Book Review: Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn

Title: Tokyo Heist

Author: Diana Renn

Genre: Contemporary YA, mystery, thieves

Publisher: Viking Children’s Books

Release date: June 14, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: DAC ARC Tour

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Violet loves reading manga and wearing scarves made from kimono fabric, so she’s thrilled that her father’s new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns into a dangerous treasure hunt. 

Her father’s newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van Gogh sketches have been stolen from their home, and, until they can produce the corresponding painting, everyone’s lives are in danger — including Violet’s and her father’s. 

Violet’s search for the missing van Gogh takes her from the Seattle Art Museum, to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo, to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery thickens, Violet’s not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to solve the mystery — before it’s too late.

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Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leah Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leah Bardugo

Series: The Grisha Trilogy #1

Genre: Fantasy YA

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co

Release date: June 5, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge, YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Source: NetGalley

Summary: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

Book Review: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: My Life Next Door

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Genre: Contemporary YA

Publisher: Dial 

Release date: June 14, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge, Completely Contemporary Challenge

Source: NetGalley

Summary: “One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase’s family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

Book Review: Secret Letters by Leah Scheier

Title: Secret Letters

Author: Leah Scheier

Genre: Historical Fiction YA, Mystery

Publisher: Hyperion Book Children’s

Release date: June 26, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge, YA Historical Fiction Challenge

Source: DAC ARC Tour

Summary: Inquisitive and observant, Dora dreams of escaping her aristocratic country life to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes. So when she learns that the legendary detective might be her biological father, Dora jumps on the opportunity to travel to London and enlist his help in solving the mystery of her cousin’s ransomed love letters. But Dora arrives in London to devastating news: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Her dreams dashed, Dora is left to rely on her wits–and the assistance of an attractive yet enigmatic young detective–to save her cousin’s reputation and help rescue a kidnapped heiress along the way.

Book Review: Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Title: Something Like Normal

Author: Trish Doller

Genre: Contemporary YA, military

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release date: June 19, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge, Contemporary Challenge

Source: NetGalley

Summary: When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.