If you want something light and humorous with a thread of mystery, then you will want to read Killer Content by Olivia Blacke. I read this quickly and thought it was the perfect story to read over the course of an afternoon. Its nothing too heavy or graphic, just a cute story that is set in Brooklyn with a Louisiana native named Odessa.
Check it out:
Bayou transplant Odessa Dean has a lot to learn about life in Brooklyn. So far she’s scored a rent-free apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods around by cat-sitting, and has a new job working at Untapped Books & Café. Hand-selling books and craft beers is easy for Odessa, but making new friends and learning how to ride the subway? Well, that might take her a little extra time.
But things turn more sour than an IPA when the death of a fellow waitress goes viral, caught on camera in the background of a couple’s flash-mob proposal video. Nothing about Bethany’s death feels right to Odessa–neither her sudden departure mid-shift nor the clues that only Odessa seems to catch. As an up-and-coming YouTube star, Bethany had more than one viewer waiting for her to fall from grace.
Determined to prove there’s a killer on the loose, Odessa takes matters into her own hands. But can she pin down Bethany’s killer before they take Odessa offline for good?
This comes out soon, on Feb. 2!
And check out these Young Adult novels:
This was a very dark, graphic, and troubling novel. Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic centers around Roan, an equestrian prodigy who comes from an Olympian father. Her mother is disconnected and uninterested in Roan, she’s busy having an affair with the principal at Roan’s school.
Roan’s world is all about horses and competitions. Not only is her father controlling, but he is also abusive, sexually abusing young Roan. This book should come with a warning on it because the scenes are extremely troubling and uncomfortable.
As Roan trains and competes, she deals with her classmates and also her horrible parents. She starts a relationship with a boy from school named Will who proves to be a good friend to Roan and remains a consistent presence in Roan’s life as her father does… stuff to her.
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan’s relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision.
What a story! Will you be reading this?
Dark Horses comes out on February 16.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau was a fantastic novel that takes place in the 1970s. I loved all the mentions of the details of the era, it was fun to escape cell phones and modern technology within the pages of this book.
Fourteen year old Mary Jane leads a quiet and simple life. She goes to school, church and is close to her mother. She’s a quiet girl who has led a sheltered life until she starts a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a psychiatrist.
At this new household, Mary Jane sees an another world. The house is messy and cluttered, a vast contrast to the order of Mary Janes’s home. Throughout the summer, the doctor treats a rock star who moves into the house and discovers Mary Jane has an incredible singing voice. She slowly breaks out of her shell and after that summer, life will never be the same.
Take a look:
In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.
The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, Impeachment: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): the doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.
Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (not to mention group therapy). Caught between the lifestyle she’s always known and the future she’s only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she’s going to be.
This YA adult book was really enjoyable. It was such a pleasant escape from my typical books, and I highly recommend it. Look for it on May 11!
