undercurrent

2013 Book Challenges: July Edition

Published on August 1, 2013August 1, 2013 by DebbieLeave a comment

*Does happy dance* I have finished one of my challenges! Finally! Goodbye, Début author challenge! Even though I’ll probably continue to read other Débuts just because.

2013 Reading Challenge

Goal: 100

Total: 64

Freaking out by Polly Wells

Beyond Parallel by Matthew Turner

Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Prep School Confidential (Prep School Confidential#1) by Kara Taylor

Proxy (Proxy#1) by Alex London

Gated by Amy Christine Parker

The Bone Season (Scion#1) by Samantha Shannon

Siege and Storm (The Grisha#2) by Leigh Bardugo

Clean by Amy Reed

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Running Lean Diana L. Sharples

2013 Debut Author Challenge

Goal: 13

Total: 13 (I’m done here! YES!)

Beyond Parallel by Matthew Turner

Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Prep School Confidential (Prep School Confidential#1) by Kara Taylor

Gated by Amy Christine Parker

The Bone Season (Scion#1) by Samantha Shannon

Running Lean Diana L. Sharples

2013 TBR Pile

Goal: 50

Total: 13

Clean by Amy Reed

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

2013 YA Contemporary Challenge

Goal: 30

Total: 14

Freaking out by Polly Wells

Beyond Parallel by Matthew Turner

Prep School Confidential (Prep School Confidential#1) by Kara Taylor

Gated by Amy Christine Parker

Running Lean Diana L. Sharples

2013 Sophomore Challenge

Goal: 20

Total: 2

Siege and Storm (The Grisha#2) by Leigh Bardugo

How are your challenges going? Send me links so I can check them out!

Weekly Update#4

Published on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by DebbieLeave a comment

What have I been up to? What have you missed on my blog? This is a weekly update of the new posts and books/album I’ve read/listened to.

Monday

Book review: Mind Games (Mind Games#1) by Kiersten White

Tuesday

Album review: If You Leave by Daughter

Wednesday

Book review: Beyond Parallel by Matthew Turner

Song of the Week#1-Say Hello by Alexander (The Bonus Edition)

Thursday

Album review: Collapsible Lung by Relient K

Friday

Book review: Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Saturday

Favourite Book Quotes Of The Week#32

Books Read This Week

Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Albums Listened To This Week

Collapsible Lung by Relient K

Burnout by Anarbor

Currently Reading

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Prep School Confidential (Prep School Confidential #1) by Kara Taylor

Hopeless (Hopeless#1) by Colleen Hoover

Currently Listening To

Sunflower by Never Shout Never

Legendary by The Summer Set

Favourite Book Quotes of the Week#32

Published on July 13, 2013 by Debbie1 Comment

A list of my favourite quotes from books I’ve read in the past week. Leave a comment telling me what your favourite quotes are! I’ll be sure to check your post out too!

So, this week has been a slow one.

Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Favourite quote: “Well, if everything stays the same forever, you stop enjoying what you’ve got. And stop appreciating people.”

Book Review: Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Published on July 13, 2013 by Debbie3 Comments

Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Genre: Contemporary and young adult

Release Date: July 23, 2013

Pages: 320 (Hardcover)

In Undercurrent, Paul Blackwell’s fast-paced YA thriller, sixteen-year-old Callum Harris survives a plummet over a waterfall, but wakes to find himself in a life that’s totally different from the one he knew.

His parents were separated. Now they’re together. His brother Cole was a sports star. Now he’s paralyzed. And Callum, who used to be quiet and sort of unpopular, is suddenly a jock with two hot girls after him.

But there’s one difference that matters more than all the others combined: His former best friend wants Callum dead. And he isn’t the only one.

First of all, I would like to thank the Publisher, Random House Canada for giving me an ARC of this book to review. Thank you so much! Really appreciate it! All right, now for my review.

Confusing, exciting, and fun, Undercurrent is a novel that readers will enjoy! The story isn’t perfect, it has some problems with the secondary characters that makes it a bit tough to like them. But it’s a fun story about alternate realities and how one choice can make or break you. Literally.

While we’re learning more and more about Cal, the writing for the story is more telling instead of showing during the first half. In the second half, the writing gets better, with more things being showed rather than told and it’s smoother. It takes Cal longer than it should to figure things out and come up with a plan. The secondary characters in Undercurrent feel quite stiff and boring, they don’t stand out or grabbed my attention. Also I wish that some characters had a much bigger role than they had, like the teacher and what makes him so special.

Even though Cal does take some time to figure things out, I love his character. He’s very sweet and caring and persistent, especially when it comes to his friend, Willow. Somewhere during the middle of the story, things start to pick up and start to happen, people get hurt and tension is thick in the air. And by the end of the novel, everything is so intense it’s crazy! Paul Blackwell does an amazing job describing the ending of the story. He gives readers a well-developed back flash and explanation as to why Cal’s life has been turned upside down and a killer cliffhanger to end everything off.

Undercurrent is a fun ride. The ending is left open and it’s exciting, the idea of alternate realities is a creative idea that I really enjoyed. I recommend this to anyone looking for a new science fiction novel or something different in the YA genre. I can’t wait to read the next book!