Jo TreggiariRecensioni

Author tries to compensate for a weak plot and weak characters by mixing simple and advanced english.
Author seems to think research is for stoopid people. Example; she thinks tasers flicker at all times. She also thinks tasers shoots blue fire.

Also, the complete idiocy of the characters made this an hard read for me. I mean, come on. You're 5 years into the apocalypse, you're in desperate need of basic medical supplies, and you're escaping from a still functional hospital which coincidentally still has basic medical supplies. And the idea of stealing some doesn't cross your mind, but you have to take a break to ponder the scarred boy's eyes for five minutes? How the hell are you still alive?

Oh, and if you get a cut and this cut isn't closed after two weeks, that limb is going to fall off and then you're going to die a really painfull death. It's not going to just sting and bleed a little.
The author also seem to think that rabbit will only be alerted to danger when other rabbits tap their paws to the ground. You know, like in the cartoons you watch on saturday morning while eating cereal, or on youtube when you're really stoned. They'll completely disregard you and the rest of your hunting team while you talk about boys and girls and who likes who.

[b:The Grey Sisters|43495134|The Grey Sisters|Jo Treggiari|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554478451l/43495134._SY75_.jpg|67644832]
Closure

A plane crash in the Mountains called the Grey Sisters kills everyone but one person. That is how this tale begins. After that you know you are in for a fun ride. After the crash D and Spider who both lost siblings in the crash. What we see is a group of friends who go to the crash sight to get closer. The book is told in the perspective of the girls going to the plane crash site and Ariel’s chapters were my favorite I think they had more grit to them and it made it enjoyable. I have to say I am having a real hard time writing a review for this book without giving it away. There are some unique twists that make this a good read. I would be interested to see if this is a series or if this is the genre that this author stays in with the next book.

I couldn't get into this book. Although the first chapter was intriguing, I didn't find the plotline compelling, there were parts that were a little too gruesome for me, the parts of the plotline that are about the survivalist community seemed unrealistic and based on stereotypes, and there wasn't fantastic continuity. I wouldn't recommend this book to other readers.

Pretty standard serial killer/slasher book.

I loved the twist that the killer was the assistant librarian. I picked up that it was a woman, but she wasn't even on my radar.

This book was just ok, it had some good parts but it just meh. I felt like I've read this before and I just wasn't excited about it like I am with other books.

Overall it wasn't a terrible book, but I've read better books.

Three teens set out on a pilgrimage to a plane crash site where two of them lost siblings. There’s a cult community near the crash site and while I loved the beginning, I found the ending much too coincidental to be believable.

After reading the Grey Sisters, I wanted more of the author's work. This didn't disappoint. It has a very high 'creep' factor, lots of action and I was completely fooled at the end when the killer was revealed. Altogether a very satisfying story.

Life crises are stressful and often messy, but what if half your class at school was killed in a fiery plane crash below three mountains near towns that the world has pretty much forgotten? What if your twin sister and the brother of a best friend were among them? How would you deal? That's the reality D has been grappling with for the past year. When she, Meg and Spider, whose brother was also among the victims, set out on a pilgrimage to the crash site in hopes of resolution, it starts half the story.
The other half begins above a remote and very paranoid family compound when several young members have been sent up the mountain on an annual test of loyalty and survival. When something terrible happens to them, it's the beginning of a twirling and chaotic mix involving the two groups. Following the rest of the story, with some major shockers and lots of action, makes for one heck of a read. As I noted at the start of this review, life in situations like this can be messy and not everything or everyone finds resolution at the end, but that's one of the things that makes this such a great story.

I was curious about this book as it wasn't one I'd heard a lot about in the book community. It was pretty good, though not entirely what I expected based on the synopsis.

Kat, D, and Mim set off to visit the site of a plane crash that took Kat & D's siblings. There's a creepy, backwoods vibe that bears fruit with a militant off the grid group that has more to do with the girls than they could imagine. The pacing is good and the characters are interesting. I found the eventual outcome a bit coincidental and predictable but overall an enjoyable read.

D and Spider both lost siblings in a plane crash. They and their friend Min set out to visit the crash a couple of years later. Ariel lives with a cult on the mountain that is near the crash site . The story is told by each of them. A well written novel with well developed characters and story line that depicts courage, love, faith, tradegy and trust. An excellent read for a young adult.. I received this book in exchange for a review.

I liked the concept and the interwoven stories. I did think it was a bit rushed and there were too many points of view for such a short book. I wanted more backstory on the community especially when it came to how the two different worlds converged. Still worth the read.

Overview: the opening chapter was a well-written attention-grabber. The subsequent story didn’t maintain that level of reader-enthrallment. Treggari’s novel alternately freaked the living daylights out of me or was a complete yawn. I blasted through the last half because, well, see the previous sentence sentence. The narrative style was complicated by switching between the main characters’ perspective, which did not flow smoothly. This was especially evident when there were distracting changes in tense from first- to third-person.

Such a bumpy style removed the sense of a psychological thriller, despite all the frenetic action and chaos. On a personal level, I dread stories which invoke “Jonestown” as a plot device. The survivalist group which the main protagonists antagonise, was run by a madman with an extremist vision and an iron grip on the cult. He terrified by extreme discipline to control the members.
I gave it 3 stars because the theme was compelling ~ when I could countenance how the author was playing it out. A reader who enjoys a twisty, chaotic adventure with horror overtones will likely be satisfied with the story, but I was not.

Wow! This was a spectacular read for Halloween. Last night after the last trick-or-treaters left, I devoured the rest of this book. Like a scary movie, it was so hard to put down and I just had to see what happened in the end. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this book and recommend to anyone who wants a quick creepy read.

The reader is immediately grasped from page one as we experience the plane crash that takes Kat's and many of her classmate's lives. However, the read begins to tamper off as the reader is thrown between D's need to visit the plane crash site years later and a seemingly random narration from Ariel, a "solider" in a backwoods cult. Fictional stories involving cults are popping up more frequently and while backdrop certainly has promise the execution is slow to take off.

*Disclaimer: a review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I just couldn't get into this one. The cover is gorgeous, and the first chapter is a real emotional hook, but I found myself skimming the rest just to get through. The writing is good-there's a lovely voice here, but the chapters were so fast and the viewpoint changed with each that I just couldn't connect to anyone to really want to dig deeper. The stereotypical play on the backwoods religious fanatics was a bit off putting as well.

Grey Sisters is a must read! The best books are those that twist and turn in unexpected ways, and this one does not disappoint! Treggiari takes the tragic loss of a sister to develop a psychological thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

This is a pretty reasonable young adult post apocalypse / dystopian novel. It introduces you to a disease ravaged world, a young teenage girl struggling to survive and takes you on a journey of survival where they struggle against mysterious scientists.

During reading it became apparent to me that the person hired to design the cover had not actually read the book as our protagonist is described as barely bathing, clad in filthy clothes that are not washed often, yet on the cover she's stepped straight out of the mall wearing crisp skinny jeans and a gleaming white t-shirt.

That aside, the story was decent, there's a little don't judge a person by their appearance subtext and whilst the characters face adversity they do overcome it in a manner that isn't absurd. There is a prequel that the author wrote but as of now it seemingly has not been picked up by a publisher so I would guess that this wasn't the commercial success that was hoped for even though it was released in the 2011 young adult dystopian bubble.½

Imagine if you will a city that is completely torn apart. Buildings are crumbled, highways decimated, and the population that is left is holding onto the hope that they'll be okay long enough to rebuild and just live. That is the picture that Jo Treggiari builds for the reader from the instant you open Ashes, Ashes. I was so blown away by the drive that all these characters had, just to survive from day to day. I tell you, books like this remind me why I should be so glad to have everything I do.

As the story begins, we meet "Lucky" Lucy and find out her back story. She has chosen to live alone, and rely on her own survival skills to get buy. I have to say that I fell in love with her instantly. Lucy isn't a character who is tough, strong, and somehow impenetrable despite the odds. She's also very human. The fact that I got to see her falter, see her second guess her choices, was amazing to me. It reminded me that she was just a person who, thrown into a very desperate situation, was doing the best that she could. Add in the fact that she's rather young, and you have a character that I can get behind 100%.

However it wasn't just Lucy who had me smitten with this book. All the characters who come onto the scene are different, interesting and have a depth that I couldn't get enough of. I don't want to ruin a minute of this amazing book for you, but Ashes, Ashes is populated with some of the most believable characters I've met in a long time. Following them in their daily work, watching them band together to protect one another and survive. It was kind of tough, I'll admit, but also amazingly rewarding. Jo Treggiari shows us the deepest depths of the human spirit, and I can't say enough how much I appreciated that.

Lest I gush about characters for days, and I could, I'll move on to the plot. The story line in this book moves quickly, but never too fast that I was left behind. There are portions that might seem a little description heavy, but I understood quickly that these were there to show me the daily monotony that these survivors faced. Jo Treggiari writes so descriptively, in fact, that if I closed my eyes I could almost see myself working right beside them, amongst the rubble and desolate landscape. Even imaging it now sends shivers up my spine. Well-written is a bit of an understatement, but not even I am sure how to aptly describe what you'll find between these pages. There is a deeper plot hidden in here as well, but I won't divulge what it is.You'll have to see for yourself. Suffice it say that Lucy is very important in this book, and it was fascinating watching it all unfold.

It boils down to this. I am a huge fan of dystopian fiction. To me, the two most important things in books like Ashes, Ashes are the setting and the characters. Treggiari not only successfully showed me both of these, but essentially hit them out of the park. I was in love with every minute of this book while I read it, and I'm holding on to my copy so I can read it again. Ashes, Ashes will be a book that is now added to my pile of dog-eared, constantly read, and well-loved books. I cannot recommend this title enough.

When Ari wakes at the bottom of a well, she struggles to piece together her kidnapping. Alternating with the serial killer's voice, the story slowly unravels their stories.

I was extremely disappointed with this book. Ari came across as a 12 year old, not the 17 year old that she was supposed to be. She was a very weak character, despite the author trying to paint her otherwise. I also thought the serial killer was extremely unrealistic. The characters were just wrong, they lacked realism. Overall, a bust.

Blood Will Out (not a fan of the title) was a quick read that had maybe one shocking moment. Was this well written? No. Was it entertaining? Yes – it reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode. Will I be reading more by this author? Probably not.

Ari wakes up to find herself injured, in a dark place, with no recollection of what happened. All she knows that whoever has her will be coming back to finish the job.½

*Received an ARC from NetGalley*

I so wish I hadn't requested this book.

THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED TRIGGER WARNINGS!

I was one chapter in and ugh. Animal slaughter. That too, in fine details.

I skipped, skipped and ended up on the protagonist remembering her past life, which was totally boring.

And there were so many more problems!

For example, metaphor.

I'm quoting the book here: "The darkness pressed down, a physical weight as if she were pinned under two tons of water."

Seriously. When does water ever pin you down? Is that even scientifically possible, much less literally?

And the writing did not interest me at all. I did not want to know who the killer was. I didn't care.

And I guess that says just how good a "thriller" this one was.

It has only been a little over a week since I finished reading Blood Will Out. Yet not only did I need the synopsis to remind me of the story’s plot, I had to actually stop and think in order to remember its resolution. I frequently forget who the murderer is in mysteries. I also use the synopsis to jog my memory more often than I would like to admit. Yet for both to happen with the same novel speaks volumes as to my attitude about it. If I needed yet another hint that I was not enthralled with the story, I have been dragging my feet about writing this review. With this trifecta of clues, it does not take Hercules Poirot to deduce that I was not impressed with Blood Will Out.

Now that I do remember the plot and the murderer, I have one major issue and several smaller ones with the story. The half of the story told through the killer’s eyes is actually fairly interesting. The matter-of-fact manner in which the killer describes first kills, the beauty of blood, and other hints that all is not well with the killer’s mental health is quite fascinating. However, it is obvious from the very beginning that the killer is trying too hard to hide his or her identity. The lack of identifying features is conspicuous given the detailed descriptions of other remembrances shared by the killer.

It is not just the killer who is trying too hard to be clever and shadowy. The author is doing the same and failing. She does this in little ways, like fairly obvious red herrings or including a cast of characters that are a little too deliberately shadowy to be the killer. Plus, I cannot help but shake the feeling that by making Ari’s best friend a lesbian, she was hoping to get diversity points. Unfortunately, the way this character acts makes me question this choice. Every action she makes or sentence she utters seems to reference her homosexuality, and this rings false to me. I keep thinking of the sentence, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Perhaps I am making a bigger deal out of this than I should, but her characterization has all of the hallmarks of a stereotype, which I feel is the last thing any novel declaring diversity should include.

Those are all minor issues. My real problem with the story is Ari herself. The story and her character start out well. There is not much to do when trapped at the bottom of a cistern after all, so flashbacks are a welcome distraction and help fill in clues about her relationships and other aspects of her life that might help us determine who put her in the cistern. However, a continuity problem quickly develops, rapidly followed by a credibility problem. First, Ari has no idea how long she has been trapped, but she starts to act as if it has been days. She mentions her body shutting down due to lack of hydration and other ill effects of not having had any water. She even ruminates on the possibility of drinking her own pee. However, not more than a few pages later, she is figuring out how to climb out of the cistern and does so even though her body was shutting down not more than a few hours prior. Once she rescues herself, we find out that she was in the cistern for 18 hours. Her reaction to that relatively brief time, with descriptions of her body that reminded me of descriptions of the Donner party, is so extreme that I remained dubious about everything that followed. To make matters worse, Ari is not fully recovered from her ordeal, but she takes it upon herself to find her abductor. The girl can barely see straight thanks to a severe concussion, but she feels she is the only person capable of finding the killer hiding in her town. This was just one more in a long line of credibility issues that frustrated and irritated me with every page.

I said earlier that it felt like the author was trying too hard, and upon reflection that is my overall impression of Blood Will Out. Everything about the book is repetitious and extreme. I already mentioned the lesbian best friend who announces her sexual preference with every sentence. Then there is the killer with the obvious lack of identifying details. Finally, there is the fact that the author does not just tell us that Ari is a member of the high school swim team. She tells us over and over again. Every time Ari is called upon to do something physical, the author refers to Ari’s swim muscles. Such repetition is everywhere throughout the story, and I began to resent it. Not only does it become tedious, but there are no surprises. The killer is not a surprise. Nothing that happens to Ari is a surprise. It is as if there are red arrows pointing at each of the many clues, with said arrows getting larger and larger with every repetition of said clues. There is no nuance. There is no playing detective on your own. Blood Will Out is as an example of everything a good murder mystery is not: a rather large disappointment.

A suspenseful read. Well thought out plot keeps the reader wondering who the bad guy is as well as whether or not to trust the protagonist's faulty memory.
Ari awakens in the dark with little memory of how she got to where she is. Figures out that she is in the bottom of an empty cistern and has a head wound.
Alternating chapters from Ari and from the bad guy keep the reader interested in both Ari's will to live and the bad guy's diseased thoughts.
Ari's best friend, Lynn, is an inspiration to her - keeps her going and pushes her to remember.
I really liked the suspense.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Ari Sullivan is alive—for now.

She wakes at the bottom of a cistern, confused, injured and alone, with only the shadowy recollection of a low-pitched voice and a gloved hand. No one can hear her screams. And the person who put her there is coming back. The killer is planning a gruesome masterpiece, a fairytale tableau of innocence and blood, meticulously designed.

Until now, Ari was happy to spend her days pining for handsome, recent-arrival Stroud Bellows, fantasizing about their two-point-four-kids-future together. Safe in her small hometown of Dempsey Hollow. But now her community has turned very dangerous—and Ari may not be the only intended victim.

My Review:
I'm going to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. After reading the description, I thought I had a good idea what the book was going to be about, but I didn't anticipate how it would be written. This story specifically jumped out at me, because I hadn't read anything like it lately. A girl who gets kidnapped and dropped off into an old well by a serial killer? Sounds exactly like something I would love to read. Unfortunately, I wasn't sucked into the book until about half way through. I found myself confused by the story, and not just by the way it was laid out. I loved getting to see the killer's point of view, but I didn't expect it to be so random and confusing. I didn't realize what was really going on, although maybe that was what the author wanted.

What I thought would be a short read, turned into procrastination. I could have finished this book very quickly, but I was again kind of confused by what was actually happening. It seemed like all I was reading was present day Ari, stuck in a well, random thoughts of a serial killer, and flashbacks of happier days with Ari's friend, Lynn. I really wanted to love this book, and I did, from about fifty percent of the book to eighty percent. And that's just not enough to say I loved it. It was exciting, although a little blurry at times, and the characters very well could have been real people. The world it was set in was exactly like our own. I wanted to know everything, and in turn, I knew just what I needed to know. Although it's not my new favourite book, I did enjoy it at the end of the day, and you should definitely check it out if you think it would be something you like.

Here's a link to the author's Twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/jotreggiari?lang=en

https://www.amazon.ca/Blood-Will-Out-Jo-Treggiari/dp/0735262950/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT...

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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