Laura Roecker

Lisa Roecker

A murdered victim's initials spell the secret rallying cry that spurs four very different teenaged girls to pool their considerable resources and deliver their particular brand of vigilante justice.

This Is War

Jessica Nottingham

This is W.A.R My reasons for requesting this book were two-fold. One, Soho Teen has amazing titles and two, the premise sounded so deliciously creepy. A country club that covers up lies? Definitely sounds like the perfect place for a thrilling mystery! Luckily, This is W.A.R. dove right into the mystery of Willa's death. I found myself anxious to figure out why Willa died, and who the culprit was. I was hooked, and you couldn't have stopped me from finishing if you'd tried.
 
The characters were really what made this story so much fun for me. Each had their own unique personality that really contributed to this vigilante battle. We have Lina, who is bold and brutally honest, Sloane who is lost, Madge who is bossy, and Rose who is just trying to fit in. It's no surprise that I loved Rose the most. I always cheer on the underdog , and I loved watching her grow from an outcast into someone who was able to take charge. Best of all, every character has a secret that they are hiding and I found myself eagerly waiting to find out what they were.
 
That being said, there was a lot I loved about the mystery in this story. The clues are well laid out. Willa's mystery unravels at a nice, even pace and expertly ties into each character's life. No one is ever what they seem at Hawthorne Lake, and it creates delicious tension. Still, I have to admit that I just didn't feel the excitement that I usually feel with mysteries like these. I wanted to see more sleuthing and more plotting for revenge. The girls have plenty of resources on their side, but I honestly felt like they didn't always use them as well as they could have.
 
Still, I can't deny that This is W.A.R. was a book that kept me reading until the very end. Despite slight issues I may have had with it, the story itself drew me in and the vivid characters sealed my reading fate. I had no choice but to read ravenously, and I had more than a few moments of intense emotion as the story unfolded. This was a story that I ended up loving, and I have a feeling that you will too.

This Is W.A.R.

My reasons for requesting this book were two-fold. One, Soho Teen has amazing titles and two, the premise sounded so deliciously creepy. A country club that covers up lies? Definitely sounds like the perfect place for a thrilling mystery! Luckily, This is W.A.R. dove right into the mystery of Willa's death. I found myself anxious to figure out why Willa died, and who the culprit was. I was hooked, and you couldn't have stopped me from finishing if you'd tried.

The characters were really what made this story so much fun for me. Each had their own unique personality that really contributed to this vigilante battle. We have Lina, who is bold and brutally honest, Sloane who is lost, Madge who is bossy, and Rose who is just trying to fit in. It's no surprise that I loved Rose the most. I always cheer on the underdog , and I loved watching her grow from an outcast into someone who was able to take charge. Best of all, every character has a secret that they are hiding and I found myself eagerly waiting to find out what they were.

That being said, there was a lot I loved about the mystery in this story. The clues are well laid out. Willa's mystery unravels at a nice, even pace and expertly ties into each character's life. No one is ever what they seem at Hawthorne Lake, and it creates delicious tension. Still, I have to admit that I just didn't feel the excitement that I usually feel with mysteries like these. I wanted to see more sleuthing and more plotting for revenge. The girls have plenty of resources on their side, but I honestly felt like they didn't always use them as well as they could have.

Still, I can't deny that This is W.A.R. was a book that kept me reading until the very end. Despite slight issues I may have had with it, the story itself drew me in and the vivid characters sealed my reading fate. I had no choice but to read ravenously, and I had more than a few moments of intense emotion as the story unfolded. This was a story that I ended up loving, and I have a feeling that you will too.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Audiobook Review:

After hearing so many mixed reviews about This is W.A.R. it made me even more curious than I already was. For some reason I have to read a book that people seem to either love or hate. It seems to me that those books can sometimes be a very pleasant surprise... or maybe a bit of a waste of time. I'm happy that this one, for me, fell right in the middle.

Willa is dead. Her four friends set off to avenge her death and get back at the guy they believe killed her. A bit of a murder mystery you could say... but with a "Mean Girls" twist. "Enter four very different girls" is pretty accurate... though they honestly weren't very memorable since I'm having a hard time remembering which was which. They were basically all rich and spoiled. They came up with horrible ideas (Such as giving the guys hormone pills so they grow boobs. Yes, I'm serious...) and it seemed like their thoughts were constantly all over the place. 

It may seem hard to believe, but I did enjoy certain parts of this story. It was rather entertaining here and there. And the narrator did a great job of performing the different characters, each in a unique way. I was definitely impressed with that. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did if I was reading it myself, rather than listening to the audio.

My first thought: Okay, this could be fun. Then after a while I was just confused. I'm still not sure I understood the ending completely. There were times throughout the story that I found myself really listening intently and enjoying the book... then I would lose interest again and drift off into my daydreaming world. I may have missed some of the story because of this. That's definitely a part of audiobooks that is difficult for me... if I'm not entirely interested, I stop paying attention and don't realize it until I'm completely lost on what's happening and have to rewind it a bit. That may have happened once or twice (or maybe more like 10 times) with this one...

It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. It was okay. I'm happy I read it. I like the cover. I'll leave it at that.

Thanks to Audiobook Jukebox and Soho Teen for the review copy!

Visit my blog Lost in Literature for other reviews.

This Is War

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