Review: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Title: How to Survive Your Murder

Author: Danielle Valentine

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 2022

Published by: Razorbill

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial.

And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.

Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends.

Until Claire was taken away from her.

On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween night a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

If you don't come with me, I might die.
Those were the last words my sister ever said to me.

I have not had very good luck with these sorts of horror books where the protagonist is a huge horror movie fan. They always claim to be experts in the genre and then fail spectacularly at being a final girl when being put in that position. Maybe it’s because they’re in the middle of all the chaos, but it’s just so annoying how dumb they are. And the protagonist in this was no different.

Review: Loop by Karen Akins

Title: Loop

Series: Loop #1

Author: Karen Akins

Genre: YA, sci-fi, time travel

Publication date: October 2014

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels... at screwing up.

After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn't go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he's in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn't think he's a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her.

Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.

But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

A little time travel, a little romance... You would think this would’ve been something I loved, but not really. I mean, it was fine. But nothing I was crazy about.

Review: The Evil Lives! (Fear Street Cheerleaders #5, Fear Street Super Chiller #13) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Evil Lives!

Series: Fear Street Cheerleaders #5 | Fear Street Super Chiller #13

Previous books in the Cheerleaders series: The First Evil (#1) | The Second Evil (#2) | The Third Evil (#3) | The New Evil (#4)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: January 1998

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis: Now the terror continues...

Everyone at Shadyside High remembers when Corky Corcoran destroyed the evil spirit. The evil that attacked the cheerleaders. The evil that killed Sarah Fear one hundred years ago.

No one expected the evil to come back. No one knew that there was only one way to defeat it forever. No one knew that the answer lay hidden in Sarah Fear’s grave.

Now the cheerleaders must discover the secret…before it’s too late.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

I was so excited to read this because in this book we finally find out the origin of the Ancient Evil. But idk, it was a little disappointing. And not only because Corky and the rest of her squad weren't in this book.

Review: Malice by Pintip Dunn

Title: Malice

Author: Pintip Dunn

Genre: YA, sci-fi, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 4th 2020

Published by: Entangled Teen

Source: ARC via Netgalley for Blog Tour

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Synopsis:

What I know: a boy in my school will one day wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus.

What I don’t know: who he is.

In a race against the clock, I not only have to figure out his identity, but I’ll have to outwit a voice from the future telling me to kill him. Because I’m starting to realize no one is telling the truth. But how can I play chess with someone who already knows the outcome of my every move? Someone so filled with malice they’ve lost all hope in humanity? Well, I’ll just have to find a way—because now they’ve drawn a target on the only boy I’ve ever loved...

My rating: ★★★★★
This book was incredible! As soon as I read the synopsis I knew it was something I needed in my brain asap! The premise was just really intriguing to me: Our main character Alice is basically trying to find out who in her school is going to release a virus that will decimate 2/3 of the world's population. There was also an unexpected sci-fi twist I wasn’t expecting at all, and I loved it! I don’t even want to say what it is because I went into this not knowing and I was pleasantly surprised. So, since the synopsis doesn’t mention it, I won't either 😉 I will tell you this though, the sci-fi aspect was very cool! And when we find out exactly what’s going on, I was mind-blown! 🤯 It was just really intriguing and really well done! And then the virus itself... damn 😬 To unleash a virus like that is just insane! What it does to humanity is awful and it’s definitely something you wouldn’t be able to survive. And it all comes down to one girl to save the world: Alice.

Review: The Deadly Fire (Fear Street: The Cataluna Chronicles #3) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Deadly Fire

Series: Fear Street: The Cataluna Chronicles #3

Previous books in this series: The Evil Moon (#3) | The Dark Secret (#2)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller, historical

Publication date: October 1995

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis:

Death on wheels...

The Doom Car has already destroyed racecar driver Stan McCloy, but his brother Buddy still can’t seem to stay away from it. There’s something about that gorgeous Cataluna...

Something ancient and evil. But all Buddy sees is a way to win back his girlfriend from Will,the mysterious guy she’s been seeing. Just one race and Sara will be his. Just one explosive race... to the death.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Dying in this car is no accident...

First of all, this book is called The Deadly Fire... but there is literally NO deadly fire in this entire book, whatsoever! Does not compute.

Anyway, I really liked the premise of this series—a cursed girl born under a bad moon, time travel, magic, evil car... Yes please!

Review: Clockwiser (Clockwise #2) by Elle Strauss

Title: Clockwiser

Series: Clockwise #2

Previous book in this series: Clockwise

Author: Elle Strauss

Genre: YA, fantasy, time travel, historical

Publication date: March 2012

Published by: ESB Publishing

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis:

The last year has been smooth sailing for Casey Donovan. She and her boyfriend Nate are doing better than ever, and things at home are good, too. Everything’s been so calm, she hasn’t even “tripped” back to the nineteenth century.

Then the unthinkable happens and she accidentally takes her rebellious brother Tim back in time. It’s 1862 with the Civil War brewing, and for Tim this spells adventure and excitement. Finding himself stuck in the past, he enlists in the Union army, but it doesn’t take long before he discovers real life war is no fun and games.

Casey and Nate race against the clock to find Tim, but the strain wears on their relationship. It doesn’t help that the intriguing new boy next door has his sights on Casey, and isn’t shy to let her know it.

Can Nate and Casey find Tim in time to save him? And is it too late to save their love?

My rating: ★★★★☆
I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Clockwise, so I was super excited to read this one. But it was a little bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, just not as much as the first book.

Review: Clocked (Clockwise #4) by Elle Strauss

Title: Clocked

Series: Clockwise #4 (this novella is categorized as book 4 in the series, but in reality it's more of a #1.5)

Previous books in this series: Clockwise (#1) | Clockwiser (#2) | Like Clockwork (#3)

Author: Elle Strauss

Genre: YA, fantasy, time travel, historical

Publication date: November 2013

Published by: Elle Strauss

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis:

This is a Novella of 15K.

For Fans of CLOCKWISE.

Ever wonder how Nate got talked into asking Casey to dance on a dare? And what it felt like for him to experience 1860? How he really felt about Casey Donovan? Now you can know!!

My rating: ★★★☆☆
So this short story is a companion novella to Clockwise, and it’s told in Nate’s POV from when he first asks Casey for a dance to when they go back in time. And it was a lot of fun! It was cute and I absolutely loved Clockwise, so it was cool seeing things from his POV.

Review: You May Now Kill the Bride (Return to Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: You May Now Kill the Bride

Series: Return to Fear Street #1

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: July 2018

Published by: HarperTeen

Source: Paperback won in giveaway

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Synopsis: Two sisters, divided by time. Each with a terrible resentment she can barely contain.

Two Fear family weddings, decades apart... Each bride will find that the ancient curse that haunts the Fears LIVES ON. It feeds off the evil that courses through their blood. It takes its toll in unexpected ways, and allows dark history to repeat itself.

In this all-new Fear Street story, family ties bind sisters together—till DEATH do they part.

My rating: ★★★★★
So I actually really, really loved this! I say this because that last Fear Street series, the Fear Street Relaunch, was, overall underwhelming. I loved the original Fear Street series so I was looking forward to that relaunch, but it was just... okay. This book however, it was good! This is looking to be a very promising reboot!

Review: Creatures of the Night (Fear Street Collector's Editions #9) by R.L. Stine

Title: Creatures of the Night

Series: Fear Street | Fear Street Super Chiller | Fear Street Collector's Editions

Books in this omnibus: Haunted | Bad Moonlight | Trapped

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: October 1998

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

Are you afraid to walk down Fear Street? Maybe you should be.

They say that weird things always happen on that dark and twisting road. They say it's a place to be frightened of—that those who go there never return the same. And some never return at all...

They say it's a place where strange creatures dwell, creatures who thrive on darkness. Dare to read about three of these creatures in the Fear Street books of this special Collector's Edition!

My rating: ★★★★☆

Ghosts and werewolves... and more ghosts!!

Review: Haunted (Fear Street #7) by R.L. Stine

Title: Haunted

Series: Fear Street #7 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: July 1990

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

The Night Stalker

Melissa woke up screaming. The prowler was at her window…or was he? The recent headlines about a Fear Street prowler had everyone on edge. Her father now kept a loaded pistol in his bedroom. That made it even more frightening—and real.

Then the haunting began: her new car driving as if someone else had taken control; her birthday presents ripped open by unseen hands; an invisible force trying to push her out the bedroom window.

Out of the shadows of her bedroom came a menacing figure. Who was he? Did he really come from beyond the grave? And why had he come to kill her? If Melissa doesn’t solve the mystery fast, these questions will haunt her—to death!

My rating: ★★★★★

There’s a prowler in Melissa’s room—but is he dead or alive?

Melissa is being haunted by ghost who claims she killed him. But surely this is something she would remember, right? First the Fear Street Prowler breaking into houses on Fear Street to steal stuff, and now this? Poor Melissa.

Blog Tour - Review + Giveaway: The Girl Who Saved Ghosts (The Unbelievables #2) by K.C. Tansley

Title: The Girl Who Saved Ghosts

Series: The Unbelievables #2

Previous book in this series: The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts

Author: K.C. Tansley

Genre: YA, paranormal, urban fantasy

Publication date: October 17th, 2017

Published by: Beckett Publishing Group

Source: Review copy from publisher

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Synopsis:

She tried to ignore them. Now she might risk everything to save them.

After a summer spent in a haunted castle—a summer in which she traveled through time to solve a murder mystery—Kat is looking forward to a totally normal senior year at McTernan Academy. Then the ghost of a little girl appears and begs Kat for help, and more unquiet apparitions follow. All of them are terrified by the Dark One, and it soon becomes clear that that this evil force wants Kat dead.

Searching for help, Kat leaves school for the ancestral home she’s only just discovered. Her friend Evan, whose family is joined to her own by an arcane history, accompanies her. With the assistance of her eccentric great aunts and a loyal family ghost, Kat soon learns that she and Evan can only fix the present by traveling into the past.

As Kat and Evan make their way through nineteenth-century Vienna, the Dark One stalks them, and Kat must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save a ghost.

My rating: ★★★★☆
I remember really enjoying the sequel to this book, so I was very excited to read this book! And I was not disappointed! Overall, I very much enjoyed it!

Review: The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts (The Unbelievables #1) by K.C. Tansley

Title: The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts

Series: The Unbelievables #1

Author: K.C. Tansley

Genre: YA, paranormal, mystery

Publication date: August 2015

Published by: Beckett Publishing Group

Source: For review from publishers via Netglley

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Synopsis:

Kat Preston doesn’t believe in ghosts. Not because she’s never seen one, but because she saw one too many. Refusing to believe is the only way to protect herself from the ghost that tried to steal her life. Kat’s disbelief keeps her safe until her junior year at McTernan Academy, when a research project for an eccentric teacher takes her to a tiny, private island off the coast of Connecticut.

The site of a grisly mystery, the Isle of Acacia is no place for a girl who ignores ghosts, but the ghosts leave Kat little choice. Accompanied by her research partner, Evan Kingsley, she investigates the disappearance of Cassie Mallory and Sebastian Radcliffe on their wedding night in 1886. Evan’s scientific approach to everything leaves Kat on her own to confront a host of unbelievables: ancestral curses, powerful spells, and her strange connection to the ghosts that haunt Castle Creighton.

But that’s all before Kat’s yanked through a magic portal and Evan follows her. When the two of them awaken 129 years in the past with their souls trapped inside the bodies of two wedding guests, everything changes. Together, Kat and Evan race to stop the wedding-night murders and find a way back to their own time—and their own bodies—before their souls slip away forever.

My rating: ★★★★☆
Overall, I really liked The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts--it had a very interesting premise. Being sucked into a mirror and into the past... how cool does that sound? I'm gonna be honest and say that I wasn't expecting to like this much ‘cause it sounded very historical-ish, and I'm not the biggest fan of that. Surprisingly, I very much enjoyed it. Not only did my love for time travel win out, I actually, genuinely liked the setting!

Review: Demonosity by Amanda Ashby

Title: Demonosity

Author: Amanda Ashby

Genre: YA, paranormal, urban fantasy

Publication date: August 2013

Published by: Speak

Source: Owned Paperback

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Synopsis:

An ancient myth + a mean girl + a reluctant warrior = a lively take on good vs. evil...

The Black Rose--a powerful ancient force--has been let loose and has taken up residence in Celeste Gibson, popular girl at Cassidy Carter-Lewis' high school. Thomas Delacroix is the spirit of a fourteenth-century knight who is devoted to protecting the Black Rose, but he needs a contemporary living being to take on the challenge. That's where Cassidy comes in. She's a quirky high school junior who just wants to dress in her vintage clothes, hang out with her best friend, and take care of her father, who is recovering from surgery. She's the last person who would ever volunteer for such a task, but no one actually asked her. Now, like it or not, she finds herself training before dawn and battling demons at parties, the mall, and even at school. But hey, no one ever said high school was going to be easy...

My rating: ★★★★☆
So I’ve read and loved two other books by this author (Zombie Queen of Newbury High and Fairy Bad Day) so I was super excited to read Demonosity and had very high expectations for it. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet all those high expectations. But it was still enjoyable, nonetheless.

Review: My Unfair Godmother (My Fair Godmother #2) by Janette Rallison

Title: My Unfair Godmother

Series: My Fair Godmother #2

Previous book in this series: My Fair Godmother

Author: Janette Rallison

Genre: YA, fantasy, fairy tale retelling

Publication date: April 2011

Published by: Walker Books for Young Readers

Source: Won signed copy from author's giveaway!

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Synopsis:

Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn't exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy's three wishes don't exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn't bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She'll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief's son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control. Janette Rallison pulls out all the stops in this fresh, fun-filled follow-up to the popular My Fair Godmother.

My rating: ★★★★★
Tansy's life sucks. Her parents are divorced, and since she was a Daddy's Little Girl, her dad's abrupt departure really hit her hard. She lives with her mom and younger sister, but her mom seems to pay more attention to her sis. Eventually Tansy's sister gets an acting gig, and since she is underage, their mom goes along on this "trip," forcing Tansy to move states away with her estranged father and his new family. Being new at this school, the only person who really "got" her was bad boy Bo, her now boyfriend. But this bad boy might be more trouble than Tansy can handle.

Review: Blood Forever (Blood Coven Vampire #8) by Mari Mancusi

Title: Blood Forever

Series: Blood Coven Vampire #8

Previous books in this series: Boys that Bite (#1) | Stake That! (#2) | Girls that Growl (#3) | Bad Blood (#4) | Night School (#5) | Blood Ties (#6) | Soul Bound (#7)

Author: Mari Manucusi

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: September 2012

Published by: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

Source: Borrowed

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Synopsis:

After making a deal with the devil, Rayne and Sunny have been given the chance to go back in time—preventing that fateful night when Sunny was bitten by Magnus from ever happening. But Sunny finds she doesn’t want to live without Magnus by her side and Rayne secretly wishes that vampire Jareth was back in her arms.

To reclaim their lives, Sunny and Rayne team up to figure out a way to change history for the better. But if the twins can’t get the boys on their side, history may spiral out of control—destroying not only the Blood Coven, but quite possibly the entire human race...

My rating: ★★★★☆
Oh my gods! I cannot believe this series is over! It's SO sad, especially since I absolutely loved it! It was such a fun series! And, as always, I loved the characters... Magnus and Sunny, Jareth and Rayne... I'm going to miss them! *sobs*

Review: Nomad by J.L. Bryan

Title: Nomad

Author: J.L. Bryan

Genre: New Adult, dystopian, time travel

Publication date: July 2013

Published by: J.L. Bryan

Source: For review from author

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Synopsis:

They took everything: her family, her home, her childhood.

By the age of nineteen, Raven has spent most of her life in the sprawling slums of America, fighting as a rebel against the dictatorship. When the rebellion steals an experimental time-travel device, she travels back five decades to the year 2013. Her plan: assassinate the future dictator when he is still young and vulnerable, long before he comes to power. She must move fast to reshape history, because agents from her own time are on her trail, ready to execute her on sight.

My rating: ★★★★☆
First thing's first... time traveling? CONFUSING! lol. Second thing... That's one cool cover :)

So, I haven't read too many books about time traveling, but I thought this one had an interesting take on the subject with a great plot going on! Also, it was totally action-packed!

Review: Clockwise by Elle Strauss

Title: Clockwise

Series: Clockwise #1

Author: Elle Strauss

Genre: YA, fantasy, historical, time travel

Publication date: Nov. 2011

Published by: ESB Publishing

Source: Own e-book

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Synopsis:

Casey Donovan has issues: hair, height and uncontrollable trips to the 19th century! And now this—she’s accidentally taken Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. Awkward.

Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just “brotherly” protectiveness?

When they return to the present, things go back to the way they were before: Casey parked on the bottom of the rung of the social ladder and Nate perched high on the very the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her younger brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.

Which of course, she does.

My rating: ★★★★★
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was just so adorable and exactly what I needed to get out of my reading slump!

Review: The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees

Title: The Juliet Spell

Author: Douglas Rees

Genre: YA, paranormal romance

Publication date: September 27, 2011

Published by: Harlequin Teen

Source: the publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

I wanted the role of Juliet more than anything. I studied hard. I gave a great reading for it—even with Bobby checking me out the whole time. I deserved the part.

I didn't get it. So I decided to level the playing field, though I actually might have leveled the whole play. You see, since there aren't any Success in Getting to Be Juliet in Your High School Play spells, I thought I'd cast the next best—a Fame spell. Good idea, right?

Yeah. Instead of bringing me a little fame, it brought me someone a little famous. Shakespeare. Well, Edmund Shakespeare. William's younger brother.

Good thing he's sweet and enthusiastic about helping me with the play...and—ahem—maybe a little bit hot. But he's from the past. Way past. Cars amaze him—cars! And cell phones? Ugh.

Still, there's something about him that's making my eyes go star-crossed...

My rating: ★★★★☆
All Miranda wanted was to be cast as Juliet. So after tryouts, just to be sure that she would get the part in the famous Romeo and Juliet play, she did a little spell. The spell was supposed to be a harmless. It was supposed to get Miri the role of Juliet. It was not supposed bring William Shakespeare's younger brother Edmund back from the past! But it did. Now Edmund is stuck in a future with weird contraptions like the car, TV, and cellphone...yes, these things amaze him, which I find pretty hilarious!