Sophie Reads YA

Review: Trouble is a Friend of Mine (Trouble #1) by Stephanie Tromly

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Trouble is a Friend of Mine
Series: Trouble #1
Author: Stephanie Tromly
Published August 6th 2015 by Hot Key Books

Goodreads Synopsis
Sherlock meets The Breakfast Club in this story of a wisecracking girl who meets a weird but brilliant boy and their roller-coaster of a semester that's one part awkward, three parts thrilling, and five parts awesome

After her parents get divorced, high school junior Zoe Webster moves with her mother from Brooklyn to upstate New York, determined to get back to the city and transfer to the elite private school her father insists on. But then she meets Philip Digby--the odd and brilliant and somehow attractive?--Digby, and soon finds herself in a series of hilarious and dangerous situations all centered on his search for the kidnapper of a local teenage girl who may know something about the tragic disappearance of his kid sister eight years ago. Before she knows it, Zoe has vandalized an office complex with fake snow, pretended to buy drugs alongside a handsome football star dressed like the Hulk, had a serious throw down with a possible religious cult, challenged her controlling father, and, oh yeah, saved her new hometown.

For fans of John Green and David Levithan, this is a crime novel where catching the crook isn't the only hook, a romance where the leading man is decidedly unromantic, a friendship story where they aren't even sure they like each other, and a debut you won't soon forget.
Goodreads

Review
I hadn't heard of this book series until I saw book two on NetGalley and decided to get a hold of book 1 and give it a try. The comparisons with Sherlock Holmes drew me in, especially, back in 2016 when the BBC Sherlock was so popular, and I was hoping this would be everything I wanted from a Sherlockesque YA, but, unfortunately, I found it lacking.

Zoe, our main character, moves to a new school, where she meets the strange and mysterious Digby, who is in the middle of solving the disappearance of a local girl, in a situation very reminiscent to his own sister's disappearance. Zoe finds herself entangled in the case, and somehow falling for Digby?

Honestly, I can't remember all that much about this book. It was 3 years ago, and wasn't that memorable to start off with. All I do remember is that Digby creeped me out, and he was rude and ignorant. Yeah, the synopsis says he's not a romantic leading man, but he really isn't. Zoe, on the other hand, I can't remember anything about her, so I just think while this book had a good premise, it wasn't well executed. Yes, I did read book 2, as I had an ARC of it, but if that hadn't been the case, I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Dates Read:
November 14-17, 2016

Rating
3 Stars

Emma Mills

Waiting On Wednesday: Lucky Caller by Emma Mills

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5 Stars

Blog Tour & ARC Review: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

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Tweet Cute
Series: None
Author: Emma Lord
Published January 21st 2020 by Wednesday Books

Goodreads Synopsis
A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book has been on my radar ever since it was first announced. When the email came through asking if I would like to take part in the blog tour, I jumped at the chance, and actually read the book the very next day, after my copy arrived. Tweet Cute is a sort of You've Got Mail spin on YA contemporary. Both of our main characters, Pepper and Jack, are the children of burger chain owners, and find themselves in charge of the social media accounts for the companies. When Big League Burger, the company owned by Pepper's parents, introduce a new Grilled Cheese sandwich that is neigh on identical to the one that Girl Cheese have been selling for years, down to the name, it's on. Soon, a twitter spat is started, and to make matter's worse, Pepper and Jack are actually school mates, who have to work together as respective captains of the swim and dive teams. To add another layer to the story, both have been communicating with each other, unknowingly, through the anonymous Weazel app that Jack created for the school, and have been falling for each. With the gloves are on, and the gauntlet thrown, they will stop at nothing to win, and not even their budding feeling will get in the way (even with the world shipping them)

When I mean I read the book the next day, I mean that I spent two hours doing nothing but reading, and wouldn't move or do anything until I was finished - everything about the book was outstanding, and I refused to miss a minute until I was done. If I hadn't already known this was a debut, I would've expected this to have been the author's tenth published work, or something. The plot line was phenomenal, with the action gripping you on every page, and the characters were so relatable, and real, that I wish I actually know them.

To start with Jack, he's a twin, but not the 'popular' twin. His brother Ethan is beloved by all, and most people can't tell them apart, and when they realise Jack is not his brother, they're clearly disappointed. Pepper, however, has always been able to tell them apart, and this has partly endeared her to him from the first time they met in freshmen year. He seems to think his family prefer Ethan, as he's always allowed to skive off from working in the restaurant, whereas Jack always picks up the slack, and they don't understand his love of app development and coding. Pepper, on the other hand, is focused, and really really smart, too. She moved from Nashville to New York the summer before freshman year, and her first day at the exclusive school was an eye opener. Within a few weeks, she learnt how to fit in, and is now wading like a swan through life, juggling her school work, her swimming, the pressure her mam places on her with the twitter stuff, and her family's disfunctionality. Her only saving grace is talking to Wolf via Weazel, and the thrill that is coming from the interactions with Jack via twitter.

The romance in this book was second to none. Jack and Pepper might just be my ship of 2020, and this is currently the only 2020 book I've read. From the first interaction, the chemistry is off the page, and once we add the tension of school and twitter, I felt like screaming at them to kiss. They've both been the only people to really see the other, and not see the facade or public persona they put on. Even with the tension of the twitter spat, they lean on each other, and try to make sure it never goes really personal. Each reveal parts of themselves to the other, and there are some really sweet moments between them, that have nothing to do with their relationship or anything else.

There is a bit of angst in the book - understandably - and the hints of a love triangle, but it's nothing to worry about. All in all, this book was just outstanding, to repeat myself, and if I can't convince you to buy a copy, I don't know what will.

Dates Read:

August 31, 2019

Rating
5 Stars

About Emma Lord:
Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, grilled cheese, and a whole lot of love. Her sun sign is Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor rising. TWEET CUTE is her debut novel. You can find her geeking out online at @dilemmalord on Twitter.
LINKS: Twitter | Goodreads

January

Stacking the Shelves: January 11th 2020

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Blitz

Release Week Blitz: Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim (+US giveaway)

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I am so excited that SCAVENGE THE STARS by Tara Sim is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Jewels Arthur, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for 3 finished copies of the book, courtesy of Disney Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

About The Book:

Title: SCAVENGE THE STARS (Scavenge the Stars #1)

Author: Tara Sim

Pub. Date: January 7, 2020

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 336

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo , TBD

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.

Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…

Packed with high-stakes adventure, romance, and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.

Excerpt:

Revenge. It was a simple word when spoken out loud, but it was so much bigger, like the hidden city under the atoll. It was a word of fire and blood, of a knife’s whisper and the priming of a pistol.

It was a word that consumed her, filled her entire being until she knew that she could no longer be Silverfish. Silverfish’s will was to survive, to simply make it to the next day, and hopefully the day after that. But that was no longer her will.

Now it was revenge.

Captain Zharo. Kamon Mercado. Moray.

They would all pay.

About Tara:

Tara Sim is the author of SCAVENGE THE STARS (Disney-Hyperion) and the TIMEKEEPER trilogy (Sky Pony Press) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.

When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.

Tara is represented by Victoria Marini at Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of SCAVENGE THE STARS, US only.

Giveaway ends February 14th at midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2019 Beat the Backlist challenge

Review: Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare

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Lord of Shadows
Series: The Dark Artifices #2
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published May 23rd 2017 by Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Goodreads Synopsis
Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight. Lord of Shadows is a Shadowhunters novel.

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.
Goodreads

Review
I remember buying this book on a whim, even though I had been falling out of love with Cassie's books, and am I glad that I did now. As soon as I finished Lady Midnight, I immediately picked up my copy of Lord of Shadows, and got right back into the action. After killing the evil warlock, Malcolm Fade, Emma is slowly getting back on track. However, her feelings for parabatai Julian are still there, and she knows that by loving him, she isn't just disobeying the law, but it's also a curse, and could lead to the death and destruction of everyone she cares about. She needs Julian to fall out of love with her, as that's the only way to stop the parabatai curse from continuing. Her plan, to get Julian's older brother Mark, and the only person he's ever been jealous of, to pretend to date her, to make Julian hate her. While this is all happening, there's also the fall out of Malcolm's attempt at necromancy. The Centurion's from the Scholomance have descended on the Institute, with Zara Dearborn leading a charge to register all Downworlder's, and treat them as inferior beings. The whole of the Clave seem to be turning into a mess, and it's up to Emma and the Blackthorn's to deal with it.

Now, so much happened in this book! Firstly we have the fall out of Malcolm's betrayal, then everything with the Cohort and Centurions, and then we get thrust in Faerie on a rescue mission to save Keiran from certain death - and this is all in the first half. Then we travel to London, with everyone in tow - including Kit who's now embracing his Shadowhunter heritage - and then all shit hits the fan. Malcolm's not really dead, then he is; Annabel had been brought back, and we're not sure where her allegiance's lie, and then it's to Idris, with Annabel and Keiran, to stop the Cohort, and try and prove what has actually being happening. I did love all of the action, but sometime's it seemed like too much was happening than was actually needed. All of the story lines were woven together, and sometimes you were just getting your head around what was happening with Emma and Julian, and then you were with the rest of the Blackthorn's doing something completely different.

The character's were all as wonderful as they had been in book 1. I loved that we saw more of the family dynamic this time around, and each of the Blackthorn's were their own distinct selves, but all interconnected and reliant on each other. Emma, I think is my favourite, with Livvy and Ty a close second. One of my favourite parts of this book was the inclusion of Kit into their life, with Ty and Livvy basically adopting him and taking him under their wing. Ty and Kit's relationship was fantastic, and I definitely can't wait to see how that develops in Queen of Air and Darkness.

The romance was flying in this book, with Emma and Julian's chemistry being off the charts, even with the knowledge of the parabatai curse, and Emma's supposed relationship with Mark being an issue. However, they can't fight how they feel for each other - cue REO Speedwagon playing in the background - and it gets too much for them in this book. There's also the chemistry between Christina, Mark and Kieran, which I think may be developed more in the next book - I'm hoping it is, anyway.

The main thing with this book, though, is the progression towards the final battle, final struggle towards saving everyone. The conclusion shocked me so much. I honestly did not see it coming, and I'm glad when I bought QoAaD that I never looked at the synopsis as I would've been spoiled. Looking at other people's reviews, I think I'm lucky too, that I waited until I had all 3 books to binge the series, rather than facing a two year wait as others did for book 3. That book, I think, will be my first of 2020 - here's hoping everything get's tied up!

Dates Read:
December 19-30, 2019

Rating
4 Stars