Book Review: Every Word (Every #2) by Ellie Marney

Goodreads Description: 

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents seven years ago...without saying goodbye to Rachel Watts, his 'partner in crime'.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behaviour - not that Mycroft's ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. So Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him...and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator, and the deaths of Mycroft's parents...Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events - or will she lose him forever?

Sparks fly when Watts and Mycroft reunite in this second sophisticated thriller about the teen sleuthing duo.

Title: Every Word (Every #2)
Author: Ellie Marney
Genre: Conteporary, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Romance
Format: paperback

Pages: 340 pages
Publisher:  Allen & Unwin
Source: purchased from Dymocks

 

If you have not read Every Breath (Full Review) warning as there are spoiler!

My thoughts for this book is all over the place! Prey that I make sense in this review!

Its been 8 weeks since the event of Every Breath. Rachael parents are keeping under 'house arrest', a murder that might be link to Mycroft's parents death has occur along while the Shakespeare Folio that the murder victim, a librarian was looking after is missing. When Mycroft suddenly leaves to follow Professor Walsh to London to investigate the murder, Rachael, worried for her boyfriend rushes to catch the next plane to London to find him before more trouble can occur.

The last book was set in Melbourne. This time we follow Rachael and Mycroft around London. I love how the author describes London and the places they visit especially the Sherlock museum!

The premise of the story was great and paced out really well! Its one of those books where it churn your braincells connection the dots, figuring out the mystery. The suspense and action sequence were a heck lot better compared to Every Breath. I love how the big 'WTF' moment came sooner instead of later and left me I was on my edge of my seat at 2 am reading it!

 
If you guys read the book or attended the 'Every Move' launch, three fingers Ellie... THREE FINGERS!!! I have read alot of book, played some games and seen a lot of show/movies intense and the intensity of this book has made it to my top three list along with Telltale's Walking Dead Season 2 video game and James Dashner's The Scorch Trials!  IT WAS SO GOOD BUT AND SO FLIPPING INTENSE!

The writing, no words to describe apart from how well written it is (I am terrible at discription!). Its darker and intense, not a bed of roses though there were some sweet heart warming moments. Also I love the book is well researched and reading the science aspect of the book.

I love the character development in this book! While we briefly meet Rachael's parents and friends Mai and Gus, we get some great character and relationship building from out main duo along with meeting some new and familiar faces.

Rachael was such a great, kick ass and strong minded character though like in the previous book she makes some decisions that makes shout 'NO! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' she has her reasons and her quick thinking manages to get her out of trouble.

Mycroft... my feels for this boy are all over the place! There were times where he was just out of control that he needed to get his SHIT together and there were times where I wanted to hug the poor guy! He is an angry character with A LOT of issues and baggage. We get to know more about his past, his parents and the accident seven years ago. We also learn the reason of his obsession for forensic. Though insane, there is this charm in Mycroft that makes me swoon! I keep thinking of him as a darker version of Augustus Walters from TFIOS mixed with the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who. I swear he is gonna grow to be a charming but mad scientist/doctor!

I looked forward to reading more of Rachael and Mycroft's relationship in this book and the development of their relationship is to a whole new level though sit tight as its a bumpy ride! I love how their relationship takes a lot of twists as they sort out their emotions and feelings for each other in the early stage of their relationship. I naww at the sweet moments between them and devoured the moments when things starts to heat up! This is one unique duo and partner in crime! Opposite yet similar, they balance and keep each other sane!
 
I love reading Rachael and her brother Mike's relationship even though it was brief, its still as strong as the previous book. As mentioned in my Every Breath review, this is one of the best and realistic brother-sister relationship! I need more YA with relationship like this!

In the last book we were introduced to Alice, a nurse at the hospital that Mike now works at and also his girlfriend. I love reading about Alice and her relationship with the Watts siblings (in two totally different ways). She was very sweet with Mike and a great 'big sister' role for Rachael! I kinda want a story on Alice and Mike. *hint *nudge *wink to the author 

The 'Big Bad' aka Villain of the book caught me off guard! Not gonna say much but as I mentioned IT WAS INTENSE!

A couple of things that I was not a fan of in the book, Rachael managing to get a ticket THAT CHEAP hours before flying off to London... I had a hard time believing that so I had to knock my head and remind myself its fiction! Also I find it convenient the fact that Mycroft and Rachael coincidentally have all the tools they will need to make that big *boom* moment or the part where they manages to find a van and the key is conveniently there.

The book ended with a BANG literally. I like how it wraps up the London arc nicely without any loose ends and cliffhangers and has a great set up for the last book Every Move!

Overall the Every Word was gripping and addictive! A great story where crime and mystery meets swoon romance!

 

I just finished reading Every Move aka the final book in the series and will have a review of that up soon! All I can say is FEELS! A LOT OF WTF MOMENTS AND I DON'T WANT THIS TO END!

My feels are on a rollercoaster! Nuf say.. JUST PICK UP THE FLIPPING SERIES!

Book To Movie News: Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, The Scorch Trials & Insurgent!

Okay so if any of you guys are Facebook and Twitter addicts (like the person typing this post) you will have seen A LOT of AWESOME book to movie news so let's discuss!

1) Looking for Alaska MOVIE

So John Green first novel Looking for Alaska is finally going to be a movie! I'm looking forward even though the book is probably my least favorite John Green book, I'm still intrigued to see how it looks like on the screen! The same team for TFIOS and PAPER TOWNS are returning to make the movie adaptation.

I'm planning to put up my Dream Fancast in the next couple of weeks so look out for that!

2) Paper Towns Movie Poster

Speaking of John Green, THE PAPER TOWNS MOVIE POSTER IS OUT AND...um.... ah...

I have mix feelings to the movie poster... like A LOT OF MIX FEELINGS!

I like the 'Get Lost' 'Get Found' tag line. It sums up the movie! 

While I like the mysteriousness of Cara and Nat on the poster... I kinds hate it because it's not relevant to the movie. Also WHY IS CARA'S HAIR SWEEP UP TO NAT'S FACE? I DON'T GET IT!

I feel like they were trying top hard to imitate the iconic TFIOS poster and while THAT WORKED because 1) it was sort of imitating the book cover of the two clouds if you flip the cover side ways 2) you see the close up of Hazel Graze nasal cannulous which of cause its significant for the character 3) its sweet and fluffy just like the movie.

I wish they had something like a map background or even them sitting on a mini van, JUST SOMETHING more relevant to the story (apart from Q's fascination with with Margo!) and not that blue background!

Its meh and very stereotype which  kind of a let down but who knows, I might like it the more I stare at it or not... ask me in 3 months! Anyways its just a poster, its the trailer and movie I should be anxious about!

 
UPDATE: Credit the person who made this awesome poster that I found on John Green's Tumblr.

I was stalking tumblr and saw this fanmade poster! This is what I pictured in my head for the poster! WHY CAN'T THIS BE THE REAL POSTER? IT RESEMBLES THE TFIOS POSTER BUT STILL RELEVANT TO THE STORY! 

Anyways its just a the poster and we should not judge a movie by ts poster like how not to judge a book by its cover.

What are your thoughts on the poster for Paper Towns? Love it? Hate it? Mehhhhh? Don't Care?

3) The Scorch Trials Movie Stills

Excuse me while I fangirl my excitement!

Pictures taken from this SITE

I AM FULL OF ADRENALINE JUST LOOKING  AT THE STILLS SO IMAGINE ME WHEN I AM WATCHING THE MOVIE! I'm talking BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS EXCITED!

From the looks of the pictures, like the first movie its gonna diverge a bit from the plot and once again expand Theresa's role (which I don't mind as I love Kaya who plays her!).

This I'm okay with as it worked very well for the first movie and if they do it right it should work for this movie!

I'm super excited for this movie as The Scorch Trials is my MOST FAVORITE James Dashner's book to date and from the looks of the pictures IT LOOKS EPIC AND BADASS!

Also is it bad that I'm mostly looking forward to this scene of them upside down hooked on the leg? Its not in the book BTW so I'm intrigue to see what that scene is about!

THEY BETTER NOT HURT MY MINHO!

What are your thoughts on the stills??? 

(Click Here) for my review on 'The Scorch Trials'.

(Click Here) for my review on "The Maze Runner Movie"

4) I'm ready for Insurgent movie!

Insurgent movie is being released NEXT WEEK!!!

I marathon the rest of the Divergent series so I finally read Insurgent and love it! Looking forward to the movie which is coming out next week and nope I still have yet to watch the trailers!

So that's my book to movie news round up and am super excited to see all of them!

Let me know any book to movie news and up and coming book to movie adaptations you guys are excited about in the comments!

Also check out my Anticipated Book To Movie Adaptation of 2015 for the adaptations I'm excited for!

Till next time!

Book Review: Every Breath (Every #1) by Ellie Marney

Goodreads Description:

Rachel Watts is an unwilling new arrival to Melbourne from the country. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den - literally.

A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again...

Title: Every Breath (Every #1)
Author: Ellie Marney
Genre: Conteporary, Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Format: E-book

Pages: 335 pages
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Source: free of itunes

Thanks to Miranda of Bookss101 and Ebony of DarlingDemsel as watching and reading your rave made me read this! :D

I love Sherlock and have watch many adaptations like the the Robert Downey Jr movies, the  Steven Moffat BBC adaptation and my personal favorite, MidSomer Murders (especially the Tom Barnaby and Ben Jones arc!!!)! 

This is one of the best and unique adaptations. Sherlock meets YA set in Melbourne!

Follow Rachael Watts who's family moves from the country to Melbourne befriends her neighbor Mycroft. Together the neighbors, best friends and partners in crime investigates the murder of their friend Homeless Dave while Rachael finds herself falling for for her mysterious friend. 

I liked Rachael from the start! Quick thinking, tough and tomboyish, she's a country girl trying to fit in and adjust to life in the suburbs of Melbourne. Though she is mature, there were times where she makes some stupid decisions though thanks to her quick thinking she manages to get them out of the situation. 

Mycroft... where can I get me one?! I love reading more about Mycroft as he is so mysterious and has some mess up secrets and past which makes him kind of insane. He has a lot of issues that got me a bit frustrated at times bout once I understand him I empathize him. Also I love reading about his passion or forensic science and though I don't understand the jargon at first it was still fascinating reading all about it! 

Also did I mention he is British? Hello sexy British accent!

I love reading the diverse cast of side characters! Mai and Gus, Rachael and Mycroft's classmates and best friends were great to read especially Mai and her knowledge for Legal studies.

Also I love the family element of Rachael and her family! Though she's angry with her parents for moving to the city, she is still supportive and does not make a fuss about the move. 

I also love her relationship with her brother Mike as I RARELY see YA with a good, strong and realistic brother-sister relationship! In fact THIS how a brother-sister relationship should be written (I know as I have a little brother and the way Rachael interacts with her brother is how I interact with mine).

I enjoyed the plot and how it throws you straight into the action without giving the readers a heart attack along with the pacing though I found the first one third of the book a bit hard for me to click with the story. There was a good air of mystery which made the book a page turner as I want to know what happens in the end! 

I like how we slowly got to know a bit about both Rachael and Mycroft and their past trough the book. I also like the suspense and gripping moments of THAT climax as I was on the edge on my seat reading it! There were some good plot twist though I kinda foreshadow the big WTF event the moment I got enough evidence though it came out totally different from what I expected.

Though I've read a couple of Aussie YA's that is set in Melbourne (which has been my second home for the past 5 years) its still refreshing and exciting to read a book set in somewhere familiar and was great picturing them taking the tram/train and going to some places that I've passed by or am familiar with.  

One thing that made the book for me was Rachael and Mycroft's relationship! As the book progress they developed a 'more than friends/neighbor/partner in crime' relationship and boy was the tension between them gripping to read! 

They keep insisting they are 'just friends' but the more the story develops the more I wanted to shout 'OH JUST GET TOGETHER ALREAD- oh.... ohhhhhhhh xD' 

I love when the two of them bilker and watching the tension between them build and though it took a while for the romance to build but ITS WORTH THE WAIT! Best friends turn romance is one of my favorite kind of romance and I love how once they established their mutual feelings its not dragged for the rest of the book!

Also when they are together expect alot of swooning as the romance is cute and HOT!

Overall this is a great and solid start to the series! Its well written and researched, great cast of characters and refreshing plot! Rachael and Mycroft are one of the best bookish duo's I've read!

I just purchased the whole series and am currently reading Every Word! This is a great YA Mystery & Crime Romance and Sherlock with a twist! 

Check out this book (and series) and get lost in the mysteries! 

Now to get back to my copy of Every Word as I NEED MORE WATTSCROFT !!! 
 

 

Book Review: Laurinda by Alice Pung

Goodreads Description:

'Nothing has a stronger hold over a girl than the fear of the thoughts of her peers – thoughts that change five times in a day. No wonder things are so complicated with teenagers.'—Alice Pung, Laurinda

Laurinda is an exclusive school for girls. At its hidden centre of power is The Cabinet, a triangle of girls who wield power over their classmates – and some of their teachers.

Entering this world of wealth and secrets is Lucy Lam, a scholarship girl with sharp eyes and a shaky sense of self. As she watches The Cabinet in action, and is courted by them – as she learns about power and repression – Lucy finds herself in a battle for her identity and integrity.

Few genres are more enthralling than the school story. In Laurinda, the acclaimed Alice Pung tells an involving, original story that captures the drama and pain of school life today, as well as revealing much about the choices of young women.

Title: Laurinda
Author: Alice Pung
Genre: YA, Coming Of Age, Contemporary
Format: Paperback

Pages: 336
Publisher:  Black Books Inc
Source: Received for free from Goodreads Giveaway

In a nutshell, this is Mean Girls set in Melbourne.

Set in the 90's, told in letters written to Lucy's friend Linh as she shares her experience after winning a scholarship to an elite privet girl's school in Melbourne. Lucy's family immigrated to Australia from Vietnam where her dad works the night shift at a carpet factory and her mum works in the family garage sewing cloths and looking after her little brother Lamb. 

We follow Lucy as she transitions from the familiarity of Christ Our Saviour, the Catholic school she attended where she was accepted as herself to the 'foreign lands' of Laurinda Ladies College where she tries to fit in and changes herself to suit the school. 

There she encounters 'The Cabinet', a trio of racist, self centered and privileges mean girls who have the power to influence and sabotage those in their way including the teachers. Lucy finds herself in an internal battle of identity and morals while catching up with the demands of Laurinda but also balancing the expectations from her family.

I love the story and connected with if from page one! Its rare and refreshing, reading a High School YA that was familiar with my high school experience.

It touches on high school topics like 'mean girls', boys, friends, adjusting to a new school, bullying and stereotypes but also topics that I rarely see in YA like culturally challenged, being the odd kid in the class/school, abuse of power and social prejudice. 

The narration was a bit confusing at the start with the letters addressed to Lucy's friend Linh who we assume is a friend from her old school.

Which we later learn that Lucy was writing a letter to herself and that Linh is actually her middle name. This I kinda foreshadowed from the start as Lucy's mum called her 'Linh' at the first part of the book.

I liked the pacing of the book and how its split into schooling semesters which reminds me of how Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl was paced out. The writing was sarcastic, honest, poetic and moving. There were also some great quotes in here, my favorite is "All teenagers are drama queens inside their minds, even the mousiest of us".

At the end of the book I was overwhelmed with emotions and happiness at the same time happy crying which is a first as I am rarely a book crier and can count the number of books that brought me to emotional tears on one hand. 

This story is not picture perfect but it feels real from the way Lucy parents talk to how we watch Lucy struggles and copes with her school life.

Lucy was an emotional roller coaster of a character to follow! At the start she was out spoken, confident, feisty yet down to earth and compassionate girl who looses herself as she struggle to fit in with the school while balancing her believes and culture. She gives into 'peer pressure' of The Cabinets and ends up being the 'quiet Asian girl', insecure and not standing up to what's right. She eventually learn from her mistake and stand up to The Cabinets in probably one of the best and most sophistic ways to make them 'BURN' as well as identify with herself and who she is.

I like Lucy from page one and though I wish she handled her problems differently or even opened up to her parents, she's a tough and smart girl and know how to climb back up with grace.

I love the family dynamic and though it was hard for her parents to understand the stuff she has to do in/for school like buying new tailored uniform or having 'friends' with drivers and mobile phones, they were still very supportive and helpful to Lucy trough the book. Lucy's dad was hilarious to read about and reminds me a bit of my own dad. Her mum was a great indirect voice of reason to Lucy's problems and like Lucy faces some issues of fitting in.

The Cabinets (Chelsea, Brodie and Amber) were a real piece of work! Catty, self cantered and power hungry, they used Lucy as their little 'pet' to gain more power! The more I read about the spoiled brats the more I wanted to slap them and cringed as it brings back memories to me biting my tongue when I hear the snobby kids in school talk. 

But wait if that's The Cabinets, wait till you read about their mothers! No joke I don't know which is worse, generation 'Offspring' Cabinets or generation 'Mummy' Cabinets! Gen Offspring's play with their peer's and teachers weakness with pranks, manipulations and bullying anyone in their way! As for their Mum's, a lovely donations is all that it takes to shut the school up!

Yah long story short, hated them the more I read about them!

I like some of the side characters especially Richard which I wish we got to read more about him.

Overall Laurinda is one of the best books I've read! Its realistic, smart, sarcastic, sophisticated and familiar. The ending leaves me smiling from ear to ear at the position Lucy is in and I kind of feel like there could be room for a sequel (*hint *nudge *wink to the author).

Its an honest and nostalgic picture of high school and yes its scary but its only for a few years.

Check out Laurinda is you want an Aussie YA take on Mean Girl.

Also if you like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, you might like this as like Fangirl its a coming of age story of trying to adjust to the new schooling environment and being true to yourself. 

This is one of the most relatable and familiar books I've read in ages! While I did connected with Lucy at many levels there were some stuff that I didn't relate to.

Relate:

1) I went to an all girl school similar to Christ Our Saviour (aka a Convent) for most of my schooling years and though it was not a privet school it was still very 'elite'. 

Its one of those schools where if you mention its nickname everyone will go 'WALAO! YOU GO TO THAT SCHOOL AH? VERY FAMOUS YOU KNOW!'  yah that's how manglish sounds like.

Just for laughs check out the 20 mangilsh slangs Malaysians love to use and yes, I use them quiet often (my fav is abudin) (Click Here)

2) Like Lucy I've witness and received my fair share of being bullied for my race and discrimination. It also happen in Asia.

3) I'm Chinese like Lucy though she's Chinese born Vietnams and I'm Chinese born Malaysian.

Didn't relate:

1) I didn't need a scholarship as I went to a government/public school.

2) My family don't have to work as hard as Lucy's family and I am bless that my parents can afford to send me overseas for Uni.

3) My family didn't migrate to Australia and I will probably stay in Oz till I'm done with Uni.

4) I am thanking my guardian angles that I didn't have to encounter girls like 'The Cabinets' in school. Even if there were girls as such, I probably was not aware of it.  

5) She gets nicer, more 'posh' uniforms! I dare you to Google 'Malaysian Secondary School' uniform and see the lovely 'apron' (I wore the pinafore, never the Baju Kurung) I have to wear in high school... yah it was the reason why I loved my PE uniform and Koperasi Polo shirt more. (sorry to the teachers who might be reading this... not a fan of my uniform but I still wore them!)