All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

After complaining about not finding anything to read, I decided to look at my local library and found All The Truth That's In Me. I'm so glad I didn't give up about finding something good to read! This book is such a great read!

All The Truth That's In Me is a fabulous book. Probably one of the best I've read this year so far. Judith is a mute 18 yr old who holds the truth to what happened to her young friend a few years earlier. An outcast because of being mute, Judith is forbidden to try to talk and learn by her mother, a harsh woman who lost her love for Judith upon her return home. You find out through flashbacks what happened to her. Stolen in the night by the father of the man she loves, she is held captive for 2 years doing the bidding of this man. The man lets her go on the condition she doesn't talk, he says it's to protect her but she believes it's to protect himself. He cuts part of her tongue out and lets her go back home.
You get the sense that Judith's mom did love her immensely before she left and became mute. While she was gone though, her father dies, so the Mom blames Judith for that since he died of a broken heart. How can you blame that on a child? I think that's what I disliked most about the Mom, is that she placed blame on Judith. Like she wanted to be kidnapped and her Dad to die. The whole basis for the book is that she loves Lucas, and has all her life. But she doesn't think he can love her because she can't talk and people think her an idiot. At times in the book, it gets a little creepy, like her sneaking into his house a lot. The back story of her being kidnapped and the other young girl being murdered is what the town is centered on. It turns out that the murderer has been living in their town all along ( I won't ruin it for you, but I was a little shocked, great twist). Even though Judith and Lucas are accused and even jailed for it all, in the end Judith tells them the whole story, who killed her friend, how she was spared and why she was taken, her tongue cut out, and released. It's not until she tells the tale, that she finally understands Lucas' dad was protecting her.
There is a horrible teacher in the story who is beyond skin-crawling. Who if you could punch characters in books, he'd be the first to be punched from this story followed by Lucas' dad who is uber creepy.

Overall, GREAT story, it's well developed and it pulls you into the story. It makes you go on a roller coaster of emotions but all great books do.

5 out of 5 stars!!! Take time to read it. I read it in one day because it's THAT good!

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Normally, I wouldn't even give this book a second look- especially since I usually buy free kindle books or books that are in the series I'm reading. But, this book was one I saw mentioned on Tumblr on Problemsofabookerd page. A follower mentioned it to her, and I was curious. And, I'm glad I was.

Stolen is about a girl, Gemma, who is 'stolen' from the airport by a beautiful man. She is enfatuated with him at the airport which only proves to be her downfall. He steals her into the night and takes her away from her life in London. The think I liked about this book is that it wasn't focused on abuse, rape or any of the other horrific things that may happen when a young girl of 16 is kidnapped. It focuses on how the guy, Ty, just wants her to be with him (as crazy as it seems) and how he tries to get her to the beauty of the desert they are in. The vast Australian desert that is their new 'home'. Gemma tries repeadtly to escape but she's in the middle of nowhere and she soon realizes it's futile. Eventually, she succumbs and tries to get along. You can feel the attraction between the two as you read, even from the very beginning. She fights it. With all her power.
One of the things that is really awesome about this book is the way it is written. The story is told from Gemma's point of view, as a letter she is writing to Ty as he awaits trial. She's writing it because the shrinks around her think she has Stockholm Syndrome- which reading it you get the sense that she might have a touch of it due to her feelings before everything goes wrong.
I will say, that Ty is not bad per say. Obviously, he's a tad crazy and he kidnapped her but you get this feeling there's a genuine love he has for Gemma. He really cares for her and thinks that her being there with him is 'saving' her from her life that she hated. Her parents, from what she writes aren't all that great but once she is returned you get the sense they aren't as bad as they appear- I mean it is a 16 yr old girl talking about her parents.
In the end, Gemma is returned (I won't tell you the reason outright, you need to read this book- Lucy Christopher is a great writer). And Ty turns himself in- to save her.
Please read it- borrow it from your library, buy the Kindle book for $3...whatever you want...just give it a try. Don't let the whole 'a young girl is kidnapped' keep you from enjoying a very well written book.

5 out of 5 stars.
I read this book in about 4.5-5 hours (that was with a toddler interrupting too).