Seventeen year old Chloe has had some bad luck - her heart failed. She has also had some great luck in the form of an organ donor just when she needed it. Ever since the heart transplant she feels differently and is living life more fully. She has secretly taken up surfing, parties a bit with a new set of friends and has a serious crush on her gorgeous surfing instructor. It is all in secret as is the strange dreams and feelings she keeps having that she can't explain. When Kai vanishes after she explains about her heart she needs answers. Could it be her new heart is reaching out to her in dreams or are they cellular memory? An interesting concept of science and the unexplained. For young adults but plenty of adults will enjoy this debut. 4 stars
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A snarky smart story of an alternate history of Salem witchcraft. Three sisters who one by one run away to New Salem from their abusive father and the lack of any future. June, Agnes and Bella were estranged but now must help each other survive the coming storm. New Salem is a different place now that all witches and witchcraft have been eliminated after trials and burnings. Women are becoming excited about their voice and the Suffragists are gaining in popularity. The Eastland sisters might disprove that witches are all gone. One sister will become a nurturing mother, one is a skilled Librarian in love with someone unsuitable and the youngest is a rebel with a new cause. The women of New Salem look out for each other as all have suffered at the hands of the all powerful men. Now, the new witches of Salem will add their voices and demand to be heard. I loved how the author used fairy tales, actual history of Salem and the Women's Movement to create a story of women in power rising up. 4 stars
3 1/2 stars
An artist who has recovered from a brutal attack when she was young finds herself near the scene of the crime when she moves from London to the countryside. She wants to find the rambling old house as wonderful as her husband does but she can't shake the feeling that someone is watching her or that something bad happened there. She has no memory of the attack that left her missing an eye and with severe head injuries and that makes her an unreliable witness. Is she going mad or is there reason to be afraid? This thriller is very intense with many possible suspects and a lot of background stuff that muddies the water. It will appeal to all those lovers of scary, beware of the woods, British thrill rides. Jake is back this time defending a sixteen year old boy accused of killing a cop. The sixteen year old and his fourteen year old sister witnessed the brutal beating and near death of their mother at the hands of her boyfriend, the cop. It didn't matter that they had been abused and threatened and that they believed he had killed their mother and wouldn't hesitate to go after them next. It only mattered that this boy shot a police officer in their small town and they are treating him like an adult. Jake is pushed to defend him and now finds his practice in near financial ruin because of it. It is hard not to like a Grisham book - he is like the Nicolas Sparks of legal drama. There is always an interesting legal battle, his defenders are always the underdog but good-hearted and there is almost always a happy ending. This one is no different and a solid legal drama. 4 stars
This is an orgin story of Cleveland told in a manner that is reminiscent of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed with the wit of Mark Twain. Big Son is larger than life figure who clearly overshadows his younger brother, Medium Son (Meed). Meed is a coffin maker and is there to chronicle his brother's many tales but he clearly wants to make more of an impact on the world. The dialect takes a bit of getting used to and there were some very funny stories but I wasn't able to follow the thread of the book easily. If you are looking for a slice of Americana, this slim debut will deliver. 3 1/2 stars
This is one of those stories that you think is going in one direction and then bam! it gets flipped on its head. Picture a Brooklyn family of four on their way to a remote Long Island estate eager to pretend this luxurious rental house is theirs. It is quiet, the pool is heavenly and as they drink and relax they think - this is the life. Enter the couple that really owns the house who return late that night instead of heading to Manhattan due to a huge power failure that is sweeping the city leaving them no choice but to return their Long Island home. Soon the two families begin to believe things are more serious than they originally thought. This feels like a social experiment gone wrong as we take an intimate look at two families that couldn't be more different trapped in a potential apocalypse. Masterfully written and increasingly tense, it will leave you with your mouth hanging open wondering what just hit you. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy of the book. I listened to the audio and the narration was perfect. 4 1/2 stars
This book is hard to pinpoint to one genre - it is mildly historical, fantasy that you hope is real, mysterious, includes a deep unusual romance and is utterly heart-breaking. Adeline makes a deal with the devil during a frantic escape in 1714 France - she will live forever but there is a catch. No one will ever remember her. She survives a multitude of close calls and tolerates her regular visits from Luc - the human form her parole officer god takes. Then one day in New York in 2014 she hears what she has longed for centuries to hear - I remember you. To give anything else away would be to deny you, dear reader, the pleasure of discovering Addie's incredible life and loves. I have always enjoyed Victoria Schwab's young adult books but this one took a chunk of my heart forever. Adults, young adults and even bookshop cats will devour this as will fans of Pete Hamil's FOREVER, OUTLANDER, Michael Haig and Paula Brackston's adventures in time travel. Please give us more Addie. 5 stars
1634 on a sailing ship bound for Amsterdam is a crew and passengers besieged by tragedy from the start. Aboard the ship are wealthy and powerful Dutch nobles and their families, a secret cargo that is heavily guarded by musketeers and a detective held in the brig on his way to prison or worse accompanied by his friend and self-appointed bodyguard. There is also a devil in the shadows. Soon, the crew and some of the passengers believe that the ship has been cursed by the devil known as "Old Tom"as lights from a ghost ship appear and bodies start turning up. This is a sophisticated mash up of historical mystery, high sea adventure and a good amount of the supernatural. The result is a complex storyline filled with political intrigue and an array of unusual characters. Fans of Wilbur Smith's early Courtney stories, Ted Bell and Hillary Mantel will appreciate this. 4 stars
3 1/2 stars
This has to be one of the most unusual couple stories I have read in quite some time. Benson is black and his partner, Mike is Japanese and they have been together in Houston for a few years. Mike leaves suddenly to take care of his dying father in Japan just as his mother arrives in Houston from Japan to visit. This leaves Benson to take care of Misuko in their one bedroom apartment for an undetermined amount of time. Ben and Mike have been a couple for quite a while but still seem uncomfortable in their relationship with each other and with their relationship to their families. I liked Benson and the way he tries to befriend Misuko but I never could relate to Mike. Their avoidance of feeling anything deep or permanence bothered me. The writing style is brief and a good mixture of moments that run from funny to heart break. DEAR CHILD is not an easy book to read as it is about a young woman who is abducted, forced to live in a remote cabin in the woods with two children. Her name is Lena and you cringe a lot when you read about her ordeal. Then she escapes and the real story emerges. The dead abductor, the woman who isn't Lena but another abducted woman and the two children who must now be introduced to a world they know nothing about. Everyone should be relieved but Lena (really Jasmin) is still hovering on the edge of a breakdown and the children's grandparents are still grieving their missing daughter while trying to help the creepy grandchildren. Psychological cat and mouse game where no one is of sound mind. Translated from the author's native german, this will appeal to readers of ROOM and true crime followers of cases where men have hidden away families for years without detection. 4 stars
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