Review: Hereafter by Kate Brian

Summary
Rory Miller thought her life was over when a serial killer set his sights on her and forced her into witness protection. But a fresh start on Juniper Landing Island was exactly what she and her family needed. For the first time in years she and her sister hang out at the beach, gossip about boys, and party together. She's also made friends with a local clique-including a magnetic and mysterious boy named Tristan.

But Rory's world is about to change again. Picturesque Juniper Landing isn't what it seems. The truth about the swirling fog that rolls in each morning, the bridge that leads to nowhere, and those beautiful locals who seem to watch Rory's every move is more terrifying than being hunted by Steven Nell. And all Rory ever wanted was the truth. Even if it means learning that she can never go home again.

Review
The key to any relationship is trust; whether it’s romantic or friendly, trust is what holds two people together. When you are forced to remove yourself from a familiar environment and become acquainted with new people who could possibly be relationship worthy, you become more cautious and aware of your surroundings. Rory Miller is faced with the inability to trust anyone on Juniper Landing because there are too many unanswered questions and unanswered occurrences that she cannot explain. The mysterious bridge that is never used, the ominous fog that rolls in on random occasions, and most of all the clique of beautiful people who seem to be watching her every move. 

Rory begins to feel at home with the ability to spend quality time with her father and sister without encountering the fear of a serial killer or a home with memories of her deceased mother at every turn. Juniper Landing seems to be the new place to call home, have a fresh start, and meet new faces who can become trustworthy of a relationship. During her time at Juniper Landing, along comes Tristan, the physically perfect, yet mysteriously witty boy who Rory cannot seem to stay away from. He is willing to tell her the truth, but the real question is will she truly believe him? Can she deal with more haunting secrets to keep away from her family and only to herself? The problem with finding out the truth and finding you can trust the person who delivers the truth is that you are not sure you are going to be able to accept what you hear once and for all. 

As I dove into the sequel to Shadowlands, I realized that Rory’s journey of discovery on Juniper Landing is similar to a teenage woman looking to find her true self in an environment full of strangers. Of course the consequences Rory is about to learn may be worth more than her own life, but that does not stop her from truly attempting to take a step back and appreciate her family and what little she has left of her previous life. I enjoy a book that is able to take a common concept that everyone believes they know the answer to and turn the logic into a sense of natural debate. There isn’t much in life that is absolutely certain, and the ability to debate an important issue while learning more about yourself and your strengths is quite rewarding. 

Kate Brian’s sequel to this new and endearing series is an excellent portrayal of dramatic form mixed with pure logic. There is nothing certain, absolute, or impossible in these books, but rather the possibilities are endless for Rory and her family. This may seem as a bit of a stretch to a curious new reader, but Brian captivates her readers with the ability to making the book a constant page turner while consciously reflecting on their own personal experiences and what truly makes you, you. 

Reviewed by Nicole Williams  

Book Information
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication date: 10/1/2013
Pages: 320

Review: Brooklyn Love by Yael Levy

Summary
For any young woman, it can be hard to follow the rules . . . especially when you're falling in love.

But for Rachel, Hindy, and Leah, it's especially hard. Because as Orthodox Jews, they live by a whole different set of rules. No touching a guy - any guy! - before marriage. No dating - unless they are considering marriage - and then, only marrying a man who rates high on their parents' checklists.

All Rachel's mother wants for her daughter is to see that her daughter marries well. Naturally, this is where the rich, Columbia U educated lawyer comes in. The problem is, Rachel's already found a guy who makes her heart race. A Rabbi. But how could a struggling Rabbi possibly give Rachel the security her mother demands?

Hindy is very pious and only wants to marry a Talmud scholar. The problem is, she's in love with an Orthodox Jewish guy she works with. How long can she keep saying no when her heart says yes? And will she be able to stick to her values amidst temptation?

Leah wants to be a doctor, but her mother insists she study computers even though she hates computers. Her mom, a struggling immigrant, has fixed ideas about the course to success and marriage - which doesn't include any of Leah's wishes. What will it take for Leah to break out of her mom's - and community's - expectations and follow her dreams?

In Brooklyn Love, three Orthodox Jewish women who are caught between crushing guilt of defying their mothers and their desire to be ''normal'' are there for each other as they try to figure out who they really are . . . and what they really want.

Review
Before reading Brooklyn Love, my comprehension of the Orthodox Jewish faith was very limited. Whether you are a member of this community or not, it is a story for anyone who has ever been in love or wants love. Usually when one thinks of dating, there are presumptions of intentions with the understanding that time and getting to know each other would determine the direction of the relationship. To my surprise, this book brought a new perspective of love within the cultural norms of a community that rules contrasts this universal secular belief.

Even though the book highlighted elements centered on the culture of the Jewish Orthodox faith, Yael created a story that centered on the lives of three young women that anyone could appreciate. Not being familiar with the rules, it was very fascinating reading a book centered on their dating culture. Not being able to touch any guy before marriage and no dating unless they were marriage contenders who rated high on their parent’s checklist, gave the book a unique a perspective that opened my mind on a culture whose beliefs about love are centered through their faith and community. 

The book was easy to read with core aspects of the characters that were relatable to anyone. There are elements of the book in terms of what happens with certain characters that many might challenge its authenticity but I thought it gave a modern perspective of what many young women similarly face. With such strong influences today challenging so many that have strong cultural ties to communities as such, I thought the story paralleled them in a way depicting the pressures of conforming to the beliefs of life outside versus staying true to their cultural laws and stability of their community. 

Here is an introduction to the three ladies to get you started:

Rachel walks that liberal line of thinking, bordering on the want to please her mother to the laws of what should be. Her mother wants her to marry this this lawyer who has the prestige attached to his education. In her eyes, he will provide the security that would give her a great life. Rachel has someone else in mind who she can’t stop thinking about who is a Rabbi. Does she marry for what her heart says or for the status of the community?

Leah whose heart is set on being a doctor, her mother has been pressuring her to take up another study even though she isn’t interested. If her mother had it her way, she wouldn’t even be going to college. She has a certain belief about how she should be and what it will take to obtain a marriage. Her quest is to find her a match but with every one she picks, there is no success. One day she comes across someone who catches her heart but will he be a match? 

Hindy is one of those characters that you really feel for. She is not very confident in how she looks. She is someone that would be such a wonderful person to any guy who would really marry her. Her heart is set on her match to be a Talmud scholar. Sometimes in life, who you least expect can be your perfect match. An unlikely candidate in her book sees something in her that captures his heart, will stay true to her beliefs?

That is just a little bit about the characters to get you started. There are so many aspects of their story that is engaging. Their journey is filled with friendship, loyalty and the challenges trying to find themselves and what they want through their cultural laws and familial obligations. Go into this book with an open mind and you will come out with an appreciation for how far some will sacrifice for the heart.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: F & W Media Inc
Publication date: 12/28/2012
Pages: 264

Review: Addicted to You by Alix Wenmouth

Summary
16-year-old Frankie Raven has just moved 250 miles away from her sleepy hometown to Bradford and she’s convinced her life is over. But then she meets two people who set her on an exhilarating new path and change her life forever.

Roxana King lives on Leather Lane and everyone knows what goes on there; well, everyone except Frankie. Roxana is enigmatic, fun and unlike anyone Frankie has ever known. Then there’s Marcus Ford, the gorgeous, brooding older boy who fuels Frankie's daydreams about meeting her very own Heathcliff on the wild Yorkshire Moors. There’s an instant attraction and Frankie falls hard and fast. 

Marcus and Frankie begin a passionate and turbulent affair but their relationship takes a sinister turn when Marcus becomes increasingly controlling and volatile. As Frankie is drawn away from Roxana into a world of darkness and isolation she finds herself impossibly torn between her head and her heart. Will Roxana still be there to save Frankie from herself and from Marcus? Of course, that’s what best friends are for. Isn't it?

This is compelling and hard-hitting young adult fiction. Contains scenes of an explicit nature and is not suitable for younger readers.

Review
Sometimes when you are in love, you don’t realize just how hard you are falling, either for the person you love, or how far you are falling in life. Love can make you do crazy things, stupid things, and change your whole perspective on life, and even on yourself. It can make you do things you thought you would never do. It can break or make you, either into a different person, or bring you into a life that ultimately can end you.

I hadn't read the full summary of this book before going into it, just that it was about a girl who moves and meets new people, while falling in love with a boy that makes things complicated. So I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting when I read this book, but certainly not this.

Frankie is a girl who is moving to another small town, away from her friends and brother, along with her parents who seem to be dealing with problems of her own. You right away understand that her parents are not happy with each other, or with the changes they have had to make in their life. This leads Frankie right away to connect with Roxana, who deals with a similar situation that makes her not wanting to be home very often.

Through other friends she meets along the way, Frankie meets Marcus, who right away screams to Frankie: “hot”, “bad boy”, and “trouble”. Frankie is even warned by her friends to stay away from Marcus, but she ignores them, and through time, she eventually becomes his girlfriend, and he becomes her addiction.

However, there is soon trouble in paradise, really even before their relationship officially starts. Alix Wenmouth provides great detail on acts that are horrific, but also very real in our society. The characters are people who make mistakes, but step up to their game. I greatly enjoyed this book as the issues addressed would be great for our society to learn from, and make open some eyes as to exactly what we may not be seeing, even if it is right in front of us.

Reviewed by Mercedes Olivas

Book Information
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 
Publication date: June 16, 2013
Paperback: 420 pages

Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Summary
What if your whole world was a lie? What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything? What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected? The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Review
The ability for one to hold and cherish memories for a single lifetime is one of the most significant capabilities of the human mind. Memories are a part of life that are not meant to be forgotten whether it comes to making difficult decisions in life, experiencing pain and grief, or even the radiant memories such as love, loyalty and friendship. There is no possible solution to turning off the part of the brain that holds memories, there is no way to remember every detail of a memory in perfect clarity, but there is the circumstance under which any person can choose to live for the moments worth fighting for. These moments that make life the constant tangle of mysterious beginnings and endings that we all live for in the end.

The dystopian society constructed of the five factions is gone. The factionless have taken over with a new dictatorship. The Allegiant have gathered and plan to restore the faction system that some believe is the rightful sense of government for the people. Tris and her friends decide that none of these options are best suited for themselves and decide to find out what lies outside the city. Once Tris, Tobias and their friends have made it to the world beyond their own, they realize that there is nothing but lies in their path. Lies on top of lies make up the truth to the city and the world that created their small and to the government, insignificant city. As the epic conclusion to the Divergent series presses on, you are left with a sense of protectiveness towards Tris and her friends as they find out the truth to our world and how the American society operates. It is very interesting to read about a society that has never existed before, but that once again is always one possibility out of many that our world could one day become.

Roth’s final book to the Divergent series is captivating as you follow the viewpoints of both Tris and Tobias and their messy romance mixed with degrees of friendship, betrayal and new beginnings. There is a binding sense of family values that are brought to the surface in this book as the memories of the past are mixed with the results of the Allegiant unfolding the revolution and Tris and her friends working to find a sense of peace that will keep as few people from dying as possible. I fell in love with this series from the first few chapters of the first book; watching Tris and her brother choose their faction and their new life, but never once thinking that their life would turn out to be a complete set of lies blanketed by experiences of love, friendship, loss, and a new form of society that only some will survive.

I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys characters that bring you as the reader to life when becoming involved in the roller coaster of emotional experiences that the main characters are forced to face when their world is turned upside down. I cannot imagine my world changing in such drastic measures as I was raised that the United States government and ways of life are set and will never change, but it is always enticing and extraordinary to become involved in a fictional world that will ignite a spark of endless possibilities within you.

Reviewed by Nicole Williams

Book Information
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 10/22/2013
Pages: 544

Review: The Truth About Love and Lightning by Susan McBride

Summary 
“As far as Gretchen Brink is concerned, the tornado that just ripped through her land has nothing on the storms of a different sort happening all around her. Her grown daughter, Abby, has returned home with news that she’s pregnant, and no, she’s not sure whether she’s going to marry the father. A man with no memory has been dropped practically on her doorstep. And the not-so-little white lie she’s been telling for years is about to catch up with her. 

Abby is sure that the mysterious man is her long-lost father, Sam, who has finally returned just when she needs him most. As Abby, Gretchen and the Man Who Might Be Sam get closer, the lie Gretchen told all those years ago begins to haunt her. When her secrets come out, and Sam’s past is finally revealed, will it tear down this fragile life they’ve built—or will the truth bring them all closer together? “

Review 
Mystery, mysticism and historical family drama are exactly what I would use to describe The Truth About Love and Lightning. However, this book could also be described as a second chance romance novel. They say lightning does not strike twice but as science has proved, it can and often does and so does love, especially if it is meant to be.  

Our story begins with a tornado but this is no Wizard of Oz. The twister heads for the Walnut Ridge farm where our matriarchal protagonist Gretchen and her younger twin blind sisters are located yet in the blink of an eye, the storm passes leaving our heroines seemingly intact. However, storms never truly pass over without leaving some sign that they were there. 

For the most part, the storm has broken some limbs and scattered them about. But upon closer inspection, the one hundred year old oak has been struck down, there were walnuts on the ground yet the trees have been barren for years and there was a man lying in the grove. Truly this is no ordinary twister and maybe there is some kind of magic in the air. 

Elsewhere, in Chicago, another storm is brewing between Abby and her six year live in boyfriend, Nate. She wants him to commit and he does not believe you need to be married to prove you love each other. Now he has moved out and Abby has found out she is pregnant. Thus Abby takes her leave to go home and get advice from her mother, to help her sort out things. 

Back on the farm, it has been discovered that The Man Who Fell From The Sky might actually be Gretchen’s long lost love Sam and with him the only person who could unravel her big lie that blanketed and knitted her family together. And to top it all off, her daughter has come home and the Sheriff, an old flame that still burns for Gretchen, is poking his nose into her business, wanting to arrest “The Man Who Might Be Sam” to keep her from falling all over again. 

Thus throughout the story, Abby bonds with “The Man Who Might Be Sam” while Gretchen tries to put the brakes on things yet finds herself getting swept up in “The Man Who Might Be Sam” as well. Even her blind sisters, Bennie and Trudy, are finding ways to get Gretchen and the could be Sam closer and closer together; leaving the two alone to ignite a spark and build a flame, but not if the Sheriff has anything to say about it. 

Also throughout the story, you get a little ancestral background which I feel a lot of books do not do as often or as well as this book. You get how Gretchen’s mother was a woman the whole town hated because she was bluntly honest; her father leaving for the school librarian because he could not take any more. Sam being part Native American and how he has inherited the same mystical powers as his grandfather and great-treat-grandfather before as well as his childhood with Gretchen. 

Honestly, there is something for everyone with this book. A little mystery for those who like to figure things out, some mysticism for those who like fantasy and the supernatural, family drama (which we all love), romance for the romantics and an all around life lesson about lies, forgiveness and second chances. 

Reviewed by Camia Rhodes

Book Informatione
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Release Date: 2/12/2013
Pages: 315

Mundo Cruel by Luis Negron

Summary
Nine short stories open a door into working class Santurce, Puerto Rico, where shoddy medical offices, Catholic churches, Mormon temples, and Santeria storefronts line the sunbaked streets. Here, a bumbling prostitute-turned-fugitive bewilderingly avoids capture. Back-biting mothers hand down judgment on their neighbors and the world at large from their front lawns. A desperate dog-owner will do anything to have his precious animal sent to a taxidermist. A young Chosen One with a curious gift helps his fellow parishioners find God.

Mundo Cruel, Luis Negron's debut book, elegantly presents to its readers a world both tragic and outrageous. Masterfully satirical with a discrete solemnity at its core, Mundo Cruel's most remarkable element is its language. Several of its stories feature unnamed protagonists brought to life by their speech—colloquial, self-incriminating, and idiosyncratic—revealing Negron's mesmerizing talent for conjuring the spoken word in all its subtlety.

Review
This was definitely one of those books that's translation captured the depths of its essence. Mundo Cruel was a shocking, provocative compilation of nine stories that's narrative was bold, engaging yet raised eyebrows. The characters were distinctive and easy to read. As a reader, you will experience writing at it most intimate and purest form without filter. There is something about the way these characters were written that truly come alive and just leap off the page. As a disclaimer, for those who may not feel comfortable with stories that involve gay life, there are mentions throughout the stories. I encourage you as a reader to be open minded and read to appreciate the quality of its artistic prose and progressive narrative.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Release Date: 3/12/2013
Pages: 96