not everything is as it seems to be..

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore – Mathew Sullivan

Mystery, thriller, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Lydia as a child survived the Hammerman Massacre and ever since then hasn’t been the same. Every day she lives her life quietly as a bookseller. Joey, one of her Book Frogs, was found hanging in the bookstore. When she attempts to pull him down, she notices a photo of her and her friend Raj and questions how he got ahold of that photo. Later she finds cut up books with mismatched labels. She finds hidden messages within the pages giving clue of his past. She contacts the old detective of the Hammerman Massacre as well as digs up information about Joey. A dark and sinister truth is revealed, and everything was not as it seemed.

This novel was a slow burn mystery which I do like a slow burn occasionally. This one was perfect for what I was looking for. Perfect pacing and intricate plot that slowly unfolded. The character interactions were excellent. I sort of wished this was a longer novel, but a short standalone novel is just as good. I didn’t expect that twist ending but I was theorizing how the story would unfold. What I had learned is to expect nothing other than a possibly good mystery and this one was perfect. I do recommend this mystery if one wants a tame yet thrilling novel. I read this in one sitting honestly and I wished I paced myself, but I could not resist.

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who am I? what am I?

Awake at Dawn – C.C. Hunter

Supernatural, fantasy, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 9/10

Kylie is still wondering of what supernatural creature she is, but she did find out other truths along the way. Her father isn’t really her father and her biological father was the dead army man she occasionally had seen. She uses the information of her birth father to try to find his family or well her extended family to find answers of who and what she really is. Another ghost appears in her life asking for her help. As she attends camp activities, who and what she is becomes even more confusing. What doesn’t help is that there is something sinister going on at the camp.

I found this sequel very intriguing and regularly paced as the first one. I believe firmly in that a story shouldn’t be dragged out kind of like how this author is doing. This is an exception because this adds onto the narrative of the main character going on a journey of self-exploration and self-assessing. I sometimes can relate onto the main character because I occasionally have an identity crisis and or existential crisis. Kylie explores that grey area that is a new concept to her and her friends helping her understand that grey area. This is great to read.

A whole new realm

Born at Midnight – C.C. Hunter

Supernatural, fantasy, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 10/10

Kylie is having a hard week, her nana dies, her parents are divorcing, and because she got caught up at a drug bust, her parents are sending her to a camp for troubled teens. As she boards the bus, she notices something strange about the passengers soon to be camp mates that they all are intriguing as well as staring at her. Once she arrives the camp leader tells her that they are at a camp for supernatural individuals. Kylie thinks that she is insane and doesn’t believe anything that is going on. After seeing that the existence of the supernatural she highly doubts that she herself is a supernatural. Her newfound camp buddies convince her otherwise and the camp leader tells Kylie that she needs to embrace the fact that she might be a supernatural. The only thing is that she can see and interact with ghosts, with one ghost. The camp leader tells Kylie that she needs to work on finding who or what she is.

I had read this book in high school and decided to reread this book as an adult with fresh eyes. I found myself loving this book the same way I first read the book in high school. I love a good mystery with supernatural elements with some romance in the mix. The mystery of what Kylie is and her personal association with the ghost that has stalked her. I mean I would feel as crazy as Kylie feels. Especially being told that the world isn’t as black and white as she had perceived. I highly recommend this young adult book as well as the rest of the series. I will be doing as much of the series of this novel within my abilities due to the corona virus shutting down the public library. I only have two books, this one and Awake at Dawn. Hopefully the corona virus pandemic blows over so that life can go back to “normal” functioning.

Teens Return to Save Disney AGAIN!

Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney at Dawn – Ridley Pearson

Disney, Disney World, children, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Just as Finn and the other teens thought that after rescuing Disney World and the saved the world, they can relax a little. When Chernabog/Lucifer doesn’t appear on the celebration float. The park attendant, Wayne, tells them the evil returned into a new form. This brings on panic and the five teenagers urge to fight the evil from overtaking the park and the world. Everything is at stake, once again.

As I had finished the first book, I immediately began this sequel to the novel and fell more in love with the idea of teenagers fighting Disney villains and saving the world from evil. I simply couldn’t stop reading this novel and eventually finished the novel in no time. I do recommend the first book of this series and this one as well.