Book Review: Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker + My own "Hell House" experiences

SMALL TOWN SINNERS revolves around a church’s production of a Hell House – a Christian alternative to a haunted house.  Lacey Anne Byer covets the lead role of “abortion girl” – but when an old classmate, Ty, returns to town, Lacey begins to question if she really wants to star in hell house after all.

Back when I was a teen in Ohio, my church put on a version of Hell House called Reality House.  I talk more about that later, but first, let's discuss the novel.

Hell House presents a parade of sins – from abortion to spouse abuse to online porn.  A Demon Guide leads visitors from sin to sin and finally to judgment.  It’s pretty controversial stuff – especially the lines the demon guide says as he condemns the various sinners to hell.  During the few weeks of rehearsals, Lacey has to deal with friends going through teen pregnancy and alcohol abuse as well as having her eyes opened to the possibility that one of her close friends is homosexual. As Lacey deepens her relationship with Ty – much to her parents displeasure – she is encouraged to approach all kinds of sinners with more compassion and realizes that one cannot simply take over one’s parents values without questioning them first.

This type of storyline is full of landmines, but Author Melissa Walker treats her characters with sensitivity – never letting them become one-note stereotypes.  Lacey Anne was pretty similar to Christian teens I grew up with - sheltered, committed to the church and blissfully unaware of her own prejudices. I liked that a romance with Ty was the catalyst for Lacey realizing that things aren't as black and white as she had always thought. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but I can at least understand why Lacey made the choices she did.  Also, even though I thought I knew what Hell House was, I was pretty shocked by the extreme way it was staged. 

Reality House at my church was very mild in comparison.  I participated for four years and though each year had a different storyline, the basic structure was the same.  The first year, visitors attended a “party” and then piled into a van.  The van had an “accident” and then everyone was delivered to the morgue.  The doctor put each individual on a tray and pushed him or her into a refrigerated drawer.  He or she would emerge in a coffin in the funeral home (I usually played a mourner in this scene). After the funeral, they were taken to judgment where God cast them into hell.  Hell was full of strobe lights and teens dressed in black that would jump out and try to scare the group.  At the end, there were counselors standing by in case anyone wanted to talk about God, death, and the afterlife.  Cost of entry was one canned good that we donated to a food bank. I enjoyed the experience and am very glad that my church never put on the more extreme Hell House version.  I'd likely have nightmares still!

SMALL TOWN SINNERS comes out TODAY and is available for purchase now.  Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

The summer Chloe was 14,  a classmate died out at the reservoir near town which caused  her to move away.  Two years later, drawn by the irresistible pull of her older sister Ruby, Chloe comes back to town.  Ruby gives her a list of things she ABSOLUTELY must not do, including getting together with her longtime crush Owen.  But does Chloe owe Ruby complete obedience or is it time to crawl out of her shadow?

IMAGINARY GIRLS is haunting - with intoxicating prose and a storyline that had me wondering if Chloe was crazy with grief, living in a fantasy world, or if the paranormal events she narrates actually took place.  It's the kind of novel that grabs you and pulls you under until you're finished and only then can you surface, gasping for air, wondering where the time went and what the hell just happened.

IMAGINARY GIRLS is available in hardcover now.  Find out more about it at the author's website.

Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

FOREVER is the third book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, so if you haven't read the first two (SHIVER and LINGER), look away! Also, it comes out in two weeks (July 12), so this is a tad early (but just a tad).

I just finished FOREVER like .5 seconds ago, so you're getting my uncensored, immediate thoughts about it.

Back when I read SHIVER, I wrote in my review that Sam and Grace were one of my favorite literary couples, and I recall liking them in LINGER too, though I don't mention it specifically in my review of that one.  But for most of this installment, the once bright spark of their relationship was rather dull.  It could be because Sam was more mopey than usual and Grace more distant than usual, or it could be that the emerging relationship between Cole and Isabel just burned brighter on the page.

And I dare say FOREVER is Cole's book - he matures so much as a character and steals the show with his science experiments, his rock star grin and his growing realization that maybe life doesn't completely suck after all.  (Can we get a Cole spin-off series please?!)

I don't want to spoil any plot details, but generally I'm left scratching my head a bit.  The driving action of the book is Isabel's father's plan to arrange a helicopter hunt of the wolves - many of whom we've come to know and love during the course of the series.  While this part unfolded fine (if slowly) leading up to a fast and furious climax, there were other threads that I would liked to have seen resolved that weren't.

Anyway, on the whole, I enjoyed it.  And if you're a fan of the series already, I'm betting you will too.

Book Review: Dead Rules by Randy Russell

In this inventive tragicomedy, Jana Webster dies in an apparent bowling accident and lands in Dead School, an afterlife way station for teen risers (those on their way up) and sliders (those on their way down).  Jana needs to figure out the Dead Rules to facilitate her plan of bringing her boyfriend Michael Haynes to the same plane as her so that they can be together forever.

Jana is the very definition of the smothering girlfriend.  Her identity is so completely tied up in being part of Webster & Haynes, she can’t fathom an existence without Michael.   She’s so single minded in her plan to kill Michael that she doesn’t care what happens to her – or that her skin gets all tingly when sexy slider Mars touches her.

On the surface, this is a wickedly funny story of Jana’s obsession interspersed with anecdotes of the other students about their deaths (all very bizarre – involving lawn darts, birds and drunken uncles).  But there is so much tragedy underneath the hijinks as Jana is revealed as a terminally lonely soul who doesn’t understand her own worth.  What Debut Author Russell set up and executed here blows me away and I desperately want to discuss this novel with others.  Get in touch!!

DEAD RULES is out now.  Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review: Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

SHIFT is the sequel to SHADE (read my review), so if you haven’t read the first book, there will be some (mini) spoilers in this review.

Aura is still caught between two loves - her dead boyfriend Logan (who only she and those younger than her can see) and the very alive Zachary who is linked to her under mysterious circumstances.  She’s also still looking for answers.  What happened to her mother? What caused the shift?  What is Aura’s part in the shift?

This fast paced installment in the trilogy provides many satisfying new twists and turns and it kept me up late reading. Some of the revelations totally caught me off guard, which I love. I was also especially impressed by the way the love scenes were written.  They get pretty hot and heavy (especially the one near the beginning) but the characters don’t come off as pervy at all. It’s so difficult to do!

SHIFT comes out tomorrow.  Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Advance Buzz Book Review: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

The deal: Carmen is a 17 year old violin prodigy, already accepted to Julliard, already winner of a classical music Grammy. She is pushed to achieve increasing greater success by her mother Diana, a former opera singer who lost her promising career due to a medical condition.  As the story opens, Carmen is preparing for a prestigious violin competition that takes place only once every four years.  If Carmen wins, she’ll tour the world. Losing is not an option.  Her main competition is Jeremy - a handsome Brit who takes a romantic interest in her.

Despite her fame and talent, Carmen comes off as a very relatable teen. She’s sheltered by her controlling mother, which makes her naïve. The tension between Carmen and Jeremy (and between Carmen and her mother for that matter) is palpable and is the driving force behind the narrative – is Jeremy using Carmen or does he really care about her? Does Carmen’s mother have her best interests at heart or is she merely using Carmen as vehicle to restore her own broken dreams?

The narrative also affords the reader a fascinating inside look at the competitive world of classical music and what it takes to be world-class.  I loved it!


Add this to your wishlist if:  You're a fan of classical music, Glee and/or Sara Bennett Wealer's RIVAL. You like a romance with a twist.  Add at GoodReads.

VIRTUOSITY comes out October 18, 2011.  Find out more about it at the author's website.

Book Review: Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Mercy is not sure what or who she is - all she knows is that she jumps from body to body.  This time, she occupies the body of Carmen, a teen singer on a trip with her choir.  Carmen is placed into a host family full of grief - their daughter, also a singer, has been missing for more than a year.  Mercy must play the part of Carmen and try to solve the mystery of the missing girl, all while searching for an immortal love that visits her only in her dreams.

This story reminded me a lot of the 80s TV show Quantum Leap - in that Mercy seems to jump into bodies to set things right for the people involved.  Though the novel touches on Mercy's past and her identity, the main plot centers on preparing for a musical performance and sleuthing.  I loved that Mercy could add an extra dimension to her voice to literally make Carmen sing like an angel.  The descriptions of their choir practices really made me wish I could listen in!

The mystery was also very satisfying and surprising.  At the end, we finish with Carmen's story, but we can also look forward to Mercy inhabiting other bodies as the series continues.

MERCY is available in Australia now and will be published in hardcover in the US next month. Find out more about the author.

Book Review and Giveaway: Clarity by Kim Harrington

Clarity is part of a family of psychics. Her mother can read thoughts. Her brother can talk to the dead. And Clarity can touch an object and she the memories of those who touched it.  When her quiet seaside town is hit by a murder, Clarity is asked to use her special ability to aid the police in their investigation.

CLARITY is a well-crafted mystery with appealing characters.  Clarity has such a open personality and fun ability, I find it a little hard to believe that she has no girlfriends (the book's explanation aside). There isn't a single cool, independent chick in the whole town?  How sad!  If I lived there, I'd be hanging out with Clarity all the time - Tiffany and popularity with the townies be damned.

But at least Clarity has plenty of boy attention.  There's the sweet/sour relationship with her ex Justin, her sizzling chemistry with the mysterious new hottie in town, the easy rapport with her brother's best friend, and the tender bond she shares with her brother.

I was so caught up in the depth of the relationships portrayed, I didn't even mind that I was able to finger the culprit pretty early on and also have a good idea of that person's motives.  I look forward to more adventures with Clarity and crew when the sequel PERCEPTION drops in March 2012.  And here's hoping she gets some girlfriends soon!

Want to win 1 of 2 copies of CLARITY?  Fill out this form by April 10th at 11:59 PM CST. US only.
Watch the CLARITY trailer!
Visit the author's website.

Book Review: Kindred by Tammar Stein

College Freshman Miriam gets a task from God to save a classmate. Her failure to take it seriously gives Miriam a crisis of conscious. But even worse, she discovers that her twin brother Mo may be working for the devil.


KINDRED is a deep and unflinching exploration of faith, freedom of choice and sibling relationships. Miriam is a believably complex protagonist at the cusp of adulthood wrestling not only with angelic visitation and the cosmic battle between good and evil but also a scary health condition and a would be mass murderer.

I was riveted by the personal, spiritual journey Miriam goes through – the lives she touches and those that touch hers. I loved how the “paranormal” aspects of this are grounded in the real world by such a real character.

(Also? If you are one of those readers that complain there aren’t enough bathroom breaks in fiction – this is your book!)

KINDRED is available in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review and Pre-order Giveaway: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

16 year old twins Melody and Harmony are meeting for the first time, and their ways of dealing with their world – a world in which a virus has made everyone over the age of 18 infertile – clash considerably. Melody has a lucrative conception contract, but Harmony thinks pregging for profit is a sin. Hilarity ensues.


I gulped down the pages of BUMPED while on a long plane ride and the story and characters so entranced me that I couldn’t bear to read anything else for days afterwards and break the spell.

McCafferty fully immersed me in her world, pulling me in immediately with a scene at a mall that showcased the conflicting personalities of her twin protagonists. Melody may be only 16, but she’s already jaded and world weary. Thanks to her more sheltered religious upbringing, Harmony is more naïve. When world famous Jondoe enters the picture to knock up Melody, both twins’ worldviews are challenged.

I loved the word choice, the scene construction, the cast of characters (especially Jondoe and his mysterious motivations), the themes…everything just came together into a damn near perfect reading experience.

BUMPED comes out on April 26, 2011 and since I can’t bear to part with my personalized ARC, I am offering up one copy as a pre-order from amazon (so US only this time). Just fill out this form to enter!

Also, read my interview with Megan.

Book Review: Wired by Robin Wasserman

WIRED is the final book in the triology that started with SKINNED.  I reviewed both SKINNED and CRASHED together, and now after having read WIRED, I have to say that the series gets progressively better. 

SKINNED introduces Lia, a popular rich girl whose brain is downloaded into a new "mech" body (think cylons from Battlestar Galactica - the human looking ones) and is all "woe-is-me" for the remainder of the book.  I enjoyed CRASHED much more because we really start to get a feel for the post apocalyptic world at large and Lia becomes less anoyingly self-obsessed.  WIRED is the twist-filled pay-off I had been hoping for all along.

That's not to say it's perfect.  I didn't always understand individual character motivations enough to completely buy into them  - i.e. sometimes they seemed to do what they did purely for plot reasons.  Fortunately, the plot is engaging and original enough that I didn't mind (too much). The ending is bizarre, and yet fitting.

SKINNED is available in hardcover now.  Find out more about it and the rest of the series at the author's website.

See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore

Book Review and Giveaway: Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

Nora's glossy existence is challenged when she witnesses a car bombing and subsequently meets Micah at a TFC (forgetting clinic). Together with Micah and his friend Winter, Nora puts together graphic novel issues to remind people that some things are worth remembering.

I really liked this one - the conspiracy theory plot works well even for such a short novel and the three points of view are distinct enough I always knew who was narrating. I loved the details interwoven throughout. And I think the theme (incapsulated in what the play on words the title references, ie Memento Mori = Remember you will die) of "remembering Nora" (the person who self-actualized through the events of the novel) is brill.  Though it ultimately didn't succeed in utterly taking my breath away, it is solid effort from a debut author and definitely well worth reading!

MEMENTO NORA comes out on April 1, 2011. Want to read it earlier? I have 1 copy to give away today to one lucky reader anywhere in the world! Just fill out this google form by Feb 28th, 2011 at 11:59 pm CST for your chance to win.

Read interview with the author
See index of all dystopian reviews at Presenting Lenore

Book Review: Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

Kathryn and Brooke are both amazing singers and are motivated to win an annual music competition that offers scholarship money. Though they used to be friends, they are now bitter rivals. Told from both the point of alto Brooke and soprano Kathryn, the novel makes us root for both. But only one can win. Who will it be?


RIVAL is an engaging look at the reasons friends become enemies and how bad blood sours other aspects of their lives. Though I initially had more sympathy for Kathryn, Brooke grew on me. Her characterization as the queen bee who doesn’t care about the popularity game felt unique and fresh, even if her daddy issues were fairly standard YA material. Kathryn can also be pretty clueless, especially when it comes to her one friend. The poor guy let her totally treat him like a doormat. Do unto others, Kathryn, do unto others…

Debut Author Sara Bennett Wealer keeps the tension and stakes high, resulting in a quick, satisfying read and a nail-biter of a final showdown.

RIVAL comes out in hardcover on February 15, 2011. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Fun fact:  Sara is a fellow Kansan - and she went to KU.  Go Jayhawks!

Book Review: Choker by Elizabeth Woods

What if your best friend turned out to be dangerous? 

16 year old Cara feels like an outsider at her high school.  She has no real friends and tries to ignore the taunts of the popular girls who call her choker.  So she's excited when her best friend from her old town shows up.  Zoe is bold and independent and gives Cara confidence.  But when Cara's enemies start turning up dead, Cara has to wonder if Zoe has something to do with it.

Soooo....this is one of those novels that messes with your head.  You know, one of those that you start reading and initially dismiss as predictible and then WHOA!

Debut Author Woods builds a frighteningly effective atmosphere that's a mix of bullying, desire, low self-esteem, and mental instability.  It's an explosive combo.  Cara is a total train wreck, crush Ethan (the head mean girl's boyfriend) is hiding an atypical dark secret and Zoe is campy fun...that is until she engages in some PETA unfriendly behavior.  NOOO!

I should note that this is the first full length novel I read on my new NOOK.  I am noticing a bit of a disconnect with the material I am reading on it, which is worrying.  Hopefully I'll take to reading on an eReader soon.

CHOKER was released yesterday in hardcover. Find out more about it (and read an excerpt) on the publisher's website.

Audio Book Review: Zombies Vs Unicorns by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black

My track record with audio books is not very good. I fell asleep while listening to Hamlet in the car in my college years (bad because I was driving) and I fell asleep in the bathtub while listening to All The Pretty Horses (despite Brad Pitt’s narration – or maybe because of it?). In any case, I did want to give audio another try, and short stories seemed like just the thing. And it did work out well. I listened to some in the car and others while cleaning or doing menial tasks.

Justine and Holly are fun to listen to as they make their cases for their respective teams. And though I didn’t expect to side with team unicorn, standout unicorn stories from Diana Peterfreund (The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Unicorn), Meg Cabot (Princess Prettypants) and Garth Nix (The Highest Justice) slightly edged out the count of standout zombie stories from Alaya Dawn Johnson (Love Will Tear Us Apart) and Carrie Ryan (Bougainvillea). I’ll consider it my first audio book success!


Find out more about Zombies Vs Unicorns on the official website!

Book Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Eddie Reeves’s father, a semi-famous photographer, has committed suicide and Eddie just wants to know why. When she meets Culler, a student of her father’s, Culler tries to help her make sense of her father’s legacy and could just possibly be the key to unlocking the mystery of his death.


Courtney Summers is my go-to author for raw YA contemporary, and once again I was not disappointed. Though I may be getting tired of the death of a loved one angle in YA, when it’s done this well, I can’t complain. Summers captures that feeling of everything feeling meaningless after such a tragedy and has Eddie, who seems like she was a “good” girl before her father’s death, acting out and taking risks a teen in mourning might very well take.

The relationships feel very real here too. Eddie’s long-term friendship with Milo is tested by both her semi-withdrawal, complicated feelings towards each other, and Milo’s crush on a girl who looks like Marilyn Monroe. Culler is an older boy, a “starving artist” as well as someone who promises answers and thus has an irresistible allure. Eddie feels let down by her mother whose grief has kept her in a bathrobe and homebound, and is annoyed by the take-charge Beth, who tries to get both Eddie and her mother functioning again despite her own pain.

FALL FOR ANYTHING comes out in paperback tomorrow. Find out more about it on the author’s website.

Book Review: The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams

Evie is a friendless teen obsessed with a college age boy who clears dead animals from the woods behind the housing development where she delivers newspapers. When the boy finds the body of Evie’s childhood friend Zabet, Evie tells a lie at Zabet’s funeral that begins a tumultuous friendship with the local “bad girl” Hadley.


When I picked up this novel, I had the impression that it would be a mystery/thriller. But in reality, this is much more of a character study of a girl most people would overlook – a self proclaimed “space between trees”. Of course, the reason most people overlook girls like Evie is because she is basically bland and unremarkable. The most interesting thing about her is that she makes up lies to make her life sound more exciting/less pathetic to her mother and “The whisperers” - a group of good girls Evie eats lunch with at school (LOVED the whisperers - I want a whole novel about them, stat!).

One of these lies leads her to be reluctantly “adopted” by Hadley, Zabet’s real best friend. Hadley acts out (probably because her parents completely ignore her) and engages in destructive behavior, that Evie merely reacts to. The most “thrilling” parts of the narrative have to do with Hadley and Evie looking for Zabet’s killer, a search that amounts to a chain of coincidences, innocuous by themselves, but dangerous enough together to result in tragedy.

There is beautiful, lyrical writing throughout and the author’s insight into wallflowers and grieving communities is impressive, but I spent most of my reading time wondering where exactly the author was going and if I really wanted to keep following. I'm glad I stuck with it, but I am sure I would have enjoyed the journey more if I had gone into it thinking “literary fiction” rather than “mystery/thriller”.

THE SPACE BETWEEN TREES is out now in (gorgeous!!!) hardcover. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review: The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Shouldn’t a daughter know her mother? Lucy has lived a happy, sheltered life with her affluent parents, but the arrival of a poverty-stricken woman who looks just like her mother shakes up her entire existence.


THE TWIN’S DAUGHTER is a delicious psychological historical thriller which never goes where you might expect it to. There’s a foreboding, claustrophobic atmosphere (the events of the story happen almost entirely at Lucy’s house, which she rarely leaves, over a period of a few years) which leads up to the tragic event spoiled in the official summary (which you won’t find here).

Lucy is an appealing main character and her believable relationship with neighbor boy Kit is a solid foundation in an otherwise shifting social/familial landscape. Lucy’s relationships with her mother, newfound aunt and father seem distanced in comparison and as a young teen, Lucy can only see a very small part of the big picture – a picture filled with, class-differences, jealousy, betrayal, murder, and scandal. That means a lot of what really happens is only hinted at, which made my brain hurt when I tried to untangle all the adults’ motivations after the twisty ending.

THE TWIN’S DAUGHTER is available in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Since the death of her younger brother, Andi can’t really make herself care about anything. Until she goes on a trip to Paris with her father and finds the secret diary of Alexadrine, a girl who lived through the French Revolution. Despite living 200 years apart, Andi discovers strange parallels in their lives and soon the past will become all too present.


Despite the fact that me and this novel got off to a rocky start (I am soooo over teens suicidal over their feelings of guilt for a loved one’s death), I really came to adore it, so much so that I had to buy a hardcover for my keeper shelf after having read the ARC.

There’s so much to love here – the exploration of classical music via a fictional composer named Amadé Malherbeau, a reimagining of might what happened to Marie Antoinette’s son Louis-Charles, a believable and sweet romance, and even of bit of time travel. It’s an immersive read, well-researched, tight and passionate.

My favorite quote:

"Life's all about the revolution isn't it?" he said. "The one inside, I mean. You can't change history. You can't change the world. All you can ever do is change yourself."

REVOLUTION is available in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review and Giveaway: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Orphaned just a year before our story begins, Will Henry is the assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a Monstrumologist studying all manner of horrible creatures. One night a grave robber comes to Warthrop with a terrible specimen – an adult Anthropophagus entwined with a half devoured teen girl. This visit sets off a terrifying chain of events set in motion years before by someone very close to our dear Monstrumologist and he and Will Henry must work quickly to solve the mystery of the monsters unheard of presence in New England before they become a large-scale menace.


Though the story gets off to a ponderously slow start and Dr. Warthtop immediately grates with his constant admonishments of Will Henry to “snap to!”, I soon found myself fascinated by this gruesome tale told in a clever faux Victorian style with obvious relish by Author Yancey.

Gruesome might even be too light a description for what transpires in this volume – be prepared for copious amounts of blood and brain matter splatter as well as bone crunching. It’s also interesting to note that the number of diabolical, shady and/or insane men far outweigh the noble, and there are in fact NO female characters who are not quickly dispatched victims (i.e. no chance for any best actress awards in a film version of this Printz Honor Book).

Fans of this volume will be pleased to note that the sequel, THE CURSE OF THE WENDIGO is now available as well, and I am greatly looking forward to immersing myself in Will Henry and Warthrop’s further adventures.

Oh, and in case you need a impetus to pick up these novels, I have two sets of both novels to give away to two of my readers in the US today. Simply fill out the form at this link to enter!

Find out more about the books at the official website: http://www.monstrumologist.com/

Read the first chapter of THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST.
Read the first chapter of THE CURSE OF THE WENDIGO.
Find out more about the author at his website: http://www.rickyancey.com