Reviews – Page 9 – Sincerely Karen Jo

This Body Won’t Break

Part One

5 ★ – THRILLING YA DYSTOPIA

PUBLISHED BY AMAZON DIGITAL SERVICES SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

GENRE(S): YOUNG ADULT, DYSTOPIA

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The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Orphaned as a child, Joanna has lived her entire life in the care of the New Terra Alliance. On the verge of turning eighteen, Joanna eagerly awaits her release into what remains of society.

It was a beautiful lie.

Joanna was never meant to leave. She is part of the August Harvest, slated to die before the month’s end. With a rogue soldier’s promise to find her a way out, Joanna dares to hope. But if the NTA finds out what she knows, it won’t only be her own life at stake, but the life of the handsome soldier who has vowed to set her free.

This Body Won’t Break by Lea Mckee is phenomenal and I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would.

Mckee’s writing is gorgeous and atmospheric. It doesn’t take long before the mystery, intrigue, and tension had me completely hooked. I honestly could not stop reading and became more and more anxious by the minute… and I TOTALLY LOVED IT! I do have to admit that I initially gave this a 4 star rating since it was too short for my liking and there were so many unanswered questions… BUT the more I thought about it, the set-up is actually quite ingenious. I HONESTLY have not stopped thinking about this story and the characters since I finished it.

The world building so far is eerie and disturbing, but absolutely fascinated me. The plot is enigmatic, well-written and full of action. Mckee does such a wonderful job slowly building the tension and suspense that I was literally holding my breath. The characters are likable and very interesting. I can’t wait to get to know them more and see how their stories unfold in the next 2 installments. There’s also a hint of a romance… and being a romance junkie, I’m so ready to swoon. As the story comes to an end, Mckee leads her characters to unknown and terrifying situations. I don’t want to say anymore, but if you’re looking for some fun thrills and chills, then you need to pick this up.

This Body Won’t Break may be short, but that was one of the most satisfying 2-3 hours of reading I’ve ever done. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out in October.

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.

This Body Won’t Break is Book One of The O-Negative Series and will be published in 3 Parts (each approx. 25k words in length). Parts will be published on the first Tuesday of every month.

Follow and Connect with Lea McKee: Website / Instagram / Twitter

Sincerely Karen Jo

Hickville Redemption

(Hickville High #3)

Mary Karlik

4.5 – Fantastic Teen Mystery

Published by GPK Publication July 16, 2017

Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

Pages: Kindle 256

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A 30 year old mystery…
A 15 year old sleuth.

Freshman Mackenzie Quinn wants nothing to do with the mysterious death of Cassidy Jones. But when her crush, Braden McGuire, declares he’s determined to uncover the truth, she is drawn into the cold case. The problem is her dad is the number one suspect. Things look pretty hopeless until her best friend, Travis Barns, loans her the secret diary of Cassidy Jones. His only stipulation is that she not share it with anybody else. But when her jealous boyfriend finds and exposes the diary, secrets come to life that could ruin MacKenzie’s whole family.

Can she find a way to clear her father’s name and atone for her own mistakes before it’s too late?

I didn’t expect to love this as much as I do. Hickville Redemption by Mary Karlik is a fun and exciting read. I haven’t read the others in the series and I don’t think you have to in order to read this one. Actually, I think this book is absolutely fantastic as a standalone. I swooned, I laughed, I cried… Those pretty much seals the deal for me.

The story started out a bit slow, but once I got into it, I honestly could not stop reading. There’s plenty of intrigue, drama, mystery and excitement. I love Karlick’s writing style. It’s simple and easy to read, but definitely not lackluster. I could easily picture myself as a character in the story piecing together clues to uncover the truth behind the mysterious death of Cassidy Jones. And I loved it. I thought the mystery part was really interesting – not mind bending holy cow that was super awesome, but pretty darn good. I enjoyed the drama too. It felt realistic and reminded me so much of my high school days.

I immediately fell in love Kenzie. Teenage me and probably a little of the adult me can relate to her in so many ways. She’s an introvert and takes a while to warm up to people. She feels uncomfortable in group settings so she doesn’t talk much – yup totally teenage me and at times adult me too. She prefers to observe and listen rather than participate – yup that is so me. I definitely felt for her and could sympathize with her whenever she was thrown into situations she didn’t want to be in. BUT, even though she’s shy, she doesn’t let that stop her from doing the things she loves. She also doesn’t think that her quiet personality is something that needs to be fixed or that she’s a puzzle that needs to be solved – I loved that about her.

Travis is kind and sweet and absolutely adorable. He’s caring and considerate. I love how protective he is of Kenzie, but still gives her space… he’s just an overall good guy. But I have to mention that while I was reading, he frustrated me a little. Not in the bad way though. In Tagalog there’s a word “gigil” and that’s exactly how I felt. I guess it’s like – oh he’s so cute and I totally understand his reasons for doing or not doing something… heck that’s also the reason why he’s so lovable and really I respect him I do, but at the same time I want to pinch him and push him to act differently then maybe this would happen and that won’t happen and…

And that got me really thinking… I love drama in books. When it makes sense and flows well with the story, then by all means give me! Travis and Kenzie together equals awesome friendship, amazing chemistry, swoony kisses, and crazy drama! I also really LOVED the parts when Kenzie would read Cassidy’s diary. It was heartbreaking, but that definitely made the story more intriguing. The only part that really irks me is the ending… it felt rushed. There was all this build-up so I was expecting something drastic at the end, but it just finished in a not so exciting way.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hickville Redemption and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun YA mystery with an intriguing storyline, relatable characters, realistic drama, and sweet romance.

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

Follow / Connect with Mary Karlik: Website/ Instagram / Twitter / Facebook

Thanks for reading lovelies!

Sincerely Karen Jo