In a Nutshell Reviews

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights.

Bobby Sky: Boy Band or Die
Joe Shine
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Suspense
Publisher: Soho Teen
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

At fourteen, Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson is out of luck. His charm and singing voice—and penchant for bursting into song at all the wrong times—can’t keep him out of trouble anymore. When he’s arrested (again): he’s given a choice: die in juvie or become a Shadow: the fearless, unstoppable, and top-secret guardian of a Future Important Person, or FIP.

With nothing to lose, Hutch accepts. After two grueling years at the Future Affairs Training and Education (FATE) Center, Hutch can barely remember the boy he once was. His entire existence has been erased. Ready for anything, he expects to be plunged into a battle zone.

Instead he learns that his FIP is someone named Ryo Enomoto. Yes, the Ryo Enomoto: front-man of world-famous boy band International. Worse, Hutch has to put his old talents to use. He must join the band and change his name to Bobby Sky. Is this for real? Has he really turned himself into a lethal killing machine . . . only to become a teen pop sensation?

This is my second kid agent type book, and I found this to be a fun, action-packed adventure.

• Pro: Bobby was hilarious! I loved his snark, and the way he recounted the story. He also had a heart of gold, and kept doing these little things, which showed that he had a lot of good in him. 
• Pro: I was a fan of the format. Bobby speaking straight to the reader worked really well, as he told us about his past life as a criminal, his training with FATE, his stint in a boy band, and how he found himself trapped in this cell. 
• Pro: This book had all the stuff you look for in these secret agent type book. It featured tons of gadgets and high powered machinery, in addition to lots of slick battle scenes and narrow escapes. It was like Jason Bourne meets Spy Kids. 
• Con: The ending was surprising, and I wish we had a little more "real time" with Bobby, because there is zero outcome. 
• Pro: The ending by no way negates all the good times I had over the course of the book. 
• Pro: The boy band bits were quite amusing. The members of the band do come across as one dimensional, but I think they are meant to. 

Overall: A fast-paced and amusing secret agent story, which left me receptive to another installment.

The Way You Make Me Feel
Maurene Goo
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?

With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

Working on her father's food truck may have been Clara's punishment, but it ended up being the push Clara needed to grow, change, and deal with some of her personal demons.

• Pro: I am going to start with my favorite thing about this book - HAMLET! That boy was just all sorts of wonderfulness. He was sweet and charming, and the way he interacted with his nainai and yeye just warmed my heart. 
• Pro: It took a while, but Clara grew on me. At first, she was kind of selfish, but she grew a lot over the course of this book, and eventually endeared herself to me. 
• Pro: Clara's dad was quite terrific. He was a very young dad, and took Clara's latest debacle as a call to parenting arms. We later found out, that dad was doing quite a remarkable job even as a teen.
• Con: There were a few too many loose ends for me. The ending was thoughtful and very sweet, but there were a bunch of other things that happened with other characters in the book that were just left hanging out there.  
• Pro: This story has romance, but it isn't a romance. It's about finding those people, who are important to you, being real with them, and showing them how much they mean to you. 
• Pro: The bond between Clara and her dad was really special, and was one of my favorite relationships in the book. Clara learned a lot of new things about her dad, and developed a deeper appreciation for him. She also shared some special moments from her past with us, and I won't pretend that a tear or two didn't formed in my eyes. 
• Pro: I was a fan of the friendship that developed between Rose and Clara. It was good to see Clara had someone, who could ground her, but also support her. 

Overall: A lovely story of friends and family, which was filled with a delightful cast of characters, humor, and plenty of heartfelt moments.

9 Days & 9 Nights
Katie Cotugno
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult/New Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Blazer + Bray
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

The irresistible sequel to the bestselling 99 Days.

Molly Barlow isn’t that girl anymore. A business major at her college in Boston, she’s reinvented herself after everything that went down a year ago . . . after all the people she hurt and the family she tore apart.

Slowly, life is getting back to normal. Molly has just said “I love you” to her new boyfriend, Ian, and they are off on a romantic European vacation together, starting with scenic London. But there on a Tube platform, the past catches up to her in the form of Gabe, her ex, traveling on his own parallel vacation with new girlfriend Sadie.

After comparing itineraries, Ian ends up extending an invite for Gabe and Sadie to join them on the next leg of their trip, to Ireland. Sadie, who’s dying to go there, jumps at the prospect. And Molly and Gabe can’t bring themselves to tell the truth about who they once were to each other to their new significant others.

Now Molly has to spend nine days and nine nights with the boy she once loved, the boy whose heart she shredded, without Ian knowing. Will she make it through as new, improved Molly, or will everything that happened between her and Gabe come rushing back?

As a 99 Days fan, I would like to thank Katie Cotugno for writing this book. This was the closure me, Molly, and Gabe needed, and the book exceed my expectations.

• Pro: Whoa, Molly! Once again, my heart was totally with this young woman. I thought she grew a lot over the course of 99 Days, but she wasn't done, and it was really something special to see how she evolved since then, and what new "fallout" she was dealing with. 
• Pro: My emotions, my emotions! Cotugno brought me through so many different emotional states via Molly. My heart broke and ached and there were tears and everything! Molly's pain and suffering probably affected me the most. Cotugno did such an incredible job getting us into her head. 
• Pro: I always had a soft spot for Gabe, and I will not lie, my heart did a little leap when he made his first appearance. 
• Pro: The auxiliary characters, Sadie (Gabe's girlfriend) and Ian (Molly's boyfriend) were both really great, and it was a thrill to be with Imogene. She was such a high quality friend. She knew when to push and when to let up, but most of all, she genuinely loved and cared for Molly. 
• Pro: You know I love a romance, but that's not what this story was. This was Molly coming to terms with her past, and making peace with it. In trying to erase what happened, she buried parts of herself. This was her journey to finding out who she really was, and who she wanted to be. 
• Pro: It was great to see the progress Molly and her mom made with their relationship, and the growth made there only helped support what progress Molly had made in general. 
• Pro: This ending gets a round of applause. I am always wanting answers, and I got lots of closure from this one. 
• Pro: I legit have no cons!

Overall: I loved being back in Molly's messy life. Things were sometimes awkward, unpleasant, and uncomfortable, but they were always real.  If Cotugno has it in her, I would be up for another Molly book. 

** ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

Have you read any of these books?

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