Book Review: Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

July 28, 2012 by 9 Comments

Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick
Release Date: February 1, 2012
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)

Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.

There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)

Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain… magnetism.

And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)

Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules. – Goodreads

Review:
HOLY INSANITY! Much like with Ilsa J. Bick’s Ashes, Drowning Instinct is going to take some recovery time.

This roller coaster of a story starts with the main character, Jenna Lord. She is an unreliable narrator and the format in which Drowning Instinct is told, Jenna detailing the events into a digital recorder for a detective, only adds to the uncertainty of everything. There were several surprises and twists throughout the course of the novel that had me going, “AHHH!!” outloud.

Though there were plenty of difficult situations that allowed me to sympathize with Jenna, there were others when I definitely felt frustrated with her. I wanted good things for her, for her to fight her demons and win, but I also wanted to point her to the warning signs, to open her eyes to what was real. I liked her. I disliked her. So, all in all, I have to say that Ilsa J. Bick created a very real character in her.

It would have been so, so easy to depict the relationship between Jenna and Mr. Anderson with the type of moral message that says, “This is wrong!” I’m in no way condoning these student-teacher relationships in real life, but in this case Ilsa J. Bick blurred the lines between right and wrong; I understood why Jenna and Mr. Anderson were drawn together and why they found acceptance in each other. Ilsa J. Bick captured both the intensity and comfort between them while still carrying that feeling of dread throughout: things would not always be so perfect.

I still have so many questions about these characters and what happens next. And yet the lack of the closure is part of what makes this such a powerful read. Drowning Instinct is haunting and draining, but it is such a quality read.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books To Read In A Day

April 3, 2012 by 11 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and features a new top ten list each week.

Books To Read In A Day

Here are books that I read in one sitting (or day) and that I could not step away from aka some of the best ones.

01. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – I don’t read a lot of YA contemporary so I was pretty sure this wouldn’t be my thing. I started it before bed thinking, “I’ll read a few pages.” Cut to 3AM or so and I had just finished and had the silliest grin on my face.

02. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Is anyone able to put this down?! This was such an intense reading experience for me. As was Catching Fire immediately following. And Mockingjay when that was released.

03. Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick – SPEAKING OF INTENSE. This book kept me up until I finished it and I was freaking out over it along the way on goodreads and twitter.

04. Angelfall by Susan Ee – Susan Ee really knows how to keep the pace going and going in her writing. So addicting!

05. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer – Yup, yup, this list would not be complete without this book. I have such vivid memories of my experience reading it: freshman year of college in my dorm, class early the next morning, running to my laptop around 4AM to order New Moon, missing class the next day…YEAH.

06. Harry Potter by JK Rowling – I read through the first four books when I was in the sixth grade and experienced the midnight releases from Order of the Phoenix onwards. Guess who stayed up all night reading them? That would be me! My all nighters started early…

07. Insignia by SJ Kincaid – My review for this one should be up soon, but I had so much fun reading this book. It.is.awesome.

08. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – I had only read one other John Green book and it hadn’t quite lived up to my expectations. I randomly picked up this one and fell in love. And sobbed. And was destroyed. But I loved every second of it!

09. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand – Unearthly remains one of the best surprises for me. Despite being 400+ pages, it was not enough!

10. So many other books that I could list here: Vampire Academy books, the Fever series, most of my favorite chick lit reads… I will reserve this spot for what’s to come!

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Top 10 Books I Read in 2011

December 26, 2011 by 25 Comments


Event hosted by A Life Bound by Books, Confessions of a Bookaholic, Fiktshun, and Two Chicks On Books

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! It’s time to start recapping my favorites of this year and look forward to what’s in store in 2012. Today’s post is for my top ten favorite reads. It seemed impossible to do, but I finally narrowed it down:


• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – (Review) – The biggest and best surprise of the year for me. This book is quietly stunning and even now, weeks after I read it, it still has a pull on me. A favorite for all time and that last line? Perfection.

• Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor – (Review) – This is a fantastically layered book that has some familiar elements found in other novels but Laini Taylor offers a new edge. The world is so imaginative, enthralling, and, as I’ve mentioned them before, those “Hello”s are a killer. Swoon!

• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins – (Review) – This was only my most anticipated book of the year, so… high expectations, right? No need to fear, Stephanie Perkins delivered with another lovely story with the right amount of sweetness, yearning, and everything wonderful.

• Divergent by Veronica Roth – (Review) – So.much.fierceness! While this is definitely action packed and thrilling, Veronica Roth matched that with equally compelling characters. In addition to that, the romance offers a slow burn based on mutual respect.

• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson – (Review) – I fangirled over this book after I read it and I’m happy to do it again: AMAZING READ, OMG. Elisa’s character arc was incredible and I could gush all day about the unexpected — but awesome — places Rae Carson took the story.

• Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick – (Review) – I sped through this book as if it were water and I was dying of thirst. I could not read it fast enough and yet I dreaded every page turn because things were so C-R-A-Z-Y. This was definitely the most intense read for me this year and it was so good.

• A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee – (Review) – Not only was the mystery fun to unravel, but Mary and James are great leads and their chemistry is some of the best everrrrrrr. Seriously, it pretty much oozes off the page and, psst, it only gets better in book two (and I’m sure book three which I will get too soon!).

• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – Review – I didn’t review this one because I wouldn’t be able to detail how affecting the book is. Beautiful and brutal.

• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand – (Review) – Cynthia Hand more than made up for the horrible angel books I read prior to hers and I actually love this one more with each re-read. The mythology is interesting, her characters are fully fleshed out, and she still manages to keep an air of mystery surrounding everything. Also, Tucker!!!

• Blood Red Road by Moira Young – (Review) – Blood Red Road is awesome because it has: a lot of adventure, a unique writing style, a prickly and flawed main character, a handsome and charming guy, an awesome pet crow, a group of kickass females, and other excellent elements that I will not detail because you should read this ASAP!

I wouldn’t be me without cheating somehow, so here are some honorable mentions as well:

• Angelfall by Susan Ee – I just finished this yesterday and I’m still in a state of CAPS LOCK over it. My review will be up soon, but you should just go ahead it buy it for your Kindle or Nook. 99 cents, people! Don’t miss out!

• Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren – (Review) – Exciting adventure, great romance, and a story full of heart. This book has everything!

• Unwind by Neal Shusterman – (Review) – Terrifying and haunting, this book has one of the most chilling scenes I’ve ever read.

• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare – (Review) – So much Jem goodness! Plus, this really was an excellent followup to the first book.

What are your favorite reads of the year? Do we share any of the same books? Let me know!

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Book Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

November 3, 2011 by 12 Comments

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Release Date: September 6, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pages: 480
Source: Los Angeles Public Library
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.

Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.

For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human. – Goodreads

Review:
!!!! Just thinking about this book gets my heart racing. I read it in about four hours and, honestly, I have not had a reading experience like this in a long time; it was absolutely intense and I’m not exaggerating. It only took a few pages in for my eyes to grow as wide as saucers and for me to start chanting my “OH MY GOD”s over and over again. When I was done, around 3AM, I sat in bed for a while after because I simply could not calm down and get my brain to shut off.

The main character, Alex, was introduced after she decided to stop treatment for her inoperable brain tumor. Seeking an escape for herself, she set off into the woods to bring closure to one part of her life. While on the hike, she meets Ellie, a cranky eight year old, her dog, Mina, and her grandfather, Jack. They don’t spend much time together before it all goes to hell with the Zap. I won’t detail what happened but believe me when I say that it was CRAZY.

I have no idea how factual the details of the EMP were, but I appreciated the effort from Ilsa J. Bick because I definitely felt like I could understand and put myself into the situation. And guys? It terrified me. Again, I don’t know how likely any of it is, but it all came together so realistically that alarms were going off in my head.

Bick did not hold back in the events following the EMP. I dreaded every page turn because things continued to go from bad to worse for the cast of characters. And yet…I couldn’t read fast enough, either. There were, however, also several scenes that I had to take a break from because they were TOO much. Gruesome, violent, MINDBREAKING… I’m a big dog lover and there’s one specific scene where I actually woke up my dog to give her a hug. Ridiculous? Probably, but this book brought out many strong reactions from me.

Okay, here’s the thing: I’ve read some other reviews and I completely understand the issue people have found with the second half of the book. The shift in the story is so obvious and I definitely think there should have been a way to make the transition more seamless. However, while I definitely preferred the first half of the book, I can very clearly imagine both storylines coming together in an amazing way for the next installment.

Ahhhh, there’s still so much to say but this book has made my brain into mush. Here are a few snippets: makeshift family, eye balls, kick ass dogs, sweet romance, strange community, badassness…I could go on. In conclusion, this book is explosively good and you should read it!


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In My Mailbox (22)

September 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren that allows us to share the books we’ve received during the week via our purchases, review copies, library checkouts, borrowing from friends, etc.

This week I got:



• Entwined by Heather Dixon (purchased) – I’ve wanted this one for ages, but I never got around to buying it until this week. It is sooo pretty!
• Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (purchased) – Brodie’s review for this was glowing so I had no choice but to get it. She also has a poem dedication that you should all check it out! :P
• The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler (won/for review) – This came in an awesome custom box and I can’t wait to read it — the idea of it is so neat.
• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (purchased) – I needed this OMGRIGHTTHISSECOND so I bought it for my iPad. I’ll definitely be buying a hard copy eventually, though. Read my review here.
• Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick (borrowed) – Reviews for this one have been all over the place, forcing me to check it out for myself. Finally making use of the Los Angeles Public Library’s online selection!
• Shine by Lauren Myracle (borrowed) – A friend has been recommending this to me for AGES. I finally got around to borrowing it.
• Saving June by Hannah Harrington (for review) – I’ve heard a lot about this book so I’m excited to finally read it!

Thanks to Library Thing, Razorbill, the Los Angeles Public Library, ebookfling, and Netgalley!

What did you get this week? Share your link and I’ll stop by!

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