Racing & Pounding: Bet Your Life - Jane Casey

Bet Your Life by Jane Casey 
Date Released: February 3, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 336 pages
Format: Hardcover
Source: For Review (Thanks!)
Rating: 4 Stars
Series: (Jess Tennant #2)

Goodreads Synopsis: Jess Tennant has now been living in a tiny town on the English seaside for three months, and is just beginning to relax and think of it as home after the traumatic events of last summer. But in the small hours of Halloween night, a teenage boy is left for dead by the side of the road. Seb Dawson has a serious head injury and may not survive. Jess might not have liked Seb much, but surely he didn’t deserve this. The police don’t seem to be taking the attack very seriously, but Jess can’t just let it go, and she takes matters into her own hands.

As she investigates, Jess discovers that Seb was involved in some very dangerous games. A secret predator around girls, he would do whatever it took to abuse them, from lying and blackmail to spiking drinks. Could a group of vengeful victims be behind his attack? Or is there someone else with a grudge against Seb, who will stop at nothing to silence him? Jane Casey returns with another edge-of-your-seat mystery in Bet Your Life.

From Goodreads

Bet Your Life by Jane Casey was such an unexpected book for me. I expected it to be kinda boring, but finishing it I loved the book a lot more! It was a great mystery novel with elements of a kick ass heroine, suspense, and lies. And it turned out to be a part of a series, which I did not know until writing this review, so I'll probably check out the first book.

In Bet Your Life, we meet Jess Tennant who's life is turned upside down when a boy, Seb Dawson suffers a head injury. The police take things into their own hands, but Jess decides to investigate it. I actually really got down who the characters are and who Jess is. Casey did a great job recapping the reader things from the first book, so it's good to say anyone could pick the book and easily distinguish the characters and plot. Jess was such a perfect protagonist for the story. I was easily able to relate to her and you could easily see yourself in her situation. She gave the book a voice and I found myself turning the pages faster seeing how she'll get herself out of a situation or get into a fight. Caset crafted great characters like Hugo, Ella, Jess and I liked them a lot.

The book overall did not really have a scary, creepy feel, but more of a thriller and suspenseful feel. I do wish that Casey added more creepy, eerie elements, but the book still came out strong. In addition, I also liked that the book did touch a bit on romance, but it did not completely overwhelm the book.

Overall, Bet Your Life was a great book, that anyone should pick up if their looking for a thriller kind of read. Jess was an amazing protagonist and anyone could easily relate to her. Pick up Bet Your Life right now!

Find Bet Your Life On:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday (#72) - Magnolia by Maria Dahvana Headley

 

 Waiting on Wednesday is Hosted by Jill @ Breaking The Spine

 

Goodreads Summary: Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds…two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

Why I'm Waiting For It: Ummm...first off, Stardust?! It's one of my favorite movies and since it's blurb with John Green's TFIOS, I have such big hope for this book!

The concept does sound a bit like Stardust, but I have a feeling Headley will take a different turn with the book and totally bring something unexpected. Plus, the cover looks amazing!

Magnolia will hit shelves on April 28, 2015 from HarperCollins

Find Magnolia On:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

Insurgent Movie!

 

Insurgent was hands down one of the best movies I watched this year! It was much more action packed and thrilling compared to the first movie. Amazing graphics and scenes, everyone NEEDS to watch it soon.

 Here's the trailer, if you have not watch it yet?

 Tris/Four Relationship:

As a fan of the books, I did feel like the relationship between Tris and Four in the movie was done really well. While there was some golden scenes between the two, it lacked more of Tris's rebellious spirit in the aftermath of Divergent. Also, I did like how the movie showed more intimate scenes between the two.

Action, Action, and more Action!
Insurgent was full on action packed with more violent scenes than the first. Honestly, there was sooo many shooting scenes with guns, little kids in my theater were watching them?! What?? It was much more intense, but it kept me awake and who doesn't love some good action? Tris and Four were kick ass, and Maggie Q was just as amazing as her role as Tori. 

The Acting/Actors
One thing that I believe makes the movie so well done and successful is the actors/actresses picked for the movie. In Insurgent we have Octavia Spencer (from the help) joining in the cast and Naomi Watts helped bring the movie together. It was get seeing both of them in the movie and acting from all the characters was on point. Shailene's acting was even better and I felt like she pushed herself much more than the first movie. 

The Ending
I might have been fuzzy on the details of the book, but the ending in the movie was crazy! Having read Insurgent wayyy back, I was no sure if that ending happened in the book. But it was soo shocking! Everyone at the theaters practically gasped at the end and I did too, such a big cliffhanger for the third movie. 

 Overall, Insurgent was an amazing and mind-blowing movie. It's definitely a movie you have to see yourself to watch to experience how amazing it is. Definitely watch it with friends or family soon, you will not regret it!

Fresh Off The Press (#41): March 23 - April 5

 Welcome to Fresh Off The Press! It’s where I'll showcase all the great books hitting shelves in a week. These are all YA titles and hope you get to pick them up soon! These books are releasing from (March 30 - April 5)

 Hardcover: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Paperback: 

 

 Amazing books this week I've got to say! I really need to pick up the Dorothy Must Die series, there's so much hype over it, I'm probably the last one to pick it up. The cover for Ash looks amazing! Be sure you guys restock your shelves for this week's books!