Spy for the Spiers (Meet Abby Banks #3) by J.A. Cipriano

An assassin out for revenge. A hidden tomb. An unlikely ally.

When the agency is brought to its knees by a couple of masked maniac, only Abby is left in a position to stop them from taking over completely. If she doesn't step in to stop Flash and Bang, the agency trying to kill her will be wiped off the planet.

The only catch is, if the agency dies, so will her father.

Spy for the Spiers is the third book in the Meet Abby Banks spy thriller series. Readers who enjoyed Sara Shepard's Lying Game series, Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series, or Robert Muchamore's Cherub series, will likely enjoy this young adult spy adventure.

After reading book number two in the Meet Abby Banks series, with a little bit of a confused opinion, I wanted to immediately continue to the third book, to try to straighten things out a bit. 

This book starts with a fight with a mechanical werewolf and features other random robot animals and ninjas and such, my particular favorite was a robot octopus pilot. 

I liked this book a lot more than book #2. The second book felt a little too all over the place, but this one was more focused on the main plot that worked up to the crazy ending. 

I thought that Meet Abby Banks was going to be a trilogy, but judging from the ending, there will be more to come. I'm really excited to see what happens next! 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Check out my GoodReads review!

The Spy Within (Meet Abby Banks #2) by J.A. Cipriano

Some people don't believe in government conspiracies. They're wrong. 

When sixteen-year-old Abby Banks escaped from the clutches of her terrorist mother, she thought she was home free... and she would have been if the government agency tasked with protecting her hadn't decided she was worth more dead than alive.

Now the only thing standing between Abby and freedom is the agency that kidnapped her as a young girl.

No big deal, right?

I read the first book in this series, May Contain Spies, about a year ago and enjoyed it. I was sent the sequel, but it kind of got buried under school work, a new job, and a crazy long list of other things. So, when I finally picked up book #2 of the Meet Abby Banks series, I was upset at myself for waiting so long to see what happened. 

The series started out well.  The first book was really well-written, but sometimes this book seems a little bit busy. There are a lot of moving parts to it. While it's not necessarily hard to follow, I think more could be added to make everything flow a little better. 

I'm not sure how I felt about the end of this book. With everything else going on, the plot that was the focus of the ending didn't seem like it was really a big deal in the context of the whole book. I feel like it would have been better to with more focus on that aspect of the story, leading up to the end.

Overall, this book was alright. The first was better, but this was worth the read, and I'm definitely going to keep going and read the third book, to see what happens to Abby, next.

I'll update in a couple of days and let you know how book #3 goes.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Check out my GoodReads review!

Irena's Children: Young Readers Edition (Review) by Tilar J. Mazzeo & Mary Cronk Farrell

From New York Times bestselling author Tilar Mazzeo comes the extraordinary and long-forgotten story of Irena Sendler -- the 'female Oskar Schindler' -- who took staggering risks to save 2,500 chidren from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II -- now adapted for a younger audience.

Irena Sendler was a young Polish woman living in Warsaw during World War II with an incredible story of survival and selflessness. And she's been long forgotten by history.

Until now.

This young readers edition of Irena's Children tells Irena's unbelievable story set during one of the worst times in modern history. With guts of steel and unfaltering bravery, Irena smuggled thousands of chldren out of the walled Jewish ghetto in toolboxes and coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through the dank sewers and into secret passages that left to abandoned buildings, where she convinced her friends and underground resistance network to hide them.

In this heroic tale of survival and resilience in the face of impossible odds, Tilar Mazzeo and adapter Mary Cronk Farrell share the true story of this bold and brave woman, overlooked by history, who risked her life to save innocent children from the horrors of the Holocaust. 

I have read several books about people who were sent to concentration camps during World War II, but I haven't read a book that focuses on the people who helped those being persecuted and subject to atrocities at the hands of the Nazis. And after reading this book, I have no clue why not!

Note from the author: "Some parts of the story are so terrible, I didn't want to write them, they might be sad and painful for you to read. But if we don't know abut the Nazi's brutality, we can't begin to understand Irena's journey."

This book is an edition designed for young readers. However, it is an enjoyable read for all ages. It was an especially good read for someone who didn't know anything about Irena and her brave acts during the war.

Irena was younger than me when the war started. When I think about what I was doing and what my mindset was at the same age that she was doing AMAZING things and saving lives... smh *sigh*

Before the war, Irena worked at a social welfare office that ran soup kitchens all over Warsaw. When she could no longer help people with the soup kitchens, she recruited her friends to help save children from being killed by the Nazis.

I am sad that more people don't know Irena's story. The end of the book explains a little about why that is, thought.

After WWII, the Soviet's didn't like Irena and her group that worked so hard to save OVER 2,500 CHILDREN. So, her story was buried and wasn't dug up until 1999, when a group of American teenagers produced a play for their high school about Irena's life, called Life in a Jar.

More people should learn this part about what was going on during WWII! Lots of people have heard the story of brave people who hid from the Nazis and escaped death, but Irena and her friends did not hide. They risked their lives on a daily basis, stood up to the Nazis and played their game, often outsmarting them to help save lives.

Irena Sendler was a short, blond woman that the Nazis, and most others that met her, underestimated. This, combined with her intelligence, courage and compassion, led to saving over 2,500 children.

This book was EXCELLENT, and I recommend it to absolutely everyone. It is touching, inspiring, and a great, quick and easy read.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black (A Review)

Centeries of war with aliens threaten the future of human civilization on earth in this gripping, epic science fiction debut...

We never saw them coming.

Entire cities disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but dust and rubble.

When an alien race came to make Earth theirs, they brought with them a weapon we had no way to fight, a universe-altering force known as thelemity. It seemed nothing could stop it--until we discovered we could wield the power too.

Five hundred years later, the Earth is locked in a grinding war of attrition. The talented few capable of bending thelimity to their will are trained in elite military academies, destined for the front lines. Those who refused to support the war have been exiled to the wilds of a ruined Earth.

But the enemy's tactics are changing, and Earth's defenders are about to discover this centuries-old war has only just begun. As a terrible new onslaught looms, heroes will rise from unlikely quarters, and fight back.

I must start off by saying that I was really surprised how long it took me to read this book. I usually get through books pretty quickly, but this one took me 5 or 6 nights instead of my normal 2 or 3. It was a little slow, but not boring, slow. There is just a whole lot of world building, but this definitely adds to the story.

So, by day 5, I was ready to finish it up, but I wasn't upset that I still had another few chapters to read on day 6. It was a really good book.

The author does a great job of weaving a few very different POVs in throughout the book. This is what makes it a little slow. Each character has a completely different life at the beginning, some in completely different settings (and almost different worlds). So, when I say there is a lot of world-building, it's not necessarily just one world. He did a great job of making it not boring, though.

I saw a couple of reviews that said this book was too slow and featured too many characters and POVs. I don't think so, though. I think the author just wanted to make sure all the world and all its characters were well-established. I think the fact that he did this in Ninth City Burning will definitely contribute to the next book. Even though it might have made this book longer, it will make it a lot easier to jump into the next book, since we already know everything we need to know about Ninth City and its characters.

Looking forward to seeing what happens next with Torro, Naomi, Jax, Rae, Venn, Kez and everybody else! I'll definitely read the sequel!

I received this book from the publishers, via First to Read, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Check out my GoodReads review!

Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor (A Review)

Skip O'Rourke is dragged into one last con... but he doesn't know the con's on him in this funny, page-turning debut YA for fans of Winger and Ocean's Eleven.

Cameron Smith attends an elite boarding school and has just been accepted to Princeton University, alongside his beautiful girlfriend, Claire. Life for Cameron would be perfect, except that Cameron Smith is actually Skip O'Rourke, and Skip O'Rourke ran away from his grifter family four years ago.... along with $100,000 of their "earnings" (because starting a new life is not cheap). But when his uncle Wonderful tracks him down, Skip's given an ultimatum: come back to the family for one last con, or say good-bye to life as Cameron.

"One last con" is easier said than done when Skip's family is just as merciless (and just as manipulative) as they've always been, and everyone around him is lying. Skip may have given up on crime, but there's one lesson he hasn't forgotten: always know your mark. And if you don't know who your mark is... it's probably you.

Witty and irresistibly readable, this standout debut will always keep you guessing. 

This was a great, quick, easy fun read! It was nice to read something different than what I usually read. I've n

It's fiction but reads like a memoir of an extremely dysfunctional family of thieves. It's got a great blend of suspense and humor that makes it a very enjoyable read, and the twists and turns keep happening until the very end. 

I recommend this book to pretty much anyone, regardless of what genre you usually read. It's not something that I would usually pick up, but how much I liked it didn't surprise me in the least. It was just an all-around good book. So, if you want something funny and light to read, try it out.

I received this book from the publishers, via First to Read, in exchange for an honest review.

Check out my GoodReads review!

Kanye West Owes Me $300: & Other True Stories from a White Rapper who Almost Made it Big by Jensen Karp (A Review)

After Vanilla Ice, but before Eminem, there was "Hot Karl," the Jewish kid from the L.A. suburbs who became a rap battling legend--and then almost became a star.

When 12-year old Jensen Karp got his first taste of rapping for crowds at his friend's bar mitzvah in 1991, little did he know that he was taking his first step on a crazy journey--one that would end with a failed million-dollar recording and publishing deal with Interscope Records when he was only 19. Now, in Kanye West Owes me $300, Karp finally tells the true story of his wild ride as "Hot Karl," the most famous white rapper you've never heard of.

On his way to (almost) celebrity, Jensen shared his childhood run-ins with rock-listening, southern California classmates, who tell him that "rap is for black people," and then recounts his record-breaking rap battling streak on popular radio contest, "The Roll Call"--a run that caught the eye of a music industry hungry for new rap voices in the early '00s.

He also introduces his rap partner, Rickye, who constitutes the second half of their group, XTra Large; his supportive mom, who performs with him onstage; and the soon-to-be-household-name artists he records with, including Kanye West, Redman, Fabolous, Mya, and will.i.am.

Finally, he reveals why his album never saw the light of day (two words: Slim Shady), the downward spiral he suffered after, and what he found instead of rap glory. 

Full of rollicking stories from his close brush with fame, Karps's hilarious memoir is the ultimate fish-out-of-water story about a guy who follows an unlikely passion--trying to crack the rap game--despite what everyone else says. It's 30 Rock for the rap set; 8 Mile for the suburbs; and quite the journey for a white kid from the valley.

I’ll  admit it, I wanted to read this book for the title alone…. And I expected it to be funny.

The book was not quite what I expected, but it was as enjoyable as I wanted it to be.

It is the story of another white rapper, who was coming up at the same time as Eminem. Although he made quite a bit of money, nothing ever came of his Big Break, because he was railroaded by Eminem (or Eminem’s people, as is specified several times in the book). I guess they didn’t want to place the blame too heavily on Eminem.

The fact seems to be true today of female rappers. There can only be one at the top, as you can see from the shade Nikki Minaj threw at Iggy Izalia at some award show. As was back in the day of Eminem’s rise to fame….

Who knows, perhaps the guys at the top thought it would be too much for us to handle: TWO white rappers.

This is the reason I never heard of Hot Karl, until I read this book, that is. I have to admit, it was kind of strange reading his lyrics, instead of hearing them actually set to music (especially hearing the lyrics in my head with my not-so-rapper-ish voice and no beat). He is pretty funny though.

Very enjoyable, Hot Karl!

Don’t feel too bad for him, not making it big in the rap game, though. He did pretty damn well for himself and owns a crazy popular pop culture art gallery, and does about a million other things that he’s successful at in Hollywood… as Hot Karl (or Jensen, as he goes by now), said recently, ALMOST equivalent to the club promoter of Hollywood… but not quite. (yes, I’ll also admit that I Googled Hot Karl after finishing the book and watched a few minutes of a podcast he was a guest on, promoting the book.

That’s gotta tell you that it was good. It doesn’t matter if you like rap or not, it’s a pretty funny book, 

I would recommend it to anyone, as long as they have a little knowledge of early 2000 music, otherwise, you won’t get a lot of the references. 

Check out my GoodReads review of this book!

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This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a  new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open. 

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting. 

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four farrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!

I read it in a day.

It was a great story and very well written.

I've been wanting to reah it since before it was released and just got a copy off a long hold list from the library. It was well-worth the wait.

This is one of the best YA books I've read in a while. 

In today's society, this book gives an excellent look into something that's been happening all too often, and it gives a glimpse at how it doesn't just affect the injured or killed, but people that didn't show up to school, their families, their friends, their exes...

It also demonstrates how something so terrible can bring people together and connect them in a way they many probably don't understand. 

I wasn't expecting to like this book this much and was very pleasantly surprised. I really just wanted to read it, because I kept seeing things about it. However, I recommend it to anyone, regardless of what genre you usually like.