All My Friends Are Dead Small Book Review

All My Friends Are Dead (All My Friends... #1 of 2) BY Avery Monsen and Jory John

Hardcover, 96 pages
Read: June 29
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Humor, Childrens, Picture Book
Summery: If you're a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you're a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you're a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children's book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character's unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.

Review: This book was a delightful little find/read. It has a slightly dark humor to it, and is a very quick read. It took me about a minute to read and I laughed a few times reading it. Definitely a good buy.

Update + July TBR

I had some life/health issues that came up and was not feeling up to read these last few years. But, I finally feel somewhat better and more inspired to read, let's hope that feeling doesn't fade mid month/year. I have also changed the way I categorize my bookshelves and my TBR books.

Anyway let's get on to the books I want to read in July...

For the Adult category book: In Deep Voodoo (Voodoo in Mojo #1 of 2) BY Stephanie Bond

I read this book  WAY back in '05. I have a pretty good memory of it, and I also remember really enjoying it. So we'll see if I enjoy it second time around.











For the Children's/Middle Grade category: James And The Giant Peach BY Roald Dahl

I watch the movie that based on this book back when I was a kid and have vague memories of it. Hopefully I'll like the book.











For the Classics category: Travels With Charley In Search Of America BY John Steinbeck

I'm most apprehensive about this one because, besides Brave New World and 1985, I don't have the greatest luck with classics. So hopefully I enjoy i well enough.

















For the LGBT+ category: Everything Leads To You BY Nina LaCour

This category, as well as book, I'm most excited about. I have heard great things about both this book and the authors other books, So I'm very optimistic about liking this one.


















And lastly for the Young Adult category: Stranger With My Face BY Lois Duncan

I have not heard much about what this book is about. I found it at Goodwill and knew there was a movie based off it, so I decided to buy it. It sounds like it will be an interesting Mystery/Thriller book, so hopefully I'll like it.
















So I have five books to hopefully read and enjoy for July. As for June, there are 1 or 2 very short books I might read. All My Friends Are Dead and The Time Machine.

Hope everybody has/had a great day!

End Of Days book review + Penryn and the End of Days series review

End Of Days (Penryn and the End of Days book #3 of 3) by Susan Ee

Paperback, 344 pages
Read: May 14 - 16
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Horror, Supernatural, Romance, Action, Young Adult
Summery: After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.
When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

Review: This book takes place right after the events in the end of World After. I was worried going into this book that it would end up letting me down, thankfully through it did not disappoint me. If you read the first two books than you probably had the same thought as me as to how this book would conclude given all of the stuff that goes on in the first two as well as the stuff they allude to in the first two books. The way that this whole series concluded I think is the only way it could have ended without a big number of people being disappointed. I loved Penryn's mom, I did not think while reading Angelfall or while reading World After that I would love Penryn's mother as much as I do, she had some pretty great moments in this book. I was also really excited to read more about the Watchers, as well as how the fallen become the fallen. I also liked seeing how Beliel became who he is, I also did not think that by the end of the book that I would feel sympathy for Beliel. I did not think I would end up being shocked by anything else Uriel pulled to become Messenger, but I was, I did not think that Uriel would have anymore "apocalyptic signs" to throw at the angels, so that was definitely surprising for me. I was also kind of worried how the story would conclude concerning Penryn's sister, Paige, so what happens with Paige made me very happy. There are a few, I wouldn't call them romantic, they were more lustful then romantic, there are a few lustful scenes, which thankfully aren't overwhelming, annoying, or just plain too much. Over all I loved the book it was a great end to an awesome trilogy.

now onto the series as a whole.

Series Rating: 5/5

Series Review: This series was amazing. When I picked up the first book I did not think I would like the book much less love it as much as I do. It has everything I have ever wanted in a book, action, adventure, a strong female lead, a complex female lead, a romance that does not suck, mystery, and fantasy. Not only does it have all of those things, it also is very well developed, it never felt like Susan Ee just threw plots and ideas at a wall and hoped they would stick, and that development showed, which makes me love the books even more. I love that fact that all of the characters have layers to them, that made my reading experience even more enjoyable. I also really like the pacing of the books they're a fast enough pace for me to be interested from the get go, but they're not so fast that I had any blink and you'll miss it experiences. I loved the relationships that are formed and changed and end up evolving through out the whole series, I also love how all of those relationships have layers to them, they weren't not cut and dry which always made me excited to read more involving those relationships. I also love the humor, You'd think that with a young adult apocalypse book that there would either be no humor or the attempts at humor would be stupid, but the humor here is just my kind, it's sarcastic, dry, and biting, and sadly so far with the other books I've read there hasn't really been any of that type of humor, so reading those moments really made me smile. I loved this whole series, and Susan Ee is now definitely on my must buy author's list. She definitely seems to know how to right a really good and enjoyable book/series.

Now that I have finished this book and the series, which is kind of bittersweet for me because I didn't want it to end, but I'm so happy with how it ended. Anyway now that I've finished it. I can start giving my full attention to the other books I tried to start but couldn't because I was too excited with this coming out that I couldn't concentrate on any other books.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

World After book review (SPOILERS)

I have read this book last year, and I also have a spoiler-free review up already so this review is going to have spoilers.

So fair warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

World After (Penryn and the End of Days book #2 of 3) by Susan Ee

Paperback, 314 pages
Read: Apr. 3 - 30
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Horror, Supernatural, Romance, Action, Young Adult
Summery: In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.
When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.
Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.
Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Review: This story starts off right where the first book, Angelfall, left off. Now let's get into the spoilers, shall we... First off I love the way Penryn wakes up after being paralyzed by the scorpion experiments and ends up scaring all the men of the resistance. The fact that not only does Raffe's sword have a personality of sorts, but that Penryn names her Pooky Bear, and the way Raffe reacts after finding that out made me so gleeful. I felt so bad for Paige through out the book, although I did find the way that Penryn and Paige's relationship shifted and changed very interesting. I also really do like Penryn's relationship with her mother, the fact that there are hints of "saneness" in her mother, and that Penryn sees that makes the relationship kind of bittersweet, because she knows they're just moments and the her mom's not going to stay that way. I was really intrigued by the reason behind the experiments, I mean the fact that these angels are stealing children are basically ripping them apart sewing them back together to have them become cannibals, or as they called them Nephilim, just so they could discount Raffe so he wouldn't become the next messenger was so crazy and I'm really hoping to find out more about that in the last book. Finding out that Paige could control the Scorpion experiments was really awesome. I also loved the fact that when Penryn had fallen into the ocean, it was night, and she ended up being spun around so she could tell which way was up, down, left, or right, Penryn realized that bubbles float up to the surface, so she blew out some bubbles and followed them to the surface, I love the fact that that is a thought process she goes through, because that along with the fighting gives a glimpse into why she has survived though everything, it also shows that she does a really good job at keeping a level head through really nerve-wracking, and panic-inducing situations. I also found the fact that Raffe saw Penryn at one of the angel parties/headquarters and wasn't sure it was her until Penryn stared fight, then he was positive it was Penryn hilarious. I liked the fact that through Pooky Bear you get a glimpse of who Raffe was before the first book and why he has such a disdain for humans. I think that's all for the spoilers. The last books',End of Days, release date is set for May 12, I have pre-ordered it from amazon already so next month I will have a spoiler-free review up for the last book in this series.


Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Ask and The Answer + The Wide, Wide Sea book review

The Ask and The Answer (Chaos Walking book #2 of 3.5) by Patrick Ness

Hardcover, 536 pages
Read: Apr. 5 - 12
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Dystopia, Action, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Summery: We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...
Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

Review: This story starts a few days after the ending of The Knife of Never Letting Go. I loved this book. First off, I love the plot, it's very interesting I honestly had no clue what to expect to happen next. I love Todd, he's a very layered character, he makes mistakes he feels guilt he tries his best to figure out the right way to do things, he's a great character to experience both the first and this books happenings through, and with. Also, there are two point's of view to read in this book, first is Todd's and the second is Viola's. I really liked reading Viola's thoughts through out this book, Viola was a great character to experience the book through as well. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did, I also did not expect to feel interested in some of the characters that I did. The Mayor was someone that even though I hated I still had an interest in knowing his character, I did not expect to end up feeling sympathy for Davy but I did. I thought a the beginning of reading the book that I was going to be agreeing with the Answer, and Mistress Coyle, which didn't end up happening for me. I loved the fact that the world in which they live and the events that took place and are taking place never feeling 100% black and white, there were times where I was wondering who was better, not right because honestly it felt like nobody was right, but better equipped to run things in this world. The fact that I felt interest in The Mayor and felt sympathy for Davy and that I was never able to be 100% for The Ask or The Answer made the book that much more, better, interesting, exciting. I am definitely excited to read the rest of the series.

Next up,
The Wide, Wide Sea (Chaos Walking book # 2.5 of 3.5) by Patrick Ness

ebook, 39 pages
Read: Apr. 12-13
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Action
Summery: The Wide, Wide Sea is set in the past, at a time before the Spackle War, and we get a first look at the fishing village on the sea where some very important things happen at the end of Monsters of Men.
Best read after The Ask and the Answer but before Monsters.

Review: This story takes place 13 years before the beginning of The Knife of Never Letting Go. this story takes place from a boy named Declan's point of view and is about the relationship between a Spackle. I had no clue what to expect, but it was very good, it gave me a new perspective on Mistress Coyle's past, although I'm still cautious regarding her in the third book. I'm now wondering if I'll be encountering Declan, or the Spackle known as Rock Against The Tide, or also known as Ti. The story has me wondering who Declan and Ti are, and also if there's the possibility that both, or either of them might have already appeared in the main books.

Hope everybody has/had a great day : )

White Cat book review

White Cat (The Curse Workers book#1 of 3) by Holly Black

Hardcover, 310 pages

Read: Mar. 30 - 31

Rating: 4/5

Genres: Magic, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

Summery: Cassel comes from a shady, magical family of con artists and grifters. He doesn't fit in at home or at school, so he's used to feeling like an outsider. He's also used to feeling guilty; he killed his best friend, Lila, years ago.

But when Cassel begins to have strange dreams about a white cat, and people around him are losing their memories, he starts to wonder what really happened to Lila. In his search for answers, he discovers a wicked plot for power that seems certain to succeed. But Cassel has other ideas and a plan to con the con-men.

Review: This story starts with Cassel waking up to find that he has sleepwalked up onto the roof of his school building. Well... I liked the story, and the characters, but the way it was written out gave me a disjointed feeling. I felt like there were things missing from the story, which considering the main character's situation, it's understandable, but it still wasn't the most pleasant feeling to have while reading. And while I did enjoy the "twists and turns", I could see them coming from miles away which, of course, gave me no feelings of shock when they were finally revealed. I did like the characters, they had a lot of interesting angles to each of them. The shift in who to trust in terms of the two brothers, Philip and Barron, was probably my second favorite part of the book, my first favorite being the explanation about workers and the blowback, I kept switching between who of the two brothers I like and who I thought could be trusted, I liked that because it made me more involved with the characters and the story itself. I did like the story over all, although I am hesitant to continue on with the second and third book because of the disjointed feeling I got from this book.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Angelfall book review (SPOILERS)

Since I read and reviewed this book and the sequel last year, Spoiler-free, I am going to be reviewing both books with spoilers.
So warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days book #1 of 3) by Susan Ee

Paperback, 284 pages
Read: Mar. 8 - 30
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Horror, Supernatural, Romance, Action, Young Adult
Summery: It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.
Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

Review: I love this book and series! If you have not read this you definitely should, this series is very unique and I have yet to read anything remotely similar to it. This story starts off with Penryn, her mother, and her little sister, Paige, exiting their "home" to move up towards the hills of California, where there are less people, and gangs, to be safer. It has been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse have arrived on earth destroying towns, cities, building, and people. Now lets get into some spoilers, shall we... First off one off my favorite parts of the book (page 32) is Penryn explaining that her mother was so scared of what she might end up doing, after the unexplained accident with Paige, that she took Penryn to a martial arts studio and paid for five years worth of training, she learned Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Escrima, her mother also signed her up for many other things as well, shooting lessons, archery lessons, survivalist workshops, Sikh camps, basically anything she could think of so Penryn could defend herself. The reason why I love this part the most is because it give explanation for why Penryn is such a good fighter, instead of us just reading about Penryn beating up three or more guys and having us just assume she's this amazing fighter for no reason. That's the one thing that can annoy me about books with a female "action hero", Blood Red Road by Moira Young was the worst when it came to that, how Blood Red Road got so many great reviews I will never know, it was a terrible and stupidly cliched book in my opinion. Moving on, I also love that fact that Penryn's mother was schizophrenic, the fact that Penryn had a love/hate relationship with her made me like Penryn more and in turn like her mother more. I also like the fact that in this post-apocalyptic world her mother could survive very well. I also like the fact that even though Raffe is a angel he's agnostic. The last third of the book with Penryn finding Paige was kind of heartbreaking for me, the fact that Paige has become a cannibalistic experiment of multiple different body parts sewn together was very sad for me it becomes even me sad in the first two thirds of the second book as well. The fact that politics are a big reason for the experiments and for the three other angel attacking and trying to to kill Raffe made the book even better. I also like the fact that Penryn is not hard barely emotional person she has moments of fear, sadness, pain, and even moment of feeling like a teenage girl, it made Penryn very relatable to me. There's a history with the Watchers (angels) and their human wives having children called Nephilim who fed on humans, drank their blood, and terrorized the earth, and because of that the Watchers were condemned to the Pit until Judgement Day, and there's a hint that what happened to the wives was worse in this book, there's more explanation on the wives in the second book though. I liked the fact that there is a resistance camp as well. I think that's all for the spoilers. This is definitely my #1 book series, the way Susan Ee wrote this book makes me feel like she thought each book out 100% before publishing them. I picked this book up just because the cover was so pretty, I thought it was going to be a cheesy romance filled book, instead I ended up reading this action-packed, dark, intriguing, and unique book. This is one book series I know I will never have regret buying. Just because I love these book so much Susan Ee is on my automatic buy list, these books were that amazing to me.

Anyway at the end of the next month (April) I will have a spoiler-filled review for the sequel (World After), then in May after the third book (End of Days) arrives, I pre-ordered it of course, I will have a spoiler-free book review for that one.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

In The Hand Of The Goddess book review

In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness book #2 of 4) by Tamora Pierce

Paperback, 264 pages

Read: Feb. 21 - Mar. 16

Rating: 3.5/5

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Magic, Young Adult

Summery: "I don't want to fall in love. I just want to be a warrior maiden."

Still disguised as a boy, Alanna becomes a squire to none other than the prince of the realm. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna's liege lord, he is also her best friend -- and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a mysterious sorcerer threatens the prince's life, it will take all of Alanna's skill, strength, and magical power to protect him -- even at the risk of revealing who she really is...

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's second adventure continues the saga of a girl who dares to follow her dreams -- and the magical destiny that awaits her.

Review: This story starts of with Alanna, now fifteen, trying to find cover from the rain in a forest. This book was very hard for me to read, it felt very similar to the first book (Alanna), Although I feel like the first book had much better pacing. The beginning took me a long while to get into and the middle and ending had places where the way that the events that were taking place would be written moderately fast pace and it would make me gain interest, then a few pages afterwards the pacing would slow way down and I would lose interest again. I still really like all of the characters that I did from the last book though (although I didn't enjoy the romantic relationship that took place, the chemistry read more as friends so when they became romantic it felt off.), I also really like the plot and story, it's just the actual writing that I can't seem to get into. Also the ending gave me exactly the same feeling as the first book's ending did, It was very anti-climatic for me.

Also, for the release of the third book in the Penryn and The End of Days Series (End Of Days) which comes out May 12th, I'm so excited. I'm in a goodreads group that are re-reading the first two books in the series. For march we're re-reading Angelfall, and for April we're re-reading World After, So I'm going to have another review for those this month and the next.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire book + movie review

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (Harry Potter series book 4 of 7) by J.K. Rowing

Hardcover, 734 pages
Read: Jan. 2 - 13
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Romance
Summery: The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and there are spells to be learnt and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to be attended. But Harry can't know that the atmosphere is darkening around him, and his worst enemy is preparing a fate that it seems will be inescapable.

Review: This story starts with some small background into the Riddle Family's death. I really liked this story, so far this one is both my favorite and my least favorite. The reason it took me so long to get through the book was that for a good 2/3 of the book felt extremely slow paced, there was exciting stuff happening and i really enjoyed it, but with the way it was written it felt very slow, there were funny and interesting parts within those portions of the book but the writing was a little to drawn out for me to really enjoy them. Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop was when the pacing really picked up for me. That was the main problem I had with this book. My favorite had to be the new characters, i loved them, Even "Mad-Eye Moody" for the most part. The house-elf parts of the book were interesting, and I was more on Hermione's side involving that. I'm hoping I don't spoil the book by saying that Sirius is in the book. I loved him, I mentioned this a little bit in my book + movie review for The Prisoner Of Azkaban but I really like Sirius' personality much better in the books than in the movies so far. I am still very excited to read the rest of the books in the series.


Now on to the movie.

Book-To-Movie Rating: 4/5
Book-To-Movie Thoughts: While the movie was a good adaptation I much preferred the book. There were quite a few things that I wish were done more like the book. I liked the first, the third, and most of the second task better in the book. I also wish most of the event from after port key were more like the book. Also, I liked Dumbledore's and Viktor's personalities better in the book. While I liked the way they handled the polyjuice potion reveal well in the movie, it came as more of a shock in the book. Also I was a little sad there was such little amount of Sirius in the movie when compared to the book. I'm also a little sad I didn't get to see any of the house elves or Ludo Bagman, I would have liked to see how they looked. While I understand why they made the changes and cut things out completely, and while I did enjoy the movie, I'm still a little disappointed with the adaptation.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Dec. Book Haul

I ended up with 16 books this month. 5 books were bought on black Friday on thriftbooks, they arrived in early Dec..

First an overview of all 16 books.

First, Thriftbooks.com. The bottom 5 I bought on Black Friday. The top 5 I bought right before Christmas Eve.

(L-R)1. The Diviners (The Diviners book #1) by Libba Bray
2. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
3. Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely book #3) by Melissa Marr
4. In The Hand Of The Goddess (Song Of The Lioness boo #2) by Tamora Pierce
5. Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire book #1) by George R. R. Martin
6. Rampant (Killer Unicorns book #1) by Diana Peterfreund
7. Real World by Natsuo Kirino
8. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
9. A Sword In Her Hand by  Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem and Pat van Beirs & Translated by John Nieuwenhuizen
10. Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan

Now onto Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Goodwill and Bookoutlet.com. The first 3 are from Bookoutlet, the 4th is from Goodwill, the 5th is from eBay, and the last 1 is from Amazon.

(L-R)1. Stormdancer (The Lotus War book #1) by Jay Kristoff
2. Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn book #1) by Brandon Sanderson
3. Faery Tales & Nightmares (Wicked Lovely Bind-up of short stories) by Melissa Marr
4. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
5. The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black
6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Side note : I bought the UK Special Edition on Amazon UK as well, the cover was to hard to pass off, so I'm going to be selling this one once I get the UK Edition)

Well that's all of them.
Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban book + movie review

Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter Book #3 of 7) by J.K. Rowling

Hardcover, 435 pages
Read: Dec. 18 - 31
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Magic
Summery: For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.
Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well; and the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts . . . he's at Hogwarts."
Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Review: This story starts a few months after the events of the last book, again it is Harry's birthday and his uncle Vernon's sister, Aunt Marge, is visiting for the week. I loved this book. I had read this book back in Dec. of 2003, before the movie for it had come out, so I remember the main points within the story, but I had forgotten quite a few littler plot points so I'm happy I read it again, and that I had read the other two books before it this time around. most of the plot points I remember such as the one's involving Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, but I did not remember the anything involving Remus Lupin or Severus Snape, so reading those moments did feel like reading it for the first time. There were a few moments that did end up making me laugh, The first Divination class with the scene involving Parvati Patil and Ron was one of my favorites in particular. I also really liked most of the new characters introduced. I am a little disappointed that it took me two weeks to finish. The first time I read it I was sick with a flu and I still read it in only a day and a half, although considering the fact that I didn't remember quite a bit of the plot of the book, I probably barely retained any of it the first time around. I did not anticipate being so tired the following three days before the 23rd, and sadly I cannot retain anything I read if i'm to tired, so that's the main reason for it taking so long to read the book, the second reason, is that I did not anticipate being so busy around Christmas since I'm normally not. Anyway, I really liked this book and it was a great third book in a series, and I'm excited to read the next book in the series.

Now onto the movie.

Book-To-Movie Rating: 4/5
Thoughts on the book to movie adaptation: I really liked the movie. There are a few things that I wish had been more like the book, but considering the fact that the movie is over 2 hours long I can understand why certain thins were done differently. While the dialogue between Harry and Aunt Marge had been extremely close to what was in the book there were a few lines that I wish had been in the movie.Professor Trelawney was great in the movie although I would have also liked to have seen the scene involving Ron and Parvati, it wouldn't have furthered or added anything to the plot, I just happened to really enjoyed that scene in the book. While I liked both the confrontation towards the end both in the book and in the movie, I liked Sirius's personality in the book slightly better, also the dialogue/action part in the shrieking shack (Giving Hermione Ron's lines and actions) annoyed me so bad.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Fearscape book review + The Devouring book series review

Fearscape (The Devouring book #3 of 3) by Simon Holt

Hardcover, 314 pages
Read: Dec. 16 - 17
Rating: 2/5
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural, Horror
Summery: The Vours: Evil demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hour of the winter solstice.
It's been a year since Reggie first discovered the Vours, and the winter solstice is approaching once again. It will be another night of unspeakable horror for those unlucky enough to be taken by the Vours, because this time, she won't be able to stop them. The Vours have imprisoned Reggie in a psychiatric hospital, where she is subjected to a daily routine of unfathomably sadistic experiments. Her life is a living hell, but she won't give up. They attacked her brother. They killed her friend. And Reggie will never stop fighting back.

Review: This story starts almost a year after the events of the first book, The Devouring, and almost six months after the events of the second book, Soulstice. Sadly I ended up with the same opinion of this book as I had about Soulstice. I like the psychological aspect, but everything else was just there, not really good, nor bad. The characters still had a disconnected feel for me. There were events in this book that did annoy me, and have me rolling my eyes, such as practically everything from chapter 11 and 12, and the beginning of chapter 19 was kind of stupid and felt unnecessary. Also, I was right about the romance, but thankfully it didn't take anything away from the story, but it also didn't add anything either. It seemed only hinted at a love triangle, which was/would have been stupid. the story really didn't have a open and shut ending, like there was the possibility of having another book, which if that did end up happening I would not be reading it.

Series Rating: 2.5/5
Series Review: While I really liked the psychological horror aspect, as well as the fearscapes, nothing else stood out or made me feel much, if anything, while reading it. The only character I liked was Henry, and he wasn't in the series much. The rest of the characters had a disconnected feel to them, like I didn't care whether they lived or died, they were just there. Most of the events in the second and third book felt over-dramatic, I don't think the all over non-feeling that I had with the characters helped, but most of the events that were supposed to be suspenseful or heart-racing weren't. I did enjoy the first book in this series and think it was a really good set-up for the rest of the series, but after reading the other two books, I wish it could have been left at just that first book, sure there would have been some unanswered questions, but having those questions unanswered would have been better than reading the other two books in the series. The thing is, that the events themselves, as well as the reason for the events weren't terrible and could have been really good, but the way that the whole book series was written made it boring and uninteresting. The disconnected feeling I got with the series wasn't very obvious in the first book, but became glaringly obvious with the other two books. Sadly, while I did enjoy the first book, I feel like I wasted my time reading the other two.

Hope everybody had/has a good day : )

Soulstice book review

Soulstice (The Devouring book #1 of 3) by Simon Holt

Hardcover, 266 pages
Read: Dec. 15 - 16
Rating: 3/5
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural, Horror
Summery: The Vours: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice.
Six month...
Since Reggie first discovered the existence of the Vours in a tattered journal. Since she learned to overcome her fear and destroyed a Vour to save Henry.
Now as the summer solstice approaches, the Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams - until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality.

Review:  This story starts out six months since the events of the first book, The Devouring. I still really liked the psychological aspect of the series, the rest is where I have a problem getting into it. While I enjoy and can respect what the characters in the story bring to it I don't really like them, they have a disconnected feeling. I still have no real connection or interest in the main character Reggie, or her friend Aaron, the only one I really liked was Reggie's little brother, Henry, In the first one you can't really get a feel on his personality but in this one, even though he's not in it much you can get a feel on who he is some, and I ended up really liking him. The only parts I really liked or that held my interest were the fearscape parts. I didn't really like the relationship that ended up happening between Reggie and the "unexpected visitor", I didn't like that she ended up trusting them, I also don't like that I have a strong feeling that their going to be the romance in the third book, from reading non-spoiler reviews I know there is going to be a romance, and it seems like it's going to be between Reggie and the "unexpected visitor". Also, the who are Vours felt... I don't know if this is the right way to explain it, but it started to feel soap opera Dramatic instead of suspenseful. While I will be reading the third/last book in this series next, I am not really excited or really interested to read it, the reason I will be reading it is that 1. there was a pretty big cliff hanger (that thanks to the third books summery I knew was going to happen), and 2. considering I own the last book I feel like I should just get it over with and read it.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Ice Dragon book review

The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin

Hardcover, 128 pages
Read: Dec. 14
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy
Summery: In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire the ice dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no man had ever tamed one. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land. But Adara was not afraid. For Adara was a winter child, born during the worst freeze that anyone, even the Old Ones, could remember.
Adara could not remember the first time she had seen the ice dragon. It seemed that it had always been in her life, glimpsed from afar as she played in the frigid snow long after the other children had fled the cold. In her fourth year she touched it, and in her fifth year she rode upon its broad, chilled back for the first time. Then, in her seventh year, on a calm summer day, fiery dragons from the North swooped down upon the peaceful farm that was Adara’s home. And only a winter child—and the ice dragon who loved her—could save her world from utter destruction.

Review: This story starts Adara who waits for winter every year. According to the summery the ice dragon is also in the world of A Song Of Ice and Fire, I wouldn't know since I have not seen the series nor have I read the book. I really liked this story. It's a children's story  I would have loved when I was younger, I love it even now at 22. The Illustrations are beautiful. The relationship between Adara and the Ice Dragon in this book was a subtle but nice relationship. I also liked the subtle character growth in this book as well. I really liked this story.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Knife of Never Letting Go + The New World book review

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking book #1 of 3) by Patrick Ness

Hardcover, 479 pages
Read: Dec. 11 - 14
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action
Summery: Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

Review: This story starts out Todd and Manchee walking through the fields towards the swamp to get some swamp apples. Wow, at the beginning of reading this book I did not think I was going to like it as much as I did. To start off, the first two chapters (page 9 - 26) did not interest me, but once I got to chapter 3 (Ben and Cillian) things really took off, both in the book and with my interest. The ending was a cliff hanger that left me wanting to read more. For the first third of the book, Especially at the beginning Todd was a little annoying to me, but after both me and Todd started learning me about the New World and the people in it I started liking him more and more, I also liked that after Todd made a mistake (ex. Chapter 25: Killer) he learned and grew from them. I liked that it's a little bit of a rarity to have when reading a Young Adult book/series, especially when reading dystopian one. There was a part in the end of part five (chapter 31) that made me cry, which for me was surprising. The only other book I cry while reading was Mockingjay, I got teary eyed while reading The Hunger Games and The Book Thief but I didn't cry, so that was surprising. I really liked Ben and Cillian for the little bit I got to read of them, and I loved Manchee, but most of the men from Prentisstown are pretty crazy, and I didn't really enjoy Carbonel Downs men very much either. Because of the first two chapters, and little bit because of Todd personality in the first third, I did not think I was going to like the book or that it was going to be emotional, but it was, and I did really like this book and am excited to read the rest in this series.


Next up,
The New World (Chaos Walking novella/short story #1 of 3) by Patrick Ness

Kindle Edition, 25 pages
Read: Dec. 14
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Summery: In this dramatic prequel to the award-winning Chaos Walking Trilogy, author Patrick Ness gives us a short story of Viola's journey to the New World.

Review: This story starts with Viola and her parents within days of arriving at New World. I Don't know how Patrick Ness did it but this one was also emotional for me. The story jumps back and forth between when Viola and her parents are arriving at New World and when they had not left yet for New World. I really like getting to see more background into Viola as well it made me like her tat much more. Even though this story is set before the first book in the series you should read the book before reading this novella/short story, this story will make more sense if you read it second. All in all both books were a great start to the series, and have made me excited to read more in the series.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Ink Exchange Book Review

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely book #2 of 7) by Melissa Marr

Paperback, 352 pages
Read: Dec. 3 - 6
Rating: 2.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Faries
Summery: Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.
Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.
The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .

Review: This story starts with the first time Irail meets Leslie. So far this series is very enjoyable for me. the main reason I've been enjoying them is because of the characters. The book switches through the perspectives through out the book (Irail, Leslie, and Niall). I really liked all three, Aislinn, Keenan, and Seth are also in this book of the series, it takes place a few months after the ending of the first book, I still liked the relationship between Seth, Ash, and Keenan (Donia was sadly not in this book, and vaguely mentioned as the new Winter Queen). I also liked the relationship between Leslie, Irail, and Niall. While Niall and Leslie were in the first book (Niall a tiny bit more then Leslie) they were not in it enough for me to like or know them (Irial was only mentioned), but in this book they are front and center. I really liked Leslie, and her decision in the ending of this book, It took me about two chapters from Niall's perspective to like him, and about three chapters from Irial's perspective to like him. I liked this book more then the first, the point of views from the characters were a little more in depth, as well as the world building. For the first book I didn't really know much about the faries from this series, but in this book I got some answers to why some of the fae did what they did. I can still definitely understand why some people may/will not enjoy or like the book and/or the series, but I for one do enjoy them.


Other books in this series.
Wicked Lovely #1 Review: http://wolfsecho.blogspot.com/2014/05/wicked-lovely-book-review.html

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Devouring book review

I ended up getting sick at the ending of Nov. and while I tried to read I couldn't get through chapter three, much less the rest of the book without getting extremely dizzy.

The Devouring (The Devouring book #1 of 3) by Simon Holt

Paperback, 256 pages
Read: Nov. 28 and Dec. 2
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Psychological Horror
Summery: When Reggie finds an old journal and reads about the Vours, supernatural creatures who feast on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, she assumes they are just the musings of some lunatic author. But soon, they become a terrifying reality when she begins to suspect that her timid younger brother might be one of their victims.
Risking her life and her sanity, Reggie enters a living nightmare to save the people she loves. Can she devour own her fears before they devour her?
Bone-chilling, terrifying, thrilling...what are you waiting for?

Review: This story starts with the beginning of a story about Jeremiah getting taken over by Vours on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice. It was a good book, I enjoyed it, but there were definitely problems with it for me. The first and biggest one for me was that while the characters were okay, I didn't connect with, or get invested with any of them. Although I liked the fast pace I think that might have caused the problem with the characters for me. Also the more or less complete absence of parents, whether they weren't there completely or weren't there emotionally, bothered me. I did really like the psychological aspect, especially with the horror. The Vours, or as there called in the book, are these shadows/dark mists that take over your body a trap you in your worst fears in your mind, trying to keep hope that you will escape before you either die or become completely devoured by your fears. I really liked the Vours aspect of the book and there are a few cliffhangers/questions about one of the characters (Eben) that makes me want to read the rest of the series. I read this book once before back in 2012, and when I read the summery to the last/third book in the series I ended up not wanting to read the second or third in the series, because the summery for the third book gives a big spoiler to the ending of the second book away. So my advice is if you do read the first book and want to continue with the series, don't read the summery to the third book before you read the second book through. Although thanks to the third books summery I know whats going to happen at the end of the second book, I will be reading the rest of the series.


Thanks to first being very busy mid Nov. and getting very sick at the end of Nov. I had to put The Devouring series, The Montrumologist, and the 2 in 1 Chaos Walking Omnibus, onto Dec. T.B.R. list so I am now hoping to read and finish 13 more books this Dec., and finish 50 physical books for the year of 2014 (Not including the 6 short stories/novellas I have on my kindle).

Hope everybody has/had a great day : )

SYLO book review

I ended up having a situation and didn't have time for reading so I'm going to be reading The Monstrumologist and the Chaos Walking 2 in 1 Omnibus next month, which means I hopefully I will read 12 books next month. Also for next year I will be doing something different to decide what books I'm am going to read on my To Be Read book selves.


SYLO (The SYLO Chronicles book #1 of 3) by D.J. MacHale

Paperback, 416 pages
Read: Nov. 23 and 25
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Adventure
Summery: THEY CAME FROM THE SKY
parachuting out of military helicopters to invade Tucker Pierce's idyllic hometown on Pemberwick Island, Maine.
They call themselves SYLO and they are a secret branch of the U.S. Navy. SYLO's commander, Captain Granger, informs Pemberwick residents that the island has been hit by a lethal virus and must be quarantined. Now Pemberwick is cut off from the outside world.
Tucker believes there's more to SYLO's story. He was on the sidelines when the high school running back dropped dead with no warning. He saw the bizarre midnight explosion over the ocean, and the mysterious singing aircraft that traveled like shadows through the night sky. He tasted the Ruby - and experienced the powers it gave him - for himself.
What all this means, SYLO isn't saying. Only Tucker holds the clues that can solve this deadly mystery.
LOOK TO THE SKY
because Pemberwick is only the first stop.

Review: This story starts off with the night of Marty Wiggins death. This story was hard for me to get into, but once I did it was an exciting story. The high school running backs death, and the bizarre midnight explosion, and singing aircraft, both happen in the first two chapters of the book and including those the first 74 pages were dull for me. when I got to page 75 (Chapter 8) is when things really picked up, SYLO has appeared. The first 74 pages felt dragging to me, and took me 2 hours just to get through, I couldn't get a feel for the characters, and I didn't feel like I knew them, that continued on through the whole story quite a bit, so for me this was more of a world and plot driven book instead of a character driven book, so if you don't like very little character background/information then you might want to keep this in mind if you decide to read this book. While it did drag in the beginning,mainly because there was very little background on the characters, once SYLO had started to show up the story evolved into a fun and exciting book. Sadly, I didn't really have a favorite character, although I did enjoy Tori and Quinn more than the others, I did enjoy them well enough, I just couldn't connect to any of them. I'm surprised that I liked this story as much as I did because normally the books that I end up really enjoying are more character driven than plot/world driven books. But I did really enjoy this book and definitely want to read the sequel (it left on a pretty big cliff hanger) the main reason being I want to read more about the plot and world. If you think the book sounds interesting and you end up finding that the beginning is dragging then I would suggest at least reading up to when SYLO show up and see if you start getting interested then, the thing to keep in mind is that this is not a character driven book.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Legend book review

Legend (Legend book #1 of 3.5) by Marie Lu

Paperback, 305 pages
Read: Nov. 18
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Action, Adventure, Romance
Summery: From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths...
Until June's brother is murdered, and Day becomes the prime suspect.
In a shocking turn of events, the two uncover what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to keep its secrets.

Review: The story starts from Day's P.O.V. in Lake Sector, with Day hidden from view watching the soldiers doing routine plague checks. 10 pages later we switch to June's P.O.V. at Drake University in Batalla Sector, June is in the dean's secretary's office again. The pacing for this story reminds me of the Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee, as well as The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner, this story has a fast pace to it, and feels like a movie playing in my head, which I really enjoyed. I really liked both Day and June, as well as June's brother Metias, Day's brother John, and Tess. I did end up figuring out the situation with Metias around the second time we switch to June's P.O.V. (I suspected what happened in the first 20 pages), as well as figuring out what was going on with the plague virus's about page 118, I don't know if this was because of how the writing played out or if I've read too many Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic books that I what was going on with those two situations.But either way I did really like the story. Of course with Young Adult novels comes romance, while the romance doesn't really come about until around 100 pages so I got to know both characters enough that it didn't feel fast, but it did develop quite fast. I really liked this book, and can't wait to read the rest in the other two in this series. I also really liked the fact that through out the book June and Day's P.O.V's were short (anywhere from 1 to 12 pages), so you could get their perspectives on events quickly, I also liked that you could tell who's P.O.V. you were reading not only from a personality perspective, but each part has their name on the corner of the page, as well as June's type being in black and Day's type being in a matte gold color, the boldness of the lettering is also different June's being Thin and Day's being slightly thicker.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Darkest Minds + In Time book review

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds book #1 of 3.5) by Alexandra Bracken

Paperback, 488 pages
Read: Nov. 15 - 16
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Summery: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Review: The prologue starts out with the very beginnings of Ruby's breakout of Thurmond. The first chapter starts with Grace Somerfield. This story is about a girl named Ruby, who as a ten years old is sent to Thurmond, a disturbing “rehabilitation camp”, which "controls" kids who have special powers. The world in which Ruby lives, the newest generation of kids either end up with IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration) and end up dying at the age of ten, or they end up with abilities, each one with a different color. (From least to most dangerous) Greens have a heightened intelligence as their power, Green is considered one of the less dangerous powers. Blues have the power to move objects with their minds, Also known as telekinesis. Blue is considered one of the less dangerous powers. Yellows have the power to create and control electricity, Also known as electrokinesis, They are considered one of the more dangerous powers. Oranges have the power to control minds, They also have the ability to read, alter, and destroy memories, Orange is considered one of the more dangerous powers. Their ability to manipulate and hear other's thoughts makes them especially dangerous, This causes some of them to go insane or not be able function correctly upon reentering their own bodies. Because of this, Oranges are often killed or relocated in Rehabilitation Camps, such as Thurmond. Reds have the power to create and control fire, Also known as pyrokinesis, Red is considered one of the more dangerous powers. The Blue, Yellow, and Orange powers are what you spend the most time on. I liked Ruby, with the events that happen through the the story I can understand her fear of herself, as well as others with similar powers to hers. I loved the relationships she had with Liam, Suzume (Zu), and Charles (Chubs), My favorites characters being Chubs and Zu. Although I know most Young Adult books/series, if not all, have to have a romance, I wish this one didn't, for me the characters fit better as friends. I really liked the world, along with the concepts that went into making it. The ending, though did leave me upset. I would like to read the other full novels along with the short novella/story in this series.


Next up, I did end up buying and reading the short novella/story, so I am going to review now.

In Time (The Darkest Minds book #1.5 of 3.5) by Alexandra Bracken

ebook, 89 pages
Read: Nov. 17
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Summery: Gabe's life has been devastated in the wake of the economic crash. The only option left for someone like him to escape his tragic past is to leave his small town behind and to attempt to become a skip tracer. This already almost impossible task is made all the more difficult by his first score, a young girl who won't speak, but who changes his life in ways he could never imagine.

Review: The prologue starts right before Zu meets Gabe. The first chapter is from Gabe's P.O.V.  a while before he meets Zu. This story takes place after the events of The Darkest Minds but before Never Fade. It follows the characters Zu and Gabe, as Zu tries to get to California. Even though I wish it was longer to flesh out the story a bit more I really enjoyed it. I liked Gabe well enough, but my favorite character was Zu. I liked the relationship between Zu and Gabe, although with how short the story was it did end up felling a bit rushed. I also liked the tiny bit of background you get on Liam before he got captured and sent to one of the camps.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )