Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott

Pages: 170

Published: September 8th 2009 by Simon Pulse

Genre: Realistic Contemporary Fiction/ Y.A

Format: Paperback

Date Finished: 20^th February 2012

Synopsis:

The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are.

This is Alice.
She was taken by Ray five years ago.
She thought she knew how her story would end.
She was wrong.

Review/ Thoughts:

I actually forgot that I had purchased this novel until this weekend when I got an invoice telling me it had nearly arrived. Rekindled with interest, I re-read the synopsis and some recommended reviews by both friends and random reviewers and grew really excited to read Living Dead Girl. I haven’t read a dark contemporary read in such a long time I was worried that the subject matter [that hit close to home] would leave me feeling to tormented to read, but in fact it had the opposite affect and I could not stop reading it. The proof- I finished it in a few hours.

This book was amazing. Just pure sickness and turmoil that had my stomach in knots and tears swelling in my eyes and yet I could feel all of Alice’s pain, being subjected to abuse firsthand myself and as a sideliner. In fact I don’t know one person in my family who was not abused. Alice’s story felt so real and raw and ugly and yet powerful and heart wrenching. It is very rare that I read a book and think – fuck I want to just devour every dark piece of fiction I can. Because the honest truth is it is hard to find fiction now days that cuts deep into the marrow and severs every nerve, leaving you feeling gutted and yet emancipated.

This happens, you hear about kidnapping everyday but you do not get to read about what is like during. There are variants of the same hideous story. Some survive and others don’t. Some watch silently when they know and can hear everything while others cannot see. It saddens me that someone could cause Ray to do these things and I actually did feel some semblance of emotion towards him which scares the fuck out of me. I think it’s because we do see Alice’s side of her truth and her story but looking deeper into the novel you can see where history repeats itself and that adds another level to it.

Thank you Elizabeth, this is stunning fiction at its best. I recommend it to everyone no matter what your preference this is a story that needs to be read. I hate the suffering, it eats me inside but people need to wake up and do something and so many people do nothing and watch, too scared to get involved until some poor child’s life gets stripped apart from the inside until they are nothing but bones and ashes. Only then does it peak some people’s interest. Living Dead Girl is disgusting, disturbing but so wonderfully written. Get your hands on it now and if you own it, read it NOW.

★★★★★

Publishing Spotlight - Carina Press

Carina Press

Recently I have been looking into reading outside the normal publishers, as well as getting into some Adult fiction. So upon thinking about it I considered what would be the best way to share this experience while offering others who may have not heard either about the publishing company itself or the books that are available.

This month I would like to spotlight Carina Press who have been kind enough to send me the following 2012 releases. I also thought to add a few books which are definitely on my wish list to read and review.

Carina Press is a fantastic company that has a wonderful array of themes and genres to suit every niche; from Sci-Fiction, Action, Cozy Mysteries to Steam-Punk, Dragons, Westerns and Space Opera’s. Not only are there many options to choose from but there prices are fantastic and most range from $3-$7 dollars. [Bargain] I must warn you, there are some seriously exciting titles available and it is a lot of fun shopping.

Carina Press publish Adult content only. No Y.A Literature. So if you are looking to branch beyond Y.A and are a keen Ebook reader than I most definitely recommend checking out their website.

Carina Press

Via Net-Galley I was blessed to receive the following two books for review: [Links are below]

Priestess of the Nile – Veronica Scott

The Best Mistake- Kate Watterson

I will be reading and reviewing both of these books in February so keep a look out for those reviews.

Two books that are high on my wish list to read and review are:

The Stubborn Dead - Natasha Hoar

Debut novelist in 2012 Natasha Hoar with her [January 23rd] release of The Stubborn Dead has me excited with the premise. After reading a number of fantastic reviews and circling it many times in one of my favorite romance magazines I am super keen to read this book.

Don't Bite the Messenger- Regan Summers

Also a Debut author in 2012 Regan Summers release of Don’t bite the messenger [January 16^th] release has me intrigued with her Vampire world and I am excited to get my hands on this one as soon as possible.

So go check out the website and have fun browsing and let me know your experience. I will be sharing mine.

Carina Press is a digital-first imprint from Harlequin.

Fracture - Megan Miranda

Pages: 264

Published: (first published January 5th 2012) Bloomsbury

Genre: Y.A/ Contemporary

Date Finished: January 18^th 2012

Synopsis:

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine

—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

Review:

I didn’t read a lot about this book before I pre-ordered it. But something about the premise and the cover caught my attention, but after hearing nothing but good things about it, it seemed like fate to me that the day I was having a reading rut this book should turn up and have me completely hooked from the get go.

For anyone who has even drowned or been close to death you know that awful sensation when you feel the life escaping you and there is nothing you can do about it, despite the struggle. The first few pages of his book left me breathless to the point I was squirming and yet so wonderfully captivated. And these sensations didn’t leave me all through the novel. Now let me tell you it takes a lot to truly make my scared, but there were parts of this novel that really had an effect on me and I swear I saw shadows.

Fracture it primarily about Delaney and her experiences after waking up from a coma, but it is also about her friends and family and the effect her personality and behavior has on them and I just devoured it, even Troy who for the most part of the novel freaking the shit out me, really had some elements of his personality that I could understand and connect with.

There were some cliché moments in Fracture, but really what book nowadays doesn’t have a little element of cheesy goodness. It wasn’t so much as a problem, but it did stick in my mind at times. But Fracture honestly for me is a unique and fantastic novel. It is everything I look for in a novel; fast paced, character progression, intrigue, the element of surprise and not predictability and an intense storyline that makes you feel so many emotions, and I cried- yes I cried near the ending and it made me love this book even more.

I would recommend this to anyone of any age. It is my first Debut novel of this year and I will be keeping my eye out for more books by Megan Miranda in the future.

★★★★★