3.5 stars. Review to come.

To say I was more than a little excited to have won a copy of What I Thought Was True from Huntley Fitzpatrick would be a major understatement…considering I never win anything…and it was Huntley Fitzpatrick’s next book! So when I got the email stating I won a copy I immediately began watching the mail so that once I had it in my hands, I would be able to crack it open (gently) and start reading the lovely words that Fitzpatrick writes. Once I did, I was unable to put it down and the best way for me to sum up this story is to say that Fitzpatrick brings this story to life by creating real characters and you may know this, but this story shows that things won’t always turn out as planned and people aren't always as you expected.

Gwen Castle comes from a blue collar family that isn't necessarily typical. She lives on an island and is absolutely looking forward to the day when she can leave but in the meantime, she works for her dad at the family restaurant and helps out at home with her special needs brother whenever possible. Gwen’s parents are divorced but they still get along, her cousin and her grandfather both live with Gwen and her mom which keeps things interesting.

Since the island is a beach community, Gwen decides to get a different job for the summer so that she can make some money and hopefully avoid the one person she dreads running into, Cassidy Somers. When Cassidy decides to “slum it” as a yard boy for the island community, Gwen realizes just how impossible that will be.

Cass is swoony and charming – I am just going to put it out there. He has dimples and isn't afraid to say what needs to be said and gives Gwen’s little brother, Emory, swimming lessons. I can’t share everything but here are some glimpses…

“Does this ability to map things mean you never get lost?”
“I get lost,” he said firmly. “Like now, I can’t tell what you’re thinking. About me.”

And this part...

Cass Somers was the virtuoso of kissing, the master, compelling and accepting in equal measure. Like before, he didn't rush immediately into deep kissing just a soft firm pressure, then sliding to kiss my cheek, slipping back, hovering, waiting for me to fall into him.

And I did.



Like Gwen, Cass has things going on in his life that clearly have an impact on him. He was kicked out of school and refused to throw his best friend, Spencer, under the bus even though his parents wanted him to just so he could go back to school. He is currently the black sheep of his family because of what happened and although he isn't happy about it, he isn't jumping to do anything that will change the circumstances.

From the beginning, it is clear something happened between Gwen and Cass since she considers him her “biggest mistake” but you don’t find out what it really is until about 55% in…I only know this because of my status update. Through a lot of miscommunication and other assumptions, both of them come to realize that things aren't always what you think (see how that fits :) ).

This book explores first love – the ups and downs and figuring out what life is really about. Fitzpatrick does this not only through the main characters but also a number of secondary characters which include Gwen’s cousin Nic, her best friend Vivien, and even Mrs. Ellington.

If you are looking for a great story that shows the complexity of real life and gives you some great characters, this should be the next book you pick up. I applaud Huntley Fitzpatrick for creating another great story that will pull you in and not allow you to put the book down until you get to the very end.

Thank you to Huntley Fitzpatrick for the early copy!

Review to come.

3.5 - 4 stars

Captive was a definite departure from the YA world of Nightshade. It is labeled as “The forbidden side of nightshade” and I have to say, it’s not wrong. Captive delivers a great mix of the Nightshade world and provides a bit of background on the Keepers, Searchers and Bosque Mar but throws in a bit of the steamy stuff that pulls it out of the YA genre.

Sarah is a Searcher (descendant of Cian) and the book dives right into her story. There isn't a lot of background provided on her but we quickly find out she is well respected in her world as a Striker. Because of this, she is asked to go on a mission to find out what is hidden behind the walls of a castle in Ireland. I liked Sarah – she is smart and goes after what she wants. At the same time, I found her initial wishy washiness (yes..this is now a word) toward Jeremy a bit annoying. I do wish we had gotten a bit more background on Sarah. She didn't seem as developed as Tristan’s character was and I kind of wanted to know more about her.

Tristan…let’s just say he definitely won me over. He has been put on this island and kept separate from other Keepers by Bosque Mar because of who he is. As a direct descendant of Eira, Bosque Mar has him set to play a very important role in continuing the Keeper line as well as avoid his impact on a potential prophecy. Tristan is resigned to do what is expected of him when we first meet him but as he continues to learn more about Sarah and who she is, he realizes he wants more than what he has been given. I loved the mix of strength and vulnerability he had when interacting with Sarah in the beginning.

Now – there is a definite departure from the YA genre that the other novels stand in. There is sex…lots of it. As a matter of fact, I believe Sarah and Tristan pretty much hook up within 2 days of her being at the castle and are in love within 3 days….yes, in love. To be honest, I didn't really mind it – Everything else in this book went fairly quickly so it wasn't unexpected.

I don’t know that I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the Nightshade series and prequels. The reason being you only get a brief glimpse of who these characters are and their roles in the war. Also, with the mix of the guardians and Bosque Mar, it could be very confusing without the previous knowledge. If you don’t already know the backstory and history of the Eira/Cian story there will be some definite gaps while reading this book. If you have read the series and are comfortable with the steamy stuff, you will enjoy this one.

One last note - There is a bit of a reveal around the scion story as well – I hadn't connected the dots initially as it has been a little while since I read the last book but it makes sense that these stories come full circle and I am curious to see where this goes if it ends up being a series.

Anthem Fleet has grown up in a world of privilege but things are changing. As the daughter of one of the most powerful men in town, she knows she has to be careful but one night she decides to go to a party with her friend Zahara and meets Gavin, the guy who changes her life.

Gavin is a Southsider and the opposite of everything Anthem is/represents. He is a little dangerous and Anthem finds herself adjusting her priorities to be with him. Instead of going to ballet she is meeting Gavin after school and their relationship moves very quickly. Anthem breaks up with Will and starts spending less time with her best friend Zahara and over the span of a few weeks, she is in (insta) love with Gavin.

After spending the night with Gavin at his place, Anthem finds that she and Gavin have been targeted by some syndicate members and Gavin ends up kidnapped. On her way to find help, Anthem finds herself in danger and after falling to what she believes is her death, eventually wakes up in a lab with people she doesn't know. The jogger, Ford, who stopped her on the bridge and scared her, is the one that saved her. During his explanation of what happened, she also learns that her heart stopped and in order to keep her alive, she had to be given a to find she has a chimeric heart and along with the new heart comes some abilities she never had before.

As she comes to, Anthem finds she has been missing for 3 days – days she feels she should have been doing whatever she could to save Gavin. When she goes to her parents and they refuse to help her find him, she decides to do whatever she can on her own and with the help of some people she wasn't expecting, Anthem becomes more than just a teenage girl trying to find the boy she loves. As she goes on this mission to find and save Gavin she finds out more about her city and the syndicate than she originally thought she would. As she comes to lose something she considered valuable, she decides that she will do whatever it takes to bring those who are guilty to justice.

Ford and Serge become her allies. Ford is the guy who inadvertently scares Anthem quite literally to her death and then takes her to a lab to be saved. He is also the guy who teaches her to fight and yes, they eventually come to mean more to each other. Serge is still a bit of a mystery to me. He is the bodyguard/driver for Anthem’s father/family and he recognizes there is something going on with her. He is the one who helps her with information and either protecting her from Will and others or even sometimes herself.

There were some things about this story that I enjoyed and others that I thought were fairly predictable. The way the relationship was developed between Anthem and Gavin went too quickly – they went from meeting once at a party to Anthem giving up her virginity to him about a week later. Probably not a big deal but she seemed to throw everything she valued (ballet) out the door once she met him and it felt a bit forced to me. With that in mind, I see why Kahaney felt it was necessary as the story progressed.

I do also wish we had gotten a bit more background of how things came to be. Kahaney alludes to the fact that things weren't always as bad and with the introduction of The Hope story, we see people at one time believed in something. I would have also liked to have learned more about this sister of Anthem’s. She clearly is an important figure but we only get bits and pieces of her story and the fact that her death was the catalyst to Anthem’s birth.

Overall I enjoyed this story. Due to this new heart Anthem has unexplainable abilities and because of a clear betrayal, she is forever changed. The fact that she uses these abilities to make an impact on the population of the city is interesting to me and I am curious to see what happens next (really not sure – is this a series or not. It appears not but the end definitely left this open.) with Anthem, her family and Ford. This was a quick read and fairly fast paced. If you enjoy a story with a bit of mystery, a bit of action and some interesting characters, you might also enjoy this one.

Review to come!

3.5 stars

Stray by Elissa Sussman was a quick and interesting read. It was different than anything I’ve read lately and I enjoyed that about this book. There were times where I felt the story moved a bit slowly but overall I thought it was done well.

Aislynn is a princess in a world where women are definitely not in charge of what they do and where they go. Being at the mercy of their parents and ultimately their advisors, girls are considered wicked and must do everything they can to protect themselves from the dangers of that wickedness. On top of that, as a royal, Aislynn is watched very closely for any signs of magical episodes which if they do happen, mean she is failing to comply with The Path.

Aislynn struggles with her magic and because of an episode, the night of her Introduction Ball ends up with the wrong outcome. Instead of a proposal of marriage, Aislynn finds herself being redirected as a Fairy Godmother. This means she will say goodbye to all family and friends and be sent away to take care of another girl going through the same things she had recently been going through.

I absolutely felt badly for Aislynn. She had no control over her future and no choice in what she would be doing. When she is sent away to begin her new life as a Fairy Godmother, she immediately meets Thacker, Brigid, and Ford. All of whom make an impact on her. As Aislynn learns more about herself and her new role, she also begins to see that something not quite right is going on. Girls are disappearing across the land and while people are assuming they are going “stray” (running away) she begins to believe otherwise.

As the story moves forward, we learn more about who Thacker, Brigid, and Ford are and they are the ones who end up helping Aislynn when she most needs it. Brigid was a wonderful friend for Aislynn and she helped her when she needed it most. Thacker was an interesting character and although their friendship started out rocky, they both quickly learned to trust each other. Eventually the story comes to a head and we find out the major players in what is going on with the missing people but we don’t find out everything. I would have liked to better understand, outside of the power, what was really motivating these characters.

Overall I found this to be an enjoyable read. It moved quickly and I was always interested to see what was going to happen next for them. I am interested to see where Sussman takes the story in the next book and will definitely check it out when it is released.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for the review copy.

3.5 stars.

I found out about Salt & Storm while at BEA and when someone made mention of a swoony, tattooed, harpoon boy I was onboard. I braved the crowds of the Bookcon event to get a copy of this book and I have to say, I really did enjoy this debut by Kendall Kulper. I have to admit there were some parts of the story that seemed a bit repetitive but other than that little, tiny piece, the overall story and writing flowed well. Kulper blends in historical fact along with some fiction, some solid characters, and witchcraft.

Avery Roe was born and has grown up on Prince Island and it is her family’s responsibility to keep the whale men and their ships safe. As the Roe Witch, Avery’s grandmother is the one the men come to for charms and spells. It is also them the people blame when things go horribly wrong. When Avery was young, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother and all she ever wanted was to grow up to become the Roe Witch for the island.

When Avery was 12, things changed drastically. Avery’s mother came back and she took her away from her grandmother. She also forbade them from seeing each other by threatening to take Avery off the island forever. It also didn’t help that she was a witch and put a curse on Avery that didn’t allow her to even think about going to her grandmother without causing her to blackout. At 16, Avery is desperate to find a way back to her grandmother. Not only to find out how to release her witchcraft, but also because she has had a dream that has foretold her own death/murder. Avery is sure that if she can become the witch, she will be safe because “the Roe witch can’t be murdered.”

I have to say that I thought Kulper did a number of things well here. First, I loved the description of the island. Her writing transported me to this island and it was so descriptive that I could imagine what the docks looked like and the cottage Avery’s grandmother lived in...even the town as Avery walked the comma counterclockwise.

Second, Avery’s relationship with her mother was done well. I could feel the anger that Avery had for her mother for taking her away from everything she knew as well as what she wanted out of life. It was clear her mother had a reason but because we don’t really understand what it is until later in the story, I felt Avery’s anger right alongside her.

At the same time, Avery meets Tane at the docks. He is definitely not from Prince Island and immediately earns Avery’s distrust due to the test he gives her. See, Avery can’t access her magic but she can read dreams and he has made an effort to find Avery so that she can read his. Although he is a harpoon boy on one of the ships, he is also on a mission to get revenge upon the men who murdered the people of his island and especially his family. To do this, he needs Avery to read his dreams to interpret what he needs to do.

Once Avery gets over the anger she has at Tane for what he did at their first meeting, she realizes that he is the answer to getting back to her grandmother. Tane’s people had magic too and they strike a deal. Tane offers to try to do something about the curse if she will interpret the dreams he has documented for the last year (or so) and this is really the beginning of their relationship. As she interprets his dreams and he eventually helps her with his magic, they find themselves drawn to each other. There were a few moments that were pretty swoony…no question.

As the story moves forward, a number of things are revealed – all of which I can’t go into a ton of detail on because I don’t want to ruin anything. We get to find out how a witch accesses her magic. We also find out what really happened to Tane and how much of an impact it had on him (as well as how much his relationship with Avery has changed who he is now). We also get to learn more about Avery’s mother and grandmother as well as the curse that the Roe witches have on them.

As I mentioned earlier, when things go bad, the Roe witch is blamed and eventually…things go bad. Avery is faced with a decision and although she believes she has chosen correctly, she can’t change the future (according to her vision) and when things take a turn, that is when things start to be revealed.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought Kulper did a wonderful job. The characters are developed well and the story pulled me in. I didn’t want to put this one down until I found out all the things and then when I finished it, I wanted more. If you like historical fiction that includes witches and magic, definitely check this one out when you can.

3.5 stars

I hadn't really heard anything about this book prior to seeing it on NetGalley but the summary looked pretty interesting and I love it when I am pleasantly surprised. I will try not to give everything away but be warned if you continue to read.

Lyla lives in Mandrodage Meadows which happens to be a community that was created by a man called Pioneer. We are first introduced to Lyla as she is headed out to target practice and it is clear she would rather be doing anything other than what she is supposed to be doing. Lyla is more of an observer and would prefer to be in the background but because of the situation that Pioneer has presented, each and every member of their community must train to defend their stronghold.

So, this story is very cultish (if that is a word) and it is clear that Pioneer is taking advantage of those who have had something traumatic happen in the “outside” world to get them to join him. He truly believes he is serving a higher power (The Brethren) and his ultimate goal is to save the community from the end of the world which is expected to occur in approximately 3 months. Pioneer has convinced everyone that in order to survive, they will need to lock themselves into the silo that he and Lyla’s father have designed and constructed.

One thing that is clear is that Pioneer is very manipulative of the people in the community. He is the only person who has access to news and television and everyone essentially lets him make all decisions about everything – including discipline. On top of all this, he is the one who paired all the teenagers up at the age of 15 to let them know who their “Intended” would be. In Lyla’s case she was paired with her best friend Will but regardless – neither of them had any say in the matter.



Unexpectedly, the sheriff and his son come by the community to check things out and Lyla and Cody end up spending some time together. This is the catalyst to a number of critical events. Lyla lets Cody know that she will be in town on their last supply run and that they could potentially run into each other and when the run in happens, it creates a whole bunch of issues for Lyla. Eventually things get to the point where Pioneer turns everyone against Lyla and they all make the decision to fight the sheriff. While things escalate, Pioneer’s plans change from keeping everyone alive to him deciding The Brethren would prefer it that everyone “see the light” and die all together.



Overall I enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and I kind of wish we could have had more background on why Pioneer came to be how he was as well as why he was so obsessed with Lyla. Was it just because she fought against him and his beliefs?? Will and Cody are the love interests here and they really appear to be polar opposites. While Cody challenges Lyla to think and go against what she thinks she has known all her life, Will is comfortable and her best friend. It is very obvious that although she loves him, she doesn't love him as much as he loves her. It was a sad revelation Will had and I was glad to see he got over it.

Also, Pioneer’s closing line to her was pretty chilling. I’m sure that if I were Lyla, I would have a hard time sleeping knowing that Pioneer is still around. This was definitely an interesting read and kept me turning the pages to see how it would all end.

Review to come.