Scookie Reviews

THE INHERITANCE GAMES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 3 Stars Verdict: Great set up but I lost interest.  Avery is about to inherit a billionaire's fortune, despite never meeting the man - if she can spend a year living among the disinherited family. This one starts off strong with a smart main character. It has complicated families and a whole cast of shady rich folk who may or may not be threatening Avery's life in order to get their hands on a not-so-small fortune, and of course, there's an epic mystery at the heart of it: why has Avery inherited this billionaire's estate to begin with?  More mysteries pile around Avery, from clues coded into letters and secrets within the mansion. The extended family all have their quirks, which pulled me for a good while.  However, not a lot gets answered, at least not in the twisty, exciting way I had hoped for. There's a large cast of suspects to whittle down but not enough time with the carving knife, and Avery's focus is pulle...

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING by Nicola Yoon 3 Stars Verdict:  Cute romance and creative storytelling. Madeline has a rare immune system disease called SCID that basically means she's allergic to the world. She stays at home, inside, every single day. She’s home-schooled by her mother and doesn't know anyone her age, until Olly moves in across the road and sees her through her window. This book struck me as perfectly okay. It’s a quick read, great writing, and a super cute romance, but nothing in particular to rave about. The epistolary style means it's short and fast with a mix of different styles: letters, texts, emails, drawings and more. It's a fun and creative way to tell a story. The novelty wears thin but then again, it's short and sweet. The ending ruined it for me. For the sake of liking this author and the book beforehand, I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen. I guess I found this take on the sick kids trope not fresh enough. I've recentl...

FIVE FEET APART by Rachael Lippincott et al. 2 Stars Verdict:  Too predictable. Stella and Will have CF. They should always stay at least SIX feet apart. (Light spoiler which is given away in the title too: they don't.) That's pretty much the entire book. The voices are strong and the references are modern which helps it feel slightly 'fresher' than those who have trod around the sick kids plot before, but I spent most of the book waiting for something more to happen. This book taught me a lot about CF that I didn't learn in biology class - the loneliness, the survivors guilt, the strict medication schedule - all the things that don't make up the diagnosis but can be there too. Before this, my knowledge of CF was alleles and lung function. From reading other responses to this title, I appreciate how it raises awareness. My brain started to wander off around the half-way mark. I couldn't help thinking there wasn't much pulling Stella and Will...

ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen M. McManus 5 Stars Verdict: Addictive. Five students go into detention, and only four come out alive. The police and media are circling in on the four remaining students from that fateful detention, all of them liars in one form or another. But who is the killer? I read this book like I eat chocolate - page after page consumed without ever wanting to stop. It's the type of story you get caught up in, binge, and then are quite happy to put it away and move on to something else - a quick, light read, but not a thinker. It's a whodunit that kept me guessing, although I had my suspicions... The narrative switches between the four students, each of them with very different lives and different issues. The characters start off feeling very cliche: a jock wanting a baseball scholarship, a pretty-girl being pushed around by her popular boyfriend, a smart but geeky girl, and a Nate, who felt the least cliche in that respect with his not caring att...

GENUINE FRAUD by E. Lockhart 2 Stars Verdict: Confusing and pointless (sorry!). Jule is on the run. I'm not sure there's really more to say. Piecing together the why and when is up to the reader, but it all revolves around an entitled college dropout called Imogene. I struggled to get the point of this one. The story isn't in chronological order, which sounds quirky and fun, but what it really means is that you get the punchline before the context. We know how the story ends from the beginning, and we get a good sense of what's going on early on, so for the rest of the book we're just waiting for it to happen in a jumbled and confusing order. A reread might help uncover more to the story, but it's not interesting enough to go through it all again. In the end, there aren't any real winners of the story or much of a point. The motives seemed thin and flaky at best. I was still searching for reason it was written in the last few chapters, turning the...

FLY ON THE WALL by E. Lockhart 4 Stars Verdict: A short tale of naked truths. Contemporary usually isn’t my thing. I need life threatening stakes, magic, and twisted, villainous plans – but E. Lockhart’s books are a welcomed break from what I call ‘the norm’. They’re short, and packed full of emotion and meaning. FLY ON THE WALL in particular felt relatable, full of diversity, and got me thinking about life in the way a demon fight never could. Gretchen sees herself as ordinary, which is why she loves drawing her larger-than-life comic book muses. Her drawing style isn’t appreciated by her art teacher, and she doesn’t really like the other students. In fact, she’s a bit judgemental – until she becomes a 'fly on the wall', and learns the naked truth about the people she had previously dismissed. Just like Gretchen, the plot starts off a little ordinary, and the overall pace of the book is helped by the fact its so short. It sets the scene, twists, makes a point, and ...

THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR by Nicola Yoon 5 Stars Verdict: Loved it! This story is about one momentous day. It’s Natasha last day to stop her deportation back to Jamaica, the place she was born but feels little connection to. It’s also Daniel’s day to shine in an interview for Yale that he couldn’t care less about, but his first-generation Asian immigrant parents believe it is the best thing for him. Their encounter is improbable, their relationship doomed from the start, yet they’re meant-to-be. I fell in love with Natasha and Daniel. Natasha likes observable facts, only believing in what can be studied – not fate, or karma, and definitely not love. Daniel is more comfortable with the unknown and a hopeless romantic. Over the course of one day, he tries to prove that they’re meant to be together. Okay, so one day is a little fast, but I like to think the quality of their interaction is what mattered – how open they were, how much they learned. Or maybe I’m willing to make excuse...