With Malice by Eileen Cook

With Malice by Eileen Cook

Release Date: June 9, 2016

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Rated: YA 14+

Format: ARC

Source: Pansing

Buy: Available at all good bookstores!

Goodreads ● Website

Wish you weren't here…

When Jill wakes up in a hospital bed with her leg in a cast, the last six weeks of her life are a complete blank. All she has been told is that she was involved in a fatal accident while on a school trip in Italy and had to be jetted home to receive intensive care. Care that involves a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…. wasn't just an accident.

With no memory of what happened or what she did, can Jill prove her innocence? And can she really be sure that she isn't the one to blame?

I've been in a mood for thrillers this summer, so it's no wonder that I picked up Eileen Cook's latest novel With Malice. I've always wanted to read one of Cook's books–Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, Unraveling Isobel–because she's a really well-known young adult contemporary author, and all her books sound amazing. I'm just really glad I got the chance to review this one. It had a slow build up, but damn–I was on the edge of my seat with this one.

Jill started out kinda meh, but she grew on me. I didn't completely like her, but I like that she was flawed. I would have totally hated being friends with Simone though–she sounded super bossy and like she controlled everything. I liked the whole unreliable narrator thing, because even though Jill is pretty clueless it's interesting to see the different accounts of her personality through the flashback narratives.

We as readers are not clued into anything from the get go, and we know as much as Jill's character does. The testimonies, interviews, etc. all portray the events, but as Jill finds them out too. This is probably why despite the slow pacing of the book I stuck in their till the end, because I HAD to know what happened. That being said, I was pretty happy with how the book turned out...until the very end. I mean, what? WHAT WAS THAT ENDING. The last chapter just threw away a perfectly good twist, in my opinion. The penultimate chapter was haunting, but nope–the book carried on as if nothing happened. Again, it's a whole deal with the unreliable narrative, but still. I was hoping for some closure, and I didn't really get it.

Other than my confusion at the end, With Malice was a slow thriller that keeps you hanging on until the shocking final reveal. Eileen Cook knows how to spin a fantastic story, and her latest book will keep readers on their toes, eager to know the truth.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler ● Goodreads
• Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver ● Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 72

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight on upcoming books which I'm DYING to get my hands on :)

This week's WoW is:

The Almost Truth by Eileen Cook

From the author of Unraveling Isobel and The Education of Hailey Kendrick, a smart, romantic novel about a teenage con artist who might be in over her head. Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.

But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.

With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose....

Goodreads ◆ December 4, 2012

I can't wait for this one! I've heard a TON of amazing things about Cook's books...which I unfortunately have not read :( But anyway, this one sounds so good!!! Kind of reminds me of Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott. Heard some good things about this one (or rather the sneak peek into this one), and it should be an interesting read.

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 38

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight upcoming reads which I'm DYING to get my hands on.

This week's WoW is:

Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

 Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

Goodreads

Release Date: January 3, 2012

This one sounds pretty creepy, but with a hilarious tone to it. Mysterious, and I definitely wanna get to know that stepbrother of hers ;). Totally can't wait for this one!

What are you waiting on?

WWW Wednesdays - Week 6

"WWW Wednesdays" is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Just do the following:


• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers:

What are you currently reading?

I just started reading What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Pérez (an eBook I got for review)...it's really good so far!

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished reading Hush Money by Susan Bischoff. AMAZING! Look out for a review soon :D.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I think I'll start reading either Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (it's due at the library soon :S) or another eBook I'm reading via PulseIt, The Education of Hailey Kendrick by Eileen Cook.

What are your answers? Leave a link/comment!

Cover Love - Week 2

I've decided to adapt this amazing weekly meme (is it still running?) by the ever amazing 21 Pages. I loved your idea so much, that I decided to continue it... on my own blog! and this week's Cover Love theme is: Books with Barbie/Dolls on the cover!

and here's the first one! When I thought about the theme, this one came to me first. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard.

I've heard so much about this book, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook...never got the chance to read it though! Someday...and woah! look at the cover! Somebody's got a grudge against Barbie...

This is the UK Cover for Pretties by Scott Westerfeld...yeah, I wanted the other one, but unfortunately, this was the only cover available...it was kinda awkward asking to borrow this!

and this one features the male barbie version...Ken! well, a look a like at least on the cover of Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian. I just came across this when I was looking through Kate Brian's books.

This cover's a little creepy. I remember seeing this on sale at Indigo! bookstores. Zombie Blondes by Brian James.

and last, but not least, Reality Check by Jen Calonita...this one features FOUR barbie doll things!

Well, that's it for this week! head over to 21 Pages for some of the previous Cover Loves!

Leave a Comment/Link to your own Cover Love post or books that have barbies/dolls on them.