Review: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) by Veronica Rossi

Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi is the last novel in her stunning young-adult dystopian trilogy, Under the Never Sky.    If you have not yet read the first in the series, I would recommend skipping this review, and checking out my review for Under the Never Sky, instead.  You can view that here. I also reviewed the second novel in the series, Through the Ever Night, which you can read here.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do--and they are just as determined to stay together.

Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival--he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.                                                                    @Goodreads

I found Into the Still Blue to be a good, but not great, conclusion to the Under the Never Sky trilogy.  I absolutely loved the first two books in the series.  Maybe that is the reason that I didn't love the last -- I liked it, but love it, I did not.  However, I did not power-skim it like I did Mockingjay in order to get through it; I wasn't disappointed, exactly, I just wasn't completely satisfied.

Four stars for Into the Still Blue, and four and a half stars for the Under the Never Sky series as a whole.

In a nutshell, I felt the end was a bit rushed.

Spoiler alert!  (Do not read if you have not read this novel and intend to)

Review: The Memory Child by Steena Holmes

The Memory Child by Steena Holmes is a very well-written women’s fiction suspense novel dealing with postpartum psychosis, the rare illness that can include rapid mood swings, delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, strange beliefs, and sometimes, infanticide.

When Brian finds out that his wife, Diane, is pregnant, he is elated. He's been patiently waiting for twelve years to become a father. But Diane has always been nervous about having children because of her family's dark past. The timing of the pregnancy also isn't ideal - Diane has just been promoted, and Brian is being called away to open a new London office for his company.

Fast-forward one year: being a mother has brought Diane a sense of joy that she'd never imagined and she's head over heels for her new baby, Grace. But things are far from perfect: Brian has still not returned from London, and Diane fears leaving the baby for even a moment. As unsettling changes in those around Diane began to emerge, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems.

                                                                                   A woman's dark past collides head-on with her mysterious present in this surreal and gripping family drama.                                                                       @Goodreads

 This is a topic that is quite difficult for me to write about.  My mother has a variety of mental problems, and it is believed that she experienced postpartum psychosis following my birth.  Note: There is a difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, and although my mother was never diagnosed by a doctor, she is believed to have experienced the latter.  My mother was not depressed, she was bat-shit crazy.  It is undetermined whether postpartum psychosis is hormonal or hereditary; my mother had hormonal problems (including Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and is also bipolar.  I have inherited PMDD from my mother; this is something that has developed over recently years, starting in my mid to late twenties.  PMDD is basically very terrible PMS that includes symptoms such as mood swings, irrationality, severe irritability, and depression.  As someone that wants to have children, the possibility of experiencing postpartum depression or psychosis absolutely terrifies me, especially since I have already inherited other hormonal problems from the mother.

So yeah – this book.

Diane and Brian are going to have a baby, but Diane is terrified; her mother smothered her infant brother and committed suicide as a result of postpartum psychosis.  Brian is an amazing, loving husband, extremely excited for the birth of his first child, while Diane is more than a little hesitant, and actually considers an abortion.  Fast-forward one year:  Diane has had her baby, is completely enamored of her child like most normal mothers, but… why hasn’t Brian returned from his business trip?

The story is told in alternative perspectives between Brian, during Diane’s pregnancy, and Diane, following the birth of her baby, Claire.  Supporting characters include a nanny that Brian hired for Diane prior to his business trip, as well as Diane’s younger sister.

It is clear very early on that something is seriously fucked up, and we do not know what could have happened.  I had ideas early on – in fact, I was almost convinced at one point that I had guessed the ending, and I was fairly confident because I read a lot – but I am happy to report that I was wrong.  Why does everyone act so off around Diane?  Where is Brian, the husband-of-the-year?

The writing was very good.  I have never read anything by Steena Holmes, and did not know what to expect.  She gives the reader a good mind-fuck with this one.  Highly recommended, with an ending I did not see coming.  The pacing was perfect, and the end satisfying.

Unfortunately, I am more apprehensive than ever to have a child.  But I knew that that would occur going in.  I just couldn’t resist.

Only four stars, because there is something at the end I personally wanted done a little differently, but that didn’t affect the readability of this novel at all.  Fast-paced and hard to put down, The Memory Child is a must-read for anyone that likes a little bit of mind-fuckery with their family drama.

Note: I received an ARC copy of this novel courtesy of Netgalley and Amazon Publishing in exchange for my honest review.  I would have bought this novel based on the subject matter, though.  No doubt.

Pssst... did you know you can enter my giveaway every day for a chance to win a hardcover copy The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski?  

Review: The Fever: A Novel by Megan Abbott

The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hocky star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.


As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

One and a half stars, rounded up for mercy.

This book is absolutely nothing like I expected.  From the cover and blurb above (from Goodreads), I was expecting (or at the very least, hoping for) a fast-paced medical thriller.   The Fever didn't quite make it... at all.    It is told from the perspective of three characters, Deenie, her brother Eli, and their father, Tom, all of whom have the same voice; the characterization is not very good at all. The book centers around a sudden serious illness that a handful of girls encounter.  Could it be from the HPV vaccine they received at the recommendation of the school board?  Or is it from the disgusting lake in town, the one that smells like wet animal fur and is glowing green, yet attract a bunch of high school girls?

My first gripe with this book is that no high school girl would go in that foul lake.  It sounds absolutely repulsive, yet is a swimming hotspot for a bunch of girls that are becoming aware of their sexuality.  Right.

My second gripe about this book is the crooked tampon incident.  Referenced as something that happened in the recent past, Lise apparently required her friend, Deenie’s help to remove a crooked tampon.  As a woman that has been using tampons for about twenty years now (ugh I’m old), I can say that it’s never once occurred to me to drop my panties and have my friends assist me with removing them.  I wouldn’t even have my husband help me with something like that, and he is regularly all up in my business, if you know what I’m sayin’.  WINK WINK. 

The crooked tampon incident™ has nothing to do with anything, but had me thinking the author was a weirdo for probably far longer than she intended.  It’s something a guy would write about, or perhaps a non-human, non-menstruating woman.  (Alien?)

My third gripe are the ridiculously dramatic secondary characters that pop in at random times with cryptic messages.  YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.  Completely unnecessary once you get to the ending and realize that those characters were put in just to keep you reading!  Without them, you would have thrown the book down in utter boredom.  Almost nothing happens.

Several times throughout the book characters mentioned that they didn't feel like themselves, or that they thought their friends looked different for no explicable reason to try to lure you in to thinking there might be something supernatural about something that really isn't all that out of the ordinary.

I almost abandoned this book several times, but felt that I invested too much time into it to discard.  Also, I had to discuss the crooked tampon.  So terrible.  Gah.

Skip this one, friends.

Note:  A copy of this book was provided to me for free by the publisher (Little, Brown and Company), and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Expected publication date:  June 17, 2014

Rave: Top 10 Novels of 2013

For my first post, I decided to do a quick recap of my favorite novels published in 2013.

  Eleanor & Park is a story of two star-crossed high school lovers. It’s cute, nostalgic, funny, and tragic. Set in the 1980’s, Eleanor & Park will transport you back to a different time, and unless you’re a heartless ogre, will make you vividly recall how you felt the first time you ever fell in love. A must read even for those that are not typically fans of the young adult genre.
@Goodreads

Tangled is… smoking hot. This is chick-lit at its best, and the fact that it is told in the perspective of a man (a rich, extremely handsome, and hilarious man), makes it all the more appealing. The author does a great job with the main character, and the dialogue was witty and just perfect. Tangled is the first book in a series by the author. Twisted, the follow-up, comes out in March 2014
@Goodreads




Me Before You is yet another tale of star-crossed lovers – Lou, a girl with not much going on in her life, frankly, and Will, a man she was hired to take care of. Will is a quadriplegic, having suffered an accident a few years before, and Lou slowly grows close to him day by day as she takes care of his basic needs. I don’t want to give too much away, but this is a beautiful story of love and self-discovery.
@Goodreads






The Husband’s Secret is told in the perspective of three different women, Cecilia, Rachel, and Tess, all of whom are influenced by something terrible that happened in the past by Cecilia’s husband. The writing is fantastic, and I literally could not put this novel down. I wanted – needed – to know what the secret was, and I was not at all disappointed when I found out what it was.
@Goodreads






The Rosie Project is another chick-lit book written in the perspective of a man, but instead of the typical rich, debonair playboy you would expect from a chick-lit novel, a super-intelligent *insert geek adjective here* that is eerily similar to Dr. Sheldon Cooper from the popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory.   Don Tillman is a professor of genetics, and he has devised a questionnaire to find a mate, called The Wife Project. I loved how awkward Don was. The Rosie Project is quirky, cute, and romantic.
@Goodreads

Calling Me Home is a story of friendship, forbidden love, heartbreak, and triumph. Beautifully written with a rather unforgettable ending, the story opens with Miss Isabelle, an elderly woman, asking her African American hairstylist and friend of sorts, Dorrie, to drive her across country for a funeral. The story alternates between 1939 and present day under the narrative of both women, and tackles some sensitive race issues that sadly still exist today.
 @Goodreads




 The last in a stunning trilogy, Dust wraps up the dystopian sci-fi adventure that Hugh Howey began with Wool. I cannot recommend these books more to anyone. In a ruined world, a large community exists underground in a silo, hundreds of stories deep. I cannot say more, because to review this book would be to spoil the first two. You can read part one of Wool for free on Amazon Kindle. Click here to download Wool for FREE. If you enjoy the story, you’ll want to then read the next four parts of Wool, available separately or in the Wool Omnibus. The next novel is Shift – Omnibus Edition, and lastly, Dust.
@Goodreads

 The Storyteller is the story of Sage, a woman with a disfiguring facial scar that befriends Josef, an elderly man that visits her regularly in the bakery where she works. As the unlikely friendship blooms, Josef confides in Sage that he was a Nazi in WWII, and asks Sage, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, to kill him. The Storyteller is an amazing historical fiction novel that gives a great accounting of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
@Goodreads





Necessary Lies is a powerful historical fiction novel set in 1960’s North Carolina told in the narrative of two women – one, a poor teenaged girl living with her family on a tobacco farm in rural North Carolina, and the other, the teenager girl’s social worker. Compelling, haunting, and impossible to put down, Necessary Lies makes you see two different sides to a necessary evil.
@Goodreads






The Goldfinch tells the story of Theo Decker, a young boy that tragically loses his mother in a terrible accident at a NYC art museum. Theo escapes with his life and also the painting that his mother loved so much. He keeps the painting as a symbol of grief and tragic loss, and we follow Theo through his life of danger and addition. Captivating but long, The Goldfinch is not short on details, and paints a beautiful picture of a troubled boy's life.
@Goodreads