What Haunts Me – Margaret Millmore

Any book featuring the line, “Please don’t think that while I was out stabbing ghosts with unsharpened pencils…” is bound to be interesting. This was a new take on ghost stories for me. I thought I’d run the gamut of “ghost stories” but this ghost hunter/ghost killer was new for me.

George becomes ill with what he thinks is the flu, then starts to have disturbing visions. He sees people with Harry Potter-style glasses and dated clothing, and for some reason, they always seem to be near someone with an affliction. One day, out of curiosity, he touches one. Feeling like he’d been doused in cold water, he realized that the person just…disappeared. The nearby person suddenly seemed cured of their ailment, and life moved on. For most. For George, it was forever changed.

To prevent the unpleasant feeling, George begins to carry around an unsharpened #2 pencil, using it to “vanquish” these spirits. He performs experiments, and finds that sure enough, for each spirit he gets rid of, someone gets better. These ghosts are hanging around and causing the issues that these people are suffering from.

George meets many new people that relate to his “power”, and find out that his ability comes, most likely, from his lineage. Add in the sassy and bad-assy Billy, his beloved grandmotherly neighbor’s niece, and you get one tough duo to be feared by the spirit world. Then comes the old man who is attempting to use George’s power to give himself everlasting life, and it all makes for a great read.

I quite enjoyed this one, though when I read the line I quoted earlier, I almost stopped, pausing a moment and reflecting that what I was reading was quite ridiculous, but curiosity kept me going. I have to say, I’m glad I did. It was a hell of a read. Action packed and interesting, with great characters that definitely are not lacking in spunk and personality. Even a twist toward the end that I definitely didn’t see coming.

If you’re looking for an action packed ghost story, with a healthy helping of humor and a main character who can sometimes be quite self-deprecating, this is the book for you. I don’t know if I’ll continue the series, but this first one was definitely worth the read.

Destined – Alexandra Moody

SPOILER ALERT
After escaping the West Hope hospital, Elle has been working with The Movement to find a way to bring down Joseph, and volunteering at their clinic where the hope to find a cure that will allow other ARC citizens to come to the surface without the Lysartium mutating their genes at such a rapid pace. Aiden, a doctor who escaped West Hope hospital with Elle, is desperate to find a cure since Joseph’s experiments have left his lover in a coma and he hopes to save her.
Former friends-turned-enemies-turned-friends again abound in this novel. Hunter becomes a central character to The Movement. There are kidnappings, executions, mind control, and battles around every corner.
Elle and a few others from The Movement are sent on a mission to the ARC, her home, in order to find people who are willing to be test subjects for the cure that Aiden has found, but all is not as she left it. Joseph and his recruiters are running experiments on nearly everyone in the ARC now, and most are dying as a consequence. Quinn reappears to lead Elle and her team to an underground resistance band in the ARC, where they are only able to find two test subjects: Adam (Sebastian and April’s father) and Quinn herself.
Seeing the ARC in the state that it’s in under Joseph’s control inspires everyone to put on their game face and step it up to rescue the citizens of the ARC.
In this final installment of the ARC series, there is action around every corner. Elle works with Sebastian, Lara, and April to attempt to control her powers so that she will no longer be viewed, and treated as, a liability by other members of The Movement, especially after their camp is destroyed by Joseph and his recruiters. Losing Will in the fire sparks an entirely new side to Elle that we haven’t seen. She transforms from frightened teenager to a force to be reckoned with.
However, when Ryan appears shortly before their mission to destroy Joseph and bring an end to his regime, he tells Elle that she must not heal anyone that night, or she will die in that person’s place.
What happens when Elle discovers who will die? That the pesron who is destined to die is one of the most important people in the world to her? She does what any hero would do. She goes in their place.

Oh, and you finally find out who/what Ryan is!

Fractured – Alexandra Moody

*SPOILER ALERT
Elle Winters has journeyed through Hell and back to find Sebastian, her best friend that she “secretly” loves. After making new friends who help her on her mission to find Sebastian’s location, she journeys into North Hope, where the “Elite” talented live. She makes the move to see him just as the recruiters are beginning to notice that she shows no signs of being talented and plan to move her to West Hope where the untalents live.
Upon finding Sebastian, he hurriedly tries to get her away from the recruiters, but she winds up imprisoned in the youth ward of the hospital in West Hope. Kelsey, a four-year-old firecracker, and Will, a young man with a heart of gold, become her closest friends. Little does she know upon “awakening” that she’d, in fact, been imprisoned for weeks and tortured. Experiments have been performed on her that have given her talents, though she knows not what they are, or how to control them.
The leader of the city of Hope, Joseph, is a Hitler-esque leader who rose to power simply because he was one of the first there and no one has bothered to challenge him. He authorizes and endorses the situations in the West Hope hospital. Being untalented himself, he seeks to find a way to give himself powers. The entire hospital is essentially a laboratory. They keep the “patients” in line by telling them that they were brought to the surface too soon, and that the Lysartium will cause their cells to mutate too quickly which will lead to death. The “cures” and “treatments” are actually experiments on Joseph’s behalf. Elle, however, seems to be the star patient, since she is read to be the only one who not only absorbs a talent, but can absorb any talent that she is injected with.
Now, we follow Elle as she breaks out of the hospital with the help of new friends, and is taken in by The Movement, an underground group of rebels lead by M and April, that oppose Joseph and want nothing more than to stop the experimentation and bring out the truth. Other members of the group, Soren, Sebastian, etc., are all highly talented indviduals that contribute their talents in hopes of stopping Joseph.
Will Elle be able to help them? Or with her new, unstable talents, will she become more of a liability to them than an asset?

Facing September – Sara Jenlink

Well, I almost wish I could get back the hours that I spent reading this. It was unmemorable. In fact, I read one other book since I’ve read this one, and I can barely recall what it was about.

Tori, a security guard, goes back to her hometown in order to finally solve the mystery of who murdered three girls twenty years previously, including her best friend. Yes, she eventually solves the murder.

The plot was slow, there was very little character development, and overall, it was just… a book. As I neared the end of the book, it would mention a character and I would have no idea who it was, because there was so little development and the characters did not have personalities. It was disappointing all of the way around. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by reading some really great novels lately, but had this book not been free, I’d want my money back. However, I do want my time back. In conclusion, just skip this one.

Talented – Alexandra Moody

How far would you go to keep a promise? After faking her blood test, Elle has found herself in a place that she never imagined she would be, all in the name of keeping her promise to find Sebastian. She is placed with a foster family since she has no family on the surface, and within that family, she makes a shocking discovery.

 Making new friends, she realizes that not quite everyone is what they appear to be on the surface, and that “tainted”, in fact, means “talented” to this new world. All of the people deemed “tainted” in the ARC are revered in her new world. It’s only common courtesy to ask someone, “Are you talented?” These “talents” come in many forms and strengths and tend to be what dictates not only your societal status, but the conditions in which you live.

However, as Elle learns how to navigate her new world, she finds out that everything isn’t beautiful and glamorous, and that everything that glitters isn’t gold. How is she supposed to develop her “talent” if she doesn’t have one? Once she sees the condition in which the “talentless” live, she begins to fear for her safety. How long before the recruiters find her and learn of her deception?

Most serious of all, how is Elle supposed to find Sebastian in a world she doesn’t understand, while attempting to fly under the radar? Together with her new friends, she fights to keep her promise to find Sebastian and bring him home. But what if after fighting for her life, he doesn’t want to go home?

Tainted – Alexandra Moody

Welcome to the ARC, the underground facility that houses what is left of Earth’s population after a meteor hits and a nuclear winter follows. Elle Winters was barely more than a toddler when the Earth was hit. However, the screens around the atrium of the ARC show a continuous live-feed of the dust and desolation that Earth has become, so can anyone truly forget what the Earth was like in it’s glory?

Every year, the residents of the ARC are tested to see if they’re “tainted”. While the exact symptoms/signs of being tainted aren’t explained in detail, the fact that these people are taken away with no warning and leave behind everything, including their possessions, and are only allowed to leave a limited video message to say goodbye to everyone, definitely hints that it’s not a good thing.

It seems as though the upper-echelon of the ARC are attempted to allow normal lives, even hosting school dances, there are secrets all throughout the ARC. Her best friend, Sebastian, is intent on uncovering these. Sebastian proclaims his feelings for her, which she in somehow unsure of reciprocating. She has a juvenile sense of jealousy every time she sees him with another girl, but cannot admit to herself or anyone else how she feels about Sebastion.

However, once his testing day arrives, the unthinkable happens. He’s gone. Will Elle delve into the mysteries that plague the ARC? How far will she go to find out what happens to those deemed “tainted”? Will she follow Sebastion, as she promised?

This was one of the better YA Dystopian novels I’ve come across. Not quite as good as the Hunger Games, Divergent, and all the other pop-Dystopian novels that have been franchised in to movies, but a good read nonetheless. It wasn’t a page turner, but I did find myself throughout the day (I really only get a chance to read right before I go to sleep) wondering about how things would play out. I will definitely be following up with the other three novels in the series, so be on the lookout for those.

Apartment 6 – Stuart James

Lindsey, this one’s for you, babe!

Meagan, a woman in an abusive relationship. Oliver, a man who recently split from a long-term relationship. A chance meeting on a train. She’s a beauty, even with her black eyes and busted lips, and he wants nothing more than to save her. “The woman on the train” is an enigma who plays hot and cold with him, until one day, he receives a chilling text, where she asks for the unthinkable. Will he kill to save her?

He does. Or at least, he thinks he does. Oliver is lead down a road that he never would have imagined himself on, murder, hiding bodies, moving bodies, and still playing in to Meagan’s hands. When he finally has enough, he realizes that maybe she isn’t as innocent and naive as he thought initially. Maybe she’s more than just a simpering, abused woman who is terrified of her cruel husband.

The story is told in two story lines, one of which Meagan is five years old and witnessing the abuse that her mother deals with at the hands of her father. The other is the current timeline, with Meagan and Oliver. I love this method of story-telling. Stuart James is a bestselling author, and with this novel, it’s easy to see why. There were so many twists and turns, with believable characters and an amazing plot. The twist ending, even I, as a veteran reader and lover of plot-twists, did not see coming. Definitely worth the read if you want a good psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes and wondering, “What’s going to happen next?”

Your Only Friend – RJ Lindsey

Another psychological thriller. As you can tell, I’ve been on a kick lately. This novel however, I can’t say was wonderful, nor can I say it was terrible. It was a middle-of-the-road, somewhat interesting read.

Sinead is still reeling over the death of her mother and is looking for a change of scenery. Currently sharing a house with several of her college friends and working as a collector for charities, her options are limited. Until a dream opportunity arises. A room for rent with an unassuming, older man who seems to live a quiet life of order and cleanliness. However, when Sinead shows up to see the place, the man tells her the room is no longer available. She persuades him to open the room back for rent, and drains her savings to pay the deposit and rent.

Elliot, her landlord, seems helpful and caring, if also extremely socially awkward, which is great while Sinead is going through an estrangement from her friends. Rumors, seduction, misread signals, and her friends completely wiping her from the picture causes Sinead to go into a downword spiral. After an accident leaves her injured and unable to work, the issues with her friends come to a head. Meanwhile, Elliot is supportive and helps her with the mundane tasks of life that she now has difficulty completing on her own.

However, Elliot travels frequently for work, which Sinead is still not 100% sure of what his work entails. When things start to take a turn to weirdness then straight out frightening with him, Sinead hopes to regain her friendships and escape the sinister creepy man that her landlord has become. Will she survive living with him any longer?

As I stated, it was a middle-of-the-road read. It would be a perfect novel for a light read, nothing to suck you in too deeply. Not terrible, not wonderful, it just is. I wouldn’t read it again, but the first time around, it wasn’t so bad.

The Three Women – Valerie Keogh

Beth, Joanne, and Megan meet in college under the usual circumstances. Beth and Joanne in the bookstore, and Megan when they rescue her after she dumps an entire tray of food over a crowd. The three quickly become inseparable, and remain so for their entire lives. However, on the night of graduation, things take a turn for the worse. The trio decide to have a girls’ night and they visit a bar. A few hours go by, and Beth realizes she can’t find Megan. She searches out Joanne, and they return to the rented bungalow in hopes of finding Megan. What they find instead is a nightmare. Megan, with her dress torn, scratches and bruises everywhere, and utterly distraught. She swears the other two to secrecy, and they attempt to move on with their lives.

Beth becomes a detective in the sex crimes unit, Megan becomes a prosecutor, and Joanne develops a life of luxury in “public relations”. That one girl’s night changed everything in their lives. But as things unravel, secrets are revealed that destroys each woman’s life thread by thread. Just goes to show, you never really know your friends.

Missing Parts – Lucinda Berry

Celeste has it all. A loving, doting husband, a perfect daughter, and her dream career. Her husband, David, is a stay-at-home-dad to their daughter, Rori. While Celeste seems to have it all, her life is a delicate balance and dance, knowing that she’s keeping a devastating secret. When Rori becomes sick with a rare disease that can only manifest if both parents are carriers, her secret comes out. During the years of trying to get pregnant, David and Celeste went through rigorous genetic testing, and this can only mean one thing… David is not Rori’s father. As Celeste falls apart, she is abandoned by her friends and goes on a binge. Events unfurl as she ends up drunkenly committing a crime, and winds up in Minnesota, living under a different name and working at a diner. She makes friends and begins to attend AA meetings, where her life changes, yet again.

After having abandoned her daughter, months have passed and she’s finally convinced that it’s time to return to her home and face the consequences of her actions. She returns to find that she’s barely been missed, and that David told Rori that Celeste had died, rather than tell her that her own mother abandoned her. Things don’t go exactly as Celeste expected, so what happens now?

This one was a rollercoaster. As a mother, I couldn’t abandon my child, much less while they fight for their lives in a hospital. It certainly makes you think of what you would do to keep a secret, to protect your family. When you lose it all, how would you react? But can a mother ever truly leave her child?