Review: See How They Run by Ally Carter

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

24644814 See How They Run by Ally Carter

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: December 22nd, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 11+
Pacing: Super Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB:

Inside every secret, there’s a world of trouble. Get ready for the second book in this new series of global proportions–from master of intrigue, New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.

Grace’s past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn’t stop it, Grace isn’t the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

The twists get twistier and the turns get even more shocking in the second thrilling installment of Embassy Row. Continue reading →

Review: The King of Kazoo by Norm Feuti

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

28256458 The King of Kazoo by Norm Feuti

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Scholastic Canada
Publication Date: July 26th, 2016
Publisher: GRAPHIX
Point of View: /
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Graphic Novels

BLURB:

Scatterbrained Cornelius, King of Kazoo, and his resourceful daughter, Bing, explore a mysterious cave at the top of Mount Kazoo. There they discover a famous alchemist named Quaf is planning a dangerous and forbidden experiment. Now Cornelius, Bing, and the brilliant royal inventor Torq must go all out to stop Quaf before his crazy undertaking threatens the entire kingdom. Continue reading →

Review: It’s a Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

20697586 It’s a Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: October 6th, 2015
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Paranormal, Angels, Life and Death

BLURB:

Seventeen-year-old RJ always gets what she wants. So when her soul is accidentally collected by a distracted Grim Reaper, somebody in the afterlife better figure out a way to send her back from the dead or heads will roll. But in her quest for mortality, she becomes a pawn in a power struggle between an overzealous archangel and Death Himself. The tribunal presents her with two options: she can remain in the lobby, where souls wait to be processed, until her original lifeline expires, or she can replay three moments in her life in an effort to make choices that will result in a future deemed worthy of being saved. It sounds like a no-brainer. She’ll take a walk down memory lane. How hard can changing her future be?

But with each changing moment, RJ’s life begins to unravel, until this self-proclaimed queen bee is a social pariah. She begins to wonder if walking among the living is worth it if she has to spend the next sixty years as an outcast. Too quickly, RJ finds herself back in limbo, her time on Earth once again up for debate.

Continue reading →

Review: Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

28855782 Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Scholastic Canada
Publication Date: November 29th, 2016
Publisher: Scholastic
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Paranormal, Ghosts, Thriller, Mystery, Horror

BLURB:

When fifteen-year-old Sophie’s best friend dies abruptly under mysterious circumstances, Sophie sets off to stay with her uncle and cousins on the remote Isle of Skye. It’s been years since she last saw her cousins — brooding Cameron with his scarred hand; Piper, who seems too perfect to be real; and peculiar little Lilias with her fear of bones.

Sophie knows that in her uncle’s house, there are rules she must follow: Make no mention of Cameron’s accident. Never leave the front gate unlocked. Above all, don’t speak of the girl who’s no longer there, the sister whose room lies empty of all but the strange antique dolls she left behind.

As Sophie begins to explore the old house, a former academy for girls shut down long ago, she discovers unsettling secrets that shed light on a dark and dangerous history. But there are some secrets Sophie never expected to uncover. Secrets about her own family. Secrets that suggest Sophie may be in more danger than she could have ever imagined. Continue reading →

Review: Jed and the Junkyard War by Steven Bohls

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

29775943 Jed and the Junkyard War by Steven Bohls

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Publication Date: December 6th 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 3rd Person & Masculine
Recommended Age: 10+
Pacing: Super Fast
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Steampunk, Action

BLURB:

Jed is a regular kid with a normal, loving family . . . that is, if it’s normal for a loving family to drop their child off in the middle of nowhere and expect him home in time for Sunday dinner. Luckily, Jed excels at being a regular kid who-armed with wit and determination-can make his way out of any situation.
At least until the morning of his twelfth birthday, when Jed wakes to discover his parents missing. Something is wrong. Really wrong. Jed just doesn’t realize it’s floating-city, violent-junk-storm, battling-metals, Frankensteined-scavengers kind of wrong. Yet.

A cryptic list of instructions leads Jed into a mysterious world at war over . . . junk. Here, batteries and bottled water are currency, tremendously large things fall from the sky, and nothing is exactly what it seems.

Resilient Jed, ready to escape this upside-down place, bargains his way onto a flying tugboat with a crew of misfit junkers. They set course to find Jed’s family, but a soul-crushing revelation sends Jed spiraling out of control . . . perhaps for good. Continue reading →

Review: Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

26114131 Vicarious by Paula Stokes

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: August 16th, 2016
Publisher: Tor Teen
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mystery, Science Fiction, Family

BLURB:

Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, have always been inseparable. Together, the two of them survived growing up in a Korean orphanage and being trafficked into the United States. But they’ve escaped the past and started over in a new place where no one knows who they used to be.

Now they work as digital stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you—for a price.

When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter is devastated. She won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the digital recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process. Continue reading →

Review: Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

25226144 Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Time-Travel, First Love, Drama Club, LGBT

BLURB:

Emma Allen couldn’t be more excited to start her sophomore year. Not only is she the assistant stage manager for the drama club’s production of Hamlet, but her crush Brandon is directing, and she’s rocking a new haircut that’s sure to get his attention. But soon after school starts, everything goes haywire. Emma’s promoted to stage manager with zero experience, her best friend Lulu stops talking to her, and Josh–the adorable soccer boy who’s cast as the lead–turns out to be a disaster. It’s up to Emma to fix it all, but she has no clue where to start.

One night after rehearsal, Emma stays behind to think through her life’s latest crises and distractedly falls through the stage’s trap door . . . landing in the basement of the Globe Theater. Continue reading →

Review: This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

23341252 This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Publication Date: November 15th 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Crime, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

BLURB:

No one knows what happened that morning at River Point. Five boys went hunting. Four came back. The boys won’t say who fired the shot that killed their friend; the evidence shows it could have been any one of them.

Kate Marino’s senior year internship at the District Attorney’s Office isn’t exactly glamorous—more like an excuse to leave school early that looks good on college applications. Then the DA hands her boss, Mr. Stone, the biggest case her small town of Belle Terre has ever seen. The River Point Boys are all anyone can talk about. Despite their damning toxicology reports the morning of the accident, the DA wants the boys’ case swept under the rug. He owes his political office to their powerful families.

Kate won’t let that happen. Digging up secrets without revealing her own is a dangerous line to walk; Kate has her own reasons for seeking justice for Grant. As she and Stone investigate—the ageing prosecutor relying on Kate to see and hear what he cannot—she realizes that nothing about the case—or the boys—is what it seems. Grant wasn’t who she thought he was, and neither is Stone’s prime suspect. As Kate gets dangerously close to the truth, it becomes clear that the early morning accident might not have been an accident at all—and if Kate doesn’t uncover the true killer, more than one life could be on the line…including her own. Continue reading →

Review: The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

28186110 The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Publisher:Crown Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Survival, Thriller, Siblings

BLURB:

THE LOST
When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister, Faith. Since then, Faith’s childhood has revolved around her sister’s disappearance—from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention, to dealing with so-called friends who only ever want to talk about her missing sister.

THE FOUND
Now, thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the front yard of the Logans’ old house, disoriented and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Can her sister finally be back? Faith always dreamed of her sister coming home; she just never believed it would happen. But soon a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated from her family and paranoid about her sister’s motives. Before long, Faith begins to wonder if it’s the abduction that’s changed her sister, or if it’s something else. . . . Continue reading →

Review: The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

28114461 The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: February 7th 2017
Publisher: Clarion Books
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural

BLURB:

Thirteen-year-old Jessamine Grace and her mother make a living as sham spiritualists—until they discover that Jess is a mesmerist and that she really can talk to the dead. Soon she is plunged into the dark world of Victorian London’s supernatural underbelly and learns that the city is under attack by ghouls, monsters, and spirit summoners. Can Jess fight these powerful forces? And will the group of strange children with mysterious powers she befriends be able to help? As shy, proper Jess transforms into a brave warrior, she uncovers terrifying truths about the hidden battle between good and evil, about her family, and about herself. Continue reading →