As one might imagine, Lita Ford has quite the story to tell. From her days in The Runaways to her solo career, Ford has experienced many of the stereotypes of a rock star's life. In relating tales from the early days, Ford shines. The first few years of her rock career were filled with exciting times as well as rivalries and discrimination as a female musician. Unfortunately, the tone changes significantly as Ford begins relating her romantic relationships. Although Ford paints herself as a strong woman, her romantic entanglements are frequently with abusive men. Ford's bitterness about the father of her children (from whom she is estranged which she claims stems from their father's brainwashing of them) oozes from the pages. Despite saying she will not go into the details out of respect for her children, the hostility she harbors is all too apparent and difficult to understand without the details.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Dey Street Books.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
review: living like a runaway by lita ford
Sunday, March 27, 2016
review: the killing jar by jennifer bosworth
Kenna lives a fairly isolated life with her very ill twin sister and their mother. Despite the isolation, Kenna does have a sort of boyfriend, but she fears getting too close to him because of a scary incident that happened when she was a child. Kenna killed a boy with her mysterious powers. After a night out with Blake, Kenna returns home to discover the father of the boy she killed has brutally attacked her mother and sister and is now after her. In the aftermath of that attack, Kenna’s mother realizes she can no longer hide the truth from Kenna and takes her to the commune where Kenna’s grandmother lives. While there Kenna learns about her powers and starts to question her mother’s motives, but then Jennifer Bosworth wisely inserts a twist that leaves Kenna with even more questions.
The Killing Jar initially seemed to be a fairly standard tale of a teen discovering paranormal powers and struggling to still be a typical teen, but Bosworth changed things up about halfway through. Although the twist still aligns with known mythology, it raises the stakes so that Kenna’s choices are more compelling. The one downside here is that the paranormal elements aren’t explained. Even when Kenna is learning about her powers, the origin is never revealed.
About the audiobook: Jennifer Bosworth’s second novel is narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Although Maarleveld’s voice is excellent and she changed tone to distinguish between characters, there were times when it was difficult to tell if Kenna said something out loud or if it was part of her thought process (Kenna has extensive inner monologues). Dreamscape Media released The Killing Jar in January 2016 and runs 8.5 hours.
4/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
review: no grey areas by joseph gagliano
College basketball fans are likely familiar with the point-shaving scandal that rocked Arizona State University in the 1990s, but one of the members of the scheme had not shared his story until now. During his second stint in federal prison (this time for falsifying loan documents), Joesph Gagliano decided to write about his part in the scandal as well as what led to him being convicted of another crime years later. While the story is incredibly interesting, the writing is fairly simplistic and could have used an editor. It’s also clear that Gagliano skips significant details as, for example, there’s no explanation about the breakup of his marriage or the split between him and girlfriend Tracy. While the ending of No Grey Areas indicates Gagliano likes to think of himself as redeemed from his past bad acts, the tone of his writing leads one to believe he still doesn’t feel he should have had to do any prison time even though his own descriptions of the events clearly detail his criminal actions.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, The Cadence Group.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
review: karma's a killer by tracy weber
The third book in a mystery series centering on the owner of a Seattle yoga studio begins with an animal rights group disrupting an event to support an animal shelter. Shortly after the protest, one of the members of Humans for Ethical Animal Treatment is found murdered. Kate should probably just go on with her life, but the woman arrested for the murder is Kate’s estranged mother, Dharma, who Kate feels compelled to help. Bringing in Dharma allows Tracy Weber to organically incorporate much of Kate’s backstory while also creating a reason for Kate to become involved in yet another mystery. Weber infuses this cozy mystery with bits of humor (especially involving Kate’s rescue dog) that make the plot all the more entertaining.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, MM Book Publicity.
Monday, February 22, 2016
review: the way i used to be by amber smith
Powerful—that’s the one word summary of The Way I Used to Be. This debut from Amber Smith begins with one night of Eden’s freshman year of high school. Her brother’s best friend, who she has a bit of a crush on, comes into her room and rapes her. From the horrifying scene of the opening page, Smith eloquently describes Eden’s life as she progresses through high school. Eden tries a few different ways to deal with the trauma forced upon her, but few of those expressions are good. Smith lays it all out with grit and sensitivity. The characters are excellently drawn so that all are immediately familiar with those who should evoke sympathy doing just that.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
review: the care and feeding of stray vampires by molly harper
The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires is such a fun, yet sexy paranormal romance! The first in a new Half Moon Bay series from Molly Harper kicks off Iris Scanlon, a vampire concierge (meaning she’s a human who helps vampires with tasks they can’t take care of during the day), finding her new client poisoned on his floor. Despite her better judgment, Iris brings Cal home when he offers to pay a substantial sum which will help pay for college for Iris’s sister (their parents have died). Of course things heat up between Iris and Cal, but they also are faced with a very serious threat from whoever poisoned Cal in the first place. As is the norm for a Molly Harper book, the female characters are delightfully witty and snarky while the romance seems wholly appropriate despite the life or death situations the leads sometimes find themselves in.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.
Friday, February 19, 2016
review: tell me three things by julie buxbaum
With her first foray in young adult literature, Julie Buxbaum creates an incredibly touching story of loss, love, and friendship. The last few years of Jessie’s life have been filled with tragedy and upheaval. After the death of her mother, Jessie and her father struggled through on their own until her father met someone through an online grief community. When he decided to marry the woman he met, Jessie and her father also had to leave their Chicago home for a wealthy area of Los Angeles. Jessie is absolutely a fish out of water and her new stepbrother has little interest in showing her the ropes. She’s completely lost until someone sends an anonymous email offering guidance. As Jessie begins a relationship with the anonymous Somebody/Nobody as he calls himself, Jessie uses his help to find her way in Los Angeles.
Buxbaum brilliantly has Jessie travel back to Chicago thinking her problem is location, has Jessie isolate herself from her father, and do all sorts of other perfectly teenage things as her character grows throughout Tell Me Three Things. The character development in this novel is amazing. The ones who should be multi-faceted are developed as such while others remain the epitome of teenage selfishness. The mystery surrounding Somebody/Nobody is compelling and urges the reader on while also developing the possibility of a love triangle. Tell Me Three Things is absolute perfection.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
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