Showing posts with label Awesomeness TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awesomeness TV. Show all posts

Friday, October 24, 2014

Review: Side Effects

Whitney's mom died and five months later, her dad disappears. Her life's turned upside down. Her oldest brother returns home from med school to pick up the pieces.

Everyone starts behaving differently. Whitney needs medication to help, but they give her hallucinations (often in the form of musical numbers).  Lexi (her sister) finds solace in guys and parties. Jason (her twin) gives up baseball. Sam just tries to hold on.

When the family finds out their home's in jeopardy, they make a last ditch effort to find their dad - together. 
My Thoughts: I love Jen Calonita's books. It's a good read that reminds me of the TV show Party of Five sweet and full of drama. Everyone in the family deals with the loss of their mother and then their father in different ways - not all of them good ways, but all of them are realistic. I like how they bicker and fight like family, but also how they have each other's back. Even though Side Effects mentions romance, bullies, sports, and friendship drama, it's mostly about family.

Cover Thoughts: Ok
Source: Sent for Review

Friday, October 3, 2014

Review: Runaways

No one understands Kaylee and Mason's relationship - she's a girl from a wealthy and powerful family and he's from the wrong sides of the tracks.  But they love each other.

One day, they don't show up for school. It's also the same day that Kaylee's father's body is found.

As the police question her closet friends as school, it's clear that something major happened at the party last night. Could one of them have murdered Mr. Abernathy?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book and here's why
1. Multiple Perspectives
2. Short chapters
3. Relationships - friends, dating, enemies - it all comes out.
4. Flashbacks: how everything started
5. Blackmail: learning secrets and spying on people
6. Rich kids who felt entitled (doesn't everyone want to see them fall?)
7. Forbidden romance
8. Sisters
9. Smart characters - especially the kind that everyone overlooks
10. A Murder mystery

All these things kept me turning the pages to figure out what happened.

Cover Thoughts: Not a huge fan
Source: Sent for review