Brenna Ehrlich

Okay, this was a decent debut and written in the vein of A Good GIrl's Guide to Murder trilogy. This is a YA mystery/thriller and I don't know that I was the right target audience for this story. I enjoyed reading it and all, but it didn't engage or keep me as interested as A Good Girl's Guide to Murder did.
One reason why I think that I may not be the right audience for this is that it's about a true crime fanatic, Natalie, she runs a podcast with her friend, and then because of being a true-crime fanatic, she decides to investigate the murder of her favorite teacher. And well, I'm not a big fan of true crime personally. I like stories about investigating murder mysteries, but I don't like true crime as much.
There's also an interesting alternate timeline in the past while the present timeline is currently being told and some decent twists to it as well. With the aspect of the mystery and investigation of the favorite teacher's murder among other storylines, I did enjoy a lot of it and think there will be a lot of others who will enjoy this a lot so don't let my lack of enthusiasm dissuade you from checking this story out. Also, one thing to note is that there is a bit of profanity if you want to be aware of or try to avoid that kind of thing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for letting me read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (mehr)

Natalie has a fascination with true crime...And a mother who would rival a black helicopter. There's no dad in the picture, but she does have a best friend who shares her fascination, to the point of being her partner in a true crime podcast.
While Natalie already has plenty of mystery in her life, things like why her mom is so uptight and close mouthed, things spiral when her favorite teacher is found dead at the bottom of a set of stairs under suspicious circumstances. Natalie's last words to her were hurtful, making the death even that much more painful. When she embarks on a quest to solve the death, it not only opens up a huge can of worms, it pulls old secrets free. When you start getting the dual view , Natalie in present day, her mother at the same age when she started college, the story takes a new perspective. I like how things were layered, then revealed and ultimately became a great gotcha. Excellent book for teens who love mystery with lots of twists.… (mehr)

Wow. I didn't imagine myself enjoying this. But I guess my "imagination" can be wrong sometimes. Because Placid Girl really pulled me in. It kept its story at a slow pace at first, but then speed up a lot more and became very interesting. The laughter and tension in Placid Girl intertwined with each other, gave the story its gripping plot. The characters are great, and the drama in this book is, what I would say, very interesting.
There are parts of these book that just make all your goosebumps go up, which created a very unique atmosphere for the story (which I absolutely love). Also, the best, best part about Placid Girl is the song's lyrics. I must say, if Brenna Ehrlich decided to become a songwriter, she's gonna be famous, because the lyrics and words are greatly on point and flowing, which is simply awesome. Last advice: Read it! It's a very enjoyable read. And although I know the writing might not be everyone's taste, the plot worth it (or like I said, interesting).… (mehr)

I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

Hallie is just like every other girl living in a small town: she wants to escape. Within the confines of her own mind she struggles with living up to her vivacious best friend, Sarah. Their band, My Friend’s Band, has recently gotten some hype and as excited as Hallie is, she still feels small. Then a message from a stranger comes in, and her life begins to finally take the exciting turn she wants. In all this craziness, she meets Steve, who just so happens to have a cousin in Hallie’s favorite band, Haze. After hearing about the return of Haze after 5 years of absence, Hallie convinces Sarah and Steve to accompany her to the concert. When they arrive though, something goes very, very wrong, and Hallie has to decide what to risk. Is keeping her friends or meeting Haze more important?

Main Characters:

Hallie: Our protagonist who actually deals with emotions like a normal human would. Haley is funny and human and real. She adds depth to the story, and makes you get invested in the story. Some people might call her a “pushover”, but to me, that makes her all the more real. Many people in life are “pushovers”, even though they would never admit it.
Sarah: The one friend that we all have. The one who gets the guys, who’s confident and outspoken, who’s never afraid to say her opinion. Sarah has some real depth to her, which surprised me. The way she deals with circumstances is the way I’ve seen “that friend” deal with things, which makes her even more real.
Steve: For once, a main romantic interest who isn’t perfectly shaped or sculpted, but is just very human and vulnerable. Steve’s circumstances create him into the human that he is, and although he’s not what he appears at first, the author is able to slowly peel off those masks that we all tend to wear.

I will not be doing Haze to avoid spoilers.

Review:
4 stars
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The title seemed weird to me, and I wasn’t super excited to get into it. After I started however, I didn’t want to stop. The characters drew me in with their humanness, and the storyline trapped me with the twists and turns. The author does a wonderful job of creating suspense, while at the same time dropping hints throughout the story that you don’t notice until the end. There are a few parts towards the end that I felt were a little too predictable, and could have been done differently. Overall though, I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and would definitely recommend it.… (mehr)