Tag: technology

REVIEW: Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves by Liz Ireland

REVIEW: Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves by Liz Ireland

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

April Claus is looking forward to having her friend, Claire, visit Santaland. Claire is still a little stunned at April’s life as Santa’s wife. But they have tons of fun activities planned for her vacation.

The first wrinkle is the reindeer strike. Not ideal a week before Christmas. Then there is a drone accident that ruined the ice sculpture contest.

And then there’s a murder.

One of April’s Santaland friends is arrested for the crime, so April has to get to the truth before the whole town turns on her friend and she spends Christmas in jail.

Review

I get such a kick out of this Christmas-themed mystery series! I love the setting, populated by elves, reindeer, and talking snowmen. The fantasy elements are more about the setting and characters than “magic,” but I enjoy this fresh take on a cozy mystery. The mystery here was good and kept me guessing all the way to the end.

I would have liked a bit more of the story anchored to April’s life as Santa’s wife and to the Claus family. But the full cast of elves opens up a lot of story ideas.

Series fans will want to pick up this new book in the Mrs. Claus Mystery series. Newcomers are probably fine starting here, although some of the setting elements and character history (like with Santa’s family) might take a little bit to make sense.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.

REVIEW: The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

REVIEW: The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Forever in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Samiah’s mind was on her date later that night with Craig when her sister first mentioned the Twitter post. Someone was live tweeting her first date with a guy. As the tweet thread continued, Samiah started to feel sick. The woman was obviously out with Craig. He was using the reservation she had gotten for them for this other date. He had told her something came up and made plans with her for later that night.

By the time Samiah got to the restaurant to confront Craig, there was a third woman there. Craig had “catfished” all three of them. Samiah lit into Craig, and other diners caught it on video. It went viral. At least she gained a friendship with the two other women. That was the only positive from the whole mess. Now the ladies have sworn off men for awhile and are going to spend time on themselves and things that matter to them.

Then Samiah meets Daniel, the new hire at work. He’s smart, compassionate, and gorgeous. Even though she said she was going to take 6 months off from dating to focus on herself and a project she’s been wanting to dig into, Daniel is too tempting to keep pushing away. But Daniel is keeping a secret. And after her experience with Craig, that is something that will devastate Samiah if it ever comes out.

Review

This was delightful! It’s a fun romance between two great characters. I was fascinated by Daniel’s real job. And Samiah is an ideal protagonist – smart, a great friend, and a leader who knows her field and her value. Together, they were explosive.

But what made this different from some of the other tech-based romances I’ve read lately (The Right Swipe, Can’t Escape Love) is the mystery that Daniel is working on throughout the book. It’s an ever-present background issue. There’s nothing for the reader to figure out, though, no culprit to find. It’s not the focus of the story, but it’s still a fascinating layer to the whole. I loved it.

It’s clear early on that Samiah’s new friends are leading women waiting to tell their own stories, sort of like the Central Park Pact series, which I loved. And the epilogue in this book does double duty for wrapping up Samiah and Daniel’s story as well as teeing up the next book in the series. And you can sign me up for that right now! This was so good, I won’t hesitate to snatch up the sequel the minute it debuts. Contemporary romance fans as well as geek/tech romance fans should not miss this one! (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Texts from Mittens: Friends and Family Edition by Angie Bailey

REVIEW: Texts from Mittens: Friends and Family Edition by Angie Bailey

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review

Mittens is back for another collection of text messages. His texting partners include Mom, Grandma, Earl the dog, their neighbor Drunk Patty and two other cats – Stumpy, who has a catnip addiction, and Fiona, Mittens’ girlfriend.

Fans will find everything they’ve come to expect from Texts from Mittens in this collection:

  • fun with boxes
  • empty food dish drama
  • hashtags and autocorrect issues
  • Grandma to the rescue, and lots of other fun scenarios.

Our family has been enjoying the 2019 page-per-day calendar starring Mittens and his family, and this content is just as fun. As a cat person, I saw a lot of familiar factors – food, litter boxes, toys trapped under the fridge, etc. Many of Mitten’s dilemmas will strike a chord with cat people. If you enjoy cat humor, be sure to check out this collection!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein

REVIEW: Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

ValleyStart is a summer tech incubator program. The winners of the summer competition would secure an internship at Pulse, the hottest influencer rating app. Lucy is hoping to win ValleyStart to get her off the wait list for Standford. She’s gotten Ryan Thompson, founder of Pulse, as her mentor. Her whole life has been leading her to this moment. She’s ready to crush ValleyStart.

Maddie isn’t happy about leaving her brother Danny to go to ValleyStart. But he’ll be at summer camp while she’s gone, and that will keep him out of the War of the Worlds going on between their parents. But really, ValleyStart is just something else to put on her resumé to help her build her graphic design business. Win or lose, she’ll be fine.

Delia is feeling out of her depth at ValleyStart. She’s more than capable of handling the coding. But she’s working part time while she’s there, and she’s self-conscious about all her parents sacrificed to get her there. If she can win, she can get a tech job. And then that money can save her parents’ theater. No pressure.

ValleyStart has never had an all-female team win the competition before. Tech tends to be a boys club. And all three of these girls are aware of that. But this summer at ValleyStart will be their chance to show what they can do to stand out in the crowd.

Review

I loved this!! In the beginning, the girls are a little prickly, and it takes awhile for them to thaw to one another. But once they started clicking as a team, I was in it until the final page. (And I actually would have been happy to have another couple chapters!)

I loved the core characters. And I loved them even more when they stepped away from ValleyStart and engaged with a middle school tech day camp. It was a fantastic example of what can be gained when you take your eyes off yourself and your situation for awhile and focus on someone else.

There’s an excellent female empowerment message through the whole book – from celebrating the history of women in technology to looking out for the next generation of coders, designers and developers. I can’t recommend this highly enough. Do not miss this one!! (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Phantom Wheel by Tracy Deebs

REVIEW: Phantom Wheel by Tracy Deebs

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Six teens are invited to LA to compete for a scholarship through a CIA college program. All of them are excellent hackers. And the CIA has a special task for each of them as their “audition.”

Except nothing about this program is what it appears to be. Soon the kids find themselves trying to figure out who they can trust – even among the six of them. Car chases and flying bullets weren’t what they were expecting either. While their hacking skills are top notch, and several of them have immense family resources, it may not be enough to get them out of the dangerous situation they find themselves in.

Review

I feel like there’s so much going on in this story, I can’t give a full summary for fear that it will give something away. And this was TOO fun to spoil for another reader. I loved this! I’m not a techy person, but there were only a few spots where the tech was over my head, but that was never an issue for my enjoyment of the book.

The characters are terrific. I loved watching them move from strangers to teammates to friends. Their interplay was so fun! The individual backstories were fascinating, too. I would love for this to kick off a series. When the book ended, I wanted to know what happened next for these characters.

The story was a treat! The pacing was excellent. The tension builds throughout the whole book, and the finale was perfectly satisfying. I couldn’t put the book down. I had to know if the kids were going to solve the problems they were fighting – and if they were all going to survive.

There are a few swear words and some innuendo and teasing between the characters. But otherwise I feel like I could hand this to any teen who wants a story that is full of action, some humor, and lots of technology and hacking. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Click'd by Tamara Ireland Stone

REVIEW: Click’d by Tamara Ireland Stone

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Allie gave up a summer of soccer with her best friends to follow her passion. She spent her summer at coding camp. And while she was there, she developed a game – an app. Click’d takes a user through a multiple choice quiz and then matches him or her to other users who answered similarly. Then users are sent  on a scavenger hunt to find their matches. It’s a great way to meet people and make new friends. And Click’d gets Allie a coveted spot in a coding competition.

When Allie shares Click’d with her friends, it’s a HUGE hit! And the popularity only builds in the week leading up to the competition. But that many users exposes a glitch in the app. Allie tries to find the bad code. She doesn’t want to shut down the app before the contest. She has a real chance to beat her nemesis with Click’d. But only if she can find and fix her glitch.

Review

I know almost nothing about coding. But I didn’t have to know anything to completely love this whole book!

The characters in this book are delightful. Allie is smart, dedicated and earnest. She loves coding. And her friends accept and celebrate her passion. Her “nemesis,” Nathan, is a kindred spirit, but Allie doesn’t see that because of her competitive nature. There’s a great dynamic between the different characters.

The games/apps are fun! I can totally see how kids would go crazy for a social app like Click’d. And I’d play Nathan’s game in an instant. It’s very cool. The fact that these are 7th graders in advanced coding classes and building their own apps is inspiring.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough to kids, teachers, parents and librarians. This book would work for coders as well as kids who have no interest in creating their own tech. This is a great story on its own and a great tech story, too.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Genius: The Con by Leopoldo Gout

REVIEW: Genius: The Con by Leopoldo Gout

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

After the events of Genius: The Game, Tunde, Rex and Painted Wolf are on the run with targets on their backs. They are some of the most wanted individuals in America. That makes travel difficult, especially since they need to get to Nigeria in Africa.

Tunde has created the GPS jammer for General Iyabo, and they hope to use it against him. If they can pull off the con they have planned, Tunde’s village will finally be free of the general and his soldiers.

But in the short time Tunde has been away, the general has turned the village into a mining operation. The villagers are essentially slaves. Now it is even more crucial to get the general out of Akika Village. The kids also have issues to resolve with tech billionaire Kiran from the game that brought the three together. And Painted Wolf’s father is mixed into all of this as well. Rex’s brother Teo, is still missing. The kids have to be on their game if this con is going to work and if they are going to get themselves to a place where they can deal with Kiran and Teo.

Review

I read book one almost a year ago, and the details are fuzzy, though I remember I enjoyed it. I had a harder time liking this one. There was little recap for readers who might have skipped book one or forgotten a lot of the details, like I did.

The action starts right away in that the kids are fleeing, but since I didn’t have a lot of context for their flight, I didn’t find the rhythm right away. Parts two and three were better for me. Some of the technical pieces went right over my head, but I could hang with the rest of the story without issue.

I like the main characters, and I care about what happens to them. I’m not sure that I buy that they are teens with all they are able to pull off. But I tried to push those questions out of my mind so I could enjoy the story.

I definitely recommend reading (or re-reading) book one before diving into this one. I think the momentum will help readers through part one. This is good for teens who love technology and adventure. Great diverse characters and clean teen content.

Thanks to the folks at Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends who provided an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥