dnf review: tell the truth, shame the devil, by melina marchetta

Title: Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil

Author: Melina Marchetta

Genre: Mystery

Publication date: October 11, 2016

Bashir “Bish” Ortley is a London desk cop. Almost over it. Still not dealing with the death of his son years ago, as well as the break-up of his marriage. Across the channel, a summer bus tour, carrying a group of English teenagers is subject to a deadly bomb attack, killing four of the passengers and injuring a handful of others. Bish’s daughter is one of those on board.

The suspect is 17 year old Violette LeBrac whose grandfather was responsible for a bombing that claimed the lives of dozens of people fourteen years ago; and whose mother, Noor, has been serving a life sentence for the part she was supposed to have played in the attack. As Bish is dragged into the search for the missing Violette, he finds himself reluctantly working with Noor LeBrac and her younger brother, Jimmy Sarraf.

And the more he delves into the lives of the family he helped put away, the more Bish realizes that they may have got it wrong all those years ago, and that truth wears many colours. Especially when it comes to the teenagers on board the recent bus bombing. Including his daughter.

Tell the truth. Shame the devil. Bish can’t get Violette LeBrac’s words out of his head. But what he may get is some sort of peace with his own past as the worlds of those involved in two bombings, years apart, collide into the journey of his life. -Goodreads

DNF at page 144 

Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite authors; this is no secret. I read and adored all of her contemporary young adult novels and have her fantasy series next on my to-read list. But, for many reasons, I simply could not get invested in Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil. It pains me to have to set the book aside, it really does, but I just cannot force myself to continue. It was good at first, promising, and the synopsis quite intriguing, but my interest was unfortunately suspended for a bulk of the 144 pages I read, due to a multitude of reasons that I shall go into. 

[Blog Tour] Review & Giveaway: Dead To Me, by Mary McCoy

Title: Dead To Me
Author: Mary McCoy
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: March 3rd 2015

LA Confidential for the YA audience. This alluring noir YA mystery with a Golden Age Hollywood backdrop will keep you guessing until the last page.

"Don't believe anything they say."

Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her--and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away.

Review: There Will Be Lies, by Nick Lake

Title: There Will Be Lies
Author: Nick Lake
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Genre: Thriller

In four hours, Shelby Jane Cooper will be struck by a car.

Shortly after, she and her mother will leave the hospital and set out on a winding journey toward the Grand Canyon.

All Shelby knows is that they’re running from dangers only her mother understands. And the further they travel, the more Shelby questions everything about her past—and her current reality. Forced to take advantage of the kindness of unsuspecting travelers, Shelby grapples with what’s real, what isn't, and who she can trust . . . if anybody.

Award-winning author Nick Lake proves his skills as a master storyteller in this heart-pounding new novel. This emotionally charged thrill ride leads to a shocking ending that will have readers flipping back to the beginning. -Goodreads

3.5 Stars

Thank you Bloomsbury for sending me this copy for review!

For a majority of the There Will Be Lies, I was absolutely clueless. It was more of this engaged cluelessness, this burning curiosity to understand what exactly is happening.

Eyeshadow, Yawns, & IDGAFs: Review of The Body in the Woods

Title: The Body In the Woods
Author: April Henry
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Genre: Mystery

In this new series told from multiple perspectives, teen members of a search and rescue team discover a dead body in the woods.

Alexis, Nick, and Ruby have very different backgrounds: Alexis has spent her life covering for her mom’s mental illness, Nick’s bravado hides his fear of not being good enough, and Ruby just wants to pursue her eccentric interests in a world that doesn’t understand her. When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own.

This first book in April Henry’s Point Last Seen YA mystery series is full of riveting suspense, putting readers in the middle of harrowing rescues and crime scene investigations. -Goodreads

DNF - 1 Star

Thank you Henry Holt for sending me an Advanced Readers Copy of this book, which did not affect my review in any way.

I don't know why this is labeled a "thriller" when it definitely was not a thrill to read.

Mini-Reviews: If You Find Me, and The Diamond Thief

Title: If You Find Me
Author: Emily Murdoch
Genre: Contemporary
Publication Date: March 26, 2013

There are some things you can’t leave behind…
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down. -Goodreads

3 Stars

I hadn't anticipated the depth and power of If You Find Me when I first acquired it. I didn't expect it to be such a dark, deep novel. It tells the story of a girl who has lived in the woods her entire life, along with her sister and drug-addicted mother. She is completely disconnected from society, and has trouble adjusting into the life of a normal teenager.

Review: Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Out of the Easy
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Pub. Date: February 12, 2013

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

4 Stars

It's official. Ruta Sepetys is now one of my favorite authors. First, she crushed my heart with Between Shades of Gray, and now, I find myself enamored with Out of the Easy. Her writing is superb, and her characterization skills are envy-worthy.

Review: I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak

Title: I Am the Messenger

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre: Mystery

Pub. Date: May 9, 2006

protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

Upon reading and completing The Book Thief, I somehow knew, without trace of uncertainty or doubt, that Markus Zusak is a literary genius.

Only he could have such unmistakable and beautiful prose.

Only he could create such perfectly written characters.

Only he knows how to captivate his audience and manipulate their feelings to this extent.

I bought this book almost compulsively, not knowing a thing about the story and going in completely blind. While not a tearjerker like The Book Thief, I Am the Messenger is magnificent in its own right. Even comparing the two books feels wrong, because they are much too different.

"What would you do if you were me? Tell me. Please tell me!

But you’re far from this. Your fingers turn the strangeness of these pages that somehow connect my life to yours. Your eyes are safe. The story is just another few hundred pages of your mind. For me, it’s here. It’s now. I have to go through this, considering the cost at every turn. Nothing will be the same."

Zusak gives us a generous amount of humorous dialogue to lighten up some of the more serious moments. Like a friend of mine put it, a tragicomedy.

Ed Kennedy is the main character of this book, a 19-year-old tax-driver. He’s a bit of a failure in life, both by his and others’ standards. Nonetheless, I enjoyed have him as a narrator. Something about the way he looks at life in general is so unique. His commentary on everyday happenings and people is downright hilarious. Like I said, one of the best narrators I've ever had the pleasure to read about, and somehow made the novel a million times more entertaining.

"Have you ever noticed that idiots have a lot of friends?

It’s just an observation.”

Ed’s best friend and my favorite character, Marv, is an arrogant taxi-driver who is overly fond of his beat-up car. He comes across as a jerk at the beginning of the book, but by the end, you will love him.

Most of all, it was the simple things that made me love this story in all of its greatness. Things like…

A coffee drinking dog.
A swearing priest.
Barefoot soccer.
Morning runs.
Christmas lights.
A pathetic criminal.

Sometimes, I did find myself tearing up in the midst of laughing, due to the sheer beauty of some of the moments. These moments were very touching, and like every good book does, inspired me to try to be a better person.

The ending. Oh, the ending. I’m not lying nor exaggerating when I say that Zusak is a genius. It took a while for my mind to comprehend it, but when I understood, I was MIND. BLOWN.

I am supremely and eternally grateful for picking up this book. I know for a fact that this book will not leave me anytime soon.

“Sometimes people are beautiful.

Not in looks.

Not in what they say.

Just in what they are.”