Review: The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die by April Henry

The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die by April Henry
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 9780805099034
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Pages: 171

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“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die was an intense book! It had me reading page after page without wanting to stop. At one point I was reading before I started work and was so mad that I had to stop and wait until I was finished my shift to find out more about this mysterious girl. Is she just crazy? Or is someone really trying to kill her? I needed more!

I liked Cady a lot. She was able to be strong, but vulnerable at the same time, which isn’t easy for a character to be. Cady had no memory before waking up on a cabin floor and hearing a man giving orders to kill her. No name or past. Her history was a black void. Slowly Cady is trying to piece together what happened while running from her captors. Along the way she meets a boy, Ty whom she begins to trust. Trusting Ty was not easy, just getting into the car with him without knowing if he was going to kill her or not was a big step for Cady. She becomes dependent on Ty and doesn’t want to leave his side. After being alone and running scared she latches onto him, but it doesn’t come across as whiny or dependent in a bad way. She just needs human contact with someone that she can trust.

Their romantic relationship developed very slowly, which was refreshing. There wasn’t any in your face romantic storyline, which allowed the focus to be on Cady and her past. Even as strong as she was Cady needed Ty to make it through her ordeal. I don’t think she would have if she didn’t have him to rely on.

I don’t know how realistic the ending was, but it was still enjoyable how everything was revealed. I truly did enjoy this book, which says a lot since I'm not a huge mystery fan. I hardly read the genre, but The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die does make me want to read more of it.

My Rating:

Review: The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot

The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot
Series: Heather Wells Mysteries #5
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Source: Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780061734793
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Pages: 294

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Heather Wells is used to having her cake and eating it too, but this time her cake just might be cooked. Her wedding cake, that is.

With her upcoming nuptials to PI Cooper Cartwright only weeks away, Heather's already stressed. And when a pretty junior turns up dead, Heather's sure things can't get worse—until every student in the dorm where she works is a possible suspect, and Heather's long-lost mother shows up.

Heather has no time for a tearful mother and bride reunion. She has a wedding to pull off and a murder to solve. Instead of wedding bells, she might be hearing wedding bullets, but she's determined to bring the bad guys to justice if it's the last thing she does . . . and this time, it just might be.

I've been a huge fan of Meg Cabot for years. I can't think of a single book of hers that I have read and I didn’t love. Now I’m not a big fan of mysteries, but this is one series that is an exception for me. Meg writes hilarious situations that Heather gets into and you can’t help devouring chapter after chapter to see what happens next.

This is Meg Cabot’s fifth book in the Heather Wells series and I absolutely adored it. I love the main character, Heather. She isn’t perfect. She is moody, sarcastic, and quick-witted. She handles the students at New York College so well. She treats them as they were her own. She knows when to be tough and when to overstep her bounds, (which is quite often) and dive into whatever drama is going on at Fisher Hall. I forget how much I missed the secondary characters, Gavin, Magda, Sarah, etc. They add an extra layer to the book. Heather might not have the ideal family, but she made one at New York College and it really shows in this book.

In The Bride Wore Size 12 we are finally at the moment this series has been leading to…Heather and Cooper are engaged and their wedding is just around the corner. But of course nothing is ever quiet for too long in Heather’s world. The new school year hasn't started yet, but Heather is already having a tough year.

Heather, you sat with a young girl’s dead body all day yesterday. Then you went home and your mom, who abandoned you a decade ago, dropped by unannounced. I think there’s a possibility you might need to talk to a mental health specialist.

Heather and Cooper are just too cute together in this book. I just love Cooper to bits. Cooper knows that Heather will get into all kinds of shenanigans no matter what, but still he wants to protect her. They are a great match. Their love for each is so sweet and the wedding was just perfect.

As you pointed out, I should have left well enough alone. But. . . well, it’s not in your nature, either, Heather. That’s why we make such a perfect pair.

Honestly, if this was the final book in the series I would be happy with it. As much as I would love more of Heather’s hijinks, this was the ideal ending. It’s the finale I have been waiting for.

P.S. If you enjoy any of the Heather Wells Mysteries I would recommend checking out Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble series, which is equally (almost) as funny.

My Rating:

Review: The Caregiver by Astrid 'Artistikem' Cruz

Scarlett Lang always dreamt of becoming an Interpol agent. When her hard work pays off and she's given the chance to work as an undercover agent with London's biggest drug lord, Armand Sayer, she can't help being ecstatic about it.
She's employed by Armand's sister (to aid in his recovery from a gun attack) as both caregiver and bodyguard. Her resourcefulness in both areas helps her win much more than Armand's trust, to the dismay of both his right-hand man and her ex-boyfriend / colleague.

As she makes her way into the business she swore to help tear down, she's faced with the dilemma of choosing between being loyal to her profession or her heart. And we all know it can't be both.

Interpol Agent, Scarlet Lang, finally gets her big break and goes undercover. While employed as Armand Sayer's caregiver she must face a dilemma of being loyal to her career or falling for London's biggest drug lord.

Overall, this was a good book. Although short, it had a decent plot. It had a lot of good stuff drug dealers, espionage, undercover cop from a bad family, etc. At times I found that the writing could have expanded on the details, which could come across as clunky, as it was a short novel.

I would have like a bit more character development, but that's sometimes hard to do with shorter books. I loved how it the last half of the book was no stop action and ended with a cliffhanger.


My Rating: