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Showing posts with label Lauren Strasnick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lauren Strasnick. Show all posts

Friday, May 25, 2012

Fantastic Five: Upcoming Contemporary Titles

Fantastic Five is a new-ish feature at The Hiding Spot! These posts will always feature five of something - whether it be forthcoming novels, favorite authors, books with a common theme, or newly released covers. Whatever the topic, there will always be five items featured and they will always be fantastic!
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Blink Once by Cylin Busby 
Bloomsbury/11.4.2012 
West is a high school senior who has everything going for him until an accident leaves him paralyzed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, slipping in and out of consciousness, West is terrified and alone. Until he meets Olivia. She’s the girl next door—sort of. A patient in the room next to his, only Olivia can tell what West is thinking, and only Olivia seems to know that the terrible dreams he’s been having are not just a result of his medication. Yet as West comes to rely on Olivia—to love her, even—certain questions pull at him: Why has Olivia been in the hospital for so long? And what does it mean that she is at the center of his nightmares? But the biggest question of all comes when West begins to recover and learns that the mysterious girl he’s fallen in love with has a secret he could never have seen coming.
Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick
Simon Pulse/1.8.13
Two years ago, Adrienne’s best friend, Dakota, walked out of her life. One week ago, she left Adrienne a desperate, muffled voicemail. Adrienne never called back. 
Now Dakota is missing, and all that remains is a string of broken hearts, a flurry of rumors, and a suicide note. 
Adrienne can’t stop obsessing over what might have happened if she’d answered Dakota’s call. And she’s growing more convinced each day that Dakota is still alive. 
Maybe finding and saving Dakota is the only way Adrienne can save herself. Or maybe it’s too late for them both.

The Almost Truth by Eileen Cook
Simon Pulse/12.4.12

Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.


But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.


With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose....

Small Damages by Beth Kephart
Philomel/7.19.12

It’s senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she is mourning the loss of her father. She finds solace in the one person she trusts, her boyfriend, and she soon finds herself pregnant. Kenzie’s boyfriend and mother do not understand her determination to keep the baby. She is sent to southern Spain for the summer, where she will live out her pregnancy as a cook’s assistant on a bull ranch, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple. 


Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. She begins to open her eyes and her heart to the beauty that is all around her and inside of her.


Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Sourcebooks Fire/10.1.12

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.


Now Parker wants a new life.


So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?


But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?



Saturday, September 18, 2010

Review: Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick


Title: Her and Me and You
Author: Lauren Strasnick
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub. Date: 10.5.2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Twins, Love, Friendship, Manipulation, Lies, Eating Disorders
Pages: 224
Description (from GoodReads):
First love, broken friendships, and heartache all play a part in this evocative, voice-driven novel about Alex, a girl whose world is ripped apart when her father’s affair splits her family in two.

Alex moves with her mess of a mother to a new town, where she is befriended by hot, enigmatic Fred—and alternately flirted with and cold-shouldered by Fred’s twin sister, Adina. Others warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, whose sibling relationship is considered abnormal at best, but there’s just something about Fred—and something about Adina—that draws Alex to them and makes her want to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences.

An intense, fast-paced read, Lauren Strasnick pulled me into the twisted, passionate world of Alex, Fred, and Adina. I finished the novel in just over an hour, but the story continued to ricochet through my mind even after the last page was turned.

Alex is the main character, but it's Adina and Fred, and their interesting relationship, that steal the spotlight. Fred is immediately likeable and it wasn't difficult to imagine why Alex would fall him, even as she's being warned against him... and his sister.

It's Adina, however, that gave the novel an almost sinister feel. Right from the beginning, the reader can tell there's something not right with Adina. She's possessive of Fred, manipulative of everyone, and her fragility makes her easy to underestimate. As I read, I couldn't help but be a bit impressed by her deft manipulation of Alex and Fred. The lengths she was willing to go to achieve her goal was terrifying, but I found it hard to look away.

The novel is comprised of more than just Adina and her games. Alex and Fred's relationship unfolds slowly, tenderly. The two are comfortable, yet hesitant and I found myself hoping they'd break free of Adina's control, despite how interesting I found her intrusions and designs.

Strasnick has succeeded in writing a gripping novel populated with compelling characters that will leave you wondering where the last two hours have gone.

Grade: A

 Review copy provided by Good Golly Miss Holly Tours.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Cover of the Week (6)


Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick
Simon Pulse/10.5.2010
GoodReads Description:
A lyrical, gut-wrenching novel about first love, broken friendships, twins, and heartache.

I want a full description of HER AND ME AND YOU so badly, but in ways, this short description is perfect for this feature. After all, it is the gorgeous cover art that drew me in, not the description. I don't know how the cover relates to the novel, but it reminds me of winters growing up in northern Michigan. Simply put, it makes me smile and causes a rush of warm, fuzzy feelings, and if a cover can make me feel that way, the book is definitely worth a closer look!