Faithful Place

Faithful Place by Tana French
Published July 13, 2010

About the Book:

The hotly anticipated third novel of the Dublin murder squad from the New York Times bestselling author 

Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, growing up poor in Dublin's inner city, and living crammed into a small flat with his family on Faithful Place. But he had his sights set on a lot more. He and Rosie Daly were all ready to run away to London together, get married, get good jobs, break away from factory work and poverty and their old lives.

But on the winter night when they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show. Frank took it for granted that she'd dumped him-probably because of his alcoholic father, nutcase mother, and generally dysfunctional family. He never went home again.

Neither did Rosie. Everyone thought she had gone to England on her own and was over there living a shiny new life. Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank is going home whether he likes it or not.

Getting sucked in is a lot easier than getting out again. Frank finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind. The cops working the case want him out of the way, in case loyalty to his family and community makes him a liability. Faithful Place wants him out because he's a detective now, and the Place has never liked cops. Frank just wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly-and he's willing to do whatever it takes, to himself or anyone else, to get the job done.

My Thoughts:

5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads!  This was an another amazing book from French, who is shaping up to be a favorite for me.  I wasn't as excited going into this one as the others because I wasn't sure I liked Frank from the previous book, and I wasn't sure I cared to hear his story.  I was wrong!  I ended up liking him much more when delving more into his character and what shaped him into the person he is.

**My next several reviews are going to be short and sweet, so I can get caught up.  I am really behind on getting reviews up because of school and behind on my reading too honestly.  I have read several books, but it's taking a good week at times to get through them...so not the norm for me when not in school.

Behind!

I'm behind on posting reviews, but I'm working on getting caught up.  Two new ones are up, and I have a couple more that I'll get up soon hopefully.  I've just been really busy with school.  I am still reading, though, and my reviews will be a little late, but they will get posted eventually.

The Likeness

The Likeness by Tana French
Published May 26, 2009

About the Book:

The haunting follow up to the Edgar Award-winning debut In the Woods

Tana French astonished critics and readers alike with her mesmerizing debut novel, In the Woods. Now both French and Detective Cassie Maddox return to unravel a case even more sinister and enigmatic than the first. Six months after the events of In the Woods, an urgent telephone call beckons Cassie to a grisly crime scene. The victim looks exactly like Cassie and carries ID identifying herself as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie once used. Suddenly, Cassie must discover not only who killed this girl, but, more importantly, who is this girl? A disturbing tale of shifting identities, The Likeness firmly establishes Tana French as an important voice in suspense fiction. And look for French's other mysteries In the Woods, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, and The Secret Place for more of the Dublin Murder Squad.

Tana French's newest novel, The Secret Place, will be published by Viking on September 2nd, 2014.

My Thoughts:

I am so glad that someone suggested Tana French to me.  In the Woods was amazing, and then The Likeness was even better.  The premise of the book is pretty unbelievable, but French works some magic here to make it seem totally plausible.  I think what I love most about her books are her damaged, complicated characters.  Man, she writes them well, and her characters are developed so well that you feel as if you know them.  Her stories are unnerving and disturbing but so good.  The way she pens a psychological thriller could have me reading nothing other than books in this genre if all were like hers.  They are so incredibly well-written.  I don't want to give anything away about this one, so I will leave it at that.  I HIGHLY recommend French's books, and I suggest starting with In the Woods and working your way through them in order as I am doing.  Though they can be read as standalone books, they are a series and each main character has a role in the book prior to theirs.  You get pieces of them that are important to their story from the previous book.

Rebel (Rebot #2)

Rebel (Reboot #2) by Amy Tintera
Published May 13, 2014

About the Book:

Wren Connolly thought she'd left her human side behind when she dies five years ago and came back 178 minutes later as a Reboot. With her new abilities of strength, speed, and healing—along with a lack of emotions—Wren 178 became the perfect soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation). Then Callum 22 came along and changed everything.

Now that they've both escaped, they're ready to start a new life in peace on the Reboot reservation. But Micah 163, the Reboot running the reservation, has darker plans in mind: to wipe out the humans. All of them. Micah has been building a Reboot army for years and is now ready to launch his attack on the cities. Callum wants to stick around and protect the humans. Wren wants nothing more than to leave all the fighting behind them.

With Micah on one side, HARC on the other, and Wren and Callum at odds in the middle, there's only one option left...

It's time for Reboots to become rebels.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the follow-up to Reboot.  The book is told from both Wren and Callum's point of view, and Tintera does a nice job of giving each of them a unique voice.  I liked Wren to begin with, but I really liked Callum's chapters.  He's more someone that most can identify with, where Wren is fascinating because she's so different, at least so different from me personally.  She evolves and grows a great deal in this book, though, and Tintera did a great job of developing her character and Callum's as well.  The book brings up some significant moral questions from the perspective of the society and world Wren and Callum are living in, and seeing how both respond and handle those issues is very interesting.  Like with all dystopian books, politics and world-building are significant to the story, and Tintera does a great job with making things interesting, well thought out, and unique.  Sometimes dystopian novels can start to all seem too much like each other, but she really came up with something very unique here.  She has really developed, complex characters as well.  I'm impressed with her writing and look forward to more books by her in the future.

I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Published September 16, 2014

About the Book:

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell 

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

My Thoughts:

Normally I kinda cringe when I see "for fans of" type recommendations that mention phenomenal authors such as John Green (and David Levithan and Rainbow Rowell are certainly amazing too).  That's a lot of pressure for a book to live up to, and often I am let down at least little.  That is so not the case with this one.  What an incredible book!  It's beautifully written, and Jude and Noah are written with such rich voices.  They both come across so clearly on the page that you feel as if you know them and you care about them so much when reading their story.  So many times I felt my heart breaking right along with them.  The writing here is a work of art really and so fitting seeing as both of the main characters are artists.  Also, being the mother of twins who don't get along so well made so much of the book hit close to home for me as well (and my girls are both artists too).  Though a YA novel, this easily stands up alongside many of the best works of literary fiction.  This is definitely one of those books I want to wave in the face of anyone who knocks YA to show them the high quality of what the YA genre has been producing in recent years.  I HIGHLY recommend this one!

Also, I will get to meet the author in a few weeks!!  Jandy Nelson is one of the authors who will be at the Texas Teen Book Festival, and I can't wait!  Yay for author events!!!

In the Woods

In the Woods by Tana French
Published May 17, 2007

About the Book:

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end, In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones. And look for French's new mystery, Broken Harbor, for more of the Dublin Murder Squad.

My Thoughts:

What an incredible ride this book was!  It's psychological thriller/murder mystery written more like a work of literary fiction.  It has incredibly complex and fascinating characters; I would happily read a dozen more books about Rob and Cassie, back to back.  Rob may be one of the most interesting characters I've read ever read about really.  The book is incredibly well-written, almost poetic at times, which I know you either love or hate usually; I personally like it.  It is dark, disturbing at times, complex, heartbreaking (not something expected really from the genre), and just so utterly fascinating and readable.  You find yourself caring far more about the characters than usual for this genre too.  This book will be enjoyed by those who love Gillian Flynn's books, which I am huge fan of.  If you don't like dark and disturbing and complex, this isn't a book for you.  If you, rush to find it and read it!  I just checked two other Tana French books out from my library and can't wait to read them too.

Independent Study and Graduation Day

*I'm combining two books in one post, as these are the second and third books from The Testing trilogy. 

 Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
Published January 7, 2014

About the Book:

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau
Published June 17, 2014

About the Book:

In a scarred and brutal future, The United Commonwealth teeters on the brink of all-out civil war. The rebel resistance plots against a government that rules with cruelty and cunning. Gifted student and Testing survivor Cia Vale vows to fight. But she can't do it alone. This is the chance to lead that Cia has trained for - but who will follow? Plunging through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she loves - and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates.






My Thoughts:

I really loved this series and highly recommend it.  I think Charbonneau writes exceptionally well, done fabulous world building, and has written such complex and interesting characters.  I especially love Cia and what an intelligent and compassionate girl she is.  There are a lot of decent to very good dystopian YA series out there, and I honestly feel this is one of the best, if not the best.  The third book, Graduation Day, also had some great supporting characters that brought so much to the story, such as Raffe and Stacia, and also what happens with Will in this book.  For those who have been bitterly disappointed in the final books of some other YA series (like Divergent, for example, which I was actually fine with), I believe that this one will leave you much happier.

Also, only one month until I get to meet this author at the Texas Teen Book Festival along with many others!  Yay!!  I booked the hotel today, so I am getting even more excited.