Book Review - The Monster Hypothesis by Romily Bernard + Giveaway

Photo Credit - Amazon

The town of Bohring is home to more alligators than people. It is also the hometown of a monster curse where kids turn into monsters. Kick Winter is living in the Hollows swamp with her fake psychic grandmother Missouri. Kick is having a hard time making new friends and finding the space to do her scientific experiments.

Kick recently discovered that the town's curse of turning kids into monsters is happening. The townspeople are worried but,  Kick knows there has to be a scientific explanation for everything. She doesn't believe in curses or monsters. As the new kid, she's determined to prove there is no curse, even if it means becoming a fake psychic.

The novel was a fun read with outlandish characters such as a chicken loving gator. I liked that the main character tries to use logic and science to solve the monster mystery. I enjoyed the messages of friendship, being true to yourself, believing in yourself and doing the right thing.  The book is an enjoyable read for middle schoolers who loves mystery novels.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

 

Title: THE MONSTER HYPOTHESIS

Author: Romily Bernard

Pub. Date: December 10, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 304

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD

Welcome to Bohring-home to 453 people, 2,053 alligators, and one monster curse.

Correction: home to 454 people, now that Kick Winter is living in the swamp Hollows with her Grandma Missouri, the town (fake) psychic. Bohring is anything but boring for Kick who has already blown a hole through the kitchen floor, befriended a chicken-eating gator, and discovered that the town's hundred-year curse is upon them.

It's the Bohring curse and all the kids are about to become monsters-or so the legend goes. People are worried-except for Kick. She knows there's a scientific explanation for everything, especially curses and monsters. But Kick is the new kid in school and she's determined to make a name for herself . . . by pretending to be psychic.

According to her calculations: one teeny-tiny life + (fake) psychic skills = popularity. But when kids start disappearing and glowing creatures start showing up, Kick's theory quickly evaporates in a puff of foul-smelling swamp gas. Can Kick use her (real) science smarts to prove the curse is a hoax? Or is it just-maybe-sort of-somehow possible the curse is here?

Author Romily Bernard weaves a fast-paced middle-grade mystery filled with humor and scientific intrigue, set in a perfectly eerie Southern town.

About Romily:

Romily Bernard graduated from Georgia State University with a literature degree. Since then, she's worked as a riding instructor, cell-phone salesperson, personal assistant, horse groomer and exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service representative. . . . She's also, of course, now a YA novelist.

So don't let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed.

Romily currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and Find Me is her debut novel. It placed first in the 2011 YA Unpublished Maggie Awards (given by Georgia Romance Writers) and won the Golden Heart Award for YA Romance from the Romance Writers of America in 2012.

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Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a hardcover of THE MONSTER HYPOTHESIS, US only.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba21027/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

12/2/2019	Popthebutterfly Reads	Review
12/3/2019	Mythical Books	Excerpt
12/4/2019	Sometimes Leelynn Reads	Review
12/5/2019	Lifestyle of Me	Review
12/6/2019	BookHounds	Excerpt

Week Two:

12/9/2019	Ogitchida Kwe's Book Blog	Review
12/10/2019	For the Love of KidLit	Excerpt
12/11/2019	Little Red Reads	Review
12/12/2019	Life Within The Pages	Review
12/13/2019	Book Briefs	Review

Week Three:

12/16/2019	Adventures Thru Wonderland	Review
12/17/2019	BookishRealmReviews	Review
12/18/2019	fictitious.fox	Review
12/19/2019	Paper safari	Review
12/20/2019	Nay's Pink Bookshelf	Review

Week Four:

12/23/2019	She Just Loves Books	Review
12/24/2019	Hurn Publications	Review
12/25/2019	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt
12/26/2019	Character Madness	Excerpt
12/27/2019	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Excerpt

Week Five:

12/30/2019	Two Points of Interest	Review
12/31/2019	Fyrekatz Blog	Review

 

Book Review - The Winters by Lisa Gabriele

Photo Credit - Amazon

After a brief and intense whirlwind romance, a young woman leaves the only place she knows as home and moves in with her new fiancé, Max Winter. Max is the exact opposite of our protagonist. He is a recent widower and a wealthy politician. While she spent most of her life in poverty.  Her new home is filled with memories of Max's beautiful first wife, Rebekah. Rebekah haunts the young woman's dreams and fuels her insecurities. While his daughter, Dani likes to make her life a living hell. She realizes that she doesn't have a place in the weird family dynamic between Max and Dani. They have a relationship dynamic that is both confuses and intrigues her.  As she grows more in love with Max, she worries about her relationship with Dani especially, when family secrets don't stay buried.

I don't like novels where the main character doesn't have a name. It makes it harder to discuss the protagonist when you don't know what to call them. I feel like when you don't name something, it's like you don't claim or love that person. Nor does it make it very easy to relate to the character.  And I very much feel like this novel wasn't a labor of love but, something that was quickly put together.  The novel takes forever to move along and the plot twists were very predictable. I thought I would have "fallen out of my seat" at least once during any of the revelations instead they were all met by my yawning. The novel was a complete bore and waste of time.

 **Disclosure -  This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Koh Gen Do Oriental Plants Emollient Cream

Photo Source - Sephora

I LOVE THIS CREAM! This cream is packed with 36 botanical extracts and vitamin A. This cream combined ancient botanical formulas with advance technology to create a cream that combines the tried and true with cutting edge technology. The emollient cream left my skin feeling rich, nourished, smooth and looking absolutely radiant. I love this cream but I am really sad that this cream is so expensive and my makeup addiction is leaving me so poor.  :(