Review: These Shallow Graves

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Grade: C
Release date: October 27, 2015
An e-galley was provided by Random House Delacorte in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Set in gilded age New York, These Shallow Graves follows the story of Josephine Montfort, an American aristocrat. Jo lives a life of old-money ease. Not much is expected of her other than to look good and marry well. But when her father dies due to an accidental gunshot, the gilding on Jo’s world starts to tarnish. With the help of a handsome and brash reporter, and a young medical student who moonlights in the city morgue, Jo uncovers the truth behind her father’s death and learns that if you’re going to bury the past, you’d better bury it deep.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre, but few YA novels of that genre are published and the ones that are are usually hit or miss for me. Well, These Shallow Graves fell a bit more in the middle. 
On the one hand, it felt fairly unique. On the other, I felt like I'd seen most of its elements before in other stories. Jo's voice wasn't very unique (it sounded a lot like Sera's in Jennifer's book, Deep Blue), but I enjoyed her narrative. She, above all, wants to find out the truth about her father's death - and then resolve the mystery surrounding his death. Along the way, I felt like she made some pretty stupid choices. Some of those could be brushed off as teenager naivety; others were just downright idiotic. I'm kind of tired of YA heroines always making ridiculous choices. She jumped to conclusions so quickly, and I wanted her to use her head occasionally. I felt like Jo was supposed to be smart and wonderful, but I didn't see that much. She did show maturity sometimes, which was nice.
As for the plot, unfortunately, it took too many cliche turns (someone totally expected was in on the murder, and I wasn't surprised by much). The book opens with a flash-forward which I think was kind of unnecessary. These Shallow Graves ended rather nicely, I will admit. But overall the novel was much too long. I think there were definitely ways the plot could've been cut so it wouldn't have been such a struggle to make it through this one.
Lots of stuff with prostitutes, and there was talk of sex (although the characters often skirted around certain terms). I only caught one s-word, and other language was mild.

The Verdict: Good but...not good. I'd recommend this one for fans of Cinders & Sapphires and The Falconer.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Possibly.

Book for a Fall Mood

I'm not sure what it is about certain books that make me think of fall (especially because a few of them aren't even set in autumn or just in fall). But those books exist. So grab your pumpkin spice latte/caramel apple spice/insert fall beverage of choice, pop in Taylor's Swift Red album (because that album is fall in music form), and enjoy the following list.

Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith

What books remind you of fall?

What I've Read Recently

So often, the only books y'all really get to read my thoughts on are those I review. So I wanted to share some of the books I've read for fun and enjoyed since classes started back up about two months ago.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas continues to surprise me. I was not expecting most of that book, but it was so good. I wasn't a fan of the ship, and I'm pretty sure mine has sunk for good. Dorian is still mine. My heart isn't in five million pieces. It's all good.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

I'm gonna be honest. I'm not sure I would've given this one above three stars, if I hadn't read One Hundred Years of Solitude this past spring. Both fall under the magical realism genre. I didn't like One Hundred Years of Solitude; it was a little too out there for me. But The Weight of Feathers was beautiful and creative and fascinating. I really hope Anna-Marie writes more novels soon.


A Little in Love by Susan Fletcher
The writing in this one was a bit simple and sparse, but I loved reading Eponine's story. There are a few bits and pieces that will be new to those who have read Hugo's Les Miserables or seen the musical. I appreciated that Fletcher didn't make Cosette the villain, as so many fans do.


Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
This one got a lot of blogger attention when it released, and I finally decided to give it a try. It was actually really good, better than I expected! I wasn't a fan of all the foul language, but I appreciated how realistic it was and that happy ending.


Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
All the alternate history. I could've used a few more female characters, but I'm excited this one has a sequel. So grateful Shae sent me her ARC!


Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
I liked a lot of the elements in this sequel. Raasch expanded the world even more, but I was able to keep pretty much everything straight in my mind. Meira struggles with her magic, which was a good choice to me. The one thing I couldn't get behind was the romance and part of the big plot twist. But it's still a solid sequel.

Random Friday: Fangirling

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following: 

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my post.
• Blog about this week's topic.
• Add the link to your Random Friday at the bottom of this post.

I'm definitely a fangirl - for book series, for Agent Carter, for Captain America, for The Hunger Games, for Disney, and most of all, for Taylor Swift. 

I've made it no secret I'm a diehard Swiftie. 

My phone background is usually Taylor or related to her. (Sometimes it's Disney-related.) I drive my friends crazy with the amount of Taylor Swift I listen to (it's still hard for me to comprehend that some people don't want to listen to her entire music catalog for hours on end). When I go to Taylor Swift concerts, I jam hard. I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to her. I often wish she'd follow me back on Tumblr.

So, yeah, I'm a Taylor Swift fangirl and I'm not ashamed to admit it. She isn't always perfect, but I think she's one of the better role models out there.

So what do you fangirl (or fanboy) about?

Review: Red Girl, Blue Boy

Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Grade: D
Release date: October 20, 2015
An e-galley was provided by Bloomsbury USA Children's in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate? 

This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.
 
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: *giant sigh* This book had all the potential to be cute and fun, but it was a major failure. The amount of incorrect information was overwhelming, and nothing felt true to reality. A journalist was so extremely unprofessional that, Katie was overly formal and she was kind of delusional, and all of the dialogue sounded much too formal or incorrect for the character's age. The writing was overly dramatic and cliche. The two narrators, Katie and Drew, felt like caricatures and they sounded fourteen not sixteen. Just... none of Red Girl, Blue Boy seemed realistic in the slightest. I found myself skimming towards the end, because I didn't care what happened to the characters or how the plot turned out.
I'm sad I didn't like this one more, because I think the If Only line has such a good premise.

The Verdict: I believe my final thoughts can be summed up with this West Wing gif:

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Nope.

Review: A Madness So Discreet

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
Grade: A
Release date: October 13, 2015
Summary: Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I'm gonna be completely honest. I let Hannah read and review Mindy McGinnis's first two titles for the blog because they didn't interest me as much. But this one was historical fiction, so I knew instantly that I wanted to read it. And I do not regret this decision one bit.
A Madness So Discreet explores a topic in history that I knew very little about. I am inclined to believe much of the events are based on history (to an extent); Mindy's author note was not available in the ARC I read, so I cannot say for certain. But none of the actions in the insane asylums were, unfortunately, too farfetched. 
Grace is fascinating protagonist. She goes through much and makes tough choices, and I applaud Mindy for never making her seem unnecessarily weak. I do wish her reaction to a character's death was a bit more fleshed out. As for other characters, I totally wanted more of Adelaide. I appreciated how open Nell was. Janey and Mrs. Clay were wonderful characters. There isn't a romance at all, which I appreciated greatly. It would've felt shoehorned in if McGinnis had included one.
A Madness So Discreet is very dark. There are a lot of triggering topics explored (rape and molestation are two of the main ones), and there is also a lot of death. Grace is a gray character - she doesn't always make the morally right choice, but she also isn't as insane as I thought she would be when I started reading. Don't get me wrong - that was nice and I'm glad this was one instance where my expectation was incorrect. But it definitely would've been interesting to be inside the head of someone who was insane.
There is a fair amount of violence, very little language, and some sexual content is referred to (although never explicitly seen).

The Verdict: I cannot recommend A Madness So Discreet enough. If you loved The Naturals or Something Strange and Deadly, this is a novel for you.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: It's on my wishlist!

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Want to Write a Book Together

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

So I'm not sure if these collaborations would be perfect, but I think it would be really fun to see these authors write books together.

 

1. Ally Carter

2. Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Of course these ladies would be first on my list. They're pretty much BFFs, and they could write a really fun spy/heist/political thriller YA series.

 

3. Marie Rutkoski

4. Shannon Hale

And here we have the women who have written some of my favorite fantasy series. I bet they could create something epic.

 

5. Rachael Allen

6. Una LaMarche

Both these women have written such honest, poignant books that I'm pretty sure they could create a beautiful novel together.

 

7. Jennifer E. Smith

8. Kasie West

Whenever someone thinks of YA contemporary romance, their minds usually go to Sarah Dessen. Mine, on the other hand, goes to Jennifer and Kasie. They're the queens of contemporary romance, in my opinion, so I'd love to see them team up.

 

9. Rae Carson

10. Renee Ahdieh

Something about this pairing just feels right to me. Imagine the soul-crushing book these ladies could write if they collaborated.

Bonus pick:

 

11. Mackenzi Lee

12. Anna-Marie McLemore

I know these two are crit partners, so I think it would be very fun if they teamed up.

Dear Emma

Dear Emma of 2011 and 2012,
You've been blogging for four years now. Crazy, right? And you'll never believe what your little blog has become. You have over 200 blog followers now and over 700 Twitter followers. Your blog has over 100,000 views. Oh and your posts aren't so random and chatty now. You've run a book blog for two years!

I wish I could tell you what to do, to prevent those cringeworthy posts that I pretend don't exist. But I wouldn't be here without them. I would tell you to work on those post titles. Try and make them more professional but still fun. I love how much you posted about Sunny. It's good to look back at those posts when I'm missing him.


Dear Emma of 2013,
I'm so glad you started book blogging. My eyes have been opened to so many new books, and even though I'll never get to all of them, it's a delight to have so many options. You know, instead of rereading MDBC, Canterwood Crest, and the 39 Clues for the umpteenth time. (Although I should reread the MDBC series over Christmas.) Just you wait and see what books are in store for you in the next two years! You're going to find so many new favorites, and meet so many authors, and make so many connections.

Also, good job at writing more professional posts! You also wrote some great stuff during NaNoWriMo. And congrats on getting to work on a bookstore over the Christmas season! Maybe someday soon, I'll be working at one part time...


Dear Emma of 2014, 
You're going to start college this fall. Do you know you're going to Asbury? It's going to be one of the best and most challenging experiences of your life. You'll meet some great (and some not-so-great people), and you'll grow so much. You're going to become a more confident, kinder young woman, and I can't wait for you to realize that. God does some wonderful things in your life in 2014, and I hope you remember to praise Him through all of it.
Also, just you wait until 2015. Freshman year was totally a breeze.


Dear Emma of 2015,
I love how you still thought you'd have PLENTY of time for blogging and reading. You're a sophomore now with more classes in your major and minor. *pats shoulder* It's not so bad; you also have a blossoming social life and you're working more hours (so yay for more money) and you're going to be assistant stage manager for Sophomore Musical. Sophomore year may not always be easy or fun, but you're going to love being back at Asbury, I promise. 


Love,
Emma of October 2015

Rewind & Review #47

Hosted by Shae Has Left the Room.

So I've managed to read a surprising amount, considering how busy these last few weeks were. I have a feeling I'm only going to get busier, too. Being a sophomore is hard.

Books I Received for Review

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum (via Random House)

Books I Won/Traded for/was Gifted

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (won from Fierce Reads)
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton (traded with Nori)
The Secrets of Attraction by Robin Constantine (gifted by Rachel)

Books I Read

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (4.5 stars)
The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis (DNF)
For the Record by Charlotte Huang
Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers (3.5 stars)
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (4 stars)
Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae (reread)
Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis (DNF)
Ship of Dolls by Shirley Parenteau (3.5 stars)
Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen (4 stars)
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (2.5 stars)
A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson (3.5 stars)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (reread)

Recommendations
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Blog Posts You Might've Missed

   (From 9/28-10/3)

• Interview with Emily Lloyd-Jones, Author of Deceptive
• Top Ten Tuesday: If You've Only Read Popular YA
• Review: First & Then by Emma Mills (4 stars)
• Random Friday: Books I've Convinced My Friends to Read
• Review: My Secret to Tell by Natalie D. Richards (3 stars)

   (From 10/4-10/10)

• Recent Releases You Need to Buy
• Review: A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern (3 stars)
• Interview with Sara Raasch, Author of Ice Like Fire
• So You Like... #19
• Taylor Swift and Lyrics

Upcoming Posts in the Next Few Weeks (subject to change)

• Dear Emma
• TTT: Authors I Want to Write a Book Together
• Review: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
• Review: Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
• Random Friday: Fangirling
• What I've Read Recently
• Books for a Fall Mood
• Review: These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
• English Professors and Their Bookshelves
• Review: Cinderella's Shoes by Shonna Slayton

Taylor Swift and Lyrics

It's been a while since I talked about Taylor. I'll be seeing her in concert in just ten days, so I thought it was time. This post is all about some of my favorite Taylor Swift lyrics.

"Cold As You" (image credit)

"Fifteen" (image credit)

"Dear John" (image credit)

"Last Kiss" (image credit)

(image credit)

Both from "Treacherous" (image credit)

Basically all the lyrics from "All Too Well"

(image credit)

Both from "Out Of The Woods" (image credit)

"This Love"

"Clean" (image credit)

So what are some of your favorite Taylor Swift lyrics?