jessica42980's reviews
629 reviews

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on October 5, 2021.
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Your Corner Dark is the debut novel by Jamaican native Desmond Hall who gives the reader a whole different perspective of how difficult life on the island can be: Jamaica isn’t just pretty sand and beaches, it has a whole rough side of life to it dealing with the harsh social, political, and economic realities of many who live there. 

 

Frankie is our main character who has just received a full ride to college in the USA! He is ready for this to better himself and then something unexpected happened:  Frankie’s father is shot and hospitalized. And the bills are going to be very costly.  

 

Frankie is given an option from his uncle: He will pay Frankie’s father’s medical bills if Frankie joins his gang, which would mean giving up his scholarship and the way he thought his future was going to go. And Frankie’s father would be furious if he joined the gang…. 

 

Hall shows us another side of Jamaica with what the natives go through-- a very difficult life-- and we experience most of that with Frankie and the choices he makes and the repercussions from those choices.  This was a hard novel to put down as I had no idea how it was going to end or what was going to happen with Frankie next! 

 

There is a small potential romance that comes in the last portion of the book, but with everything else going on, it was not really necessary for me.  There is a lot of violence, and yes, death along with political leanings and poverty in this novel, but you can’t help but to root for Frankie to pull through everything.  And I really liked Aunt Jenny as well!  

 

The conversations in the novel are written as how the natives would speak.  I did have to get used to it, but it also added to the novel for me.  

 

This book would not have come to my attention if I was not taking part in #Diverseathon2021 this year. I read this for September’s prompt which was a book set in Jamaica. I am glad I came across and read it.  I did get Your Corner Dark finished in September, but was just not able to get the review written.

 

 All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on October 14, 2021.
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Unlike Fright Night, Escape Room worked decently for me: For one thing the main characters were actually in an escape room! I was anxious for the characters to get into the escape room, so once they got there at about 25% into the novel, I was ready for the action to happen! I didn’t pay much attention to the character backgrounds, so I was not attached to them. In fact, I was ready for the villain to kill them all, as I found these teenagers a bit annoying. There was teen drama with secrets, revelations, and one coming out. Once the ‘big twist’ happened, I did halfway think about listening to the audiobook again. 

This was a shorter YA audiobook that had a full cast narration, which improved the book for me. The narration also includes the villain! I did want more from the villain. I think it would be a good book for the target audience of teens, but tame for the adult listener. 

If you want something quick to read that isn’t quite scary for this Halloween, this one would be worth the read. The audiobook was just under four hours long and Amazon has it listed at 224 pages for the paperback version. 

Stoffels has one more book: Room Service, which if it was offered on my Libby app, I would give a try.

 All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on October 13, 2021.
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Fright Night is one that had promise from the book description, but it fell flat for me. I love haunted houses and a good scare, so I was ready for a book featuring teens going to a Fright Night to face their ultimate fears in the woods, a night that gets way out of hand. You have heard of those places that are run in the fall and people have to sign waivers and more to participate, but I would never dare to do them! OMG. But in this novel, we got two stories, the Fright Night end and then Dylan’s backstory which affected the present timeline.

Fright Night was not horror but it more of a psychological drama that was not scary. I honestly did not care about Dylan’s backstory and just wanted as good of a scare that a YA horror novel can give you. But it was not even really a good scare. I only finished it as it was a short audiobook at 4 hours. I’m hoping the author’s other book (Escape Room) I got through the Libby app is better, but honestly, I am not expecting much out of it. 

Sadly, Fright Night is a novel I cannot recommend. 

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on September 22, 2021.
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I am a Lisa Scottoline fan, and will read anything written by her. I have read books I love and others that were just ok for me.  Save Me was just an ok read for me, though this will be a book for all the parents out there to read.  

Rose McKenna has volunteered as a lunch mom at her daughter Melly’s school.  Melly was born with a large birthmark on her face and has dealt with bullying; so much so that Melly just switched schools. But the bullying continues, especially from one specific girl: Amanda. One day during lunch Rose is trying to talk to Amanda about the bullying when there is an explosion in the kitchen, which causes chaos.  Rose escorts Amanda and a couple other girls to the door to go outside then goes back to find Melly, who has locked herself in the bathroom. 

Rose ends up on the news as a “mother hero” saving her daughter, until it is found out that Amanda went back inside and was severely injured. Then Rose becomes a pariah to the small community.  As information unfolds Rose realizes she faces several legal battles in addition to being determined to find out what actually happened to Amanda and what caused the explosion.

Anyone can say that they would do this or they would do that in an emergency, but you don’t truly know until you are in said emergency.  We see what Rose does and you can make your own conclusion as to what she did.  Some things that Rose did came off as naïve to me: I mean if your husband is a lawyer, wouldn’t you take his advice to do or not do certain things??? Ummm yes, but did Rose listen to her husband?  No, and thus made things worse for herself. 

I am giving Save Me a solid 3 stars, which is a decent read, but I had issues with many things that Rose did. I was into the story and was fully invested on if Amanda was going to survive or not.  I adored Melly, she is a sweet child who loves reading and Harry Potter. The actual cause of the explosion was a bit of left field for me and it seemed like Scottoline was running out of ideas and wanted a happy ending.  For the most part the ending did work for me with everything being tied together.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Cynthia Nixon who did a great job!  Though this is not my favorite written by Scottoline, I do say to look into her library of many novels! For me her legal dramas/thrillers series of Rosato & Associates  and Rosato & DuNunzio are my favorites and I look for more of those novels to come.  

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on September 16, 2021.
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**Minor spoilers**

I am a B.A. Paris fan and have really enjoyed all her other books, until The Therapist.  This one was just lackluster as it moved very slowly for me.  I also did not connect with Alice and she just seemed too caught up in trying to figure out what really happened to the former resident Nina, who was murdered in the apartment. Once Alice found out about Nina’s murder after moving in, she stayed?!?!?!  Leo didn’t bother to tell her when he bought the house!?!?!  WHAT!?!?!?   Yeah, they totally don’t have a good relationship.

Maybe it was that I listened to the audiobook on this one and have actually read the others. Sometimes audiobooks are hit or miss.  I just had no feeling of suspense listening to The Therapist and by the time we got to the ending I wasn’t shocked or really cared with this one.  

Since I have enjoyed all of her other novels, I will continue to read anything else she writes.  I highly recommend her first novel: Behind Closed Doors.  Read that one!

 All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my website on 9/11/21
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It just seems hard to believe that it has been 20 years since 9/11 happened and our world changed forever. It’s even harder to believe that there are those who will not have a memory of it and will just learn about it in the history books. Ground Zero by Alan Gratz is a book every middle schooler must read. Really everyone out there must read. 

We have two time periods with two children the focus: 9-year-old Brandon on September 11, 2019 and 11-year-old Reshmina on September 11, 2019. The same day 18 years apart that end up being connected together. Brandon was suspended from school and is going to work with his father as dad cannot afford to take time off of work. Where Dad works is Windows on the World- a restaurant on the 107th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center… Reshmina and her twin brother Pasoon live in a small village in Afganistan and nearby there is a battle and Reshmina finds herself helping an injured American solider thus possibly putting her family and village in terrible danger.

Initially, I was more interested in Brandon’s story of experiencing that day from inside one of the towers, But soon I became just as entranced with Reshmina’s story. And when a common connection is realized, the reader feels so much more emotion. The short chapters alternate between Brandon and Reshmina and they each tend to end on cliff hangers which keep you reading. 

Ground Zero is a powerful novel that brings back memories and emotions of that day. There is a 14-page author’s note that must be read as well. The author explains that there are a few liberties made for the story- but this is historical fiction and not non-fiction.

Gratz mentioned he tried to write a novel about 9/11 but it was never right for him. This novel was published earlier this year, in time for the 20th anniversary and I think it came at the perfect time. We must never forget what happened on that day 20 years ago and share the history for future generations, while Reshmina’s story shows what happens if events are never told.”

Though Ground Zero is written for the middle grades age group, everyone must read this book. Even both the front and back covers can bring out emotions. The front showing the destruction of the towers with a boy standing there and the back showing a picture of the twin towers before 9/11. 

Ground Zero is very highly recommended. 

 Three years after The Hiding Girl ended, we pick back up with Emily (aka Alice) on her sixteenth birthday. This day is far from the “sweet sixteen” like most girls have. It is another day where her whole life changes: She is arrested and also finds out she is wanted for murder. She is then put in a corrupt for-profit juvenile prison. 

Pochachant prison is our main setting with the courtroom second for Emily’s court case. We see what life is like for Emily at Pochachant as she has to adjust to ‘life on the inside’ dealing with the other detainees (not inmates as they are juveniles) and corrupt correctional officers while also ‘working’ for .17 an hour in the library. There are also boys at the prison, and the genders are only mixed when they are taking GED classes where Emily meets a boy that becomes special to her. 

It is a tough life and Pochachant is one of the toughest prisons for juveniles. And then Emily also has to deal with a district attorney who seems to have a personal vendetta against her. 

As with The Hiding Girl it just seemed like Box just likes to put our heroine Emily against so many obstacles against her. We get several twists and unexpected angles, some of them just seemed just a little too far fetched for me, which was the reasoning of the four-star rating. I also missed Lucas!

49B is not light on the violence and corruption of the inside of the prison, so same as with The Hiding Girl, this novel might not be for everyone. We do get a conclusion at the end of this novel, but this reader is ready for more! 

This is the second in the Emily Calby series and Box is currently working on book three. At this point I am so invested in Emily, I must know what happens with her next! The Girl in Cell 49B could be read as a standalone as her past is mentioned, but I do not recommend it! You MUST read The Hiding Girl to get Emily’s full story with what happened to change the course of her life into what it became.

The Girl in Cell 49B is highly recommended reading after The Hiding Girl! I am ready to see what happens next! 

I received an electronic copy from the publisher via Bookish First. 

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on September 3, 2021.
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AfterMath is the third book I have read this year that has dealt with a school shooting before or after the fact. AfterMath is a middle grades novel by Emily Barth Isler and the title has multiple meanings.  The idea for AfterMath came to Isler after the December 2, 2015 shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernadino, California.  She had a baby and a 4-year-old at the time.  

 

Each chapter of AfterMath begins with a Math problem. Our main character is Lucy who is twelve years old and dealing with the death of her younger brother from a rare congenital heart defect.  Dealing with the loss, Lucy’s parents decide to move.  They move to where her parents have a shorter commute, but they also move to a town that has not had new members to the community since there was a school shooting four years earlier.  Not only that, but Lucy is also the age of the students who were victims of the shooting.  The house they move into was also the home of a girl her age who died in the shooting.  

 

Lucy’s adjustment to a new school in a unique situation at an awkward time of life is our story.  There are so many important issues addressed in this book with loss and grief being at the forefront.  PTSD in various forms is also addressed along with bullying.  For one particular student we see the effects of how the sins of one person affect another who had nothing to do with said sin.  We see how everyone experiences their grief in different ways, and the way Lucy does this is not telling anyone at her new school about the recent loss of her brother.  

 

I really liked Lucy and how we see her love of Math despite having problems with learning the concept of Infinity.  We see how she grows over the course of the novel. We also get to know Avery through Lucy, a girl whom everyone at the school avoids. We also see Lucy’s home life with her parents and mysterious math jokes appearing in her room.  Lucy has a good relationship with her math teacher who also teaches her after-school mime class.  

 

This is a great book for those in the middle grades age group.  I listened to the audiobook version which the author also narrated.  She brought a special voice to the novel.  I received an arc copy from the publisher via NetGalley. 

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on August 29, 2021.
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What else can I say about The Hiding Girl by Dorian Box other than wow!  It is a fast-paced novel that packs all the punches: Literally and figuratively!  The Hiding Girl is dark and gritty with very graphic violence that also gives us characters to root for and become very attached to. 

 

Twelve-year-old Emily Calby survives the graphic attack on her family and is on the run. Emily is definitely not the typical twelve-year-old.  Experiencing what she did already ages her and over the course of the novel you have to keep reminding yourself of her young age!  She meets Lucas who is a former gang member who helps her and these two definitely make quite the unique pair that form a special relationship. We also have Kiona, who is Lucas’ significant other who isn’t quite sure what to make of Emily.  They teach her self defense and more as Emily is determined to find the men who killed her mother and sister. 

 

Emily is one you cannot help but be on her side and get attached to. She is in for a long ‘adventure’ with many obstacles that keep coming up.   At one point I found myself thinking “What else is Box going to have Emily go through!?!?” It is one thing after another, but our brave little fireball of a main character Emily can pull through! 

 

And let me say this: I love Lucas! He is not what you expected and you really grow to care for him.  As I was reading, I pictured Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP) as Lucas, but then I saw the premiere of The Walking Dead’s final season where we meet Mercer played by Michael James Shaw and despite the age difference, he would be a perfect Lucas!  

 

This novel will not be for everyone with the graphic violence, but it also has a lot of heart and emotion to it.  What made me read The Hiding Girl was that I was granted an arc copy of the second in the series The Girl in Cell 49B.  I realized when I read the description for book two that I should read The Hiding Girl first. Though not needed as the second book touches on Emily’s back story, if you don’t read The Hiding Girl you will be missing so much!  I am currently reading the second and still rooting for Emily!  

 

The Hiding Girl actually fits for the prompt for #Diverseathon for this month, which is a main character in an interracial relationship.  The relationship between Emily and Lucas starts as a mentor/mentee relationship that grows into so much more. August’s host is Mary @booksbymary1 and she will host at Instagram. 

For full details on this year long read-a-thon, please click here.
And don’t forget about the awesome GRAND PRIZE at the end of the year. Click the link here for that information. 

 

I really enjoyed The Hiding Girl  and recommend it and cannot wait to see where Box goes next with the series.  He is working on book three and I will be highly anticipating it! 

All my reviews can be found at: http://www.jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on August 24, 2021.
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The House in the Cerulean Seais one that people have been talking about and one several people selected to read in June for Diverseathon.  Two of my friends whose opinions I respect (Yami and Beccie) both read it and loved it so I decided to request the audiobook from my Libby app. It took two months for me to be able to get it, and I loved it as well!  

 

From the book description this book did not interest me.  But I decided to give it a try and I am glad I did listen to Beccie and Yami!  We have Linus who is a stickler for the rules and he has also worked at his government job as a case worker in the same position for many years (This sounds so familiar!!! ) He is summoned by those at the top of DICOMY (The Department in Charge Of Magical Youth) who are known as Extremely Upper Management (OMG! That is such a government title!) Linus is given a new assignment: He is to spend a month at the Marsyas Island Orphanage, where there are just 6 children, but these are not just any magical children as they are ‘extra special’. One of the children is even the Anti-Christ….. 

 

Cerulean Sea is just so much fun!  You get attached to these children right away. My favorite child is Chauncey then followed very closely by Lucy. Everything is covered in this book, it is heart warming with some mystery in it with fabulous characters. Even Linus as our main character who is just an average nobody, he grows on you as he changes throughout the novel.  This novel is about belonging, family of a different sort, and not hating or fearing what you don’t understand. 

 

I listened to the audiobook version and highly recommend it.  Narrated by Daniel Henning and he played each child with a distinct voice.  His portrayal of Linus sounded similar to Ryan Reynolds, so I pictured a very serious Ryan Reynolds with glasses and slicked back hair as I listened.  And I loved my picturing of Ryan Renolds as Linus!  (Hint Hint Hollywood: Give Ryan Reynolds this role when it becomes a film/series!) 

 

This is a novel that everyone should read and love and maybe even learn something too! 

 “A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with.”