Little White Lies (Debutantes, #1) – Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: 2018
Publisher: Freeform Books
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mystery, Family Drama, Sisterhood, Secrets, Romance

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REVIEW:

I was right to be excited to read this book. I love a good scandal. I love high society. I love watching powerful people struggle to keep up appearances even if us common folks can easily see right through them. It’s all so pitiful and addictive.

Review: Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls, #3) by Ally Carter

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: June 9th 2009
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres &  Themes: Young Adult, Espionage, Boarding School, Mystery, Contemporary, Romance, Family, Secrets,

BLURB:

When Cammie “The Chameleon” Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she’s in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she’s there to watch Macey’s father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world’s best school (for spies), “exciting” and “deadly” are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers’ plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

Review: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls, #2) by Ally Carter

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: October 2nd 2007
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 11+
Genres &  Themes: Young Adult, Espionage, Boarding School, Mystery Contemporary, Romance, Family, Secrets,

BLURB:

Cammie Morgan is back, and it’s clear that her life hasn’t calmed down since the events of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. At first, giddy anticipation is in the air. Gallagher Academy, Cammie’s elite spy school, is hosting a visit from a covert training center for boys. Soon after the boys’ arrival, though, everything goes dangerously awry when a series of security breaches are discovered at the academy. Worse yet, teenage agent-in-training Cammie is being blamed for the penetration. With the school’s top-secret status at risk, the Gallagher Girls have to work quickly to save their beloved school.

Review: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres &  Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Family, Secrets, True Love, Destiny, Drama

BLURB:

“Just let it go.”

That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone.

Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too. Still reeling from a move to a new town and his parents’ recent divorce, Sam is hoping that he can coast through senior year and then move on to hassle-free, parent-free life in college. He isn’t looking for a relationship…that is, until he sees Hadley for the first time.

Hadley and Sam’s connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret that could ruin everything. Should he follow his heart or tell the truth?

Review: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: April 3rd 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Point of View: 1st person & Female
Genres & Themes: YA, Historical, Fantasy, Assassins, Secrets, Plotting, Romance, Friendship

BLURB:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Review: The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1) by Amy Engel

The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: November 11th 2014
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Point of View: 1st person & Female
Genres & Themes: YA, Dystopia, Romance, Family, Secrecy, War-setting, Plotting.

BLURB:

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Review: The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy, #2) by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: March 3rd 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ)
Genres & Themes: YA, High Fantasy, Romance, War-setting, Conspiracy, Secrets, Betrayal, Family.

BLURB:

Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Review: Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication Date: October 22nd 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genres & Themes: YA, Dystopian, Romance, War-setting, Friendship, Secrets.

BLURB:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered–fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature–and of herself–while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Review: Hopeless (Hopeless #1) by Colleen Hoover

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Amazon freebie (!!!)
Publication Date: December 19th 2012
Publisher: indie
Pacing: very slow
POV: 1st person & female
Genres & Themes: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Abuse, Love, Secrets, Family, Friendship, Trust.

BLURB:

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication Date: August 14th 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
POV: 1st person & female
Pacing: fast
Genres & Themes: YA, Romance, Contemporary, Thriller, Mystery, Secrets.

BLURB:

It all comes down to this. Oliver, Ethan, and I. Three teens venture into an abandoned lake house one night. Hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding. The other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder …? Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece the story together – a story of jealousy, twisted passion and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful faces …