Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Manscalco | Book Review

Reading Group: At least 14 years old as it describes murder and dead bodies very explicitly   

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Presented by James Patterson's new children's imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion...

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

Cover: This cover shows Audrey Rose in a way that proves she is a beautiful girl, not someone who would be interested in performing autopsies.  However, she is holding a knife that may indicate that she is skilled in performing autopsies, or it could be Jack the Ripper's murder weapon.  She is overlayed on top of London, which is where this story takes place.

My Review: Last week I needed to go get my fingerprints taken so that I could get my student visa approved before I study abroad next semester.  I was right down the street from Target so I decided to stop in and while I was there I found this book.  There were a lot of things that drew me to this book. One was that the cover is pretty and it made me turn it over and read the synopsis, which sounded very interesting.  Another was that I am studying abroad in London so I thought it was fitting to read a book that takes place there.  Of course, I maybe should have chosen one that didn't discuss a serial killer.  The third was that I knew this post would be up on Halloween and figured this book would be spooky enough to be appropriate.  And finally, one of my favorite Criminal Minds episodes is when they go to Louisianna and discover a Jack the Ripper copycat killer because it's the episode where JJ meets Will and I absolutely love those two!
This book did not disappoint and I will try not to share any spoilers, but that might be hard for me so if you haven't read this book go do so and then come back and we can talk about it in the comments.  Audrey Rose is a young woman who doesn't seem to belong in 19th Century London.  She's too smart and too interested in things that are not deemed proper for girls her age.  What I loved about her was that she knew she was smarter than most people gave her credit for, but she also understood that she was living in a world that didn't fully appreciate her and instead of going full rage against society she uses it to her advantage and lets people be surprised by her.  She also values some things that girls her age would value, like nice dresses.  I loved that she was a character with layers and not just a 'tomboy' or 'girly girl' but a mixture of both.  The whole time I was reading I was thinking that I could write my senior thesis about her.
The relationship dynamic between her and Thomas Cresswell was brilliant to me, which probably surprises none of you.  Thomas was the perfect amount of flirty with Audrey Rose that made you originally question his genuineness, but when it came down to it you knew he truly cared for her.  He was definitely jealous of Blackburn and when he thought Audrey Rose was going to get hurt he immediately admitted how he felt about her.  It was adorable.  But at the same time, you didn't quite know if he was Jack the Ripper or not and every time the book made it seem like it could be him I sent up a silent prayer that it wasn't.
The thing about mystery novels and crime shows like this is that I make a game of trying to guess the culprit before it's told to me.  This book did a very good job of directing and redirecting your attention to who Jack the Ripper could be.  Jack the Ripper was also never found, he simply stopped killing women, which makes this book more interesting because you weren't waiting for a certain name to pop up and it allowed Maniscalco to be creative as to why this person was killing all these women.  And let me just say that the ending is WOW.
I think that's all I can say without giving too much away, but I definitely recommend this book.  It kept you on your toes and dealt with social issues that were alive and true in the 1800s, but also still scene today.

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A Thousand Letters by Staci Hart | Book review

Reading Group: 17 years old+  

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Sometimes your life is split by a single decision. I’ve spent every day of the last seven years regretting mine: he left, and I didn’t follow. A thousand letters went unanswered, my words like petals in the wind, spinning away into nothing, taking me with them. But now he’s back. I barely recognize the man he’s become, but I can still see a glimmer of the boy who asked me to be his forever, the boy I walked away from when I was young and afraid. Maybe if he’d come home under better circumstances, he could speak to me without anger in his voice. Maybe if I’d said yes all those years ago, he’d look at me without the weight of rejection in his eyes. Maybe if things were different, we would have had a chance. One regretted decision sent him away. One painful journey brought him back to me. I only wish I could keep him. *A contemporary romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion*

Cover: This cover seems to have Wade and Elliot on it, and I like it because the action of leaning their foreheads together like that was mentioned more than once in the book.

My Review:  A couple days ago I really wanted to read, I but wasn't in the mood to read any of the four books I have sitting on my desk and I did not think there would be a review this week, so I decided to look through the free books on iTunes.  eBooks are not my favorite, but they are the easiest to read at night because you don't need to keep a light on, which I'm sure my roommate is grateful for.  That's how I found this book, and I really enjoyed it.  I absolutely hated Elliot's family, which I'm sure I was supposed to, and I hope none of you liked them.  But they kind of made me dislike her for a while because she never stood up for herself and people even asked her why she let them treat her that way.  At the same time I kind of understood her side, but it still frustrated me.  Until the end of course when she finally says "Forget you people" and breaks away from them the way she should have done when she was seventeen.  It's a little depressing that when you get older, the main things that get people together are weddings and funerals.  In this case, it was that Rick had a stroke and was dying of cancer.  So Elliot has to deal with her annoying family and the death of her mentor and real father figure, who also happens to be the father of the man she loves and hasn't seen since they broke up seven years ago.  There are so many emotions flowing through this book, and as the reader, you have to ride along with it, but with added frustration, because you get both Elliot and Wade's point of view, making you want to shake the both of them on more than one occasion.  Thank god this book ended happily because I've downloaded a free book before where I liked it all the way through until the end was not what I wanted and ruined the whole thing for me.  But Elliot and Wade figure it out, and although it took such a sad circumstance to get them back into each other lives, they were able to stay together from then on. 

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By Your Side by Kasie West | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+ 

Personal Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis:  An irresistible story from Kasie West that explores the timeless question What do you do when you fall for the person you least expect?

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn at first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

Cover: The cover of this book shows people who are supposed to represent Autumn and Dax.  I like how they're wearing the outfits they're described to be wearing while they were stuck in the library.  There is also a chair, which I think is supposed to be the one Dax often sat in as he read Hamlet in.  There are a ton of books around to represent the actual library, without showing the typical library shelves, something I like because it gets the representation across in a more subtle way. 

My Review: I feel like this book is just what I needed right now.  I'm currently home for Columbus Day Weekend and I wanted to read something fun that would take my mind off of midterms and school.  Honestly, I was surprised that Dax and Autumn being stuck in the library didn't take up a larger amount of the book.  Granted, it took up about a third, but I just assumed it would take up more.  Once they were out of the library, Autumn had to learn how to balance the real world and the bubble of only having Dax around.  I loved how the two of them still hung out in locations that made it seem like it was just them alone in the world; the greenhouse, Autumn's car, the empty park.  Autumn was stuck with conflicting feelings of falling for someone who blatantly says he wants no attachments and someone who everyone is depending on you to heal.  Of course eventually, Autumn follows her heart and chooses the one who makes her feel the most comfortable and safe rather than the one who almost always has her on the verge of a panic attack.  She also eventually tells her friends about her anxiety and ends the story happily.  You guys know by now that happy story endings will always be my favorite.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick, meaningful read because even though it is a young adult novel it does cover topics of mental illness and figuring out what's best for yourself rather than what everyone assumes.     

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I'm 21!

HELLO!  If you're surprised and currently saying to yourself, 'Juliann just posted a blog post that doesn't have to do with a book review; I hope everything is okay.'  Don't worry.  I'm fine.

There are actually two reasons I have decided to write this blog post. The first reason is that I just turned 21 and I wanted to give you guys a little update and set some goals for myself.  The second reason is that I totally had a mental blank this morning.  If you guys follow my Instagram, you may have noticed that every Book Review Tuesday I post a quote from whatever book I am reviewing and then on Thursdays I post a random post of a book cover.  For the Thursday post, I typically take a bunch of photos on one day with my mom's nice camera and then save them on Hootsuite.  I had initially planned to take more pictures this past weekend because I was home for Columbus Day and I totally forgot.  So I have no idea what I am going to do because I only have a couple books here at school and obviously it's harder to find the little "props" or extra things to put in the photo.  The silver lining is that I guess I just found a reason to order new books.

Anyway, now that I'm done with my rant about my forgetfulness let's move on to the fact that I am 21-years-old.  I honestly still feel like I am 17-years-old and I always have to take a second and realize that I am technically an adult in the eyes of the law.  As crazy as it is to be 21, I am super excited for this coming year because it's going to include my family trip to Iceland this November,  my semester abroad, and then the start of my senior year of college.  My mom says you should set goals for yourself for the year on your birthday and because this year is going to be so eventful, I am hoping to accomplish recording and adding to my "1 Second Everyday" app every day for the year.  I did it for a couple weeks over the summer, and it was so fun, so I can only imagine how cool it would be for the year.

Another goal going off of that is to film more.  I bought a GoPro over the summer, and I want to use it and upload the videos to YouTube.  I made one video, but when I went to upload the footage for a second one my laptop said there wasn't enough storage for the film, so I need to figure that out.

I feel like that's my most fun goal.  Everything else is like: figure out if/when to take the LSAT Exam,  get the best grades I can, enjoy the time I have with my friends and family, say yes to new things.  I'm a college student in her junior year (and going into her senior year before I turn 22), I know that there are times when I am going to be stressed, and things are going to come up that make me sad or whatever, but I believe that this coming year is going to be filled with more good moments than bad.

So that's it for now I think.  Here's to a year full of videos and hopefully less forgetfulness, but I guess that's what happens with old age.

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx

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The Wager by Rachel Van Dyken | Book Review

The Wager by Rachel Van Dyken 

Reading Group: Anyone who has read The Bet

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Lose a bet, lose your heart...

What is it about a junior-high crush that can send an otherwise intelligent woman into a tailspin? TV reporter Char Lynn wishes she knew. Jake Titus is too rich, too handsome, too arrogant: a trifecta that once lured Char into the best night-and worst morning-after-of her life. Now they've been thrown together in a wedding party. It's awkward, but survivable . . . until Jake stops acting like a jerk, and starts acting like the man she'd always hoped he could be.

If watching your brother marry your best friend is weird, being attracted to your best friend's other best friend is downright bizarre. Unfortunately for Jake, Char hasn't forgotten how he once tossed her aside. Worse still, Jake's already-nutty grandma is even crazier about Char. Cue meet-cute shenanigans and all manner of meddling, and somehow, Jake's falling. For Char. Now all he has to do is make her believe it . . .

Cover: The cover of this book is similar to the cover of The Bet so it's easy to tell they are a part of a series.

My Review: I still cannot get over how funny these books are.  Grandma Nadine is just always causing trouble and her family is so used to it that the only way they respond is to make some type of joke about it.  Or even when they're not joking, but just so fed up with everything it's still wicked funny how they react.  Honestly, the humor in this series is what makes it so fantastic.  
Again, the storyline is nothing super special but I loved it.  Jake Titus is the rich, bad boy who's afraid of commitment until his middle school crush comes back into his life.  Eventually, he does a complete 180 and becomes someone who only has eyes for Char.  Char has been in love with Jake since she met him when they were seven, but after they slept together and he left before she woke up the next morning, Char writes him off and tries to forget everything about him.  However, when Grandma goes up against Kacey and Travis in a wager whether or not Jake and Char would get together.  Grandma literally has them get married without knowing what was happening.  Obviously, all works out in the end, which is great in my opinion.  If you ask me, read the book for the humor, but stay for the storyline.                

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The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken | Book Review

Reading Group: SM for Slightly Mature

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: "I have a proposition for you." Kacey should have run the minute those words left Seattle millionaire Jake Titus's mouth. It's been years since Kacey's seen her childhood friend Jake, but the minute Jake mentions his ill grandmother, Kacey is ready to do anything for the sweet old woman. And if that means pretending they're engaged for her sake-so be it.

But Kacey wasn't counting on Jake's older brother Travis still being there. She calls him "Satan" for a reason: she's never forgotten the way he teased and taunted her. Yet when they meet again, Travis's gorgeous smile is a direct hit to her heart . . . and Kacey's more confused than ever. As the days pass, only one thing starts to become alarmingly clear-she never should have accepted Jake's deal . . . 

Cover: Okay, I don't really like this cover.  Just in general I'm not a huge fan when people are on the cover of books because I like to make up what they look like in my head and it's hard when there is a model of the characters on the cover.  Also, I don't like when covers scream THE PERSON HOLDING ME IS READING A ROMANCE NOVEL! 

My Review: I'm not going to lie to you guys, as far as storyline goes, this book isn't super original.  However, I still loved it and this book was super funny.  I was smiling to myself throughout the entire thing because the characters are great.  They're people I would want to be friends with if they were real because there would never be a dull moment with them.  
Like I said, the storyline was nothing too knew; Girl pretends to be with one boy as a huge favor, but then falls for the other boy whose actually loved her since they were little.  I'm pretty sure if you typed that into google about 1500 different books would pop up.  However, one of my favorite things about books is that even if you read all 1500 of those books, not one of them would be the same.  What I thought was interesting about this story was that straight from the beginning Kacey and Travis are put together.  Jake doesn't even last 5 hours of pretending to be faithful to Kacey.  Even when he decides he could marry Kacey if he needed to, he's thinking about having an affair on the side.  But I couldn't hate his character because he was just so ridiculous.  And then of course by the end, he completely supports Kacey and Travis, and everything works out great.  Travis brought that whole "If a boy is mean to you it means he likes you" to a whole other level.  As a kid, he was not afraid to hurt Kacey if it meant he could then make her feel better.  It never made it to that second step though because why would she turn to the person who tripped her for comfort?  They basically had a prank war that lasted for over ten years.  This book was so entertaining, but it also threw in some serious topics which balanced everything out and made for a great read.         

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