Reviews: Galley Group - August 18th

Reviews of soon-to-be-published reads by Galley Group*

Kristen from Brentwood

Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten

Single White Female-ish but times two! But who is playing who? Kate is the orphaned, poor, scholarship kid at the elite Waverly School with one dream...Yale...she has nothing to lose but everything to gain. She needs a meal-ticket, the person that will help her achieve her ultimate goal and get everything she has ever wanted. She decides that best-of-the-best, super rich Olivia is that meal ticket. A quick, mutually benefiting friendship begins but both girls have skeletons in their closets and neither are what they seem. Add to the mix, the hot new male teacher, Mark, and drama ignites! Mark is pretty much charming the pants off every girl, and woman, at the school except Kate; she can see him for the psycho he is! Each girl has to deal with insane Gossip Girl-esque backstories, all while pushing each other away, only to pull back because they need each other to fulfill their own crazy needs...Kate needs Yale and Olivia needs to be sane. Neither girl is likable, it's hard to really root for either of them, or even pick a side of who you want to come out on top. Abuse, torture, and murder abound! Crazy read with a twisted ending. 3.5 stars

The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

A book about dying, on your own terms and in the best way possible. Maddie's grandmother drops a bomb on the family at the beginning of Maddie's summer before college...she has cancer AND she's taking them all on an 8-week cruise, but this is no ordinary cruise! It's a Wishwell cruise...a cruise for terminally ill patients so they can live out their final days making their wishes come true before they die on their own terms. The trip is filled with stops in Rio, Iceland, Rome, and more! Along the way Maddie finds love and learns how to cope with losing one of the most important people in her life. 4.5 stars

Brian from Patchogue-Medford

Phantom Limbs by Paula Gardner

In this teen novel, we meet Otis who is dealing with a slew of problems. His former love interest, Meg, may or may not be moving back home after both of them had to deal with the loss of Otis' baby brother, which occurred at Meg's parents house. In addition, Otis' swim trainer, Dara, is dealing with her own set of problems after the amputation of her limb. The book is one part drama, one part romance novel as we are are given bits and pieces about what really happened to Otis' little brother. The book seemed to be a bit longer than it should have been, but it ultimately delivered a well meaning story that was engaging and rewarding in the end. 3 stars

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia

Reshma Kapoor is one of the most interesting main characters I've read in a very long time. She is a high school senior who spends most of her time studying. She really really wants to get into Stanford University and decides one of the things that will help her out is to write a novel, which makes this very meta since the novel you read ends up being the one she published. The novel is told through a series of diary entries. Reshma is willing to do WHATEVER it takes to get into Stanford, and this includes some very shocking moments in the book. All in all, this was a great book with a strong unlikable main character who is honest down to a tee. 4.5 stars



Nickel by Robert Wilder

In this certainly interesting novel, we meet Coy, a 9th grader who has yet to enter high school (his district starts in 10th grade). He spends all of his time hanging out with his only friend Monroe (Roe) who has been dealing with some health issues. She has a rash on her face and she seems to be allergic to everything. Coy has his own share of problems: his mother is in a mental institution and he is trying to feel comfortable with his stepfather. The book is pretty well written and I did enjoy the plot. My major issue with this book was the language used. There was a HECK of a lot of slang, and a lot of it seemed to be a bit much. There are lot of terms used that I don't think most normal people insert into their normal conversation and the characters appeared to be much older than they actually were. Once you get used to the interesting way things are phrased, you can dive into the store which has some interesting side characters and a good plot overall. 4 stars


Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

In this novel, we meet a teen who falls in love with another. The main character is described as having long hair and is somewhat nerdy. He falls for a girl who is described as often looking unwashed, walking with a cane and having greasy hair. In fact, a lot of characters are described as having greasy hair. This book moved extremely slowly and I felt that too many of the characters were cliches and extremely annoying. The sister who is Goth, tattooed, but happens to be a genius? What about the sleazy Australian best friend? I read about 60 percent, skipped about 100 pages and literally nothing really happened 2 stars

Khan from Port Jefferson

The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass

Castella lives in the woods with her parents and other siblings. Her father believes he is God and makes his family study the bible he wrote while their mother sits in the corner and does nothing. Castella wants to be a normal girl and she and her siblings have to figure out how to escape their father's grasp. This is a psychological cult thriller where the reader wants to know what is going to happen next. In certain places you want more details and depth, but you never get it. 3 stars 






Lucy & Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown

This is a mix of the movie The Croods and the Cartoon Network series Gravity Falls. Unfortunately this did not live up to Jeffery Brown's other works. The jokes fall flat and don't seem original. There are little skits throughout the book containing history alternating with paleontologists who present prehistoric facts. 2.5 stars

Jan from Longwood

The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks

This is for anyone who is very sad about the latest season of Pretty Little Liars coming to an end, or wants their next 30 cc's of Kardashian. Former best friends Abigail and Denver had a falling out after an embarrassing video from a house party was posted on YouTube. In the middle of another epic house party a tsunami comes and wipes them all away. They are swept out to sea and the teen drama continues. The two former friends find them selves in a boat with other stock characters. This is just about the dumbest book I've ever read. A half a star for someone looking for a beach read. .5 of a star




The Zodiac Legacy: The Dragon's Return by Stan Lee

I did not read the first book in the series, but it doesn't matter since the first half of the book is a re-hash. There is a team of good kids and there are bad guys who have an evil compound. The book is spent with the two groups going after each other with a pepper of teenage drama thrown in. Hoping the final art advances the story a bit. It is just overlong, but does have appeal for those patrons who are looking for the next Percy Jackson. It scews very young since it over-explains everything. 3 stars

*Galley Group is a group of young adult librarians that meet about every 6-8 weeks to discuss ARCs, or galleys, they have read in the interim. They discuss plot, age group, writing, audience, opinion, etc. The group was made to help with collection development and reader's advisory for our teen patrons. If you would like more information about Galley Group contact Derek!