(This review will be available on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl at the end of September).


First off, I just want to say that although this is the second book in the series, this book can be read as a standalone since it involves a whole new cast of characters, plot, and setting. Saying that, this book is a retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth. To be honest, it's been about 11 or 12 years (maybe longer) since I read Macbeth, so I won't be comparing this to the original. Now that that's all said, I really enjoyed this book!

Skye's been in love with Craig forever. However, he's part of the popular crowd and Skye is not. There's also the problem of Craig's super mean girlfriend, Beth. When one of the popular boys die in what appears to be an accident, things start spiraling out of control.

I didn't really know what to expect with the title. However, after reading this book, it makes sense in more ways then just Skye being a photographer.

The cover is rather plain, but I actually like its plainness. I think anything else would've made this cover look too cluttered. I also think the cover is rather cute!

I enjoyed the world building, and I felt that it was written rather well. The only thing that bothered me was the outcome when it came to the ending. I can't really say to much, but it just didn't feel like it followed procedure. That's your only hint. I did enjoy the setting of Alaska though especially since I don't really read any books set in Alaska.

I loved the pacing! The prologue definitely caught my attention and kept it until the very end. If I would've had more time, I would've finished this book in one setting. It was paced that good!

I enjoyed the plot! I don't remember Macbeth all that well as I said before, so I can't comment on how much the plot of this book was like that of Macbeth. There's not really any mystery I enjoyed the whole playing on conscience thing and what was done about it. I even enjoyed Skye's endless pursuit of Craig!

I enjoyed the characters more than anything! I loved how mature Skye was especially when it came to how mean Beth was to her at some points during the story. I loved how friendly she was and how vulnerable she could be. Even though Craig was a bit of a tool when it came to Beth, I still enjoyed how much of a friend he could be to Skye when he really wanted to be. However, at times he could be a little bit insensitive and selfish, but perhaps that's just a teenage thing (and even some adults)! My most favorite characters were Kaya, Cat, and Tess. I loved their sarcasm, wit, and humor they brought to the story. In fact, I wanted to be friends with those girls.

I enjoyed the dialogue very much, and I felt like it was set in high school, which it was. It was also very easy to understand, but it wasn't dumbed down or anything. My favorite dialogue was when it involved Kaya, Cat, and Tess. There are only a few swear words in this book.

Overall, Exposure is a book that is fun to read as well as having fantastic characters and great dialogue!

I'd recommend this book to those aged 15 who would like some fun literature to read! ( )

This is a really enjoyable young adult book. It starts with Skye overhearing her new college roommates talking about her. So she tells them the real story instead of having them speculate on what happened. This is also about the guy Skye loves, Craig and his girlfriend Beth who may or may not have murdered their friend Duncan. Sadness, heartache, love, and lessons learned throughout this book. Very well written. I pretty much read this in 24 hours. Couldn't put it down and it's a very fast read.

I won this from the Goodreads Giveaway and I think the authors for the signed copy. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/2014/04/23/exposure/ ( )

Based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth instead of The Tempest, this second in the in the Twisted Lit series is a little darker than its predecessor with themes of ambition, deception, murder, and mental illness, but Exposure shares the clear-eyed wit and literate style that made reading Tempestuous such a pleasure. Both books have loose connections with their source play, which is a good thing because it allows each story to evolve in its own natural but sometimes unexpected direction.

With its unusual and starkly beautiful setting of Alaska, Exposure has a wonderful sense of place. It’s senior year for high school honor student Skye Kingston, a photographer who prefers dark rooms to digital photography. Photography has helped hone her skills of observation and insight, but before senior year she had a history of hiding behind her camera a little too much. Now she is starting to speak out, especially to Craig, the boy who became her best friend and secret crush when he moved to town the summer before their sophomore year. Once school started, Craig became part of the popular crowd and started dating the intensely controlling Beth, so the friendship Skye shared with Craig went largely underground. Now as a senior Skye is starting to call him on that hypocrisy, and she’s coming out of her shell enough to become closer to three artistic and independent minded girls whose bond is based partly on their Eskimo heritage. The varied and interesting characters are one of both book’s many joys--I hope there’ll be a third Twisted Lit variation. ( )

It takes a lot of guts to take on such a well known Shakespearian play like Macbeth and I don't know any people who've taken it on. Macbeth is a complex story all by itself, so I have a lot of respect for someone who can take on such a difficult story. Sure, you can distill the story down but it's hard to capture its intricacies. Kim Askew and Amy Helmes did a wonderful job of taking a huge project and making it seem so easy.

Exposure is a beautiful novel, all on it's own. It tells the story of Skye, a girl who would rather hide behind her camera than stand out, and what becomes of her life once a tragic accident occurs. The problem she faces is whether to tell the truth and hurt her best friend, Craig, or remain silent and deal with the consequences of her actions. She, along with the other people involved, faces the question of what really makes someone guilty. Is it the person who led up to the accident, the person who initiated it, or the person that kept it a secret? What really makes a person guilty?

The story was introduced beautifully through the prologue, moving forward in time beyond what happened and really starting with the end. I gained a lot of interest in the story due to how Skye was described by everyone else and the third person perspective added something different to what I had assumed would be a first person story. And it was, after the prologue and before the epilogue. I've met people who would've fit into the category that Skye fit into so I can see why people took such an interest in her. There is a mystery about her that is set up in the beginning and well, once the story really starts, you begin to understand what she really was like.

Skye reminds me a lot of me. The way she acts throughout the book would definitely be my response to the whole situation she is faced with. I admired her strengths and hated her weaknesses because I could see a lot of them in myself. She is a relatable character without coming off too ordinary or boring. From the first page, she captures your attention and she keeps it for long after the book is finished. Her character jumps out from the page as a worthwhile person to admire, an attainable dream I suppose. I love that despite all of the drama and all of the problems thrown her way, she is able to stay true to herself. She doesn't lose herself in any part of the book, she doesn't give up photography, she doesn't start an 'I hate the world' campaign although she rightfully could have, and she refuses to stand for anyone's bad treatment of her. At least most of the time. I would've slapped Craig long before she did anything about their friendship.

Craig is wonderfully written character -- a modernized Macbeth. It's hard to not sympathize with him and just love him because he's basically great. Other than being self-obsorbed and occasionally a jerk. But even with all his bad qualities, there is something innately likable about him. He comes off like a typical cocky jerk in the beginning which made me question Skye's huge crush on him and it isn't until she explains their friendship -- or should be relationship in my mind -- a little more clearly. Perhaps he isn't an all around douche most of the time, she seems to say throughout the beginning, or at least he used to be a decent person. It's after a little bit that I grew attached to Craig but it was a slow start in that department. Just to let you know, I would've slapped him and probably hurt him in various ways if he did to me what he did to Skye. Want to know what he did? You should really check out the book.

Crazy girlfriend of Craig, check. Her name was Beth and she was a... not very nice person. I wanted to know more about her than I really got to. Most of the time, nay all of the time she came off like this evil person that I just wanted to send to Siberia or as far away from me as I could get her. Her backstory wasn't as well developed as I would've liked or at least, it wasn't very well explored. I really would've loved to understand whom I have come to consider the bad guy of the story. She had so much to offer.

Again, there was a great cast of characters that played both large and small roles. They were all important and each of them played some key part to the story as it continued on. I really love that none of them are ever really forgotten or tossed to the wayside as the story goes on. Even the characters that are a little crazy made multiple debuts throughout the novel. Yeah, I can recall some characters just because of how well written they were and they didn't even have a big part to play.

Y'know what I think would be awesome? Entwining the characters from both novels which are of course standalone and making some epic book about how their stories intertwine. Just saying. It would be cool. Think of it as the Shakespeare plays collide into one fantastic novel that entangles the intense storyline of each story and somehow pulls together all of the different pieces to make a uniquely beautiful tale of love, betrayal, mystery, and just plain epic-ness.

Anyway, I am getting off topic. This story is amazing. I really enjoyed it. You should read because it was so great. ( )