Summary:
Knowing the outcome doesn't always make a choice easier... Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not. In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through... and who she can’t live without. My Ramblings: This book started off a little slow for me. I struggled at the outset to really connect with Addie. It seemed to me that her life was pretty run of mill, even if she had a wee bit of a super power, her daily grind was pretty mundane.... until... she's faced with a choice and we really see what her super power can do. I don't want to give too much away here, so I'm only going to say that once Addie began to search her future so she could decide which path to take I was totally hooked. The twists and turns in both potential realities were great. Either one alone would have made a great book, the fact that West was able to weave together 2 entire plot lines is amazing. I couldn't put the book down, I just needed to know what was going to happen and what Addie would pick. There are a few things in particular that I absolutely love about this book- One is that Addie is not looking for love throughout the whole book. In fact, she's actively avoiding it. Too often we see YA novels that center around "girl meets boy" and the romance that follows. In one timeline we see a girl has an awesome best friend and is skeptical when the school heart throb starts paying her attention. In the other we have Addie meeting Trevor and seeing him as cute, but also as perfect best friend material. She's not looking for the hook up, she's looking for a friend. I LOVE that first and foremost in the story is friendship and the support that can only come from good friends. Sure, love follows, but it isn't the center piece of the relationships. The other thing I adore is actually just one line from Trevor, timeline #2 best friend, Addie explains her powers to him and when he realizes what she would have to give up to stay with him, who she would lose, he says simply "You don't pick this. This has to be a search. There's no way you would pick this. Everything will be okay." The reason I love this is because he doesn't even hesitate, he puts Addie first and knows that he could never ask her to give up the things would have to. He is willing to lose her to make sure she isn't hurt, but he also trusts that it will work out. There's no selfishness there and I love that. I was 100% Team Trevor from that moment on. I'll apologize here because that was a pretty vague review.... I know that this book came out awhile ago, but West does such a great job intertwining the stories that I really don't want to spoil it for anyone. I'll just say that at the end of the book I was immediately crushed because I didn't get the resolution I wanted and then had book whiplash when I realized that there was a sequel (Split Second). Although I will admit I'm a little hesitant to read it because after that book it will really be over! In short- if you haven't read this one yet, go get it. It's totally worth it.
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Summary: Maddie thought she and Logan would be friends forever. But when your dad is a Secret Service agent and your best friend is the president's son, sometimes life has other plans. Before she knows it, Maddie's dad is dragging her to a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. No phone. No Internet. And not a single word from Logan. Maddie tells herself it's okay. After all, she's the most popular girl for twenty miles in any direction. (She’s also the only girl for twenty miles in any direction.) She has wood to cut and weapons to bedazzle. Her life is full. Until Logan shows up six years later . . . And Maddie wants to kill him. But before that can happen, an assailant appears out of nowhere, knocking Maddie off a cliff and dragging Logan to some unknown fate. Maddie knows she could turn back- and get help. But the weather is turning and the terrain will only get more treacherous, the animals more deadly. Maddie still really wants to kill Logan. But she has to save him first. My Ramblings: This was such a fun book, which is saying something considering it involved attempted kidnapping, betrayal, murder, international espionage and threats against the President and his family. It should be a serious mystery or adventure story, instead Carter has managed to find that perfect balance between serious topics and the reality a of teenagers ability to find levity and sarcasm in every situation. Maddie and Logan find themselves up against an enemy from their past, and have to work to save each other and figure out what the truth really is, all while trying not to let their own past with each other bring them down. My only complaint was Maddie's habit of bedazzling her weapons. I get that she wan't to maintain a tiny semblance of girlishness, but if you've ever actually thrown a knife or ax you know that those rhinestones are totally going to throw off your grip and the aerodynamics. Maddie doesn't strike me as a character who favors style over accuracy. That being said, this was a fast, fun read that's perfect for summer.
Run Summary:
10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve. 10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open. 10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting. Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival. My Ramblings: 12.5 minutes is the average length of a school shooting. Run if you can, hide if you need to, fight only if you must to save your life. Barricade doors to keep out the shooter. Every minute you distract the shooter allows other to get to safety. Close the door, stay silent. We will try to keep you safe. I'm a middle school teacher. School shootings are a painful reality that we face every day. Even if it hasn't happened in our school or in our town yet our students see it on the news, they are afraid and they want to talk about it. As teachers we go through active shooter training, we plan out what we will do if it happens to us. We are painfully realistic about the fact that if it does happen, the likelihood that we all make it out alive is small. That some of us will die, that some of our students will die. We talk about what our job is as educators, that it's not just to impart knowledge, but also to protect the children that come through our doors. We know that if it came down to it we'd do what we had to to save as many of them as we can, because if it was our child in their school, we'd hope that their teachers would do the same to get our kids home safely. These are hard conversations, and they happen over and over again, and they will continue to happen so long as school shootings continue to happen. Which brings me to this book. I was hesitant to read this book at first, I wasn't sure how this topic was going to be handled. Overall, Nijkamp did a really good job. Told over the course of almost an hour we get the perspectives of multiple players as they fill in the blanks as to who the shooter is and what his motivation is. People are scared and try to run and hide, and there are also those who step forward to try and end the shooting and save other people's lives. The strands of the story slowly come together as the main players react and make their decisions as they face the reality that their school is under attack. In the end no one is left unscathed, but there seems to be a sense that everyone left standing will eventually be okay. Because they'll have to be. In the aftermath of this sort of trauma you find a way to move forward, and Nijkamp has created a story where you know these characters will never be the same, but that they just might be okay someday. |
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Home of the ramblings of an avid reader. In my spare time I also run, ride, teach, go on adventures and get into shenanigans. Find me here: Goodreads Etsy TikTok Categories
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