Deadly Little Lessons by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Hyperion

Pages: 336pgs

The Story

Camelia Hammond's trying junior year of high school is finally over...but her troubles aren't. After she discovers a painful truth about her family, she escapes to a summer arts program in Rhode Island. Determined to put family - and boyfriend - drama behind her, she throws herself into her artwork.

At the arts school, she gets caught up in the case of Sasha Beckerman, a local girl who is missing. Even though all signs suggest that the teen ran away, Camelia senses otherwise. Eager to help the girl, she launches her own investigation. She finds a blog by someone named Neal Moche, a psychometric who might have clues to Sasha's whereabouts. There is something familiar about Neal, and Camelia realizes how much she misses Ben, despite being committed to Adam.

But time is running out for Sasha, and Camelia will have to trust her powers if she's to save her. Will the lessons Camelia has learned in the past give her the strength to do so?

The Review

Right from the very beginning I had loved this series - from the smallest of romances to the utter suspense of the mysterious storylines, I just loved this series because I'm such a sucker for any sort of thriller and mysteries types of stories. But, like with some other readers, I had also experienced some ups and downs with this series as well and had found the story to be too predictable at times. Regardless, I still found the fifth and final installment of the Touch series, DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS, to be by far my favourite of the entire book series and I'm glad I felt this way as it is sad - yet again - to say goodbye to another favourite series of mine!

DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS is equally intriguing as its previous installments, only this time round it had really laid down all of the cards onto the table. It really did. Not to mention the romance finally takes a primary focus of the book, which was great to read about as well as I've been longing for the romance to take control and play an important part to the story - not just come and go as its pleases. But as for those fans of the series who really needed a conclusion to the whole romance aspect of the storyline, we also finally get to see the actual conclusion between the whole Ben-Camelia-Adam love triangle saga and I'm sure many readers will be pleased by its ending to that saga . . . I certainly was because I literally kept going back and forth between both of the boys and it was really hard and hurtful for my shipper heart, okay? Hehe. But trust me here . . . you're going to love the final conclusion to it all.

Regarding the characters I thought each one of them - from the main characters to the supporting ones - had really shined in this book, more so than in the previous installments which was great because each of the characters have their own quirks and ones I admire them for individually. Sure when it comes to this book neither character was entirely perfect and the story may have been a little predictable in terms of what each character's own actions were going to be like, but I loved the characters back in the previous books and I still continued to love them in this final book as well.

Camelia for one, the main character, was someone that really improved for me in this particular book and as we finally get to know more about her past and what secrets have been kept for her for so long, I had actually formed some great respect for her and I loved the way she handled things (all the complications in her life) . . . even when she made a few mistakes too. But the shining star for me was Ben, one of her two love interests. Now for once, Ben finally got some of the spotlight and boy did I miss his character on the page. Honestly, even when some readers found him too creepy and too bad-boy-ish for his own good, but I've always loved Ben's character as he has always played a prominent role in this book series and despite his stubbornness in loving our Camelia . . . again I just love him to bits and wait until you read this book because he's amazing in it! I mean seriously . . . he and Camelia are just meant to be. Sorry Adam! I did love you once but you disappointed me way too much in this book.

Overall, DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS was exactly what I needed in this final installment of the Touch series and while it may have needed more oomph in the storyline, but I can't really complain here because I really enjoyed book in the end and I'm really sad to see all of the story - the mysteries and the heartache of Camelia's life - come to a beautiful end.

The Rating

5/5 stars

Deadly Little Voices by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Release Date: 6th December, 2011

Publisher: Hyperion

Pages: 343pgs

The Story

High school junior Camelia thought her powers of psychometr only gave her the ability to sense the future through touch. But now she's started to hear voices. Mean voices. Berating her, telling her how ugly she is, and that she'd be better off dead. It's troubling development that has Camelia terrified for her mental stability, especially since her deranged aunt with a suicidal history just moved into the family house. More torturing, ex-boyfriend Ben, who has similiar psychometric abilities, has been spending more time with their classmate Alejandra, even as her feelings for Adam grow stronger. Still, the bond between Camelia and Ben is palpable.

With the line between right and wrong fraying, Camelia turns to pottery to get a grasp on her emotions. She begins sculpting a beautiful figure skater, only to receive frightening premonitions that someone's in danger. But who is the victim? And how can Camelia help them when she is on the brink of losing her own sanity?

The Review

DEADLY LITTLE VOICES is the fourth installment of the Touch series and it's by far my favourite book in this series! Finishing the book in a matter of a couple of hours, I was pretty surprised with how much I enjoyed it considering the last installment Deadly Little Games had disappointed me on certain levels. Trust me though - this book will not disappoint fans of Laurie Faria Stolarz. She nailed this book!

Camelia, the main female protagonist, is gifted with the ability of psychometry or rather the ability to sense the future and what's going to happen within a simple touch. Being already an artistic girl and an avid sculptor, through her own artwork pieces Camelia is able to predict the future in a series of clues and this time round these 'clues' will lead her to help a young girl from her local high school whom is clearly in deep trouble. The question is: What and why is she in trouble? And whom is out to get her? But trying to convince a girl that she's in trouble is not the only problem she has because Camelia is now hearing vicious voices inside her head, and seeing things that could drive her into her own insanity. And then there's Ben - her 'kind of' ex-boyfriend whom she still has feelings for and a boy whom also shares her psychometry talents.

The thing I love most about Laurie Faria Stolarz's books - despite some of their predictability and the same likeness to the storyline of each book - is that she knows how to write a great mystery and she tends to write her characters with such realism and honesty that you can't help but fall even harder for. When it comes to Camelia's character in particular, while she can frustrate you at times, but she's someone I deeply care about and I truly want what's best for her own sake. For readers who were introduced to her the first book and after reading this book, you can clearly see that her character has grown so much throughout the course of the series and her whole fiasco with her now ex-boyfriend, Ben, I totally felt for the girl. She's a nice girl dealing with abilities beyond her own understanding and yet she has a love who isn't willing to make it work for his own selfish reasoning. Again, I feel for her.

Now let's talk about Ben. I fell for Ben from the very first moment I met him and yet he still remains to be one of the most infuriating boy characters I've ever met in my life. So how does one author continue to make me still be in love a character like HIM? Now that is a real talent! When Ben touches someone with his bare hands he can 'sense' their future and their deep and darkest thoughts etcetera etcetera. Unfortunately a few years back, Ben's girlfriend was killed and I guess that was the sole reason why he keeps people at a distance - Camelia most especially, in fear of his own touch powers and what they may do. While I understand his reasons, but damn he really wants to push your buttons however I do commend him when he told Camelia she deserves someone better than him. Because it's the truth. But I still kind of hope they remain friends or become something more . . . where Ben will finally realize that Camelia loves him and acts on those feelings rather than repel them as he has done for the whole series.

But to add further complications to Camelia's relationships, you have Ben's ex-best-friend, Adam, who also happens to be one of Camelia's potential love interests. Adam was first introduced in book two of the series and he had more of an appearance in the third book as well (he had a stalker you see so Camelia had to help etc). I admit, I didn't mind him as a secondary character and I liked having him around but I still was rooting for Team Ben. However, to my surprise, I loved Adam even more than I did in the third book and there's so much to love about him. But . . . I did feel sorry for him as Camelia used him most of the time in this book. I mean, Adam is the kind of guy who is always there to help and is always open with himself and with his feelings, and he's the complete opposite to Ben which is probably why I ended up loving him even more than Ben in DEADLY LITTLE VOICES. But despite the fact that he's the right guy she should be with, Camelia's thoughts and feelings continue to go back to Ben. I'm okay with that but I hope in the near end of this series, she'll finally end up with someone and be happy for once with just the one guy. As for me, I'll be happy either way her loves go . . .

Overall, DEADLY LITTLE VOICES still has a great set of characters, nice hidden twists and turns, a fun little mystery, along with a small blend of the paranormal. If you haven't picked up this series yet then be sure to do so! I literally can't wait to read the fifth and final book - who know where the characters will end up?!?!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars