genieinanovel's Reviews (752)

Very cute! Review to come!

Emma is a coder, not a lover. In fact, she feels like math is more reliable than people. Now in her senior year, she’s got her eyes set on getting into Stanford University and along with her co-president, George, taking their coding club to win the states this year. So when her sister inadvertently gives her the idea to make an app for students to find their perfect match. After all, numbers have never failed her before, so why would they now?

For the most part I liked all the characters, and I especially like the growth of friendship between Emma and Jane because I honestly hated Jane in the beginning. Sam was a cutie, though I’m not a fan of how he sorta lead Emma on at first, even after he’d been matched with (and started dating) someone else for the testing part of their app. George had to be my favorite though, as he was so patient with Emma, despite getting frustrated at times. He was right to be though, in my opinion.

There were a lot of great characters and I could go on about each of them, but what I liked the most was the relationship between the coding club members. They were all different and had their own ideas and skills for the club, but also ended up a close-knit group of friends.

The story was one with a predictable outcome, but it was cute and I did enjoy reading it. The pacing was perfect and honestly it got right into the plot. There were a few moments where I was surprised at what was going on, like with the boys’ lacrosse team’s use for the Code For Love app (though honestly, not that surprised after reading it).

So yes, overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it for anyone looking for a cute, quick read that is also an apparent modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma.

[full review on my blog]

Have you ever read a book that makes you take a hard look at your life and how you’re living it? Well, I hadn’t either, until I picked up this one.

Christian Atheist is a book written by pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv and through this book he explains the difference of how a Christian lives and how a Christian Atheist lives. There is quite a difference there. Unfortunately, a lot of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist were and are ones that can apply to me. Some of them I have grown out of while others, well, I’m still working on (worrying and anxiety being the big ones).

So what is a Christian Atheist? Well, Groeschel defines it simply as, “a person who believes in God, but lives as though He doesn’t exist.”

In other words, someone who tells people they’re a Christian, but lives like any other non-Christian in the world.

Yes, I stated above that I was and am guilty of a few of the characteristics of a Christian Atheist. I worry too much, I’m not great at sharing my faith, and sometimes my actions don’t always reflect Jesus (usually when I’m hungry or pressed for time, but that’s no excuse). There’s plenty more where those came from, as Groeschel covers in the book, and some of these I’ve gotten a lot better with, while others need more work. This book made me really look at my life and every area I need to work on in my life to live a life that reflects Jesus, and I needed that.

When Lexi and Ava were younger, they made up an imaginary triplet named Alicia who served as their way out of trouble when they were kids. Now she’s their alter-ego when dating boys they’d never consider dating as their real selves.

Then one of those boys ends up dead.

Then another.

Lexi thinks it’s time to put ‘Alicia’ to rest, but Ava insists that everything will be fine. However, then there is DNA evidence that points to Alicia being the main suspect in the deaths. Now Lexi is put into the center of it all despite not being with either of the boys when they were killed. So it’s either her twin sister who’s killing these boys or… Alicia might be real after all.

I’ve known of The Third Twin or a while, but I finally bought it not too long ago and I can’t believe it took me so long to finally pick it up and read it! It has been a while since I’ve read a good mystery – I literally could not put it down! The story was engaging and I kept trying to come up with my own theories as to what exactly was going on. When everything was revealed at the end, I felt like I should’ve known earlier, but eh… I didn’t. That’s what makes mysteries fun, right?

The twins were pretty stereotypical in terms of fictional twins – one is more outgoing and the other is more reserved and studious. However, Lexi does get out once in while to go on an occasional date as Alicia. I definitely related to Lexi more so than Ava. Though both girls are pretty shallow when it comes to using Alicia as their alter-ego and dating boys that they aren’t serious about, but I suppose their flaws are what makes them believable characters.

Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to the mystery/thriller lovers out there!

This was just as good as McManus's first book, One of Us is Lying! Once again she told the story (through the perspectives of two characters this time) in a suspenseful way that kept me guessing right until the end! Only this time, I didn't figure out who the killer was as early on.

I loved the mystery of trying to connect the missing homecoming queens with Ellery and Ezra's aunt who went missing years ago. Just as well, I loved the setting (I absolutely LOVE Vermont!) and I really think that Ezra and Mia need their own book now. They were just two amazing, outspoken characters that didn't get enough page-time.

Another great YA Mystery/Thriller for anyone who loves the genre!