In a Nutshell Reviews

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

Nice Try, Jane Sinner
Lianne Oelke
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Clarion Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

The only thing 17-year-old Jane Sinner hates more than failure is pity. After a personal crisis and her subsequent expulsion from high school, she’s going nowhere fast. Jane’s well-meaning parents push her to attend a high school completion program at the nearby Elbow River Community College, and she agrees, on one condition: she gets to move out.

Jane tackles her housing problem by signing up for House of Orange, a student-run reality show that is basically Big Brother, but for Elbow River Students. Living away from home, the chance to win a car (used, but whatever), and a campus full of people who don't know what she did in high school… what more could she want? Okay, maybe a family that understands why she’d rather turn to Freud than Jesus to make sense of her life, but she'll settle for fifteen minutes in the proverbial spotlight.

As House of Orange grows from a low-budget web series to a local TV show with fans and shoddy T-shirts, Jane finally has the chance to let her cynical, competitive nature thrive. She'll use her growing fan base, and whatever Intro to Psychology can teach her, to prove to the world—or at least viewers of substandard TV—that she has what it takes to win.

I actually pushed this one up my TBR, because I kept seeing reviewers EVERYWHERE talking about how uproariously funny this book was. You know what? It was as funny as everyone said it was.

• Pro: Jane was hilarious. She was wry, witty, and fluent in sarcasm. She was a keen observer, who didn't sugarcoat, and her observations were fabulous. Loved her!! Note: for those of you who get my reference, she totally reminded me of Daria, who I also loved. 
• Pro: Siblings!! I adored Jane and her younger sister, Carol. You could see the mutual admiration they had for each other, and it was a very lovely sisterly bond they shared. Carol was much more open about her feelings, but Jane gave a little here and there, and she eventually did something major, because she cared so much for Carol. 
• Pro: There were so many issues explored and I really enjoyed being there with Jane as she worked her way through. Jane tackled mental health issues, a crisis of faith, strained familial relationships, a failed romance, and issues with her friends. She was also trying to get her life back on track after her "personal crisis and her subsequent expulsion". There were many times I worried if she would give up, but she was determined to make this new opportunity work and to prove to herself and everyone else, that she cold do it. 
• Pro: The reality show, House of Orange, was fantastic. From the dynamic in the house to Jane's phycological experiments on the other players. I have watched quite a few reality competition shows in my lifetime, and this one was a great amalgam of many of my faves. It had all those signature elements I love and was terribly fun. 
• Pro: There were a few fabulous female friendships in the book. My faves were between Jane and her best friend, Bonnie, and between Jane and Jenna, which was unexpected. 
• Pro: Maybe we didn't get to know the auxiliary characters that well, but I adored each and every one of their quirks. They all had something quite unique about them, which delighted me and added to the fun. 
• Pro: I laughed every time Jane intentionally butchered an idiom just to get a rise from her father. It was harmless, but he took the bait every time. 
• Pro: I am a fan of alternate formats and really liked that this story was told through Jane's journal entries. Jane's narrative is interspersed snippets of conversations and, it worked really well for me. I especially liked how Oelke let the drama unfold, only letting us know bits and pieces of why Jane was expelled. When I finally got the whole story, my heart pretty much cracked in half for her. 
• Pro: This is Jane's climb back from the depths of despair and failure, and I love that the ending is so positive. 

Jane totally reminded me of Daria

Overall: I so enjoyed accompanying Jane on her rocky road to recovery. It was filled with humor as well as thoughtful reflection. A solid debut, which has me looking forward to reading more of Oelke's work.

The Upside of Falling Down 
Rebekah Crane
Series: n/a
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Skyscape
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

For Clementine Haas, finding herself is more than a nice idea. Ever since she woke up in an Irish hospital with complete amnesia, self-discovery has become her mission.

They tell her she’s the lone survivor of a plane crash. They tell her she’s lucky to be alive. But she doesn’t feel lucky. She feels…lost.

With the relentless Irish press bearing down on her, and a father she may not even recognize on his way from America to take her home, Clementine assumes a new identity and enlists a blue-eyed Irish stranger, Kieran O’Connell, to help her escape her forgotten life…and start a new one.

Hiding out in the sleepy town of Waterville, Ireland, Clementine discovers there’s an upside to a life that’s fallen apart. But as her lies grow, so does her affection for Kieran, and the truth about her identity becomes harder and harder to reveal, forcing Clementine to decide: Can she leave her past behind for a new love she’ll never forget?

I was lucky to stumble upon Crane's last book, The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland, last year, and enjoyed it immensely. Therefore, when I saw The Upside of Falling Down, I knew right away, that I had to read it, and you know what? It was utterly delightful!

"It's the upside of falling down," Kieran says. "It's why you jump in the first place...for that moment."

• Pro: The whole theme of the book is fabulous! It's about new beginnings and possibilities. Clementine's amnesia freed her from her past, and it was so wonderful being there with her as she tried to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be. 

  I died and was reborn on June 18 in a plane crash in Ballycalla

• Pro: I really enjoyed getting to know the people who became Clementine's inner circle. They were a very colorful group of characters, who were quite layered, and I really appreciated what they brought to the story. Clive and Stephen both won me over with their big, beautiful hearts! 
• Pro: Kieran was a complicated guy. He was dealing with his own crisis, as he struggled with who he wanted to be and who his father wanted him to be. The Kieran I loved, was the one we saw when he temporarily left those worries for another day. He was very sweet, doting, generous, and very dedicated to those he loved. I was really pleased when we got to the bottom of his issues. 

  That's the dare I'm most afraid of - to live the life I choose.

• Pro: I loved being in Clementine's head. There was so much going on in there, and some of her reflections were quite amusing. 
• Pro: Though this book explores some weighty topics, it stays on the lighter side. 
• Pro: I thought it was great the way Crane slowly revealed Clementine's memories, because it lead to a rather BIG twist, which I didn't see coming until it was more or less upon us. 
• Pro: I adored the setting! I visited Ireland back in 2007, and Crane brought me back to all those lovely places I had visited. 
• Pro: The ending left me with a perma-smile, so I would say it was pretty solid. 

Some pictures from my trip to Ireland.

Overall: I utterly adored this book! The fabulous characters plus the delightful setting, the sweet romance, and endless possibilities left me with a big stupid grin on my face. File it under "makes-me-happy".

Truly Devious
Maureen Johnson
Series: Truly Devious, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

I do not read a ton of mysteries, but when I saw that Maureen Johnson was writing a new series, I knew this was a must read for me. All I have to say is, Johnson may make a mystery reader out of me yet, because I was utterly engrossed in this story from start to finish.

• Pro: What more can you ask for then a twofer? Johnson has two mysteries in this story, one in the present and one in the past. 
• Pro: I thought it was brilliant the way Johnson told the story. I liked the mix of flashbacks, interviews, and oral history to deliver the backstory on the Ellingham kidnappings. They were placed really thoughtfully in the present day story too. I felt like there were parallels between the two mysteries, which were highlighted by the way the two tales were woven together. 
• Pro: The cast of characters are pretty fantastic. They are each distinct and interesting, and I know I want to get to know them better. 
• Pro: One of my favorite characters was Stevie. She was amusing and quirky. You don't meet a lot of kids that interested in true crime. I loved her passion for it, and am rooting for her to solve the case. 
• Pro: The flashbacks had this classic whodunit tone, which really set the mood for me. 
• Pro: This school was incredible! I am already a huge fan of boarding schools, but this one is in a class all its own. As a former educator, I was salivating over the personalized curriculums, but I also was won over by Vermont. 
• Pro: The puzzle pieces were doled out so well! I collected the clues, piece by piece, and I love that I was given an opportunity to figure some things out, before they were explained to me. That's the fun of any mystery. 
• Pro: There was a part of the storyline, that I did not quite understand, but there was a big reveal at the end, which explained it. That ending left me eager to see where this is going and gave me grabby hands for the next book. 

Overall: An intriguing page-turner filled with suspense and marvelous characters. 

Bonus: Quiz - Do you have what it takes to solve the mystery of Truly Devious?

**I would like to thank the publishers for the advanced copies of these books.

Have you read any of these books?

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