Blog Tour: Master Class by Christina Dalcher @BerkleyPub @penguinrandom @CVDalcher #MasterClass #MasterClassBlogTour #blogtour #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #booksonthebookshelf

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLICATION DATE: April 21st, 2020

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

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HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY to this incredible novel by Christina Dalcher! Thank you to Berkley for inviting me on this blog tour and for the ARC of this novel via NetGalley.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Every child’s potential is regularly determined by a standardized measurement: their quotient (Q). Score high enough, and attend a top tier school with a golden future. Score too low, and it’s off to a federal boarding school with limited prospects afterwards. The purpose? An improved society where education costs drop, teachers focus on the more promising students, and parents are happy.

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state’s elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, Elena’s perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back.

And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.

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MY REVIEW:

After reading Dalcher’s first novel, Vox (and LOVING it!) I was thrilled when I heard about her newest title, MASTER CLASS. Master Class takes us into a different type of world, a world where the types of schools we attend are based on our Q-score. Have a high Q-score, attend the best school, have a low Q-score then you are taken away from your family and attend school at a federal institution.

I loved the main character Elena Fairchild. She is married and has 2 daughters. Her worst fears have come to life – her youngest daughter is taken away to a federal institution after receiving a low Q-score, and Elena is devastated. Her world as she knew it is all about to change and she races against time and her own husband to rescue her daughter and bring her back home safely where she belongs. Elena was a strong willed character, who fought for those she loved, for what she believed in, and for justice. I enjoyed her strong personality and reading about how strong-willed she was. She didn’t take no for an answer and put her own life on the line to protect those she loved.

I enjoyed reading about the trials and tribulations Elena found herself presented with as she tried to find her daughter and return her back home. She did whatever she thought was necessary to find her daughter, in the face of so much adversity, even going against her husband and colleagues. She didn’t stop in the face of so many obstacles and I loved her tenacity energy.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and I am sure you will too!

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MY RATING: 4/5 stars

Book Review: You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen @greerkh @sarahpekkanen @netgalley @StMartinsPress #YouAreNotAlone #YouAreNotAloneBook #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #booksonthebookshelf #netgalley

PUBLISHER: St. Martin’s Press

PUBLICATION DATE: March 3rd, 2020

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Thank you to the authors and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for the ARC of this book via NetGalley.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

You probably know someone like Shay Miller.
She wants to find love, but it eludes her.
She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end.
She wants to belong, but her life is so isolated.

You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters.
They have an unbreakable circle of friends.
They live the most glamorous life.
They always get what they desire.

Shay thinks she wants their life.
But what they really want is hers.

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MY REVIEW:

I mean, this book was simply amazing and utterly, ridiculously addictive! You Are Not Alone is full of lies, deception, betrayal, secrets, and betrayal. Such a perfect recipe for a great book! I loved it!!

Shay Miller is one of the main characters. I liked her and felt so bad for her – she was alone and had no friends. She wanted to belong and have people in her life, but she felt so isolated. Nothing seemed to work out in her favour. She was single, alone and in a dead end job, yet she wanted to have a fulfilling job and wanted to find love. Enter the Moore sisters. They were beautiful, full of poise, confidence and glamour. They were successful, dressed well, had a great circle of friends, and the envy of Shay. Shay wanted to be like them, full of confidence, friendship, success and happiness.

Shay meets the Moore sisters and they quickly form a friendship much to Shay’s surprise and delight! Her luck seems to be about to change, for the better. She now has met some great friends, which opens up a whole new world for Shay. Maybe she can be happy, successful, glamourous, and confident, like the Moore sisters. She cannot believe her luck when they become close friends.

I found myself completely immersed in this book and I devoured it from beginning to end. It was a quick read for me and I finished this book in one day it is that good! There was so much going on in this book I didn’t know what would happen next and it was an edge of your seat read!

Well done Sarah and Greer. I have loved all your novels and I am excited to see what you come out with next!

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MY RATING: 5/5 stars

Book Review: How To Save A Life by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke @LizandLisa @AmazonPub @HowToSaveALife #HowToSaveALifeNovel #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #booksonthebookshelf #netgalley

PUBLISHER: Lake Union Publishing

PUBLICATION DATE: July 14th, 2020

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Thank you to the authors, Liz and Lisa, and to NetGalley, for the eARC of this book to read and share my review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Dom is having a very bad day—one he literally can’t escape.

When Dom bumps into Mia, his ex-fiancée whom he hasn’t seen in almost a decade, he believes they’ve been given a second chance and asks her out. When Mia dies tragically on their date, Dom makes a desperate wish: to be given the chance to save her life. And when he wakes the next morning to the shock that she’s alive, he thinks his wish may have been granted. But day after day, no matter what he changes about their time together, she still meets a terrible fate.

Dom frantically searches for answers to save his beloved Mia and rekindle their former love. But the further he digs, the more obsessed he becomes, making him realize that slowing down time may be the only way to see things clearly. As he’s forced to confront the truth about himself and those he’s closest to, Dom vows that he’ll watch Mia die a thousand times if it means he can save her once.

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MY REVIEW:

I loved the uniqueness to how this story unfolds and the way in which it was written. It was fun and interesting to read, and was addictive.

The novel starts off in May 2010 where we are introduced to the novels two main characters, Dom and his girlfriend Mia. Then it jumps ahead 10 years, to June 2020. Dom and Mia had ended their relationship all those years ago and Dom feels that she is the one who got away. All these years later, Dom runs into her in a coffee shop, and they begin to talk. They agree to meet up again a couple days later to talk and catch up on everything the other has been up to for the past 10 years. After Mia tragically dies on one of their dates, Dom finds himself waking up the next day only to relive the previous day, the day when she had died on their date. No matter what Dom does, Mia’s fate is the same – she dies. Dom finds himself living that fateful day each day that he wakes up, with her dying, then waking up only to relive that same day again. Dom tries many different things in an attempt to save Mia from her tragic fate, only to become frustrated when nothing he does seems to work and save her.

It was interesting to read about Dom waking up each day only to relive that same day, and seeing him try different things to make the day play out differently. I was curious if he would be able to find something that works and was eager to see if he would be able to save Mia from her fate and actually save her life. I really enjoyed reading about both Dom and Mia as the two main characters in the book, and the unique way this story was written added to the enjoyment of the novel.

Well done Liz and Lisa. Another great novel! I am looking forward to your next one!

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MY RATING: 4/5 stars

Book Review: Perfect Little Children by Sophie Hannah @sophiehannahCB1 @HarperCollins @WMMorrowBooks #PerfectLittleChildren #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #booksonthebookshelf

PUBLISHER: William Morrow

PUBLICATION DATE: February 11th, 2020

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an eARC of this novel via Edelweiss to read and share my review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.

Just because she knows her ex-best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora for twelve years. She doesn’t want to see her today, or ever again.

But she can’t resist. She parks outside the open gates of Newnham House, watches from across the road as Flora and her children Thomas and Emily step out of the car. Except… There’s something terribly wrong. Flora looks the same, only older. As Beth would have expected. It’s the children. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then.

They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt – Hilary hears Flora call them by their names – but they haven’t changed at all.

They are no taller, no older… Why haven’t they grown?

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MY REVIEW:

A gripping thriller that I enjoyed from beginning to end. I found myself wanting to know what exactly was going on, and why the children didn’t look a day older than they did years ago. That intrigued me and kept the suspense going. I had my own thoughts and ideas of what was going on but I was completely wrong! The suspense, secrets, and many surprises shocked me and I didn’t see them coming at all. I love that in a novel, when it keeps you guessing all the way to the end and this book does exactly that.

An enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.

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MY RATING: 4/5 stars