The Lying Game (The Lying Game #1)

Author: Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game, #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenge: None
Format: Hardback
Pages: 307
Published: December 7, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: School Library
My Rating: * * * * *

I HAD A LIFE ANYONE WOULD KILL FOR.


THEN SOMEONE DID.


The worst part of being dead is that there's nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It's enough to kill a girl all over again. But I'm about to get something no one else does--an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.


Now Emma's desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me--to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she's the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?


LET THE LYING GAME BEGIN.

I feel bad reading The Lying Game before Pretty Little Liars.  I loved the Pretty Little Liars show up to the point where I stopped watching it. Unfortunately, ABC Family was taken away from my cable, and I kept forgetting to watch it online. So...since I loved Pretty Little Liars, the show, I was expecting to begin those books first and love them. But, things did not turn out that way. I ended up reading The Lying Game first, which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering I loved it! It was amazing, enchanting, and a great mystery!


Emma is your average foster child. She has been moved from house to house. Sutton, on the other hand, is...not. She has had the privileged, spoiled life. So, it can rightly be said that Emma got the short end of the stick. Luckily, everything is about to turn upside down. Sutton dies. And Emma gets to live Sutton's life. Amazing, right? Wrong, because someone was out to kill Sutton...and Emma is next. The cherry on top of the sundae.


I love these types of mysteries, but at the same type, I become really frustrated. I just want to know who it is! Should I already know? Who knows? I am just going to wait until the author tells me, which probably won't be for awhile.


Oh, I wanted to talk about one more thing. The love interest. Garrett, obviously, is out of the picture for Emma. Sutton may have liked him, but Emma doesn't. Now Ethan, he is a hottie. "The brooding type," to be more specific. Just like how Emma likes them. But it appears that Sutton did something to him, just like she has done to many other guys. Will "that" tear them apart from each other? Read and find out.


About the Author:
Sara Shepard is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Pretty Little Liars. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. Sara recently moved back to Philadelphia's Main Live from Arizona, where The Lying Game is set.

Shade (Shade #1)

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready


Series: Shade, #1


Pages: 309


Published: May 4, 2010


My Rating: * * *














Summary
Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a crucial gig and Aura's plans for an intimate party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she could undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because Dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding--and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.
Opinions & Thoughts
When I began this book, I will admit that I didn't have high expectations(drugs, alcohol, sex-can you blame me). I was right. Halfway. The first fourth was terrible for me, and I almost put it down. Logan made some very stupid decisions, and Aura(kind of an ironic name) just seemed selfish and bratty. So....I braced myself and kept reading.
Guess what? It turned out better, as I progressed. I would say the arrival of Zachary(and Logan's death), spiced things up. But, afterwards, Aura kept saying that she felt attracted to Zachary, yet she wanted to remain loyal to Logan(even though he was a ghost), and it became annoying again. Could you just choose? Nevertheless, Aura's love for Logan did surprise me, after all she is a seventeen year old(not exactly at a loyal age). But, I did end up liking Zachary more. He was kind and sweet.
Not too light and fluffy of a read, since it deals with issues like death and moving on after a loved ones death. Since Logan(and Aura too) were obsessed with music, there were a lot of songs listed throughout the book. Overall, an OK book, definitely not something I would reread(thus the rating), yet something I would recommend(hint, hint-go out there, get a copy, and read it). I will be reading the next book in the series.
About the Author
Jeri Smith Ready is an award-winning author and lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world's goofiest greyhound. Her plans to save the Earth were ruined when she realized she was more of a problem maker than a problem solver. To stay out of trouble, she keeps her drama drive strictly fictional. Her friends and family appreciate that
Like many of her characters, Jeri loves music, movies and staying up very,very late.
Click here to visit Jeri Smith Ready's website.

Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, #1)

Damn, Claire. Warn a guy before you do a face-plant on the floor next time.  I could have looked all heroic and caught you or something. Shane's chivalry never ceases to amaze me, but you gotta love the guy.

Summary
College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood. (borrowed from Goodreads)

]Opinion

Like most first books, Glass Houses was mostly stating the setting and plot.  After the middle of the book, it paced up a bit, and I really ended up enjoying it(not that I didn't beforehand).

Claire annoyed me at times, especially since she is supposed to be really smart, yet she acts very childish at times.  Also, Claire is always trying to prove she is an adult, and that does not match up with her juvenile behavior.  Oh well, it did not ruin the book.  But, I do have to say, Claire had an abnormal obsession with Shane's feet.  Although tiny in stature, Claire was fierce at times, and for a few minor objections, she was an average protagonist.
Now, it's time for me to turn fangirlish.  I ADORED Shane! Personally, I think he was hot, kind, sarcastic, and so many more things that it would take forever to list.  Shane is amazing, and one of the main reasons that I am going to keep reading the series.  I want to know what happens to him, and I do hope its nothing too bad or bad at all.
The last thing I will talk about, are the Monickettes, and it will be brief.  They were harsher and crueler than any other mean girls that I have ever read of before.  I know I'm supposed to hate them, but I DESPISED them.  I mean, who pours acid down someones back? That is just EVIL. Anyways, I just wanted to get that out of my system.

Overall Book Rating

"Fun reading...more engaging than most TV."  ~Booklist

Click here to visit Rachel Caine's website.
Click The Dead Girls' Dance to read the review of the Morganville Vampires, Book #2.