Mini Reviews: Out of Control by Sarah Alderson and The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West

From Goodreads: When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. Her hopes for a new future were dashed the moment she became the sole witness to a brutal murder. When she's taken into police custody - supposedly for her own protection - she realizes something isn't right, but it's too late. Soon, bullets start flying, and Liva realizes that she is not just a witness, but the target - and she needs to escape before it's too late. With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away from the massacre unharmed, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. Liva and Jay are living on the edge, but when you're on the edge, there's a long way to fall. 

My Rating: 2 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Although I enjoyed Sarah Alderson’s Lila series, I haven’t read any of her books since. So, I had some high expectations for her newest novel, Out of Control. Unfortunately, Out of Control turned out to be a rather disappointing read for a few reasons. Firstly, its fast pacing made it hard to learn much about the characters or care about them. Secondly, I found myself getting annoyed by Liva because of her priorities, – I wouldn’t be focused on a guy if there were people trying to kidnap me, – and complaints about her looks (but really, she’s pretty). Lastly, it drove me crazy that the Hispanic characters in Out of Control were portrayed so stereotypically. 

Out of Control was released in May 2015 by Simon Pulse. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from Xpresso Book Tours.
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From Goodreads: When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend - two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley. The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party - three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship. 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: While I loved Kasie West’s Pivot Point series, I haven’t found her contemporary novels quite as appealing. Sadly, The Fill-in Boyfriend was no exception. I had a tough time connecting with Gia because I found her to be very shallow. As well, the way the romance started off wasn’t very convincing, and it then veered into drama territory. I think in the future, I’ll just have to pass on any Kasie West contemporaries. 

The Fill-in Boyfriend was released by HarperTeen in May 2015.    

Author Interview: Sarah Alderson (and Giveaway)

When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. Her hopes for a new future were dashed the moment she became the sole witness to a brutal murder. When she’s taken into police custody - supposedly for her own protection - she realizes something isn’t right, but it’s too late. Soon, bullets start flying, and Liva realizes that she is not just a witness, but the target - and she needs to escape before it’s too late. With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away from the massacre unharmed, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. Liva and Jay are living on the edge, but when you’re on the edge, there’s a long way to fall.

As part of the blog tour for Out of Control, I'd like to welcome author Sarah Alderson to my blog. 

A bit about Sarah (as found on Goodreads): Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess-obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where Sarah now spends her days writing by the pool and trying to machete open coconuts without severing a limb. 

How did you come up with the idea for Out of Control? 
Someone I knew came up to me at a party and told me she had an idea for a book, which is usually my cue to find the bathroom. I listened while she told me that I should write a book about Human Trafficking and smiled politely and told her that I didn’t really have the qualifications. But then I started thinking about how important the issue was and wondered if I should. I spoke to my agent who advised against it (it’s a fairly heavy topic after all) but then I figured out that I could find a way to write about the issue without making it a heavy, issue-based novel. The story was very much inspired though by my time in New York. I went there to research and also researched online. The organisation that Liva’s dad works for is a real organisation. I also did a lot of research into private security companies and human trafficking rings. 

In Out of Control, Liva has to go on the run with Jay. If you had to go on the run with one fictional character, who would it be and why? 
Buffy. She was such an inspiration to me as a teenager. I love Joss Whedon who wrote the Buffy TV shows. She’s so kickass you’d definitely survive on the run whether you were fleeing vampires, zombies or plain old hit men. 

Having grown up under men who are ex-military, Lila knows how to shoot and defend herself. How would you do if there were some killers after you (i.e. do you have any secret survival skills)? 
I would be totally hopeless. I always thought I’d be like Buffy, able to fight like a pro while throwing out brilliant quips, but the reality is that I freeze and panic when faced with danger. I know this because not so long ago there was a snake in my bedroom and I totally freaked out and became paralysed. I couldn’t even scream. Also, recently I was staying in a house by myself and at 4am I heard footsteps walking around and rather than staying in my LOCKED bedroom and calling the police, I got up and walked around the house, in a T-shirt and underwear, not even taking a baseball bat for protection. I was that girl from a horror film who you scream at for being stupid as the serial killer walks behind her. That was me (hangs head in shame). It turned out that it wasn’t a burglar it was actually a ghost (NO JOKE). 

Another one of Liva’s talents is that she’s a good dancer. What are some of your talents (besides writing, of course)?
Oh goodness, that’s hilarious. I don’t have any talent other than an ability to type really fast - like 80 or 90 words a minute. Yep, that’s about it. I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t cook, I can’t play any sport very well. I’m pretty useless at most things in fact. I’m pretty talented at eating chocolate. Does that count? 

I actually interviewed you way back when Hunting Lila came out. Since then, you’ve written some more books. How has your writing changed and/or stayed the same during these past few years? 
I have written about ten books since then, maybe more, and I would say that with each book you do get better. Your writing becomes more fluent and you become much better at editing as you go. I have been writing screenplays for the last six months and that’s been a different experience altogether. With books every word is your own, with screenplays your words are owned by other people. You can’t afford to be precious at all. Not if you want the script to get made into a movie. So you’re constantly having to craft and redraft and then redraft some more taking on board notes from producers and directors and actors. It’s endless and you have to learn to let go. I think writing screenplays has really helped with my novels because I’ve worked with some amazing directors - Oscar and Bafta winners and it’s allowed me to see stories in a much more visual way. I can’t wait to feed what I’ve learned back into my books. 

A big thanks to Sarah for taking the time to answer my questions!

Sarah can be found on: [her website] [her blog] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Goodreads]

Out of Control can be bought from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble] [The Book Depository]

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Review: Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson

From Goodreads: Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which is somehow tracking their every move. While Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila's only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they're being held. Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the others she's come to think of as family, Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But the plan requires Lila to return to California alone, and to make friends with the enemy - and in doing so, she risks losing everything: Alex, her family … even her life. 

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson begins a week after the end of Hunting Lila. When the novel starts, Lila and Alex are on the run from the Unit. Jack is in a coma after having been shot. Demos’ original group has splintered and those that remain with him are trying to divide the Unit’s forces by having the Unit chase them rather than Alex and Lila. Readers dive headfirst into the action, and it’s awesome!

As a character, Lila is definitely more mature in this novel. She’s still impulsive, but her impulsivity is reined in. It’s also evident throughout the course of Losing Lila that she has become more comfortable with her power and is able to control it better. As well, I really liked that she was able to stand up for herself, especially when it came to decisions made by Alex (who shows some emotional vulnerability in this installment) or Jack as those two tended to make the decisions for her in Hunting Lila.

I continue loving the sibling dynamic between Lila and Jack! Their interactions never fail to amuse me, and I love how they know exactly what buttons to push to annoy the other person. If I could have an older brother from a YA novel, Jack would probably be on the top of my list (although his protective streak might get old after a while)!

With the return of beloved secondary characters like Nate and Suki, Losing Lila is as enjoyable as Hunting Lila. While Hunting Lila may have been more fun, Losing Lila balances that out by having more emotional depth.

Losing Lila was released in August 2012 by Simon & Schuster UK. 

Comments About the Cover: I’m not really a fan of the cover. I liked Hunting Lila’s cover better.

Author Interview: Sarah Alderson

Today I'd like to welcome Sarah Alderson, the author of Hunting Lila to my blog. 

A bit about Sarah (as found on Goodreads): Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where Sarah now spends her days writing by the pool.

How did you come up with the idea for Hunting Lila?

I was swimming. And I started off by thinking ‘what if..’: What if there’s a girl and she can move things just by looking at them. And what if her mother was murdered five years before? And what if she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend since forever?...and it kind of went from there.

If you had a psychic ability, what would you like it to be and why?

I’d like to be able to astrally project. I hate jet lag so this would be brilliant. Imagine – breakfast in Rio, lunch in New York, Dinner in Paris. Heaven. Though I guess if you’re only astrally projecting and not teleporting you probably can’t eat. That would suck.

You’ve suddenly developed that psychic ability you really wanted and somehow find yourself a member of Demos’ group. Who do you get along with the best and why?

I think I’d get along with Alicia. She’s feisty and, as a mind-reader, handy to have around. I also like Harvey. He’s laconic, laid back, but also a bank robber previous to his current employment. He’s based on my friend’s husband so I know we’d get on. Suki and Nate are hilarious together but I think I’d have to let them have their own space.

Lila, Jack and Alex realize that they’ve been led to believe things that may not be true. What’s something you thought was true for a while but actually wasn’t?

That politicians could be trusted? I think as a younger teenager I was quite an idealist. Now I live in Indonesia, which I think is one of the most corrupt nations in the world, and I’ve kind of given up believing that any politician can be trusted.  Even those that aspire to be great – like Obama, I respect him greatly, but there are too many pressures from external interests for even the most admirable people not to become corrupt or break promises.

Oh, also my crazy Irish Catholic grandmother told me when I was 5 that I would die of cancer if I didn’t turn my duvet down and air my bed every morning. I believed that for a really long time.

And that I had a fairy called Emily who would visit me in the night (my dad would write me letters pretending to be from her).

This is funny – my dad also had be convinced until I was about 9 that he’d been a cabin boy on Black Beard’s pirate ship. He used to tell me and my brother these awesome stories about it. And man, I believed every word. Maybe that’s where I got my story-telling gene from.

Losing Lila, the sequel to Hunting Lila, will be released in the UK in a few months. What’s next for Lila (i.e. will there be a third book in the series); and are you working on anything else at the moment?

I’m not sure what’s next for Lila. We’ll see. I’m working on lots of exciting things right now; an adult book, a screenplay and I’m editing several YA books that I have coming out in the next couple of years ;)

A big thanks to Sarah for taking the time to answer my questions!

Sarah can be found on: [her website] [her blog] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Goodreads]

Hunting Lila can be bought from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble] [The Book Depository] 

 

Review: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

From Back Cover: After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust - her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone - there are others out there just like her - people with special powers - and her mother’s killer is one of them ...

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson is a book that you can breeze through in one sitting because the story is fun and fast-paced. While not totally original, the plot does have some surprising twists as well as a super cute romance and plenty of action.

Lila is a character that I could easily relate to because she’s pretty smart and has a good heart. However, she also tends to be a bit stubborn (which, okay, she kind of needs to be because Jack and Alex refuse to let her in on their secrets); and reading about her crushing on Alex and jumping to conclusions about his conversations and actions not only made her seem younger, but also got annoying after a while.

Luckily, midway through the novel, Lila finds out that Alex likes her too and stops gushing about how hot he is. I really did like the romance though (even if I thought the switch in Alex’s stance from the whole ‘we can’t be together’ to ‘screw it; I’m kissing you’ was sort of sudden). Not only was Alex hot, but he was also protective of Lila. Moreover, since the two of them had known each other since childhood, Lila’s memories of a younger Alex allow the reader to gain a deeper understanding of why she likes him so much.

The secondary cast of characters were enjoyable as well; and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better in Losing Lila. In particular, I’d like to see a bit more of Jack and a whole lot more of Suki in the sequel.

An entertaining read, Hunting Lila was released in August 2011 by Simon & Schuster UK.   

Comments About the Cover: It’s kind of mysterious, but I have absolutely no idea how it reflects the story!

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Simon and Schuster Canada) for free.