Jen Ryland Reviews

Find books you love and get the most out of your reading.

  • Reviews
    • thriller
    • new books
    • mystery
    • adult fiction
    • reeses book club
    • BOTM
    • romance
    • YA
    • Lists
  • Subscribe!
  • Shop!
  • Spoiler Posts
    • Spoiler Posts
  • About
    • Contact Me!
    • Media Kit
    • Giving Back
  • Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Giveaway Policy
    • Review Policy
    • Editorial Policy

Blog Tour: Ferocious by Paula Stokes

08.14.2017 by Jen Ryland // 7 Comments

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for Ferocious by Paula Stokes!

If you are one of Paula Stokes’ many fans, then you’ve probably read Vicarious, the story of a girl on a quest for revenge. Ferocious, which releases tomorrow, takes Winter Kim’s story to Seoul.

If you ‘re not familiar with the books, I did spoiler-free duology review of Vicarious and Ferocious a couple weeks back.

Here’s the synopsis of Ferocious:

Ferocious by Paula Stokes

When Winter Kim finds out that her sister is dead and that she has a brother she never knew about, only two things matter―finding what’s left of her family and killing the man who destroyed her life. Her mission leads her from St. Louis to Los Angeles back to South Korea, where she grew up.

Things get increasingly dangerous once Winter arrives in Seoul. Aided by her friends Jesse and Sebastian, Winter attempts to infiltrate an international corporation to get close to her target, a nefarious businessman named Kyung.

But keeping her last remaining loved ones out of the line of fire proves difficult, and when all seems to be lost, Winter must face one last devastating decision: is revenge worth sacrificing everything for? Or can she find a spark of hope in the darkness that threatens to engulf her?

For the tour, author Paula Stokes created a special travelogue that lets you follow Winter’s path in Seoul.

I’ll let Paula take it from here:

Paula: The first place Winter goes after landing at Incheon airport is Itaewon, a Seoul neighborhood that is frequented by American soldiers and foreign English teachers. Itaewon is also more socially progressive than other areas of the city, with bars openly welcoming gay and transgender patrons.

EXCERPT from Ferocious:

Slowly, we twist and turn through the back streets of Seoul, our driver finding openings just big enough for us to slide through, occasionally coming close enough to a pedestrian to brush up against a purse or puffy winter coat. College kids and young professionals are out in droves. Girls saunter by in tall boots and short dresses. Men in suits drink from green soju bottles. Some of them are already intoxicated to the point of yelling and stumbling.

“Party central,” Jesse says.

“I think the motto here is ‘Work hard, play hard,’” I say.

Eventually, we turn onto the main street of Itaewon and pass a string of fast-food restaurants and bars, some of them with signs welcoming gay and transgender patrons. I’m not sure how socially progressive Seoul has become since I left, but I’m guessing Itaewon is probably a lot more accepting than other parts of the city. When the car finally slows to a stop in front of a plain cement building, Baz is waiting out in front.

Itaewon bar

Paula: The buildings in Itaewon are plainer than those in more upscale districts of the city—instead of skyscrapers made of metal and glass, you’re more likely to see shorter cement buildings packed tightly together. Winter chooses this area to stay in because she’s got both Sebastian “Baz” Faber and Jesse helping her, and she figures they’ll be less conspicuous in a neighborhood where Westerners are common. One of the fun quirks of Itaewon is that the sidewalk is full of stars reading “Hi” or “Welcome” in different languages.

These are places where gamers congregate to play online games together. PC bangs can be darker than your average dive bar, which means shiny light-up keyboards are a thing.

After Winter, Baz, and Jesse get settled in Itaewon, they make a plan to stake out the corporate headquarters of UsuMed, which are located in a upscale business neighborhood you might have heard of—Gangnam-gu! Check out tomorrow’s post with Beauty and the Bookshelf to find out how much Gangnam style Ferocious has 😉

Thanks so much to Paula Stokes for stopping by to give us a peek into the setting of Ferocious!

Paula is a mental health nurse and the author of several novels, most recently Ferocious and This is How it Happened. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. She also loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com on Twitter as @pstokesbooks or on Instagram as pstokesbooks.

Excerpt, travelogue, and photos all courtesy of Paula Stokes.

Categories // Reviews Tags // YA, YA thriller

Review: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

08.07.2017 by Jen Ryland // 16 Comments

Image for Review of The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

by F. C. Yee

To be published on August 8, 2017 by Amulet

Source: ARC from BookExpo 2017

Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie Lo’s every waking thought. But when her sleepy Bay Area town comes under siege from hell-spawn straight out of Chinese folklore, her priorities are suddenly and forcefully rearranged.

 Her only guide to the demonic chaos breaking out around her is Quentin Sun, a beguiling, maddening new transfer student from overseas. Quentin assures Genie she is strong enough to fight these monsters, for she unknowingly harbors an inner power that can level the very gates of Heaven.

My Review of The Epic Crush of Genie Lo:

My favorite thing about The Epic Crush of Genie Lo is how hilariously funny it was. Genie’s a smart, snarky Bay Area high school sophomore suddenly faced with a dangerous alternate reality of that she’s not sure she wants to – or has time to – be part of. (Of course, she doesn’t have any choice!)

Her commentary on everything, from school to her parents to her new reality as a demon slayer, had me laughing the whole way through.

I’m not at all familiar with Chinese folklore but loved learning more about it and was happy to have a change from the usual Western mythology/cosmology. And I loved that The Epic Crush of Genie Lo reminded me a lot of early Buffy the Vampire Slayer – the snark, the high school setting, the demons.

There was not really any romance in this, and I think some of the personal relationships could have been developed a little more. The ending suggests that there could be more books to come, so hopefully there will be time for all that.

Definitely recommend if you love funny, action-packed stories!

Categories // Reviews Tags // buffy-inspired, ownvoices, YA, YA paranormal

Review of Vicarious and Ferocious

07.31.2017 by Jen Ryland // 11 Comments

Duology Review of Vicarious and Ferocious 

I hadn’t read either part of this YA duology, but when I was given the chance to read them both back to back, I said okay! I love doing back-to-back series reads and because these are high-stakes thrillers, it was even more fun to move from one to another! My joint review of Vicarious and Ferocious will be spoiler free!

Photo for Review: Vicarious and Ferocious

Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Published on August 16, 2016

Source: from publisher for review

Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, work as high-tech stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter is devastated. She won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the digital recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process.

Review of Vicarious:

This first book sets up the duology’s main quest: Winter Kim’s search for vengeance. She and her sister Rose were sex-trafficked out of a Korean orphanage, then subsequently rescued.  Now they work for Rose’s ex, who hires them to engage in high-risk activities and record them for his virtual reality company. Rose models and goes to speed-dating parties, while Winter and her sidekick Jesse break into buildings and such. Then Rose is murdered and Winter vows to find her killer.

Vicarious was a sci-fi-themed thriller with dark undertones. Paula Stokes’ bio says she was a mental health nurse, and it seems like her professional knowledge played a part in the story. The book has a lot to do with the psychological scars that Winter and Rose have as a result of the horrible experiences they endured. Winter is (understandably) guarded and troubled, hesitant to trust. I thought Vicarious did a good job of balancing plot with character development, which is a hard thing to do in a thriller. There’s a revelation in the book that didn’t entirely take me by surprise (as I’ve seen similar plot twists in several YA books) but that I thought worked well here.

Review: Vicarious and Ferocious from Jen Ryland Reviews

Ferocious by Paula Stokes

To be published on August 15, 2017 by Tor Teen

Source: from publisher for review

Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: When Winter finds out that her sister is dead and that she has a brother she never knew about, only two things matter―finding what’s left of her family and killing the man who destroyed her life. Her mission leads her from St. Louis to Los Angeles back to South Korea, where she grew up. Things get increasingly dangerous once Winter arrives in Seoul. Aided by her friends, Winter attempts to infiltrate an international corporation to get close to her target, a nefarious businessman named Kyung. But keeping her last remaining loved ones out of the line of fire proves difficult, and when all seems to be lost, Winter must face one last devastating decision: is revenge worth sacrificing everything for?

Review of Ferocious:

I liked Vicarious, but I thought Ferocious was a stronger book. Or perhaps it just built well on what had been set up before. I was happy that the revelation from Vicarious I mentioned above wasn’t just a plot twist — it helped me understand Winter much better and gave me much more empathy for what she’d been through. Jesse is obviously in love with her and I was really rooting for the two of them to make it as a couple.

This book continues Winter’s quest to avenge her sister’s death, which has morphed into an all-consuming desire to see justice done. I also loved that much of this book took place in Seoul, as Winter tracks her target there and, aided by allies she may or may not be able to trust, tries to track him down and outwit him. There’s a lot of suspense, but also a fair amount of psychological depth as Winter tries to balance revenge with her recovery … and maybe even a relationship.

If you like high-tech thrillers, you should definitely check this duology out – I liked the way these books balanced plot and character!

Categories // Reviews Tags // YA, YA thriller

Review of The Authentics

07.27.2017 by Jen Ryland // 8 Comments

Original Photo by Jen Ryland of the cover of the Authentics

[Read more…]

Categories // Reviews Tags // ownvoices, YA, YA contemporary

Review of When I Am Through With You

07.26.2017 by Jen Ryland // 15 Comments

Photo of the book When I Am Through With You by Jen Ryland
[Read more…]

Categories // Reviews Tags // YA, YA contemporary, YA thriller

Review: The Secret History of Us

07.24.2017 by Jen Ryland // 32 Comments

The Secret History of Us, a YA book about an amnesia victim. Original photo of the book by Jen Ryland

The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby

To be published on August 1, 2017 by Harper

Source: eARC from publisher for possible review

Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: When Olivia awakens in the hospital following a car accident, she figures the brain fog is just a symptom of being in a week-long coma, but as time goes on, she realizes she’s lost more than just the last several days of her life—she’s lost her memory of the last four years.

Gone is any recollection of starting or graduating high school; the prom; or her steady boyfriend Matt. Trying to figure out who she is feels impossible when everyone keeps telling her who she was. As Liv tries to block out what her family and friends say about who she used to be, the one person she hasn’t heard enough from is Walker, the guy who saved her the night her car was knocked off that bridge into the bay below.

Walker is the hardened boy who’s been keeping his distance—and the only person Olivia inexplicably feels herself with. With her feelings growing for Walker, tensions rising with Matt, and secrets she can’t help but feel are being kept from her, Olivia must find her place in a life she doesn’t remember living.


My Review of The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby:

I’ve read most if not all of Jessi Kirby’s books and was excited to read this one …. until I started it and found out that it was about a character with amnesia.

In the past few weeks, I’ve read (or started to read) four YA books about main characters who’ve been in car accidents, three of whom had amnesia.

If there was such a thing as book-amnesia that could make me forget that I’d read those others, I’d be fine.

That said, I actually liked the amnesia element of this one. Liv wakes up in a hospital and is told she’s been in an accident. Good news: she’s going to be fine. Bad news: she can’t remember much about the past few years, including anything about her boyfriend, Matt, or about the accident itself.

As I read, I could definitely figure out exactly where this story was headed. I think anyone who has every read YA and reads the synopsis and title of this book can probably figure out where the story is headed. But predictability in a book is not necessarily a bad thing. I didn’t mind watching Liv and waiting for her to put the pieces together. And I loved Liv’s relationship with her parents and her brother.

Overall I enjoyed The Secret History of Us and recommend it to those who like YA contemporaries. The only drawback of this book for me was that the ending felt rushed, which I thought made the romantic element of the story not terribly satisfying. I often complain about overly long YA contemporaries, but at a slim 288 pages, I think this book could have benefited from a few more chapters to wrap things up.

Have you read this or any other Jessi Kirby book? Are you up for another amnesia story?

Categories // Reviews Tags // YA, YA contemporary, YA suspense

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • Next Page »

Recent Posts!

  • Readers Guide for Our Last Resort
  • Amazing Thriller Books Free on Kindle Unlimited
  • Books Like the Grantchester Mysteries
  • Readers Guide for Sunburned
  • Readers Guide for Party of Liars
  • Book Club Picks for Summer 2025

Meet Jen!

Since 2011, I have been guiding avid readers toward books they will love and offering a friendly place to discuss them. I publish honest reviews that will help you decide if a book is right for you! Let's talk books! See my full bio!

Contact Me

My contact me page graphic shows a black old fashioned landline with gold trip.

Copyright

Copyright 2016-2025 Jen Ryland LLC. Duplication of content without permission is strictly prohibited. Excerpts may be used if credit is given with direction to the original content.

Privacy Policy

Find my privacy policy here.

Contact Me

Contact Me!

Copyright © 2025 · Modern Studio Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in