Nothing Bad is Going to Happen by Kathleen Hale

Series: No One Else Can Have You (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Realistic Fiction/Mystery

Subjects: humor, comedy, murder, mystery, small towns, winter

Setting: Friendship, Wisconsin (which is north of the Wisconsin Dells) before Halloween

POV/Tense: 1st person present tense. Kippy’s POV.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 260 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Geeze Louise, for such a small town, there sure are a lot of murders in Friendship, Wisconsin.

After helping to catch the man who murdered her best friend, Kippy Bushman was looking forward to life returning to normal. Well, at least as normal as it could get in a town like hers. But then the unthinkable happens: Kippy finds her boyfriend, Davey, in his house, barely breathing and surrounded by pills and empty beer bottles.

The sheriff is quick to rule the incident an attempted suicide, but Kippy refuses to believe it. She and Davey are completely in love; there’s no way he’d ever hurt himself. Right?

Kippy swears she saw someone else at Davey’s house that night and is convinced that person tried to murder him. Without any real evidence, though, no one—not even Kippy’s own father—believes her. So she has no choice but to team up with her former nemesis, Bible-thumping Libby, to try to catch this new killer. But in a town where everyone has their own secrets and a next-door neighbor could be a serial killer, who’s left to trust?”

My Review: Nothing Bad is Going to Happen is the hilarious sequel to No One Else Can Have You. I don’t think there will be a 3^rd book, but ya never know. Anyways, despite what other reviewers think, this book was pretty awesome. Maybe they were just being jerks, don’tcha know?

Kippy Bushman was almost murdered and has a leg cast to prove it. She caught her best friend’s killer, but the Sheriff took the credit for it, and made her look like a crazy person. The killer was a friend named Ralph who’s totally a sociopath and now locked up in Green Bay Correctional Facility. He keeps sending her creepy letters and calling her.

When Kippy find her boyfriend passed out on the night they planned to have sex, she calls 911. She think she saw a shadow figure and that no way could Davey commit suicide, but they rule it as attempted suicide because the bottles of alcohol and empty pill bottle. Kippy enlists Libby, a girl who used to be mean to her, but who’s now her only ally, to help her find evidence of Davey’s attempted murder. Filled with mystery, crazy twists and hilarious laughs, it’s the perfect sequel.

This book series is set in (Wisconsin) the hat of the state I live in (Illinois), I place I love dearly and the state that I visited the most. I’ve seen more of Wisconsin than Illinois. And I’m familiar with Wisconsinisms and their love of the Packers and cheese and all that. Friendship, Wisconsin is a real town near Baraboo, which I camped at Devil’s Lake State Park last year. The real Friendship, of course, is nothing like the one in the books.

The humor in this book is my favorite part. Sometimes it’s very dirty and full of swearing and things that make me cringe just thinking of because it sound erotic, but I cracked up reading this so many times that I sure that if I had read this in public, people would be staring at me. I think the characters came along better in this sequel. Kippy seems less strange and more smart than she did in the first book. Libby’s nice to her now and really helpful. Rose, the anger management counselor, is now dating Kippy’s dad Dom. Rosa is so hilarious. She’s Polish and speaks in broken English and calls Kippy by the most hilarious pet names, like Mud Dumpling, and says things like “Soup is on.” I’m like 20% Polish myself and I find her hilarious.

I recommend this series to people who love watching comedies, or reading books by Heather Keeble or Gretchen McNeil.

Cover Art Review: I love the donuts! They’re so cute….until you read the book and realize why they’re on the cover.

The Epidemic by Suzanne Young

Series: The Program (bk. 0.6) Prequel Duology

Genera(s): Near-future Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance/Thriller/Realistic

Subjects: death, love, mental disorders, suicide, mystery

Setting: Oregon

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Sloane

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 378 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary/ product description: “Can one girl help others find closure by slipping into the identities of their loved ones? Find out in this riveting sequel to The Remedy and companion to the New York Times bestselling The Treatment and The Program.

In a world before The Program…

Quinlan McKee has spent her life acting as other people. She was a closer—a person hired to play the role of the recently deceased in order to give their families closure. Through this process, Quinn learned to read people and situations, even losing a bit of herself to do so. But she couldn’t have guessed how her last case would bring down her entire world.

The only person Quinn trusts is Deacon, her best friend and the love of her life. Except Deacon’s been keeping secrets of his one, so Quinn must set out alone to find Arthur Pritchard, the doctor who’s been trying to control her life. The journey brings Quinn to Arthur’s daughter, Virginia, who tells Quinn the truth about Pritchard’s motives. The former closer will start to see that she is the first step in fighting an epidemic.

But Quinlan doesn’t want to be a cure. And with all the lies surrounding her, she realizes she has no one left to rely on but herself—even if she doesn’t know who that is anymore.”

My Review:  The Epidemic if the sequel-finale to The Remedy in a prequel-duology to the The Program duology. It takes place in Oregon, not far from the other book’s setting. Quinlan McKee was a closer, a person that pretend to be the deceased person to help family members move on. Now she’s discovered her life is a lie. That she was the closer for the real Quinlin when she was six.

Quinlan feels betrayed by her boyfriend Deacon, and her father (who’s not her real father). Quinn does her best to ditch Deacon and hide. She ends up taking on the identity of Elizabeth Major and enrolls at the school that Arther Pritchard’s daughter Virginia attends. Pritchard runs the Department of Grief, so she hopes to gain Virginia trust to get information about her real identity. Also, at Virginia’s school, there’s been a bunch of suicides. This is the beginning of an epidemic of copy-cat behavior. A suicide cluster, and the deaths are only rising.

This book was definitely better than the previous one. It was much more thrilling and it definitely kept my attention. The twist at the end of the previous book set up for a great sequel. The romance was also enjoyable and the dialogue was pretty fun. I like Deacon, even if he hid some of his life from Quinn. I also liked the other closer Reed, who seemed a little narcissistic, but he had some experiences that really affected him emotionally.  

This series has been a unique experience. It’s not quite dystopian, but it’s still considered dystopian because it’s about a shift in society to something unethical. It takes the tough subject of suicide and turns it into a dystopian. This Department of Grief is trying to wipe memories and control emotions. If you enjoyed the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver, them you might enjoy this series too.

Cover Art Review: Nothing special looking. Pretty basic.

The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Series: The Program (bk. 0.5) Prequel Duology

Genera(s): Near-future Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance/Thriller/Realistic

Subjects: death, love, mental disorders, suicide, mystery

Setting: Oregon, Portland area

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Sloane

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 401 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary/ product description: “Quinlan McKee is a closer. Since the age of seven, Quinn has held the responsibility of providing closure to grieving families with a special skill—she can “become” anyone.

Recommended by grief counselors, Quinn is hired by families to take on the short-term role of a deceased loved one between the ages of fifteen and twenty. She’s not an exact copy, of course, but she wears their clothes and changes her hair, studies them through pictures and videos, and soon, Quinn can act like them, smell like them, and be them for all intents and purposes. But to do her job successfully, she can’t get attached.

Now seventeen, Quinn is deft at recreating herself, sometimes confusing her own past with those of the people she’s portrayed. When she’s given her longest assignment, playing the role of Catalina Barnes, Quinn begins to bond with the deceased girl’s boyfriend. But that’s only the beginning of the complications, especially when Quinn finds out the truth about Catalina’s death. And the epidemic it could start.

My Review: The Remedy is the prequel to The Program. I haven’t read many prequels before. This prequel will have it’s own sequel. This book is very different from what I’m used too. For one, it read like a contemporary/realistic book, though the main character have a very odd job. She had to pretend to be the deceased person. Act like them, dress like them and look like them.

I spent most of the book waiting for something interesting to happen. I was often bored. I loved the The Program and The Treatment for their psychological thriller feel. This book felt more like a contemporary drama. It wasn’t till about page 300 till it got more interesting. The last 30 pages or so are where it really gets you. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the sequel more.

The characters were okay. Quinn’s narration was typical. Not very special. I like the characters Deacon and Aaron more. Both of these guys had some fun dialogue with Quinn. Deacon was a sexy charmer and Quinn’s ex boyfriend, but still friend. Aaron was her partner. Both Aaron and Quinn are closers, and Deacon used to be. Quinn’s been a closer for 11 years. A young kid with a hard job like that is unimaginable. Almost unethical. There’s a lot of ethical issue broth up and grief plays an important role.

This book was hard to categorize. It has some mystery. It doesn’t fit into “dystopian” like the other books. I can’t really compare it to any thing but The Program. Quinn is different from Sloane, but the narration is similar. The event are very different. Suicides are less prevalent since this book occurs before the epidemic. I’m not sure if this is set years before the Program. It could be only like two year, or it could be 10. I have no idea. If you enjoyed the Program, then try this prequel.

Cover Art Review: Not too crazy about the photo cover.