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Archive for October 21st, 2017

Running on Empty

Posted in 5 Star Books on October 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Running on Empty by R.M. Clark

After getting a video camera for her fourteenth birthday, Kasey Madrid enters a student documentary film contest and chooses her town’s 300th anniversary celebration as a subject. Everything is good until the town’s time capsule is unearthed empty at the celebration, prompting Kasey to investigate. Things get even stranger when she begins to see someone in her camera no one else can see.

That “someone” turns out to be Marion Gibson, the town’s former historian, who went into a coma-like state when the time capsule was buried and whose memories are now trapped in time. Kasey researches the town historians and reveals their 300 year-old secret: a wooden chest that gives them the ability to see other people’s memories and visit the past. She also finds that Marion’s successor, the real town historian, is missing.

Using her film footage (and with a little help from Marion), Kasey discovers the chest is passed on to each new historian every generation through time capsules. When the chest is stolen, Kasey and her camera go back to save Marion, find the identity of the next historian and solve the mystery of the empty time capsule.

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My Review

5 stars

Kasey Madrid has just received a video camera for her birthday and can’t wait to use it. She decides to film the opening of the town’s time capsule for the 300th anniversary of the town. Kasey is extra excited since her mother wrote a letter 30 years earlier and put it in the time capsule. But when the time capsule is opened it is empty. Kasey decides to go to the town meeting for answers. But when she sees a strange lady on her camera that is not there she decides to start investigating. Kasey and her friend Paula Nichols start looking into the history of Chepstow and learns the secret of the town historians. The problem is the current town historian is in a coma and her predecessor has disappeared. It’s up to Kasey and Paula to solve this mystery and learn what Kasey’s mother’s letter said.

If you have read Dizzy Miss Lizzie, Kasey and Paula should be familiar to you. Once again it will be up to the girls to dig through history and have another little time traveling trip into the past to learn what really happened. Thankfully they have the help of the former historian to guide them.

This is a wonderful midgrade mystery story that will appease both boys and girls and all ages. It is easy to get draw into the story and hard to put the book aside. This is one to add to your shelves.

I received Running on Empty from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Harmless

Posted in 5 Star Books on October 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Harmless
by Katherine Dell
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Be careful what you wish for.
After moving from Vancouver to isolated Hazelton,
BC, high school senior Rachel Barnes hopes she’ll finally find
closure and a sense of direction after tragedy has torn her family
apart. When she and her friends discover the old spirit box her
grandmother gave her, they see it as a chance to wish their troubles
away. But the Great Spirits—deer, crow, bear, and the mythical
wendigo—give away nothing for free.
So instead of worrying about fitting in and finding a boyfriend, Rachel
finds herself in a race to control the malevolent spirit who’s
taken up residence in Mason Allen, who she fears and craves in
equal measure. What began as a harmless game forces Rachel to
confront her past—and offers her a future she never imagined.
Step into a reality that is not as it seems in Book 1 of the Harmless series.
Add to Goodreads
Katherine Dell is a young adult fiction author fascinated by the supernatural
and the stories that surround them. She began her writing endeavours
in 2011 when she wanted to reinvent herself from her previous career
as an event planner. When she’s not writing, she can be found in
cold hockey arenas sipping coffee, working on her tan at little
league games, or trying to keep her dog out of her many gardens. She
lives with her husband, two boys, and fur babies, in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.

My Review

5 stars

A family tragedy has shaken up Rachel Barnes’ life. With her parents divorced and the loss still fresh, Rachel moves with her mother to Hazelton, BC and her grandmother’s house. Although she has been lonely she has found a little group of friends since the first day of school. We start with them partying at Rachel’s house and the discovery of the spirit box her grandmother gave her.

The teens make wishes on the box and end up releasing a wendigo. Strange things start happening in Hazelton and Rachel notices that her friends are starting to act strangely. The wendigo is not a genie in the bottle granting wishes and to stop it a high price must be paid. It is up to Rachel to stop the wendigo and save her friends and family.

Rachel has gone through hell and is getting a reluctant fresh start with her grandmother. She has been so lonely that she is excited for friends. The problem is that she is having a hard time adjusting to people and is also kind of interested in a guy that hardly ever speaks to her. I can see where the spirit box lures her and the rest in. But there is no such thing as a free meal and gifts are not given away for free.

The summary to this book caught my attention and I was excited to find out what was going on. I loved the idea of the wendigo and paying the price to stop it. You don’t really see many wendigo stories but ironically I am reading another one at this time, Deadlands: Boneyard by Seanan McGuire, make sure to check this one out. This is a great story although there are somethings left unanswered. I do hope that there will be a second book.

I received Harmless from Silver Dagger Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

Sign up for the chance to win a signed copy of Harmless here

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for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

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