#Review - Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes #YALit #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: E-Galley, 448 pages
Release Date: August 28, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

The author of Liars, Inc. delivers a twisted psychological tale about Embry Woods, who is both praised as a town hero and haunted by the secrets she must hide to keep her loved ones alive.  

Embry Woods has many secrets, including the one she carries with her about what happened at the Sea Cliff Inn that night. The fire. The homeless guy. Everyone thinks Embry is a hero, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Embry thinks she’ll have to take the secret to her grave, until she receives an anonymous note—someone else knows the truth. Next comes a series of threatening messages asking Embry to make impossible choices, forcing her to put her loved ones at risk. Someone is playing a high stakes game where no one in Embry’s life is safe. And their last move…is murder.

Paula Stokes' Hidden Pieces is a twisted mystery surrounding protagonist Embry Woods and the events surrounding what happened on the day of December 11. On December 11, Embry and her boyfriend Holden Hassler accidentally start a fire at the Sea Cliff Inn. In order to avoid trouble, Holden leaves while Embry realizes that someone is still inside. Risking life and limb, she rescues a homeless man and is cheered on as a local hero. Only Embry and Holden know the real truth about what happened on that day.

It’s not that I’m fake—I don’t mislead people and I don’t lie (too often). But I keep a lot of secrets. I hold back parts of me so you can see the outline of the puzzle and make a guess about the picture, but that’s all it is—a guess. My inner pieces? I don’t show those to hardly anyone. 

And someone else. There's a mysterious figure involved in this story who forces Embry to make moral and ethical decisions. Should she play along or call his or her bluff? Every time her phone buzzes or a package is delivered, she braces herself. In a matter of hours, she could ruin the life of someone close to her. And either way, someone always loses. The drama is compelling. The blackmailer is a little twisted. The romance between Embry and Holden is intense. 

And the sleepy, coastal setting of Three Rocks, Oregon, where the population is around three hundred, is the perfect balance to this stormy plot. Stokes stays true to her dark, psychological stories, but adds a struggling single mom, a burning building, and a sex tape to the equation. And like Paula’s previous protagonists, Embry is destined to make and learn from mistakes. Hidden Pieces isn't just a thriller about a girl with a secret who's being stalked by a stranger. 

It's also a book about friendship and family dynamics, an exploration of how socioeconomic status can weigh on almost every aspect of a person's life, and a story of self discovery. There's no doubt that Embry is flawed, but she grows and changes throughout the story. Most of us won't ever be embroiled in a murder or blackmail mystery, but if we are, it's not like all the rest of the stuff going on in our lives is just going to magically shut off so we can investigate a crime. 

Embry's main concerns are figuring out who's blackmailing her and protecting the people she loves, but she doesn't just ignore her dog, her after-school job, her worries about the future, her thoughts about her absentee father, etc. The discouraging part of this story is the fact that Embryo, sorry, that's what she's called in the book, is a cheater. Her boyfriend is overseas and he has never once stopped loving her. Embry, on the other hand, is free to move on like nothing has happened. 

According to the author, the story is based heavily on the real life town of Oceanside, Oregon. You don't have to look very far to understand that Embry isn't a happy camper. She's in a very dark place and for very good reasons. She nearly lost her mother to cancer, her bio-dad isn't in the picture after bugging out when she was born, but has chosen to send her unwanted cards. She can't face her best friend and tell her that she's moved on from one boyfriend, to the boy that her BFF once liked. I don't think the cheating part is the central core to this story. It's tertiary, but does drive the actions of others.     

I love a good mystery. This wasn't a good mystery. It's more like a romance novel with a mystery involved. The author leaves a HUGE Easter Egg that the protagonist totally ignored, or missed, or wasn't paying attention to or whatever. I've also learned that the author has made subtle and not so subtle changes between the ARC and the finished copy. If you want to learn more, go to the authors web page.

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Saturday #Review - Ferocious by Paula Stokes #YALit #Science Fiction @pstokesbooks @torteen

Series: Vicarious # 2
Format: E-Galley, 352 pages
Release Date: August 15, 2017
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Paula Stokes returns to the world of Vicarious in this sequel, a high-action psychological thriller with a protagonist out for vengeance.

When Winter Kim finds out that her sister is dead and that she has a brother she never knew about, only two things matter—finding what’s left of her family and killing the man who destroyed her life. Her mission leads her from St. Louis to Los Angeles back to South Korea, where she grew up.

Things get increasingly dangerous once Winter arrives in Seoul. Aided by her friends Jesse and Sebastian, Winter attempts to infiltrate an international corporation to get close to her target, a nefarious businessman named Kyung. But keeping her last remaining loved ones out of the line of fire proves difficult, and when all seems to be lost, Winter must face one last devastating decision: is revenge worth sacrificing everything for? Or can she find a spark of hope in the darkness that threatens to engulf her?

Ferocious, by author Paula Stokes, is the second and final installment in the author's Vicarious duology. As we learned from the previous installment, Winter Kim's sister (Rose) is dead, the man who she thought of as a father figure (Gideon) is also dead. Jesse Ramirez and Sebastian Baz Faber are in the hospital, and it appears as though Winter may have a brother who she never knew. A brother who was born after Winter and her sister Rose were given up for adoption in South Korea, and later brought to Los Angeles.

What's worse, the man responsible for it all, Kyung Cho, wants the ViSE technology that was created by Gideon. Kyung is a disgusting piece of work. He made Rose and Winter's life a living hell by putting them to work as sex workers in LA, now he wants to tear Winter's world apart even further. Winter's past was brought to light earlier in the series, and that is explored even further. She has what's known as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Winter's alternative personas include her sister Rose, and a new character who we meet in this story called Lily. Lily is such a dangerous and frightening character. While Rose may be the voice of reason, Lily is the one who does the things that needs to be done to survive.

After the ViSE tech is stolen from her, Winter gets a surprising partner to hunt Kyung and end him for good. That person is Jesse Ramirez. Jesse is a veteran who lost his hearing in one ear, and has survived being shot and nearly dying. A partner who has obvious feelings for Winter. Winter's journey takes her from St. Louis, to San Diego, to Los Angeles, and then on to South Korea. South Korea is the favorite part of this story. I say that because Ms Stokes has obviously done her research and that research clearly shows in her story. She has obviously been to the country and therefore knows the scenery, the culture, and the cuisine better than anyone who hasn't been there before.

Stoke's story is amazing in that I felt as though I was along for the ride right next to Winter, Jesse, and even Sebastian who later shows up offering his much needed expertise. I have never been to Korea. I have no desire to travel there with everything going on in the Asia-Pacific region. But, I do want to try the delicious food that the author mixes into her story. Stokes does a remarkable job of weaving her characters into the real world environment that she has chosen. Stokes could have played it safe and stayed in St. Louis for the duration of this series. Instead, she upped her game even more with elements of surprise, action, and relationship moments that are finally sussed out. 

Winter's DID isn't covered up by the author, but explored with phone calls to her psychiatrist. Winter's worries about a relationship with Jesse isn't just a crutch for the story. It is an important ingredient to the final product that is filled with diverse and curious characters. Winter being a broken character who attempts to rise from her issues with DID is what made me yearn for this sequel. A sequel that might actually even better than the first installment. 

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#Monday Review - Vicarious by Paula Stokes (YA, Psychological Thriller)

Series: Vicarious #1
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Library
Genre: YA, Mystery, Science Fiction

A high-action YA psychological thriller with a twisty plot and a questionably reliable narrator in which nothing is quite as it seems.

Winter Kim can't live without her older sister, Rose, who protected her through the harrowing circumstances that began in their youth in Korea, and helped keep her sane as they adjusted to their new lives in the USA. Now Winter and Rose work as recorders—digital stunt women—for Rose's ex-boyfriend, Gideon. Gideon deals in experiences—sight, sound, touch, etc.—by capturing his recorders' sensory neural impulses and selling them as downloads to armchair adrenaline junkies. The more dangerous or sexy the recordings, the higher the price, and Winter, Rose and their colleagues are fearless in pursuit of great footage.

When a neural recording of what appears to be Rose's murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter won't rest until she finds her sister, dead or alive. But when the digital evidence conflicts with the real-world clues, she isn't sure what to believe. If Winter wants to find out what happened to Rose, she'll have to untangle what's real from what only seems real, risking her own life and mind in the process.

Vicarious is the first installment in author Paula Stokes new series by the same name. Per the author, this is actually a duology, which means the final book, Ferocious, will be released sometime in 2017. Vicarious is told from the perspective of 18-year old Winter Kim (aka Son Ha Neul). Winter was dumped at a Korean orphanage by her mother, and later brought to America, along with her sister Rose, by a Sex Slave Trader named Kyung. Three years ago, Winter and Rose were rescued by Gideon Seun and brought to St. Louis. Gideon acts like a landlord, employer, and older brother, while promising to keep them safe.

To say that Winter has some extreme emotional baggage and issues leftover from her time with Kyung, is not even mildly close to representing the sickness that Stokes writes about.  One could say that since this is a sort of mix genre Psychological Thriller and Science Fiction novel, that Winter's perspective might be a bit skewed from everything that has happened to her. But, Winter is a really hard worker. She trains hard. She works with her sister's former boyfriend doing high risk adventures all over the country. She wears Gideon's ViSE (Vicarious Sensory Experiences) which allows users to feel the rush, the adrenaline, fear, and excitement of sky diving, or swimming with sharks, or running away from cops and jumping off a bridge. 

She has an interesting relationship with Jesse Ramirez, an Army Veteran who was badly scared by an IED, and is also her partner in crime. It's a romance that will definitely be talked about, especially after Rose doesn't come home one night, and the worst possible situation forces Winter and Jesse into searching various bars in order to find her. Winter has a goal that puts her directly in the line of fire once again. Things suddenly become less clearer. Events just don't add up, and Winter finds herself struggling against a rising tide that will eventually bring her to the attention of the one person she has no use for; Kyung.

I loved that this is a dark novel. I loved that Stokes doesn't walk away from diving into the issues of PTSD, rape, sex slavery, and unreliable narratives due to the fact that the mind does it's best to protect itself from being harmed again. Winter's ability not to allow anyone to touch her, is expected, and something I can relate to after my own experiences at being raped in the most heinous manner. Unlike Winter, however, I was able to report my issue to the authorities. Because of Winter's status, she can't run to the police for fear of being deported back to Korea, or even worse, ending up under the control of Kyung once again.

I can honestly say that I was not expecting the ending, and therefore, I had emotions over what happens for several days. To say that I need the next installment, well, let's just say I need to see what happens next. I haven't read any previous Stokes works, but I will definitely search my Kindle for my copy of Liars, Inc. which has been sitting there for over a year now. 

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