The Lying Game Book 2: Never Have I Ever

Emma might have just landed herself right where she needs to be and wants to be, which is close to finding out the truth about her sisters murder. With The Twitter Twins constantly trying to get her attention, the killer is sending her threats about stop digging or she'll be next. Emma thinks that the Twitter Twins are the killers because of what happened to Gabby (one of the Twitter Twins) on the night of the train track lying game. However, Emma finds out something completely unexpected and also finds someone completely unexpected at the end of the second book.
If I say anymore, it will destroy reading the second book, so I'll leave the summary at that. The second book opens up a whole other door, and Emma's attraction towards Ethan is getting stronger. Now that Ethan knows that she's not Sutton, they both have teamed up to find out who killed Sutton. 
 I must add that reading the books make me feel like I'm reading a completely different story than what I'm watching on ABC family. I prefer the books over the television show in any given day. Also the books make more sense as far as the story is concerned than the show. The show focuses more on the drama than the actual story. I would have loved seeing The Twitter Twins in the show and the books. I wish TV would stay true to the books.  

Emma is definitely the opposite of Sutton. However, after her death, Sutton is realizing just how horrible she was. Emma's character is strong, and she makes some great decisions. After Emma took over Sutton's life, things have become better around the Mercers house. A lot of Sutton's friendships have improved and Ethan is secretively making his way into Emma's life. However the tension still remains, and the killer is still loose. How long before the killer makes Emma play Never Have I Ever truthfully?

The Lying Game Book 1

Hey Everyone!

It's the start of the new year and I have read my first book of the year.

I know I'm a little late, and I apologize. I have been real busy trying to get settled in my new place and new town. Then I had to find the library in my new town and that wasn't easy but I finally found it. It was wedged in a corner and hard to find, but its great. It's bigger than the library I use to visit in my old town. Oh, the ultimate bliss of discovering the library. Now let's get started with my first review of the year.

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard had me spooked last night. I kept thinking that there was somebody watching me too just like Emma. I am still spooked whenever I pick up the series. The author doesn't give the readers a chance to relax. Emma is plunged into one danger after another. There is always someone to be weary of because this person might be a suspect in her twin sisters murder and there is always something going on that keeps us at the edge of our seats.

Yes, The Lying Game hit TV series is based off of these books, and let me tell you the books are 360 degrees better than the show. The show leaves so much out and adds so much unnecessary drama that its lame. In the book, Sutton is dead and is inside of Emma watching, hearing, and seeing everything through Emma's eyes. Emma doesn't know that Sutton is inside of her. The killer lures Emma into Sutton's life and tells her that she has to pretend to be Sutton and if she doesn't, she dies just like her sister. Now Emma is trying to find her sisters murderer before she gets killed just like her sister.

I love the dual personalities of the twins. Emma is sweet and Sutton is dangerous. However, now that she is dead, Sutton is starting to realize just how horrible she was. I also love how there is so much suspense created around Sutton's friends and family because the killer could be anyone because of the games Sutton played and the way she treated everyone. I also love Emma's character. She is real sweet and kind. She could have just relished the fact that she has family, friends and a great life, but she didn't. She doesn't want her sisters life. She wants to find out who killed her sister whom she never saw.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be spooked and freaked. I recommend this book to anyone who always thinks that maybe their friends don't like them as much as they think they do. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks that the Lying Game is a great series, but they wouldn't want to take any part of it because they would not want to end up like Sutton. 

Between Shades of Gray

I didn't know what to expect from this book. When I picked it up, I didn't want to finish or read it. I thought it was going to be sad and disturbing to read and I was right. It was worse than what I had imagined. These people were treated terribly and in this time period, during World War II, I bet this was exactly what happened. In Between Shades of Gray, we follow Lina's life as she shares with us what had happened to her and her family during World War II.  
Lina had a great life with her parents and brother, but one day Soviets burst through the door taking everything she loved with them, including her family. Her father was never heard from again and her mother, her brother and herself kept praying that he was alive.The Soviets tried to kill her brother. That very day, Lina realized that her brother's life was worth a pocket watch. Lina and the rest of the Lithuanians are deported across the world into a place where they are suffering from malnutrition, worked hard and do not have a clue as to the whereabouts of their husbands or fathers. The Lithuanians go through terror as they struggled to stay alive. For Lina, she finds hope and love in Andrius who seems to have taken a liking in her. Throughout the novel, Lina hopes that she can stay with Andrius and see her father again.
Lina was a courageous and brave character. I applaud her bravery in many scenes in this novel. She risked her life many times to feed her family and save her self-respect. However, she is more like her mother. Her mother is just as courageous and brave as she, but her mother is more kind and gentle than Lina. All in all, I admire Lina's character for sticking through these tough times. She sets a fine example that any obstacle, no matter how big or small, can be overcome and that love does endure. 
What I also liked about the novel is that we get to see Lina's life before and during the war. We also get to read a real live letter from Lina at the end of the novel because the author did write this story based off of a real girl named Lina. We also get to read about the authors origin and how much she researched to bring the stories of what to these people and what they  had gone through. This is a work of fiction, but there is a grain of truth behind this novel as well such as Lina, Andrius, and some of the others, but out of all of the people who went through this, Lina's voice broke the silence of history.
I appreciate the author writing this book and I hope she continues to write more. I also hope there is a sequel to this novel as well because I'd love to read what happens to Lina and her brother after that doctor came to help them.

Images

Hi Everyone!

From here on out, all images and pictures in this blog are owned, taken and created by me. If you'd like to use any of my images or pictures, please do request permission and I will or will not let you use it. Thank you!

New Title

Hi Everybody!

I just changed the title of my blog, and boy do I love it. I will not be changing my title again. Please leave me comments on what you think of my new title. I will also be changing the link of my blog as well to www.discoverimaginexplore.blogspot.com so do keep up to date with me. I will give you all some time to read this post and jot down that link up above, and then change it by the end of this week. So exciting! I hope you enjoy the title as much as I do, and I hope it inspires you to pick up a book and discover the amazing things it has to offer.

Amelia Bedelia's First Vote

Oh, great children's books. I just love reading children's books. They are easy to read and fun. 
Amelia's personality is vivacious. She loves to have fun and comes up with creative ways to do things. In this book, Amelia Bedelia's class gets to vote on a rule that will be enacted in class. However, the class ties and then an absentee vote comes in from a classmate that helps break the tie. We also see Amelia running into things and hurting herself, not intentionally, but she keeps running into others.
It's a great story for children especially those who want to know how to be fun and creative like Amelia. I highly recommend reading these books to everyone because everyone can learn from Amelia.

Best Friends Forever

It took me a while to write a post because I never really finished reading this book by Jennifer Weiner. Best Friends Forever just wasn't a book that I wanted to finish reading. Sure there is some conflict between Addie and Valerie. Their friendship needs repairing, and the story is written quite well too. It's told from different perspective's, but I just couldn't find a reason to care for Addie, nor Valerie because Valerie dumped her best friend in high school. She humiliated her in front of the whole cafeteria. I didn't care for Addie either because she never got over it. She never tried to find strength within herself to move forward and forget her so-called best friend. Sure after her mother died, she lost all the weight and got her degree, but I wished Addie would have done something cooler like build a better life for herself instead of just sitting at home and painting. It's like Valerie bought out the 'let's do things' side of her. I don't know. As a character, I didn't like Addie. I know there are people like her in this world, but its that kind of story that I don't like reading. People like Addie's lives are too boring. 
Now the way the story is written is good. The author does put some time into crafting the story and telling it from different point of views. I find this kind of storytelling interesting.
However, the way the story is crafted, the plot and the characters do not interest me. I wanted to find out what happens in the end, but I didn't care enough to finish it. I wanted more action and a character who wanted to overcome her obstacles in her life. This is my opinion. I have nothing to say against those people who did enjoy this story because reading stories are up to the person and their preference. 
Now here is what I've read so far about this story, Addie grows up with her parents and her brother. Her parents both work from home. She doesn't have a really redeeming life and doesn't do anything interesting, but then Valerie moves in with her mom, and all of sudden those two are great friends. Valerie brings out the lets do things side of Addie. However, Addie says that she does all the things with Valerie because she doesn't want to lose the only friend she has here. Then the other perspective in this story is that they both have grown up and are working. Valerie hurts Dan who hurt her in high school, so she comes to Addie asking her for help, and Addie still helps her even though she doesn't want to because of what Valerie did to her in high school. The other perspective in this story is that the police officer's wife divorces him because he just couldn't make her happy anymore. They both had failed in having a baby and in that their relationship failed too. This is where I stopped. There was too much going on and little focus. It's a steady paced story and I like fast moving plot with loads of action and conflict.