Review: Kiss and Tell

Info: 
Title: Kiss and Tell
Author: Jacqueline Green
Series: Truth or Dare #3
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Source: Purchased.

Synopsis:
Since their dangerous game of truth or dare began, Tenley Reed, Sydney Morgan, and Emerson Cunningham have lost almost everything. Closely guarded secrets, romantic relationships, and sought-after spots at the top of their school's social hierarchy-all gone in the blink of an eye.

Now the darer has upped the stakes, leaving another body behind in the girls' isolated beach town of Echo Bay. And if they can't untangle the twisted web leading to whoever is behind the mysterious deaths, one of them could be next. But what happens when the trail leads to those they trusted, those they loved?

Filled with intoxicating twists and shocking betrayals, the final installment in the Truth or Dare trilogy will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Review:
Kiss and Tell brings the Truth or Dare trilogy to an exciting conclusion. Sydney, Tenley and Emerson have been through so much together, dealing with the death of their classmates and the constant threat of the darer exposing all their secrets, or worse. 

I really felt for these girls. They have been through Hell! While I understand wanting to keep certain aspects of their life private, the stakes get so much higher than just revealing a dirty little secret. One of my favourite aspects of this book is the way the girls banded together and drew strength from each other. They were far from friends when the story began, but in the end supported each other so much.

This book was my favourite of the trilogy. I liked the girls more throughout and it was a relief to finally know what was going on in Echo Bay. I really enjoyed reading a mystery, which isn't something I do very often. I'm hopefully as figuring out who-dun-it, so I was certain surprised at the reveal. I knew something was up, but did not guess the identity of the darer.

While I didn't love the other books in this series quite as much as this one, I would definitely recommend this series to someone who wants to give mystery a try, but also wants the YA aspect to shine through.

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Review: Secrets and Lies

Info:
Title: Secrets and Lies
Author: Jacqueline Green
Series: Truth or Dare #2
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: May 6, 2014
Source: I received a complimentary ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
Can you keep a secret?
Tenley Reed and Sydney Morgan have never seen eye to eye -- until now. United by a common goal, they are determined to find out who was behind their friend's murder. Joined by Emerson Cunningham, a gorgeous but troubled teen model, the girls start their own investigation. But in the isolated beach town of Echo Bay, it's hard to know who's a friend and who's an enemy.
Secrets and Lies is the second book in the Truth or Dare series -- and will keep readers in suspense from beginning to end

Review:
After the last page twist at the end of Truth or Dare, the game has gotten more dangerous for Tenley and Sydney. And a new player has been added to the game: gorgeous but troubled Emerson, Caitlyn's best friend. After the ending of book one, the darer has upped the stakes and the girls now fear for their lives.

My favourite of the three girls is currently Emerson. I still find Tenley really manipulative and unlikable and Sydney a bit boring. Emerson I really felt for, although I was screaming inside at her a few times. Especially about Josh, who seems like a YA dream boy.

Most of the plot in this installment consists of the girls trying to figure out the identity of the darer, following the darer's instructions and debating whether to go to the cops. The girls learn that the scope of the darer's plans is bigger than they first imagined. I found it a bit frustrating how the darer seemed to be everywhere and know everything (this is explained a bit at the end of the book). I think this aspect was meant to be terrifying (which it would be in real life), but instead I found myself getting frustrated at the seemingly impossibility of the logistics of things. I think that really stopped me from being totally invested in the story and really hurt the creepy factor for me.

With that same, I definitely plan to continue this series. I need to know who the darer is! I'm also really curious to see how far the darer has gone and possibility how long they have been at it. So the whole aspect of not-knowing has definitely got me hooked on this series, despite it's flaws.

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Truth or Dare Friday (#4)

So I've decided to try out a new meme I found from Jenna Does Books. Who doesn't love a game of Truth or Dare, especially when it's about books. This weeks choice is:


As tempting as a puppet play would be, I'm a bit short on time so Truth it is!

My biggest pet peeve inside a book is instalove. I'm so over it. Have some relationship development! I don't care what stupid reason for the characters professing their love within a week, I don't want to hear it. And sparks when they touch just adds insult to injury! A close second is a poorly done love triangle. The odd time a love triangle works, but most of the time, I'm just annoyed. It's bee so overdone.

My biggest pet peeve outside a book is when they arrive damaged! Recently my copy of Antigoddess by kendare Blake arrived and it had a medium-sized partial punctor on the back cover and it made me sad. The worst was my copy of Beautiful Creatures, which had 2 rips in the dust jacket. And I couldn't exchange it because it was on clearance and they were sold out.

Review: Truth or Dare

Info:

Title: Truth Or Dare
Author: Jacqueline Green
Series: Truth or Dare #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Source: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

When a simple round of truth or dare spins out of control, three girls find it’s no longer a party game. It’s do or die.

It all started on a whim: the game was a way for Tenley Reed to reclaim her popularity, a chance for perfect Caitlin “Angel” Thomas to prove she’s more than her Harvard application. Loner Sydney Morgan wasn’t even there; she was hiding behind her camera like usual. But when all three start receiving mysterious dares long after the party has ended, they’re forced to play along—or risk exposing their darkest secrets.

How far will Tenley, Caitlin and Sydney go to keep the truth from surfacing? And who’s behind this twisted game?

Set against the backdrop of Echo Bay, an isolated beach town haunted by misfortune, Truth or Dare is a highly charged debut that will keep readers in suspense from beginning to end.

Review:

Truth or Dare sounded like a fast-paced, YA mystery. It's not the type of book I usually read and I was excited to branch out and see what I'd been missing. Unfortunately, Truth or Dare didn't quite do it for me. My major gripe was with the characters, but there were a few other things as well.

I can honestly say I didn't like a single one of the characters. Well, I almost like Callum and Tim, but they were such a minor character that they remained fairly one dimensional. Tenley was a shallow, selfish bitch. Caitlin just did as she was told and had no backbone or original thoughts. Sydney was the kind of girl who chooses to be an outcast and wears her loner-ness as a kind of badge of honour, which ended up getting on my nerves. And let's not forget Guinness, the biggest douche ever. The fact that not one, but two of these girls were totally interested in his spoiled ass-hat made me like them even less.

The fact that I didn't really care about any of the characters made this one a bit flat for me. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the characters had been more likeable.

The other complaint I had was with a lack of clues for a large part of the book. One of my favourite part of mystery books is trying to guess whodunnit. While I did manage to correctly guess the culprit about 75% of the way through the book, I wished there had been more clues dropped. It seemed like anytime one of the characters thought they knew who could be the villian, it was based on some past even the reader didn't know about until the character explains it right after they make the accusation. That makes it really hard to guess!

Overall, Truth or Dare is still a fun, fast-paced, somewhat creepy read, but the characters were a disappointment to me. If you're a fan of Pretty Little Liars, you should give this one a try. If you're a fan of characters you can really connect with, maybe take a pass.

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