March 10, 2015

Teaser Tuesday

Hi everyone! And welcome to Teaser Tuesday! This is a meme hosted by A Daily Rhythm (formally Should Be Reading). 


In this meme you pick up your current read and post two teaser sentences from it- but no spoilers! 

This week's teasers are from Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender. 

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?




Using my new Kindle's ability to flip through the book, I decided on a random page in Chapter 7. (Unfortunately my Kindle is giving me locations instead of page numbers.) 

The basement door is right down the hall from the kitchen. I stood outside it for a really long minute, staring at the doorknob. I really- and I mean really- had no desire to open it and go down those stairs. 


I thought I heard something on the other side of the wall.
"Kasey, are you down here?"
Still no answer, but this time I heard a definite sound. 

I just started this book but I was really intrigued by the premise- creepy possessed little sisters? I'm all in for that. 

What do you think of this week's Teaser Tuesday? Do you participate in this meme? Have you read Bad Girls Don't Die? Leave me a comment and let me know!  

March 9, 2015

Seed Review

I recently had the chance to read Seed by debut author Lisa Heathfield. 


All that Pearl knows can be encapsulated in one word: Seed. It is the isolated community that she was born into. It is the land that she sows and reaps. It is the center of her family and everything that means home. And it is all kept under the watchful eye of Papa S.

At fifteen years old, Pearl is finally old enough to be chosen as Papa S’s companion. She feels excitement... and surprising trepidation that she cannot explain. The arrival of a new family into the Seed community — particularly the teenage son, Ellis — only complicates the life and lifestyle that Pearl has depended upon as safe and constant. 

Ellis is compelling, charming, and worldly, and he seems to have a lot of answers to questions Pearl has never thought to ask. But as Pearl digs to the roots of the truth, only she can decide what she will allow to come to the surface.

I was super excited to read this book! When I read that description, I was hooked! I know we always make jokes about "drinking the kool-aid" or cult mentality. But how would it be to read from the POV from someone who is actually on the inside? Who believes whole-heartedly that what her leader says is law? 

We get that experience with Pearl because she cannot imagine a better place in the world to live than Seed. No one is hungry at Seed. No one is unhappy at Seed because Nature provides everything they need and communicates to the community through Papa S. Papa S leads the family in his loving ways and Pearl is so excited to finally be a woman, to be considered to be his Companion. 

This was such an interesting read! It was definitely not for the faint of heart because the observant reader quickly picks up on the emotional and sexual abuse going on in the background of this utopia. But our narrator Pearl is completely naive. 

I'm not going to lie, at first I wasn't a big fan of newcomer Ellis. He came off very arrogant and I felt like he treated Pearl like she was stupid for her beliefs. But I slowly grew to understand that his attitude was that of a teenage boy who is forced into an unfamiliar territory that goes against everything that he was ever taught.

Other than Ellis's occasional bought of teenage moodiness and arrogance, my only other (slight) problem with this book was how quickly the book seemed to rush to the end. It felt like the majority of the book was building to something that in the end, was over rather quickly. That being said, what happened in the end blew me away and I'm surprised the author went with the ending she did. 

I would recommend this to 16+ readers who are emotionally mature enough to deal with the adult nature of this book. Its a great read and I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy a female protagonist that isn't traditionally "strong". Pearl has doubts, she cries, she is at times naive, she's not physically any stronger than a normal 15 year old girl, but she has an inner strength that pushes her to do the right thing that I really admire. 

*I received a free ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This in no way influenced my review.

March 3, 2015

The Gemini Effect Review

Hi guys! I have a super exciting new book to tell you about- The Gemini Effect by Chuck Grossart!




A single raindrop opens a Pandora’s box when the spawn of perverse genetic research performed during World War II is unleashed on an unsuspecting modern world. By dawn, only a dead city remains, eerily quiet and still, except for mutant beasts that hide from the light, multiply, and await the shadows of night to continue their relentless advance.

Ordered to investigate the unfolding crisis, biowarfare specialist Carolyn Ridenour barely escapes the creatures’ nocturnal onslaught, saved in the nick of time by Colonel Garrett Hoffman, who lost hundreds of his troops to a swarm that neither bombs nor bullets can stop.


As Carolyn and Garrett race to stop the plague, a battered and broken government prepares to release the fury of America’s nuclear arsenal on its own soil and its own citizens.

The Gemini Effect is a wild roller coaster going 100 miles an hour to what you know will be your total annihilation, and you can't wait to get there!

We follow biological warfare expert Carolyn as she struggles to understand the virus that has been unleashed on America, President Smith as he comes to grips with the what has happened and decides the best course of action, and Vice President Allison as she watches her country  come undone. In 4 days, we see America spiral out of control and the end of the world as we know it.

I really did not expect to enjoy this book as much I did but I really enjoyed it! I found myself rooting for some characters, despising others, and terrified of the horde that was sweeping the nation. 

I was able to download this book as part of the Kindle First program as part of being a Kindle Prime member.