The Dead And Buried, by Kim Harrington

Author: Kim Harrington
Publisher: Scholastic Point
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Format: Hardcover; 304 pages
Series: N/A
Genre: YA, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller
Avg. Rating: ★★★✩✩

Goodreads | Book Depository

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

There's nothing that I love more than a good mystery. Have it in any scenario and I will covet it - I'm just THAT crazy about a mystery. However, a good mystery has to have one quality to make me like it. I'm not picky, but I do ask that the mystery is just that - a mystery. I want to be able to read through the story pulling my hair out because I have no clue how to solve the mystery. I don't think that's too much to ask for. 

Unfortunately, it seemed as though that was too much to ask for with The Dead and Buried. It didn't take me much time at all (less than a third of the way through the book) to figure out what was going on in the story. I was slightly disappointed by how quickly the mystery was unraveled for me and almost wanted to go ahead and put the book down. But I didn't do that. I've read books by Kim Harrington before and I enjoyed them, so I wanted to give this book a chance. I also secretly hoped that if I continued reading, I would find out that I had everything wrong and didn't figure anything out. 

By the end of the story, I knew that I was right all along but I was very glad that I finished the book. Aside from the "mystery" (I use that term loosely), this story had some very redeeming qualities. I liked the cast of characters and didn't mind any mention of social circles. I was surprised to find out that I actually liked Alexa more than Jade, the main character. Alexa's role in the novel was actually small, but her personality really made her stand out in her parts of the story. The romance in this was a little aggravating to me. On one hand, you have the beautifully broken boy that is connected to the murder somehow that Jade feels a real connection to - which was nice. On the other though, you have the other boy that is basically drooling over Jade that she pretty much uses for her own reasons - that was not so sweet, and I honestly could have done without that little part. 

Obviously, a ghost story isn't something very new to Young Adult but the plot of this one was engaging enough to keep me going. I think that, aside from the small detail of the mystery not being so mysterious, this story is a good read. 

Rating: ★★★✩✩
Source: Purchase

Kim Harrington is the author of six books for kids and teens. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

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Ripped, by Shelly Dickson Carr

Author: Shelly Dickson Carr [T] [W]
Publisher: New Book Partners [W]
Release Date: December 1, 2012
Format: Paperback; 520 pages
Series: N/A
Genre: YA, Indie, Thriller, Time-Travel
Avg. Rating: ★★★★★ (via Amazon.com)

Goodreads | Book Depository

Katie Lennox wishes her parents were still alive. Having to leave Boston to live with Grandma Cleaves in London was hard, but she's making new friends, working on her British accent and even learning some Cockney rhyming slang. London's cool and actually feels like home in some ways, like she's been here before, belongs here. When a museum visit with her cousin and his cute friend turns funky, Katie finds herself in a long, uncomfortable dress, wearing a ridiculous hat, wondering what happened to her jeans and high-top sneakers? And where's her iPhone?... It's London, 1888. Smart and gutsy, Katie knows she's here to stop Jack the Ripper. The serial killer didn't just slash his victims' throats; he butchered the women. Katie has read about the Ripper, knows the names of his victims and where and when they were killed. She's watched her fair share of CSI. Can Katie save their lives?

Ripped was one of those random finds that I discovered while browsing around for new books to read. Loving all things Jack The Ripper related I knew that, fiction or not, I had to check this book out. I ordered, waited and read as soon as I received it in the mail.I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but for some reason I wasn't expecting it to be so good that I devoured this book in very little time. 

This book is told from the point of view of a fifteen-year-old girl (Katie) that goes back in time to try to stop Jack The Ripper from butchering women - one being an ancestor of Katie, whom her rock star sister looks a lot like. I loved Katie's voice in this book and, between her dialogue and references to modern-day pop culture, I think she really made this story very easy to read - even the gory and violent parts.

This story is very detailed and historically accurate when it comes to the facts about Jack The Ripper - someone definitely did their research and stayed true to history where it mattered. Seeing a book that is 500+ pages long about history and time travel may seem daunting but the intrigue in the mystery of this book definitely sets the pace and you'll be through it before you know it. 

If you're a fan of Jack the Ripper, time travel or just a good mystery then I would definitely recommend this book. 

My Rating: ★★★★★

Book Source: Purchase

The Ice Princess, by Camilla Läckberg

The Ice Princess
Camilla Läckberg

Publisher: Free Press
Release Date: March 29, 2011 (1st: 2002)
Series: Patrik Hedstrom (#1)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: Paperback, 400
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5 (Avg 3/5)

The American debut of internationally bestselling Swedish writer Camilla Lackberg’s haunting first novel. Returning to her hometown of Fjallbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life.

Erica conceives a book about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will answer questions about their own shared past. While her interest grows into an obsession, local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past.

I don't get to read mysteries and thrillers much anymore. When I do, I hold them to a standard a little higher than I set most books. I think that it's safe to say The Ice Princess lived up to that obligation.

This was an enjoyable read. It held everything that a good mystery should. There was a lot of plot, a good deal of suspense and just the right amount of background to help the story move along, as well as setting up information for the next book. Not only was the story well-written, but the characters really popped for me. They had dimension, complete with their own personalities that set them apart from others in the book. The main character was great. You really felt as though you were right there with Erica the entire time.

From the crime to the mystery, almost everything in this book was good. The only place I felt that it fell short was when things really started falling into place - it almost felt a little stale at moments. Stale or not, it wasn't enough to make me not finish the book. This was definitely a nice read to sit down to on a dreary day.

Review: Right Side Talking, by Bonnie Rozanski

Right Side Talking
Bonnie Rozanski
Kindle Edition
Amazon.com
September 27, 2010
Rating: (Avg 3.5)

Imagine that you are a young girl with intractable epilepsy. As a last resort you submit to an operation to sever the connection between the two sides of your brain. Though the operation successfully reduces your seizures, you are left forever with two separate minds: left and right, each unaware of the other.

Imagine further that while recovering in the hospital, you witness a murder. Your dominant left brain cannot recognize unfamiliar faces, and is, therefore, unable to identify the killer. Your right brain can, but is unable to speak. Gradually, painstakingly, the right learns to spell out its thoughts in scrabble letters. At long last, on a table in a hospital lab, you describe the person who committed the crime. Too bad the killer is reading that very same message.….

Right Side Talking is a thriller that will grip the reader from its opening surgery scene to its dramatic courtroom climax. Its cast of characters: a 15-year-old epileptic; a brilliant surgeon; an unlicensed, resentful doctor from abroad who must work as an orderly; a grumpy, relentless detective, and a feisty psychologist Finally, most fascinating of all, there is the human mind itself.

The first thing that hooked me to this story was the premise. It's not something that you come across a lot of these days. Being a psychology nut in high school, it intrigued me to no end - to the point where I had to squeeze this review in earlier than scheduled because it wouldn't leave me alone. I was not disappointed.

Told in third person narrative, you follow the main character Anna mostly through the story - though there is a slew of secondary characters attached as well. Anna's journey through the story is the part that help my interest the most, with the murder a close second. Anna was a very believable character that seemed immature at times - however, given her circumstances, I think it's completely justified and didn't take away from the story at all... nor did it deter my opinion of her. Overall, she was a strong and courageous character. I seriously couldn't imagine going through what she did. The secondary characters were developed well enough, though a little more depth would have been nice. I also found her parents a little hard to swallow at times.

The surgery itself made me wish that I was there to see it, or at least experience it via a documentary or episode of House. It wasn't all too graphic, but the procedure and process that the author described was well-researched - or made up well. I can't go into the validity of all of the medical aspects, but it was all descriptive enough to be real if it wasn't. From the surgery to the therapy, to the murder and climatic ending... this book had me up at night, reading until the end.

Although the protagonist is a teen, this book has a more adult feel to it than Young Adult. I'd recommend for a more mature YA audience. If you like medical dramas, mysteries, and psychology reads should definitely give this book a try. It's a shorter read, but makes up for length with dimension.