Tag: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Guest Review: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Posted February 24, 2016 by Ames in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Vengeance Road by Erin BowmanReviewer: Ames
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 330
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.      In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.   

I have to be honest and say this book initially caught my eye because of the cover. I love it!

But then reading the blurb drew me in and made me want to read this book. I’m glad I did. I really enjoyed the movie True Grit and this kind of reminded me of that.

Kate’s path is set for revenge when she comes home one day to find her father murdered and her house on fire. As a child growing up, her father drilled into her head if anything happens to him, she’s to go to “Abe in Wickenburg.” But first Kate has to find out who killed her father then she can go find Abe. After she goes to see Abe she plans on tracking them down the murderer and killing him. When she arrives at Abe’s homestead, she finds out he died, but he also told his children that a girl will be coming to them for help. However, Kate has disguised herself as a boy, so she calls herself Nate Thompson. Abe’s adult sons, Jesse and Will, never thought a Thompson would show up on their doorstep but they do have something for ‘Nate.’ A letter from her father that outlines why he was murdered. Basically it was gold. So Kate heads out but it isn’t long before she realizes she has a tail – Jesse and Will. They claim they’re headed in the same direction for work, they usually do a cattle run and that’s where they’re headed. Kate doesn’t want them at first but when they save each other from a run in with Kate’s father’s murderers – the Rose Riders – Kate decides they can stick around. She doesn’t appreciate the fact she has to continue pretending to be a boy but she can see the benefits to teaming up.

Some crazy hijinks ensue with Kate, Jesse and Will. Eventually the guys figure out she’s a girl (when she gets shot!) and they have quite a few run ins with the Rose Riders before a final showdown. Kate also picks up another straggler, a young Aboriginal woman, who also helps out when things go topsy turvy for this crew.

I enjoyed Vengeance Road. It was like a western road trip that I could easily see made into a movie. It wasn’t a lighthearted story though, Kate has moral dilemmas to face (can she really kill in cold blood?) and there was unexpected losses and a real twist at the end. But she was a strong heroine and I liked that she went after what she thought was right even though several people told her to turn back. She had gumption. This was the first book I read by Erin Bowman but I would definitely read something by her again. I’m glad I picked this book up.

3.75 out of 5

Reading Order

Vengeance Road
Retribution Rails

0 Comments

Tagged: , , , , , ,

Review: Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Posted April 25, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.
Libby loves history so she’s very excited to be spending the summer as an intern at a live history museum. She’s assigned to run 8-10 year old girls in a Girls of Long Ago class where they learn to cook in a hearth, do needlepoint, quilt, press flowers, etc. Sounds like fun – wish I could have done that when I was young. lol
When Libby gets to the museum she’s put into the intern house with a quiet girl named Suze and the bitch from hell, Ashling. We have no idea why Ashling is all up in Libby’s grill but she really makes life miserable for Libby from day one. When Libby has the chance to move on to a schooner she immediately takes it – even though she doesn’t like the guy that she’ll be sharing a room with.
The guy is Garrett and he is a reporter for the local paper. Because of ghost sightings on the one of the museum’s schooners he asks permission to camp out to see if he can sight the ghost. Because he’s not really a museum employee they get Libby to room with him. Garrett is a sci-fi geek and kind of judgmental of Libby at first but he soon figures out that Libby has a brain under all of that blonde hair and she knows how to use the brain!
So while Libby is putting her huge brain to work and giving us a great dose of her humor at the same time she meets with Cam. He works on one of the other schooners and he’s adorable, kind, gallant, chivalrous, and a great kisser! Libby is falling for the guy but he’s got some not so great friends and sometimes he acts weird. Libby is all about the romantic. She’s always dreamed of the fairy tale romances and at age 16 she’s still got her head a bit in the clouds about that. She wants all the things that she believes that Cam is and believes that he will sweep her off her feet – but is it realistic?
Then there’s Libby’s best friend who is Dev. Dev is gay and destined to be a fabulous clothing designer. He’s spending his summer as an intern in New York. Libby thinks that Dev is having a great time but she keeps getting these weird phone calls from him that make her think that all is not well in fashion land.
This is a really fun story. I have to admit that I was a bit concerned about whether I would like Libby at first but her humor, inner thoughts and attitude toward everything just sucked me in. I was soon a Libby fan. I loved how she was with her 8-10 year old girls and with most everyone at the museum.
Libby’s relationships:
With Cam I knew that things would not go well and knew this almost from the word go. He was a weasel dressed in a very nice package and I wanted him out of the picture!
Garrett I didn’t feel like I got to know very well but I felt he was a very sweet guy who had a great heart. I was happy that things worked out for him as well as they did. (avoiding spoilers!)
Dev was just so great. He was just out and proud and not afraid to show everyone that he was as great as he thought he was! lol He had personality plus and was a great addition to the story.
Overall I liked the book a lot. The interpersonal relationships along with the history and humor just hit the spot for me. This is Strohm’s first novel and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Rating: 4 out of 5

1 Comment

Tagged: , , , , ,

Review: Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky.

Posted March 30, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments


Main Character: Maddie Freeman
Love Interest: Justin Solvi (highlight to see)
Series: ??
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her.

Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking.

In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

I’ve wanted to read this book for so long that I can’t seem to recall why I wanted to read it so much. Yes, the blurb sounds like it’d be a good read but what I think caught my attention was how realistic this book seemed. Like, if any of the dystopian books were to come true, I can completely see something like what happened in this book come true in real life. It’s hard for me to see something like what happened in The Hunger Games or even in Wither by Lauren DeStefano happen in real life but, this story? Yeah, I can totally see it happen especially because there are times when I can be a slave to my computer. I spend hours on my computer every single day and if I’m not careful, I’m going to end up just how Maddie was in the beginning of this book.

I’m a sucker for a romance in any setting, any genre, anywhere and the romance that bloomed between Justin and Maddie definitely had me coming back for more. I thoroughly enjoyed being teased throughout the entire book. Justin had his reasons for keeping Maddie at arm’s length and I loved that Maddie bulldozed right over his intentions and made him own up to his feelings. I thought it was great and I really enjoyed getting to know Maddie.

She was a strong character, one that had a difficult decision to make. The decision to choose her family over what she believes to be right. Who would want that kind of decision? I know I wouldn’t but what I enjoyed about this book was that Kacvinsky did a great job of showing us that Maddie really did struggle with the decision. She knew that her father was the most upstanding of people and yet she loved him because he was her Dad. Her struggle to find a solution where everyone wins was real and I appreciated it. Maddie wasn’t this perfect protagonist who thought she knew everything and she wasn’t one of those too stupid to live heroine types that we find in some books. She was just a young girl who has been living behind a computer screen for so long that she has to learn how to really live again.

This story follows Maddie as she meets a boy named Justin who challenges her to turn off her computer and take a chance at living a life outdoors. Before she met Justin, Maddie lived a pretty routine online life. She went to school online (by herself) and she went to the movies with friends in a chat room like environment (by herself) and she belonged to a bunch of online clubs and social networks where she really didn’t have to go outside anymore. She went out to play soccer but after practice, she went straight back home and returned to her online life. Her father is the man behind the online schooling, crimes are down because nobody is in schools anymore. They all go to online school and Justin is fighting for people to have the freedom to go to school if they want to.

It was funny to see how people dated in this world, they went on virtual walks on the beach instead of actually going to the beach themselves, they went on virtual hikes and it was like they played the Wii with their lives. It was strange but at the same time, it was very interesting to see how technology can take over our lives if we let it. Meeting Justin and his band of followers made this book really interesting because they went out and caught up with each other in real life over coffee and watching Maddie come to life throughout the book made for great hours of reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to read more from this author. I thought this book was a great debut for Ms. Kacvinsky and I can’t wait to read more from her. I’d also love to see more from Justin and Maddie in the future as well. Would I recommend this book? Of course, it’s an interesting take on a world where all of your decisions are made for you and all of your friends know you as an avatar instead of who you really are.

For all my Moms out there, I’d give this book a rating of:

I’d give this a PG-13 rating because it’s a mature read, there’s a nationwide rebellion going on and language and some kissing.

..and that’s your scoop!

This book comes out on May 23, 2011.

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

4 Comments

Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Review: It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech.

Posted September 14, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments


Main Characters: CG Silverman, Alona, Grace and Sumara, etc.
Series: None

Self-proclaimed nobody CG Silverman sees her move to an upscale new school as her chance to be somebody different. Her devil-may-care attitude attracts the in-clique, and before CG realizes it, a routine game of truth or dare launches her to iconic status.

While this rebel image helps secure CG’s newfound popularity, it also propels her through a maze of unprecedented chaos, with each new lie and every dare opening doors that, in most cases, were better off left shut.

CG is on a collision course with disaster. Will she be able to keep up the façade? Or will the whole world find out she’s a fraud?

This is the first book that I’ve ever read by Lindsay Faith Rech and I will give it to her for writing a story that I couldn’t for the life of me put down. As much as I wanted to walk away from the book, I couldn’t. I hate these kinds of books where a life is built up on a bunch of lies because when the crap hits the fan, I kept wanting to punch CG in the face.

I remember being a teenager and telling the little white lies so that you could come off cool but when you start telling lies that could ruin people’s lives…it’s not cool.

The things that CG did to be apart of the “cool crowd” with Grace, Alona and Sammie made me want to punch her. Repeatedly. She’s a complete fraud. She lied to everyone about everything and I knew that her time for comeuppance was going to come…I just didn’t count on liking her afterward.

I guess if this was real life, I would be a true friend to CG, haha. I still wanted to be her friend after all was said and done. The thing about this was CG learned her lesson and when it counted most, she was honest. She did a lot of growing as a person over the course of this book and I enjoyed the ride.

Getting to know CG wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be going into this book but I’m glad that I stuck it out because I ended up liking the story and her okay.

She wasn’t at her best when she was friends with Alona and Grace. She was this fake fraud of a person and I didn’t like her at all. The whole thing with Mr. Fenowitz left a total bad taste in my mouth and even though I knew that he’d get over it, a part of me didn’t want CG to have a happy ending because of what she did to Bill. I really felt bad for him but because I’m a softy, I forgave CG in the end and when we finally meet Alex, I was glad.

Overall, this book was entertaining. While CG is spewing her lies, you can’t help but get wrapped up in it all but when Glory finally lights into CG, I was so glad. I was so glad that someone was able to call CG out on her crap and get her priorities in line again. She does a lot of groveling that I was totally on point with so the book ended the way that it was supposed to end and everything was great but even with all of that stuff squared away, most of my enjoyment of this book stemmed from waiting for CG to get her just desserts in the end.

It was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours but I’m not sure I’d ever re-read this book because I don’t think my heart could handle something like this story again. =)

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon

2 Comments

Tagged: , , , , , , ,