The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan | Rating: ★★★★★

Many ways to fly, but only one way to fall.

As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

How can I describe the feeling of reading The Gracekeepers without spoiling everything? It’s utterly impossible. I loved this novel so much more than I could have possibly imagined and I can honestly say it’s one of my favorite releases this year. It came to me during a very dark period this spring, at a time when my grandfather was nearing his death and I needed a distraction, and it soothed me wonderfully.

The Gracekeepers is smart and moving, vivid, engaging to the highest degree, and poetic in a way that is sorely lacking in fiction. It has many layers to it and is overall a delight to read. I truly feel privileged.

Kirsty Logan’s prose is comparable to Margaret Atwood, as I’m sure you’ve heard, and it’s a title well deserving. She has a gift of creating a world that is unlike any other and gracefully navigates through it all. I am trying not to spoil all of it, because reading it is something you have to experience on your own.

Only in Your Dreams (GG #9) created by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

Summer is here and things are heating up for our recent high school graduates in the ninth book of the pop culture phenomenon that is Gossip Girl. Sadly, Only In Your Dreams is the first of the series to be written by a ghost writer instead of Cecily von Ziegesar and it definitely shows.

But the ghost writer does capture Cecily’s series in a way the mimics her style perfectly. While it isn’t the best of the series, it is still juicy and stylish in the way that only Gossip Girl can be.

Everyone’s favorite Upper East Siders are nearing adulthood and have vowed to make this summer their best yet. Serena’s begun production as the lead in Breakfast at Fred’s, only to find out acting isn’t quite as easy as she thought. Her only saving grace is her looks and her ridiculously adorable and sweet costar, whom she definitely develops a crush on.

But is this something she can pursue? Or is he just not that into her?

And then there’s Vanessa who, after getting booted from her apartment by her older sister Ruby’s return, finds herself temporarily homeless.

Luckily for her, with Serena’s help, she is able to land a job on the movie set. And she moves in with the Humphrey’s. Rufus is surprisingly cool about it and soon she finds herself staying in Jenny’s old room. It’s a cozy little set up and things look up for our favorite edgy, badass, bald, budding filmmaker.

If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie | Rating: ★★☆☆☆

As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

If I Fall, If I Die showed promise in its summary and by reading just a sample of it we can see that the authors prose is lovely and shows potential. But somehow, it just isn’t enough much of the time. It doesn't flow quite right and it's neither engaging in a solid or shallow sort of way. If I’m being honest I couldn’t believe how slow it was. I had to put it down multiple times and pick it back up to skim through it which was generally disappointing.

It had the unfortunate ability to drag on and on and on. That's my first thought we thinking back to every chapter, it felt like it was never going to go anywhere or even end.

While it didn’t leave the most lasting impression on me, I must admit that there were some portions of the book that I just had to highlight quotes and passages–when it gets into its groove, boy does it go.

Described as a coming of age drama and mystery by Michael Christie, the story follows a boy named Will who has been pretty isolated through the years by his mother who suffers from agoraphobia. Christie manages to portray this illness truthfully and it’s his biggest success within this story.

The Shore by Sara Taylor | Rating: ★★★☆☆

As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

Sara Taylor’s novel The Shore is described as something unique and engaging, featuring shifts in narration and the timeline. While it was an entertaining novel, the flip flopping between it all became a bit too frustrating for me and took away from the novels overall rating – a good chunk of the stories featured in it were wonderful due to Taylor’s writing style but there were a lot of moments where I had to pause and refocus my attention on the novel.

That’s the bad news: it’s not always the easiest to follow and some parts lack something. I can’t explain what, really, but there were moments that just weren’t engaging in the least. It was disappointing to see the way timelines went in and out of with each other that it took me ages to know what was really going on.

Moving through different point of views is always, always a difficult task and The Shore is very frustrating on that front. I couldn’t keep up most of the time because it was all over the place and I think that it could have been situated a little better than it was. It tries time and time again but as the story progresses, it just trips over itself and doesn't click well.

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★

"I understood we used to be close. But they were like books I'd read two summer ago; I knew I'd liked them, but I couldn't tell you now what they'd been about."

In true Sara Shepard fashion The Lying Game is filled with style, wit and mystery to the highest degree. All made simple in its fast pace and entertaining tone. Armed with her easy-to-read and suspenseful style, Shepard glides through the first installment of her under appreciated series smartly and leaves readers with a heavy, dark and vivid image of what is yet to come.

Much like Pretty Little Liars, the series starts with a spooky and mysterious tone: death and possible betrayal is at a high. Sara Shepard will fuck with your mind and pull the rug out from under you every time you think you've got it solved. For The Lying Games, our narration is split into twos: Emma’s thoughts in life and Sutton’s in the afterlife. It’s a refreshing twist to her writing and Sara covers ground pretty well with both girls thoughts.

Emma Paxton is a kind, intelligent, sarcastic and down-on-her-luck teenager who is fast approaching her eighteenth birthday. Ever since her mother, Becky, left her to fend for herself at the age of five she has bounced back and forth between foster homes.

The Good Girls (The Perfections #2) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★

"I mean, that's where you're going with this, aren't you? Just because we rattled off some names doesn't mean we have any control over them dying or going missing or whatever."

What are my thoughts on The Good Girls? Good question. Okay, okay. Hang on. Let me catch my breath in time for this one because let’s be honest here: Sara Shepard threw me on my ass with her plot twists in the sequel to The Perfectionists. This isn’t the first time she’s done this but in this novels case… it was mind blowing. I was so shocked; my jaw hit the fucking floor.

I’m going to urge anyone who hasn’t read the conclusion of this novel to not read on when it comes to this review, because–HELLO!–spoilers.

You know those books where you think you have everything figured out? Or at least an inkling of where the plot will go, when the big reveal will come? This is absolutely one of them–I’m still in complete shock over who the killer was. I feel as though I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me.

It’s true that Sara is the master of suspense, of manipulating our emotions, of giving us a false sense of comfort only to tear it away. So I think it’s safe to say that everyone was expecting a twist of epic proportions, but I am surprised. Delightfully so.

Nothing Can Keep Us Together (GG #8) by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

After the not-so-shocking dramatic end to Nobody Does It Better, Gossip Girl heats up as high school graduation approaches, their futures now closer than ever, new and old romances ignite, long standing friendships fall apart and Jenny looks into various boarding school options.

And word on the street is that a certain filmmaker is looking to remake Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Any guesses as to who is one of the many, beautiful, hopeful young actresses? Breakfast at Fred’s seems to be generating a ton of buzz and this serves as a central plot point along with graduation.

With Nate and Serena as a couple, Blair decides to take her life into her own hands and start fresh. Yale has accepted her and she finally feels as though she’s gotten back into her groove; although it’s clear that she feels the sting of Nate and Serena’s newfound couple status.

Nobody likes to see their two best friends date, especially when one of those best friends is the love of her life. But luckily for B, Nate is just as devastated by this turn of events as she is. He so clearly misses Blair. Surprisingly, the same could be said for Serena. In fact, their so-called romance is built more on the point that both want to prove to Blair that their surprise hookup in the last book was more than just a hookup between two friends.

The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★☆

It’s no secret that I am a massive fan of Sara Shepard and have been for years. Devouring The Lying Game and Pretty Little Liars series has been a bit of an addiction for me since my teens; so it’s no surprise how thrilled I was when I heard about The Perfectionists, Sara’s latest dive into young adult suspense and glamour.

Not only is the cover gorgeous, the plot shows promise in the same way that all her books do. Although Sara’s writing isn’t the best in all the land, she makes reading fun and each story oozes scandal, luxury, death and mystery. It’s easy to see why her work is adapted frequently and why she dominates her portion of the genre.

Sara’s mind is filled with ideas, this much we know. She just knows what she’s doing to make readers crawl back. But while The Perfectionists was a fun, thrill filled read that shined bright with dark air and mystery, it wasn’t her best work. I keep noting that some of the characters felt less alive than her previous works.

This isn’t to say that The Perfectionists was boring or a chore to read. It’s fast and fun and very delicious in its own right; it just had moments where you felt very unattached to some of the characters.

Almost like they weren’t quite fleshed out beyond a brief summary of interests and physical appearances. It was odd.

Ava, Caitlin, Mac, Parker and Julie were all entertaining in their own rights and it was easy to get wrap up in their drama, yet more often than not I found myself feeling rather underwhelmed by their plots and characteristics. Mostly, they were forgettable.

Nobody Does It Better (GG #7) by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

Nobody Does It Better is serving up the scandal and luxury Gossip Girl is known for. Things are looking up for our favorite Upper East Siders as graduation nears and their futures become all the more clear. In these teens charmed lives, anything goes and it’s clear that anything can happen in the city that never sleeps.

But even in all their glamorous exploits, decisions have to be made. So what does the future hold for Blair, Serena, Nate, Jenny, Dan, Vanessa, Aaron and Chuck? Where will their lives lead them next? It’s bound to be juicy and Gossip Girl is there to report everything.

Where we left off in You’re the One That I Want: Blair and Nate finally have sex and are stronger than ever–or are they? Blair’s expectations are high and notoriously framed around her favorite films… but is it possible for her to have it all? Or is she destined to become just another society princess in a sea of designer wearing women?

As for her relationship: Gossip Girl’s it-couple has always been up and down. And that is no different in Nobody Does It Better, in spite of the romantic and picture perfect ending to the previous installment.

Unbelievable (PLL #4) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the naughtiest of them all?

Sara Shepard’s bestselling series Pretty Little Liars continues on with its fourth installment: Unbelievable – with more drama and revelations than the last. It should be noted, too, that a good chunk of our questions are finally answered and the identity of the notorious anonymous texter is revealed.

And with every answer, with every turn, the title proves to be a proper fit. As with the last three books from the series, we pick up right where we left off in the residents lives of Rosewood. Now, answers are near the point of being revealed when it comes to discoveries on who killed Alison and who is tormenting the girls anonymously.

Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna have all suffered from the harassment of A and in Unbelievable we can sense that this was only the beginning. A’s little game is far from over. Each girls lives have been changed drastically over the years and the gap between them all has only grown since the death of their clique leader all those years ago and now the wrath of A.

Can they escape this vicious circle? Is it possible?

Hanna is currently in the hospital after finding out the identity of A; who had promptly hit Rosewood’s resident It-Girls with a vehicle to shut her up. Life as Hanna knows it had already been on the rocks, as she lost everything she’d worked so hard for.