Review: Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Hotel Ruby
Author: Suzanne Young
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: ALA AC 2015
Review by: Jenn

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Program comes a brand-new haunting, romantic, and suspenseful story about one girl's search for healing in a grand and mysterious hotel full of secrets.

"Stay tonight. Stay forever."

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she's grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother's death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions--including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey's pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn't have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel's dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she's met, the more her curiosity grows. She's torn in different directions--the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between in a place that is so much more than it seems...

Welcome to the Ruby.

3.5 stars out of 5 stars

I've been a fan of Suzanne Young since I read her book The Program and became hooked on her story telling abilities. Hotel Ruby was everything I was expecting from Suzanne: complex characters, emotions that you can feel as you read, and a world you can't help but get sucked into. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Suzanne took me on in Hotel Ruby.

Hotel Ruby is creepy and a little strange. Audrey, her brother, Daniel, and their father are drowning in grief after the death of their mother and wife a few months ago. Unable to cope with the loss, their father is sending Audrey and Daniel to live with their grandmother. On the way, they make a stop for the night at Hotel Ruby. What starts as a detour ends up being an unexpected surprise.

I'm not exactly sure how to talk about this book because half the fun is learning about the allure of the Ruby as you read. I can say that throughout the entirety of Hotel Ruby I had this foreboding feeling. Suzanne does this very well. Any emotion that she wants her reader to feel, she does it with her words and descriptions and it done so very well. I wanted for Audrey and her family to just get the hell out of the Ruby because I was on edge. Also, I always felt like I couldn't trust any of the characters we met. Even Elias, Audrey's love interest. Audrey and Elias had a bit of an insta-love which kind of turned me off. Elias was a bit of enigma and we don't learn about his story until late in the game. Because of that, I feel like I didn't have enough time to trust him. However, I did like his and Audrey's banter and conversations that they shared.

One of my favorite parts of the story is how the ending played out. By the time we learn the truth about everything, I wasn't sure how it was going to end. There were some twists that I didn't see coming at all but I liked how it did end. Suzanne Young has always managed to get me to read her books in one sitting and Hotel Ruby was no different. If you're looking for a creepy read I definitely recommend this beauty.

Review: My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

My Last Kiss
Author: Bethany Neal
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Source: NetGalley
Review by: Jenn

What if your last kiss was with the wrong boy?
Cassidy Haines remembers her first kiss vividly. It was on the old covered bridge the summer before her freshman year with her boyfriend of three years, Ethan Keys. But her last kiss—the one she shared with someone at her seventeenth birthday party the night she died—is a blur. Now, Cassidy is trapped in the living world, not only mourning the loss of her human body, but left with the grim suspicion that her untimely death wasn’t a suicide as everyone assumes. She can’t remember anything from the weeks leading up to her birthday and she’s worried that she may have betrayed her boyfriend. If Cassidy is to uncover the truth about that fateful night and make amends with the only boy she’ll ever love, she must face her past and all the decisions she made—good and bad—that led to her last kiss.

3.5 stars out of 5 stars

*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher but it did not influence this review in any way.*

All I had to do was read the prologue and the first chapter of My Last Kiss and I was immediately hooked. I was a little teary eyed at the beginning, but then I was just curious to find out what happened to our main character, Cassidy. I had several theories on what really happened to Cassidy, so I was eager to see how the story would play out. 

Cassidy's life is over but she has no memories as to what happened to her. Every one is saying she committed suicide but she can't believe that she would end her life. She tries to learn what happened but realizes that the truth might be scarier than she truly thought possible. She's faced with secrets from every angle, her best friends, her boyfriend, and even herself. Watching (or in this case, reading) it all come together was eye-opening because I didn't really see it coming. 

By the end of the book, all my theories were proved wrong and I have to say that it made me even sadder. I won't spoil the ending, but the truth of Cassidy's death is heart breaking but not as much as the real reason why she is still around. That completely shook me to the core. Although, I'm glad, in a way, to say that I was proved wrong. 

I really enjoyed reading My Last Kiss. It has such an interesting premise but the ending is what made it even better for me. The ending was so touching and I loved how Bethany Neal managed to really drive home the reason why. Kudos to Ms. Neal for that.

Review: The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee

The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee

Expected publication: July 17, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

*I received this egalley from Bloomsbury USA through NetGalley*

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary from author's website: "Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she's Bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother.

After a suicide attempt, and now her parent's separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications (again!) and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home and school. She refuses to be daunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom, or that her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless seance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends - yet not to her - Rinn is determined to find out why she can't be 'touched' by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exits.

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky 'farm boy' she is rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about - not mention her own - she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?

Annaliese? Or herself?"

The Unquiet's premise really piqued my interest and I couldn't wait to just pick it up and read. I enjoy stories where there are some sort of mental illness and the fact there was some paranormal in it as well, it just made me super excited when I got this book. See, I have a degree in Psychology and I work in the mental health field, so I have some background information on Bipolar disorder. I see people coming in to the office on a daily basis but I have no idea what it really like for someone living with that illness that it not off a textbook.

I totally enjoyed getting to know Rinn's character. She is this sarcastic, stubborn girl with a lot of sass but who is also vulnerable and distant because she is Bipolar. She's aware that she needs to take her medications but she also misses the 'high' she used to experienced when not on them. However, she is trying to keep her promise in taking them as a promise for her parent. When we first meet Rinn, my first thought was "Oh no. Don't tell me she's a bratty teenager with an attitude and complaining about not getting her way and etc...." But after that initial meeting, I was curious because we were introduced to Rinn, Rinn's mom Monica, Millie and Nate. Rinn and Nate were so cute in the first meeting and exchanging some funny quips about Rinn being a California girl and Nate being a farm boy.

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
(Mara Dyer #1)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Review by: Jenn

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.

3.5 stars out of 5 stars

Reading that synopsis, I was automatically intrigued. Right off from the beginning we are introduced to three girls, two of whom have some huge dislike toward each other, playing with an Ouija board. We meet Rachel, Mara's best friend, and Claire, who hates Mara. Now, I don't want to give anything away, but I do admit that by the end of that first chapter, or "Before" as Mara calls it, I was hooked. I had to know what happened next.

Unfortunately, we don't know all the details since Mara is just waking up from the accident and doesn't know herself. All we know is that Rachel, Claire and Jude (Claire's brother and Mara's boyfriend) are dead and Mara is the only one that survived. Afterwards, Mara asks her family if they could move and they end up in Miami. On Mara's first day of school we meet Noah Shaw. Now, he's an ass in the beginning. According to the high school rumors, he is this cocky guy that gets all the girls and I was turned off from that but I figured, I needed to have some patience and wait and see if he redeems himself. But I quickly realized that, yes he definitely redeems himself. And as he redeems himself, he bring on the funnies and the swoons. This is one of their first  conversations

"My God, you're like the plague." "A masterfully crafted, powerfully understated, and epic parable of timeless morale resonance? Why, thank you. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me," he said."The disease, Noah. Not the book.""I'm ignoring that qualification."

I love Mara's and Noah's back and forth quips. I can feel the attraction they feel towards the other. And for the swoons? 

'I closed my eyes and felt Noah's five o'clock graze my jaw, and the faintest whisper of his lips at my ear, "He was doing it wrong." ' *flails* Guh. 

Also, "Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever." Noah's eyes held mine. His stare was infinite. "I was made for you, Mara." *swoooooonnnssss*

Now, the only issue I had with book was the fact that I felt like Mara forgot about finding out why she was the only survivor and really only focused on the Noah. No matter how swoony he may have been,  I believe Mara was more infatuated with Noah and how gorgeous he was than to go out and find out what in the world was happening to her. (Although I can't really judge considering I spent the whole time swooning over Noah right alongside with Mara. I mean, you read that last quote, right??) Also, for that reason, the last half of the book felt sort of rushed for me and it one of the reason why I gave the book a 3.5.

My one other critique was that I had a hard time deciphering when Mara was hallucinating and/or dreaming or when something was actually happening. But so did Mara, so I guess you could just take it as good storytelling Ms. Hodkin's part.

Now, I had heard about this novel but I did not know it was series! And the second book comes out later on this year so I guess I'll be adding The Evolution of Mara Dyer to by TBR list!