In a Nutshell Reviews

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights.

Olivia Twist
Lorie Langdon
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Romance
Publisher: Blink
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

​Olivia Brownlow is no damsel in distress. Born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, she is as tough and cunning as they come. When she is taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, her life goes from fighting and stealing on the streets to lavish dinners and soirees as a debutante in high society. But she can’t seem to escape her past … or forget the teeming slums where children just like her still scrabble to survive.

Jack MacCarron rose from his place in London’s East End to become the adopted “nephew” of a society matron. Little does society know that MacCarron is a false name for a boy once known among London gangs as the Artful Dodger, and that he and his “aunt” are robbing them blind every chance they get. When Jack encounters Olivia Brownlow in places he least expects, his curiosity is piqued. Why is a society girl helping a bunch of homeless orphan thieves? Even more intriguing, why does she remind him so much of someone he once knew? Jack finds himself wondering if going legit and risking it all might be worth it for love.

Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now eighteen, Olivia finds herself at a crossroads: revealed secrets threaten to destroy the “proper” life she has built for her herself, while newfound feelings for an arrogant young man she shouldn’t like could derail her carefully laid plans for the future.

I am such a fan of Oliver Twist in all its incarnations. I loved the book, the film, the play, and I always want some more. I was very interested in seeing Langdon put her spin on this story, and I must say, I was very pleased with the results.

• Pro: I was delighted that Langdon did not try to rewrite the original story, but rather, took us to a point after the end of Oliver Twist. We get small peeks into the past, which will seem familiar to anyone acquainted with the original story, and even get an appearance from a familiar face. 
• Pro: Olivia was a great heroine. She was fierce, feisty, and fabulous and had the biggest heart. She was essentially the anti-Victorian woman, and I loved her. 
• Pro: Jack was so swoony. He would say these things to Olivia that absolutely made me melt. He was also working so hard to be the best that he could be all for her. He wanted to be worthy of Olivia, and I am a sap for that sort of thing. 
• Pro: I absolutely loved being in Victorian London. Langdon did a wonderful job painting the picture of life in that day and age, and it was fun doing the party circuit with Olivia. 
• Pro: There was a lot going on this story, yet I never felt like it was too much. Langdon let it unfold in such a way and at a great pace, that it flowed nicely. 
• Pro: I loved the orphan boys. I really thought it was fabulous that Olivia had that link to her past, and sort of kept Olivia walking a fine line between her former street life and her posh upbringing. 
• Pro: I was a fan of the romance (of course). There was a lot of tension and electricity between these two, and they shared so much in their past, that they had a solid foundation to build upon. 
• Pro: Loved the ending! It was quite lovely and made me smile. 

Love? The word smashed into his chest like a cannon ball. Who was he kidding? Every street kid knew love was nothing but a myth. But to have her by his side - to know she was his - would be enough. 

Overall: A new take on a old favorite, that kept me flipping the pages with its mystery and suspense, but mostly with its romance.  

In Sight of Stars
Gae Polisner
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Klee’s father was the center of his life. He introduced Klee to the great museums of New York City and the important artists on their walls, he told him stories made of myths and magic. Until his death.

Now, forced to live in the suburbs with his mom, Klee can’t help but feel he’s lost all the identifying parts of himself—his beloved father, weekly trips to the MoMA, and the thrumming energy of New York City. That is until he meets wild and free Sarah in art class, with her quick smiles and jokes about his “brooding.” Suddenly it seems as if she’s the only thing that makes him happy. But when an act of betrayal sends him reeling, Klee lands in what is bitingly referred to as the “Ape Can,” a psychiatric hospital for teens in Northollow.

While there, he undergoes intensive therapy and goes back over the pieces of his life to find out what was real, what wasn’t, and whether he can stand on his own feet again. Told in alternating timelines, leading up to the event that gets him committed and working towards getting back out, Gae Polisner’s In Sight of Stars is a gorgeous novel told in minimalist strokes to maximal effect, about what makes us fall apart and how we can put ourselves back together again.

Shocker. I read another book about grief and loss, and I liked it, a lot. My penchant for this type of book is well known, but there were so many other things I loved about this beautifully written story of love, loss, and healing.

• Pro: The writing was exquisite. Besides it being so painfully beautiful at times, it also masterfully helped me slip into Klee's mental state. In the beginning of the story, where Klee was in crisis, the writing was a little choppy, but as Klee started working through his issues, it became more lucid and orderly. I thought that was brilliant. 
• Pro: I was also a fan of the story structure. Polisner slowly reveals how Klee ended up at Ape Can, and these pieces were revealed via remembrances of Klee's or by him recounting the events during therapy sessions as he started to come to terms with what brought him to this point. Once again, these memories are tinged by his mental state, and some were even revisited as he gained more clarity. 
• Con: I was not a super-fan of Sarah's. It was easy to see the girl was slightly damaged and not good for Klee, but I did think Polisner gave both Klee and Sarah some insight into each other at the end. 
• Pro: Dr. Alvarez, Klee's therapist, and Sister Agnes Teresa, a volunteer at Ape Can, were such stand out characters, and I loved how they each helped Klee on his road to recovery. Their approach was quite different, but both were so supportive and gave him exactly what he needed, when he needed it. They dropped a serious amount of wisdom nuggets too.  
• Pro: Speaking of wisdom nuggets. I found myself furiously highlighting throughout this book. So much food for thought. 
• Pro: All the van Gogh stuff was really interesting, and I liked the way Polisner wove those bits into the story. 

"And the sight of stars," she says, reaching up to point through the trees, "is always right there. Right in your line of vision. Even on the cloudiest day. They don't disappear, you know, just because the clouds are obscuring them. They're always still there. Waiting."

Overall: This was an achingly beautiful book about something painful, which I found to be honest, touching, and encouraging.

A Kiss in the Dark
Gina Ciocca
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

When the lights go out at a Georgia high school football game, Macy Atwood finds herself in the arms of a boy who kisses her senseless – but is gone by the time the lights come back on. All she knows is that there was something special – and oddly familiar – about her mystery kisser.

Noah Granger, Ridgedale’s resident bad boy and newest transfer student, has no problem taking credit for the kiss, but Macy can’t shake the feeling that he’s lying. Especially since a photograph of Macy and former star football player Joel Hargrove resurfaced online moments before the blackout, a not-so random reminder of how hard she fell for Joel last year. And how doing so ultimately sent her lifelong friendships with Meredith Kopala and Ben Collins up in literal smoke.

Soon junior year’s wounds begin to reopen as Macy realizes the events that unfolded are somehow tied to her mystery kisser. Discovering how means finally facing what really went wrong with Meredith, Ben, and Joel – and finding out what Noah is covering up.

But the closer Macy gets to figuring it all out, the more she starts to worry that the boy who kissed her in the dark and the boy who is stealing her heart might be two very different people.

I loved the concept of a stolen kiss in the dark. A kiss that felt familiar, but was shrouded in mystery. Macy's search for the identity of the kisser coincided with some friends from the past reemerging in her life. I enjoyed tagging along as Macy examined events from her past in order to figure out her present.

• Pro: The format worked really well for this story. There were several concurrent mysteries running through this story, and all were connected in some way to the events from Junior year, which lead to the demise of some friendships. Ciocca fed us bits and pieces from the past and present in such a way to keep me flipping the pages, and she aligned the past and present storylines in a way that was quite complementary and worked without disrupting the flow of the story. 
• Pro: I always enjoy a little mystery in a story, because I like trying to figure it out. I had my suspicions about several things, which I ended up being 100% right about, but there were other details revealed which were surprising, and I enjoyed getting to the big reveal. 
• Con: I thought the opening of the book was really strong, but then it stumbled a little. There were some things that seemed a little random thrown out there, but after that, I thought the story hit its stride and I was all in. 
• Pro: There was a lot of focus on family. Parents were present, and siblings played a actual role in the story. 
• Pro: Some social politics are explored, and I liked the small challenge to the school social hierarchy, and I am always a fan of that. 
• Con: I really thought this was going to be a romance. There was romance, but it was not the central focus of this story. Regardless, I still enjoyed the story, though I wished for more of a romantic slant.  
• Pro: Friendships are at the heart of this story. It explores the way secrets and lies can impact those important relationships, reinforcing the idea of how vital honesty is in a friendship. 
• Pro: Ben was seriously the best guy ever. I wanted to yell at everyone, who was not appreciating him properly. 
• Pro: After spending so much time finding out what everyone was hiding and why, I was happy to see Ciocca give all the characters good endings. The ending was really strong, and left me with a very favorable impression of this book. 

Pictures don't always tell the whole story. Sometimes they are worth a thousand words, and other times they tell a thousand lies. But then there are the times when photographs capture perfectly the things we failed to see, things we didn't even know about ourselves. 

Overall: A mystery, that led to repairing broken friendships, finding romance, and finding one's true self.  

** ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

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