Carries Book Reviews

Blood Echo by Melissa Simonson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Iris and Estella grew up together and were long time best friends. They both had their issues and drowned them in drugs and alcohol. Estella was a cutter and often took razor blades to her arms with Iris cleaning her up and taking care of her.

After Estella’s death Iris blames herself and goes through therapy trying to come to terms with the loss of Estella. When Estella’s father is murdered several weeks later Iris finds that someone is threatening her.

This story is very dark and disturbing. It wasn’t really my taste at all as I was hoping for more of the mystery as to where the packages where coming from, who was threatening Iris etc. The first half though is mostly therapy, guilt, depression and flashbacks. Found myself getting bored waiting for more to happen.

Also, the whole idea of Iris being a vampire seems to be a complete afterthought tossed into the book. It seems it was added to give Iris the ability to heal things and keep her from dying easily. Not quite sure why it was needed as it seemed completely random with the rest of the subject matter.

A lot of interesting ideas that didn’t seem to come together just right for my taste unfortunately. Found it lacking a lot in the mystery/supernatural element.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ghostboy, Chameleon & the Duke of Graffiti by Olivia Wildenstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Ghostboy, Chameleon & the Duke of Graffiti focuses on the lives of Duke, a normal red-blooded teenager focused on all things that seem so important at that age, popularity, friends, girls and school. He meets Cora who is “goth” and wants to solve her and how and why she is the way she is. Duke then meets Jamie when he is taken in to hospital for an emergency surgery. Jamie is an 8 year old battling cancer that will forever change the way Duke sees the world and just what is important.

A truly touching story that once I began to read I just could not put down. Duke making it his mission to give Jamie all his wants and fill his life with happiness is a story that will move anyone. Cora’s story is also one not to be missed as how this girl is the way she is. I would definitely suggest keeping some tissues handy when reading this book.

Canvas Bound by Laura M. Kolar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Libby Tanner only wants to paint. She started at the age of 3 and began selling her work at 7. There’s just a little something different with Libby’s art, it sometimes come to life. She’s convinced her parents to let her attend an art school in London where she meets Dean and Brent.

Brent seems to be the nice guy who is interested in Libby. But Libby can’t help but be fascinated by Dean, the somewhat bad boy who she thinks may have a girlfriend. Libby soon finds there is a lot more going on with the boys and also with her artwork.

I really enjoyed this young adult fantasy. The characters seemed more mature than the ages given. The story wasn’t the typical teen drama which on the surface looks like it might be. The story seemed to be going in the direction of a love triangle but went way beyond. With that and the world of the artwork it was completely entertaining.

A few small critiques… there were times things could’ve been given a bit more detail. For example, Brent and Libby go on a picnic and they fill their plates, exchange a short conversation and all of sudden they are done. Couldn’t help but get a giggle thinking of speed dating. Also, I was starting to wonder if they only served turkey sandwiches at the school. Small things that could’ve used a bit of work in the story but didn’t really hurt the plot.

Overall a fun, quick read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to my blog, a bit of a work in progress but here you will find me sharing my opinion on all kinds of books. Hope you enjoy!

Carrie