Title:  Fair is Foul
Author:  Hannah Capin
Genre:  YA
Rating:  3 out of 5

Ella and her three friends are the queens of their circle and their school. They do what they want, when they want. They do and say whatever they please, no matter who it hurts, and they’re untouchable—until the night they crash a St. Andrews Prep party and Elle is roofied and raped by the golden boys of St. Andrews.

Intent only on revenge, Ella becomes Jade, dying her hair, erasing her identity, and transferring to St. Andrews. With her crew’s help, she’ll have her revenge, but revenge isn’t enough. Instead, she wants to destroy the golden boys—and take their lives. And one of them will help her, for his ambition is as ruthless as Jade’s own.

I’m not a fan of the idea of revenge being necessary—though the boys definitely needed punishment—and the right of the wronged. What happened to Jade was horrible, and the golden boys were evil, but…Jade was at least as evil as they were. The actions of Jade and her crew were unfathomable to me, and I couldn’t relate to her on any level, making her—and her friends and enemies—completely unlikable and unreal to me. However, I can see how this is just my thoughts on a trope. The revenge storyline is probably great for some people, but it’s just not for me, and I shouldn’t have even bothered to finish reading this.

Hannah Capin lives in Virginia. Foul is Fair is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Title:  Jane Anonymous
Author: Laurie Stolarz
Genre:  YA
Rating:  4 out of 5

Jane is a normal seventeen-year-old girl, busy with her manicures, her best friend, and that cute boy she’s kinda-sorta dating. Until the day she is kidnapped by a stranger and taken to live in a room with a bed, a refrigerator, and a bathroom. She’s given a set of rules to live by—and to earn rewards—given her meals through a cat door, and never sees her abductor. Only the boy trapped in the room next to hers gives her any hope.

Until the day Jane manages to escape. But when she returns home, her family and friends expect her to just return to her old life. But she can’t. So, she hides in her room—and hides from people—as she struggles to process. She writes about her experiences as her therapy, and slowly realizes that not everything in that house was it seems.

Jane Anonymous was a tough read. The horrific experience Jane goes through is terrifying, but the most difficult part of the book is after she escapes. The author does an excellent job capturing the chaos that is Jane’s mind, her struggles, and her growing realization of the truth.

Laurie Stolarz has sold over a million books worldwide. Jane Anonymous is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Title: A Love Hate Thing
Author: Whitney D. Grandison
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

Tyson Trice is from the hood. He lived his whole life in Lindenwood—until six months ago, when his father killed his mom, shot Tyler, then killed himself. Now Tyler’s staying with the Smith family in a Pacific Hills, a wealthy coastal community, and he knows he doesn’t belong. But he’s leaving as soon as he turns 18, so he only has six more months to kill.

Nandy Smith remembers Tyson from when they were children—and friends—but she’s spent ten years building up her walls and working to keep herself on top of the social scene in Pacific Hills and having a thug from the hood in her house is not going to ruin her summer. But soon she realizes there’s more to Trice than meets the eye—and the hate between them may be a disguise for something else.

I loved the voice in A Love Hate Thing. The contrast between Nandy and Trice seems so startling, but they are more alike than either wants to admit. Nandy’s switch from despising Trice to being sympathetic/nice to him and apologizing was pretty abrupt to me, and there were a lot of teenagers-partying scenes, but I thoroughly enjoyed these characters and this read.

Whitney D. Grandison loved Korean dramas, John Hughes, and horror moves. A Love Hate Thing is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin TEEN/Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Title:  Just Don’t Mention It
Author:  Estelle Maskame
Genre:  YA
Rating:  4 out of 5

Tyler Bruce has it all:  a hot girlfriend, a fancy car, and no party is complete without him. Tyler has the attitude to go with his reputation and he doesn’t care what people say about him. But the attitude—and the walls he puts up—are all a façade, covering the hurt he’s lived with for years…since his father started physically abusing him years before. His dad is in prison now, but Tyler still has to live with the scars every day. And he doesn’t want anyone to know.

Until his stepsister Eden comes to stay for the summer and Tyler realizes she sees the real him, not the façade. His walls won’t work with Eden, but Tyler’s not sure he wants to give them up. There’s a vast difference between the Tyler Bruce everyone thinks he is and who he really is—but there’s no way for Tyler and Eden to be together.

I read the DMILY trilogy and enjoyed them, although the world of wealth they’re set in isn’t something I’m familiar with. Seeing the first of the story from Tyler’s eyes was interesting. He was largely unlikable here—although I do realize he had reasons for being how he was. But…just because someone hurt you, even horrifically, doesn’t give you permission to mistreat everyone around you. Sorry, but it doesn’t. And Tyler’s mom lets him get away with everything, which is incomprehensible to me, even though I’m sure her guilt was the reason why. I did enjoy reading this, and I know Tyler’s story throughout the original trilogy saw him become a likable person, but he just wasn’t that likeable here.

Estelle Maskame is a bestselling author who has been writing since she was thirteen. Just Don’t Mention It is a re-telling of the first book in her series Did I Mention I Love You from Tyler’s point-of-view.

(Galley courtesy of Black & White Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)