bookblog – Page 10 – Sincerely Karen Jo

Click’d

4 ★ – Entertaining and Inspiring

Published by Disney Hyperion September 5, 2017

Genre(s): Middle-Grade, Contemporary

Pages: Hardcover 208

Allie Navarro can’t wait to show her best friends the app she built at CodeGirls summer camp. CLICK’D pairs users based on common interests and sends them on a fun (and occasionally rule-breaking) scavenger hunt to find each other. And it’s a hit. By the second day of school, everyone is talking about CLICK’D.

Watching her app go viral is amazing. Leaderboards are filling up! Everyone’s making new friends. And with all the data Allie is collecting, she has an even better shot at beating her archenemy, Nathan, at the upcoming youth coding competition. But when Allie discovers a glitch that threatens to expose everyone’s secrets, she has to figure out how to make things right, even if that means sharing the computer lab with Nathan. Can Allie fix her app, stop it from doing any more damage, and win back the friends it hurt-all before she steps on stage to present CLICK’D to the judges?

Click’d is a such a delightful coming of age story. I’ve never read anything by Tamara Ireland Stone, but that’s definitely going to change.

The plot is fast-paced, easy to read, and so much fun. For a middle grade book, I was surprisingly very entertained.. but beyond that, Click’d also has heart. Stone delivers empowering messages that apply not only to children or tweens, but to also to adults like me. That’s what I truly love about this book…that I can walk away with something more than just a few laughs here and there. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I love stories that seem simple, but definitely packs a punch. Being successful does not mean winning, but working through your failures and never giving up. It’s about taking a leap and really believing in yourself to achieve whatever goals you have.

I really love the idea of creating Apps and using technology to do some good and make the world a better place. We definitely need more of that right now. Allie and Nathan are such great role models. I absolutely admired them for being creative, passionate, and determined. I don’t have any experience with coding, but it must take a lot of hard work and patience to be able to do what they did. Their commitment and enthusiasm with their projects was absolutely inspiring. I also loved the growing friendship between them and it was so adorable to watch them work together and become great friends. I liked the side characters too. Allie’s friends and everyone seemed genuine and realistic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story – it’s heartwarming, beautifully written, engaging, and inspiring.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Follow and Connect with Tamara Ireland Stone: Wesbite / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Sincerely Karen Jo

unnamed

FIRST LINES FRIDAYS IS A WEEKLY FEATURE FOR BOOK LOVERS HOSTED BY WANDERING WORDS. WHAT IF INSTEAD OF JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER, ITS AUTHOR OR ITS PRESTIGE, WE JUDGED IT BY ITS OPENING LINES?

PICK A BOOK OFF YOUR SHELF (IT COULD BE YOUR CURRENT READ OR ON YOUR TBR) AND OPEN TO THE FIRST PAGE
COPY THE FIRST FEW LINES, BUT DON’T GIVE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE BOOK AWAY JUST YET – YOU NEED TO HOOK THE READER FIRST
FINALLY… REVEAL THE BOOK!

COPY AND PASTE THE TEXT AND BANNER (OR MAKE YOUR OWN!) ABOVE FOR YOUR OWN FIRST LINES FRIDAYS POSTS. MAKE SURE TO COMMENT YOUR FIRST LINES BELOW SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN CHECK THEM OUT!

Here goes!

Somewhere in this house is a set of binoculars. I wish I could say I want them for nosebleed seats at a concert. Or for bird-watching. Either of those activities would be more respectable than what I’m doing this morning, which is peering out the window, trying to check out the new neighbors. Trying, because the crows perched in the cold, bare trees separating our houses are impending my snooping efforts.

Now scroll down…

Not quite yet, so keep going…

Almost there….

Just a little more…

33509076

Black Bird of the Gallows

Meg Kassel

Published by Entangled Publishing September 5,2017

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

I’m really loving this book so far. I’m about 1/4 done and the concept of harbinger is quite fascinating. There’s also kind of an instalove romance, but nothing has happened yet. Definitely getting some swoony vibes tho and I really like the MC.

Add Black Bird of the Gallows on Goodreads