reading – Page 82 – Sincerely Karen Jo

Hello Bookish Friends!!! Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for

Stanley & Hazel by Jo Schaffer

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

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Stanley and Hazel by Jo Schaffer
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Publisher: Month9Books

A great depression has gripped the city of St. Louis in 1934. Stanley, an orphaned newsy, lives in a poor part of town hit especially hard by the economic downturn. One night, Stanley runs into Hazel, a restless debutante in waiting who has begun to question her posh lifestyle in the midst of the suffering she sees. She’s out and about without an escort and against her father’s wishes.

When they discover the body of a girl with her head bashed in by a baseball bat, the very different and separate realities of the two teens inform their decision. Together they will figure out what happened to her and bring those responsible to justice.

But getting involved with each other and digging into the secrets behind this murder earns them some powerful enemies, including a secret group seeking to rid society of all they deem “undesirable.” They’ve put into motion “The Winnowing,” a plan seeking to take over the city and enforce their will.

As Stanley and Hazel’s forbidden feelings for one another grow, their investigation turns deadly. Now, it is up to Stanley and his gang of street kids to stop Hazel from becoming the next victim.

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authorbio2

Jo Schaffer was born and raised in the California Bay Area in a huge, creative family. She is a YA novelist, speaker, writer at Patheos.com, works in film production and is a Taekwondo black belt.

She’s a founding member of Writers Cubed and co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, one of the largest conferences in the nation for youth ages 13-19. She and a crew of local and international bestselling authors present writing workshops to hundreds of attendees at the Utah-based conference as well as hundreds of others worldwide who view the conference online.

Jo loves being involved in anything that promotes literacy and family. She is passionate about community, travel, books, music, healthy eating, classic films and martial arts. Her brain is always spinning new ideas for books and sometimes she even gets around to blogging.

Jo is a mom of 3 strapping sons living in the beautiful mountains of Utah with a neurotic cat named Hero.

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Thanks for stopping by and reading! Have a great day loves!!!

sincerelykarenjoendsign

bookreview

Happy Saturday loves! Are you doing anything special and fun for Mother’s Day Weekend? Who’s catching up on some reading? Well, whatever you have planned, I hope you have a wonderful time! As for me, my boyfriend and I are taking our puppy to the vet for her first check-up. Then, we’re having BBQ dinner for Mother’s Day tonight since my brother is coming over. Don’t know yet what we’re planning for Sunday, but I really want to get some R&R and catch up on my reading.

Anyway, let’s move on to some blogging business. Today, I’ll be sharing my review for Odd and True by Cat Winters. This book wasn’t really for me, but I did think some parts were very enjoyable and interesting.

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reviewrating

2halfhearts

Not my Cup of Tea, but Somewhat Enjoyable

aboutthebook2

PUBLISHER: AMULET BOOKS

RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMEBER 12, 2017

GENRE: YOUNG ADULT, HISTORICAL FICTION, PARANORMAL, FANTASY

HARDCOVER 368 PAGES

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

Odd and True by Cat Winters was truly an odd, but somewhat enjoyable paranormal story.

So, this book and me… didn’t really get along that much and I had an incredibly difficult time getting into the story. I was fascinated with the premise and the first few chapters were okay and quite interesting… However, I found myself frustrated with the plot, which was dragging, that I just had to stop and put the book on hold for a while. I probably tried 3-4 times before I was actually able to finish.

To be honest, this wasn’t entirely boring or a “bad” book. The concept of the story was intriguing and there were a few parts that I really enjoyed. The paranormal aspects were sprinkled here and there, and while they really didn’t hold my interest, I still liked exploring the world the author created. I thought the family backstory was absolutely great and I really liked the relationship between Od and Tru. Actually, that’s my favorite part of this book. The strong relationship between the sisters was what really kept me reading.

I had a rough start with Odd and Tru, but overall, I did kind of enjoy the story. Some books are truly meant to be while others not so much. Odd and True just wasn’t my cup of tea, but it could be yours. If you’re into creepy, weird, and dark stories, then I think you might have fun with this book.

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

Amazon – Barnes & Nob le – Indiebound

Cat Winters is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author of four novels for teens: In the Shadow of Blackbirds (2014 Morris Award finalist, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013), The Cure for Dreaming (2014 Amelia Bloomer Project pick), The Steep and Thorny Way (a Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2016, Junior Library Guild selection), and Odd & True (Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2017). Her YA novels have garnered eight starred reviews between them, and they’ve appeared on numerous state and “best of” lists. She is also the author of two novels for adults, The Uninvited and Yesternight, and she contributed to the young adult horror anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. Abrams will publish her next book, The Raven’s Tale, a novel about Edgar Allan Poe’s teen years, in Spring 2019.

Winters was born and raised in Southern California, near Disneyland, which may explain her love of haunted mansions, bygone eras, and fantasylands. She received degrees in drama and English from the University of California, Irvine, and formerly worked in publishing. She currently lives with her husband and kids in a suburb outside of Portland, Oregon, surrounded by forests that offer ample inspiration for her Gothic, atmospheric tales.

(Biography and Photograph taken from Author’s Website)

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Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave your comments down below. I’d love to hear from you. As always, have a wonderful day lovelies!

sincerelykarenjoendsign