caretakers as employers rather than parents. It was certainly a different time then.

I found it heartwarming to read the stories of some of the orphans who grew up to become leaders and great men and women. Among them, two governors, a nun, and countless lawyers, doctors, and other professionals. Many of those children probably wouldn’t have survived to adulthood and certainly wouldn’t have been educated without the opportunity the orphan trains provided for a better life.

I liked that the book is broken down chapter by chapter into different stories. That made it easy to read in shorter sittings. It also gave the opportunity to explore some of the very different outcomes the children experienced in a deeply personal way.

Orphan Trains would make a great addition to a classroom history bookshelf or resource for research on this time period or the origins of the foster care system in America. The book contains a glossary of terms, extensive index, lists of sources and bibliography.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
The story follows several white children from orphanages in the East who ride a train west and find homes with farming families there.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The Children’s Aid Society was founded by a minister named Charles Loring Brace. Orphan Trains relates the story of a nun who believed she’d been called by God to minister to children and opened an orphanage to care for abandoned infants and children. One orphan grew up to become a nun herself.

Some organizations attempted to match children born into Catholic families with new Catholic families and Protestant children with Protestant families.

Violent Content
Some of the families were unkind to the orphans placed with them. If the child was able to communicate to an agent about his or her unhappiness, she could be removed and placed with a different family. No graphic details given of abuse or neglect.

Drug Content
One child was placed in a home in which the mother abused opium and the father was an alcoholic.

 

Review: Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Every Exquisite Thing
Matthew Quick
Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers
Available May 31, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

It starts with a book. A beloved teacher gives Nanette his copy of an out-of-print novel called The Bubblegum Reaper, about a Holden Caulfield-type boy who falls in love with a girl who shares her secrets with a turtle. As Nanette reads and rereads the novel, she becomes impassioned. She reaches out to the author and discovers another boy who loves the book, and in him, a potential soulmate. But when his vigilante attitude takes him too far, Nanette must learn find the courage to be herself despite the expectations of others on her own.

Part The Fault in Our Stars and part The Bell Jar, Nanette’s journey follows two misfits struggling to find a way out of the parts of life they find so smothering, a story sure to resonate with anyone who has ever been bullied or felt out of place. As Nanette slips closer to the edge of her own sanity, it’s easy to feel her fragility and desperation. Though not quite as dark as his earlier novel Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, this tale lacks none of the emotional punch and wry quirkiness that readers have come to expect from Quick.

While I’m kind of a sucker for this kind of story, I find I’m often left kind of wishing there was more of a triumph at the end of the tale. I did feel that way here, but in a way, it’s kind of the point that I think the author was trying to make. In life, we don’t always get those big moments where things snap neatly into place. Every Exquisite Thing isn’t without its victories. But it’s definitely one of those stories whose goal is to force you to think more deeply about situations in your life rather than to scratch the happily-ever-after itch.

Fans of Belzhar should give this one a try.

Recommended Age 17 up.

Cultural Elements
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency. Much of the profanity was in the latter half of the book. There’s also some crude language about sex and male genitals. In one instance, Nanette and her friends are talking about boys and her friends ask about the size of Nan’s boy’s parts. She responds with an exaggeration that’s meant to point out the stupidity of the conversation, but the joke goes over the girls’ heads.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Nan invites a boy to touch her boob. (Afterward, her mom comments on the “nice show”.) At one point, Nan decides to have sex with a boy. It’s briefly described. At one point, Nan visits an adult friend only to discover that he and a lady appear to be in the middle of a romance. She doesn’t see anything wholly inappropriate. (I think one character wears a robe when answering the door.)

Spiritual Content
Nanette and Alex talk at length about God. At one point they list reasons they don’t believe in God (disasters, pain, negative things like that) and reasons they do believe. Nanette comments that it’s clear they both wish the list of reasons to believe would outnumber the reasons not to.

Violent Content
Alex tells Nanette (via his poetry) about being bullied at school. Later, he fights bullies picking on another kid and punches a man in the face.

Drug Content
Nanette goes to parties where her friends get drunk.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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