Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy-- Blog Tour Review


The Telling
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 2nd 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller

Synopsis:

Lana used to know what was real.

That was before when her life was small and quiet.
Her golden step-brother, Ben, was alive, she could only dream about bonfiring with the populars, their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell the truth from lies, and Ben’s childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.

Then came after.


After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, and living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten: Love, blood, and murder.

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Book Depository | Kobo


Have you ever read a book that you love only to find that it's the author's only book out right now and you have to WAIT to get your hands on more by this potential favorite author??  As the pub. date approaches, you start to get nervous that maybe you won't like the book as well as the first book.  And you can't decide if you want the book to have the same feeling to it or be completely different.  You just know that you want it to make you as happy as you were when you read the first book.

Well, maybe for the first time EVER, this has worked out for me.  I read The Creeping and completely loved it.  The feelings, the atmosphere, the boy.... it was so unexpected and I was DYING to read more by Alexandra Sirowy.  Now, The Telling is out, and I can tell you if you liked The Creeping, you will like this book.  It feels so much like that book, but it's different enough.

Two months ago Lana's step-brother Ben was murdered by an unknown man who supposedly had a red painted face.  Now, the only witness to the crime (an unreliable, maybe involved ex-girlfriend named Maggie) is found dead.  As Lana goes back through the memories of her brother, she decides that she needs to solve this mystery.  Did the red-faced man kill Maggie to keep her quiet?  Is Lana going to be next??

This book is set on an island near Seattle.  You have to take a ferry to get there.  It totally reminded me of Burn for Burn and The Making Out series of my youth, and I completely loved it.  It took the creepiness feeling to a higher level because-- isolation = scary.  I loved the mystery and there were flashbacks including stories that Ben used to make up for games of make-believe when they were kids.  The stories were always kind of twisted and horror-like and it added to the plot because I just never knew if these stories were going to become part of the mystery-- like the monsters of the stories might somehow be real??

What I love about this book and The Creeping is the fine line between the supernatural and reality.  When things don't have easy answers, sometimes it's easier to think something creepy or unexplainable is going on.  And sometimes if you dig deep enough, it is explainable.  I like not being sure which one it's going to be.

OVERALL: YES!!!  I was supremely happy with Alexandra Sirowy's 2nd book.  It lived up to my high expectations and gave me back everything I loved in The Creeping and more.  I recommend both books-- especially during this time of year.

Rating: 5/5











Alexandra Sirowy was born in Northern California and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended a women's college as an undergraduate and has a graduate degree in International Studies. She lives in Northern California with her husband. Visit her at alexandrasirowy.com.

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5 comments:

  1. Great review! And which island? I love Seattle and the best thing is to take ferries to various islands -- there are SO many! Love how you compared it to Burn for Burn too -- I wanted Jar Island to actually exist! ♥

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    1. The island is called Gant... which I'm pretty sure is fictional. I wanted Jar Island to be real also!! Although it would be kind of a pain to live on an island that didn't have a bridge to the mainland, it would also be equally cool and unique.

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  2. Both this one and The Creeping sound really great and I want to read them. Fabulous review!

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    1. I love them both SO MUCH. This author has definitely become auto-buy for me!

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  3. I'm so glad to hear this lived up! Def. have to check this out as soon as possible, thanks.

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