Reviews : Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella & The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : Finding Audrey
Author : Sophie Kinsella
Publication Date : June 9th 2015
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain.

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

Personal Thoughts

Sophie Kinsella has always been a favorite author of mine. I love how funny her books are and have devoured all of them except for the latest ones. I was thrilled to hear that she was venturing into her YA. Finding Audrey was an utterly delightful book that had me grinning from start to finish.

Audrey was an endearing character. She was battling with anxiety disorders and after a particularly rough episodes involving bullies, she wound up wearing dark glasses, never leaving her home. Finding Audrey was the story of Audrey trying to overcome her mental illness in a slow progression. It was hard not to love this girl. She was sweet, down to earth and struggling with so much. I loved how hard she tried to be brave despite not always feeling like it. Audrey had a fantastic support system in the form of her parents and brother, Frank. This was one quirky but hilarious family. Seriously, there were some crazy moments from them, especially from Audrey's mom, who was entirely too obsessed with Frank's addiction to video games and computers. She brought about so much humor to the book. Despite seeming like someone entirely too unhealthy, her mom cared deeply about her kids. I also loved Frank's friend and Audrey's love interest, Linus. This boy was a sweetheart. I couldn't help but swoon over him as he supported and stood by Audrey and pushed her towards her recovery.

Linus and Audrey's romance was so sweet! They were all kinds of adorable together, and they had me going "aww" throughout most of their scenes. I especially loved the little notes (and note kisses!) they shared at the beginning of their relationship. I couldn't get over how cute they were! Finding Audrey might be a book that has many laugh out loud moments, but it's a book that tackles mental health issues. The signature Sophie Kinsella humor made the book stand out for me amongst all the mental illness books. One of my favorite parts about Finding Audrey were the transcripts of Audrey's video tapes of her family recordings. They were so funny and made me laugh all throughout the book. Sophie Kinsella's writing was as always very charming. I had a very hard time putting this book down because of how addicting her writing is.

Finding Audrey was a winner for me. If you want to read a book that tackles a serious issue, but handles it in a light-hearted way and is cute and charming, this is the book for you.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : The Stars Never Rise (The Stars Never Rise #1)
Author : Rachel Vincent
Publication Date : June 9th 2015
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.
 
Personal Thoughts

I've never read a Rachel Vincent book before this one, but after thoroughly enjoying The Stars Never Rise, I'm convinced that I'm going to be reading more by this author. The Stars Never Rise was one heck of an entertaining, thrilling and dark book. Coupled with some badass characters and unique world building, this book was near perfect.

Nina's character is solidly one of my all-time favorite female protagonists in YA. She's someone very memorable and I meshed with her very easily. She was fierce, bold and all kinds of strong. It was hard to not admire her. What I loved even more was her loyalty to her family, particularly her sister. She would do anything to protect her baby sister and that was something resonated well with me. Basically, Nina was a badass heroine, perfect for this kind of book because of how smart she was about everything. Her love interest and mega cute boy, Finn stole my heart in The Stars Never Rise. This boy was so sweet. It was hard not to fall in love with him. If you think good boys can't be swoony, meet Finn before you think that. Seriously, it's hard to resist someone so dedicated, loyal and kind to his friends and family. I loved how supportive he was towards Nina. His backstory was one of the strangest and simultaneously, most interesting story I had ever heard of. And there certain aspects about his physical self that creates obstacles in his relationship with Nina. I'd love to divulge more into that, but it would be too spoilery. Despite it all, I never once doubted that he was the perfect complement to Nina. Their relationship was slow developing, sweet and gave me butterflies. I have hope that they can make it work. The rest of the group of fugitives, which includes Finn, that Nina befriends were also a pretty tight group of characters with diverse personalities.

My favorite part about The Stars Never Rise was the epic world that Rachel Vincent has created. It was complex, dark and intriguing. In Nina's world, the Church rules the world after demons possessed most of the souls present. It's very rule-driven, to the point of domination. Rachel Vincent has crafted a truly interesting world in this book and as I slowly learned about it, I became even more absorbed with it. I love how dark and scary it was. The book was brutal at times and that made me love it all the more! There were some fierce and creepy battle scenes throughout the book. And the crazy twists that I never saw coming! Those were so impressive too. Those, along with Rachel Vincent's fantastic writing, made The Stars Never Rise a book very hard to put down. It's certainly the kind of book that makes you want to ditch real life and just continue to be immersed in despite knowing very well that it could give you nightmares. I'm really excited to see where the story goes to next, especially when it comes to Finn's situation.

If you think you've read everything in YA dystopia, think again. The Stars Never Rise was one engaging read from start to finish. The creativity, the endearing cast and the thrilling plot line makes this one of the best series starters of the year.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Random House for the ARCs of Finding Audrey and The Stars Never Rise.