Monday mini’s…

A, new, piping hot batch of mini reviews!

For when you love to read but hate to dissect, draft and format lol

You Don’t Know My Name (The Black Angel Chronicles #1) by Kristen Orlando

~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided in exchange for an honest review

“Fghter. Faker. Student. Spy.

Seventeen-year-old Reagan Elizabeth Hillis is used to changing identities overnight, lying to every friend she’s ever had, and pushing away anyone who gets too close. Trained in mortal combat and weaponry her entire life, Reagan is expected to follow in her parents’ footsteps and join the ranks of the most powerful top-secret agency in the world, the Black Angels. Falling in love with the boy next door was never part of the plan.”

My thoughts: You Don’t Know My Name starts out with a bang then sputters for most of the book until the dramatic and violent end.

Regan is torn between becoming the undercover, bad ass assassin her parents have trained her to be or the ordinary girl who gets to have friends, a boyfriend and tell people her real name for once.

Assassin girl? Fun! Girl falling for boy next door then sabotaging it because she can’t have nice things? Zzzzzz.

You Don’t Know My Name tries to be a cute romance and bad ass spy story at the same time and the transition between those two worlds isn’t smooth.

The exciting and climactic end when everything comes together is tempered by Regan’s relationship with her parents. For most of the book they’re kind of awful. They see Regan as the chosen one and train her hard. They don't care about her life outside of becoming the best. It’s hard to all of a sudden drum up a lot of feeling for them when they haven’t shown many for Regan. And the whole plot hinges on their love for each other.

If does have a action packed, pretty violent conclusion so if you like that kind of thing with a heavy dose of romance, this might be for you.

Wrecked by Maria Padian

~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided in exchange for an honest review

“Everyone on campus has a different version of what happened that night.

Haley saw Jenny return from the party, shell-shocked.

Richard heard Jordan brag about the cute freshman he hooked up with.

When Jenny accuses Jordan of rape, Haley and Richard are pushed to opposite sides of the school’s investigation. Now conflicting versions of the story may make bringing the truth to light nearly impossible—especially when reputations, relationships, and whole futures are riding on the verdict.”

My thoughts: I thought getting multiple pov’s from the night Jenny was raped would be an interesting concept.

Once I started reading though I realized that the victim herself doesn’t get a POV (although the reader does get “camera’s eye view” chapters of the night so they know the truth). Instead the POV's are split between Haley, Jenny's roommate and Richard, houesmate of the accused. They have a blossoming romance that's complicated by the case as it goes to court. It ended, from what I read, being about how it was affecting them and not Jenny, the rape victim, and that pissed me off and I couldn’t care less so I DNF’d this one. 

This has some rave reviews on Goodreads and hey - I DNF'd it so I could be wrong in my assumptions but this is just not for me.


The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz

~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

“Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead.

Everyone in Jaime’s small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that’s known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed—like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There’s only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.

Inspired by true events, The Only Road is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life.”

My thoughts: With immigration being a topic at the forefront of our politics, I think The Only Road is a great jumping off point for children to understand just what circumstances would drive a family to send their young children on such an arduous and uncertain journey to the US.

I believe The Only Road is a mid-grade novel (the protagonists are 12 & 15 years old) but the book pulls no punches with the violence and difficulties the children encounter. But it also a hopeful story so don't be turned off by that.

This would be a great book to read with your children to spur discussion.

I also hear there will be a sequel and I'm looking forward to reading that as well.