Rayne & Delilah’s Midnight Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Posted on March 10, 2019 by pennma05

40645629 Rayne & Delilah’s Midnight Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Published February 26th 2019 by Crown Books for Young Readers

400 Pages

Goodreads Summary: A contemporary novel about two best friends who must make tough decisions about their futures–and the TV show they host–in their senior year of high school.

Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.

But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show’s guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.

Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he’ll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too.

As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous…and momentous.

Review: It should come as no surprise to my followers that I love Jeff Zentner’s two previous novels. So I was so excited to read his 2019 release. Josie and Delia aka Rayne and Delilah had such a great bond. I loved their friendship and humor so much. Their relationship reminded me a lot of me and my best friend so I felt really connected to both of them. I love that they are doing something so unique together with the horror hosting. I was so heartbroken for Delia and the situation with her dad. Nobody deserves their parent to abandon them like that. One thing I really love about Jeff Zenter’s books are that, unlike most YA books, the parents of the main characters are involved in the story and not just vague background characters. Delia’s mom was such a unique character and a great mom in her own way. I also fell in love with Arliss and his grumpy nature. I laughed (a lot) and I cried. So many times while I was reading I was either laughing out loud (or trying not to when I was on my lunch break at work), or I was trying not to cry. Jeff Zenter’s books are the best at making me feel all of the emotions. I HIGHLY recommend this book. So good.

5 Stars

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Posted on February 17, 2017 by pennma05

30649795 Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Expected publication: March 7th 2017 by Crown Books for Young Readers

416 Pages

Goodreads Summary: Can a text message destroy your life?

Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths.

Then Blake’s grandmother asks Carver to remember her grandson with a ‘goodbye day’ together. Carver has his misgivings, but he starts to help the families of his lost friends grieve with their own memorial days, along with Eli’s bereaved girlfriend Jesmyn. But not everyone is willing to forgive. Carver’s own despair and guilt threatens to pull him under into panic and anxiety as he faces punishment for his terrible mistake. Can the goodbye days really help?

Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Last year I fell in love with Jeff Zentner’s debut novel, The Serpent King. So when I heard about his book that would be releasing this year, I immediately added it to my list of books to preorder. When a sneak peak was released a few weeks ago, I devoured it all the while trying not to cry on my lunch break at work. After reading those first few chapters, I knew I was in for a rough ride. I’m not even quite sure how to write this review. Any book that tugs on your emotions as hard as this one is definitely a book you need in your life. Zentner’s writing is so beautiful and although I have never been to Nashville I could easily picture the places described in this book. Carver was such an endearing main character. Throughout the novel he struggles with his three best friends being dead and feeling guilt about how they died. The three boys had been killed in a car accident that appeared to be caused by texting while driving. This subject is so devastating that it makes it hard to read. I think I had tears in my eyes more often than not while reading. I felt as though my heart was constantly breaking. I did have some laughs when Carver would flashback to funny memories he had with his friends. This book will definitely make you realize that the lives we have are finite and not to take things for granted, no matter how small they may seem.

5 Stars

P.S. Don’t text and drive. No text message is important enough to risk your own life or the life of others. Be safe people. 🙂

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Posted on April 19, 2016 by pennma05

25739107 The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Published March 8th 2016 by Crown Books for Young Readers

384 Pages

Goodreads Summary: Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia. But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. Dill’s only escapes are his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending—one that will rock his life to the core.

Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible Belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.

Review: I apologize in advance for what will probably be a gushy, rambling review. I finished this book in the beginning of March and I’m just now giving the review a shot after letting the story sink in. I signed up to participate in Stefani @ Caught Read Handed‘s traveling ARC tour of The Serpent King. It was such a cool thing to be involved with. She took her personal ARC and mailed it to one person and then that person mailed it to the next, and so on. We were all encouraged to add our own page flags to the parts of the book that spoke to us so it was fun seeing everyone’s flags by the time it got around to me. I started it right away, but because of my California trip I had to put it on hold for a bit.

Once I was able to pick it up again, I couldn’t put it down. Check out my Goodreads status updates:

02/26     marked as:          currently-reading

02/26     page 73 19.0%    “This book is great so far. I am loving Dill and Travis especially.”

03/09     page 110 28.0%

03/10     page 151 39.0%    “Almost teared up when Lydia’s dad was talking to her about Travis and his dad. I think Travis is definitely my favorite of the three.”

03/10     page 195 50.0%

03/10     page 247 64.0%    “Omg I have a really bad feeling about this!! My heart is racing!”

03/10     page 254 66.0%    “My heart has just been torn from my body and stomped on.”

03/10     marked as:          read

Travis was definitely my favorite character. But at the same time, all three of them really spoke to me and it felt like they all had pieces that I really connected with. I think that almost anyone in the world could relate to the feelings that these characters have at one point or another.

The trouble that Dill goes through in his small town because of what happened with his crazy father is so rough. For about the first half of the book, I didn’t care much for Lydia. She seemed a little selfish and it really bugged me that she would never talk about Dill or Travis on her blog because of who they were and what they were like. But after halfway through I began to understand her more and feel more connected to her character.

This story was so heartbreaking and 100% real. I had so many emotions throughout this book. It is definitely one of my favorite books now. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from the book.

“If you’re going to live, you might as well do painful, brave, and beautiful things.”
― Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King

“How is it every time we’re talking about the real world, you manage to bring up fantasy, and every time we’re talking about fantasy, you manage to bring up the real world?

Travis shrugged. “My fantasies are more interesting than the real world and machines and tools are more interesting than you guys’ fantasies.”
― Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King

If you haven’t picked up a copy of this book yet, you need to because it is very good!

5 Stars

WWW Wednesday – March 2, 2016

Posted on March 2, 2016 by pennma05

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words.
Each week we answer the following three questions:
-What have you recently finished reading?
-What are you currently reading?
-What are you reading next?

Well it’s been a pretty slow reading week for me as I’ve been getting ready for California and binge watching Pretty Little Liars to catch up to Bird so we can discuss the show as it happens in real time! I’m totally late to the PLL party and I wish I had started this show earlier because it is so addicting. I’m up to season 5 now and things are crazier than ever. So reading has kind of taken a back seat this week. I have not finished any books since last week, which for once I’m not that upset about. Since I didn’t finish any books my formatting for today will be a little different than the norm.

The books I am currently reading are so far really great!

25834889 I am working on an eARC of The Progeny by Tosca Lee. It is a story about a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, labeled by the Guiness World Records as the most prolific female serial killer. I am completely fascinated by all things Bathory and although I haven’t gotten to the point of the story where any connections are made I am enjoying this book. So far the beginning reminds me a lot of one of my favorite movies of all time – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The MC wakes up in a remote cabin in Maine after having gone through a procedure to erase her memory. I’m really looking forward to having time to read this on the plane on Friday and while I wait for my connecting flight in Denver on my 3 hour layover!

26136490 I am also reading Blonde Eskimo by Kristen Hunt. I am a little less than halfway through it but I find the story to be interesting and engaging. Within the past 5 years or so my interest in all things Alaska have really grown so this book is perfect with different legends and lore about the native people of Alaska. I will also have the great fortune of hanging out with Kristen this weekend when we are all out there to celebrate and support our friend’s book, Shattered Blue! So far, Blonde Eskimo is about a girl named Neiva who comes to spend her senior year of high school living with her grandmother on the island of Spirit off the coast of Alaska. Even before she sets foot on the island, strange things start to happen.

22752127 And the third book I am reading is an ARC of The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. I am participating in Stefani @ Caught Read Handed‘s ARC tour. It’s pretty awesome! She set up this tour to pass along her personal copy and as each person reads it, they had their own page flags to the book and then pass it on to the next person. It’s cool seeing what parts speak to different people. The first day I got it, I couldn’t stop reading it! It was so good. I love the three main characters – Dill, Lydia, and Travis. I can’t wait to continue reading this book and pass it on to the next person. I have already pre-ordered this book and can’t wait to have a hardcover for my permanent collection.

So those are all of the books I am currently reading! I anticipate still reading them over the next week so I am not going to put forth any Up Next titles. I fly out on Friday morning and won’t be back until late Monday night so you can also expect a little hiatus from me here as well. On Monday you can finally read my review of Best of My Love by Susan Mallery, the final book in the best selling Fool’s Gold series.

What have you been reading lately?