Review: Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

There is something to be said about not reading a book blurb. In discussing Cryer's Cross with Mel at He Followed Me Home, I was explaining to her how freaked out this book made me. Whether it's just my general chicken-ness for certain spooky scenarios or because of my different perspective as a result of knowing nothing going into it, we couldn't actually decide. Either way, this book was creepy (to me)!

Having read all of Lisa McMann's book to date, what I find refreshing about her writing is that she can get her ideas across in such a concise way. Her novels are short but this in no way hampers the story. There's a distinct detachment from the characters and storyline but at the same time, you still feel the intensity of what's going on. I think for me, it's this hard to pin-point factor that makes reading a Lisa McMann novel so compelling.

My foray into the story started off with about ten pages the first night; by the second, I had finished the book! I love a novel that can keep your attention like this. I had to find out what happened to Nico, I had to find out who the "we" were, and I had to find out if Jacian was capable of smiling, ever! For me, the sign of a good story is most felt when you walk away from the book but are left with something that makes it memorable. Cryer's Cross did just that, though what it has left me with is a compulsion to double check my door locks before bedtime. Thanks to Lisa McMann for another successful novel (and a little OCD of my own :-p )

Author signing and contest winner!

On March 3, 2010, I had the pleasure of seeing Lisa McMann, author of Wake, Fade, and Gone as well as Becca Fitzpatrick, author of Hush, Hush for a reading and signing. These were 2 very cool authors. We got to hear a bit from Lisa's new book, that's yet to be released and Becca read from Hush, Hush (nope, nothing from Crescendo though, sigh.)

Here is a pic of me and Mel from He Followed Me Home with the authors...still makes me giddy, lol.



This brings me to my contest winner:

I was offering up an ARC of Hush, Hush for my 100+ follower contest but was lacking in follow through when it came to drawing the winner. I apologize profusely for this!

I have remedied this today and announce the winner as.... Erin from Bookish in a Box ! Congrats to Erin! And to make up for my inexcusable delay, I had Becca sign the ARC while I was at the above signing. Does this make up for things? I sure hope so :-)

Review: Gone by Lisa McMann (Wake, book 3)

From the publisher:

Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she’d made her peace with it. But she can’t handle dragging Cabel down with her.

She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He’s amazing. And she’s a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves—she has to disappear. And it’s going to kill them both.

Then a stranger enters her life--and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she’d ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out....

Gone is the third book in the Wake series by Lisa McMann (I've previously reviewed the first two books in the series: Wake and Fade). I was anxious to see where things were headed, how they would conclude in this YA set. I have to say, Gone left me a bit disappointed. Some of the elements of the story did not wrap as nicely as I would have liked or they just didn't wrap up at all which actually leaves me hopeful. I think there is room for more from the main characters, Janie and Cabel, and have my fingers crossed the Lisa McMann may continure their story in the future.

In fact, all three of the books were quite small. I feel they could have been made in to a single, three sectioned book and that would have made book one in a series that might have delved into things like MRI's for Janie or continuing the sleep lab experiment, while adding in some trickier, more entertaining cases with the Captain. Perhaps there will be a fourth book, in the popular trend of four book trilogies.

Overall, I found Gone much better than Fade though I don't know that it lived up to the potential I felt in Wake. In saying that, Gone did reduce me to tears through one facet of the storyline. The entirety of the Wake series is still, in my opinion, well worth reading and I will continue to remain hopeful that we haven't seen the last of these characters.

Review: Fade by Lisa McMann (Wake, book 2)

Simon Pulse, February 2009
Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1416953582
ISBN-13: 9781416953586
Ages: 14 and up
Grades: 9 and up

Fade is the second book in the Wake Series by Lisa McMann (for my review of Wake, click here). I must admit, I didn't love this book as much as the first. The "case" that Janie and Cabel were put on this time just seemed a little on the lame side to me.

I did not let this deter me though. I still very much liked the way the book is written, in short, time-stamped entries. It makes things flow faster without a whole lot of fluff filler.

The part in this story that kept me interested in the series is the personal struggle of Janie and the potential effects her "talent" will have on her future. It's a topic that hits close to home for me, so I may have been more open and sympathetic to her plight than the "average reader". (Her vision issues, I mean, not her ability to jump into peoples dreams....I can't do that, lol.)

Overall, I felt this book was more of a bridge between the first and third novels, so it lacked a bit of the "wow factor" that I got from Wake. It is still a must read, if you plan on reading the third in the series, Gone, and I do still recommend Lisa McMann's books wholeheartedly.

Review: Wake by Lisa McMann

Product Details
Simon Pulse, March 2008
Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 1416953574
ISBN-13: 9781416953579
Ages: 14 and up
Grades: 9 and up

From the Publisher;

Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

I was fortunate enough to hear about this and snag a copy of the e-book that was being offered for a short time through simonandschuster.com. The publisher was allowing it to be downloaded for free and gives you 30 days to read it; I only needed one!

I got sucked into this story fairly quickly and it wouldn't let me go. Lisa McMann writes Janie's experiences like a date and time stamped journal or, perhaps, the form surveillance notes would take, which made the flow of the story very fast paced.

I think plot-wise it was a little thin, with Janie aiding the local police with a sting operation: it seemed a little simplistic. But what kept my attention were the human connections Janie made along with the possibilties of where Janie's life is headed and what she could achieve with her ability.

There seems to be a recurring theme with YA books (and I'll probably mention this often) where the parent(s) of the main character are almost non-existent. While I will acknowledge that this is true in some families, it can be hard to swallow as the norm in these books. It is a necessary factor, I suppose, in making the story as interesting as it is; it would complicate things if parents were running around interfering all the time. The teen character in question needs the element of freedom. Wake is no different, though I'm hoping that Lisa McMann will clear up why Janie's mom is the way she is in the follow-up books.

These minor negative aspects aside, I thought the concept was different when so many series' are centrered around vampires and werewolves, etc. I very much enjoyed reading Wake and have every intention of reading Fade and Gone, the second and third books in this trilogy.