Bibliophile Support Group

The Originals is a YA mix of contemporary and sci-fi by Cat Patrick. As three identical little girls, Lizzie, Ella and Betsey believed themselves to be triplets – who wouldn’t? But when their mother was forced to tell them the truth, the stark danger of their situation became very real… To hide their secret from the rest of the world, the three now seventeen-year-old girls appear to the world as one daughter: Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey switching off throughout the day to play their respective parts. First half of school, second half, and after school. But when Lizzie is switched to second half because she is failing her math classes, since her mom doesn’t want anyone to ever look closer at the girls for any reason, she meets Sean Kelly. He’s cute, smart, and interested in artistic things… like her. And somehow he seems to recognize that she seems different than before. He recognizes… her. Having grown up as one-third of a person, Lizzie realizes that it’s no...

Awaken is the third novel in the contemporary myth-retelling Abandon trilogy by Meg Cabot. It’s the end of a trilogy. So, you know what I’m going to say. Have you read Abandon ? Have you read Underworld ? Well, those are books one and two – so, if you haven’t, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW !!! Instead, click on their titles and be whisked away to my reviews of those prior novels – and then go read the books!!! Don’t go spoiling yourself here, okay? Last chance to avert your eyes before the synopsis begins… Seventeen year old Pierce Oliviera is not a normal teen girl. For multiple reasons. One, she’s died when she was fifteen. Or, actually, we should say she was murdered when she was fifteen. But only temporarily. She was revived. While she was dead she met John – John Hayden, lord of the Underworld. Extremely good looking, brooding, and wearer of tight pants. After being revived she fought his affection – if that’s what you can call it when it was always rather angr...

A Most Peculiar Circumstance is a historical romance novel by Jen Turano. This is also the second book in the Ladies of Distinction series; though it doesn’t say so on the novel itself. I wasn’t fully aware of this and read it anyway – yet I would strongly suggest starting with A Change of Fortune , if you’re able! It’s 1880 and Miss Arabella Beckett has been traveling around the country giving speeches and spreading her strong belief in the women’s suffrage movement. But when she lands in jail, covered in pig’s filth, well… It slows her down a bit. There’s an explanation of course, but no explanation is good enough for the acclaimed private investigator Mr. Theodore Wilder who has been trying to track her down for longer than he expected. The idea that a woman would get herself in trouble like this – a lady, at that – confounds him. As a friend of her brother’s, though, he’s determined to get her back home to New York – where she was planning on heading next anyway. Once...

This is What Happy Looks Like is a contemporary YA novel by Jennifer E. Smith. When Ellie O’Neill responded to the email, she only did it because it was an obvious mistake. One letter or number missing or added to the email address and it ended up in her inbox. A simple reply letting him know he got the wrong person and that unfortunately she would not be able to walk his dog – that’s what started it all. Then she finds out he was talking about his pet pig, not dog. That small string of emails, laced with humor, interest and a harmless sense of enjoying the conversation became a three-month long correspondence. Anonymous. Secret. Ellie looked forward to his emails. Graham Larkin, on the other side of the internet, was refreshed by the emails because it was the first time in a long time that he was being talked to like any other seventeen-year-old guy – instead of the movie star hunk known around the world. Seizing an opportunity to visit Ellie’s hometown, Graham moves his ne...

Unbroken is the follow-up to Paula Morris’s YA modern ghost story set in New Orleans, Ruined . If you haven’t read the atmospheric, creepily good Ruined – read my review here . And don’t read the review of Unbroken yet. But if you have – read on! It was one year ago that Rebecca Brown left New Orleans changed. Spending quality time with a ghost, ending a longtime curse, finding out you’re actually related to a deep-rooted family connected to said curse, and almost being killed can do that to you. But when Rebecca gets a chance to return for a short time with her father and best friend (who is none the wiser on the aforementioned activity of last year), she feels an undeniable pull. The city is hypnotic – and she’s hoping to see a certain handsome boy: Anton Grey. Yet it’s not long before she realizes that seeing Lisette last year was not a fluke or a one-shot deal. A new blue-eyed ghost is asking for her help. Unable to turn her back on him, she tries – but is Rebecca no...

Dolled Up to Die is the second novel in the humorous mystery series The Cate Kinkaid Files by Lorena McCourtney. Even though Dolled Up to Die stands alone well, I think, I would still strongly recommend that you read the series in order. So, if you haven’t already, go read Dying to Read . It’s hilarious, and I loved it!!! You can also check out my review of Dying to Read here . Onto the brief synopsis of Dolled Up to Die : Cate is starting to get a better handle on being an assistant private investigator. Emphasis on assistant. After her rather eventful, turn-for-the-worse earlier case, things have calmed down and been more like what her uncle originally described for the job. That wasn’t meant to last long. After receiving a disturbing phone call frantically telling her about a triple homicide, Cate can’t help but show up at the caller’s home. After all, the lady said that the police were taking their sweet time – which Cate found highly odd – and Cate just couldn’t ignore...

The Grass is Always Greener is the third and final novel in Jen Calonita’s contemporary fiction series, Belles . Don’t roll your eyes, you know the drill! As a bibliophile, you do NOT want to spoil any book you’re reading by reading them out of order! So, if you have not yet read the first books, Belles , or the second book, Winter White , click on their titles to read those reviews instead and AVOID THIS REVIEW ! Now, assuming the rest of you have already read the first two novels in the series, shall we commence with a brief synopsis of The Grass is Always Greener ? After finding out that the wealthy politician pretending to be her uncle and new guardian was her father – and therefore her “cousins” her siblings – Izzie has just recently started to settle into her Cinderella-like life change. Her half-sister Mira and she are starting to bond - and merge their old lives with their new life, including trying to deal with the scandal, reporters, and overall publicity that sur...

The Mirrored Shard is a YA steampunk fantasy and the third novel in the Iron Codex trilogy by Caitlin Kittredge. If you have not read The Iron Thorn and The Nightmare Garden you should avoid this review for spoilers. Instead, feel free to click on the titles and see my reviews of those two! Okay, I’m giving you one last chance to turn away… Spending time in the Thorn Land with her mother, who has been insane for most of Aoife’s life, has not gotten her anywhere. When Dean was killed in the Arctic, her mother told her she could help Aoife bring him back – if only she came with her to the Thorn Land. Now, Aoife is pretty sure that is a lie. Needing to get out of the ethereal, haunting fey land and back to the Iron Land that may slowly poison her mind but provide more answers as to how to bring Dean back from the dead, Aoife starts to plot. On top of all that, she must face the choices she has made that has endangered and changed the world and the powers coming in to pla...

Eleanor & Park is a YA 1980s coming-of-age novel by Rainbow Rowell. It’s 1986 and Eleanor’s brilliantly red, curly hair makes her impossible to not see as she steps onto the school bus for the first time. It also makes her an excellent target when you combine it with her odd, eclectic assortment of clothing and the fact that she’s brand new. Unable to watch the horror show, Park offers her a seat by him – in urgent, angrily embarrassed undertones. And then everything changes. This is the moment that Eleanor and Park met their first love – each other. I really don’t want to give more details of Eleanor & Park than that. I didn’t have more, and oh what an experience this novel was!! I loved the slow burn to the romance – that it wasn’t attraction based but initially built on kindness, like interests, and sharing small, but significant, pieces of themselves. Startlingly authentic and genuine, I think it might be impossible for Eleanor & Park to not tug at your...

Ironskin is a fantasy novel by Tina Connolly. Five years after The Great Fey War many victims remain – the ironskin. Jane Eliot is one of them. Wearing an iron mask over half her face helps to contain the fey curse that mars her – that tries to give off unearthly feelings of rage to herself and those around her. The beauty she once had is no more. But she finds a semblance of peace in helping others deal with their own fey curses. So, when she answers a listing for a governess to assist with a little girl born during the Great War, Jane reads between the lines. Dorie, though, is a stubborn child with a curse completely unique to anything Jane has seen before. The child has no wish to suppress her curse – and trying to teach her how is met with frustration and misery. While persisting, Jane can’t help but be intrigued by Dorie’s artist father Edward Rochart whose secretive work seems to involve many beautiful women… Beneath all the enigma and hard work there is a dangerou...

Small Town Girl is a historical fiction novel by Ann H. Gabhart. In 1941, Rosey Corner is quietly slipping into the autumn season as rumors of war whisper about. This can’t help but be far from Kate Merritt’s mind, though, as she watches her older sister marry the man she loves. It seems it has always been this way – what Kate wants is unattainable. Yet when Jay Tanner arrives in town to be the best man, part of her awakens. His flirtatious teasing of eloping and kissing – which she refuses, of course – can’t help but draw her attention a bit. With a practical mind like Kate’s, however, it’ll take more than that to turn her head. But as America is stunned by the tragedy of Pearl Harbor – things change… Small Town Girl is a follow-up to Gabhart’s previous Angel Sister , which I have not read. It stands alone just fine, but if you’ve read Angel Sister you might be happy to get a chance to see Kate older. I love WWII times in historical fiction. Last year when I read Sar...

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is a YA contemporary novel by Elizabeth Eulberg. Everybody likes Lexi. She’s funny, smart, self-deprecating and… well, likable. But she’s not the girl that gets the dates, the attention, and the notice of guys… She’s the one guys like to hang out with because she has a “great personality”. The kiss of death. On top of that, her seven-year-old sister Mackenzie is a pageant girl – praised for her beauty. Deciding enough is enough, Lexi steps out of the sidelines. Maybe with some makeup and better clothes her longtime, sadly attached crush Logan will notice her, maybe her pageant-obsessed Mom will be proud of her, and maybe she’ll finally get a date. It’s time to be noticed for more than a “great personality”. There’s going to be a ton of readers who will love Revenge of the Girl with a Great Personality. I’m happy for them! Unhappily, it was not me. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Eulberg’s Prom and Prejudice , but since then...