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I love to listen to audiobooks (I'm seriously addicted to Audible!). So when I realized I had listened to a ton of audiobooks but never  reviewed them, I thought I'd do some audiobook flash reviews. Have any audiobooks I should check out? I'd love suggestions!!

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Rating: 5/5 Stars

About the Book: Taylor was abandoned by her mother years ago on the Jellicoe Road. Now at seventeen, the one adult Taylor could trust, Hannah, has disappeared. Taylor searches for answers about who she is and her story is interwoven with a group of teens who lived on the Jellicoe Road years before.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I remember when this book won the Printz-I didn't know much about it. And I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to read it! Jellicoe Road is one of my new favorite YA novels-it's emotional and beautifully written and everything I want a book to be. The audiobook narrator does a fantastic job keeping the reader engaged-even when things start to get a bit tricky with the stories going back and forth. (The audiobook uses a very cool musical sound to designate the change). It's a book I highly recommend and one I'll listen to again.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 5/5 Stars

About the Book: On the island of Thisby, November means The Scorpio Races-a race of water horses where not everyone comes out alive. Sean Kendrick is a returning champion and one of the best racers. He is competing this year in the hopes of winning his horse as his own. Puck Connolly didn't mean to enter the races, especially with the only non-water horse to compete, but she needs the money. The races are dangerous and often deadly and neither one is prepared for what will come.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: If you want a fantastically rich story that takes place on a made up island that you are so sure has to be real, than read The Scorpio Races. And if you want magical narrators that transport you from your listening to Thisby and right into the story, Steve West and Fiona Hardingham are perfect. While this would be a great book to read, it made an excellent audiobook. The narrators added to the richness to the story. The book itself is full of adventure and romance and incredible details about a world that is so imaginative and amazing, it's a bit sad to know it's all fictional. Also, without the audiobook, I never would have pronounced "capill uisce" correctly! (It's pronounced 'kapal-ishka')

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Flash Reviews are short, quick, mini-reviews of multiple titles. More committee reading this time around, so here are my thoughts:


Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Rating: 5/5 Stars
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I love a good road trip novel and this one is pretty much perfect! I love Amy and Roger, their individual storylines and issues to work through as well as how their storylines connect and weave together. I loved how they ended up needing each other, and an epic detour road trip, to work through life, fears, and emotions. And of course, the romance is wonderful-I want them to stay together forever. They totally will, right?:)


Suspect by Kristin Wolden Nitz
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This one starts out with a great mystery premise-girl trying to find the truth about her long-missing mother during a murder mystery weekend hosted at her grandmother's bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, it quickly looses any of the mystery. The mystery falls flat, the story is cut too short and the characters are just never fully developed. I would have liked this one more if the mystery hadn't been so cheesy and if the book had actually had about 50 pages more to the plot.


All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab
Rating: 4/5 Stars

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Veronica Mars fans, get your hands on this one! All Unquiet Things is a very engaging and entertaining mystery told from two points of view. Both characters were close to the victim which offers two points of view for how we get to know Carly. Neily was in love with her, but is also trying to overcome the hurt of their breakup. Audrey was cousins and best friends with Carly and trying to deal with the fallout of her father being charged with Audrey's murder. The mystery kept me turning pages, but it was the characters that made me really like this novel. I really grew to care about Audrey and Neily and wanted them to get the closure they needed. The story also had a nice plot twist and no "the murderer tells exactly how the murder was committed" monologue which often ruins mysteries for me, so that made me like it even more. It's a smart, character driven mystery.

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I've been doing a ton of reading lately, so instead of posting a lot of reviews, I decided to post another Flash Review post. Basically, these are mini reviews on lots of titles all in one post. And as always, they are in no way reflective of any committee I'm on, but are my opinion about the book. :)



Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
Rating: 4/5 Stars

I'm a big fan of Neal Shusterman's books and I love how they always make you think. This is a hard one to talk about without giving away some of the plot twists. I really enjoyed it and I liked the varying points of view. It raises some interesting points about emotions, fear, and responsibility. I do wish there would have been some more explanation about Bruiser-everyone seemed to accept his story, no questions asked. I also hated that Cody's voice on the audiobook was narrated by a female when he's supposed to be a tween boy. To me, this made him sound even more childish. But other than that, a decent audiobook and a good discussion starting novel.


The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June by Robin BenwayRating: 3.5/5 Stars

I'm still not sure what I thought of this one. It's like chick lit with superpowers. It's a light, breezy novel which I liked. I really liked all three sisters, although I think May was my favorite because of her snarky, sarcastic attitude and comebacks-seriously, I want her witty remarks! The banter between all three sisters was fun and what made me really like this book. I think I expected more though, which made me not like it as much as I could have. It's a book about three sisters who gain superpowers which help them get boyfriends and confidence and popularity. I thought they'd end up using their powers for something bigger-the big climax of the book just fell a bit flat for me. But it's still a lot of fun and very humorous and I'd give it to fans of Sarah Mlynowski's Magic In Manhattan series or Meg Cabot's Jinx.


The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Yes, this one might seem like it's another paranormal, girl who sees ghosts but finds a guy who loves her anyway story-at least that's what I thought going into it. But instead I was surprised to find a story about race, history, and forgiveness-and OK, ghosts too. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed and I felt the story was a bit muddy throughout, but the last 50 pages totally made up for everything and made me really appreciate this book. I think it could lead to s

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I've finished up my Gateway Committee reading and am now moving on to the list for next year (which already has about 40 books on it!) So here are a few more of my flash reviews on some of the Gateway titles I read (and again, this is just my opinion and not the opinion of the committee). Writing these short reviews help me formulate my thoughts so I can figure out what to rate each title. You can see my first Flash Review List here.

Rating: 3/5

Hmm...not sure what to say about this one. I liked it and I didn't. It was very much a middle of the road book for me. The story was interesting enough-the main character's friend begins to loose control after an accident with his brother and the bullying at school begins to push him to the edge. The story is told from the "witness" point of view-how he sees things happen and unfold. It just didn't really stand out to me, but I thought it was a book worth reading.

Rating: 2.5/5

Well, this one makes me feel like I don't get mysteries at all, because this one won the Edgar Award for best YA mystery and I didn't like-go figure. I just felt the characters weren't all that interesting and the mystery was a little childish for being a YA suspense novel. There was never any suspense (and believe me, I'm an easily scared chicken!) But there was just something about this book that really made me bored with it. I also felt the mystery read like something you'd find in a made for TV movie for teens-it all felt too coincendental and unrealistic and over the top. I'm sure it'd be good for readers looking for an easy read. I just expected more suspense and twisting mystery that really took me by surprise.

Rating: 4/5


This was a short read and it read very quickly. DeShawn lives in the projects and the novel starts out with him at age 12. He wants to get out and do something with his life, but living in a place where gangs rule, he grows up and soon finds he has no choice. I thought the story was very well done and while it was sad and infuriating and DeShawn often left me annoyed at his choices, I understood why he made them. I also felt the author really did his research and wrote a s

4 Comments on Flash Reviews, last added: 12/1/2010

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Small Review said, on 12/1/2010 8:18:00 AM

Suicide books can be very difficult. My favorite so far is Thirteen Reasons Why. I normally wouldn't read them because they're, well, sad, but your review for Hold Still makes me curious.

Library Lounge Lizard said, on 12/1/2010 12:59:00 PM

I love these flash reviews...sometimes shorter is better!

Andrea said, on 12/1/2010 2:15:00 PM

I am curious about Hold Still now. And I liked Peter Abrahams' Echo Falls mystery series, but Reality Check doesn't sound like my thing.

mary kate said, on 12/1/2010 4:29:00 PM

I've been wanting to read Hold Still for a long time now, your review makes me want to go out and buy it right now. Great Reviews!

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