The Secret Hum of a Daisy Review

Goodreads

TITLE: The Secret Hum of a Daisy

AUTHOR: Tracy Holczer

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons

PUBLICATION DATE: 5/1/2014

PAGES: 320

SOURCE: ARC copy from Amazon Vine/Publisher

MY RATING: 

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Grace and her mother are their own family, traveling from place to place like gypsies. But Grace is tired and wants to finally have a home all to her own. She thinks she's found it with Mrs. Greene and her daughter, Lacey, so when her mother tells her it's time to move on again, Grace summons the courage to tell her mother how she really feels. She'll always regret that her last words to her mother were angry ones.

When Grace's mother dies suddenly, she's thrust into a world she doesn't understand and didn't expect--the town her mother grew up in and fled when she was just seventeen and pregnant with Grace. Now faced with making a home with a grandmother she's never met (and who, according to Grace's mother, never wanted her in the first place), Grace is desperate to be sent back to Mrs. Greene and her best friend, Lacey. A mysterious treasure hunt, just like the ones her mother used to send her on, may just be the key. It all begins with a crane. And Grace is sure it's her mother showing her the way home.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: For the first third of so of the book, I was having a hard time making myself pick up the book to read even though I was enjoying it, but that may have just been because there were so many other books that I wanted to read at the time. I got a lot more interested in the book and I wanted to see where the cranes were going to take Grace and how the relationship with her grandmother would progress.

CHARACTERS: I found myself really attached to the main character Grace. I felt almost like she was a younger family member of mine, and I wanted to make sure that she was okay and taken care of. 

COVER: The cover is nice. I like the blue to green gradient with the white graphics on top, it gives it a nice contrast. 

WWW Wednesdays #2

Answer 3 Questions:

*What are you reading?

*What did you recently finish reading?

*What do you think you'll read next?

1. What Are You Reading?

2. What Did You Recently Finish Reading?

3. What Do You Think You'll Read Next?

August Reading Update

In August I read a total of 9 books. That brings my total of books for the 2014 "Real" Book Challenge to 54 books read and my total books read for this year to 65.

"Real" Books:

Audio Books:

Servants of the Storm Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Servants of the Storm

AUTHOR: Delilah S. Dawson

PUBLISHER: Simon Pulse

PUBLICATION DATE: 8/5/2014

PAGES: 384

MY RATING:

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.**

BACK COVER SUMMARY: A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction--and taking the life of Dovey's best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.

But recently she's started to believe she's seeing things that can't be real...including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.

As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah--where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk--she leans that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

Dovey's running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can't see the threatening darkness but promises never to give up on Dovey or Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers--for a price? Soon Dovey starts to realize that the danger closing in might have little to do with Carly...and everything to do with Dovey herself.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: The first chapter hooked me into the story. The beginning of the book was very strange and mysterious and then it started to remind me of City of Bones with the mysterious boy and the night club with strange characters, as well as a few other similarities that I don't want to get into because of spoilers. But I definitely enjoyed this story. It did have a few moments where it started to drag a little bit for me, but overall I really enjoyed it and liked how it all came together. The ending was the perfect ending for a horror type book and I thought it was great.

CHARACTERS: There is a dreaded love triangle in this book which is annoying and I wish I never had to read about another one those again, but it is what it is. I really like Isaac. He's mysterious and protective, and just an all around fun guy.

COVER: 5/5. The cover of this book freaks me out so bad, but I love that because while I despise scary movies, I love scary books and the cover of this makes me think this book will be terrifying.

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt

The Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt is one of the first challenges as part of the Bout of Books readathon. The challenge is hosted by The Book Monsters.  I posted all of my images on Instagram so feel free to go check them out there!

1. A book that begins with "B".

I chose Burn for Burn by Jenny Haan. I have not read this, but hope to get to it one day.

2. A book that has been made into a movie/tv show.

I chose A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved this book was I was younger and recently found this gorgeous edition at Barnes and Noble.

3. A series you love.

I chose Shugo Chara! by Peach-Pit. I have only read this first book in this manga series, but I love it so much. It is super cute and I'm also really excited to start watching the anime.

4. An anthology of poems or short stories.

I chose The Wizard of Oz the First Five Novels by L. Frank Baum. I'm moving and most of my books are packed in boxes right now so this was the closest I could get to finding a book that fit into this category.

5. A book on your TBR shelf.

I chose Precious Blood by Tonya Hurley. Look at the cover of this one!