Review: Between by Jessica Warman - great mystery book for teens

Jessica Warman is an author of Breathless (2010 Best Book for Young Adults) and Where the Truth Lies. Between is her third well written novel for teenagers.

Some writers begin to write their books by asking "what if". Others reach for the memories of their childhood – and that's what Jessica Warman has done. In the description of her biography (e.g. on the Amazon) we can find the information that "The idea for Between came from an incident in her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (Eventually he was found, alive)."

But the plot of the novel is quite different. The main character Elizabeth Valchar - very pretty and popular girl - wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her friends. Elizabeth quickly realized that no one sees nor hears her. Why? Because she is dead and now a ghost.

From publisher's description: "Critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman displayed brings readers along on a roller-coaster ride of a mystery, they also that is a heartbreaking character study, a touching romance, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go."

We are dealing with a major mystery (what happened in the night, whether it was an accident or not?), but as we read the book there are more unknowns, secrets come to light and it turns out that everyone had something on their conscience.

It's not an outstanding book, nor especially surprising (fairly easy to guess the ending). This said, I think that Between is a good book, well written and with interesting plot. Especially for teens, but not only. I finished high school ages ago ;-), but also I like it.

The author skillfully shows how Eliza is evolving under the influence of new events, how from the spoiled child she becomes mature and wiser. There are also some touching moments :). But - in my opinion - the main advantage of the book is that it forces us to reflect on how we ourselves treat others in school, family, work, etc.

Therefore, if you are wondering what to buy for some young adult (close friend, aunt's daughter, etc.) - you should definitely look up this novel.

Reviews on Amazon also confirm that this is an interesting book. On 35 reviews 16 people gave it 5 stars, and 17 gave 4. So I encourage you to read Between by Jessica Warman! :)

Top 10 best novels by Dean Koontz

Dean R. Koontz is an extremely hardworking American writer. He published dozens of novels, short stories, graphic novels and how-to books. That's why it's worth to know where to start with books written by Koontz to come to like him like I do :)

I have great respect for Koontz and I'm full of admiration for his work. Of course, I did not read everything he wrote. Maybe when I will be retired, I manage to do that :). But I have read his novels with pleasure for years.

I think Koontz as a writer is quite uneven. He writes either a bad novel or a great one. So many of my friends says that they don't like Koontz at all. During the conversation, it turn out that they simply read one of his weak novels, and that's why they have such opinion about him. So I decided to create a list of my favorite novels, to help all of you read Koontz's books and have fun. The choice was really difficult, because he wrote so many good novels, that it's hard to pick only ten. But after much thought, I have finished the list.

This is my list of top ten great novels by Dean Koontz:
1. Lightning (see description)

2. Watchers (see description)

3. Whispers (see description)

4. The Voice of the Night (see description)

5. Hideaway (see description)

6. The Face (see description)

7. Velocity (see description)

8. The Vision (see description)

9. Cold Fire (see description)

10. The Bad Place (see description)

From the list you can see that I like older novels by Koontz from ones published recently. I think it is so, because they have more action, better plots and less journalism. Characters are also more interesting (e.g. I didn't like Ryan Perry, the main character in novel Your Heart Belongs to Me, the book itself is also not very good in my opinion).

So if you don't read Koontz and you're wondering where to start, take into consideration the titles listed above. Certainly you won't be disappointed!

Shutter Island – should you read a novel or watch a movie first?

Recently a friend of mine asked me what to do first - read a book by Dennis Lehane or watch the movie by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role? Since I know both, I could honesty advise him.

I answered - read the novel and then watch the movie. Why? First of all, because you won't be limited in any way. You will be able to create in your own imagination everything what Lehane portrayed in his writing. Otherwise the film will eclipse the novel, because it's simply great, with superb creations of actors Leonardo DiCaprio (as Teddy Daniels), Mark Ruffalo (as Chuck Aule) and Ben Kingsley (as Dr. Cawley).

Of course, adaptation is not 100% perfect. But if anyone of you watched the movie first, don't be discouraged. You won't be surprised by unexpected changes in plot, but you will certainly appreciate the language, scenes which are missing in the film, and generally - the climate of the novel.

In my opinion this is one of those movies and books to remember and reminisce for many years. Definitely you will give thought about the story and ending.

If someone doesn't know anything about Shutter Island, I publish some brief information below:

Shutter Island is a novel by Dennis Lehane, published in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Laeta Kalogridis wrote a screenplay of the movie and it was directed by Martin Scorsese, who in my opinion is one of the best directors alive today.

Description from Amazon.com: "The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new ­partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems".

In a nutshell – it's a great novel and a good psychological thriller :).