Me: AKA The Worst Blogger Ever

tháng 6 30, 2012 No comments

Hi all! I just wanted you to know that I did not fall off the edge of the world. I am still here. Life has just been crazy, we were finishing our basement, having end of the school year stuff with the kids, a family vacation and reunion, sick kids, etc.

I just wanted you to all know I am still here, and I am still trying to get reading done so I can bring you great reviews and even giveaways!

Thanks for being patient with me!

The Book of Tomorrow

tháng 6 29, 2012 book reviews, fiction No comments

The Book of Tomorrow
Cecelia Ahern
310 pages

Tamara Goodwin was born into the lap of luxury, until the abrupt death of her father which leaves she and her mother swmming in debt. The two move in with a mysterious aunt and uncle with secrets Tamara hopes to unveil. But when she finds a book with no title or author, and a rusty lock, things start to go from boring to magical. When she finally prys open the lock, Tamara finds the diary is written in her own handwriting, and the enteries are dated for the next day.

There is certainly no doubt that Cecelia Ahern is an amazing writer on many levels, but The Book of Tomorrow was a bit hard to get into for me. Although the first chaper was strong with deep description and metaphoric passages, I was not in love.

I guess you could say that the plot builds slow and long in this book, as the last few chapters really unravel all of the up-in-the-air questions with high speed. I do not particularly care for that style of writing, but I feel that it works in this situation as it keeps the reader reading in order to find out what happens next.

The Book of Tomorrow is magical, and alluring with a hint of classic mystery.

Eden's Root by Rachel E. Fisher

tháng 6 28, 2012 Author Requested, Book Series, dystopian, Intense, Rachel E. Fisher, Rating #8.5, Suspense No comments

Summary

It is 2033, and the world hovers on the edge of explosion as unexplained crop deaths lead to severe global food shortages. Is the United States, the Sickness is taking lives slowly, creeping its way into every family. Thirteen-year-old Fi Kelly has already faced the Sickness in her own family, toughening her at a young age. But when her dying father makes a shocking confession, Fi realizes that her toughness will be pushed to its absolute limits.

Saddled with an impossible secret and mission of saving her little sister, Fi gets out to transform herself into the warrior that she must become to survive the coming collapse. Along the way, she will discover that evil can be accidental . . . and that love can be intentional.

Number of pages: 376

Review

Eden’s Roots deserves a round of applause and a cheer or two. If any other bloggers have read and reviewed this book along with me, then I hope it is safe to assume that they were just as equally captivated by this amazing sci-fi story as I was, but I would love to put my two cents in as well. Fi is a narrator and Leader like no other. I followed her like a member of her Family would, and I am proud to say I survived this journey right along side her. The world is coming to an end in the ways of the normal every day-to-day life. To be honest the details as to what exactly is going on left me a little fuzzy, but I will try to summarize and explain the details without giving too much away. Food, regular food, has been contaminated over the years, processed and manipulated so many times that over eventually it has generated so much disease and created the “Sickness”. The “Sickness” in this book refers to cancerous diseases, though I believe other kinds of diseases are considered as well. The amount of Sickfood soon starts to kill all forms of vegetation, and basically the world is in for a global Famine. Anyway, no one really knows about the Sickfood, except a selected few such as scientists who are preparing for the worst and have created a safe haven where they can reconstruct and rebuild. One of those few people is Fi’s dad who is one of the main scientists working on the effort to build this haven, Eden. When he becomes Sick, he and his family are crossed off from the list of candidates allowed to join this new colony and have a better chance of survival. Before his death he gives all he knowledge to his daughter in the hopes that she can lead her sister and mother to safety.

It was incredible seeing how a girl that is pictured as normal, as ordinary, is transformed into this character with the burden of much older and wiser people, a person who leads many souls to safety. The process written in which she does become a warrior with all the fighting and toughness included was a bit lengthy, but overall created a picture of complete and utter dedication. Fi is really no average girl, but then again isn’t there something more than average in all of us? Along the way she meets and connects with a group of people that I have come to love as well. Each and every individual was spectacularly created to contribute and share some love with me, as the reader. The journey was arduous, the conditions frightening, and I felt it all first hand.

I really want to focus on how this book was written in regards to point of views. It had a switching view from Fi, to her best friend Sean, to another boy that you meet along the way. They all tie together, obviously, but it was Fi’s mind that was kept dominant. She was the core of the story, as well as the core of her Family being Leader. I felt her burden, her determination, and her uncontrollable rage. That’s what really made the story amazing. It made it real, you know? It wasn’t a story about a girl who become a super hero and a hard ass and overall seems untouchable, neither about a girl who is weak and in the end shows her true colors. This was a book of survival, and it emanated off of Fi like an odor. She felt pain, fear, and worry along with happiness, excitement, even peace. I admit to some well-deserved tears on my part (much to my families amusement). It wasn’t laugh out loud funny, but I also felt humor and love written between words. I found it a great experience.

I also loved how real the situation all seemed. This book frightened me in that aspect a bit. The Famine, the Sickfood, the fact that a lot of the things that we have and do today were portrayed in a different light to show how terribly it could all go wrong. It seemed possible. I do have to warn my readers that this book is mild in many ways, but it could get very graphic in many others. Like I said, this is a survival story, and the things done in this book were things that may seem out of hand, but it was done in order to survive. It brought up some serious questions that I found interesting to think about. What would you do to survive? What would you give, sacrifice for the good of yourself and loved ones?

As I look over my review I realize that it is a bit long, and I am pleased with that. Why? Because it means that this book opened my brain a bit more, and had me thinking, reaaaally thinking. It wasn’t a book to just follow along. I really thought if that makes any sense. It was . . . and “intelligent” book, I guess. Like food for thought! From 1-10? Eden’s Roots gets an 8.5

The Siren by Kiera Cass

tháng 6 28, 2012 Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Kiera Cass, Mythology, Rating #6 No comments

Summary

“You must never do anything that might expose our secret. This means that, in general, you cannot form close bonds with humans. You can speak to us, and you can always commune with the Ocean, but you are, essentially, a weapon. I won’t like to you, it can be a lonely existence, but once you are done, you get to live. All you have to give, for now, is obedience and time . . .”

The same speech has been given hundreds of times to hundreds of beautiful girls who enter the sisterhood of sirens. Kahlen has lived by these rules for years now, patiently waiting for the life she can call her own. But when Akinli, a human, enters her world, she can’t bring herself to live by the rules anymore. Suddenly the life she’s been waiting for doesn’t seem nearly as important as the one she’s living now.

Number of pages: 276

Review

The Siren was a new kind of story, with some flair of the usual. I can’t say it was the average story either because the plot line was very interesting to follow along. It’s the story about Kahlen’s sentence as a siren. She takes you through each of the biggest episodes in her 100 years as siren, and how, along the way, she discovers a person who she is willing to risk anything and everything for.

Like I said, the story was interesting, but I couldn’t help but get tired eyes as I read the book. It was long and it was monotonous at times. It’s not that the story was boring, only that many parts were extended and it made me tired to read it at times. It’s like she kept ranting in her head or something.

Something that I found extremely great was how the author gave life to the Ocean. She was real, and She felt and loved and thought as well. I can’t really explain it, only that I felt connected to the Ocean. I thought that was just amazing. So adding all the qualities together, from 1-10? I’d say The Siren gets a 6.

My Life in Black & White by Natasha Friend

tháng 6 28, 2012 coming of age story, Natasha Friend, Rating #5 No comments

Summary

What if you lost the thing that made you who you are? Lexi has always been stunning. Her butter-colored hair and perfect features have helped her attract friends, a boyfriend, and the attention of a modeling scout. But everything changes the night Lexi’s face goes through a windshield. Now she’s not sure what’s worse: the scares she’ll have to live with forever, or what she saw going on between her best friend and her boyfriend right before the accident. With the help of her trombone-playing, defiantly uncool older sister and a guy at school recovering from his own recent trauma, Lexi learns she’s much more than just a pretty face.

Number of pages: 304

Review

Short and to the point, this book started off depicting an average, beautiful girl and showed to process she went through to become someone who accepts herself for who she is. And the process to get there wasn’t pretty let me tell you.

The story was cute in and of itself. Personally I found parts to be a bit overplayed, but it really got the connection through as to how she was hurting. I can’t say that a lot of the things that happened surprised me. There was an undertone of cliché moments, to be sure, but it was nice to see how it ended. It was definitely an “okay book” if not “good”, but I can’t say that I was on the edge of my seat or anything. It was a classic “bad thing happens-disaster-everything turns out okay” story, and there is nothing wrong with that. I did like how in the end, when Lexi starts getting a clue and finally starts fixing her life, the tone of the book became very . . . philosophical. From 1-10? I deem it a 5.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

tháng 6 28, 2012 Anna Banks, Book Series, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Rating #8 No comments

Summary

Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen’s not fully convinced that Emma’s the one he’s been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves that Emma and her Gift may ne the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help—no matter the risk.

Number of pages: 336

Review

Charming and laugh out loud funny, Of Poseidon was truly a special treat. As I sit on a recliner in the middle of a spectacular ocean view, I fantasize that I can see Emma and Galen as they try to discover more about Emma’s past and Gifts right on the ocean floor. What mostly captured me about the whole book was the dialogue and interaction of the characters. It was charming and super realistic . . . funny too. When I said laugh out loud funny I wasn’t joking. My whole family probably heard my peals of laughter around the house. The plot and story line was particularly interesting. It’s not a typical story. The whole mystery about what exactly Emma is and the wonder of how Emma and Galen’s love for each other can actually survive their trials was captivating. All the characters in this story were created in a way that you know they were real, in a sense. Like they could actually be the kind of people I would find in my high school . . . except for the fins. I didn’t put the book down once. In fact, this is the second time I read it in less than four days! That’s got to say something right? Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed myself. From 1-10? I give it a good, solid 8

The Selection by Kiera Cass

tháng 6 28, 2012 Book Series, dystopian, Fairy Tale, Kiera Cass, Rating #6.5 No comments

Summary

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to the future she never imagined.

Number of pages: 336

Review

Originality to the max! Not only was the whole Selection competition completely creative, but also the whole kingdom where this book takes place is so unique and yet so familiar! Basically this all takes place who knows how much into the future where the United States of America is now a kingdom after two more world wars and who knows what else. All of history was rewritten, but it all seemed familiar to me what with planes and phones and such. The biggest difference had to be the new caste system. It was weird to think that that was how my country would function into the future, but interesting to think about.

Anyway, I thought the whole book to be completely original from the usually love triangles I read about, so there are definitely huge brownie points because of that! The characters were nicely created if not a bit predictable. It was enjoyable nonetheless. I had a great time reading the “Bachelor-like” competition, seeing girls swoon for the prince and get eliminated in the mean time. I loved BOTH Aspen and Maxon, it was so hard not to! What did kind of irk me was how the story closed off. This is a trilogy, but I didn’t like how it just stopped. Nothing big happened leaving me wondering, or anything like that . . . it just seem to “pause”. I think that ending could have set me up for the next book in a better way. But what do I know? It was just a feeling that I thought I would share. I do want to look up the next and see what’s going to happen, but, for now, from 1-10? I’ll give it a 6.5

First Look

tháng 6 21, 2012 news No comments

Breaking Dawn Part 2 Movie Poster

In celebration of the fictional character, Edward Cullen's 111th birthday, Summit Entertainment released the first Breaking Dawn Part 2 Official Trailer yesterday.

The new trailer gives viewers their first look at Bella and Edward's child Renesmee, played by Mackenzie Foy as well as the actors chosen for the Cullen's allied covens.

One of the most anticipated moments of this movie, coming to theaters November 16th, is Bella in her vampire form. Many are excited to see her transformation beyond the red eyes seen at the very end of the previous film.

Unlike Part 1, which focused on the romantic sections of the novel, Part 2 will finally give avid readers and viewers the action and race-for-survival they have been waiting for.

Click below to watch the official trailer.