Book Review | Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Meyers

Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Meyers
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens on February 10, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads: ★★★★

Avery VanDemere says she's lived her whole life in prisons—-one is a mansion, the others are private schools—-but prisons, still. That's why, during the last couple of years, she's perfected the ability of learning how to escape. On the brink of finally freeing herself from a hated boarding school, she is unexpectedly returned home and thrust in the middle of a competition. Her grandmother, the family matriarch, is now determined to discover the most worthy VanDemere to be named sole inheritor. With the help of Riley Tate, the handsome son of her grandmother's lawyer, Avery sets out to do much more than prove she should inherit the massive family wealth. She has a secret mission of her own, and that's to discover the truth about what really happened to the mother she never knew. Along the way she must pass difficult and sometimes perilous challenges, avoid treacherous relatives, and sort out her growing feelings for Riley. She'll have to act quickly, though; the pressure is on and with each challenge, her competitors are more desperate to win—and to them that means getting rid of Avery.

REVIEW

I was drawn to read Inherit Midnight as soon as I heard it's about a rich family competing against one another in a race around the world to inherit their grandmother's estate. How awesome does that sound?! I love movies such as National Treasure, and this story is along the same vein. I absolutely loved the fast-paced adventure in this novel, and had a very difficult time putting it down. However, there are a few things I want to discuss.

First, the romance in Inherit Midnight is extremely cringeworthy and one of the worst cases of instalove I've experienced. I thought it was interesting that the author admits to the instalove, but that didn't justify it. Instead, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the dialogue between Avery and Riley, and couldn't get over how "in love" they were after just a few weeks of knowing one another. In fact, I would have enjoyed Inherit Midnight much more if the romance was put aside. I wanted to focus on the family competition, and not on the angsty teenage love. 

Moreover, there were a few small details in Inherit Midnight that annoyed me. For example, the chapter titles were unnecessary and distracting. I'm not sure why they were included at all. In addition, I was a bit unnerved by how the lawyers were written in this story. As a law student, I didn't like the portrayal of the lawyers and their behaviors, but I'm one of the few people who would actually pick up on that. Finally, the ending of the book was really unbelievable, but I cannot say more without spoiling you.

Putting those critiques aside, I really enjoyed Inherit Midnight. I loved following Avery as she and her family were tasked with the different challenges, all while traveling around the world and learning about their family history. The action never wavered, and once the competition began I didn't want to stop reading. I also loved the character development in this book. Avery learns a lot about her family in Inherit Midnight, both her ancestors and those she's competing against. The competition really showed each character's true light, and Avery learns who she can trust and who she can't. 

I also really liked how the author included some subplots in the book, but I won't get much into those because they are spoiler-filled. I will say that I predicted a huge plot twist right from the beginning, but I was excited to find out I was right towards the end. Because this particular twist was a subplot and not the main story, it didn't detract from the overall book when I was able to predict the outcome. I also really loved the last scene of the book. It was sweet and touching, and filled me with hope for Avery's future. 

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience of Inherit Midnight. In reality, this book probably deserves a three star rating because of the instalove and cringeworthy dialogue, but because it was so action-packed and exciting, I gave it a four star rating. I highly recommend Inherit Midnight if you love The Amazing Race or the National Treasure movies, or if you are looking to break into the thriller genre. Inherit Midnight is a ton of fun! 

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Book Review | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

In the spirit of Halloween I wanted to share my thoughts on a young adult book that I read over the summer. I had heard great things about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, but was hesitant to pick it up due to the creepy cover. When I won the book in a giveaway, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this is not a scary book at all!

Miss Peregrine's opens with teenager Jacob living his life, when all of a sudden his beloved grandfather is found dead in the woods by his house. Jacob rushes to the scene only to discover a monster lurking nearby, but no one believes that the monster is real. Instead, Jacob's family and friends, and even his new psychiatrist, believe that Jacob created the monster out of grief for the loss of his grandfather. Because of this, Jacob convinces his father to accompany him on a trip to Europe to visit an island where his grandfather spent time after escaping the Holocaust. At first it seems that no one left on the island remembers Jacob's grandfather, but everything changes when Jacob finds a home full of peculiar children.

As you can probably guess from my brief plot summary, Miss Peregrine's does have mysterious and spooky elements to it, but I would not consider it a horror novel at all. Instead, it is an interesting story with paranormal elements, and lots of twists and turns throughout the way. There is no denying that Ransom Riggs has created a new and unusual world, and I want to mention how incredible it is that he includes vintage photographs in the book to illustrate the story. The use of photos gives the story life, and helps the reader visualize things that would otherwise be lost in the imagination.

That being said, I did have a few issues with the book. The beginning is a bit of a downer. In fact, I almost didn't want to continue reading because I was afraid the entire story would be depressing. Luckily, I was able to move past that and discover the fantastical story Riggs created. However, I also felt that the ending to the book was quite rushed. Things happened so quickly that I had trouble grasping what was going on. In this way, I think Miss Peregrine's has an awesome plot, but could use some polishing at the start and finish. Nonetheless, I gave the book a solid 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and would highly recommend it for young adult readers who are looking for something different.

Miss Peregrine's is the first book in a series that continues on with Hollow City. I'm not sure whether or not I will continue reading this particular series, but I do look forward to other books by Ransom Riggs, as they are sure to be imaginative. You can purchase Miss Peregrine's on Amazon HERE. Of course, please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comments!

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Book Review | The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling

I was lucky to receive an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling at BookCon earlier this year, and decided to give it a read before it's released in October. The Diamond Thief is a genre-bending, young adult story, and it's like nothing I've ever read!

Our protagonist is Rémy Brunel, a sixteen-year-old trapeze artist who works in a traveling circus. While the circus is in London, the circus master gives her an assignment – she must steal a rare and expensive diamond. Rémy accepts the task, since she and her fellow circus members are all trained to steal as well as perform in the show. But as Rémy goes undercover to scope out the diamond's whereabouts, things don't go according to plan.

The story that follows is full of surprises. The Diamond Thief is part historical fiction, part mystery, part steampunk, part love story, and so on. It truly reaches a variety of genres while still forming a fantastic story with a number of unexpected turns. I was thoroughly impressed with the uniqueness of The Diamond Thief, and Gosling's ability to create an imaginative story.

My only drawback with this book is that the writing is very pragmatic. I can tell it is written for a younger audience, and that took away from my reading experience a bit. With such a mysterious plot, I would have liked a different writing style that showed instead of told. Nonetheless, I give The Diamond Thief a four out of five stars on Goodreads for its ingenuity, and recommend it to younger readers (middle school through high school). The Diamond Thief will be officially released on October 1, 2014, and available for purchase on Amazon HERE.

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Book Review | The Wolf by Lorenzo Carcaterra

I was really excited when I won an advance copy of The Wolf by Lorenzo Carcaterra from Goodreads a few months back. The cover looks amazing, and the plot was definitely intriguing.

The Wolf is a crime novel in which organized crime leader Vincent Marelli (the Wolf) is waging his own war on terror. Marelli's wife and daughters were killed in a terrorist act, and because he doesn't know exactly who is behind the crime, he decides to begin wiping out all of the known terrorists in the world until he can be sure the killers perish. In order to fulfill this goal, Marelli calls together all of the mafia and gang leaders around the world to work with him and attempt to complete his war without causing catastrophic results.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my reading experience with The Wolf. The first issue was with the points of view in the novel. For most of the story, the book is told from the first person perspective of Marelli. However, at times the perspective will switch to the third person so the reader can get a glimpse at another part of the action. While changing perspectives in a novel can be done well, here it was very confusing. It was never noted when the perspectives would be changing, and there were some chapters where I had to wait a paragraph or two to find out if it was Marelli talking or not. At one point, the story was in the third person, but one paragraph only was written in the first person. I am hoping this was simply an editing mistake that was corrected in the final copy.

I also struggled with The Wolf because Carcaterra is assuming that the reader has some knowledge of organized crime to begin with, which I do not. I found myself a bit lost at points in the story because things weren't explained, but I think someone who is familiar with crime novels regarding the mafia, for example, might not have the same issues. Similarly, I found The Wolf to be very slow-paced, and I was waiting for a lot of the action to happen for much of the book. I was expecting a lot more thriller elements in the story, but even past the halfway point, the story was dragging.

My final issue with this book is that the ending did not wrap up in a way I would have expected. I will not give any spoilers, but I did feel as if this was the first book in a new series. There were many questions left unanswered, and the character's main goal was not fulfilled. As far as I know, The Wolf is a stand-alone novel, but if a second book were to come along I would not find that surprising.

I gave The Wolf a 2 out of 5 star rating on Goodreads. While there were many issues for me in this book, I did think the original plot idea was a great one, and the language itself was easy to read. I also really loved how this book was designed. The cover, title page, and even the font page in the back was very well done. I simply wished I enjoyed the story more and could recommend it to you all! If you've read The Wolf or any of Carcaterra's other books, please let me know your experience in the comments.  

I received this book for free in a giveaway from Goodreads. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Review | Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

It isn't often that one can read a series out of order, but that's what I did with Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books. Back in high school, my friend lent me her copy of The Da Vinci Code. I read it, and mostly liked it, but was never compelled to pick up Angels and Demons. Flash forward a few years, and my college roommate reads The Lost Symbol during its release. She loves it, I buy it and read it. I loved it, too, but still no Angels and Demons. It wasn't until I spotted a copy of the book at my beloved Strand Bookstore for a mere $0.48 that I got my own copy.

Now that I've explained my history with the Robert Langdon series, I may as well tell you the premise if for some reason you're unaware of it. Langdon is a symbolist and a professor at Harvard. In Angels and Demons, the first book in the series, he is called in to help investigate the murder of a scientist/priest found branded with the symbol of the Illuminati. It turns out the murderer stole a highly explosive material called antimatter that the scientist and his daughter Vittoria created, and intends to blow up Vatican City to eliminate the Catholic Church. What results is a thrilling adventure, in which Langdon and Vittoria rush through Rome to help save the Vatican before all is lost.

The summary I give to you is a simple one, but this book is anything but. It's over 600 pages, and is an intricately-woven adventure. Despite seeing the film adaptation when it was first released, I remembered very little of the story, and thus highly enjoyed discovering all of the mysteries that lie within the pages. I raced through this book quite quickly given its size, and gave it a full five star rating on Goodreads. Dan Brown has received criticism for his work, but I think he's an amazing writer. Angles and Demons is very well done, and I recommend it to anyone who loves thriller novels. This is my favorite in the Robert Langdon series thus far, and I look forward to reading the fourth book in the series, Inferno, in the future.

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Book Review | Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig

If you think contemporary, young adult novels are only fluffy love stories, think again! I recently had the opportunity to read an advance, e-copy of Coin Hesit by Elisa Ludwig, and I'm excited to share my thoughts on the book before it comes out tomorrow on June 10, 2014.

As you may be able to guess from the title, this story involves an epic plan to rob the Philadelphia location of the United States Mint. The story follows four teenagers who attend a prestigious, private high school. When it's discovered that the school's headmaster embezzled away the school's endowment, it seems the historic high school will have to close its doors forever at the end of the semester. Not wanting this to happen, our main characters join forces to hack into the mint and make enough money to repay the headmaster's debts and ensure the school will live on.

Coin Heist is told in an alternating, first person point-of-view, with each of the four teens getting an opportunity to tell his or her part of the story. I always love having more than one point-of-view in a book, and I thought it worked really well here. In fact, it propelled me to keep reading at points in the story where I otherwise might have taken a reading break between chapters – that was a great choice by Ludwig to keep a consistent ordering of the storytellers (except for one part, which was jumbled for some odd reason).

Overall, I really enjoyed Coin Heist. It was very well-written, and the characters were all very likable. I connected easily with the characters, and I thought it was interesting that even though they were plotting a huge, criminal act I was still rooting for them to pull it off without getting caught! My only critiques of the story is that for the majority of the book I was waiting for something to happen. It wasn't until the latter quarter of the book that all of the major action took place. I did enjoy the ending, but it left me wanting more. Coin Heist is a stand-alone novel, but I would certainly be open to learning more about what happened to our crew next.

I rated Coin Heist a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and highly recommend this book if you like movies such as Ocean's Eleven or National Treasure. It's definitely a fun book, and I finished it rather quickly. You can purchase Coin Heist on Amazon HERE, and be sure to let me know what you thought of Coin Heist in the comments if you'd read it!

I received this book for my unbiased review. I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I talk about easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.