Bloggin' 'bout Books: 08/08/17

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- Alaska

- Arizona

- Arkansas

- ~~California~~ (2)

- ~~Colorado~~ (3)

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- ~~Florida~~ (1)

- ~~Georgia~~ (1)

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- ~~Iowa~~ (2)

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- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

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- ~~Texas~~ (1)

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International:

- Australia (2)

- Canada (1)

- England (4)

- France (1)

- Puerto Rico (1)

- Scotland (1)

Casey's YA Mysteries Just As Compelling As Her Adult Books

7:00 AM

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Most people would be ecstatic about spending their summer holiday at the seashore. Not 16-year-old Jess Tennant. She doesn't have anything against the beach, it's just the odd circumstances under which she's being taken there. Her mother—who has always been tight-lipped about her past—has suddenly decided to whisk Jess away from London to tiny Port Sentinel, the seaside town where she was reared. They'll be staying for months with an aunt and cousins Jess has never met. Talk about awkward.

Even more awkward is the reaction Jess receives while walking around town. People gawp at her like they're seeing a ghost. Which they are, kind of. Turns out, Jess bears a remarkable resemblance to her cousin Freya, who recently died in a fall off a steep cliff. The death has been ruled a suicide, but not everyone is convinced. The more Jess learns about her late cousin, the more she suspects Freya didn't die by choice. Jess wants answers, but her questions only provoke stern warnings and unsettling threats. What really happened to Freya Leonard? Jess is determined to find out.

I'm a big fan of Irish crime writer Jane Casey's adult novels, so I was eager to give her YA series a go. I ended up liking it quite a bit, even more than her other books in some ways. How to Fall, the first installment in the trilogy, introduces the intrepid Jess Tennant. Our heroine is tenacious, brave, and independent. With a funny, self-deprecating voice, she's easy to both like and admire. There's plenty going on in How to Fall to keep readers engaged. In fact, it's a fast, exciting page turner that can easily be read in one sitting. The story takes some dark turns and the teen characters often act a lot older than they're supposed to be, but overall, I enjoyed How to Fall. It took less than a chapter to convince me to put the next two books in the series on hold at my library. I've already devoured them because, well, they're just that compelling. Enough said.

(Readalikes: the other two books in the trilogy, Bet Your Life and Hide and Seek)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, sexual innuendo, and depictions of underage drinking

To the FTC, with love: Another library ~~fine~~ find

Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)

1. Coram House by Bailey Seybolt (Jan)
2. She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke (Jan)
3. My Salty Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Jan)
4. The Echoes by Jess Montgomery (Jan)
5. The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro (Jan)
6. Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes (Jan)
7. Murder at Chateau sur Mer by Alyssa Maxwell (Jan)
8. Away by Megan E. Freeman (Jan)
9. Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh [audio] (Jan)
10. A Golden Grave by Erin Lindsey* (Jan)
11. All Over the Map by Lanie Jacobs (Jan)
12. Stranded by Nikki Shannon Smith (Jan)
13. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany [audio] (Jan)
14. The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright (Jan)
15. How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (Jan)
16. A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (Jan)
17. The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos, RN* (Jan)
18. Red River Road by Anna Downes [audio] (Jan)
19. Janitors School of Garbage by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
20. Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (Feb)
21. Janitors School of Garbage: Trials of the Trash by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
22. The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse [audio] (Feb)
23. A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry (Feb)
24. The Crash by Freida McFadden (Feb)

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Casey's YA Mysteries Just As Compelling As Her Adult Books

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Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)