ARC Review: Darker Days by Jus Accardo

 

Title: Darker Days (The Darker Agency, #1)

Author: Jus Accardo

Publisher/Publication Date:  Entangled Publishing, August 26, 2013

Format/Source:  E-ARC, Publisher 

 

Summary

     Jessie Darker goes to high school during the day, but at night she helps with the family investigation business. Cheating husbands and stolen inheritances? They’re your girls—but their specialty is a bit darker. Zombie in your garage? Pesky Poltergeist living in your pool? They’ll have the problem solved in a magical minute. For a nominal fee, of course...
     When gorgeous new client, Lukas Scott, saunters into the office requesting their help to find a stolen box, it sounds like a simple case—until the truth comes out. The box is full of Sin.
     Seven deadly ones, in fact.
     They’ve got five days to recapture the Sins before they're recalled by the box, taking seven hijacked human bodies with them. Easy peasy—except for one thing...
     There’s a spell that will allow the Sins to remain free, causing chaos forever. When the key ingredient threatens the life of someone she knows, Jessie must make the ultimate choice between love and family—or lose everything.  

My Thoughts 

     Darker Days by Jus Accardo started out as a lighthearted paranormal book. At first I thought that the storyline was amazing. I liked the bits of humor spread throughout the story as the Darkers investigated unusual paranormal events. The writing style and pacing were good. Jessie’s investigative skills were a little messy yet entertaining. And some of the characters were just priceless, especially Mr. Winkie who showed up at the most inopportune times. At times there was crude language, but that wasn’t the bad part. My major issue with Darker Days was one of the key players, Vida better known as Lust. The events surrounding this character were cringe worthy and I had a difficult time discerning the target audience. There was an instance in the book in which one of the characters didn’t want to tell when she found herself in a bad situation. So, I started to question whether this sends the wrong message to teens/young adults. Yes, I understand that the seven sins had a hold on some of the townspeople, but there are just certain behaviors/situations that deserve consequences/corrective actions, even in fiction. And I totally get that young adult books of today try to capture the harsh reality of life, but there are just some things that shouldn’t be broached in books for teens.

     I read until I reached the beginning of page 173 before I decided to call it quits. Overall, Darker Days has a promising premise that can be transformed into an amazing story with some changes.

 

I received an ARC of Darker Days from the publisher for an honest review, thank you.

Review: Shelter (A Mickey Bolitar Novel) by Harlan Coben

Title:  Shelter (A Mickey Bolitar Novel)

Author:  Harlan Coben

Publisher/Publication Date:  Speak, August 21, 2012

Format/Source:  Paperback, Purchased

Goodreads Summary

The stunning young adult debut from international bestseller Harlan Coben is now in paperback!

Mickey Bolitar's year can't get much worse. After witnessing his father's death and sending his mom to rehab, he's forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools. Fortunately, he's met a great girl, Ashley, and it seems like things might finally be improving. But then Ashley vanishes. Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that Ashley isn't who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey's father. Soon Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew. Read More

My Thoughts

Okay so I got bamboozled into buying Shelter by Harlan Coben after reading the sample chapters online. Some of the content was just so inappropriate that my jaw dropped and I can’t even pick my lip up off the floor. For a YA book, the scene at the "Plan B Go-Go Lounge" in which a teen was admitted with a fake identification was just preposterous. Do I need to say anymore? I can’t believe I had to DNF two books in one weekend. My only advice is to consider the target audience…..

 

ARC Review: The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick

Title:The Time Fetch (Click title for Synopsis)
Source/Format: won, bound ARC
Age Range: Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, August 27, 2013



My Thoughts


     When I first read what The Time Fetch was about I was pretty ecstatic to read it.  After all, it presented an interesting take on time, and seemed like it would have characters that I would enjoy reading about.  I really wanted to get into this book, but the pacing felt a little slow.  From the summary, I thought it was going to take off running and detail the extraordinary events surrounding the Time Fetch.  But it didn’t.  The Time Fetch went a little too clichéd when it came to the characters, especially Edward.  I didn’t like very much about him from the way he handled Feenix, to even the way he treated his aunt.  For a middle grade book the name calling that seemed to plague Feenix’s POV left me a little baffled.  I get that she gave everyone nicknames, but I found it a little rude with the names that she was calling them.  The part with the Time Fetch didn’t even really happen until farther into the book, and even then I felt like it was a little rushed.  I wished that The Time Fetch would have focused a little more on the, you know, the Time Fetches.  When the Time Fetches finally made an appearance I really got into the story, and I enjoyed those parts more than most of the book.  I think the little Time Fetch bugs and Edwards aunt are what really saved the story for me.  So I'll give it a three. 
 

Excuse us...

Today we're working on updating the blog background and header.  Some things may or may not work during that time.  So, um yeah, that's all I really had to say.

*Update
Ok that went a whole lot quicker than I thought it would.  Well here it is, the new look for Our Thoughts Precisely!  It's not as plain as the old version and I like the fact that it has more color to it.  So tell me, what do you think?

Review: Midnight Frost by Jennifer Estep

Title:Midnight Frost (Click title for Synopsis)
Source/Format: Purchased, Paperback
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: K-Teen, July 30, 2013




My Thoughts:
    
     Jennifer Estep is at it again with another wonderful addition to the Mythos Academy series!  After waiting for some time to get my copy, I was anxious to read it.  While some parts may have been slightly same-old-same-old with a familiar feel to them.  Midnight Frost is easily one of the best books I’ve read all year.  Combined with skillful writing, lovable characters, adorable yet dangerous mythological beasts, Midnight Frost was awesome. 

     Midnight Frost picks up where Crimson Frost left off, with Gwen dealing with the fallout of the events that transpired.  I liked that fact that she was still struggling with what happened, and not suddenly all ok with it just out of the blue.  Her reaction to it was realistic, which made me like her as a main character even more.  On the topic of Gwen, well her friends were great as always.  They were loyal and always had her back when times got rough.  And oh, Logan, why were you so absent?  But when he did finally show up, and when they finally did talk, well, I can’t really say—if you want to know, read the book.

     The plot, wow, it was filled with Reapers who kept showing up everywhere.  I really enjoyed the action scenes, and the descriptions really helped me visualize what was going on and where it was happening.  Secrets that have been surrounding Gwen and her family from book one are finally solved, and I liked the way Estep handled the big reveal.  The writing style was strong as always, which made Midnight Frost an easy book to get into.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait for the next one to come out.  {Actual rating 4.5}