Book Review: Overnight Sensation by Hal Eisenberg

                           Overnight Sensation by Hal Eisenberg

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                                   From Goodreads

Fifteen year old Jonah Levine is practically invisible at Applecrest High. His Facebook page is pathetic, his baseball skills are mediocre at best, and his IQ seems to drop 50 points when talking to girls. However, everything changes when his rock band, Hitstreak becomes the hottest teen sensation in the country.

So why isn't he jumping for joy?

Well, for starters, that hit on the radio wasn't really recorded by his band. In fact, six months ago, he and his friends could barely play a note between them. And now they're about to perform in front of 15,000 screaming fans. What began as a mindless prank had quickly spun out of control, involving his father's secret past as a 70's rocker, a high school bully who wants in on the action, and a powerful, ruthless, media mogul who will stop at nothing to claim the band as his own. Will Jonah prevail? Or will he and his band go down in flames and become the biggest farce in pop music history?

                                   
                                    

"Ever wonder what it's like to be a major rockstar?".. YES!

Overnight Sensation is definitely one of the few books that somehow managed to get me reading the whole book in one sitting. And no, I am not exaggerating. Overnight Sensation is the kind of books which made me feel, think and laugh. I had high expectations for this book that constantly got me waiting to be amazed that I got too busy trying to find that special moment to really enjoy it. I failed....

But once I read it all over again, committing myself to just READ, that's when I saw the beauty of the story written by the Hal.

The thing I loved most about Overnight Sensation would be Hal's way of writing. He has this kind of skills that creeps in little by little that makes a paragraph seems like any other regular paragraphs in the world of books, up until I reach its end and BAM!!

It seems to me that Hal Eisenberg really understand teenagers. I thoroughly enjoyed 'Experiencing' what Jonah Levine (Joman) and his band go through, combined with their sarcasm and banters. To me, the characters are the most important thing in Young Adult contemporary literature, because without them all that's left is the real world. But Overnight Sensation does not have characters.... it has people that you'll empathize with and desperately want to know more about. I totally fell in love with them; their quirks, their humors, their interactions, their passions,.....Hal, well done! 

 It's an overall amazing book and I will heavily recommend it to anyone on Earth that are trying to look for meanings and are interested in a good read.

 - Good!!

Extras

Note of Thanks
Million thanks to Hal Eisenberg for the wonderful signed, paperback copy of Overnight Sensation, and I'm keeping that swag pack! Woohoo!!

Hal Eisenberg is a writer with a background in advertising. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, two boys, a Soft-Coated Wheaton Terrior named Maddie, and McCartney, an African Grey Parrot who just celebrated his thirtieth birthday (LIKE SERIOUSLY?? WHAT?). Visit Hal on the web at: Hal Eisenberg and on the Overnight Sensation Facebook page. 

Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith

Solitary (Escape From Furnace, #2) by Alexander Gordon Smith 

Buy The Book:

Amazon :: B & N :: The Book Depository :: Boomerang Books
 

Synopsis

Alex tried to escape.
He had a perfect plan.
He was almost free. Even felt the cool, clean air on his face.
Then the dogs came.
Now he’s locked in a place so gruesome—so hellish—that escape doesn’t even matter.
He just wants to survive.

Review

Solitary picks up where the first book ends. To Alex and his gang's dismay and horror, they did not find their way out, but ended up in the same place they were trying so hard to escape.

To punish them for their defiance, the Warden orders them to be locked up in the Solitary for a month. But the most terrible event has yet to come.

What's so special about Smith's books are the horror and vivid imagery that swirl around your mind even long after the story ends. In this installment, Alex displays his resilience even when his mind is near its breaking point. It's almost impossible to escape the hell hole called Furnace, but Alex never give up on 'hope'.

While in total seclusion in the Solitary, Alex and Zee somehow finds a way to communicate with each other to maintain their sanity. When they find an unexpected ally in Simon, their brains go auto-pilot in concocting another daring escape attempt.

Will they succeed? I'm pretty sure the answer is not pretty - but I'm definitely getting my hands on the next book. You'd want to know what happens to Alex and Zee too, don't you?

Rating:

To seek more horrors, visit the Escape From Furnace Website.

About The Author

Alexander Gordon Smith, 32, is best known as the author of the Escape From Furnace Series, made up of Lockdown, Solitary, Death Sentence, Fugitives and Execution.

He also wrote The Inventors – which was runner-up in the national Wow Factor Award – and The Inventors and the City of Stolen Souls, both of which were co-authored by his eleven-year-old brother Jamie. The first novel in his third series, The Fury, will be published in 2012, alongside an as yet untitled book for younger readers. He is the author of two creative writing handbooks, Inspired Creative Writing and Writing Bestselling Children’s Books, a number of screenplays that are currently in development, several non-fiction books and hundreds of short stories and articles.

 

Book Review : New Girl by Paige Harbison

 

New Girl by Paige Harbison 

Paperback, 320 pages

Published January 31st 2012 by HarlequinTeen (first published January 1st 2012) 

Available on Barnes And Noble:

Paperback $9.49

ISBN 0373210426 (ISBN13: 9780373210428)

Synopsis 

 The Queen Bee is missing. Will you be next?

 

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back...

Review  

First of all, I apologized for the posting this review after quite some time. I have to say that when I got this book one month ago, I was extremely excited, as it was described as "Gossip Girl meets Mallory Towers with a dash of gothic chill thrown in for good measure!"  

However, to my disappointment, it was nothing like gossip girl, but Mallory Towers, yes. Despite all that, I still think that this is a good book to read.  

"The New Girl" whose name is only mentioned at the end of the book, comes to Manderly Academy for her senior year. It has always been her dream to go to a boarding school. And when her parents finally got her in, she was struck to the fact of leaving everything she used to have behind, especially the things she love. Space is limited at Manderly Academy, so she have to take a spot that recently opened up due to the mysterious disappearance of a student named Becca. 

Rebecca or Becca Normandy had been the “it girl” of the school. She dated the hottest guy, was beautiful, rich and could be friend anyone. This reminds me of Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl, probably why it is described as Gossip Girl meets Mallory Towers. Unfortunately, like all Queen Bees, Becca was not a very nice person. She was manipulative, cruel, and sough the spotlight at any cost.

The thing that stood out the most about this book was the mystery that surrounded the storyline. If Becca is so popular, why did she go missing? How did she go missing? Could someone have forced Becca to disappear? This definitely kept me hooked while reading the book, wanting to know what happened to the mysterious Becca.

The New Girl has nothing to do with Becca, but she has been under Becca's shadow ever since she reached Manderly Academy. She can't help falling for Becca’s ex-boyfriend, Max and Max's best friend, Johnny seemed to be interested in her.  Max was hot and cold towards her that she was confused about the way he acted.

Switching between Callie and Becca’s points of view makes the story much more interesting and allows the reader a look into Becca’s mind, explaining her motivation for the things she did. This book is a good mystery and would be perfect for an audience of teen girls.

If you're a fan of Mystery and Suspense, I would recommend this book to you. To me, New Girl was one of those books that you'd either love it or hate it. I take no sides and rate it 3/5.
 

Rating:    

About The Author

Paige Harbison grew up on the outskirts of Washington D.C. and is the daughter of New York Times Bestselling author Beth Harbison. Paige is currently working toward her Bachelor's Degree at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. 

Find Her :
twitter: twitter.com/paigeharbison
facebook: facebook.com/paige.harbison
website: www.paigeharbison.com