#ReadIndie Review: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Title: Puck
Author: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #4
Publication: November 15th 2016 
Genre: Young Adult ~ Contemporary
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 5/5

Life isn’t always fair, and no one knows that better than fifteen-year-old Puck. When she’s unceremoniously booted from yet another foster home, this city kid lands at DreamRoads, a rehabilitation wilderness camp. Her fellow juvenile delinquents include a famous pop star with a diva attitude, a geeky, “fish out of water” math whiz, and a surly gang-banger with a chip on his shoulder. The program’s steely director aims to break Puck, but she knows that every adult has a breaking point, too. Determined to defy this realm of agonizing nature hikes and soul-sucking psychobabble — even if that means manipulating four lovestruck camp counselors and the director’s dim-witted second-in-command — Puck ultimately gets much more than she bargains for in this “wondrous strange” outdoor odyssey inspired by Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes definitely was one of the big surprises of 2016 for me. I really liked all the previous Twisted Lit books but I loved Puck even more. It was a quick read that I had such a hard time to put down. If I could've I probably would have read it in one sitting. 

Puck is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This happens to be one of my favorites of his work so I really liked all the similarities. The main characters of this story is Puck, a fifteen-year-old girl, who gets send to a rehabilitation camp for juvies by her foster mother. I loved her character. The way she was written felt like a real teenager who's having a tough time in life. The kids she ends up with a this camp were are very different and interesting in their own way so this made for a unqiue cast of characters. 

I don't know what it was about this book but it made me emotional. I teared up a few times, which speaks for how good this book was. I guess I saw myself a little in some of the kids in the book and I'm sure other people will be feeling the same thing. 

The book is not just emotional though. It's also quite hilarious at times and made me smile and laugh out loud. So I would say it isn't a too heavy book because of how funny some things were in it but it does make you feel things. At least I did. 

I would very highly recommend recommend Puck to anyone. I've only spend about three days reading it but it's already feels like a special book to me that I adore. So I would suggest everyone to go buy this book and start reading it right away. You definitely won't be disappointed!

       About the Authors:

Los Angeles-based writers and bffs Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing together since 2007. Askew’s work has appeared in Elle, The Wall Street Journal, and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen. Helmes is the author of several books, including The Wisdom of Nancy Drew and Betty and Veronica: A Girl's Guide to the 'Comic' World of Dating. Her essay “Searching for Mr. Darcy” was featured in the Los Angeles Times.

Review: Exposure by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Title: Exposure: A Modern-Day Spin on Shakespeare's Macbeth
Authors: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #2
Publication: January 18th 2013 by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Contemporary ~ Retelling
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository 
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Double, double, toil and trouble. Sometimes, the quest for high school royalty can be deadly! In this emotionally-charged twist on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a self-conscious shutterbug named Skye Kingston navigates a treacherous school year in Alaska fraught with unspoken secrets and tragic twists of fate. Along the way she encounters three strangely prophetic BFFs; one social-climbing, sociopathic cheerleader; and a heart-stopping hottie named Craig McKenzie: the man who would be Prom King. Can Skye save the boy she loves — and herself — before they get caught in the crosshairs?

How I love these books. I feel like for the past two days I've been living on a Twisted Lit cloud. When I finished Tempesteous I started Exposure right away. And even though I didn't think it was quite as good as its predecessor, I still really liked it.

This book, unlike the previous one, had definitely a slightly dark undertone. I mean, it was still kind of cute but with the murder and everything it was darker. Which I thought was great.

As always (so far) with a Twisted Lit book, I really liked the main character and her voice. Skye was a little bit of an outsider, which I think a lot of people can relate to. I also liked her three friends. I'm not sure I liked Craig, though. He had his good moments for sure but I thought he was kind of an ass for the way he treated Skye for the past three years.

As always the writing was excellent, which by now I shouldn't be surprised with because obviously Kim Askew and Amy Helmes are very skilled with words. 

All in all, Exposure was another thoroughly enjoyable and recommendable book in the Twisted List series!

About the Authors:

Website | Facebook

Los Angeles-based writers Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing and blogging together since 2007. Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.

Review: Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Title: Tempestuous: A Modern-Day Spin on Shakespeare's The Tempest
Authors: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #1
Publication: December 18th 2012 by Merit Press 
Genre: Young Adult ~ Contemporary ~ Retelling
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

I loved Tempestuous! I really did! I actually liked it more than Anyone But You (yes I know I read it out of order but these books can be read as standalones). The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that some things happening were a little bit too obvious. I had guessed a lot of the stuff that was going to happen. And clearly everything that happened in this book would never happen in real life but how awesome would it be if it did, huh?

I was pretty much hooked in this book from the start. I really liked the main character, Miranda. I kind of love books where a popular girl turns over a new leaf and ends up changing and being actually nice. Miranda was like that. Sure, she still was a little bit rough on the edges but she was pretty fun to read about.

Also the other characters didn't let me down. Caleb was my favorite, obviously. He was pretty hilarious, smart and oh he plays in a band. And let's not forget he wasn't fooled by Miranda and could keep up with her, or at least try. He kind of had to. I loved that.

Other secondary characters that I liked were Ariel (she was just so cute) and Chad (also pretty cute!). I think we can agree that everything was cute and fun.

There was a bit of mystery involved with a thief being trapped in the mall with them all the kids. I guessed pretty early on who it was so that was a little disappointing but maybe that's just me. Also, the dialogue was pretty clever and witty as was the writing in general. Bonus points for that!

So overall, Tempestuous was a quick, fun and very cute read that I would absolutely recommend to everyone, who's looking to read something light. Even if you haven't read Shakespeare's The Tempest, this is a great and entertaining book.

About the Authors:

Website | Facebook

Los Angeles-based writers Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing and blogging together since 2007. Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.

Arc Review: Anyone But You by Kim Askew & Amy Helmes

Title: Anyone But You: A Modern-Day Spin on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Authors: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #3
Publication: January 18th 2014 by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Retelling
Format: e-Arc from NetGalley
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

   

These violent delights have violent ends...

Gigi Caputo is fed up. A vicious act of vandalism has dealt another blow to her family's proud pizza heritage, and the Montes--owners of a rival Italian restaurant--are clearly to blame. The hostility goes far beyond bragging rights for best pizza in Chicago. The Montes have been bent on destroying Cap's for four generations. Even if it means putting herself in harm's way, Gigi's determined to get to the bottom of the feud. Instead, in a secret encounter with Roman Monte, the very boy whose relatives have brought her family such grief, she finds both danger and love at first sight. If the daughter and son of these two warring families fall for each other, can it be anything but a recipe for disaster? Slowly, Gigi and Roman learn that their story is fatefully linked to the summer of 1933, when two twelve-year-olds, Benny and Nick, hop the turnstile at the Chicago World's Fair. The most stunning wonder of the fair is Stella, who innocently causes a lasting rift between the two boyhood. Wending its way through past and present day, this modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is bittersweet, funny, and intensely exciting. It's classic romance--a tale of hate and the only force that can ever defeat it: love.

~My Thoughts:

Ever since I discovered this series on Goodreads I've been intrigued by them. I love Shakespeare's stories although I haven't read Romeo and Juliet yet. I've wanted to start the Twisted Lit series but I never really got my hands on any of the books until I got contacted with a review request for the latest book in the series, Anyone But You. And because you don't have to read the other books in the series and because I adore retellings of any kind, of course, I jumped on the chance to do so. 

Starting this book and meeting the main character and modern day Juliet, Gigi, I had a good feeling about Anyone But You right away. I liked Gigi a lot. She was very likable instantly and liked how, although she didn't want to tell her father that she really doesn't want to take over the restaurant, she has a pride about her family. Her encounter with Roman was short but I liked how their connection was like fireworks. They just clicked. One could say this is insta-love and I sure as hell don't want to scare people away by saying it the word but I personally liked it. 

Beside the story about Gigi, Roman and the restaurants there were also chapters that involved flashbacks to the past where we find out how the feud got started into the first place. I loved, loved, loved those! But I must admit when that first 'flashback' chapter started I had no idea what was going on. It was a little confusing because when it's chapters in someone else's point of view I prefer there be some kind of warning at the beginning of the chapter that either says what year it is or who's chapter it is. But after the first two of those I was finally catching on and started to looking forward to finding out more because I was also interested just like Gigi as to why there was such a huge feud between the Caputos and Montes. 

I also should mention that when it came to the feud I knew where things would be going. It was pretty obvious but it's not like that was something negative for me. It stil devoured this book like let's say... pizza. *chuckles*
But seriously, I really liked this book and there were also some parts where I was shocked with some things that happened. So it's not such an obvious book after all...


Overall, Anyone But You, the third in the Twisted List Series was a quick but entertaining story that I'm glad I got to chance to read. If you like Shakespeare, retellings or just a great book, you won't be disappointed with this one. 

About The Authors:

Los Angeles-based writers Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing and blogging together since 2007. Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.

Find them both on:

Website | Facebook 

Find Kim Askew on:

Goodreads | Twitter | YouTube | Website

Find Amy Helmes on:

Goodreads | Twitter | Website

Purchase Anyone But You on: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository