Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworlds
By Scott Westerfeld
Published: September 23, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 608
Format: Hardcover
4 stars

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

*Novel provided by Simon Pulse via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Opening Thoughts

I am not the biggest Scott Westerfeld fan.  I found his Uglies series, to be just okay.  However, this book very much impressed me.  It's about an 18-year-old girl named Darcy, who wrote a novel during NaNoWriMo her junior year of high school.  She manages to get a publishing contract for a couple hundred thousand dollars, so she decided to put off college, and move to New York City to become a "real writer".  It follows her journey through the publishing process, and everything that comes with it.  I loved this story.  As a writer who would love to one day be published, but has been feeling kind of slumpy recently, it was super inspirational to me.  This was an easy 5 stars for me.  Then, you also get to read Darcy's book, entitled Afterworlds.  This is about a girl named Lizzie who is involved in a terrorist attack in an airport, and manages to think her way dead, or into the "afterworld".  She then becomes a psychopomp, someone who guides souls into the spirit world.  This book fell a little flat for me and I think it was more of a 3 star rating for me.

Characters

I did quite like Darcy.  She's definitely not anywhere close to reaching my favorite protag list, but she was still an enjoyable character for me to read about.  I think that she was maybe a little bit immature for her age.  I mean, she's eighteen, and she thinks that she can live on $17 a day.  Didn't she take money management classes in high school?  Darcy is diverse, she's both Indian, and lesbian, though Darcy's family doesn't actually practice any Hindu cultures, so I kind of felt like Westerfeld was being lazy by having his main character be Indian, but not having to write in anything that would separate them from someone who was white, or Hispanic, or black.

Imogen felt kind of flat to me.  She didn't really have a whole lot of a personality.  I didn't like how secretive she was, and how she put Darcy down a lot, and not in a joking manner.  I realize that she didn't mean to do it, but she did, and it didn't resonate well with me.

I didn't like Lizzie as much as Darcy.  She was fine, I didn't dislike her, I just didn't particularly like her.  She didn't act as if she had been through a terrorist attack.  I felt like it should have affected her a lot more than it did.  Another thing that really irritated with me was that she had this "cold space inside of her", which seems way too similar to all of the new adult books that I've been reading lately, where a tragic accident has happened in their past and now they won't let themselves feel anything, or they "can't" feel anything.  That's not really a fault with the novel itself, but more of a personal issue that I probably wouldn't have had a problem with had I not read a plethora of NA in the past couple of weeks.

I think that it's possible that Scott Westerfeld wasn't writing Lizzie's story as Scott Westerfeld, but rather as Darcy.  A lot of the things that Lizzie did seemed a lot different from Scott Westerfeld's usual style, but would make sense for a first-time author such as Darcy.  I don't know if that's what he was trying to do or not, but if he was, then kudos to him, because I think that that's pretty clever.

""Exactly.  So I figured that the Angelina Jolie Paradox applies."

Darcy glanced at Carla, who looked equally confused.

"The what now?"

Sagan cleared his throat.  "You know when you're watching a movie starring Angelina Jolie?  And the character she's playing looks just like Angelina Jolie, right?  

"Um, yes.  Because that's who she is."

"No, she's a regular person in that world, not a movie star.  But the other characters never mention that she looks exactly like Angelina Jolie.  No one ever walks up to her on the street and says, 'Can I have your autograph?'"

"Because that would mess up the movie," Carla said.

"Exactly.  So when you cast Angelina Jolie in a film, you're creating an alternate universe in which actress Angelina Jolie does not exist.  Because otherwise people would be noticing the resemblance all the time.  This is what I call the Angelina Jolie Paradox.""

"There's no safety in ignorance."

"Only death is forever and even it changes over time."

Plot

The plot of Darcy's story was brilliant.  I was so fascinated by every, single thing that Darcy experienced in the publishing process.  I was a little bit bored by some of the scenes with Darcy and Imogen, and their relationship drama, especially since I felt like their supposed "love", that was totally insta-love, by the way, wasn't really real.  I didn't believe in it, so it was frustrating how wrapped up Darcy seemed in Imogen, even though it seemed that Imogen didn't care half as much for Darcy as Darcy claimed that she felt for Imogen.  I still would have given this story 5 stars on its own, though.

Lizzie's story was less than impressive.  It was bland, and uninteresting a lot of the time, and I found myself skimming over a lot of these sections, which is probably the only reason that I managed to finish this book so quickly.  It's a very unoriginal paranormal romance, that had very few new ideas.  I personally think that this book would have been a lot better if Scott Westerfeld had just cut Lizzie's story altogether, or only added a few excerpts from Darcy's book, a la Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.


Overall, I did very much enjoy this book.  This review may have seemed as if I was bashing this book, but I can assure you that that wasn't my intention.  This book wasn't the best I've ever read, but I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!  Let me know if your excited for this book!  You've only got three weeks to wait!

Amber

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Let's Get Lost 
By Adi Alsaid
Published: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
4 stars

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Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost. 

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. 

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love. 

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.


*Novel provided by Harlequin Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*


Opening Thoughts

I went into this book with very high expectations.  It appears to have everything that I could want in a contemporary.  It's a road trip book, and who doesn't love road trip books?  There appears to be minimal romance, which is refreshing, since I haven't read a contemporary like that in a while, and it's been getting a lot of buzz in the past few months, especially since they were giving out ARC's of this book at BEA, or Book Expo America, for anyone that didn't know.  So when I got approved for this book a week or so ago, I was super pumped.  This book more like a series of five short stories that are all interconnected.

Characters and Plot

I can't really think of a good way to separate my reviews of the characters and the plot, so I'm just going to change it up a little bit and combine them!

The common denominator in this book, the one that connects these five individual stories together, is Leila.  Leila is driving her car from Louisiana, all the way up into Canada, to see the Northern Lights.  On her journey there, she encounters four different people, Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia, and with each person, they go on sort of adventure together, for lack of a better word.  However, Leila reveals very little information about herself to these people that she encounters, perhaps to maintain a mysterious aura, but perhaps for a deeper reason.  As this book is told in the third person, you don't know anything about Leila's back story until the very end, when we focus on her.  Leila is a great character, I felt, if slightly underdeveloped.  She's kind to perfect strangers, and she's always willing to do something adventurous, no matter how weird or stupid it is.


"People hurt each other," Leila said without much inflection in her voice.  "It happens to everyone.  Intentionally, unintentionally, regretfully, or not.  It's part of what we do as people.  The beauty is that we have the ability to heal and forgive."


Hudson is a teenage mechanic, and the first person that Leila encounters on her trip.  Leila brings her car into Hudson's dad's shop where Hudson works, and after he works on her car, Hudson offers to show Leila around his small Mississippi town, despite the fact that he has a super important college interview the next morning.

Bree is a teenage runaway, after both her parents died in a car accident, and she's forced to live with her older sister, who Bree feels doesn't care that she lost her parents, and instead, is glad that they died.  Leila picks up Bree while she's hitchhiking, and they do a bunch of crazy, illegal things that had the adult in me shaking her head, but the teenager in me cheering them on.

Elliot has just told his best friend that he's in love with her at their senior prom, only for her to turn him down and run away from him.  A heart-broken Elliot buys a bottle of bourbon, gets tipsy, and walks out in front of Leila's car.  She almost hits him, and in turn for that, she decides to help him get his 80's movie ending.  

Sonia lost the love of her life, Sam, almost a year ago, and she's super close with his family.  The only problem is, she's fallen in love with another guy (after Sam's death of course), and she feels that feeling anything towards Jeremiah is degrading her relationship with Sam.  When Leila has a big fight with Jeremiah the day before his brother is marrying Sam's sister, Sonia meets Leila in a Tim Horton's, and they leave town, going from Canada into Washington, not realizing that the wedding rings are in the pocket of the pocket of Jeremiah's jacket, which Sonia just happens to be wearing.  When they realize it, they immediately leave to go back into Canada, only to have the border guards deny them entrance because they think it's suspicious to go back and forth across the border in such a short time span.  Leila and Sonia embark on a hilarious journey in attempts to get back into Canada in time for the wedding, definitely the adventure that made me laugh the most, and was probably my favorite. 

Overall, Let's Get Lost is the perfect summer read.  It's light and funny, with deep and important messages woven in subtly, and beautifully.  It's the kind of book that is suitable for adults and teenagers alike.  The book read a bit older than a typical young adult book, but that was not at all detrimental to the story.  If anything, it was positive.  This book is all about how people can come into our lives for a short time and completely change them, which is a universal topic, relatable for anyone, regardless of your age.  I'd recommend this to fans of John Green, particularly Paper Towns, though really any of his books.

Let me know if you're excited for this book to release, or if you also managed to get ahold of an ARC, if you enjoyed it.  Did you like me combining the characters and plot?  Thanks for reading!

Amber

Forbidden by Lori Adams

Forbidden
By Lori Adams
Published: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Flirt
Pages: 432
Book 1 in The Soulkeepers series

Lori Adams gives New Adult a haunting paranormal twist with the first novel of The Soulkeepers, a series that blends ancient legends and new myths with an enchanting mix of thrills, humor, and high drama.

When Sophia St. James learns that she’ll be moving from Los Angeles to a podunk town somewhere in Connecticut for her senior year of high school, she isn’t expecting an otherworldly encounter. But there is more to Haven Hurst than meets the eye: it’s home to a family of Guardian Angels, and she is the only one who can see them in spirit form. Sophia soon realizes she wants to see much more of Michael, an irresistible yet volatile Guardian who seems drawn to her too.

As Michael battles his forbidden desire for the beautiful young newcomer, one of Hell’s most notorious Demon Knights arrives. Handsome and charismatic, Dante has come to claim the reincarnated soul of his lost lover trapped in Sophia. Cursed with the demon of Persuasion living inside him, Dante will use his seductive charms to lure Sophia into a dangerous game that ends with the kiss of death—unless Michael, who has captured Sophia’s heart, can now capture her soul.

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Opening Thoughts
This review is going to be really hard to write because I read this book over such a long time span. It took me almost two and a half months to read this book, and it's not even that long, it's about 350 pages, which normally would take me two to four days to read. I don't really know why it took me so long, because it's not that I didn't enjoy it, but it definitely didn't hook me. The first chapter was really interesting, but then we went to a couple of chapters that were just major info dumps, which doesn't always bother me but they were done very poorly and I had a very hard time getting through them. 

Characters
Overall, I did like Sophia's character, but I was really annoyed with her at several points, especially during the climax. I felt that there were a lot of points where there was this insane shit going on and Sophia didn't even question it, she was just like, oh yeah, I'm totally satisfied with not knowing anything about what's going on so the reader didn't get any information, but I really needed the information. 
I thought that Michael's character was good but I hated the way he withheld so much information from Sophia, even after he was given permission to tell her everything, so he didn't even have the excuse that he wasn't allowed to tell her. He expected her to figure things out that there was no way she would've have ever figured out because there were things he didn't even tell her existed, yet she was expected to know that this person was this, even though she didn't know that was even a thing. I did ship him and Sophia really, really hard and it was really frustrating for me that it took them almost to the end of the book to get together.
Dante irritated me to no end. I hated the chapters that were told in his perspective. His back story was really complicated and I don't remember getting a lot of information about it, though I may just not remember it since I read it so long ago. I think that we needed like a novella or something about that, though I don't think I'd actually read it, because I didn't enjoy the book enough to pay for it. 

Plot
The plot is not overly enticing. It's interesting, but there are super long periods where you don't learn anything, and then huge info dumps where I couldn't even process everything at the same speed as I was reading it. The concept is pretty common, it isn't anything special, so if you're looking for something really unique then this isn't for you. 
This book is so much about the romance between Sophia and Michael, but it takes them the entire book to get together, which I really didn't understand. There is some good humor that made me smile, but I never laughed out loud. The writing was fine, but nothing overly special. 

Overall, this book was good. It wasn't great, and it wasn't bad, it was just good. I enjoyed it but I don't think that I'll ever reread it. I'd recommend it if you think that you'll really enjoy it, but if not, then don't waste your time.

Thanks for reading, comment and subscribe!
Amber

(Once) Again by Theresa Paolo

(Once) Again
By Theresa Paolo
Published: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 217
Book 2 in the Again series
4 stars

Josh will have to reconcile his past…

In order to make Kat his future.

After surviving a real-life nightmare, Josh Wagner is sent home from his dream college on crutches. Bedridden and tormented by flashbacks, he’s just seen his world shattered and his baseball scholarship go up in smoke. Josh’s family hires a health aide to help take care of him, but when he opens the door, the last person he expects to see is his biggest regret…

Katherine Singleton is the only girl Josh has ever loved. Now, even though she’s only taking care of him because it’s her job, Josh is determined to win her back. But Kat had to move on after their breakup two years ago, and despite her feelings for Josh, a lot has happened since he left…

When Kat’s past comes back to haunt her, Josh decides it’s his turn to take care of her. But protecting her—and redeeming himself—will put Josh in the line of fire again. Will he survive this time?

*Novel received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a super sweet, adorable, light contemporary, and while parts of this book definitely fit that description, overall this book was a lot deeper than I expected.  I knew going into this book that I wasn't in the mood for those tortured souls that have all these deeprooted emotional issues and they won't open up at all, not that there's anything wrong with those books, it's just not what I'm in the mood for right now.  But this book, which is centered around a guy who was caught in a shooting at his college and was shot in the leg, and him dealing with that, and that was just an aspect I really enjoyed.

Characters
I loved both Josh and Kat so, so much, and I can say that I am a huge shipper of their relationship.  I think that my favorite part of their relationship was that they both opened up to each other and talked about what they were feeling, because they have both been/ are going through some pretty serious stuff, and cheesy or not, it does help to talk about it to someone.  This was something that made their relationship really unique because characters in most romances but particurally new adult books never open up to each other.  Kat did have a harder time opening up than Josh which was why I think I liked Josh's character more than Kat's.  I loved being in Josh's head.  It's so rare that we get a book from the point of view of the guy, so it was great getting to hear all of his thoughts.  He was super funny, and had great dialogue and some amazing one liners that really made the book for me.  

Plot
I loved, loved, loved the fact that Josh was involved in a school shooting.  I found the emotional and psychological effects that it had on him to be super fascinating.  Unfortunately, I wasn't near as impressed with Kat's storyline.  It was pretty unoriginal and overdone, though I was extremely impressed with the way that she had dealt with the first of her problems, the one from before the start of the book.  That was not so with the problem that occurs later on in the book, but oh well, you can't have everything.  As for the romance, it followed the standard new adult blueprint, pretty able, though I really like that they didn't have that much sex, while in most new adults, that's all they ever do.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  It was still pretty much the standard new adult book, but it was definitely starting to break out of the mold.  I don't think I will go back and read the first book because they can be read as standalones, but I don't know, never say never.  And now I'm quoting Justin Bieber so I guess that's my cue to wrap it up.  I would recommend this to people who like new adult, and think they'll like this.

Thanks for reading!
Amber

We Are The Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

We Are The Goldens
By Dana Reinhardt
Published: May 27, 2014
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Pages: 208

Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart.

When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellayla. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They're a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell's a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she's happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it's wrong, and she must do something about it.

*Novel received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 3.75 stars

My Thoughts:
This book is about bonds between people, familial, romantic, and friendly.  Yes, there's some other stuff that goes down, but overall, it's about bonds.  It does focus mainly on the bond between Nell and Layla but there are so many different inds of bonds that are explored in this book.
Now, I have a younger sister and I love her, but she is one of the most annoying people I know, so I could definitely relate to Layla getting annoyed with the way that Nell was constantly tagging along and she wanted to know every single detail about every single aspect of Layla's life, and as an older sister, I was getting irritated with her as well.
I really liked that, though this story has been done over and over and over again, the story of a girl whose in high school who falls in love with one of her teacher, administrators, etc. and they don't think that it's wrong and it's just that no one understands how they feel, and that their love is real and true, and it will stand the test of keeping it a secret, I felt that Dana Reinhardt brought a really unique twist to it by narrating the story from Layla's younger sister, Nell's perspective, someone who's on the outside, not in the relationship and can see that it's wrong.
The plot overall was pretty bland.  I was never hooked, and I never felt like I couldn't put the book down but it is super short, just over two hundred pages, so I did manage to read it in the span of a couple of days, whilst reading a few other books as well.  I did feel that Dana Reinhardt handled the subject matter very well and I was very pleased with the way the book ended, and the conclusion that Nell came to, even if it took her forever to come to it.  This book didn't really have much of a plot, I mean it did and didn't at the same time.  It's definitely more of a kind of self-discovery book, but it's not even really that, though that's probably the closest that I could come to putting it into a category, because this is just one of those books like Eleanor and Park that are nearly impossible to fit into a category.  There weren't any big plot twists, the author didn't really rely on the shock factor to draw you in.  This book has a dark, morbid feel to it from the very beginning that sparks your curiosity and makes you want to see where the book is going.
Nell's voice was really realistic for her age, as well as the things that she struggled with.  She didn't quite have that brash, I'm going to do whatever the hell I want attitude of a sixteen, seventeen, eighteen year old, but she wasn't still in that timid, follow all the rules manner of a child.  Her loyalty to her sister had her conflicted between doing what her sister wanted, and doing what Nell thought was right for Layla, but in the end I think that she made the right decision, though I wish that we had gotten two or three more chapters to see the results of that decision play out.
I loved the role that Layla and Nell's parents played in their lives.  That relationship was very realistic, especially with one parent being the "responsible one" and the other parent being the "fun one".  However, they were both involved in the girls' lives, if not to the extent of most realistic parents, but still more than most parents in YA.  Felix's relationship with Nell was amazing.  I was so excited to see a book in which a guy and a girl can be just friends, up until the very end where that kind of died.  But until then, it was great, even though some of the things they did I thought took their relationship a little bit past friends, even if they didn't actually feel that way.  Like, they kiss each other on the lips?  I don't know about you, but my guy friends and I don't kiss.
Overall, I thought this was a very good book.  I had some issues with it but they were easily overlooked for the most part.  I loved that the book was written in second person point of view, because it's not something you see very often, even if it became hard to follow at times.  I'd recommend this to fans of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

Thanks for reading!
Amber

Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig

Coin Heist
By Elisa Ludwig
Published: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Adaptive Studios
Pages: 304
The last place you’d expect to find a team of criminals is at a prestigious Philadelphia prep school. But on a class trip to the U.S. Mint – which prints a million new coins every 30 minutes – an overlooked security flaw becomes far too tempting for a small group of students to ignore.

United by dire circumstances, these unlikely allies – the slacker, the nerd, the athlete, and the "perfect" student – band together to attempt the impossible: rob the U.S. Mint. The diverse crew is forced to confront their true beliefs about each other and themselves as they do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Elisa Ludwig's Coin Heist is a fun, suspenseful, and compelling thriller, told from the revolving perspectives of four teens, each with their own motive for committing a crime that could change all of their lives for the better—if they can pull it off.

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

I picked up this book because it sounded a lot like Heist Society by Ally Carter, which I love, so I figured I would pick it up, and I'm so glad I did because I really enjoyed it.

The group of friends in this book were really diverse which I really liked. I was able to relate to pieces of each of them, though I definitely related to Alice the most. I loved the relationships that grew between the four characters formed, both platonic and romantic. Yes, this book is about a heist, but the highlight for me was seeing the relationships develop, even if there wasn't quite as much development as I would have liked, due to the four points of view.

You could tell that Elisa Ludwig put a lot of thought and effort into planning the heist and this book definitely made me want to visit the U.S. Mint. I thought that the group did a really good job planning out the heist .

It was really easy to forget how young the characters are because they never act immature or young. There's little to no angst which was wonderful because I'm so sick and tired right now of overly angsty teen romances so if that's how you're feeling, definitely pick up this book.

I wish it had ended a little differently, though the ending was really realistic and it definitely wasn't the worst way that Elisa Ludwig could have ended it, but it wasn't the exact way that I wanted it to end.

Overall, Coin Heist is funny and clever, with witty dialouge, relatable characters, and and an interesting and engaging plot. I really enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone who thinks the plot sounds interesting. If you liked this, I recommend you pick up the Heist Society series by Ally Carter that I mentioned earlier, the stories are similar and that series is super underhyped.


Thanks for reading!

Amber

Hexed by Michelle Krys

Hexed 
By Michelle Krys
Published: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 384
Book 1 in Hexed series

If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 5 stars

My Thoughts:
I loved this book so, so much.  I can see where a lot of people had problems with it, but everything that didn't work for them, worked for me.
I think that one of the biggest problems most people have with this book is that they think Indie, the main character, is super shallow and yes, I can see where they might think that, but a. she does grow and become less shallow over time and b. I think that people don't want to read about shallow or mean people because they see themselves in that character and they don't want to think of themselves in that light.  But in my mind, I loved that Michelle used a character that isn't used often at least in books that I've read, but is just as realistic as the nerdy, overly deep character that can sometimes be really unrealistic (cough, cough *Augustus and Hazel* cough, cough).  I also really liked Bishop.  I thought he was so funny and clever and I loved his relationship with Indie because guys, there's no insta-love!  
The plot was fast-paced and addicative.  There were so many times when I wanted to put the book down so I could sleep or whatever and I'd be like, okay I'm going to read until the end of this chapter and then I'll go to sleep, but I ended up getting too sucked into the story and I would have read another 50 pages before I even realized I had.  There were so many twists that I never saw coming and I can't wait for the sequel to come out so I can read it and love it and it will be wonderful.

Thanks for reading!
Amber