Kyla StoneReseñas

Believable and scary.

I didn't actually finish this. Not because the book was bad, but I just suddenly lost interest. Chances are good I will come back and pick up the series at a later date and finish it.

What a thriller! I find it hard to review any of this without spoiling the surprise. Suffice it to say that you should not read this before bed, If you are prone to nightmares or if you have anxiety. LoL!

Kayla Stone weaves you into a web of horror, post-apocalyptic landscapes and the worst and best of human behavior. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

While the EMP apocalypse was merely a backdrop for the over all story; Hannah's effort to escape her captivity and return to her family was the thrilling and kept me interested through the whole book.

An EMP takes out a large portion of the United State, maybe all of it, maybe beyond the borders,nobody knows. But that isn't the focus of a Fall Creek,a small-town in Michigan. Their focus is just surviving, surviving the cold, the lack of basic necessities, and the menacing people outside and even within the town. Will the good people be able to withstand the challenges ahead or will they become the evil thst they are so desperately fighting. Incredible story fill with action and intrigue from beginning to end. If you have not read any of the series astart from book one and work your way through the series. Its well worth your time.

Loved the Si-Fi story of young group looking for a cure for what is killing everyone as the world falls apart. They heard of help at the Sanctuary a place where no one ever leaves if you are allowed to enter. A Must read for Si-Fi readers

3.5 stars -Amelia's character, porrtrayed as a doormat, drove me nuts. The writing style also felt a tad amateurish.

I just couldn't get into the book for some reason. I tried several times and just didn't get through it. I was not the audience for this author.

I thought from the description it was a thriller. It was not.
I began to dislike one of the heroines intensely. But I read on.
And I was rewarded.

'Before You Break' is a beautifully written story about non-checked opinions about each other, about secrets and lies,
about people who won't get help, won't help others, won't listen to each other, won't act, won't speak out.
And about people who do care.
I started to like both heroines, I started to understand both of them.

Kyla Stone took ten years to write this book and I can understand why. She made a great job of it.

A futuristic cruise ship full of the moneyed elite. What could go wrong?

The good: the main characters were well written. They each had their own back story and their motivations were understandable. The setting, a dying America, where the class disparity is widening and resources are becoming limited, is a bit different than most of the dystopian novels out these days.

The not so good: The novel is set a few decades in the future, but there doesn't seem to be much new technology - and that which is new is only mentioned in passing, without much explanation. There is a LOT of violence. And also, nothing is resolved by the end of the book. This novel is clearly a part of a series and is not meant to stand alone.

Would I recommend? Only if you are a hard-core fan of dystopian literature.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LibraryThing in return for an honest review.

Sisters, Lena and Lux, were close growing up. Lena is the responsible one while Lux is the free-spirit. However after their mothers death they drifted apart. That is until their father has heart attack and Lena is forced to return home to take care of him in his final days. But where is Lux? And what does she have to do with her father's heart attack? Being home forces Lena to confront her past and come to terms with it. But is it too late to repair the relationship with her sister?

This book alternates between Lena and Lux's point-of-views. It takes place in both the present and the past. Overall it is full of twists and turns as it answers the question about what happened to Lena and Lux's mother but at its heart it is about two sisters.

I received this book to read from the Author and I must say, I really enjoyed this book. It is about 2 sisters that had a traumatic experience has children and how they dealt with the effect of what happened. Being very close while growing up they somehow drift apart. Even though they both grew up in the same house they dealt with the pain of losing their mother differently. Lena buried herself in her education, while Lux tried blocking it out by taking drugs, going to parties and doing anything that would cause her to forget. Lena with the illness and then death of her father, reached out to her sister Lux, who initially blamed herself for the death of her mother and deterioration of her father,s health and subsequent death. In the end the death of their father and promise Lena made to her dad re-united the sisters. Wonderful book definitely will read it again

Sometimes you read a book and must really process it before you can write the review. This book was one of those for me. From the minute I met Sydney I knew she was so much more than what we saw on the outside. I hated the girls who tormented her. I hated the life that she was forced to live. At the same time I admired her ability to not only survive her life, but make sure her brothers survived. She was a hero in my book. This is a book I will put on my shelves. It is an important book if it helps just one child. If this is the quality of this author's work then I owe it to myself and others to read everything she has written. Not too many people can write about this topic that takes you on an emotional ride and yet leaves you feeling good at the end. I will not write about the plot to this book. That is for you the reader to do. I will recommend it along with a box of tissues. It is probably in the top five favorite books I've read this year. I will say this is a must read.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this book, it seems like everyone is broken, imperfect, and leading a rough life. The two sisters who are the main characters are still reeling from the loss of their mother and soon the loss of their father. Lux appears to be the most broken as she tries to find various ways of escaping her life. Her sister Lena buries herself in her studies and photography. Their mother it turns out was dealing with BPD and not dealing with it well. Their father is broken and imperfect in his own way.

There were times I identified with what this fictional family was going through. There were times I saw in them things people I know of are going through. Though it’s hard to say if I would recommend this story for those dealing with dysfunctional families or those dealing with parents that have a mental illness. This can be a mirror for them, but it can also bring reminders of pains they have been through.

That being said, when I was done I was left feeling like I wanted more out of the characters. I wanted more out of Lena. There is a moment in the book where Lena does something she knows she’ll regret, and promptly gets herself hurt for her actions, but then it’s gone. I wanted more digging beneath the surface of other ways their mother’s mental illness affected Lena. (More than the burying herself in work and responsibilities.) Lux I only felt I got to know deeper near the end of the book and I kind of felt like I wanted that kind of depth earlier. I was just left with a craving of more please.

I was a bit bothered by Lena’s college advisor in the bits he shows up in this book. I just felt like his reaction was too harsh, especially near the end. I can kind of understand that he might have not been aware of everything that’s going on, but still it felt like a serious lack of empathy from his character. I don’t know why, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe he was another example of an imperfect broken character, but it felt like too much and too overdone to me.

Still it was an enjoyable read. The book has a major secondary character in it who is a single father, which is what originally motivated me to read this book. I thought it was something I just haven’t seen too much of in books that I’ve read. The author does a great job describing the work of photography, and I felt pretty immersed in the world of this book.

If this book interests you, I would also recommend to you “Girl Against the Universe” by Paula Stokes. It also deals with a female lead who is dealing with hardships and it does a good job showing how those events affected her life.½

* I received this book from the author for my honest review. *

If you are looking for a book that tugs at your heart strings pick this one up. I wasn't certain what I was getting into when I won a copy of this book on Library Thing, I just knew it was for young adults and the cover was cool.
At first, I was horrified by the things this girl went through. The torcher from her mother, her peers and self mutilation. The author made sure to pull you into Sidney's world, to make you feel the hate she had for herself. It was awful. To believe a person truly hated themselves with this much passion... I felt it with each word I read. What would drive someone to feel this way? I was speechless as I read the chapters. I wanted to help her, to break down her door and show that someone loved her and she didn't need to carry around all this pain she felt. Sidney was abused in every way imaginable. Her father changed her into this monster she felt she was. She didn't think she deserved a friend or a single person who cared. When they did, they just turned on her because they didn't understand the life she lived.
The book shows the life of so many teens out there. This unfortunately could happen. It makes you sad and angry all at once.
Sidney stood up for her family. She decided to help herself, her brothers and to be happy for once. She may have done something that most people don't approve of but it saved her. It saved her brothers from being like him. It saved her mom from being a deadbeat mom, even if what she did was for herself. Sidney was a hero, even if she didn't see it. Her friend Arriana saw it. Sidney gave her the strength to be who she wanted to be, to not beat herself down because her mother saw something differently.
In the end, Sidney works hard to not do some of the things she had done, cutting, but she has a future. A life she can look forward to having with friends, family and a boyfriend. It is something she didn't think she would ever have.

I received my copy as a librarything giveaway. I
thought it was a good read with thought provoking content. I would definitely recommend and will be looking for more books by this author

Lena McKenna is busy attending photography classes at the Art Institute of Florida in Tampa, Florida. She has a prestigious gallery competition for the Central Florida Metropolitan Museum of Art coming up and is already a semi-finalist in the competition. Winning the competition would mean a grant and a stipend with "Photography" magazine. Before Lena can submit her final entry into the competition, she is called home to Brokewater,. Michigan. Lena's father, has had another heart attack, and this time, he is dying of congestive heart failure. He has just weeks left to live. Lena's 18-year old sister, Lux, is missing as well. Lena makes the difficult decision to withdraw from her classes at school and focus on caring for her father during his last few weeks of life. Lena did not count on running into ex-football player Eli Kusuma, now a single father and working as a mechanic. As time passes, Lena grows closer and closer to Eli and his daughter, Hadley. Being at home also stirs up memories of her mother and her mother's suicide.

While Lena left home to chase her dreams, Lux McKenna is left behind with her father and her mother's ghost. Lux dialed 911 and took off after her father's heart attack. She knows her argument with him triggered his latest heart attack. She is crashing with friends and soon falls into a partying lifestyle, doing drugs to obliterate the pain. Her sister Lena is the perfect one, and Lux is the screw-up. As her relationship with her high school boyfriend disintegrates, Lux falls in deeper and deeper with the local drug dealer, Reese. Lux also feels she is to blame for her mother's death and wants the world to go away, using more and more drugs to rid herself of the pain.

Lena and Lux can't seem to get along even when their father is dying. Each cares about the other but doesn't know how to properly show it. Another tragedy will force the two together again. Can these two sisters ever make peace with each other, or will their tiny family continue to implode?

"Love scrawls outside the lines. It never fits inside the small little box we plan for our life." This book definitely reflects that and shows how messy love can be. Overall, this book is a good read with good, three dimensional characters. I rarely give a book five stars, but I feel this book merits it.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I bought this book after being so very impressed with the authors book 'Who We Are Instead' I am not disappointed, it is exceptionally well written and deals properly with some very tough issues.
I wish there were more stars to give.

"Who We Are Instead" is the first book I've read by Kyla Stone, it definitely won't be the last, she has written with emotion and understanding that is often woefully short in modern fiction. I was expecting superficial fluff, this is not a fluffy book

What a great read! And an emotional one. It deals with such deep issues of abuse and self-harm and how these issue affect individuals differently. I could not help but root for the main character, Sydney, as she finds her voice and begins to stand up for herself. Whether it’s struggling to keep her brothers together, growing her relationship with a boy or trusting her new friend, Arianna, the journey is emotional and well worth the read.

I was provided a copy of this book for my honest review.

Review: Beneath The Skin by Kyla Stone.

Warning :The story is based on teenage girls with hardcore issues and may trigger some inner feelings for the reader.

I thought the book was well written and the characters were fully developed. I felt the story was predicatively accurate with details and emotional content. The author wrote about disturbing issues and self-harm that two teenage girls whose character traits are completely different from each other to explain the experience some teenagers go through. The story was heartwarming but also may be educational for some readers.

The main character, Sidney Shaw is eighteen years old going to high school and holds a job working after school at Bill’s Bar and Grille. Sidney had anger issues so Bill (who always showed he really cared about her), had to stop her from being a waitress because she was rude to the customers and had her cleaning off tables instead. He knew her family was dysfunctional and that she needed to work to keep her family together. Her father, Frank would take off for weeks at a time and when he decided to return he waved around a lot of money but Sidney never knew how he got it. He would give his two sons, Frankie Jr. and Aaron a hundred dollar bill and think nothing of it. Sidney would never take anything from Frank, she despised him. When Frank was home her mother was full of energy, cooking meals and her hygiene and personal looks were of high standard. However, once Frank took off she was back to staying in bed, drinking and taking to much prescribed drugs. So, Sidney was back taking care of her brothers, paying what bills she could, buying food with her money, cooking meals, cleaning the home and trying to keep her mother alive.

Her brother Frankie who was twelve years old was always arguing with her, smoking and using bad language. When it came to Aaron, who was eight years old, she was trying to protect him from being bullied and laugh at school because he was softer than Frankie. In fact, Aaron still slept with a stuff animal named Ratty Bunny which Frankie teased him about. Even their father picked on Aaron and told him he better toughen up and stop being a baby.

Sidney was getting in trouble at school and spent some time in the principle’s office and later was made to go to a meeting once a week with the guidance councilor Dr. Yang. Sidney was a trouble girl and was cutting herself to feel the pain and let loose some of her inner anger. Dr. Yang decided to add another troubled girl, Arianna Torres’ to Sidney’s hour of counseling. Sidney was furious, especially when she met her. She felt Arianna had no flaws. Arianna was smart, skinny, lived in a nice home and her father was a Pastor at Westside Baptist and her mother was a general practitioner.

I wrote the basic about the characters and as the reader I’ll hold back the events, issues, trauma and sacrifices Sidney had made and the issues Arianna herself brought to the story for the next reader. It sad, heartwarming, with a special message that two opposites can make a difference…

I put off reading this book for some time because I was hoping to get a print copy to read from another source. But now I am sorry that I had. I was missing out on a very well written book. The characters are well developed, and I loved the ongoing butterfly metaphor.
I wanted to keep reading it until I finished (unfortunately I did have to separate it into two reading sessions). I do not want to say too much about it for fear of spoiling it for someone else, but I highly recommend this book.

This book made me feel splendiferous. (I received a copy by the Author for a honest review)

There are books that have abusive, homophobic or sexist characters, which although raise important questions don't address them, and that makes me strongly dislike those authors and books.

This is not one of those books, it raises so many questions, but directly confronts them in the best way possible, here is a really good example, roughly a quarter through the book:

““Am I the word that Pop said? Faggot?” I bite my lip so hard I taste blood. My hatred for Frank this moment is a towering inferno. “No. Never. There’s nothing you could do to make you that word. It’s a mean, nasty word that mean and nasty people use to tear someone down and make them feel bad. That’s all. Okay?” “Okay, but people at school say that word to me, too. ’Cause I like pink and sparkly things. ’Cause I cry sometimes. They say I like boys.” I want to beat the snot out of every kid in his school. I don’t care how young they are. They’re old enough to know better. I want to shake Aaron and tell him he has to be tougher, stronger, harder, but his sweet little face is looking up at me, and I just can’t bring myself to do it. “You are good. Just like this. Whatever you want to be is just fine. It doesn’t matter if you like boys or pink sparkles or wear purple polka dotted skirts to school every day. Okay? No one has a right to treat you like crap.” The corners of his mouth tilt into a tiny smile. “Will you hold my hand?” I lace my fingers through his. They are still so small, so delicate. I swallow hard. “Tonight, you need to stay in your room. Don’t come out, okay?” He nods. I hold his hand all the way home in the crackling silence. The dread creeps up my throat, strangling my breath. ”

If that doesn't make you love this book to bits and pieces, I don't know what will, oh, maybe it's the incredibly well written characters that sometimes have scenes that make me just feel good inside, all the wit and sass included:

““Keep rolling your eyes,” I mutter. “Maybe someday you’ll find a brain back there.” Lucas laughs. ”

“You said Jasmine was a ‘loathsome toad.’ I said to myself, ‘here’s a girl. She’s creative with her words, just like me.’ And I just knew.” He shrugs, grinning sheepishly.”

The characters in this book are so well written, I can find myself relating to people who, seemingly, have absolutely nothing in common with me. They all seem real, which is something I rarely see in books lately.

The story seems to come in two arcs, or rather, you can stop reading the book at roughly the halfway point so just before our protagonist shoots her father and be left with a fully fledged, good experience, if you continue on reading though, it will leave you with an amazing second half of the book and an amazing experience.

I read this book in 1 sitting, then I put it down for a while, cried a bit, and read it again, it's that good. This book is that great.

READ IT READ IT READ IT.
- yona

I received this book from a librarything giveaway,and i have to say i loved it.Very well written, and a sensitive topic.Sydney comes off really bad in the beginning, but as you see how much sh's been through and still going through, it makes sense.I loved the friendship aspect too.I definitely recommend this.