Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Ok so here’s another book I read an age ago and haven’t had time to review.

This is not my usual type of book. It’s a lot more ‘fluffy, teen girl book’ then my usual genre favourites but I had read a great review of it on Goodreads and then it came up on http://pulseit.simonandschuster.com so I decided to give it a go.

“Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.” – From Goodreads.

Hudson Avery is an incredible baker, and ex-competitive ice-skater, 17 year old girl stuck in a dead-end job working at her mum’s diner, helping to keep the family afloat after her dad walked out. She’s fed up of her typical small town life and she can’t wait to get out of there. So when she is given the chance to win a scholarship that could send her to any school she could dream of, and all she has to do is brush of her old skates and complete her old routine. 

The only problem is ice-skating used to be her and her dad’s thing and the minute he left she hung up her skate for good. With a tight work schedule, a not very supportive mum, a little brother to look after, cakes to bake and nowhere to skate she doesn’t think she’ll even have the chance. Until her the one person who can change her life literally crashes into her.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The unconsecrated are never alone. You are…

"In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future..." - From Goodreads

It’s been a while since I read this book. I think originally I quite liked it but since then and thinking about it I have changed my opinion a little. It’s a good book. It’s quite unusual in the sense that it has taken the idea of ‘The Village’ (the film) and placed it in a zombie novel.

It was quite well written, from what I remember, and it’s got a very interesting storyline with a GREAT twist at the end, even though I was kind of expecting it in the first half of the book the second half made me change my mind so completely that by the time it came I didn’t believe it would come at all.

My only problem with the book was the characters.

The Darkening Dream - Signed copy

I won a signed copy of this book in Goodreads competition. This should probably go in an In My Mailbox post but I haven't bought any books this week so I'm going to just give it it's own dedication.

Description from Goodreads "1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand. "

Book with bookmarks & signature. Click to enlarge

I'm really looking forward to reading this book, and I'm really excited that it's a signed copy. I'm not even a huge game fan but who wouldn't want something signed by the creator of Crash Bandicoot?

I'd like to thank Mascherato Publishing for sending me the book and Andy Gavin and Goodreads for hosting the competition. When I'm done reading this I will review it for sure.