Notice for Review Requests

I receive review requests weekly. However, my personal schedule is hectic and I no longer review actively. (I also manage another blog called The Toronto Cafe and Food Blog). I do read every request sent but I apologize in advance that I do not reply to them all.

If I do take on a request, I will forewarn that it may take some time before I can review it. I am now looking to review adult fiction and self-help books instead of young adult fiction because I have grown out of it. If you are to request a review for either adult fiction or self-help, I will more likely to give it a shot.

In the meantime, Stop, Drop, and Read! serves as an archive book review blog. When I have the time, I may post a review. Thank you for understanding.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Unfinished Reading: Invisible Things by Jenny Davidson

Title: Invisible Things
Author: Jenny Davidson
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 261
My Rating: 2/5

It is the year of 1938 and Sophie is currently staying with her friend, Mikael's, family in Denmark. She starts to become curious about her parents' deaths because they died in an explosion. She has a feeling it is just more than that and wants to know the truth. Meanwhile trying to figure out the secrets that are being kept from her, war threatens the country.

I usually never give a full-length review for books I don't finish and have them in Short & Simple instead. However, I haven't blogged for so long so might as well give my overall opinion on this one. So from now on, all the full-length reviews for the unfinished books will be under the Unfinished Reading tag.

I actually did not realize that Invisible Things is a sequel to Davidson's debut, The Explosionist, until I quickly skimmed other reviews before starting this one. So definitely for the first thing, covers of a series should always have some sort of reoccurring theme because this cover and the first look nothing alike. So I came in thinking that I am reading the first novel of the series.

When I read the description of the novel, it sounded interesting and I could use some historical themes in my YA reading. However, I was quite disappointed as you could probably tell already. The plot was extremely slow moving and that made it hard to follow. There was a lot of unnecessary detailed writing for actions and thoughts and so-forth that did not add anything to the novel but more reading to get to the main point. I have no comments for the main character or anyone else because like the plot, character development and voice went nowhere. Although I stopped at a point where things were starting to pick up, it was not enough to hold my attention to even know what the climax was.

If anything, I think this novel will appeal to history buffs. It has scientists such as the famous Niels Bohr and Alfred Nobel. I am honestly not too familiar with the history of Europe during the late '30s but this is an alternate historical novel so it wouldn't matter too much.

Review copy provided by HarperCollins Canada.
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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman

Title: Where the Truth Lies
Author: Jessica Warman
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 320
My Rating: 4.5/5

To everyone, Emily has a perfect life. She attends a prep school where her father is the headmaster of and has three best friends. However, for most of her life she has been having nightmares frequently, about either water or fire, but doesn't know why. She goes to therapy frequently but nothing helps.

Enter Del Sugar, a new boy in school with a mysterious background and has an attraction to Emily. She doesn't understand why he likes her, but nonetheless is compelled by his bad boy charm. Being with him makes her feel alive and she loves every second of it. But then the truth of Emily's past starts to unravel and things start to fall apart. What will she decide in the end?

When I first started out the novel, it was readable but didn't completely grab my attention. I had it by my bed for about two months until I decided to take a stab at it again.

The more I read, the more I was seeing bits of myself in Emily. When you have a character that you strongly relate to in any sense, you want to continue reading til the end to see what will happen to them. I won't spoil anything but everything her parents did was in order to protect her. I felt that she was similar to me in that aspect because I have such conservative parents and they won't let me do anything; but I know in the end they want what is best for me.

I found Del's part to be so interesting because he didn't like Emily for no apparent reason, compared to most YA novels I've read. Del is a very complex character and has quite a history of his own. I like that there are a lot of dimensions to him and Emily. So it was quite fascinating to read how both reacted to the same situation differently because of their mindset. Another character I found quite unique was Emily's long-time friend, Stephanie, because she had the biggest brother complex on the planet. The aspect she plays in the novel is that friends sometimes do no last forever and I love how the author added that to the book. No matter how long of a history that you and a friend may have, there are things in life that will separate you over time.

After reading this novel, especially if you're a young adult, it really does put things into perspective when it comes to being responsible. Emily did something that changed her life forever. It really put a huge strain on her and made her question a lot of things. I would be devastated if she was my daughter and knew what she went through. It really made me appreciate my parents.

This is a fantastic novel dealing with growing up and making hard decisions in life. Where the Truth Lies gives everyone something to think about.

Review copy provided by Penguin Canada.

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