REVIEW: Need by Carrie Jones

Series: Need #1
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal
Pub Date: December 2008, Bloomsbury USA
Format: Hardcover, 306 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane... but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right--not human--in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

MY THOUGHTS

As much as I HATE to say this... Twilight, anyone? At least, the beginning of the story literally screams it, so I'd say it's a fair comparison... Not that I really minded, to be honest. I rather enjoy the "new girl moves to a small town, meets a gorgeous boy, and finds things are not all as they seem" theme. For some reason, I had it in my head that this was going to be a vampire book, but clearly I am destined to read about faeries these days, or to be more accurate in this instance: pixies.

In general, I thought this book was pretty well done, not to mention a fast, easy read--something I need more of these days. I enjoyed the characters quite a bit. Zara's grandmother was hysterical and Issie, whom she quickly befriended, was just adorable. And yes, Nick was another great boyfriend-type, the kind every girl dreams of. And his little secret doesn't hurt, either. :-) The story was a bit predictable, and I was able to figure out which characters were not quite what they appeared to be pretty easily. Of course, initially I was thinking about vampires, but I was set straight pretty quickly. As for how the story is resolved, I have to say I really enjoyed that--quite a bit of creativity on Zara's part that had me grinning.

All-in-all, Need was an enjoyable read that kept me turning pages--I finished this book in one day! It may not have been overly original, but it was well-written and told a good story.

Other reviews of Need:

My Favorite Author ~ Charlotte's Library ~ J. Kaye's Book Blog
Zoe's Book Reviews ~ TheBookBind ~ Writer's Block Reviews
YA New York ~ The Book Muncher ~ Angieville
Carrie's YA Bookshelf ~ My Favourite Books ~ The Story Siren

On The Nightstand

Teaser Tuesdays: Need

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~ BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Here's mine:



That's what stinks about lying. It's hard to do it to yourself and actually believe it. It's much better to just chant your phobias, face the truth, and be on your way, but I can't do that. Not yet.



~ page 17 of Need by Carrie Jones

MYSTERY MONDAYS REVIEW: Murder In Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

Series: Hercule Poirot #14
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Pub Date: 2007, Black Dog & Leventhal
Format: Hardcover, 284 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

Something has terrified Louise Leidner. In fact, she is so frightened and acting so delusional that her husband, archaeologist Dr. Eric Leidner, hires Amy Leatheran, a young nurse and the book's narrator, to look after his wife while they're on a dig in the Persian desert. Soon Louise tells Amy that she's been receiving threatening letters from her ex-husband--who died years earlier. The nurse assumes this is just an example of the woman's paranoia--until Louise is murdered. Clues are few and far between, but suspects and moties abound. It is up to Hercule Poirot to put together the pieces of this seemingly unsolvable puzzle.

MY THOUGHTS

Oh how I love Agatha Christie and the famous Hercule Poirot. Murder In Mesopotamia is now officially one of my favorite Agatha Christie mysteries. Why? Because I just simply didn't see the ending coming. Christie was so talented at leading you to look everywhere but at the actual perpetrator. Of course, by saying this I may give something away, but trust me, if you read this you will not be disappointed.

In typical fashion, Hercule Poirot just happens to be passing through when the latest murder happens, and naturally he is called upon to try to solve the mystery. Initially Amy Leatheran is skeptical of his abilities, but in his usual way, Poirot is able to convince her that despite his silly appearance and tendencies towards arrogance at times, he does indeed know what he's doing.

One of the things I love about Agatha Christie is that she always sets the stage for the crime to occur. We see the characters before the murder actually takes place and start to form opinions about who might have a motive and a means. Next, she adeptly leads us through Poirot's questionings of all of the possible suspects, leaving it up to us to try to decipher clues that she subtly drops. I think I have yet to solve one of her mysteries for myself. I have come close, but never quite dead-on. This particular mystery ranks right up there with The Murder of Roger Akroyd, for me.

100 FOLLOWER CONTEST WINNER!!

Wow, guys! Thanks so much for celebrating my 100 Follower milestone with me! This was a fun contest to run and generated another 51 followers--unbelievable! Guess everyone loves an Amazon gift card... There were a total of 440 entries (!) and Random.org chose #324 as the winner...

Congratulations to Teresa!

Keep an eye on your inbox, I just emailed you the gift card!

REVIEW: A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman

Series: Daughters of Boston #2
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Pub Date: September 2008, Baker Publishing Group
Format: Trade Paperback, 477 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

Depth of beauty … shallow of heart, Charity O’Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. She sets her sights on a man who wants nothing to do with her, and although the sparks are there, he refuses to fan the coals of a potential relationship with a woman who ruined his life. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won’t play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants—one way or another.

MY THOUGHTS

After reading A Passion Most Pure, I knew that I wanted to keep up with the O'Connor family and read all of their stories. Once again with A Passion Redeemed, Julie Lessman has produced a beautifully written book with a big heart. I was curious to see how she would manage to redeem Charity, a character who absolutely drove me crazy in the first book. To be honest, she drove me crazy for most of this book, as well, because her supposed faith in God that she developed seemed (and in reality was) very superficial. To give Lessman credit, though, there is a reason for that, and we certainly learn some startling things about Charity's past. Unfortunately, Charity has to go through a great deal of pain to finally realize how wrong she's been and really turn her life around and gain a true understanding of God. By the end of the book, I really did feel for her and actually understood why she behaved the way she did for so long. I finally learned that she's got substance and heart--I think Charity had to learn that for herself, as well.

And then there's Mitch. He was one of my favorite characters from the first book and I was looking forward to reading more about him in A Passion Redeemed. And boy is he stubborn and pig-headed (and so is Charity!). I still have a difficult time understanding why he refused to let himself love Charity--oh, I understand being upset with her lies and attempts at seduction, but every time he would admit to himself that he still loved her. If that's the case, why risk hurting another woman (Kathleen, a woman he's already hurt in the past) whom he might not be able to love the way she deserved to be loved? In both of Lessman's books that has been explained by the passage in the Bible that tells us not to become "unequally yoked together with unbelievers." That's all well and good, though I often wonder if believers and unbelievers are brought together for a reason.

I have to admit that while this story was moving, I'm not sure I enjoyed it quite as much as the first book. (Spoiler Alert) By the end, I really had a hard time believing that Charity's family would welcome Mitch back with such open arms as if nothing had happened. (Perhaps they are just that solid in their Christianity and ability to forgive, though!) I rather felt like Mitch could have saved everyone a lot of grief if he just let himself love Charity and had decided to help her come to understand and love God as much as he did if that was really what was so important to him. But I must say that I can't deny Julie Lessman's ability to write an unforgettable page-turner and develop colorful characters. Her stories are NEVER boring! I enjoy the fact that she portrays people more realistically than some other Christian fiction authors I've read over the years. I'm very much looking forward to revisiting the O'Connor family in the third book, A Passion Denied.

Other reviews of A Passion Redeemed:

My Friend Amy ~ Word Lily ~ Window To My World
Booking Mama ~ Operation Actually Read Bible
This That and the Other Thing