Hickville Confessions by Mary Karlik

New town. New look. New beginning. High school junior Ryan Quinn has a past. She will do just about anything to keep it hidden, even if means joining the ultra-conservative, no fun allowed, Purity Club. But secrets are hard to keep in a small town and when the Purity Club girls discover the truth, they viciously attack Ryan.

Justin is the kind of guy who can make Ryan forget her vow to change. He’s the kind of guy she should avoid at all costs. But he knows her soul secrets. He understands her and it is torture when she is away from him. But as she deals with the outward scars on her face and the inward shame of her past and Justin’s home life continues to spiral out of control, their relationship becomes as convoluted as their home life. Will they find the courage to open their hearts to each other in spite of their family drama?

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Hickville Confessions had an entirely different feel than its predecessor. Dark with a wealth of emotional depth. The first in the series, Welcome to Hickville High, was a great Young Adult read. It was a shorter novel but seemed drawn out a bit – light with some depth but didn't hook me. I'd empathized with the narrators, but didn't truly connect with the story. Hickville Confessions, at nearly twice the length as the 1st in the series, was fast-paced and absorbing because of the fact that the 1st in the series set the series up so well. No unnecessary backstory in Hickville Confessions because we had already learned those things in the prior book. 100% solid storytelling.

Welcome to Hickville High was a good book, but if I hadn't been asked to read the second for review, I might have taken a pass on continuing with the series. I would have missed out on something great. Hickville Confessions sunk its claws into me, making me want more of the series as a whole.

Hickville Confessions hits upon a lot of heavy issues plaguing young adult and adults alike: grief/bullying/sexual assault/controlling behavior/religious brainwashing/peer pressure/mental illness/consequences of texting while driving/unhealthy relationships with friends/family/boyfriend/girlfriend. I'd suggest this as a good read for teens, as it would show them never to negotiate with bullies. The strength is in looking them in the eye and moving on with your life.

Without going into detail, the only drawback to the story was the school system. In a school system with a zero tolerance for bullying/fighting/drugs/violence, with the issues with the PC, not once was the lipstick messages on Ryan's locker addressed. That didn't fit the storyline whatsoever. As obviously it was witnessed by school staff on a daily basis. Also, we never learn the identity of the lipstick defamer.

Mary Karlik created a very engaging, realistic town, with diverse characters, and I look forward to reading more by this author.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Ryan's life in Chicago including partying, drugs and sex with boys. Moving to Texas she wants a fresh start and joins the purity club. When Ryan's past is discovered she is labelled easy and is the target for bullies.

Our hero of the story, Justin rescues Ryan from an assault by bullies and the two of them connect. Justin is dealing with his own issues following the death of his sister in a car accident a few years earlier.

Hickville Confessions is an excellent story that covers many important teen issues including bullying, violence, date rape and safe dating, and deciding when the right time to have sex is. It also deals with grief, depression, and loss. There is a seriousness to this story but there is also strength and hope. This is a book I would highly recommend for teenaged girls.

Age recommendation: 13up

Also Available in the Hickville High Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our Welcome to Hickville High post.

Following a career as a nursing instructor, award-winning author, Mary Karlik earned an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. A native Texan, Mary loves horses, dogs, cats, country music, and small town diners. Although she has recently relocated in northern New Mexico, her heart remains in the Lone Star state.

Connect with Mary

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Hickville Confessions (Hickville High #2) by Mary Karlik to read and review.

Welcome to Hickville High by Mary Karlik

The Universe has completely dumped on High School senior Kelsey Quinn’s life. Credit card at Nordstrom’s? Deactivated. Honda Accord? Sold. Life in the burbs of Chicago? Gone. And it’s all her sister’s fault. Yep. Drugs, alcohol, and getting caught with the boss’s son was all it took. Dad loses job, family loses money, and the next thing she knows she’s crammed in a cell on wheels for the next two days as they make their way to a dilapidated farmhouse in Texas. But Kelsey doesn’t just leave the good life in Chicago. She leaves the boy who-has-it-all, Drew Montgomery.

Hillside senior, quarterback, Austin McCoy works for Kelsey’s dad at the feed store and helps with the farm chores in the morning. He sees through Kelsey’s surly attitude to the girl whose eyes light up when she’s with the animals. He is determined to help Kelsey see that not only does she love the Farmville life, but that the guy she really wants is him.

Will Austin convince Kelsey he’s the guy she wants? Will Kelsey embrace the simple life and find forgiveness for her sister?

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
Welcome to Hickville High is perfect for young adults and those young at heart.

Kelsey was in the in-crowd back in Chicago, going to a private school, dating the boy every girl wanted, was on the fast-track to Ivy League colleges, and then all of that changes. She finds herself locked in a moving car, destination Hickville, Texas.

Young adults will surely identify and sympathize with Kelsey. The adults, probably not-so much (I can hear them getting frustrated with the girl). But since I'm 37 years old, I'll give you my take on it. I found Kelsey easy to empathize with. Imagine living a way of life for 17 years and having it all stripped away. How powerless you'd feel having every goal you thought to realize removed by the poor decisions of the adults in your life? She is living the consequences of her father, mother, and sister's choices, when up until then she had made all the right choices to have the future she planned. Now, ask yourself if Kelsey feeling resentful was justified or not?

Kelsey was written in a very human manner, befitting a teenager, and as someone who grew up as an affluent Chicagoan.

But the beauty of Welcome to Hickville High is how the grass is always greener on the opposite side of the fence. Through Austin's narration, we're able to see the beauty of a simple life in Texas. Depending on the point of view, some of Kelsey's inner monologue will rankle some readers. Like her thoughts on wanting to enter a house trailer because she wanted to know how people lived in them. Instead of feeling slighted, I thought it a unique perspective, as Kelsey would be completely ignorant to the things all of us in rural America experience on a daily basis. Moral of the story: everyone needs to experience both to have a balanced life.

Welcome to Hickville High was very detailed with beautiful descriptions, but it slowed the flow down considerably, making the story feel a bit drawn-out.

My favorite parts of the book were the tidbits and facts posted as the header of every chapter, and the out-loud laughter that rumbled from me every time coke versus Coke was brought up. (I'm a rural girl and grew up with it being pop or soda. So if someone offered me a coke, I'd expect me some Coke. I laughed so hard when she took tea instead, not knowing what 'flavor' of coke she would get. Loved it!)


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Kelsey's life changes dramatically when her father loses his well-paying job and they go from the rich life in Chicago to a working life in rural Texas. She arrives a good girl but a spoiled rich girl. Not her fault – that is how she was raised. She behaves and gets good grades. These two things combined made her a challenging character for me. Sometimes I didn't like her and thought she was a bit of a twit and irritating. Other times I thought she was hard done by and just doing her best to get by.

Her friend and love interest Austin is a good, hard working Texan boy. The kind of boy every parent would like for their daughter. He helps Kelsey adjust to a life that includes work, a new high school, and farm animals.

Welcome to Hickville High is a lovely story about growing up and includes a sweet romance. I will definitely be reading more of the Hickville series.

Age recommendation: 13up

Also Available in the Hickville High Series

Book 2
Buy Links

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Following a career as a nursing instructor, award-winning author, Mary Karlik earned an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. A native Texan, Mary loves horses, dogs, cats, country music, and small town diners. Although she has recently relocated in northern New Mexico, her heart remains in the Lone Star state.

Connect with Mary

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Welcome to Hickville High (Hickville High #1) by Mary Karlik to read and review. Review copy purchased by the blog.

Steam by Stacey Rourke Blog Tour

Time passes, sins forgotten.
The bodies of the victims long since rotten.

Trapped within the essence of the Headless Horseman by the guilt of slaughtering her best friend, Ireland Crane follows the father of science fiction, HG Wells, in search of freedom from the curse that binds her. Instead, she discovers even he has a hidden agenda. A dark, relentless passion to be reunited with the woman he loves has driven him to manipulate time and a murderous Horseman.

Yet heed my warning, as the Raven flies,
The Hessian will come … and you will die.

All that prevents Ireland from abandoning Wells’ twisted pursuit, or introducing him to her sword, are the undead witches haunting her. Begging for freedom from a vile succubus, the ghoulish coven leads Ireland and her crew on a journey through Salem’s sordid past. There, they learn there is more to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s history than a scarlet letter, and the secret they’ve uncovered seeks to destroy them all.

Book 3
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Smashwords

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Christy – ☆☆☆☆☆
As a longtime fan of Rourke's I knew the ending of the series would be beautiful and sad, as a matter fact I had a box of tissues on standby. Once again the book started off with a new twist and plenty of snarky banner from Ireland, though way more twisted this time around. Once again Stacey offers up a Young Adult novel not only worth reading but worth reading more than once. The suspense will keep you engaged until the bitter end and you only think you know the truth, trust me it's so much darker than you think! As saddened as I am to see these beloved characters go, I take heart in the fact that I can revisit them again!

I would recommend this book for older teens 15+ due to violence and some sexual suggestions.

Also Available in The Legends Saga

Book 1
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B&N  ~  Smashwords

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Crane Blog Tour.

Book 2
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Smashwords

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Raven Blog Tour.

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series as well as the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

-RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
-Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
-Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Connect with Stacey

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Google+  ~  Blog  ~  tsū

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Steam (The Legends Saga #3) by Stacey Rourke to read and review for this tour.

Come Sit By Me by Thomas Hoobler

The boy who shot seven people in the school library is dead. But did his secrets die with him?

Something terrible happened at Hamilton High last year, and those who survived don't want to relive the past. But Paul has just arrived, and gets the same locker that the shooter used. He wants to know what really happened...and you know what curiosity did to the cat.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
I'm not entirely sure how to review Come Sit By Me. I read it from page one until the end in one sitting without a break, where I now find myself moments later trying to put my thoughts into words. Being speechless is not a common place a writer often finds themselves.

I'll start by saying that if this book had been written in anything other than 1st person, it would not have had its intended impact. The narration runs like a constant stream of thought, actions being told in a storytelling fashion versus being shown. If written any other way, it wouldn't have felt as authentic.

Paul moves to a small town in Pennsylvania (my home state) after devastation rocks the community in the form of a school shooting, taking eight souls: seven innocents and their suspected killer.

Paul begins his senior year, only to find out he was given Caleb's locker – the killer. Interested in journalism, Paul beings sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, connecting events from the 1920s through present time, trying to solve the one question everyone asks but can never answer.

Why?

Tenacious to a fault, to the point he loses focus on his own self-preservation, Paul finds out why. During the journey, he connects to Caleb in a way no one had while the boy was alive.

It was an interesting point of view, being able to be empathetic enough to understand what courses of action brought a boy to commit a string of heinous murders. I, the reader, understood how just a nudge in the wrong direction can derail your entire existence, until you do something you never thought possible.

The narrator takes us on the journey with him, not only seeking truths but showing us how Caleb spiraled down via his own actions, only he had the strengths and intelligence to walk a different path.

I found Come Sit By Me to be a highly intelligent read, with a great wealth of compassion, understanding, and realism.

A lot of healing could be achieved if we all took a step back and looked at every situation with the fresh eyes of someone who wasn't directly involved, leaving our own emotions out of the tragedy.

Right or wrong, there is always more than one side of a story to be told. Just because the point of view being voiced is on the side deemed wrong, doesn't mean the voice holds any less truth.


Christy – ☆☆☆☆☆
This thought provoking book left me in a state of speechlessness. Not something many books can do. The author took on a taboo but very real issue in writing about school shooting not from the survivor or even shooter’s POV but instead from a young student who has to know why. It's the reporter in him coming to life. The author presented with a complex and puzzling why. And even when I thought I knew the answer I was way wrong. The author twists the story and makes you want to know more about the shooter. I was engrossed in the story and found it hard to put down. I will be reading more of this author.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Paul arrives at Hamilton High for his senior year. There was a school shooting the year before and Paul is tasked with writing a story for the school newspaper for those who died. Well all those who died except for the shooter, Cale.

Paul soon sees the things people say about Cale and the shooting don't add up. The story follows Paul's final year of high school as he investigates Cale's life and tries to figure out what Cale's motive was for the shooting.

I loved the mystery and suspense that is created by this story about a very tragic event. But the highlight of the story for me is Paul himself. I loved seeing the world and the high school experience through Paul's eyes.

While the author treats the events and issues surrounding them seriously, Paul's humorous observations about those around him had me snorting and laughing out loud early in the book and this helped the story avoid becoming oppressive. Paul's character and high school issues like girls and bullying keep the story real.

I was sucked in right from the start and read it in less than a day. Come Sit By Me is an excellent read.

THOMAS WILLIAM HOOBLER was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Catholic schools. He began working in his father’s print shop while still a boy and earned his first wages as a proofreader at the age of ten. He obtained a degree in English in 1964 from the University of Notre Dame, where he was editor of the student weekly magazine The Scholastic. After working on a local magazine and spending a year at the Writer’s Workshop of the University of Iowa, Tom returned to Cincinnati to teach school. He received a master’s degree in education from Xavier University in 1970 and the following year, feeling stifled by the provincial atmosphere of his native city, moved to New York. He met his future wife Dorothy on the first day he was there. He worked on trade magazines and for a textbook publisher in the early 1970s. Besides the books he has published with his wife, Tom also wrote two science-fiction novels with his friend Burt Wetanson. One of them, The Hunters, was optioned many times for motion-picture production and is now under contract to a producer who first read it as a teenager.

In 2001, Tom appeared on the network version of the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and with help from his wife (who was his phone-a-friend) he won $500,000. The Hooblers used part of the money to spend a month traveling in Italy and decided to use the rest to try to write a book for adults. For years, agents and editors had told them that they should confine their efforts to books for young audiences, but publishers have steadily lowered their expectations for the intellectual abilities of American youth, frustrating authors like the Hooblers who write “challenging” material. Helped by their new agent, Al Zuckerman, Dorothy and Tom obtained contracts for not one, but two, adult books. The first of these, Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream, was published by Wiley in the fall of 2005. The second, The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, was published by Little, Brown in May, 2006.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Come Sit By Me by Thomas Hoobler to read and review.

Placid Girl by Brenna Ehrlich

Punk was created for the malcontents, something that loner and aspiring drummer Hallie understands all too well. Trapped in a boring suburban life – dysfunctional parents included! – Hallie drowns her angst in the angry songs of Haze, a masked musician who has not been heard from in five years. So naturally she’s surprised – and more than a little skeptical – when someone who seems to be Haze starts flirting with her via her favorite photo-sharing app. Is he who he says he is? What does he want from her? The questions only multiply when Hallie — along with bandmate Sarah and aspiring music journalist Steve — roadtrip to Haze's comeback gig to unmask the reclusive musician once and for all.

Buy Links

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 mysterious rocking stars, with a bit of a Pretty Little Liars feel. (FYI: I hate comparing stories. No, if you like this, you’ll love that BS. I’m just stating the heart-pound, ‘wtf is going on?’ felt similar to how PLL made me feel.)

In case anyone is curious, I’m typing this review at intervals while reading. Currently I’m at 28%.

A few weeks back, I began Placid Girl on a whim after receiving it to read for review. I got about half a page in and abandoned ship, feeling I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with the description overload. (There was a TON of description. Everything was being described. The words used were amazing in small doses, but it didn’t trap me into the story.)

So when I noticed the due date was rapidly approaching… to be honest, it’s due. Today. I began again, and groaned, “Shoot! It’s that description book again. Dang it!” But I was relieved to find out that it did simmer down a bit, beginning to flow like a story instead of what the room felt like, the way people were dressed, and the emotional climate of our narrator.

Then I was hooked. By 10% I was contacting a fellow reviewer, telling her she should have buddy-read Placid Girl with me, as it was right up her alley.

Hallie, aka Placid Girl, is a drummer, song writer, and obsessive fan of Haze, even if she won’t admit she’s obsessed. At 17, the first person narration was spot-on for the emotional signature of a late teenage girl. Some would find that annoying, but I liked the sarcastic yet shy attitude she exuded.

Sarah, the best friend, she’s that best friend we all had (if you’re the introvert of the partnership). A bit vapid, hella shallow, annoying but she has your back almost as much as you have hers. The girl who has such low self-esteem, she’ll steal any boy who looks your way, simply because she needs the validation while you create your own. A small part of you pities her because she’s blind to any talent that doesn’t reside between her thighs, while the larger part of you is angry and frustrated that she doesn’t love you enough not to target you, which is why she targets you in the first place – because you’re safe and she knows you’ll love her anyway. Yeah, we all have a friend like that, sometimes more than one. Sometimes we’re that girl. Readers will complain about Sarah’s characterization, and I feel it might be because they were that half of the friendship partnership (not realizing it, of course), while the rest of us remember fondly with great frustration our own personal Sarahs that we know and love.

Hallie’s personality and the few too stupid to live actions/reactions on her part are par for the course. The reader has to remember who is narrating – a naïve child who hasn’t experienced anything in the world, and they aren’t the most rational creatures on the planet. The story is seen through the eyes of a 17 year old. So before you start saying this or that, how Hallie shouldn’t/wouldn’t/couldn’t react like that, do you know a teenage girl? Did you forget how stupid you once were? I didn’t/haven’t. I felt Hallie very authentic.

The big mystery is Haze. Haze is a band of three who are from Hallie’s hometown, all wearing masks during performances. They released one killer album, and she’s hungry for more. Two of the three have been identified, leaving the lead guitar/singer’s (aka, Haze) identity a mystery.

So, as the reader follows Hallie around in her daily life, every person she comes into contact with has us asking, “Are you Haze?” “Answer me? Are you Haze?” It’s as frustrating as it is awesome to read.

So, as of now, Hallie doesn’t know who Haze is. She’s met a blogger who does Q&A & reviews of Haze cover bands (Hallie’s band included, where he had nice things to say about Hallie and not-so nice things to say about Sarah), has a new next door neighbor, and is ‘Instagramming’ ZZZ, who may or may not be Haze. Hallie’s a busy girl right now.

_____________

Jesus, I feel like everyone is Haze…. I’ll be back. I’m going back in. Gotta find out who this dude is!!!

____________

38%: I have my theories. I’ll let you know if I was correct when the book is finished. I love books like this because I’m a thinker, plotter, and I like to see if other writers write like I do. If their mind ticks in a similar fashion. In a way, I hope I’m wrong so that I’m surprised.

____________

I’m back! Whew! I just finished. What a ride that was… Okay, so I was right, but that didn’t make the journey any less thrilling and nail-biting.

I have got to say I was pleasantly surprised. I started Placid Girl without reading the synopsis, going in blind, and it wasn’t anything I expected. I reaffirm my Pretty Little Liars comment from the beginning of this review. Just like reading/watching that series, there are times you have no f’n clue what the heck is going on.

Now, I don’t know if this is a standalone or not, but I’d be more than happy for a continuation. But I also won’t be disappointed if there isn’t. Sometimes leaving just a tiny thread of open-ended keeps the thrill alive.

Great book. First 5 star I’ve handed out in months (& I read A LOT) I’ll definitely be looking into this author.

Brenna Ehrlich is the founder of All Ages Press, a small press/label for weird teens (and everyone else). The co-writer of the blog and book STUFF HIPSTERS HATE, Brenna is currently a senior writer/editor for MTV News. She enjoys trying not to die in moshpits.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Placid Girl by Brenna Ehrlich to read and review.