Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult

Publication: First published October  2007

Format: Paperback, 288 pages

Author:  Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher, Facebook

You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret. . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen doesn't want anything to do with the tapes Hannah Baker made. Hannah is dead. Her secrets should be buried with her.

Then Hannah's voice tells Clay that his name is on her tapes-- and that he is, in some way, responsible for her death.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening. He follows Hannah's recorded words throughout his small town. . .

. . .and what he discovers changes his life forever

I’m really glad that my instinct told me to pick up Thirteen Reasons Why during my last visit to the bookstore. It is an unbelievable read. 

Clay had a crush on Hannah, but never got the courage to tell her about it. And now he will never have his chance to tell her as Hannah committed suicide, leaving seven cassette tapes behind. In these tapes, Hannah revealed what caused her to commit suicide. Each person who received the tapes will have to pass it to the next person or someone will reveal the cassettes to the public.

I loved how the book was written. I think Jay Asher did a great job in writing both in Hannah’s and Clay’s voice.  Hannah sounded very real and Clay’s reaction I love how Clay wondered around the town as he heard Hannah’s reasons was very honest.  Clay cared about Hannah. But he wasn’t brave enough to talk to Hannah for her reputation with all the rumors surrounding her. 

“A lot of you cared, just not enough.” - Thirteen Reasons Why

I know how some would say that Hannah’s reasons for committing suicide are a bit shallow. But still, having no one to talk to and no one who believes in her about it could lead to depression and soon suicide. It’s the bits of small, mean things people did to her that lead her to suicide. 

“... And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.” - Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why is a book I would definitely recommend people to read because it makes you think of the people around you and how you treat people.

Guest Post: Mad World: Sanctuary by Samaire Provost

I would like to welcome Samaire Provost, the author of Mad World: Sanctuary, to Ai Love Books for a guest post. Samaire will talk about why she write about zombies!! Please visit Samaire's tour page on CLP Blog Tours for more information.

by Samaire Provost

I think what made me want to write a zombie apocalypse story so much was reading Amanda Hocking's zombie apocalypse series called "THE HOLLOWS." I loved the two books in her series, and after reading them, I got to thinking how I would tell such a story.  I knew it would have to have a beginning (a lot of zombie stories don't, they just jump right into the action and don't explain how the world got there), and it would have to be believable.  I wanted readers to want to stay up reading late at night because they couldn't put the book down, and at the same time be so spooked they had every light on and were to scared to go downstairs to walk the dog in the pitch black night.  I wanted readers to think, "This is believable, it COULD happen."  I also wanted to write about a group of people who were ordinary to begin with, but who, because of the crazed things happening, basically rose to the occasion, had bravery and courage thrust upon them, and were up to the task of surviving.  Not everyone survives.  Some very brave people die.  It's realistic.  And in the end, you don't know what is going to happen, because anything could happen.  I set out to write a story (which now looks to span 4 books) that would put a cold, creeping sense of fear down your back, but at the same time, would have you excited at the adventure, and crying at the tragedies.  A story worth its weight in gold.

The year is 2017, and the Black Plague infection has swept across most of the United States, leaving death and chaos in its wake. Martial law is the rule rather than the exception, with outbreaks cropping up when they're least expected. Alyssa and her friends must not only battle outbreaks of the disease, but also find themselves pursued by government agents – men and women determined to track them down at any cost.

Fleeing north to the fabled Sanctuary, Alyssa, Jacob, DeAndre, Caitlyn, Risa and Luke face disturbing ordeals and terrible tragedy as they encounter unbelievable situations in their struggle to reach safety. Using their skills and wits in their fight to survive against ever worsening odds, they weather hardship, betrayal, and the ever-present specter of death as they flee north, all the while vowing to protect one another – and most of all their precious 5-year-old Luke, from a world gone mad.

Sanctuary, the second installment in the Mad World series, is a heart-rending adventure of astonishing revelations, tragic discoveries, agonizing separations and devastating losses that test these friends to their limits. With heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat suspense at every turn, this is a story you will not be able to put down.

Author Bio:
Born naked. Clothed and fed shortly thereafter by adoring parents who looked on in bemusement as their daughter became a reading, writing, free-spirited, feral, animal loving, bleeding-heart chocolate lover who laughs easily. Samaire Provost is a California writer of Young Adult novels. Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, E.A.Poe, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing.

Connect with Samaire!

Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon author page, Amazon book page, Blog

Book Review: Scoundrel

Scoundrel (The Blades of the Rose #2)
by Zoe Archer

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Publication: October 1st 2010
Format: ebook, 370 pages
Author:  Website, Facebook, Twitter

The Blades of the Rose are sworn to protect the sources of magic in the world. But the work is dangerous--and they can't always protect their own. . .

Ready For Action

London Harcourt's father is bent on subjugating the world's magic to British rule. But since London is a mere female, he hasn't bothered to tell her so. He's said only that he's leading a voyage to the Greek isles. No matter, after a smothering marriage and three years of straitlaced widowhood, London jumps at the opportunity--unfortunately, right into the arms of Bennett Day.

Risking It All

Bennett is a ladies' man, when he's not dodging lethal attacks to protect the powers of the ancients from men like London's father. Sometimes, he's a ladies' man even when he is dodging them. But the minute he sees London he knows she will require his full attention. The woman is lovely, brilliant, and the only known speaker of a dialect of ancient Greek that holds the key to calling down the wrath of the gods. Bennett will be risking his life again--but around London, what really worries him is the danger to his heart. . .

Scoundrel is the second book from The Blades of the Rose series. In this book, Bennett, a womanizer met his match and found himself captivated by London Harcourt, a widow. London was also the daughter of the Blades’ sworn enemy called the Heirs. 

I love the book right from the start. Bennett sounds really delicious and I love his playful personality and London is an intelligent woman who was not afraid of danger. They met without knowing each other’s’ identity. Imagine what happened when Bennett found out that London’s father was his sworn enemy. And what happened when London found out that Bennett was the reason she was husbandless. I love the character (and the supporting character, the witch and the captain), their personality and how they slowly changed as the story move along.

Reading Scoundrel reminds me a little bit of Indiana Jones with the adventure plus more romance and hot scene. Although I must say that I love the hot scene in the first book, Warrior a little bit more. I love Zoe Archer’s writing style. It was easy to read and the pace was good. I’m looking forward to read the next book, Rebel!

#30 Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week:

“You’re off the grid,” Ranger said when I answered.
“Someone blew up my car.” – page 9, Notorious Nineteen, Janet Evanovich

I'm really excited to read Janet Evanovich's Notorious Nineteen!! I like Ranger and Stephanie. But I love  Morelli and Stephanie more... The first few chapters sounds fun and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

What's your Teaser Tuesday?

Book Review & Guest Post: Extreme Measures by Rachel Carrington

Hi! I am pleased to welcome Rachel Carrington, the author of Extreme Measures, to Ai Love Books for a guest post where she will talk about book videos. I haven't heard of book videos before and am excited to know what it is about.

Book Videos Tell the Story 

By Rachel Carrington

Disclaimer: As well as being a writer, I also create book videos so I am, admittedly, biased. I do, however, really believe that book videos are worth watching

As I mentioned above, I create book videos. I've been creating them since around 2008. Some have achieved great success for the author, and others have fizzled. I still create them and will continue to do so. Why? Because I believe they represent a book almost as well as the description does.

We all watch movie trailers, previews for upcoming scenes from our favorite television shows, and listen to music snippets before shelling out money for the latest song. Those brief glimpses are how we make a buying decision.

We want to be excited, to hold our collective breaths with anticipation for a book's upcoming release, and while a book description, if written properly, can do that, it can't give us the jolt of visual stimulus.

I know when I'm in a movie theater, I can tell within seconds of a preview whether or not I'm going to watch an upcoming movie. If done right, a book video can help me make that same decision. Even though we ignore commercials when we watch television or DVR our favorite shows so we can skip past them, we, inevitably, see them anyway. And our favorite commercials stick with us.

A book video can do the same thing. Have you seen this one?


It's a video for a kids' series of scary books, and the video made me want to read the books! Or this one for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children?


This one was a joy to watch!

What about The Karma Club by Jessica Brody?



While watching the video, I knew I had to add this book to my read list. And this video stuck with me. I've hummed some of the lines many, many times.

So if you're tired of reading book descriptions to find your next read or you want to branch out, try book videos. If done properly, they can hypnotize you, and the next thing you know, you've bought the book...which could either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon your wallet.

Extreme Measures
by Rachel Carrington

Genre: Crime, Thriller, Romance, Suspense
Publication: Published January 20th 2013
Format: ebook
Author:  Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Wattpad

Four years ago Erin’s life changed drastically. Her drug-addicted brother killed her parents, and her marriage disintegrated. Her husband, Matt, an FBI agent, had done his duty when he’d arrested Stuart, but she’d been too caught up in her own grief to allow him to help her move through the shadows of pain.

Now Matt is back, but it isn’t to attempt reconciliation. Her brother has escaped from Attica, and Erin is his next target. Matt will stop Stuart by any means necessary. But Stuart is a desperate man, and desperate men will do anything to get what they want.

Thrown together by treacherous circumstances, Matt and Erin fight a battle to stay alive and possibly figure out how to put the pieces of their destroyed lives back together again. 

Available now from Amazon.com, All Romance eBooks, and Barnes and Noble. Coming soon in audiobook!

I received a copy of this book for free from the author as part of a blog tour to provide an honest review.

The story began when Erin’s brother, Stuart broke out of the prison to look after Erin and kill her. Stuart held a grudge against Erin after she testified against him in court and abandoned him in prison. Then Matt, Erin’s ex-husband came to Charleston searching for Erin to warn her that Stuart escaped and provide her protection. But Erin wasn’t happy to see her ex-husband. She rejected his protection and believed that she Stuart wasn’t out there to kill her. 

I haven’t read a suspense romance for a while and was happy when I received a copy to provide a review. It’s nice to read something different than I usually read once in a while.  I love Matt and Erin. They’re obviously in love with each other after all the years, but too obstinate to say it out loud. I like Matt’s protective side and Erin’s stubbornness where she refused his protection. They’re both strong in their own way.

I definitely enjoy reading Extreme Measures. It is a short, light read that you could finish within a day. The plot was full of suspense, although a bit predictable some times.  My favorite part was the little twist towards the end of the book. Wow!

Rachel Carrington

I started writing years ago, and my first attempt was a contemporary romance that will never see the light of day. I think I may even have thrown it away by now. It was absolutely horrific as I knew nothing about well…anything to do with writing.

After that, I started writing fantasy romances about wizards and wizards, and once those took off, I segued to paranormal romances (hello, vampires and ghosts) and romantic suspense. I also write articles for various magazines, including The Writer’s Journal, Writer’s Magazine, Writer’s Weekly, Writing for Dollars, Absolute Write, and Funds for Writers.

I’m fortunate to make my home in historical Charleston, South Carolina. Beautiful city. Beautiful people. When I’m not writing, I love to read, create videos, keep Target in business, play visitor in my city, and drink lots of coffee.

You can find me all over the internet, but here are just a few of the places: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Goodreads, Wattpad

Blog Tour: Guest Post by Jessica Gordon & Excerpt

Hello! I am pleased to welcome Jessica Gordon, author of Becoming Mrs. Walsh, to this blog for a guest post where she will talk about books and author that inspire her to write. Please visit her tour page on CLP Blog Tours for more information and a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card!

I think chick-lit authors, books, and readers as a community greatly inspire me. The chick-lit genre has really grown, it's not just martinis and stilletos. Authors are putting out great books that really make you think about love, life, commitment, friends, family. There are so many topics covered and they are covered in a light-hearted fast-paced way. In particular, I think Sophie Kinsella of Shopaholic fame is excellent at capturing comedic situations. She has relatable characters that are interesting and make you laugh.

To me, it is so important that my books are interesting and relatable. I want people to think about the characters well after they read the book. If you are going to spend time with a book, you want it to leave a lasting impression. As a writer, I really want my readers to be entertained. Writers at their hearts are story tellers. So it is not only important to tell a great story, but to tell it in a way that is clearly written and easy to imagine. The reading experience should be one that is fun and memorable.

Book Excerpt:


“Drew, why didn’t you wake me?” Shoshana asked as she looked at her bedside clock. It was 9:45 a.m. and she had to be ready in 15 minutes.

“I figured you’d want to sleep as long as you could before the alarm,” Drew said.

“My alarm! Did it even go off? I didn’t hear anything.”

“I kept hitting snooze; you like to sleep late on Saturdays.”

She glared at her fiancé. “Yes, normally! But not when I have to be with your family all day!”

“It’s just the girls,” Drew said.

“Please, your sisters-in-law are not like normal ‘girls;’ it’s like a beauty pageant slash couture fashion show,” Shoshana said as she sprung up from bed.

She sped walked into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth with fervor.

“I guess you’d better get your crown ready,” Drew said and winked at her.

“I don’t even think I have enough time to shower!” Shoshana protested between mouthfuls of toothpaste foam.

“Why do you have to shower?”

Shoshana spit into the sink. “Are you serious?” She marched out of the bathroom and looked at him incredulously.

“Yeah, your hair looks fine, you don’t seem dirty,” Drew said with a shrug.

“Drew! Your sisters-in-law have perfect hair.”

“Stop, you’re making yourself crazy.” Drew walked into the bathroom to shave.

“Forget it, there’s no time to shower,” Shoshana yelled after him.

“Sounds good,” Drew said barely listening.

Shoshana rummaged through her closet. She threw on a black cotton dress and black flip-flops. She figured black was a chic-enough color and it would hide any sweat marks. It was August in Washington, D.C., which meant, it was hot.

“I’ll wear black and then I’ll fit in—”

“Why do they bother you so much?” Drew asked as Shoshana emerged from the closet.

Shoshana stopped and looked at him. “It’s not that they bother me.”

“What is it then?”

“I can’t really describe it.”

“They’re nice, they mean well, I really don’t get it,” Drew said as he buttoned his shirt.

“You wouldn’t get it, you’re a guy. They’re gorgeous and they’re well-dressed, always. And by the way—I’ve never seen them without makeup. They’re not human.”

Synopsis:

Shoshana Thompson is 26 years old, miles from home, and engaged to be married into one of Washington D.C.'s wealthiest families. Andrew Walsh, her fiancé, is Shoshana's vision of the perfect man. Throughout their engagement, she becomes enamored with his privileged lifestyle.

While Shoshana navigates the tricky world of in-laws and societal wedding planning, she desperately tries to ignore her growing feelings for another man. She knows that exploring this love will threaten her existence as a Walsh. But, when she discovers the feelings may not be one-sided, she knows things are about to get a lot more complicated, especially because this man is absolutely off-limits. Becoming Mrs. Walsh is a story of relationships and the richly layered complexity of family, in-laws, and love.

Author Bio:

Jessica Gordon is a Johns Hopkins University alumna for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She received her bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the Writing Seminars program and her master's degree in communications.

After working in the corporate world for several years, Jessica decided to return to her first love: creative writing. Jessica takes her readers to the prominent Washington, D.C. area where her characters navigate through the complex world of family, in-laws, and love.

Jessica lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband. This is her first novel.

For more information on the book, check out www.jessica-gordon.com. Jessica can be reached at any time: jessica@jessica-gordon.com.

Connect with Jessica: Website, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter

Buy the Book!

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Mrs-Walsh-ebook/dp/B009O3NO9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357616042&sr=8-1&keywords=becoming+mrs+walsh

Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-mrs-walsh-jessica-gordon/1113576054?ean=2940044984059

Apple: Available in iBookstore accessed through iPad and iPhone

Smashwords includes (Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243474

**Everyone who leaves a comment Jessica’s tour page will be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Becoming Mrs. Walsh before February 11 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**  Visit CLP Blog Tours for more information.

#29 Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week:

Isabel had told me that her mother, a doctor, once said that terminal patients often seemed to have an eerie sense of their condition, even before diagnosed. At the time, I'd scoffed, but now I knew what she meant - because I felt it. - page 185, Linger by Maggie Stievater.

I'm reading Linger, the second book of The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stievater this week. It's a bit confusing with alternating point of view since there are more characters in this book - Grace, Sam, Cole and Isabel.

So, what's your teaser Tuesday?