Funeral Crashing Mysteries #1-3

(This is for a series; Brief thoughts follow the 3 book descriptions and star ratings.)

Adventures in Funeral Crashing by Milda Harris
Published June 16, 2011

About the Book

Sixteen year old Kait Lenox has a reputation as the weird girl in her high school, mostly because of her ex-best friend turned mean popular girl, Ariel, but maybe it has a little to do with the fact that Kait has a hobby crashing funerals. At one of these, Kait is outted by the most popular guy in school, Ethan Ripley. Yet, instead of humiliating her for all the world to see, he asks for her help, and Kait finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Not only is the thrill of the mystery exciting, but more importantly Ethan knows her name! A little sleuthing is well worth that!

My Rating

4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads

Adventures of a Graveyard Girl by Milda Harris
Published April 23, 2012

About the Book

Kait Lenox is back! It's Homecoming Dance time and Kait is excited. It's her first dance with a date and that date is none other than one of the hottest, most popular guys in her school, Ethan Ripley! For once Kait doesn't feel like a funeral crashing weird girl and it's the most perfect romantic evening ever...at least until a girl gets murdered in the high school bathroom. Rumors fly, panic ensues, and Kait can't help herself, she assigns herself to the case!

My Rating

4 out 5 Stars on Goodreads

Adventures in Murder Chasing by Milda Harris
Published September 14, 2013

About the Book

Kait Lenox is officially Ethan Ripley's girlfriend and she might even be kinda sorta becoming non enemies with her ex-bff Ariel Walker. Everything is going great! That is until Kait stumbles across another suspicious death at her favorite coffee shop, Wired. Not able to help herself, Kait sets out to investigate! 

Suddenly Kait's problems go from whether or not she should say the L-word to Ethan to fears that the murder she's investigating might not be murder at all. Should Kait follow her gut or is she just chasing murders?

My Rating

4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads

Thoughts on the Series

I came across the first book in this series on a daily email I get that has free and inexpensive e-books that are available.  I pretty regularly download free or cheap e-books, but I often don't get around to reading them, as I really love and prefer real books.  I decided to read some of the e-books recently, though, and I started with this one.  I adored it, so I quickly bought the other two for really reasonable prices (like $2-3 each or so, the first was free).  The description I had read said the books were for fans of Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars, which intrigued me.  I feel like that was a great way to describe them, as Kait will certainly appeal to fans of those other teen sleuths.  These books a really cute, fun, easy reads, and they will keep you interested in finding out where the story will go.  I highly recommend them for anyone looking for cute, light reads.  They are great for tween readers of YA too, as there's nothing too inappropriate or anything in them.  

Blind

Blind by Rachel DeWoskin
Published August 7, 2014

About the Book

When Emma Sasha Silver loses her eyesight in a nightmare accident, she must relearn everything from walking across the street to recognizing her own sisters to imagining colors. One of seven children, Emma used to be the invisible kid, but now it seems everyone is watching her. And just as she's about to start high school and try to recover her friendships and former life, one of her classmates is found dead in an apparent suicide. Fifteen and blind, Emma has to untangle what happened and why - in order to see for herself what makes life worth living.

Unflinching in its portrayal of Emma's darkest days, yet full of hope and humor, Rachel DeWoskin's brilliant Blind is one of those rare books that utterly absorbs the listener into the life and experience of another.

My Rating

4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads

From what I recall, I gave this 4 stars, but 3.5 would have been preferred if half-stars could be given.  I liked the book, but it seems like the book dragged on in many places; better editing was needed.  I appreciate books that have characters with some sort of diversity, though, as there aren't many.  I can't say I have come across many with a blind main character, and reading about the experiences of people with disabilities or different experiences than their own is important for teens, in my opinion, so this one gets kudos from me for that.

Trouble

Trouble by Non Pratt
Published June 10, 2014

About the Book

In this dazzling debut novel, a pregnant teen learns the meaning of friendship—from the boy who pretends to be her baby’s father.

When the entire high school finds out that Hannah Shepard is pregnant via her ex-best friend, she has a full-on meltdown in her backyard. The one witness (besides the rest of the world): Aaron Tyler, a transfer student and the only boy who doesn’t seem to want to get into Hannah’s pants. Confused and scared, Hannah needs someone to be on her side. Wishing to make up for his own past mistakes, Aaron does the unthinkable and offers to pretend to be the father of Hannah’s unborn baby. Even more unbelievable, Hannah hears herself saying “yes.”

Told in alternating perspectives between Hannah and Aaron, Trouble is the story of two teenagers helping each other to move forward in the wake of tragedy and devastating choices. As you read about their year of loss, regret, and hope, you’ll remember your first, real best friend—and how they were like a first love.

My Rating

4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads

I remember really liking this one overall but having issues with the ending.  If I remember correctly, it seemed to end abruptly, and that's a peeve of mine.  Other than that, it was really good, and I liked the characters a lot.

So so very behind!

I am so behind on posting what I have been reading!  I have had a busy semester with my first in grad school.  I've been reading here and there when I can, but I haven't had the time to get reviews up.  Some of the books I can't remember details well enough to post a decent review of them now, so I am going to work on just getting very basic reviews up that will provide the cover art, the about the book, and the rating I gave the books on GoodReads.  If I remember anything specific to share that I liked or didn't like, I will be sure to include it.  My semester will be done this coming weekend, and I hope to read LOTS over my month or so break for the winter holidays.  I hope to post some real reviews for those, as I have lots of great books saved up to read then.

Guy In Real Life

Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff
Published May 27, 2014

About the Book:

From the acclaimed author of Brooklyn, Burning comes Guy in Real Life, an achingly real and profoundly moving love story about two Minnesota teens whose lives become intertwined through school, role-playing games, and a chance two-a.m. bike accident.

It is Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.

But they don't.

This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.

My Thoughts:

I gave this 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  I didn't dislike the book, but I didn't love it either.  I had a hard time getting into for one.  I found it easy to put down and not pick back up for a while.  I think a big factor in that was just not really liking the main characters much.  Something about them each bugged me, and I just didn't care enough about them.  The story was interesting enough to keep me reading through to the end, though.

Reality Boy

Reality Boy by A.S. King
Published October 22, 2013

About the Book:

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

My Thoughts:

A.S. King is such an amazing writer.  I've had the pleasure of being part of a Skype session with her and my book club, and I got to see her speak at the Texas Teen Book Festival a couple weeks ago too.  She's really totally amazing period!  I've yet to read anything by her that I haven't loved.

I'm not a big reality TV person at all.  I do love The Bachelor/The Bachelorette, but beyond that, I don't watch reality TV.  I always worry about the ones where families and kids are involved and how it's affecting the children psychologically.  I just see lots of therapy in the future for those kids.  This books delves right into that type of issue.  Poor Gerald; gosh, he's suffered.  I wish I could smack his mother around, and I'm not a violent person.  If you read the book you will get this...I feel like the lady at the hockey game and just want to give him a big hug.  This is a great, well-written, moving book about a timely topic.  I highly recommend this and any of A.S. King's books.

Broken Harbor

Broken Harbor by Tana French
Published 2012

About the Book:

The mesmerizing fourth novel of the Dublin murder squad by New York Times bestselling author Tana French

Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands.

On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care.

At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks.

And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children.

With her signature blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, French’s new novel goes full throttle with a heinous crime, creating her most complicated detective character and her best book yet. 

My Thoughts:

Another 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads for me!  Love love love Tana French!  This one really kept me guessing for a long time on who the killer was.  As the About the Book states near the end, Scorcher was definitely one of her most complicated characters for the detectives so far.  I went in really unsure what I thought about him, but was really intrigued by him as the book went on.  This one might be one the darkest and most disturbing yet as well of her books, but I like that sort of thing.  I think I was more spooked when reading it late at night than her others too.  What I really love about her books is how they are a psychological/murder mystery genre but also they are really deep, complex character studies.  I highly recommend all of them!