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Brian, Kate
8 Reviews
(4)
YA
Shadowlands series.
Rory's father is in the hellish Shadowlands and her boyfriend Tristan is a wanted criminal. As she tries to discover what evil lurks in limbo Juniper Landing, Rory finds herself drawn to Joaquin, Tristan's best friend. Like Shadowlands and Hereafter, the story teeters on overblown and its characters remain weak, but the love triangle is emotional and sexy and Rory's dilemma adds tension.
Reviewer: Sian Gaetano
(4)
YA
Rory discovers that her math teacher is a serial killer when he tries to murder her on her walk home from school. After evading him, she and her family are sent to Juniper Landing as part of the witness protection program. The killer follows. Halfway through, this suspenseful and exciting story, seemingly realistic, takes a turn into (frustratingly slow) fantasy.
Reviewer: Sian Gaetano
(4)
YA
Having just learned that she's dead, Rory (Shadowlands) must deal with being a "Lifer"--a spirit destined to stay in limbo to usher others to their final destinations. As Rory deciphers the rules of her afterlife, her new home undertakes a sinister change. The character development is thin, but the plot contains some impressive surprises.
Reviewer: Sian Gaetano
(3)
YA
Set in 1915 at the Billings School for Girls, this prequel to the Private series follows Eliza as she and her friends form a coven. At first they try relatively harmless spells, but when a girl dies, Eliza discovers that supernatural actions can have unintended consequences. The setting is evocative and the sense that some characters have secrets adds to the tension.
Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor
(4)
YA
Ariana is dating the perfect guy at her exclusive boarding school, but she gives into her secret desire for the resident bad-boy when they're trapped together during a snowstorm. Desperate to keep their affair secret, Ariana is driven to commit monstrous acts. This expository prequel, filled with designer labels and clichéd characters, saps some tension from the guilty-pleasure series.
Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor
(4)
YA
To help Isabelle get over her cheating boyfriend, Vivi and Lane create a fake guy on MySpace and hire prep-school boy Jonathan to pose as "Brandon." Complications ensue when both Isabelle and Vivi fall for him. Though the male characters are two-dimensional, the girls' friendship is believable and readers will be happy when, not surprisingly, each girl ends up with her perfect guy.
Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith
(4)
YA
The "V" of the title is virginity, and this story's shifting narration follows four friends competing for a college scholarship intended for the most "pure." The author carefully differentiates among the girls' voices, but the adult characters are two-dimensional. The melodramatic plot twists are unnecessary; the girls' developing relationships and explorations of purity could stand on their own.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz
(4)
4-6
When Princess Carina of Vineland finds her double at a high school she visits in L.A., she's able to ditch her onerous royal duties and sneak off to a rock concert (she's secretly been e-mailing the lead singer). Though predictable romantic fluff à la The Princess Diaries, the book is compulsively readable.
Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman
8 reviews
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