YA

Review: The Body in the Woods by April Henry

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Point Last Seen #1

the body in the woods -april henryIn this new series told from multiple perspectives, teen members of a search and rescue team discover a dead body in the woods.

Alexis, Nick, and Ruby have very different backgrounds: Alexis has spent her life covering for her mom’s mental illness, Nick’s bravado hides his fear of not being good enough, and Ruby just wants to pursue her eccentric interests in a world that doesn’t understand her. When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own.

This first book in April Henry’s Point Last Seen YA mystery series is full of riveting suspense, putting readers in the middle of harrowing rescues and crime scene investigations.

1.5 Drink Me Potions

I wasn’t expecting too much when I started The Body in the Woods. Yet, I still found myself wanting to stop reading every here and there. Let me dive into the exact reason why I didn’t necessarily enjoy it too much.

The characters
I understand that these days all protagonists seem rather monotonous. “They’re all so unoriginal”, people would say. And yes, I do agree that sometimes, changing the name of the protagonist of one book to the name of another girl in a second book would show that their personalities are almost hilariously identical. BUT, I think there’s a fine line to how far authors can change the protagonist’s attitudes to something so original and unique before they become unrelatable/unlikeable.

There are 3 protagonists in The Body in the Woods and here is what I thought of them.

Nick wants the attention of others. He wants to be a hero, like his deceased war hero father. He seems to be attracted to every single girl at his darn school, and when he gets the slightest inkling that others think Alexis might be into him, he’s suddenly all gung-ho on her possible attraction to him as well (which is just a no, if you ask me). Yeah, I get that he’s not perfect, but it’s just unattractive to want to gain some attention as the “guy who found a dead girl in the woods”, dropping hints to his classmates to talk about his part in the case. Some respect for the poor girl, dude. No need for the attention to be on YOU.

And Alexis? She was the most enjoyable character of the 3, in my opinion. She’s terrified of others finding out that her mom has a mental illness. I guess that’s understandable, but that makes her distrust anyone who tries to get too close. Sometimes I just want to shake her and tell her to LET SOMEONE HELP YOU, or at least trust them with this burden.

…And that leaves Ruby. Where do I start with Ruby? She’s…a gem of a character. Found a dead girl in the woods? Pfft, let’s go examine it and recall what every crime show CSIs do when inspecting a crime scene. She also adopts different personas for different occasions to benefit her situation. For example, she feels she needs to “get close” with her fellow SAR friend, Alexis, so she adopts her “Best Friend” role which she gathered information from watching shows or observing other people. If she wants to get out of trouble from her parents, it’s the “Good Daughter” role. It’s a little eerie, to be honest. Sure, she may have Asperger’s syndrome or something like it (which by the way, the author never explicitly mentions) but this is borderline stereotypical “I can’t feel or empathize with a single person or thing in this world”. Saying she’s eccentric is by far an understatement .

Her love of random things is kind of quirky, I’ll admit. It’s interesting the way she describes how society builds these “boxes” or “unspoken rules” that supposedly everyone should know and stay within, but she apparently is clueless about them.

And there were so many rules….
Don’t stand too close.
Don’t stare.
Take turns.
Don’t assume everyone is interested in the same things you are, even if those things are fascinating.
Don’t talk about sex.
Don’t talk about surgery.
Don’t talk about anything that happens in the bathroom.
But the biggest taboo was death.

She is arrogant though for assuming that what she knows/has to say/her interests are more important than others. It was terribly annoying hearing her ask the cops so many things and seemingly implying that she knew more of what she was doing than they do. It may not be her fault being as she is, but it doesn’t DO anything to lessen my annoyance.

Now onto what was enjoyable about it
Because the protagonists are how we as the readers view the story, it’s hard to enjoy it when we’re limited to their views and attitudes. The mystery wasn’t all that original either. Come on, a dead girl in the woods. Cool. Now what? Maybe I’m just expecting too much as I absolutely ADORE mysteries. I grew up on them. And now I even watch crime shows to death. So it’s hard to match up to some very well-written mysteries.

I will say that I did have to guess for a while for the culprit. I feel that Henry wrote too many scenes from the culprit’s POV (point of view) that really made the identity guessable by the middle of the book. Of course, it was interesting to figure out the WHY so at least something kept me going.

I won’t go on much longer. I think I’ve ranted enough. Apparently there will be more in this series, starring all 3 protagonists still. Yay….(not quite sure if I can stand reading more of their POVs). Who knows? I may give it a try, but if you just want a mundane mystery and don’t mind annoying characters, go for it. The Body in the Woods wasn’t terrible but even with lowered expectations it wasn’t en par.

Overall Recommendation:
With a cast of protagonists that bugged me endlessly and an unoriginal mystery that didn’t keep me guessing for long, The Body in the Woods could’ve been better in a lot of areas. Personally, I’m an avid mystery reader so I guess lower expectations are still somewhat high. It might just be a “it’s me and not so much the book” kind of thing. Who knows? If the protagonists don’t make you want to hit them over the head at some point within the first 40 pages, then this may be a decent read for you.

YA

Review: Now and For Never by Lesley Livingston

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Never #3

now and for never -lesley livingstonPast and present collide on the high seas when Clare and Allie hurtle back in time once more in a perilous attempt to retrieve Marcus Donatus—Allie’s blast-from-the-past crush—and put an end, once and for all, to the Time Monkey Shenanigans. But when Clare and Allie unexpectedly find themselves temporal stowaways on a Roman warship full of looted Celtic gold, sailing straight for the heart of a magic-fuelled maelstrom, there’s not much they can do but hang on for the ride—and hope Milo can tap into the Druid lore trapped in his genius brain to help bring them home, before it’s too late. The only thing that’s going to save Clarinet Reid and Allie McAllister now is if they join forces with old enemies, new loves … and unexpected friends.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

It’s been a long time since I’ve last read the other two books in the series. However, I feel that Lesley Livingston did a great job of kind of recapping the important parts of what had happened earlier. I wasn’t left feeling lost for long, and for that, I greatly appreciate it.

I really tried to enjoy the concluding installment to the Time Travelling Monkey Shenanigans Gang. But I found myself a little disappointed. Now, I’m a fan of Livingston’s, even have a personally autographed book from her, but her other series are more….serious. The mythology was more compelling and suspenseful in the way the plot slowly unwinded.

Clare and Allie are both very unique protagonists. You won’t find another personality quite like theirs. Allie is all fireball attitude, wears only black, references nerdy things like Star Wars and Star Trek ALL the time, and is quite good with the tech stuff. Meanwhile, Clare is the more serious of the two and not so great with the nerd lingo, but she dives head into crazy time travelling adventures to save people (and trying not to change the course of history).

This series is all fun and definitely more lighthearted out of Livingston’s collection of stories. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of the story so it was harder to enjoy the crazy hairball plans the two came up with to save Marcus from the past (where Every Never After left off).

What I can say that was positive is that Livingston did an amazing job trying to wrap up the loose ends after all the time travelling the two girls did in the previous 2 novels. No one wants to change history so….there goes the girls again for their last adventure to the past to make sure their reality doesn’t change after all their meddling. It was a little confusing at times as to what artifact had to be found where and when exactly so that, say, Clare could find it two millennia later.

I’d say that Now and for Never concludes the series well. It just wasn’t the kind of book I was looking for so that may have skewed with my rating. It’s definitely ideal for younger readers, possibly in their earlier teens. The lighthearted banter and nerdy lingo were great additions to the comical atmosphere.

Overall Recommendation:
Now and for Never concludes the Time Travelling Monkey Shenanigans that have been going on in the previous two novels of the series. Although I didn’t rate it too high, I still think it was a good way to wrap up the adventures that Clare and Ally had experienced back in the past, with appearances of both the Druids from Clare’s story and the Romans of Allie’s.

With the usual fun and lighthearted atmosphere, this book is perfect for those who enjoy some history (and meddling with it through time travel!), magic and nerdy references thrown in there. I recommend it for a light and funny read, so if you’re in one of those moods, this would be more enjoyable.

YA

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

the statistical probability of love at first sight -jennifer E smithWho would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Having missed her flight, she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father”s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

4.5 Drink Me Potions
What if you missed your flight by 4 minutes?
What if you hadn’t been able to find a seat in the next flight out?
What if your seat didn’t happen to be next to a charming British guy you met earlier in the airport?This is the kind of story that is charming and romantic in the way it set up its premise. Fate and chance brought two strangers together by tiny threads of connection. If any of the above things hadn’t happened, Hadley and Oliver would’ve never met. That is the kind of story I am completely a sucker for. And this time around, Jennifer E. Smith didn’t disappoint me.

The chemistry between Hadley and Oliver was amazingly believable. Sometimes I find it hard to believe in the connection between the people who are supposedly “attracted” to each other. I just can’t feel it. This wasn’t the case here. Yes, the story takes place over the course of 24 hours but it wasn’t completely like they fell in love immediately. There was this cute teasing and banter they had throughout the flight that really softened me up to both of them. They even teased each other about how they “became a couple” when an old lady sitting next to them mistakenly assumed they knew each other prior to arriving at the airport.

“So,” the woman asks, “how did you two meet?”
“Believe it or not,” Oliver says, “it was in an airport…I was being quite gallant, actually, and offered to help with [Hadley’s] suitcase. And then we started talking, and one thing led to another….”
Hadley grins. “And he’s been carrying my suitcase ever since.”

Oliver particularly helped, being the funny and adorable guy that he is. Their conversations or Hadley’s memories of them later in the story were my favourite part.

“Which was your favourite? Of all the places you’ve been?”
Oliver seemed to consider this for a moment before the telltale dimple appeared on his face. “Connecticut. What about you?”
“Alaska, probably. Or Hawaii…I’ve been to all but one [state], actually.”
“So which one have you missed?”
“North Dakota.”
“So if you could go anywhere else in the world, where would it be?”
Hadley thought about this for a moment. “Maybe Australia. Or Paris. How about you?”
Oliver had looked at her as if it were obvious, the faintest hint of a grin at the corners of his mouth. “North Dakota,” he’d said.

See how easy it is to love them together? That being said, this book isn’t all centred around their romance. In fact, a lot of it dealt in Hadley’s anger at her father for leaving her mother so out of the blue for another woman he met while away for a semester in Oxford. Smith did a very good job of making me feel as broken as Hadley did over what her father did, and the new life he was about to finalize for himself. Half way around the world, leaving the life he did have with her back in America.

I liked that by the end, she was able to deal with the mess of things that had been tossed her way. Love is an illogical thing , quoteth both of Hadley’s parents. Even when things end, there may be good out of it all.

All in all, it was very romantic and heartfelt. Both about learning to love your family no matter what may happen or the distance between them, and taking chances before there is no time left for them. I wished the book hadn’t ended so fast, yet at the same time, the way it concluded left an air of magic and uncertainty to it. In fact, the uncertainty of the future made it all the better because it leaves room for us to imagine how things would play out past this 24 hour mark. An absolutely great story, and definitely worth the 4.5 stars!

Overall Recommendation:
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is as unique as its name, and definitely lives up to its implications. With two sweet characters that are both troubled with family issues, Hadley and Oliver makes it believable when it comes to sparking a connection so deep that they’d be willing to find each other in the heart of London again after one amazing transatlantic flight together. Filled with witty banter and the heartache of letting go of anger, there is no other book I’d rather recommend in this genre.