The Outliers

You guys. I don't care how in debt you are, you need to stop reading this, and purchase this book RIGHT NOW. Right now, and then we'll talk.

It's OK, I'll wait.

The Outliers - Kimberly McCreight

From the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia comes a fast-paced teen series where one girl learns that in a world of intrigue, betrayal, and deeply buried secrets, it is vital to trust your instincts.

It all starts with a text: Please, Wylie, I need your help. Wylie hasn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, not since their last fight. But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.

This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice but to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.

But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?

In this breakneck tale, New York Times bestselling author Kimberly McCreight brilliantly chronicles a fateful journey that begins with a single decision—and ends up changing everything. 

The only appropriate way to sum this book up in two words is: holy shit. Everything else I could say feels incredibly inadequate and this book is everything. I actually have a migraine from an epic, no-sleep, reading session and frankly? I'm afraid to go to sleep because I know I'm going to be thinking about this book.

I'm going to start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way. First, Wylie is kind of a whack a doodle and I'm sorry, but I have such a hard time relating to people with such debilitating anxiety and general issues. Never mind the fact we spend so much time establishing the fact she's kind of a whack job yet SOMEHOW, she miraculously pulls her crap together to get through the rest of the book? Sure, she has anxious moments, is on the edge of falling apart, but she never really does and it's like- why couldn't you do that to get to school? I mean, you're functioning pretty well considering the danger you're in but school or a visit to your therapist's office is just TOO much? So that's not very believable and pretty eye-roll worthy. Secondly, can we talk about how annoying it is that teenagers in books like this are just so incredibly stupid? They just think they know the solution to everything and that also is very annoying. Thirdly, I'm not sure I totally get the whole scientific study of emotional intelligence aspect of the book but considering this is now a series (which I didn't know when I started it), I'm assuming we are going to learn more in future books so it's not only an interesting aspect of the book but it starts to make sense.

So that's the boos.

Let's talk about the yay-ness of this book. First, this book is one you cannot put down. I tried, so I could go to the bathroom, but then I was at such a great part and so I managed to go to the bathroom while holding a hard cover book. Take THAT, e-reader losers. I really could not stop reading this and the entire time I'm trying desperately to figure out who is who, who is really who, what the hell is going on, and I started to feel like Wylie. Like the obvious pieces are right there, we just don't know how they fit into the greater puzzle.

Once Wylie finds Cassie, I feel like the book kind of stunted a little bit, we spend a lot of time just at this weird camp in Maine and it almost feels like the author isn't 100% sure where she wants to go with the story but then out of NOWHERE, all hell breaks loose. It all breaks loose, and it's chaotic and awesome, and then I realized I'm almost at the end of the book. With no possible way this is all going to get wrapped up inside of 30 pages or so. But the ending?

You guys.

I had to go to the bathroom again and my stomach absolutely dropped.

Why am I having to wait? Why do authors do this to me? Why do I have to wait to find out what the hell happens? Is Jasper OK? What's going to happen to Wylie? Who are these people? What is even going on in the world?!

*calming breath*

I just... this book was so good and unexpectedly what I needed. I've been on a romance novel kick as of late and you know I love that. But every once in awhile you need something that makes you fly through it and weigh the pros/cons of a bladder infection. Some books are worth it and this was one of them. I mean, can you give higher praise? This book is worthy of a bladder infection.

Also cool? It's already been optioned for film by Lionsgate with Mandeville and Reese Witherspoon's Pacific Standard to produce. Obviously, you know my rear end will be in line for a ticket. The book itself becomes available May 3, 2016 but you can pre-order it now on Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble. This is going to be a book I'm recommending to everyone who likes a good "what the hell is happening" kind of book, for sure. In the meantime, you can check out author Kimberly McCreight's website and Twitter for information on her other books, too!

The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen

I absolutely love when books just show up to my house and I don't know where they are from initially. Luckily for me, I got an email a few days later explaining, but what a nice surprise of a very lovely book.

The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen - Katherine Howe

It’s summertime in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic’s in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose petal lips and her entrancing glow. But there’s something about her that he can’t put his finger on that makes him wonder about this intriguing hipster girl from the Village. Why does she use such strange slang? Why does she always seem so reserved and distant? And, most importantly, why does he only seem to run into her on one block near the Bowery? Annie’s hiding something, a dark secret from her past that may be the answer to all of Wes’s questions .

I don't know that I've had a contemporary romance in awhile but that's exactly what this is. Also, I am a Katherine Howe virgin and I am so glad this is the book that popped the cherry because it is stunning!

The book centers around Wes, young and girl dumb, aspiring filmmaker and new to big city life. At the beginning of the story he finds himself helping a friend with the sound for his film in a seance where he spies a variety of characters but there's a girl who stands out. He tries so hard to get her attention, talk to her, but she seemingly vanishes. He sees her again outside a few days later and again, he's stricken by her beauty and this inexpiable need to help her, talk to her, something. But again, she vanishes. Then she appears to him, in his room no less, asking for help and he's sold. He's all in. But also he has Maddie, who doesn't disappear quite like Annie but she's peculiar- a self described fregan and squatter, he doesn't know why but he feels drawn to her too.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Annie is a ghost but Wes doesn't totally get it. But to his defense, I mean, would you really come to that as your first conclusion when a weird girl who seems kind of out of it keeps popping up and disappearing? The story does flip between Wes in modern times, and then Annie in the past shortly before her untimely death. While she's trying to figure out what happened to her, because she does seem especially confused on how she died, she realizes she only has so much time in order to figure this out. Meanwhile, Wes finds himself falling in love with Annie and I think we know how totally impractical that is going to be. And even still.. we have Maddie. Maddie never leaves us and I don't know why, but I kind of love her because she's funky and a little bit odd, and Wes is absolutely the perfect clueless boy who has zero game when it comes to girls.

Overall? I loved this book. It does start out a little slow for me which is what holds me back from giving it 5 stars. I didn't really get into the book until we flash back to Annie the first time, which is maybe when you get to about a third into the book. Somewhere in there. Once you get there it really picks up and the story flows really well. Katherine is a spectacular writer that keeps you engaged and she did such a fantastic job at crafting these characters. So much so that I really want to read what else Katherine has out, so I'll be combing her website to see what I've missed. Katherine is also on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Twitter!

The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen will be available on September 15, 2015, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! 

Happy reading, lambs!

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