BOOK REVIEW: Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

Title: Liars, Inc.
Author: Paula Stokes
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 24th, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery-thriller
Format: Hardback
Pages: 368

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.
Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

What bring me into reading this book is because it classified as Young Adult Mystery Thriller and it described for the fans of Gone Girl. Well, it really is not. Let me explain why.

Don't get me wrong. It is mystery thriller where our main character got the blame for his friends' disappearance. But for me it's not that exciting as any other thriller I've read before. Well, in Gone Girl or The Girl on The Train for example, our main character is reliable. So, everything he said is 100% true and no confusion between right or wrong. If you read thriller as many as I did you should know what actually happened by reading the beginning part of the book. That thing itself make the book less exciting. So, for me to continue reading the book was because the reason behind the crime doing. Somehow, the end or the epilogue of the book could change everything. Buuuuttt, nope. It is what it is.

This book is not the kind of book which going to blow your mind or anything. For me, it is not as thrilling as other kind of mystery thriller. If you want to read this book out of curiosity or just want to read the book, go read it!

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I do really like the book. Even though the mystery side fell flat for me, I still want to give an appreciation for the author for writing for such a book.

Happy Reading! :)

- Nikita

BOOK REVIEW: The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Hardback
Pages: 384

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

This is as much as I could write the synopsis of the second book in The Winner's Trilogy. If you haven't read the first book, please read it first before going forward reading my review. I will try to not spoil anything but you will not know if you can get any glimpse of spoiler while I'm discussing my thoughts on the book. You can read my review of the first one here : The Winner's Curse.

At this point, I don't really know if Kestrel really good at acting and hiding emotions especially truth or Arin was completely stupid. That's what I thought when I first going in to this book. At the end of the first book, any kind of human should be able connect things with things why things happened to someone exactly after things that happened to the other one. And that disability of connect things that brought us to the theme of the second book. It sure did get me shouting, "Wake up, Arin! Why don't you see that???!!!"

While there's not much happened during this 2nd book, I'm still loving every page of it. The fight took to another level with higher consequences. It's exciting yet frustrating with our main characters problem with each other. Haha I don't really know how to describe that. Even though that certain problems (that I tried to explained without giving much) is kind of what set the character up to the current state of he/she is that will take us to the things that will happened in the next book. Well, I don't really know since the book will not come out until next year, but I hope so. If not, the fighting will not means anything at all and I would be 100% disappointed,

I gave the sequel 5 out of 5 stars!

Happy Reading! :)

- Nikita

BOOK REVIEW: The Start of Me and You by Emily Lord

Title: The Start of Me and You
Author: Emily Lord
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: March 31st, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: Hardback
Pages: 384

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Thank God it finally came out! Another book by Emery Lord. I was so excited about this book because I read the debut novel of Emery Lord last year: "Open Road Summer" which I loved and I just want to read this kind of contemporary romance. Sometimes, after reading or while reading some epic fantasy kind of book you just wanted nice romance book.

The thing is, when I read young adult contemporary romance, I always picture me as the main character and one of my favorite actor as the male main character. I know it is kind of weird of me, but that's how I enjoy my read. Hahahahaha *evil laugh*. Well, you can tell by the synopsis of the book that our love interest will be kind of nerdy and I picture him as Max.

HELL YESSS!!! Hahahaha

Okay, into the book. The Start of Me and You is about our main character Paige as 16 year-old girl who shut herself to the world and happiness because her first boyfriend died 2 years ago. And after 2 years of not living her life, she finally decided to make a change and start to make a plan to go back to her life as it should be. Start with doing social events, make friends, and eventually dating. She set her eyes to Ryan Chase, her old crush. Well, things happened and Max Watson (Ryan's cousin) also happened to move to her school. 

Honestly, I do understand how the boyfriend died thing is haunting her down. But not expecting it lasting for 2 years. Well, maybe I don't really understand why because I haven't really lost a boyfriend that way before.But I feel relate to her for her love for the books and reading and a lot of nerdy things that she do while she's shutting herself from the world. And I love how this book is not just all about finding love, it 's also about finding her true self, finding the meaning of relationship in friends and family. Some moments, especially with her grandmother made me teared up (happy tears *wink*).

This book is just a light kind of book. Which is a good thing when you need something to lighten up your mood. I kind of looking forward to Emily Lord's next book since I loved all of her book. Well, it is only two books but definitely worth to check out! Enjoyed the book, there's nothing that I can complained about, 5 stars!

Happy Reading! :)

- Nikita

BOOK REVIEW: The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384

They were never meant to be together. As a general’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can’t help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other.

Set in a new world, The Winner’s Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 Let me say that do not judge the book by its cover. A lot of people say that this book has beautiful cover but I think it was not beautiful at all. It was just a picture of a girl laying her hand on her forehead which I think it is one of the 'too much' kind of gesture. Well, I think we should stop talking about the cover and talk about the book more!

Because of my opinion of the cover, I kind of hesitant picking this book up. You know, the girl with that kind of dress, with that hand gesture ... not really my thing. Though, I kind of curious because it is said that it is a fantasy book. So, after the 2nd book came out like last month, I tried to read this one.

At first, I was just 'meeehh' (it was at 20% of the book) and then one particular scene happened (I'm afraid of spoiling you so I can't say which one) I got hooked right away. It wasn't like what I was thought of it before. Somehow it reminds me a little bit of The Final Empire of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson minus the superpower. There is a political aspect, a little bit historical kind of setting (I'm not sure about this, I haven't read any historical fiction before), and romance (obviously). But keep in mind that this is the first book of the series, so not much happened in the book but really good set up for the next books.

The main character, Kestrel is not like the typical main character in any fantasy books I've read before. Usually the main character is strong in physical or having a different kind of superpower, but with Kestrel is different. She's got her brain for sure. She's smart even though she doesn't really strong in physical. As in Arin, the love interest, I didn't really sure about him. I thought that he was kind of weak, well not in physical but in heart, even though that was a good thing but in this kind of situation it wasn't good. You will know once you read the book.

Well, I loved it, and I was immediately read the next book right after (while reading the Amulet graphic novel series). I gave it 5 out of 5 stars, definitely something worth to check out!

Happy reading! :)

- Nikita

BOOK REVIEW: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham

Title: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Author: Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham
Publisher: Random House Audio
Publication Date: March 25th, 2014
Genre(s): Mystery Thriller, Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audible Audio, Unabridged
Pages: 9 (8 hours 45 minutes)

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She's traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.Now it's spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is not a simple missing person's case. The house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica's past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

First of all, I've got to say that I haven't watch Veronica Mars the TV Series but I watched the latest movie. What bring me into reading or even watch the movie is because it is a detective story. I've been liking detective story (thanks to Aoyama Gosho's Detective Conan and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) since like 3rd grade. When I watched the movie, I admit that I was confused more than ever about what the hell is going on. Then the book came out, about a year ago and there have been quite a hype between the Veronica Mars' fans about the book specifically the audiobook because we got the Veronica Mars herself reading the book for us. Yep, you're right. Kristen Bell.

So, at the beginning of the month I got assigned by the company where I've been working for 5 months to one of car company working for their company system, which is not a big deal for me as an IT. But I have to drive at least one and half hours to get there and it was kind of boring to just listen to same playlist over and over again. So, I tried the audiobook.

I loved it! The story, Kristen Bell, I loved everything about the book. I personally couldn't give any comment about Veronica's side story. But I have to say, it was enjoyable and not overlap the mystery story. As in the mystery story, I think it's kind of good. It was not mind blowing or anything but enjoyable, understandable (haha words!) and kind of make sense. Maybe it was because Kristen Bell narrated the story that made me enjoyed the book even more.

I don't really have any additional comment. I just loved the book and definitely going to read the next book soon! By the way, I gave it 5 stars (do I have to say more?).

Happy reading! :)

- Nikita