March 29, 2013

Blogversary Giveaway Announcement!!


Hey guys!! A Girl, Books and Other Things turns 5 on April 17th, and I thought I would run a giveaway to celebrate!! All the deets are bellow! Good luck!!!

The Prize: 1 book up to 15 dollars from The Book Depository* **.

Open Internationally (so long as Book Depository delivers to you).
Must be 13 or Older to Enter.
No need to follow to enter.
No personal information will be kept.
Winner will be chosen using Rafflecopter.
Winner has 48 hours to answer once she/he has been notified of the win.

The Fine Print:
*You can opt for an Amazon Gift card if it that works better for you.
** If the book you want is less than 15 dollars, you can add a second book as long as to combined total is 15 dollars.
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

March 28, 2013

Speed Date: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

The Plot: Franny Banks moved to New York to become a famous actress and she gave herself 3 year to make it before moving on and doing something else. Said deadline is just six months away but she still hasn't landed more than a small part on a regional comercial that barely ran at all.

In the midst of auditions and call backs, acting classes and a waitressing job that barely pays the bills, she spends her time with her best friend Jane  (who wants to be a movie producer) and Dan, the aspiring writing they took in as roomate.

Franny is really struggling with her deadline, with what to do with her sort-of-long-distant relationship with her college boyfriend Clark and her attraction to a fellow student in her acting class. Is she making the right choices? will she be a struggling actress for life?

First Date: Okay, Franny I'll play along. Sometimes you're really funny but others you just can't seem to hold my attention. I like the 90's references though, and I even like Dan and Jane. 

Second Date: I'm not sure I want to hear so much about auditions and call backs and that whole process, I don't care that much about it. Also I'm not liking this James character, I have seen his type before, I know where this is going. 

Third Date: Well, that was a little abrupt wasn't it? The ending felt a little like an non-ending and it wrapped things a little to neatly for me. but it was a fun story. 

Relationship Status: Don't call me, I'll call you.... maybe.
Okay, here is the thing about Someday, Someday, Maybe, it has it moments of great charm but it also has some stuff I just didn't care about. I liked Franny for the most part, she was very believable as an struggling actress. I liked her friends and her voice was funny. But it took me a while to warm up to the story and really care about what was going on, and the pace of the story was a bit uneven.

On one hand, I totes love Lauren Graham, and I can see a lot of her in the writing - mostly in the humor - but on the other hand, it wasn't a really stellar book for me. It was okay, fluffy, fun (though sometimes I lost my patience with Franny and her choices) but no more than that.

Someday, Someday, Maybe, comes out April 30th, 2013
starstarstar
Alex


What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

March 27, 2013

Book Review: About that Night by Julie James

At First Sight: Fresh out of her first year of Law School, Rylann Pierce was celebrating with her friends in a college bar when she met Kyle Rhodes - who was out celebrating that he had been accepted into a doctoral program and who also happened to be the son of a billionaire- and he offered to walk her home.

One mind-blowing kiss later, Rylann agrees to go on a date with him the following night... only that he never shows up, Rylann indirectly finds out why and she moves on without ever expecting to run into him again.

Nine years later, Rylann has become an Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) in San Francisco and following her break-up with her long time boyfriend Jon - who decided that he suddenly just HAD TO move to Italy - Rylann decides to move Chicago and unexpectedly runs into Kyle... in the courtroom.

A few months before, after his then girlfriend broke up with him via Twitter and later posted a video of her practically having sex with someone else, Kyle Rhodes got a little drunk and had the brilliant idea to shut down Twitter for two whole days, and since he's a computer geek and and a network security expert this was no problem for him whatsoever.

Until he sobered up and realized it was time to own up to what he had done. He pleaded guilty and was in jail, but then his sister Jordan reached an agreement with the FBI and US Attorney's office and he was released. Going to the courtroom that day was a mere formality and Kyle was expecting to see his nemesis Cade Morgan in the prosecution side of the room but instead Rylann walked in. 

Second Glance: About That Night is the third book in the FBI-US Attorney series by Julie James but you don't really need to have read the previous books Something About You and A Lot Like Love to understand this one - though Kyle does start showing up in A Lot Like Love since that's his sister Jordan's story.

Anyway, About that Night is a pretty charming story. I liked Rylann okay and I really liked Kyle - I mean, sure what he did with Twitter was pretty dumb but he owns up to it and takes the repercussions, so that's definitely a plus for him.

They actually have a nice chemistry going on that has endured a lot of time and a lot of distance and other relationships, and that was sweet. I like Rylann and Kyle together but I also felt like their relationship totally lacked conflict.

I mean, Rylann thinks is a bad career move to date him - since she's a prosecutor and he's an ex-con and witness in one of her cases - and maybe it is but it's not the end of the world, really. And Kyle well, he hasn't forgotten her after nine year of not seeing her, he's wasn't planning on jumping into a relationship after the way the last one ended, but he's pretty on-board with exploring a relationship with Rylann from the start.

So, see, no real conflict here.

That being said. It was a good story, I think Julie James is one of the best contemporary authors out there right now, the lack of tension makes for an easy to put down read but it was fun and kind of fluffy and I liked reading about all the lawyery stuff (I like that Ms James's lawyers actually do lawyery stuff).

Bottom Line: In TV terms, it was an average pisode of a really good procedural show leaning a bit on the Ally McBeal side of procedurals rather than, say, The Practice or The Good Wife. If you're in the mood for a easy to read, well written book with good characters, go for it. 
starstarstar1/2
Alex

March 25, 2013

PSA: Don't You Forget About Kat!!!

Hello guys!!


I'm currently on easter break which means I got more time to be checking the Internet and Twitter and what have you, so when I came across this post by Stephanie Burgis, author of my much beloved Kat, Incorrigible, I knew I had to share it.


There is a lot more info in that post but basically there is this dispute going on between B&N and Simon & Schuster  so B &N is cutting down their orders for S&S books to practically nothing, and a lot of authors are kind of getting lost in the shuffle, among them Stephanie and the third installment of Kat's adventures Stolen Magic which should start hitting shelves toward the end of the week.

So, if anyone is a fan of Kat, don't forget to buy it! and if you haven't tried this series already you are missing out because Kat is just an adorable and delightful young heroine.

Okay! and I'm out!




March 21, 2013

Speed Date: Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty

The Plot: Living in London and working behind the counter at a Museum's store was not exactly where Hannah planned to be in her late twenties, but she doesn't have much to choose from since she ran off from her life in Sydney and doesn't want to think about or remember what she left behind.

Meeting fellow Australian India one day at the Museum, and later at the park was a surprise, as Hannah doesn't believe she deserves friends, or fun or anything good happening to her, but India is around to stay - for a while at least.

See, India likes to fix people, she has been doing it for the past year, traveling from place to place, staying a few days, maybe a few weeks, fixing people and moving on. So she's determined to find out what Hannah's story is, only that Hannah isn't as easy to figure out.

Through out their interactions, little pieces of both women's pasts start to come out to the light. For India also has her own secrets that she slowly doles out as she writes love-letters to a guy she meet in Greece, and sends them in a very unconventional fashion.

First Date: I'm not sure if I like India or Hannah but I can't put this book down. Hannah is a bit of a martyr and India is a bit too much - I'm starting to suspect India is a manic pixie dream girl and MPDG is my second most hated female archetype, only behind TSTL- but I'm intrigued. Love the snippets about the letters India writes, though.

Second Date: Okay, gut me why don't you? Oh, Hannah, now that I know what you did and why, you make a lot more sense. Some of it hits a little close to home, so I kind of get it. I'm liking India a little better, she's still a little too MPDG for my taste but she tells Hannah what she needs to hear, much as it hurts. I'm suspecting her secret already, though.

Third Date: Twist the dagger a little more, why don't you? Honestly. What is it with Aussie authors that take my heart, tear it into a million little pieces, make me cry like a baby and yet I keep coming back for more? WHY MUST YOU AUSSIE AUTHORS? WHYYY???!!

Relationship Status: I CAN'T QUIT YOU!!
Okay, drama aside, Paper Chains was quite brilliant. I couldn't put it down because from about page two I became so involved with Hannah and India and even when I didn't like them I couldn't help myself and I couldn't leave them. I had heard from fellow blogger Inkcrush that Nicola Moriarty was a terrific writer and the girl got mad skills, let me tell you. In so many ways Paper Chains is such a quiet novel but the drama and the heartbreak are based on such every-day/commonplace things that it just hits you, you know? how easy it is for things to go wrong.

I don't think Paper Chains is a perfect novel, but it definitely has reading crack and, unless Moriarty decides to start writing Twilight fanfiction, I can't imagine a future where I don't keep reading her stories.

Please note that Paper Chains is currently only available in Australia (wherever books are sold). This side of the pond it's available via Fishpond World
starstarstarstar1/2Personal Favorite
Alex
What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

March 20, 2013

Book Review: Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett

The Deal: Rapunzel has never been outside her house, or really had contact with anyone other than her Mother, Grothel. She has a rare disease that keeps her from ever going outside and she lives practically alone, with only her mother's visits to keep her company, even if Grothel always seems more interested in brushing out Rapunzel's 15 feet long hair than on anything else. 

Rapunzel is lonely though, and since her mother was forced to get her a computer so she could keep on with her home schooling, Rapunzel has discovered Facebook and enjoys looking at the pages of the kids that go to the local high schools, kids she has never seen. 

That's how she meets Fane, a guy who accepts her friend request and with whom she begins talking, a small act of defiance that might change her life. 

My Thoughts: I have to admit that Rapunzel Untangled threw me at the beginning. I had read and loved Geek Girl by the same author and I guess I was expecting something pretty similar, and this really wasn't. 

I also thought I would really like it, almost instantly, because I love fairy tales and their retellings, but at first I had trouble clicking with the world and the set up for the story - you know, how much magic was in this world? what was Grothel really up to? - but as the story progressed I found myself really liking Rapunzel and Fane. 

All in all, it was a really good retelling and I do like Ms Bennett's style, is very readable and it goes by pretty quickly. 
starstarstar2/3
Alex

March 18, 2013

Book Review: The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

The Deal: Angie caught her boyfriend and her best friend Lizzie in bed together on prom night, and in the aftermath  Lizzie was branded a slut and harassed until she took her own life. It should be the end of the story, but graffiti keeps showing up on Lizzie's locker, and someone is copying Lizzie's diary and pasting it around school.

Angie feels guilty over what happened to Lizzie and she's determined to find out what's really going on at school, what really happened that night between her boyfriend and Lizzie, and she will not rest until she has some answers. 

My Thoughts: I don't want to go into details with the plot because it works as kind of a mystery and even if I didn't particularly like this mystery I don't think it would be fair to ruin it for other people.

The S-word takes a look at how quickly a reputation is lost and blames are assigned and how harsh it is for the person who is deemed guilty. In this case that person was Lizzie, but whatever happened didn't leave Angie untouched, she's obsessed with Lizzie and her death and her own role in it - Angie never stepped up to protect Lizzie, never even asked her side of the story - and now she want answers and she's willing to go pretty far to get them.

For me that was the problem I have with the book, Angie was a bit over the top when it came to what she did and how she did it, she was a little all over the place and I found it hard to sympathise or empathise with her, and a lot of it had to do with the way the story was written, which felt jerky and halting at times and others just went on and on about the same thing.

The rest, as I said, plays out mostly as a mystery, not a particularly hard to figure out mystery but still.

In any case, it wasn't a winner for me. It's not horrible or anything but as far as 'issue books' go, this wasn't the most compelling, sometimes it came off as preachy and I didn't really like the narrator.

The S-Word comes out May 7th, 2013. 
starstar
Alex

March 15, 2013

Book Review: Some Kind of Wonderful by Barbara Freethy

Hello and Welcome to another free form review. This time I'm talking about Some Kind of Wonderful by Barbara Freethy. It tells the story of Matt Winters an investigative reporter that moved back to the San Francisco area where he grew up in hopes of finding his younger sister Sarah, whom he hasn't seen since they were split up as kids in foster care. 

After a few weeks he hasn't made much progress, until the night he finds a baby in the hallway of his apartment building. In a panic he knocks on his neighbor's door - thinking the baby is hers - and meets Caitlyn Devereaux. Caitlyn manages to get the baby to stop crying and finds the note explaining that the baby is Sarah's daughter and that Matt is supposed to take care of her. 

From then on, Caitlyn and Matt's lives become intertwined as they struggle to take care of the baby and to find Sarah. Caitlyn is dealing with her own drama as her ex-fiancé has just returned from the East Coast and is keen on rekindling their romance, even if Caitlyn isn't so keen. 

Some Kind of Wonderful sounded like a really good story in theory but in the end it just wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Firstly, I feel like I should point out that it was first published in 2001, and it shows and not in a good way. The whole story feels quite dated. 

Matt and Caitlyn were nice enough but at times it felt like the story was more a mystery than a romance and it wasn't a particularly compelling mystery (you know, the whole What Happened to Sarah? thing).

I guess that I just didn't mesh with this author's style. It was okay, the writing was good, but it wasn't particularly compelling. It didn't have that something that makes a story particularly memorable. 
starstar
Alex

March 14, 2013

Speed Date: Attachements by Rainbow Rowell

Welcome to another Speed Date, this week we are tackling Attachements by Rainbow Rowell

The Plot: Best Friends Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder work for the same newspaper, The Courier, Beth is a movie reviewer/entertainment reporter and Jennifer a copy editor. Through out the workday, they send each other emails back and forth, telling each other amusing stories, deep fears and talking about the things they can't seem to talk with anyone else. 

They know that the company monitors their work-email accounts - they monitor everyone's accounts - but they just don't care, and so far they have managed to escape all warnings. 

Lincoln works at The Courier too, he's the person who reads the emails that get flagged down as inappropriate and writes the warnings. It's not his dream job, but he doesn't know what he wants to do and the job pays pretty well. Beth and Jennifer's emails often get flagged down but Lincoln knows he's never writing them a warning. 

He likes hearing them banter, he reads about Jennifer's uncertainty about having a child with her wonderful husband, about Beth's relationship that doesn't seem to go anywhere. He knows this is a bit creepy, and he knows he's falling for Beth. But he also knows that the more time passes, the weirder it gets. 

First Date: Beth and Jennifer do sound like best friends, I like them. I want them to be my best friends. Lincoln is a very sweet guy, but his sections are a bit long compared to Beth and Jennifer's quick fire interactions. 

Second Date: For a moment there it seemed like the story was getting a little stuck, but it soon picked up steam again. Beth and Jen are hilarious, but so real. Also, Go Lincoln! He's finally making changes in his life. 

Third Date: I admit I cried a little there, I couldn't help it! I feel like I really know these people!! Wanted to hugh Jennifer so much! poor dear! But things look up! and Beth and Lincoln, so many near misses but they made me sigh happily at the end! 

Relationship Status: This might be the book I marry!
I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVED this book. There were parts that were a little slow, and sometimes Lincoln's POV went on for a little too long, but I LOVED THIS BOOK: The setting, the millenium nostalgia, the happy chatter and the sad chatter. It was all lovely. I think I have found a new favorite author! 

Favorite Quotes (among many): 
"I always knew he was selfish and self-indulgent, and kind of lazy; those are practically prerequisites for playing lead guitar." - Beth

"Things get better - hurt less - over time. If you let them." - Lincoln

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

March 13, 2013

Book Review: All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

At First Sight: Josh Kowalski has spent most of his life looking after the family business: The Northern Star Lodge. While all his older siblings left their home town and went to do whatever they wanted, Josh was left working at the Lodge and struggling to run a profitable business. 

After the Lodge took a bad turn and his siblings were forced to take a good look at the situation and realized that they had basically walked away and left their youngest brother to deal with it all, things started to get a little better and Josh began to see the light at the end of the tunnel: he was going to be able to leave town and figure out what he wanted to do with his life. 

So, starting a relationship with his best friend Katie just now seems like really bad timing, but after years of unrequited love on Katie's side, suddenly they are together. 

The problem is that Katie doesn't want to leave, and Josh is still planning to... 

Second Glance: All he Ever Dreamed is the sixth book of the Kowalski series and I can sum up how I felt about it in one word: MEH! This was supposed to be a grand story that had been building up since book 4 (All He Ever Needed), Katie and Josh have spent the better part of the last 20 years dancing around each other, Katie is really in love with Josh and the whole town knows it except for him.

Suddenly they start a relationship. I know I'm supposed to think that it was inevitable - Katie moves into the Lodge to help her mom Rose (the lodge's long time housekeeper and second mother to the Kowalski clan), they are are spending a bit more time together and Josh realizes that yes, she is a girl -but, really? well, I felt like things just started between them without any real rhyme or reason. 

And, by the end, I still fet that they were in a relationship just because they were there and (START OF SPOILER ZONE, highlight to see) that Josh comes back to town and gets back with Katie because he doesn't figure out what else he could do. I never felt that coming home was his dearest wish, it was just that he went out into the world and didn't find anything he liked more, but not in a good way, it was an "Oh, just as well! I know I threw a temper tantrum to get out of there but, c'est la vie". (END OF SPOILER ZONE)

Bottom Line: "Meh" is really the best way I can describe this book. I liked the characters, writing wasn't bad but I didn't really find myself rooting for Katie or Josh or Katie and Josh, I wasn't really invested in the story. I still like Ms. Stacey's style and I'm looking forward to Liz's book because it sounds like it could be great, but I found All He Ever Dreamed just a bit too bland. 
starstar2/3
Alex

March 11, 2013

Book Review: The Reluctant Wife by Bronwen Evans

Love the cover,
but every other page it says that
Abby's hair is blond. 
At First Sight: Three years after leaving her husband, Abby returns to this Italian villa to ask him for a favor. Conte Dante Lombardi isn't sure how he feels about his errant wife's return. In his mind, she left because of a petty fight and should have crawled back long before.

But, he never really forgotten Abby - he didn't want to forget her - and he has reasons why he would much rather remain married than go through with a divorce. So he strikes a deal with Abby; he'll give her the money she needs for her Grandmother's surgery, and in exchange she'll stay with him in Italy and they'll resume where they left off 3 years ago.

Abby isn't happy with this arrangement, but she'll do just about anything for her Gran - who is her only surviving relative - so she agrees, plus, deep down, she never really stopped loving Dante, even if his obsession with having a child as soon as possible is very annoying.

Second Glance: Okay, so Abby married Dante when she was only 19 years old - he was in late twenties- early thirties - afte a whirlwind courtship and a society wedding. But their marriage didn't last long as Abby was really unprepared to be a wife at that age, and she certainly wasn't ready to be a mother.

Dante is a bit obsessed with his own mortality  -both his grandfather and father died fairly young - and he knows he needs to have a son soon, as in his mind time is running out, both because he wants to be a father and because it would secure his family's future.

This was a fairly standard story, it had a bit of old-school category romance which was nice in it's own way. There weren't any big surprises or amazing character development but it was OK. The beginning was pretty entertaining and before I knew it I was almost done.

Bottom Line: Is The Reluctant Wife something to write home about? not necessarily, but it was fun while it lasted and I think that the people who go after category romance will find it pretty good. For me, I would have liked the characters to be a little more developed and for the issues in Dante and Abby's relationship to actually been adressed, but it was ok.  
starstarstar
Alex

March 9, 2013

Quickies: Much Ado About Juliet and Double Crossed

Hello guys! Today I bring you two quick reviews. 


This is a short story about Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck in their schoolgirl days. In this installment, Minnie wants to get the lead in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet, just so she can get near the guy playing Romeo: Paul Poser. 

Daisy thinks Paul is exactly that, a poser, so she's doesn't care about the play all that much but agrees to go support Minnie... but she ends up getting the part instead. 

From what was happening, I guess Minnie and Daisy were supposed to be high school girls (or at least middle schoolers) but this book is definitely just for kids. It was cute and I even liked the story but yeah, definitely for little kids. 


And well, it really isn't a book but a novella that brings together the worlds of Ally Carter's series: Heist Society and the Gallagher Girls. The two worlds collide when Macy McHenry meets Hale at a society party. One thing leads to the next and soon Kat, Hale and Macey are working together on a little project.

It was a fun novella and I think the fans of both series would like it. Personally, I don't care that much for the Heist characters, particularly Kat, so I would have liked for the story to lean more on the Gallagher Girls side, but it was a good story - this quibble is entirely personal - and it sort of made me wish it was longer. 

One thing the story did prove is that having both sets of characters working together would be really awesome and entertaining, and that both series aren't that far removed from each other.

Plus, it was nice to see Macey take a more central role. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the Disney Group for the galleys of both these stories :)

March 8, 2013

Cover Reveal: Lost In You by Heidi McLaughlin + Giveaway

Hello my darling peeps! 
Today I'm happy to share with y'all the cover of Lost in You, the new book from Heidi McLaughlin! Hope you like! also, be sure to check the bottom of the post as Heidi is giving away a $15 Amazon Gift Card. 
Coming May 1st
Cover by Sarah Hansen ~ OkayCreations.net



Lost in You

Ryan Stone is a less than average teenager. He doesn’t have fancy clothes. He doesn’t carry around the latest smartphone and he definitely doesn’t have an MP3 player. Instead, he goes to school, does his chores and dreams of a new life away from Brookfield where he’s expected to follow in his blue collar family’s footsteps. 

Hadley Carter is America’s Pop Princess. A successful recording artist living her dream with a sold-out tour and a handful of Grammy’s there isn’t much that she wants for, except love. But finding love on the road is near impossible when all she longs for are romantic dinners, a nighttime stroll on the beach and holding hands with someone who isn’t going to exploit her. 

When a chance encounter introduces Ryan to Hadley, will he be like her adoring fans looking for a way in, or will it be Hadley who pursues Ryan even though it might cost her the only career she's ever known.

Lost in You is a story about following your dreams, taking risks and getting lost in love. 

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook | Blog


About Heidi:

Heidi is the author of USA Today, Digital Book World, Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestselling novel, Forever My Girl

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell and two Parakeets.

During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she's writing one of the many stories planned for release or sitting court-side during either daughter's basketball games.


USA Today Bestseller - Forever My Girl - Amazon | Barnes & Noble 



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March 5, 2013

Book Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

At First Sight: For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived deep in a national forest park, in a rundown camper with no other company but her drug-addict mother and her little sister Ness.

She's used to her mother's long absences, to cooking beans a hundred different ways to tempt Ness into eating and to counting their ever dwindling supplies.

But one day, after months without hearing from their mother, a social worker shows up, and along with her a man that Carey can just vaguely remember: her father.

Before they know it, Carey and Ness are swept up and trust back into civilization. They are taken in by Carey's father and embraced by his family - his second wife Melissa is understanding, his stepdaughter a little reluctant - and now they have to deal with this new life.

Ness is mostly okay, everyone loves her - even the dog - and other than not really speaking, she's fine. But for Carey things are more difficult, as she tries to make sense of the lies her mother told her and the reality she faces every day. Not to mention how far she went to protect her sister and the reason why Ness hasn't talked in almost a year. 

Second Glance: If You Find Me is a very, very intense read and so incredibly sad and difficult to read, but it was also so engaging that I couldn't stop once I started.

The story goes back and forth a bit, as Carey remembers the years in the camper with her mother and the things she was forced to do to ensure their survival and to protect her sister whom she adores more than anything in the world.

In her new life, living with her father again, she struggles a lot even as she forms friendships and reconnects with people of her past. She's doesn't magically adapt, she misses the camper and she misses her mother and sometimes her new life is just too much. I'm glad the author adressed this and that it isn't just swept under the rug.

Being inside of Carey's head and seeing what happened to her was really hard, sometimes I just had to put the book down and cry a little, but it never crossed my mind to drop the book because it was so good and compelling and hopeful.

The ending is a little abrupt but it was a good place to end and I wasn't left wondering if the ending was hopeful or if Carey would be okay, I knew she would be. 

Bottom Line: If You Find Me packed quite the emotional punch, it made me cry and it made me feel a lot of The Feelings. There were parts I didn't quite like as much - certain narrative points were a little repetitive, certain things were just too darn convenient - but all in all, this book gutted me but in the best possible way. I even look forward to the author's next offering, even if it'll probably make me cry too.

If You Find Me comes out March 26th. 
starstarstarstar
Alex