The Winner's Kiss

By: Marie Rutkowski
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 496

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

                                                             First Impressions

This is the third and final book in The Winner’s Trilogy. I love these covers so much and I really enjoyed the first two books. I was very excited to read the final installment of the trilogy and tried not to have super high expectations.

                                                              What I thought

Let me start off by saying that I have issues with the final books of trilogies. I hated the final book of Hunger Games, was disappointed by the final book of Divergent and was annoyed by the final book in the Maze Runner. The only final book so far that I have felt was good was in The Selection (and that ended up having two more books so does that count?).  I was a bit nervous to start this one and luckily, was not irritated, annoyed, or filled with hatred! Yay!

This third installment follows Kestrel after she has been betrayed by her father. In the last book, Kestrel had written a letter to Arin telling him that she was his spy inside the empire and that she loved him and would do anything for him. Her father found the letter and turned her into the emperor who sent her away. This book picks up with Kestrel entering the slave camp that she has been sent to for the rest of her life for her betrayal. On Arin’s side, he is fighting with the East as his allies against the Valorians. His heart is broken as Kestrel told him she didn’t care for him in order to protect him.

It took me a little while to get back into the story as I read the last book a year ago. I wish I had given more thought and re-read at least the second book, if not both books before this one came out. I think that I would’ve enjoyed it a little more, but overall it was a good ending to a trilogy.

I think my favorite part of this book was Roshar, the prince of the east. He was awesome. I loved his dry sense of humor and honesty. I think without him it would’ve been a bit boring. The book moved a bit slowly for my tastes, but it was still page turning. The majority of the book follows the characters as they prepare for the big battles and final war. It was a lot of planning and strategizing and not a lot of action. I also couldn’t quite decide how I felt about the change in Kestrel.

When Kestrel was in the camp, she was drugged twice a day; once in the morning with a drug that made her want to work and then at night with a drug to make her sleep without dreams. These drugs also turned her into a sort of zombie who couldn’t remember who she was or why she was at the camp. These side effects carried over to after she was out of the camp and that I the part I’m a little iffy about. Kestrel in this book is definitely different than she was in the last book. The biggest issues I have in trilogies is that the first two books seem to go together so well and then the third is like a completely different book. This book kind of straddles the line of being completely different. Luckily, I think it didn’t cross that line too much and I still felt like the heart of the book was the same.

While this wasn’t my favorite book of the trilogy, this was a very satisfying end to the story. Like I mentioned above, I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I had read it in succession with the other books, but I still really enjoyed it! If you enjoy dystopian types of novels but are looking for something a little different, I would highly recommend checking out this series, which as a whole I would give 4 stars. The characters are great and there is no love triangle! Kestrel is definitely one of the strongest female leads that I’ve read, so I would recommend this based on that alone!
 

Magnetic Shift

By: Lucy D Briand
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 260

Amazon Barnes and Noble

I received this book in exchange for my honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): The ability to magnetize and manipulate metal with the flick of her wrist makes seventeen-year-old Lexi Adams a crack mechanic, but it’s a disaster in the making when her stepdad trades her skills to NASCAR team owner Dean Grant for an entire season’s worth of sponsorship ads.

Now Lexi has no other choice but to suck it up and hope she can keep her magnetic impulses under control—that is, until she runs into NASCAR’s hot new rookie, Colton Tayler.

When Carl Stacy, the ruthless team owner of the defending Cup Champion, discovers Lexi’s secret and plots to use it to ruin Dean’s race team for good, Lexi must either expose her ability to save Colton, risking Dean’s career and her own freedom in the process, or watch the only guy she’s ever fallen for race to his death.

                                                         First Impressions

As soon as I read the summary of this book it sounded like an old school Disney Channel Original Movie (think Motocrossed) and knew I needed to read it. The cover, on the other hand, did not impress me. I would not have picked it up off the shelf based on the cover alone.  I don’t think it represents the summary very well either.

                                                           What I thought

This book was so cute and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It took a little while to get into, but once I did I really liked it.

Lexi has recently been brought to work for a NASCAR team in exchange for a sponsorship for her stepdad’s scrap shop. When Dean Grant, owner of the team she is brought to work for, visited her stepdad’s shop, he noticed that Lexi was not being treated well. Having come from an abused childhood, Dean creates the deal with Lexi’s stepdad in order to bring her to work for him. Once there, Lexi meets the young driver Colton. In addition to dealing with learning the NASCAR community and a crush, Lexi also has to deal with her ability to control metal objects.

I think the strongest part of this story was the way that Briand built the setting. I am not a NASCAR fan, so I don’t know much about the sport, but Briand did a great job of explaining parts of it and making it entertaining. I found myself really looking forward to reading about the races! I also liked that Briand explained how and why Lexi has magnetic powers early on in the story. I also found that even though it was a big part of the story, there were a lot of other parts to the story so it wasn’t only about her magnetic powers.

Colton is very much the typical nice country boy. He is ridiculously good looking, nice, and talented, but not arrogant. Lucy is a bit moody and definitely a troubled teen. Their relationship is instant on her side, but I wasn’t annoyed by it. I remember what if feels like to crush hard on someone based on looks alone. I did like that she didn’t immediately start saying that she was in love with him, just that she really liked him and that it felt different from other crushes.

Briand also wrote some strong secondary characters. Dean and his family were so nice and the additional pit crew members were fun. I do wish that they had been a part of the story a little more, but the parts that they were in were enjoyable. While parts of the story were very predictable, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book at all.

I think my biggest issue with this book is the cover, and I wish that it was different. I think if it had a bit more of a contemporary feel I would have been drawn to it a lot more. I also think it would reach to a wider audience, as right now it definitely leans sci-fi. 
 

This book would make the absolute best Disney Channel Original Movie. It has every aspect that a good movie needs. There’s a love story, a major problem/secret, and a villain. Because of that, even though I was between a 3 and 4 star rating, I rounded up to a 4 I think this is a very strong debut book and would recommend it to anyone who likes movies like Motocrosed or who enjoy NASCAR. Even if you’re not a NASCAR fan, but this book interested you, don’t let that turn you away. The characters are fun and the story is entertaining. . I enjoyed Briand’s story and writing and would gladly read future books by her.
 

Birchbox April 2016

In case you are unaware, Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box. It costs $10 a month and you receive multiple sample size item. These boxes allow you to try tons of new products that you may have never even heard of before. The other fun thing about Birchbox is that every time you purchase an item from their site, or review a product from your box, you receive rewards points! Once you collect 100 points, you get $10 off of your next purchase. These points definitely add up quickly between buying your box, and reviewing the products.

Each month, Birchbox allows subscribers to pick one of their samples. If you prefer surprises, you don’t have to pick one. You can choose to be surprised instead. They also offer curated guest boxes where you can see what the samples are going to be. The sample choices this month were the Au Naturale Cosmetics Trio Set in Lively, rms beauty ultimate makeup remover wipe, and Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask.

The products I received this month are as follows:

Beaver Repair Rescue Shampoo and Conditioner (Full-Size $15.90 & $16.90)- I am so annoyed that I received these products in my box. Not only was I not excited about this brand the first time I received them but I just received a shampoo and conditioner sample last month. Additionally, since neither is a foil packet they each counted toward my sample count which is very annoying. It says that te shampoo and conditioner are meant to repair your hair. It doesn’t smell very good, but I might give it a try. Most likely this will be donated to someone.

IPKN Moist & Firm Beauty Balm SPF 45 (Full-size $35)- This is a BB cream with SPF 45. It also includes vitamin E and collagen. I haven’t foully swatched the color as I find that the BB cream samples tend to be very sparse, but it looks like it should work. I’m excited to ry this soon.

Rms beauty ultimate makeup remover wipes (Full-size $16)- This was my sample choice this month. I’m always on the lookout for a good makeup remover wipe as they’re great for traveling. These wipes have coconut oil which they claim is antibacterial. I am curious to try these but am a little disappointed with how expensive they are, especially when you consider that only includes 20 wipes. I have an expensive wipe that I know I like that includes more than that for a bout the same price.

The Beauty Crop PBJ Smoothie Stick- Guava Nice Day (Full-size $14.95)- This is a lip crayon hat is matte and said to be hydrating. The color I received is a really pretty berry pink color. It’s nice because i love wearing berry/wine shades in the fall and this is a nice lighter shade along those lines for spring. It is surprisingly opaque and also has a nice sweet scent. I haven’t had a chance to wear it for a long period of time yet, but it will be interesting to see the wear and whether or not it ends up feeling drying.  
 

Honestly, I am extremely disappointed with this box. I'm excited about 1 1/2 of these products which is a bummer. I have seen some of the curated boxes and I'm definitely regretting not going with that instead of this one. 

Book Club April 2016

This month’s book club pick was My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. I picked this book because I had heard a lot about it last year, as well as saw it on the end of the year Goodreads list. 
 

By: Fredrik Backman
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 372

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): From the author of the internationally bestselling 'A Man Called Ove', a novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother's fairy tales.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

                                                             What I thought

This book was not at all what I expected it to be but it was so good! Definitely one of the strongest written books I’ve read in a while.

Elsa is seven, almost eight, and has recently lost her Granny who is also her friend. Her Granny introduced her to the Land-of-Almost-Awake which is a fairy tale land made up of multiple kingdoms. Each kingdom has its own stories and characters which Elsa visits when she is about to drift off to sleep (hence the almost awake part). When her Granny dies, Elsa finds a letter from her to pass on to one of the residents of her house. This letter tells the reader that her Granny is sorry which then leads Elsa on a treasure hunt to deliver the other letters. Little does Elsa know at the time the treasure hunt begins, but the stories her Granny told her about the Land-of-Almost-Awake will be the greatest asset on this grand adventure.

Elsa is such a great character. I don’t know if she’s entirely realistic, but she is so much fun to have as a narrator. She is seven years old, and is super smart which makes her different from her peers. This causes a lot of other differences and is the reason her Granny tells her all these stories. Elsa is also a huge Harry Potter fan which I personally loved. Backman, overall, just has some fabulous character development. I loved each and every character in this book and would gladly read their own stories. They each had their own quirks and the surprises about each of their story lines were great. It reminded me that no everything is what it seems and that you can’t always judge a person on your first impression or on what someone tells you about them.

When I said that this book wasn’t what I expected, it’s because it had a sort of Love Actually element to it. There were some connections between characters in the books that were completely unexpected, even though they all lived in the same house. I found myself unable to put the book down because I wanted to know how the strings were going to end up being knotted together. Granny’s morals of her fairy tales were also so thought provoking. It’s not often that as an adult you read a story that has morals that can touch you, but I think since this story is told by an almost eight year old, it really works.

                                                   What Book Club Thought

The general consensus was that while the book was hard to get into at first, once he story got going it was really great. The hardest thing that we discussed was the fact that this book was translated.  Someone had brought up that they felt like the writing style at first was a bit off and once I explained that the book was originally written in Swedish, we decided that was probably the reason. We also discussed that some of the conversation or phrases also seemed a little odd, but could have bene contributed to the fact that this was not originally written in English. Everyone also loved Elsa and the fact that the story was told from her perspective. We again agreed that this might have been part of what made getting into the book a little difficult, but ended up being a part of what made this story enjoyable. Another interesting point that came up during our discussion was whether or not some of the twists and connections were obvious to the reader and not to Elsa because she was seven years old. I thought this was interesting because I hadn’t thought about it that way, but considering she’s the narrator, it makes sense that someone of her age wouldn’t make a lot of connections that adults would.

The final thing that we discussed was our favorite Elsa quotes. As our book club is comprised of not only book lovers (obviously), but Harry Potter fans, we had a lot of favorite quotes. We also discussed Elsa’s personality and her differences, as this is a trait that is brought up constantly through the book. I would definitely recommend this book for a book club as we had a lot to discuss without having to reach for much.

Poignant Questions

Which connection surprised you the most?

What did you think of Britt-Marie throughout the story?

What do you think of the parenting skills of the adults around Elsa?

Next Book Club Book

The Improbability of Love By: Hannah Mary Rothschild
Amazon

Book Club Date: May 7th 2016
 

Lost Among the Living

By: Simone St James
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: NAL
Pages: 336

Amazon Barnes and Noble

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex's wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning…

All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie's husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him. Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever.

And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House…

                                                           First Impressions

When I first read the summary for this book I wasn’t very interested. Then I saw the cover and it was so beautiful I couldn’t turn it down. That means that what it boils down to, is I chose to read this book based on the cover.
                     
                                                            What I thought

Lost Among the Living takes place in 1920s England shortly after World War 1. Jo Manders lost her husband three years prior to the beginning of the story and his Aunt Dottie has taken Jo in as her personal companion. Dottie is not the most pleasant woman, but Jo needs a way to support herself as her husband went MIA and therefore she has no other means. When she goes back to Dottie’s house, where she meets Dottie’s husband and son, she soon realizes that everything at the house may not be as it seems. Shortly after her arrival, she starts to see things that aren’t really there.

I don’t know quite exactly how I felt about this book. There were moments where I really got into the story and couldn’t put it down, but other moments where I didn’t fully feel connected to the story.

Starting with some of the characters, I did like Jo but she’s just not the type of character that I usually connect with. Her mental journey was interesting in that she started to think maybe she was going mad with what she was seeing, but at the same time she really believed in what she was seeing. I think Dottie might have been my favorite. I liked that she was fighting for things that she believed in and what she felt her family needed. I also thought that Martin was interesting and wished that we could’ve learned more about him.

I think that based on the description of the book I expected a bit more paranormal elements than the book actually contained. I thought there were going to be a lot of spooky elements and things happening that no one could explain. In reality, Jo sees Frances a few times and there are a few items that show up in her bedroom. I almost wish there had been a little more on that side of the story. I just felt like if the author was going to go there, she really needed to go there whereas this seemed a bit halfway.

I did like the elements of being a young woman with a husband who didn’t come home from war in the 1920s. It was fascinating to see how Jo had to get by and the way that people treated her. I wish there had been a bit more of her struggle in being a war widow, because I really enjoyed that side of the story.

I know I didn’t talk much about the story, but this was a hard review to write. I don’t want to spoil things and I also just don’t know how I felt about the book. The writing was enjoyable and some of the characters were interesting, but it never drew me in completely. I liked it and I think if this is your type of book that you would really enjoy it. I haven’t ever read anything similar so I can’t quite give a comparison. If another synopsis of a book by St. James catches my eye, I would gladly pick it up. However, I don’t know if I’m going to actively seek out more of her writing. 
 

Library Hiatus Update- March

Early in February, I decided I needed to take a break from the library. I had gotten into the bad habit of requesting insane amounts of books, and then reading those and ignoring all of the books I had recently purchased. I updated you on last month’s progress and decided to update you guys on this month’s!

This is my second month completing my library hiatus, so I am providing a look at how I did this month as well as how I did compared to last month. This month only 2/9 of the books that I read were library books! With the exception of the book club book, I did not check out any new books during the month of March!

I am so proud of the fact that I made it through 7 non-library books this month. Below you will see a graph of the types of books I read this month.

I did still end up adding a few books to my collection through reviews that weren’t initially on my list of books I wanted to get through when I started this hiatus, but I’m still proud that 4 of the books that I read this month were ones I owned prior to starting my hiatus! That’s especially awesome when I compare to last month where I only got through one.
 

The most interesting thing that I’ve found is that since blogging, my reading habits have changed a little bit. I went from picking up book that looked interesting to me no matter how old they were to immediately wanting to read the newest thing as soon as it came out. Every time I would hear about a new book coming out I would immediately put it on hold so that I was one of the first 3 people on the list to receive it. As awesome as that is, there are some books that I don’t need to read immediately. It’s ok to wait a little bit and read something else first.

Because I was able to make I through so many non-library, non-review books these past two months, I think I can end my hiatus. I’m hoping that this break from the library has taught me some better requesting habits, but we shall see. I know that I have a few books on hold (that I’ve had on hold for a while) that are due to release in April so I’ll end up with a stack for sure!

Now, if I get back in the habit of having 7 library books out at once I might have to start the hiatus again, but hopefully I have this addiction under control!

One Hundred Names

By: Cecilia Ahern
Published Year: 2014
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Pages: 496

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Scandal has derailed journalist Kitty Logan's career, a setback that is soon compounded by an even more devastating loss. Constance, the woman who taught Kitty everything she knew, is dying. At her mentor's bedside, Kitty asks her, "What is the one story you always wanted to write?"

The answer lies in a single sheet of paper buried in Constance's office—a list of one hundred names—with no notes or explanation. But before Kitty can ask her friend, it is too late.

Determined to unlock the mystery and rebuild her own shaky confidence, Kitty throws herself into the investigation, tracking down each of the names on the list and uncovering their connection. Meeting these ordinary people and learning their stories, Kitty begins to piece together an unexpected portrait of Constance's life . . . and starts to understand her own.

                                                           First Impressions
   
Yay! Another new Cecilia Ahern book! I read a bunch of her books shortly after I first read P.S I Love You and then forgot about her for a little bit. Earlier this year I read Time of My Life (and loved it) and it renewed my love for her books. I was really intrigued by this summary, but not as much by the cover. I definitely would not have picked it up based on the cover alone. Case and point, while looking on the New Books shelves at my library, I passed it up even though I was trying to keep my eye out for it.

                                                          What I thought
               
This book was very interesting and unique. I really enjoyed it and it was a nice refresher from a lot of the heavier books I’ve read. It’s not one of my favorites by Ahern. I would definitely recommend a few of her other books before I recommend this one, but if I don’t judge it against her other books, I think it would get a higher rating.

As I mentioned above, the concept behind the book is very interesting and unique. I really loved the idea of an author trying to write a story without knowing what she was really writing about. I do feel like the book moved a little bit slow and it can be a bit frustrating. Both Kitty and the reader do not figure out what the story is meant to be about until the end of the book. I found this made the book a little bit boring at times because it wasn’t even something that had enough clues that you could figure out what the story was supposed to be about on your own. I think because of this, it was hard for me to connect with the main character. I was more concerned with the other characters in the book and finding out what was going to connect all of them and didn’t feel much of a connection with Kitty.

I really enjoyed getting to know all of the characters in the book and all of their stories. I wish that Kitty could have met more people on the list so that we could have met more of them. Ahern came up with some very unique story lines and even though we didn’t see much of the characters, I felt a connection with them very quickly.

The one thing that seemed odd to me was the timeline. It seemed like a lot happened over a VERY short period of time. I think the book was meant to span about 2 weeks and it just seemed like there was a lot going on. It was an odd combination with the slow movement of the book. Overall, the book just had a slow pace and because of that, I never found myself dying to pick the book back up or unable to put it down. I really enjoyed the story and would never have put the book down without finishing it, but it was definitely a slower read for me. 
 

I would easily recommend this book. It isn’t a light, quick read, but if you’re looking for something with a bit of substance that isn’t heavy, this would be the book for you. The story line is intriguing, as well as some of the secondary characters. It’s not one of my favorites from Ahern, but I really enjoyed it and am glad that I picked it up. I look forward to more from her.
 

True Stories of False Confessions

By: Rob Warden & Steven A. Drizin
Published Year: 2009
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Pages: 529

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Editors Rob Warden and Steven Drizin—leaders in the field of wrongful convictions—have gathered articles about some of the most critical accounts of false confessions in the U.S. justice system from more than forty authors, including Sydney H. Schanberg, Christine Ellen Young, Alex Kotlowitz, and John Grisham. Many of the pieces originally appeared in leading magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, The Nation, the New Yorker, and the Los Angeles Times.

By grouping the cases into categories—including brainwashing, fabrication, mental fragility, police force, and unrequited innocence—the editors demonstrate similarities between cases, thereby refuting the perception that false confessions represent individual tragedies rather than a systemic flaw in the justice system. These incidents are not isolated; they are, in fact, related, and more shocking for it. But the authors of the articles excerpted, adapted, and reprinted in this collection want more for their subjects than outrage; they want to fuel change in the practices and standards that illicit false confessions in the first place. To this end, Warden and Drizin include an illuminating introduction to each category and recommendations for policy changes that would reduce false confessions. They also include a postscript for each case, providing legal updates and additional information.

                                                                First Impressions

Shortly after finishing my binge watch of Making a Murderer, I saw a list (can’t remember where) of books to read if you enjoyed watching Making a Murderer. Of course I was interested and added about 5 of them to my list. This was one of the top ones I wanted to read, so I was really excited to read this.

                                                                 What I thought

One of my goals this year, was to read more books outside of my comfort zone. This was one of those books and it was fascinating and upsetting all at the same time, almost exactly like Making a Murderer. True Stories is composed of articles from throughout the years of false confessions. It is divided by different types of interrogations or reasons that cause false confessions, such as mental impairment or child abuse.

Full disclosure- I did not read this book cover to cover. I read the first bunch of sections all the way through, and then I started picking and choosing. There were definitely sections that I found more interesting than others, so those were the ones I spent the most amount of time on. I don’t think this is a book that you have to read from beginning to end in order to enjoy it. It was absolutely fascinating and unlike anything I had read before.

The toughest part about this book was seeing how corrupt the justice system can be. I think a lot of the time we think that these errors and false confessions come from a long time ago, but a lot of these stories were within the past 10-20 years. Each story that was told was pulled from an article that was written either while the case was occurring, shortly after it occurred, or when the wrongly accused had been brought back into the public eye. I felt like this was such an interesting way to read about the stories, because you felt as if you were learning about it as it happened. The authors then included an epilogue after the article to inform the reader of what happened after the initial article was published. Unfortunately, not all of these cases received a happy ending.

This book was really interesting. I would agree with the list on which I found it by saying if you enjoyed Making a Murderer, you will enjoy this book. I’m glad that I picked a book in this style, because it was different and I enjoyed it, but I can’t see myself picking it up again. If you are interested in the justice system and in true stories, than this book would be for you.