Review BANG by Lisa McMann @SimonPulse @Lisa_McMann

Bang by Lisa McMann

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2013

Series: Visions Book #2

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What Sawyer’s seeing might mean murder. The second book in a series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy.



Jules should be happy. She saved a lot of people’s lives and she’s finally with Sawyer, pretty much the guy of her dreams. But the nightmare’s not over, because she somehow managed to pass the psycho vision stuff to Sawyer. Excellent.



Feeling responsible for what he’s going through and knowing that people’s lives are at stake, Jules is determined to help him figure it all out. But Sawyer’s vision is so awful he can barely describe it, much less make sense of it. All he can tell her is there’s a gun, and eleven ear-splitting shots. Bang.



Jules and Sawyer have to work out the details fast, because the visions are getting worse and that means only one thing: time is running out. But every clue they see takes them down the wrong path. If they can’t prevent the vision from happening, lives will be lost. And they may be among the casualties…

About the Author

Lisa McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy, Cryer’s Cross, Dead to You, the Visions series, and the middle grade dystopian fantasy series The Unwanteds. She lives with her family in the Phoenix area. Read more about Lisa and find her blog through her website at LisaMcMann.com or, better yet, find her on Facebook (Facebook.com/McMannFan) or follow her on Twitter (@Lisa_McMann).



Source:  Publisher

My THOUGHTS
LOVED IT



Bang picks up a few weeks after Crash and Jules is no longer seeing horrendous visions of death except now Sawyer has the sight.  Instead of seeing the death, he hears eleven shots and vaguely describes a school shooting to Jules.  Of course, Jules is on restriction after crashing the Meat Ball (food truck), and no longer has a cell phone, so their connections have to take place at school.  Sawyer does manage to get a prepaid cell phone to Jules so the pair can talk and text when they need to without their parents knowing.



Jules enlists the help of her siblings, Trey and Rowan, to figure out where Sawyer's vision takes place, but the vision is coming more often which means time is running out.   Sawyer sees certain trees in the background which helps them narrow down the location to a college. This is fast paced and will have your heart racing as they try to figure out the locations and see if they can save the potential eleven victims.



I really enjoyed this story and centered around a school shooting that seems ripped out of the headlines and with an undercurrent of social commentary that is going on today.  The whole theme is so true that it seems it happened someplace recently.  The ending left open another installment and I really can't wait to see where this takes these kids.  I can't explain too much of it since it would give away a lot of the plot.

Disclosure 
I received this book from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced
my review.  If you are considering purchasing this book or anything else
from Amazon, please use my link above since I earn a very small percentage of
the sale which helps pay for shipping my giveaways!  

Review CRASH by LISA McMANN @lisa_mcmann @SimonTeen

Book Description

Release Date: January 8, 2013 | Series: Visions (Book 1)

If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first of four books from the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy.Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.

What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.

Details Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse (January 8, 2013) Language: English ISBN-10: 1442403918 ISBN-13: 978-1442403918

About the Author

Lisa McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy; Cryer’s Cross; Dead to You ; the Visions series; and the middle-grade dystopian fantasy trilogy The Unwanteds. She lives with her family in the Phoenix area. Read more about Lisa and find her blog at LisaMcMann.com. Or better yet, be her friend on Facebook (McMannFan) or follow her on Twitter (@Lisa_McMann).

SOURCE:  AROUND THE WORLD ARC TOURS

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

OH MY DOG!  ~ Jules in Crash

Jules has a pretty normal life, going to high school with her brother and sister, working in her parents' restaurant and driving a food truck, complete with giant meatballs on top.  Her childhood crush, Sawyer, also attends the same school but things have been weird between them since the start of seventh grade.  According to family lore, Sawyer's family stole her family's sauce recipe and the two families have been at war ever since.  Now, no matter where Jules looks she sees a reoccurring accident where a truck crashes into a building and it explodes.  

When she starts to delve more and more into the bizarre vision she keeps seeing everywhere, she realizes that the accident occurs at Sawyer's restaurant.  Out of the nine body bags that appear in her vision, she can see into one and it is Sawyer.  That sets her off into trying to warn him about the accident.  As she reconnects with Sawyer, the two families off into a war to keep the two apart.  Each side of the pair has some deep, dark secrets to contend with as well.  Jules' father is severely depressed and hoards, while Sawyer's home life is anything but pleasant.  

Again, McMann delivers a twilight zone worthy story that looks like a wonderful start to a new series.  There are a lot of psychological issues that McMann attacks in this series such as hoarding, depression, abuse and secrets that each family hides.  As Jules faces all of her own demons and acts to right a wrong, her physical symptoms caused by the vision recede.  This is a very quick read that should appeal to paranormal and horror lovers.  Parents:  there are some mentions of child abuse, a car crash  and a few kisses. 

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REVIEW: Dead to You by Lisa McMann @lisa_mcmann @SimonTEEN

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2012

A page-turning realistic novel with a shocking twist from bestselling author Lisa McMann.Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle…at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable...

About the Author

Lisa McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of Cryer’s Cross and of the Wake trilogy (Wake, Fade, and Gone). She is also the author of the middle-grade fantasy series The Unwanteds. She grew up in Michigan and lives in the Phoenix area with her husband and two kids. Visit her at LisaMcMann.com, and be her friend on Facebook or Twitter.

Product Details Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 7, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1442403888 ISBN-13: 978-1442403888 SOURCE: AMAZON VINE

MY THOUGHTS

LOVED IT


The story opens with Ethan reuniting with his family after being abducted nine years earlier.  The family agrees that Ethan has grown and changed a bit, but this is Ethan.  He has some emotional issues and can't remember the details of his youth but he seems to fit in and the family goes to counseling in order to come to grips with the hurt they have all experienced.  He now has a little sister, Grace and  his younger brother, Blake, still remembers the fateful day when he was taken even though he was only four.  There are some details that just don't add up in Blake's mind.  The psychologist and his parents agree that because of the traumatic experience, it is only normal that he can't remember anything. As Blake becomes more suspicious and starts to learn genetics in school. he puts things together and they just don't add up.

If you are a fan of the Twilight Zone, this book fits in nicely with that television show.  Right when you think things are *normal* there is a weird twist and when that happens, the world shifts.  The De Wilde family is torn apart by Ethan's return and even though they are overjoyed with the reunion, Blake doesn't give an inch in his belief that Ethan should remember something from his past, even if he did suffer terrible abuse.  Ethan's relationship with his siblings are polar opposites where Blake is his enemy and Grace becomes his fan.  Ethan also starts to have a relationship with Cami, the girl down the street he grew up with and continues even though he knows Blake has a crush on her.   Cami believes this is the Ethan she knew since birth. 

I read this in just a few hours and at times, I had tears.  The story of abduction is just so emotional and the majority of these stories are told from the point of view of the parents.  So when that is changed, the whole thing takes on more punch.  I am trying not to give away any of the details, but the last few pages of this book are packed with a punch.  The psychological build up provided by McMann leads to things I just didn't see coming even though once I finished it, I could see where she was going.  I really enjoyed this one.  There are mentions of abuse, language and some kissing but nothing to hard to take.  

BOOK TRAILER TUESDAY Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Description

The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain. When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.
Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

About the Author

Lisa  McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy. She lives with her family in the Phoenix area. Read more about Lisa and find her blog through her website at lisamcmann.com. Or better yet, be her friend on Facebook (facebook.com/mcmannfan) or follow her on Twitter (twitter.com/lisa_mcmann).

Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416994815
• ISBN-13: 978-1416994817

READ MY REVIEW HERE 

REVIEW: Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Description

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad.
Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history.
Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

About the Author

Lisa McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of the WAKE trilogy (Wake, Fade, Gone). She grew up in Michigan and now lives in the Phoenix area with her husband and two kids. Read more about Lisa at www.lisamcmann.com and be her friend on Facebook (facebook.com/lisamcmann) or Twitter (twitter.com/lisa_mcmann).

Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416994815
• ISBN-13: 978-1416994817

SOURCE:  AROUND THE WORLD ARC TOURS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

This story really struck a chord with me.  My son and husband both have OCD and they both use similar coping skills that Kendall does.  The story is definitely Twilight Zone Worthy.  It has that same creepy feel that resides in the television show.  McMann gets right to the point and doesn't waste words as she creates a world in which the improbable can become true.  You could really feel Kendall's distress when she cannot go through her coping mechanisms and that throws her into a panic. 

Kendall is the core of the story and when her somewhat boyfriend Nico starts acting strange and then disappears like her friend Tiffany, the story comes to a head.  Kendall notices that the desk both Tiffany and Nico sat at appears to have messages written on it.  The messages direct Kendall and the new boy in town, Jacian to solve the puzzle. This is a wonderful read and those that enjoy psychological mysteries will enjoy it.  I think this is probably best suited for older teens since there is some violence mentioned.

Cryer's Cross