Review: The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Information:
Released: Aril 26th, 2011
Published by: Mira Publishings
Series: Stand Alone Title
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Netgalley
Page Amount: 400
School Rating: A+
Age Group: Adult (But young adult readers can read it.)
Summary:

‘I don't know how to tell you what I did.' The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle - her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her family - described a woman who embraced life. But they didn't know everything. Because the unaddressed letter reveals a terrible secret...and a legacy of guilt that changes everything they thought they knew about the woman who delivered their children. A legacy that will irrevocably change their own lives - and the life of a desperate stranger - forever. Diane Chamberlain gets to the heart of the story.

Cheesy Back Cover Quote:
“Diane’s newest book is well written and enchanting. A mervellous and moving story on love, loss, and friendship. I wouldn’t mind having Tara and Emerson as my best friends.”
Review:
I have read two of Diane’s other books, Before the Storm and The Secrets She Left Behind, and I have reviewed both. I plan on reading her other books, so I knew I was going to read her new book. I wasn’t planning on reading it until its released, but when I saw it on Netgalley, I knew I was going to need to read it sooner. I love Diane and her books, so the thought of reading her book came naturally. I am really glad I read it, because it is now very high up on my favourite books list.

In this novel, the plot and story came naturally, not too fast and not too slow, and it kept me reading from the first page. I never say this about a book, because most of the time it is not true, but I am going to say it about this one. This story is flawless . Pure perfection. The story is amazing, moving, beautiful, flawless, perfect, enchanting and so many more words that I could write but I would never be able to stop.
The writing is beautiful, flawless... and all of those words all over again. I love Diane’s writing, its just so unique, and you can really tell that she has true talent. Her writing is unlike any other writer’s I have ever come by. If you handed me a piece of Diane’s writing and didn’t tell me it was hers, and told me to guess who the author was, I could probably pick it out right then and there. That is how unique her writing is. I just can’t get enough of it.
Emerson and Tara are amazing best friends, and I wouldn’t mind having them for ones. Noelle was someone you either loved or hated, and I honestly didn’t like her much. She just wasn’t a good overall friend to Emerson and Tara. The other supporting characters where great help in making the story that much better.
This book was amazing, beautiful, and here I go with the describing words again. Everyone who loves realistic fiction books needs to read this one now, and you will never regret it. You can tell Diane has a passion for story telling, and she doesn’t need to stop anytime soon. I am looking forward to reading some more of her work soon!
Cover Comments:
I am in love with this cover. I love the simplicity of it, just the woman holding the infant. The colours are beautiful, bright but in a subtle way. It shows a lot about the story without giving it all away at a glance. It shows protection, how one little life could mean the whole world to someone, and how they never want anything to happen to that little life.

Ratings:
Plot 10/10
Like able Characters 10/10
Problem Development 10/10
Solution Effectiveness 10/10
Writing Style 10/10
Character Development 10/10
Cover 10/10
Setting 10/10
Ending 10/10
Beginning 10/10
=
100%

Love,

Sierra

Review: Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

Information:
Released: November 19th, 2009
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Series: Stand Alone Title
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Chapters (Local Bookstore)
Page Amount: 330
School Rating: A+
Age Group: Young Adult

Synopsis:

Click.

Telephoto lens. Zoom. In a shutter release millisecond, Blake’s world turns upside down. The nameless woman with the snake tattoo is not just another assignment. “That’s my mom!” gasps Marissa.

Click.

Saturated self-portrait: Blake, nice guy, class clown, always trying to get a laugh, not sure where to focus.

Click.

Contrast. Shannon, Blake’s GF. Total. Babe. Marissa, just a friend and fellow photographer. Shannon loves him; Marissa needs him. How is he supposed to frame them both in one shot?

Click.

Chiaroscuro. Lightdark. Marissa again, overexposed. Crash and burn.

Talk about negative space.

Click.

Review:
After hearing about this book, it didn’t take me long to pick it up. The first time I ever laid eyes on it was in one of The Story Siren’ In My Mailbox. She told a brief summary, and I knew I had to pick it up. I went to the book store one time, with no thought in mind what I was going to get. I was walking through the bookshelves, and there I saw FLASH BURNOUT, staring at me. I knew I had to get it. It took me a little while to pick it up from my bookshelf, but then I picked it up during March Break. I am VERY glad I read this book.

The plot and the story are very fast pacing, something that either irks me or enlightens me. For this story, it was enchanting (yes, I just used a Taylor Swift line). This novel was a page turner… in a different way. The plot itself is pretty flat, but L.K. Madigan was a wonderful author and brought it to life. The story was very witty and unexpectedly funny.

L.K. Madigan is an amazing author, including her writing style, and I am saddened that I have only one other book of hers before I have no more of my addiction. I loved the writing in this novel, it was extremely funny, and Blake’s witty voice lightened up the not so light subjects in this novel.

Blake was witty, hilarious, and a great character. Uh… Blake, could you marry me? Seriously. Blake is every guys dream. I don’t think there are many characters I dislike in this novel, which is a good and bad thing. I do like my villains, but I hate talking about them. I also love it because there is no hate in this novel. I even liked Shannon, Blake’s GF that most people are probably not a fan of.

This book was something fresh, and I loved the photography woven into the book. I would definitely say to read this book if you have a chance to read it, because it is truly an amazing read.

Cover Comments:
This book cover is okay, but seeing the blond girls eyes in one of the photographs really bugs me. But it is unlike any other cover I have ever seen, so it gets originality points. I really like the concept of it, but a lot of people who saw the cover thought he was smelling the photos.

Ratings:
Plot 10/10
Like able Characters 10/10
Problem Development 10/10
Solution Effectiveness 10/10
Writing Style 10/10
Character Development 8/10
Cover 8/10
Setting 9/10
Ending 7/10
Beginning 8/10
=
90%

Love,

Sierra

In My Mailbox: 27

Books I Received This Week:

For Review:

Mercy by Rebecca Lim
Mission (Un)popular by Anna Humphrey
Nerd Girls by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
Sharks and Boys by Kristen Tracy
Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
Putting Make-up on Dead People by Jen Violi
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Die for Me by Amy Plum
Lost Voices by Sarah Porter
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney
Everything I Was by Corrine Pems
Plan B by Charnon Simon
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Populazzi by Elize Allen

Swag:

Mockingjay necklace.

That's all for me, what did you get in your mailbox this week?

Love,

Sierra

In My Mailbox #26

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted my Kristi over on her blog, the Story Siren.

I got one book this week.

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate

What did you get in your mailbox?

Love,
Sierra

*All links to books go directly to their Goodreads page, so its easier to add them to your wishlist!

Review: Flawless by Sara Shepard

Do not read this review unless you have read Pretty Little Liars.
Information:

Released: March 15th, 2007
Published by: HarperTeen
Series: Pretty Little Liars, 2
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Chapters (Local Bookstore)
Page Amount: 330
School Rating: A-
Age Group: Young Adult

Synopsis:

Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is making her sick. And their most horrible secret yet is so scandalous that the truth would ruin them forever.

And why shouldn't I tell? They deserve to lose it all. With every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message I send, I'll be taking these pretty little liars down. Trust me, I've got enough dirt to bury them alive. -A

Review:

It took me awhile to pick up FLAWLESS, but then I started seeing the show covers for FLAWLESS coming out, and that pushed me to pick it up. When I got a couple gift card for my local bookstore, I took my chance and picked it up. I read PRETTY LITTLE LIARS back in the summertime, and I really liked it, so I was hoping I would like FLAWLESS just as much, because then I would know that I would have the full series left to read. I am so glad that I picked it up when I did, and I wished I would have picked it up a bit sooner.

Even though this novel is very clique chick-lit, the overall plot is unlike any other book I have read. Sara Shepard’s THE LYING GAME, although, sounds a lot like it, but I am going to let that pass since it is the same author. I think that it is kind of a breath of fresh air when you read a chick-lit book about popular kids getting cyber bullied (even though cyber bullying is nothing to be happy over, and I never, never, never had supported cyber bullying since I am a high victim of it) because most protagonists in chick-lit are the unpopular kids and they are getting bullied in some kind of way.

This book has it ups and downs when it comes to its characters. I think there are more dislike able characters in this novel rather than like able. From the four main characters, I like Aria, Emily, Spencer and I HIGHLY dislike Hanna. I don’t think there is a since moment that I liked or felt bad for her. Her problems were (pretty much) all her fault and she is a really whiny character. I also dislike most of the supporting characters.

I am going to mesh problem and solution together. I like how the problem with A is being stretched out all through the books, and I don’t believe that the problem will be solved (aka the readers figure out who A is) until the very last or second last novel. So, solution strikes low here, because of that factor, but I can’t say I dislike that it is being stretched out like this.

I really like Sara’s writing style, but I am not a big fan of third person, so that pushes me off of it a bit. That is just my personal view, but its not that bad.

The characters don’t really change through the book that much, but they changed before the books took place, so that makes it a bit better for me.

A lot of people highly dislike these covers, but I love them to death, because they are different from any of the book covers I have ever seen before. I like the fact that the front has a Barbie doll on it, and if you flip it over to the back cover it has the human version of that Barbie doll.

I like that this book is set in a very rich and what seems to be a very snotty and perfect neighbourhood, but the books show different.

I like how these books have a half cliff-hanger, because it makes you want to pick up the next book and just devour it.

The beginning of this book grabbed me instantly and had me hooked, and I couldn’t wait to see what happened at the end.

Parental Corner:

This book deals with mild alcohol usage and mild cussing. It briefly deals with drugs, but nothing major. This book isn’t as bad as some of the books I have read, so it is not that bad for young adult readers.

Ratings:

Plot 8/10
Like able Characters 7/10
Problem Development 9/10
Solution Effectiveness 5/10
Writing Style 8/10
Character Development 6/10
Cover 10/10
Setting 9/10
Ending 9/10
Beginning 9/10
=
88%

Love,

Sierra