Rewired by S. R. Johannes

🌟🌟out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
16-year-old Ada Lovelace is never more alive and sure of herself than when she’s hacking into a “secure” network as her alter ego, the Dark Angel. In the real world, Ada is broken, reeling from her best friend Simone’s recent suicide. But online, the reclusive daughter of Senator Lovelace (champion of the new Technology Privacy Bill) is a daring white hat hacker and the only female member of the Orwellians, an elite group responsible for a string of high-profile hacks against major corporations, with a mission to protect the little guy.

Ada is swiftly proving she’s a force to be reckoned with, when a fellow Orwellian betrays her to the FBI. To protect her father’s career, Ada is sent to ReBoot, a technology rehab facility for teens…the same rehab Simone attended right before killing herself.
​
It’s bad enough that the ReBoot facility is creepy in an Overlook-Hotel-meets-Winchester-Mansion way, but when Ada realizes Simone’s suicide is just one in an increasingly suspicious string of “accidental” deaths and “suicides” occurring just after kids leave ReBoot, Ada knows she can’t leave without figuring out what really happened to her best friend. The massive cyber conspiracy she uncovers will threaten everything she cares about–her dad’s career, her new relationship with a wry, handsome, reformed hacker, Fisher, who gets under her skin, and most of all–the Dark Angel.

***ARC provided by publishers via netgalley in exchange of honest review***

I thought that the book started off well with an intriguing beginning. I wanted to know more about Ava very quickly and what made her begin hacking.I wish that the author would have explained more about her background as well as the other characters that we meet when Ava is sent to Reboot.I felt like I only got basic information about each character so I was unable to connect with the characters as much as I would have liked to.
The book picked up very quickly after the first few pages which made me feel like I didn't get a very good sense of the plot or Ava before she is sent to Reboot. This also made the book seem less realistic because things moved so quickly that it was hard to grasp any concepts before the book dives into the conspiracy surrounding Reboot.If Ava is as good of a hacker as we are lead to believe then how was she caught so quickly. It seemed like she knew how to cover her tracks in order to not be discovered.I know that she was betrayed but she was careful with the members in her group as well so that didn't even make sense to me. 
I thought the book was okay. I wanted more tense, edgy scenes where it was a race against the clock. I think that it would have been interesting to have more focus on the Orwellians as well. 

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

🌟🌟🌟🌟out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Natasha's sure that her friends love her. But does that mean they didn't try to kill her?
Natasha doesn't remember how she ended up in the icy water that night, but she does know this—it wasn't an accident, and she wasn't suicidal. Her two closest friends are acting strangely, and Natasha turns to Becca, the best friend she dumped years before when she got popular, to help her figure out what happened.
They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you're a teenage girl, it's hard to tell them apart.

***ARC provided by publishers via Netgalley in exchange of honest review***

Sarah Pinborough is a master of description! I was hooked from the first sentence of this book and felt like I was fighting for my life just as Natasha was. The descriptions of the water and her fear/panic made me feel like I was in her position even though I was sitting on my couch under a blanket. I actually had to stop reading because I had to get my breathing under control. I could have done without the school drama that the book switched over to as soon as the drowning portion was over. It was all very "she said this" and "she'll never have any friends or a boyfriend". Although it was a bit annoying, I can understand why the author focused so heavily on this during the course of the book because it helped the reader to understand the intricacies of the relationships. It would be difficult to comprehend where Becca is coming from with regards to Natasha unless the reader is able to know why their friendship ended and what happened afterwards. My impatience proved to be my downfall while I was reading this book. I thought that I had everything figured out by the time that I got to page 50 which made me want the author to hurry the writing along so that I could know for sure. I should have known better than to think that the author would have given everything away that quickly and easily. There are many twists and turns during the course of this book that will leave your head spinning. I shouldn't have doubted the author because she crafted quite the tangled web. I loved how the book ended. It wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. It was a darker plot than I thought and I enjoyed the twists and turns involved. When everything was explained, it all made so much sense and made me love the book so much more!

We All Fall Down by Natalie D. Richards

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Theo's always been impulsive. But telling Paige how he feels? He's obsessed over that decision. And it's time. Tonight. At the party on the riverbank, under the old walking bridge, site of so many tales of love and death.
Paige has had a crush on Theo since they first met, but she knows her feelings are one-sided. She's trying to move on, to flirt. A party at the river is just what she needs. Except a fight breaks out, and when Paige tries to intervene—Theo's fist lands in her face.
All Theo and Paige want to do is forget that fateful night. But strange events keep drawing them back to the bridge. Someone, something is determined to make them remember...and pay for what they each did.

^{I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review}

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I had only briefly read over the synopsis and had not looked into anything else about the book or about the author. In a way, I went into this book blind and I think that it helped me to enjoy it even more. I was able to appreciate the seamless way that the author was able to incorporate paranormal/horror elements because I didn't know that it would incorporate them. It felt realistic despite these elements which I believe made it more enjoyable than other books that have tried to accomplish this.  

This book was a creepy thrill ride for sure! I found myself second guessing what was real and was made up in the characters heads much like the main characters in the story.  Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down nor did I want to! I was immediately drawn into the book by the interesting, flawed main characters who had serious issues with no idea how to cope with them. Theo was impulsive and acted without thinking of the consequences of his actions and Paige had crippling anxiety that she attempted to block out and avoid. The tension throughout the book was palpable between these two characters and felt for each of them as the book progressed. I had no idea what was going to happen throughout the book and the author surprised me on numerous occasions throughout the book.

The book was not perfect but it was easy to overlook certain details due to the amount of enjoyment I received from reading it. I would have liked to have been able to understand how the conclusion was reached about the someone/something that is trying to make the main characters relive the night that everything went sideways. I felt like I needed more of an explanation in order to understand what was happening. Everyone in the book just seemed to accept the answer that was given without questioning it even though I didn't feel like all the characters had a full understanding of the issue.

The Sweetness of Life by Kathryn Andrews

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Shelby Leigh
I love food. I love everything about it.
My dream has always been to land a job with the Food Network channel, and I’ve spent years as a food critic, blogger, and chef, tasting my way across the South to develop recipes that are a twist on the classics and uniquely my own. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes calling, I’m shocked to discover I’ve been paired with him, the worst blind date ever—bless his heart, and I’m determined not to let anyone get in my way. So, I buckle my designer heels, tighten my apron, and vow to myself there’s nothing in his playbook that’s going to stop me from tasting success.

Zach Wolff
I love wine. It is my life.
What I hate are critics. I hate everything about their dream-killing souls and elitist attitudes. So, when she shows up in the tasting room of my winery in northern Georgia, the devil in disguise wearing a pair of long legs and beautiful hazel eyes, I know just the plan to make and how to use her to get what I want. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, because in the end, I will win. I always do.

Two weeks. His wine. Her recipes. A feature article in a special issue of a world-renowned magazine. Pairing wine with food is one thing, but two hearts is another.
 
GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35694288-the-sweetness-of-life
 
Check out the Southern food-related website created for The Sweetness of Life: http://www.starvingforsouthern.com  

*Arc generously provided in exchange for an honest review*

I didn't know much about wine going into this book so it was interesting to learn about the process of making it, etc. through Zach. I did find that it got to be a bit much at times. I found myself being buried under wine facts and figures when I wanted to know more about other things related to the story. I would have liked to have learned more about Shelby and what made her so passionate about having a Food Network show.

Although, this book doesn't break new ground in the contemporary romance genre, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying the story and characters.

The pacing of the book was good although there were times where it felt a bit drawn out. I believe that this may have been because of some of the back and forth between the characters wherein it felt like they were going around in circles. It may have made the book appear to be drawn out at certain points while the pacing remained the same. 

I'm not sure that I cared for the process of how the conflict was resolved by the end of the book. There were points made by secondary characters that I didn't agree with which irked me but I can see where the author was going with the dialogue and why she made certain choices with the direction of the book.

AUTHOR BIO

Kathryn Andrews loves stories that end with a happily ever after. She started writing at age seven and never stopped. Kathryn is an Amazon Bestseller for her much loved Hale Brothers Series and is a Chic-lit, Contemporary Romance, and New Adult writer.

Kathryn graduated from the University of South Florida with degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and currently lives in Tampa, Florida. She spends her days as a sales director for a medical device company and her nights lost in her love of fictional characters.

When Kathryn is not crafting beautiful worlds that incorporate some of her most favorite real life places, she can be found hanging out with her husband and two young sons, while drinking iced coffee and enjoying the sun.


AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://www.kandrewsauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kandrewsauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1089633184392037/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kandrewsauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandrewsauthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kandrewsauthor/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2wwOEt8

 PURCHASE LINKS

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Free in Kindle Unlimited
 

Things I'm Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Tess Fowler has just dropped out of high school. She can barely function after learning of Jonah’s death. Jonah, the boy she’d traded banter with over texts and heartfelt e-mails.

Jonah, the first boy she'd told she loved and the first boy to say it back.

Jonah, the boy whose suicide she never saw coming.

Tess continues to write to Jonah, as a way of processing her grief and confusion. But for now she finds solace in perhaps the unlikeliest of ways: by helping her father with his new alternative funeral business, where his biggest client is . . . a prized racehorse?

As Tess’s involvement in her father’s business grows, both find comfort in the clients they serve and in each other. But love, loss, and life are so much more complicated than Tess ever thought. Especially after she receives a message that turns her life upside down.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review* 

I'm not sure about the way that the book began. It seemed fragmented to me because things weren't making as much sense as I would have liked. As the book continued things began coming together to form a complete picture. I enjoyed the unique voice of the main character Tess. She had a voice all her own and I liked hearing what she had to say. She proved to be a fairly realistic teenage character with the author achieving a balance between immaturity and wisdom beyond her years. I feel like the story lacked detail at times. I didn't feel like I fully understood why characters felt or acted in certain ways. I really liked how the author explored the funeral business and Tess's Father's unique take on celebrating the lives of those that have passed on. It made the book entertaining and allowed me to think about the reasoning behind funerals.
I appreciated the author's take on grieving the death of someone who committed suicide. The grieving process is slightly different in cases like this and the author communicates this very well in my opinion. He makes sure that readers understand that there are mixture of emotions associated with this mostly confusion. I appreciated the way that the book focuses on a need for answers as to why Jonah would take his own life and how it affects everyone that he leaves behind.

Carry Me Home by Jessica Therrien

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Lucy and Ruth are country girls from a broken home. When they move to the city with their mother, leaving behind their family ranch and dead-beat father, Lucy unravels.

They run to their grandparents’ place, a trailer park mobile home in the barrio of San Jose. Lucy’s barrio friends have changed since her last visit. They’ve joined a gang called VC. They teach her to fight, to shank, to beat a person unconscious and play with guns. When things get too heavy, and lives are at stake, the three girls head for LA seeking a better life.

But trouble always follows Lucy. She befriends the wrong people, members of another gang, and every bad choice she makes drags the family into her dangerous world.

Told from three points of view, the story follows Lucy down the rabbit hole, along with her mother and sister as they sacrifice dreams and happiness, friendships and futures. Love is waiting for all of them in LA, but pursuing a life without Lucy could mean losing her forever.

Ultimately it’s their bond with each other that holds them together, in a true test of love, loss and survival.

*I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I appreciated the subject matter that the book deals with because there are not very many books that discuss gangs. I thought that it was interesting to see the progression of indoctrination into a gang through Lucy. I would have liked to have seen to book focus more on the gang aspect rather than dealing with many other issues. I felt like the author took on too much by adding so many other things to the story. This also may have hurt the pacing of the book because it was a bit slow but with a few tense filled scenes in the first half and then the pacing picks up in the second half making it difficult to process everything going on.

I found it hard to connect with the book which made it difficult to read. I'm not sure if this is because the things that Lucy deals with are hard to read about or if I found it hard to connect with the story and characters as a whole. I think that it may have been a bit of both. I feel that the things that Lucy deals with are at times glanced over rather than spoken about with emotional depth. It seems almost as if the author is saying that things affected the character but when I was reading it, I wasn't feeling that she was as affected as was stated. 

I found it hard to fully connect with the characters due to this and traits that the characters possessed. I wanted the mother to be to be strong enough to stand on her own two feet instead of being helpless and leaning on everyone around her. I found it hard to understand Lucy and why she went down certain paths in the book. I found myself becoming angry at her towards the beginning of the book and by the time I finished reading I was glad that I didn't have to live in her head anymore. She was such a frustrating character who seemed gullible and ignorant. Ruth was the only character that I can say that I liked. I related to her in quite a few ways which in turn helped me to sympathize with what she was forced to deal with.




 

Devil by Ker Dukey

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Evi Devil.

Yes, that’s really my name.
The irony is not lost on me.

I was created from two evil souls and have the name to prove it.
Devil worshipers, perverts, murderer. Is all terms used to describe the parents I refuse to remember. My mind won’t allow me to.

And why would I want to?
One born of dirty blood running through her veins can never truly be clean from its murky hue.
No matter what they try to tell me happened in my past, my mind denies me access, therefore how can I know it’s true?

How can I believe that’s what I’m born from?
Glimpses of my past haunt me, the screams of terror echo in the silent darkness of my memories, trying to remind me that my Mother went from room to room butchering our family.

I’ve learned from scars that I suffered abuse and that my Father and siblings weren’t my Mother’s only victims.
Hearing what they tell me.
Reading the words printed in the papers. None of it can prepare me for what’s to come.
My biggest lesson is learning that some memories we suppress for a reason.

Warning: This book is incredibly dark, twisted, and has many triggers due to sensitive subject matter. If you have read Ker Dukey's books before then you can probably disregard this. 

 From the moment that the book begins, it is clear that Evi has suppressed memories that she is attempting to recover in order to feel whole. Ker Dukey does an excellent job of conveying Evi's mindset and helping the reader to see that Evi's point of view should not always be trusted. It is clear that she has been through things that have distorted her view. 

I thought that Evi's head was an interesting place to be and could not believe all of the events that had taken place in her life at such a young age. There were moments in the book that turned my stomach and made me want to punch something. I found her to be pretty well adjusted during the course of the book considering the hand that she had been dealt. 

There were a few twists and turns thrown in by the author that I did not see coming at all. I thought that they were well executed and when I look back I can see where Ker Dukey had lain the groundwork for them. I have to say that that ending was twisted! I think that I am still trying to digest everything because I am in shock. I think that I am attempting to justify the actions of characters in the book and that is just wrong. Let's just say that if you are looking for a DARK book then this is the book for you. In my opinion, this is Ker Dukey's darkest book thus far.