Synchronized Reading

I've been reading a lot of fast paced reads lately and Fake ID was no exception. Mystery with some mob-ish/criminal elements going on within the book equals awesome for me! I didn't really no what to expect when I started reading this book. All I knew was that the synopsis had me intrigued and the more I continued to read, the more I became glued to the story. There were a lot of twists to keep you guessing at was to come next. I would recommend this to those who enjoys mystery books :)

In the start of the book we find out that Nick and his family are in the Witness Protection Program and have been hidden within it for years. Nick's dad is the reason they're in the program to begin with because he was apart of the mob or something of the sort. I really, really liked the mystery of Stepon and the murders and those two elements kept me deep into the story. In the beginning things were a tad bit slow, but not too slow. Once things started picking up, I really couldn't put the book down. Nick was a pretty interesting character. I loved his way of thinking. He's been on the run with his family and has been around criminal activity for so long that he's always on guard and cautious around everyone he meets. I really appreciate that we got to know Eli a little bit even though we KNOW that he's going to die. I found it nice because we got to see the kind of person that he was before things started to hit the fan.

And then we meet Reya. As a character she was pretty cool and feisty, but as a love interest, I don't know. I liked her and I found her family pretty interesting, but she kind of disappointed me towards the end of the story. The relationship between Nick, his mom and his dad was also interesting to read about. It was very dysfunctional, but that to be expected because of the reason they're in the Witness Protection Program to begin with. I suppose I was hoping to see more growth in the family relationship, but there wasn't too much of it until the very end.

When things are finally revealed, I didn't really see it coming as to who did what. But it wasn't an 'OMG surprise moment', it was more of an 'I should have seen that one coming' type of feeling. But I did like how it all played out :) I'm hoping there's a sequel, I'm thinking there is because of the way the book ended. I really enjoy the story overall and would definitely recommend those who like mysteries to give the book a try.

Synchronized Reading

Where the Moon Isn't was a story I didn't really know what to expect going into reading it. I hadn't seen any reviews for it, but the synopsis had me very curious and intrigued. Even though I had no I idea what to expect when I started this book, it was still so unexpected. This was is a mystery that you yearned to know what happened on that night and how things would end. You know something bad happens, but you just don't know what. You want to know why Matthew is the way he is. What had me so intrigued with the story was the writing style of the author and how he went about creating this story. I've not read a book quite like this before. Being in the mind of Matthew was hard at times. We get to know him through his past memories when he was child and also in the present. But Matthew isn't an average person, so reading from his POV could be a pain at times. He flips through memories so quickly, but the memories were very important in getting to know him and the pain that he has been going through all these years. Matthew has a mental illness and we learn about it in pieces. The death of his older brother Simon when they were kids started to mess with his mind. Simon had special needs. This story was painful to read. I wouldn't say it was emotional for me to read about, the pain of the situations and having to painful unravel all the painful memories that Matt was reliving was just really hard to read about.

I found the book to be great in certain aspects (things I've mentioned previously), but there were also some things that I had trouble with at first. Even though I came to love the writing of the author, it took me a couple chapters to really get into the story and understand the writing. But once I understood the writing I really came to love it. Also, I at times through the story, I got a bit bored, but that did not stop me from wanting to read the story. It had its slow moments, but even with the slow moments we learned information about Matthew that helped to get to know him. The way Matthew thought he could bring his brother back was really interesting, but it was also confusing at times. But I understand what the basic concept of his was. By the end of the book, I was really rooting for Matthew to finally come to terms with the death of his brother and to figure out how he would continue on with his life. But like I said, Matthew has a mental illness, so his life is not an easy one to live to understand.

I received a copy for review. All thoughts are my honest opinion!