Book Review: Don't You Trust Me? by Patrice Kindl

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Don't You Trust Me?
Author: Patrice Kindl
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genres: Realistic Fiction | Thriller | Suspense
Released: August 30th 2016
Review Source: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

A teenage girl switches identities with a stranger and pulls off a long-term scam in this smart, sarcastic thriller perfect for fans of Ally Carter.

Don’t you trust me? I mean, look at me. Blond, blue-eyed, the very image of innocence. Pretty enough, if you care about that kind of thing. I don’t.

But would a normal person switch identities with some wet mess of a girl at the airport, just to get her to stop bawling about being separated from her loser boyfriend and sent to live with some distant relatives? Nope, she wouldn’t. Yet I did. I’m not as normal as you think. And you’ll just have to trust me on that.

Don’t You Trust Me? Follows the story of Morgan - a young girl who learned she was part of a group named the fay. A specific set of traits or other fay characters weren’t offered. From what I was able to gather, the fay consisted of an elite group of people only identified by others of their kind who posses a lack of empathy, guilt, and fear. Some may argue the fay may just be sociopaths.

Either way, these abilities Morgan possessed always got her into some sort of trouble growing up. Stuff like stealing phones, lying whenever she felt convenient, and not being able to relate to other people like normal. When she reached high school, her parents decided the best thing may be to send her off to a boarding school in hopes that a change of environment would help her situation.

At the airport, Morgan meets Janelle. A girl sitting in a chair crying to herself. She was leaving sunny LA to go to New York to live with her aunt and uncle because her parents want her away from her boyfriend.

Morgan saw this as an opportunity to avoid boarding school altogether. Luckily, her and Janelle were vaguely similar in appearance and Janelle’s family hadn’t seen her in at least 10 years. Morgan convinced Janelle to switch clothes and luggage so Janelle could be romantically reunited with her boyfriend and Morgan could run off to upstate New York and figure it out from there. Morgan decided to ride it out with Janelle’s family while holding up Janelle’s identity all along. After all, Janelle’s family had money that wouldn’t be too difficult for Morgan to get her hands on.

Morgan makes friends, organizes charity events (really only for her benefit), starts after school activities, and has her new found aunt and uncle wrapped around her finger. That is until Janelle calls one day, not expecting Morgan to answer, so Morgan pretends to be her cousin. Janelle is weeping about her abandonment from her boyfriend and how her parents aren’t answering her calls.

Morgan decides it’s time to make a hasty, yet clean exit. This digs her deeper into her own web of lies. She starts taking larger sums of cash and her lies are starting to get suspected. Though she doesn’t get made out ‘til the very end with an unwinding of her series of events.

There is no love interest, friend rivalry, witty sidekick, or dramatic climax. It’s the story of an arguably sociopathic girl who pushes herself to the limits of her own ability and gets caught when even she can’t keep up anymore. It was an OK read. It took me a while to get through it because, frankly, it couldn’t keep my attention for long. Morgan wasn’t a likable character and the secondary characters weren’t quite dazzling either. It was just alright, and I’ve read better.

Book Review: The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

The Boy in the Black Suit
Author: Jason Reynolds
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: January 6, 2015
Review Source: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Just when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl who’s dealt with a lot more—and who just might be able to clue him in on how to rise up when life keeps knocking him down—in this wry, gritty novel from the author of When I Was the Greatest.

Matt wears a black suit every day. No, not because his mom died—although she did, and it sucks. But he wears the suit for his gig at the local funeral home, which pays way better than the Cluck Bucket, and he needs the income since his dad can’t handle the bills (or anything, really) on his own. So while Dad’s snagging bottles of whiskey, Matt’s snagging fifteen bucks an hour. Not bad. But everything else? Not good. Then Matt meets Lovey. She’s got a crazy name, and she’s been through more crazy than he can imagine. Yet Lovey never cries. She’s tough. Really tough. Tough in the way Matt wishes he could be. Which is maybe why he’s drawn to her, and definitely why he can’t seem to shake her. Because there’s nothing more hopeful than finding a person who understands your loneliness—and who can maybe even help take it away.

The writing in this book reminded me so much of Gary Paulsen. You may not know that the author of Hatchet actually writes books about kids trying to get out of the projects, but he does. This is a story of a boy who wants to do better with his life after the passing of his mother. The writing matches Paulsen's because from the very beginning you feel like you're living right along with Matt from the very beginning.

At first glimpse of the cover and title, I couldn't tell what the book was going to be about. I thought maybe it was a modern take of Martin Luther King. I thought maybe this took place in the 50's because you really don't see a lot of kids these days wearing black suits. Matt wears the suit because he's working at the funeral home that his mom actually had a service at. It's working at this place and the people that he meets there that helps him move past her death. My grandmother actually passed away last week, so this book really hit home and helped me get through the pain as well.

My favorite character was Lovey because she was exactly what Matt needed to move on and deal with his loss. It was refreshing to have such good characters that seemed so realistic. The problems they faced, their mannerisms, and how they talked were all realistic and authentic. Lovey caught my heart from the beginning and without revealing too much, I didn't think I could handle a part where things went wrong.

I just can't get over how good the writing was. It's authentic, real, and blew me away. I would recommend this book to high school students who are going through hard times, not just death, but hard times in general. Matt could've gone the opposite route after the death of his mom, but he didn't. He surrounded himself with people who would help.

Book Review: Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood + Giveaway

Infinite Sky
Infinite Sky #1
Author: C.J. Flood
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: May 20th 2014
Review Source: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

A truly beautiful book about the summer that changed one girl's life, as her mum leaves home, travellers set up camp in the family's field, her older brother goes off the rails, and she falls in love for the very first time. Opening with a funeral, Iris is mourning the boy in the casket - but who is it? Sam, her tearaway brother, or Trick, her tentative boyfriend? Over one long hot summer, we find out just how their three lives were turned upside-down.

Right from the start, Infinite Sky captures your attention. With such revelation of a death, it makes you wonder and it demands for you to discover the identity of the dead person. Infinity Sky was devastating yet it another proof that discrimination and racism is dangerous and it doesn’t lead to anything good.

As we begin the story, we come to learn Iris lives in a devastating life. Her mother left her and her family, her father loves to drink and her brother is muted with hatred. On top of this, after the abandonment of her mother, her friend Mitty is no longer a friend but a person that pity her. Her life takes a turn when a new family of Irish travelers takes residency on the Dancy’s land. No one likes them. No one wants them there because they believe they are nothing but thieves. When Iris meets one of the members of the family, she takes interest and begins following their way of living. She becomes fond with Trick and their friendship becomes intense. Until her secret meetings are revealed.

I knew right from the start this book will be devastating. Yet Flood provides us a story of why discrimination and hatred is something that should be eliminated. It leads nothing but tragedies, just like in this book. Heartbreaking and striking, Infinite Sky is a good coming of age read.

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Book Review: Learning Not to Drown by Anna Shinoda

Learning Not to Drown
Author: Anna Shinoda
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Released: April 1st 2014
Review Source: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Family secrets cut to the bone in this mesmerizing debut novel about a teen whose drug-addicted brother is the prodigal son one time too many.

There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the oldest, the can’t-do-wrong favorite. To their mother, they are a normal, happy family.

To Clare, they are a family on the verge of disaster. Clare: the ambitious striver; Peter: the angry ticking time bomb; and Luke: a drug-addicted convicted felon who has been in and out of jail for as long as Clare can remember—and who has always been bailed out by their parents.

Clare loves Luke, but life as his sister hasn’t been easy. And when he comes home (again), she wants to believe this time will be different (again). Yet when the truths behind his arrests begin to surface, everything Clare knows is shaken to its core. And then Luke is arrested. Again.

Except this time is different, because Clare’s mom does the unthinkable on Luke’s behalf, and Clare has to decide whether turning her back on family is a selfish act…or the only way to keep from drowning along with them.

Debut novelist Anna Shinoda's raw, gritty, powerful novel cuts right to the bone and brings to life the skeletons the lurk in the closet.

After finishing Learning Not to Drown, the first thing I said was ‘Thank God!’ For the most part while reading this book, I spent time saying &%!*%$@ Why, you may asked? Claire’s mother is a lunatic!! I seriously wanted to smack her in the head! This woman needs to go to jail!

Claire’s life sucks and the title “Learning Not to Drown” is very fitting to her life. All her life she has been lied to. Once the family’s skeletons come out of the closet, Claire is beginning to see the truth. And the one person she adored the most is the most heartless and conniving person.

How can this girl life go on? No one seems to understand what she is going through. Everyone in town keeps their distance away from her and her family... for good reasons. And her mother is cynical. All she cares is her Claire’s brother. The black sheep of the family and once Claire learns the truth about. When Claire tries to move on with her life without him, trying not to drown with all the skeletons, her mother begins to give her the cold shoulder.

Learning Not to Drown is told in Claire’s point of view but the chapters’ switches from now and then, so you have to keep up with the past. As the story goes, you will see that Claire is as innocence as a two year old but is changed when she realizes her family is not what she thought of. As the skeletons reveals, she tries to make up her family’s mistakes to the town.

This story is dark and bit of disturbing, which is not for everyone. But if you’re into these type of stories, like myself, then don’t forget to add Learning Not to Drown! It will leave you wishing fair for life.