Trying Something New with your Young Adult Reads

This Week's Newsletter

This week's newsletter contains the following features:
(Feel free to skip ahead to what you want to read)


What's new with Ashleigh?

As you know, I usually send out my newsletter every other week, with some news about what's been going on with me, some book features, and a bunch of promotions for free or discounted books. Recently, I started sending my Choose Your Own Path stories on the "off" weeks along with the promotions for free & discounted books. However, since those stories are going on haitus for awhile, I was wracking my brain about what to feature on weeks like this.

And then it hit me. I want to feature YOU!

I know you love to read. Do you ever write reviews for those books? Or maybe you'd like to try your hand at it? I'd love to share those reviews with my readers.

How would it look? Something like this.

The Amateurs

The Amateurs

by Sara Shepard
Reviewed by Ashleigh

One minute, Helena Kelly is celebrating the first snowfall of the year with her younger sister, Aerin. The next minute, she has completely disappeared from their sleepy little Connecticut town. Still searching for answers five years later, Aerin seeks assistance from a cold-case message board. Enter Seneca, a college freshman who has been following the Kelly case religiously from the beginning. When her friend Maddie invites her to spend spring break investigating the case, how can Seneca refuse? But, someone seems determined to keep this case cold.

This book was so addictive, I could not put it down. While there are ultimately five sleuths on the case, the book is narrated in turn by four of them. As a result, there is the occasional repetition of information, but I didn't mind it too much because it provided a reminder of some key information.

As a mystery enthusiast, I love being able to solve the mystery before the main characters. And this book is chock full of mysteries. However, I was only about a step ahead of the detectives. And the whodunit ended up being a complete surprise. In a good way.

While this book is written with an obvious to be continued, the mysteries in this book felt unfinished. Although we end up learning what happened to Aerin's sister and figure out the identity of a murderer, we never really learn the murderer's motive. I look forward to hopefully finding some of these answers in the next book.

This story does get an inkspots because the excessive use of drugs and alcohol in minor is not frowned upon. Overall, I would rate this story four and a half quills and place it on my top shelf.

Have a book you'd like to review?


If this sounds like something you'd be interested in,


Free Books

Would you like some free books in exchange for an honest review?

Fantasy Reviews Wanted - Ends 2/03 - YA, Multi Genre Reviews - Ends 1/30 - MG,YA,Romance,Mystery,
YA Scifi/Fantasy Reviews - Ends 2/03 - YA,

Want more free books? Check out these giveaways!

All-Fantasy Genre End-of-year giveaway - Ends 1/10 - MG,YA, Escape the Holiday Chaos - Ends 1/21 - YA,
Fantastic Free Fantasy - January - Ends 2/01 - YA, Home Alone (... Finally) - Ends 1/21 - YA,
Magical Realms - Ends 1/15 - MG,YA,Romance, New Year New Reads - Ends 1/31 - MG,YA,Romance,Mystery,
Sweet Romance Giveaway - January - Ends 1/31 - YA,Romance, Wintertime All Genre Giveaway - Ends 1/28 - YA,Romance,Mystery,
Sweet Romance Holiday Giveaways - Ends 1/10 - YA,Romance, Wooniverse Light Up Your Holidays Giveaways - Ends 1/10 - YA,Romance,

Do you have Kindle Unlimited? These books are free for you!

Epic Adventures for the Holidays - Ends 1/12 - MG,YA, Fill Your Kindle with Fantasy - Ends 2/01 - YA,
Holiday KU Bonanza - Ends 1/19 - YA,Romance,Mystery, KU Kickstart - Ends 1/31 - MG,YA,Romance,Mystery,
SciFi & Fantasy for Holiday Reading - Ends 1/17 - YA, Start the new year with some magic - Ends 2/01 - YA,Romance,

Other Books on Sale

It's Christmas - Ends 1/10 - MG,YA,Romance,Mystery, A New Year in Fantasy - Ends 2/01 - YA,
Adventure Fantasy Tales - Ends 1/17 - MG,YA, Christmas Fantasy & SF - Ends 1/16 - MG,YA,Mystery,
Fantastic Fantasy Megasale - January - Ends 2/01 - YA, Fantasy  & Paranormal Reads - January - Ends 1/31 - YA,
Here's to Strong Women - Ends 1/31 - YA,Romance,Mystery, New Year, New Mystery Novels - Ends 1/31 - YA,Mystery,
New Year's Fantasy Madness Sale - Ends 2/01 - YA, Of Legends and Lore - Ends 1/31 - MG,YA,
Reading in January - Ends 1/31 - YA, Start the New Year with a Bang! - Ends 2/01 - YA,Romance,Mystery,
Fantasy Tales from Other Worlds - Ends 2/01 - YA,

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