The Memory Hit

     Wow. This book. It is odd. It is exciting. It is intense. It is not what I expected it to be. The blurb I got from the publishers said it was about two people, Jess and Cooper and how their lives interact on New Years' Day because of a (fictional) drug called Nostalgex, that lets you relive memories. So I was expecting this drug to basically be all about this Nostalgex drug, and thought it had amazing potential. It wasn't though; BUT that didn't make the book bad, I actually really enjoyed the novel. While I do wish the author, Carla Spradbery, delved more into Nostalgex and the possibilities of it, she still crafted a wonderful suspenseful novel. My only complaints would be that it was a bit short, the ending was rushed, and it was hard at times to remember who's voice you were reading from - they weren't differentiated well.
     Basically, Jess is dating Luke, and was dating Cooper. Cooper's best friend is Jag, his ultimate sidekick. Cooper has a sister, Amy and Luke has a twin sister, Hannah. Then there's best friend Scarlet and the villains Leon and Whiteface.The scene set's up between a fire at Scarlet's house when Scarlet is talking to Luke with a conversation that Jess overhears and misinterprets. Then there's Cooper who has been sent to do a "dash and run" by Jag for alcohol, but find himself knocked out by Leon with a backpack full of Nostalgex and a bunch of money he now owes. The whole crowd collides at the hospital, and the book's adventure goes from there. There are so many questions that the reader has, that it keeps on turning page after page. What happened between Jess and Cooper? What's going on with Luke? How did Cooper end up with the Nostalgex? Who is the mysterious Whiteface?
    The novel takes place over a couple of intense action-packed days and in the last ten percent of the book, tragedy strikes over and over, along with solving the mystery of Whiteface.
     The Memory Hit is a YA thriller for sure, and I recommend it whole-heartily.

If You're Lucky

      This novel doesn't come out until this coming fall, but it's well worth the wait. I devoured this book in less than half a day, and it was way better than I could of ever imagined.
       In the beginning of the novel we learn that the main character, Georgia, has just learned her adventurous brother Lucky has drowned while surfing in Australia. This comes as a shock not only to George, but to their entire small community in California. You see, Lucky was adventurous, but never dangerous - he knew how to be safe by reading the waves and keeping track of the rip tides. So how did Lucky end up drowning, was it a horrible accident like everyone believes, or was someone behind Lucky's death?
      When Lucky's family hosts a party in memory of his life, people from all over the world fly in to celebrate - Lucky made friends really easily and was well loved by everyone. But a guy claiming to be Lucky's best pal, Fin, sticks around after all the other friends leave and seems to charm everyone in the small city. Soon, Fin is everyone, almost taking the life of Lucky - becoming Lucky. George is suspicious - but she also has schizophrenia and hasn't been taking her medications. Is she imagining things as her mental illness spirals out of control, or is she onto something?
      This story beautifully details the descent of schizophrenia - an often taboo subject that isn't often seen in fiction books. The author, Yvonne Prinz, stays away from classic cliche's and really lets the reader get to know the characters in the story - they became my friends, my enemies and I felt empathy and the whole gauntlet of emotions for them as they experienced them. A wonderful tale of loss, love, mental illness and life, I recommend this story for everyone.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

      The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, written by Paige McKenzie and based on the well-known YouTube series, is fast paced, exciting and a great read. We quickly find out in the novel that the main character Sunshine, is forced to move from her hometown in Texas to a small town in Washington. Sunshine tells her mother multiple times that the house they moved into is "creepy," and her mother soon starts to get annoyed. Once an inseparable mother-daughter pair, the two drift apart throughout the novel.
      Sunshine is convinced a ghost lives in the house, particularly a ghost of a little girl. The pressure mounts throughout the novel, as Sunshine befriends a boy in her class who believes her, and things start to get more and more scary. The two soon discover Sunshine is special, very special in the paranormal world, and must past a test to save her mother from certain death. Sunshine is scared out of her wits as she comes to terms with her special powers and seeks revenge on the evil spirit in the house that terrifies the little ghost girl and is taking over her mother.
    Sunshine needs to figure out what's going on, how to abolish the spirit and save her mother in this thrilling novel.

Scream

      The third novel in the Lakeview Series by Stacey Campbell, we now see an older Halle at boarding school. The novel starts off on a ferry ride back to campus, in which Halle's boyfriend wanders off to take a breather and finds himself witnessing a murder. He can't let go of what he sees, as he starts to connect the dots that the school's cook is the murderer. The other school cook, the wife, gets suspicious and frames Alex in order to get him expelled from school. While she is successful in getting Alex kicked off, Halle can't let it go that Alex is gone and starts her own investigation. She blossoms a new friendship with Alex's roommate who she had first blamed, and the two of them work on bringing Alex back. Halle is daring and adventuresome, and lacks some common safety sense, but is relentless in bringing Alex back. After worrying her entire family overseas, they swoop in the nick of time to help keep Halle safe and bring justice to Alex. Another exciting novel from Campbell, I can't wait to read the next, and will be sad when this series is over!
      Sorry for the short review this time around, I have a few books I've yet to review and they're all jumbled in my head right now! Serves me right for not reviewing them right away. There's that whole memory issue going on right now too - yikes.

I Was Here

  

      I Was Here, by Gayle Forman, is a beautiful YA novel about the often taboo subject of suicide. Cody and Meg are inseparable, but when Meg goes off to college and commits suicide, Cody is blindsided and can't come to terms with Meg's death. She sets off on a wild adventure to discover why Meg did this and try and bring justice to Meg's death. Cody discovers that Meg had a whole hidden life in Seattle at school, and even a secret life in their time home town. She finds out about Ben, the boy Meg had sex with; about the cats Pete and Repeat that Meg rescued; and finally about the pro-suicide forums that Meg frequented in the days leading up to her planned death. She tracks down a man Meg talked to often who encouraged her to "catch the bus," aka kill herself. But Meg also discovers herself on this trip, as someone independent from the pod of Cody and Meg, and comes to terms with Meg's death after talking to her second family, Meg's family, about everything she found.
      Forman set me on a roller coaster of an adventure through this novel, I was hooked from page one, lost the strong connection of the book after a bit, and gained it back that led me off smiling as I finished the book. Not only does this novel cover suicide, this novel touches on relationships, religion, family life and ore. This is a fantastic coming of age novel that I encourage anyone to read. It doesn't weigh down on you, yet it keeps a trained focus on the serious topic at hand. It is moving, it is brilliant, it is daring.