Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall by Susan Ee


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How I got it: I own a copy, and shall never part from it...

This book is absolutely amazing. When I first started it I was really apprehensive. So many people have recommended this to me and the reviews have been uber-positive. I really wanted to like this one, especially since the premise sounded amazing. So without further ado, my review...

I loved the characters. A lot of times in Young Adult lit, you can't rely on the characters or the writing. They don't feel or sound believable, and often times I hate the female characters who are written as whiny, spineless bitches. But not in this case. I loved Penryn, her attitude, her strength, and I found it entirely believable.

The story line was a lot of fun. At first I thought a lull was coming. I held my breath, anticipating a disappointment, but there was none. Without giving anything away, let me just say the author is probably the only person who could have pulled this plot off. By the end I was sure that no other story teller could have done such a good job.

Honestly, most of this book was me preparing to wince, and then being more than pleasantly surprised at how situations were handled. Face it, if you read this book, there are countless areas the author could have buried herself in. But she didn't. Holy shit she was spot on at ever possible turn.

I don't know how to write this review without gushing, so I'll just say this. Everything was so authentic, so believable, from the writing to the dialogue, that it was just an absolute thrill ride and pleasure to read. Absolute favorite.

Review: Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How I got it: I own the entire series now, :) Author love...

I used to be your average, everyday girl but all that changed one night in Dublin when I saw my first Fae, and got dragged into a world of deadly immortals and ancient secrets. . . .

In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must find the Sinsar Dubh—a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she can’t trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and powerful men: V’lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as irresistible as he is dangerous.

For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them.

So happens the second in the Fever series by one of my new favorite authors, Karen Marie Moning. This book was a great addition and twist to the first, and I think a personal improvement for the author. The plot is such; Mac is a young girl from the states who is trying to solve her sister's murder in Dublin, Ireland, and afterwards enact revenge on whoever was responsible. The paranormal catch is Fae, both dark and light, who are responsible for not only the death of her sister but also some unspeakable evil that has plagued the human world for all time. (Spicey, I know). The cast of players also includes V'lane, a Seelie Prince who is determined to sleep with her, and Barrons, an arrogant bastard and my clear favorite. It is unclear who is on the same side as Mac or if they even have sides at all.

First to the writing... I believe this is Moning's first attempt at a series that is not heavily romance, which I applaud her for. She has a wonderful writing voice, and I think her only setback is her tendency to laden the plot and characters with characteristics found in a romance. For example, her main character Mac is a little prissy and too pink for the book's taste, if you ask me, and Moning can't just break her down into being a heroine rather than a Southern Belle who gets her panties in a twist if her nail polish isn't right. Otherwise I really love her writing, the book is written in first person and the language really runs nicely with the plot.

I love the world-building. I'm not sure exactly what is original and what is not, at times. This is my first fae series so I can't distinguish between Moning's creativity and what she has borrowed from already established lore. Regardless it's all very rich and I've really enjoyed how structured it is and how well it compliments her characters. Her characters are a lot of fun as well. Mac gets on my nerves still, but she's a lot more tolerable in this book than she was in the first. Maybe I'm not a very forgiving reader?

I think this book would do well with readers who are interested in the subject or have already been swimming around in some YA paranormal series and want to dip their toes into something more adult. This is a "no fluff attached" series, so tread carefully. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series and more of her writing. This is a definite read for people who love the paranormal genre and want to discover a new series.



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Review: Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How I got it: Borrowed it from a friend, but want my own copy now!

When MacKayla's sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death - a cryptic message on Mac's cel phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Ma is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae...

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysteriou Jericho...while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane - an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women - closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands....

My mother upon seeing the book on my desk: “Is that a sex book?”
Me, as I look: “What? No.”
Mother: “It says moaning.”
Me, staring: “No, it says Moning. That’s the author’s last name.”
Mother: “Oh…” Pauses. “It still looks like a sex book.”

Sex book it is, my dear friends, at least a little bit. Karen Marie Moning, a resident romance writer, steps out of her box, so she claims, to create a urban fantasy series that has readers, this one included, itching to read more.

Mac, the main character of the novel, flies to the grand city of Dublin after the murder of her sister, when city police run out of leads and drop the investigation. While picking up the pieces of her sister’s last weeks alive, she discovers what she truly is, and what might have lead her sister to her death; she’s a sidhe seer, a person who can see the fae. Soon she discovers the mysterious, and gorgeous, Jericho Barrons. Although they can’t seem to stand each other’s company, they need each other. She needs his expertise in the fae world to close the case of her sister’s murder. He needs her ability to sense the fae to find a long sought after dark book.

Ah, yes, this book is lots of fun. Along with the great world building, and the witty and fast paced writing, Moning’s plot keeps the characters rolling. Barrons is just this sexy beast that you want to glomp, and cheer on when he has his frequent and high spirited comments towards the main character. He has to be one of my favorite male main characters of my reading so far this year. He’s mysterious, crafty, hot, and he owns a book shop. How is that not exactly what readers like us desire?

The main character herself is something to be desired…

This book almost caught four stars because of the author’s writing around the main character. Moning is a romance writer, but this book is by far not a bodice-ripper. This is urban fantasy, and she should have stuck with that when she started down that road. I imagine that partway through this book Moning had this sort of conversation with herself, “Wow, look at this plot. Damn, look at these characters! I have something going here, urban fantasy, I think. But I usually don’t write this… What should I do? Run with it and have fun? Nah, I’ll shove some crap in there because I just can’t help myself.”

Not only was she trying to push sex driven scenes, but she was also trying to turn the main character into something she’s not. I’ll be blunt, Mac is nothing but a superficial Barbie. When I thought she should be trying to catch her sister’s killer and save the world, she was worrying about her favorite nail polish being discontinued. And I have never, ever, in my life read a character that was nothing more than a skank towards herself. I don’t know if Moning just couldn’t handle writing first person, but in several places Mac had to go off on a rant about how she looked AND how perky her boobs were and how all the other boys just wanted her. Really? She wasted so much time describing her outfit for the day instead of the other characters, the setting, etc… It set my teeth on edge.

I have been promised, however, that Mac becomes a kick arse heroine by the end of the series, and that book two is much better. I did see something of a transformation in her, but I still must shake my head at Moning and ask her how daft she could have possibly been.

But this is something of a sex book, like I said, only… erm, not the usual sex. V’lane, a death by sex fae prince, can apparently just walk up to her and send her over the edge. You heard right, poor Mac gets laid without even getting touched. (Poor thing.) But aside from the inhuman man whore, there was such a variety of evil, grotesque looking fae that it was like being on some hellish, fictional safari. Fun, fun!

I am really, really excited to read the next book. I have fallen in love with most of the characters and all of them have promised to be loads of fun in the future. I love the plot, and the intricate details of the plot promises the rest of the series will be just as awesome.




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Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How I got it: I own a copy.

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.
To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?
In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City’s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Note: The following review is assuming that you’ve already read the first book in The Mortal Instrument series.

Cassandra Clare brings back her wonderfully witty characters in the second book of her much loved series, The Mortal Instruments. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I sat down to start this book, as those of you who read the first book are well aware how amazing the series started out.

Let’s grab a short recap if it’s been a while since you’ve read the series. Clary, our main character, was pulled into the rude of Shadowhunters and blatantly shown that mythical creatures no longer belong on the pages of children’s books. She learns she’s not human, or a Mundane as Shadowhunters call them, but rather the daughter of the murderous Valentine, who seeks to gain control over everything his dark mind can reach with the help of his home grown demon army. By the end of the first book, not only does Valentine have the Mortal Cup, the first Mortal Instrument, but we also find that Clary and Jace, the handsome, rogue Shadowhunter she developed strong feelings for, are brother and sister.

City of Ashes comes as the much anticipated next book in the series. Readers not only want to delve back into the plot, but they want to see the continuation of their favorite characters.

It becomes known that Jace is Valentine’s father and from there the trust is lost in him. His adoptive mother finds his presence painful. People who have known him for years question if he is truly ignorant of having been Valentine’s father all this time. The Inquisitor, a woman on edge with a personal vendetta, accuses Jace of fraternizing with the enemy and locks him up in the City of Bones for trial.

But Valentine, up to his tricks, won’t have that happen. The man is looking forward to having his son by his side when he begins his war. His involvement in Jace’s life only strengthens the beliefs of people like the Inquisitor that the young man is not on their side.

Clary feels torn between the people she loves most in this book. Simon, her childhood friend, expresses deep feelings with her while battling with the fear that he is getting pulled into her world a little deeper than he had wanted. Jace seems to have his own opinion on the matter that Clary is his sister. Her mother is still in a coma that doesn’t seem to be breaking, she has no affection for her father, a man she would have preferred staying lost, and she clings to Luke, the man who is like her father and he only link to her past when she wasn’t fighting demons to keep her life.

I’m not going to tell you how amazing this book is, because if you thought that way about the first book, the second will just confirm your suspicions that this series wreaks of awesome. You will laugh, scream, scowl, and smile while reading this book, and Clare will not for any reason give you a time to rest in between. Many, many questions arise by the end of this book, and then the book ends, with a shock, and leave you sitting their whilst waving and laughing.

It is such a tease.



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Review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How I Got It: Copy from my library.

A masterful work of dark, haunting power by the author of the bestselling graphic novel "The Sandman". The day after Richard Mayhew rescues a young girl he finds bleeding on the sidewalk, his life is radically changed. He finds himself living in an underworld that exists in a subterranean labyrinth beneath London.

First of all, before I get into my review, I’d like to try explain to you what sort of book Neverwhere is. Bear with me, and I’m sure that at least a few of you will know what I am talking about.

Picture that you are out and about, whether alone or with friends, or just clicking around the internet. Now a book comes your way. You’ve never heard of the title, and you may or may not be familiar with the author. The book is not a title people are tripping over each other to get to, and perhaps it was published a few decades back. So you take this title and you write it down someplace, a scrap of paper in your wallet, add it to a shelf on Goodreads where it gets swallowed up, or maybe your risking committing it to memory. You really do mean to read this book, but be honest, other books get in the way, and nobody else is pushing this one enough where you are reminded to stop off at the library one afternoon.

That is Neverwhere, a hidden gem in the book world that everybody should get their hands on because it’s a really, really good book. This book shouldn’t be forgotten, you should be like me and order the book from your library the day I heard of it, and you should read it.
The story follows Richard Mayhew, a Londoner with the seemingly perfect life. He has a good job, a nice apartment, a fiancé, and a drinking buddy. He thinks his life is perfect, and it’s obvious he loathes change. But change comes when one evening he comes across a girl on the curb, looking homeless, but severely injured. The moment he picks her up in his arms to help her, his life will never be the same.

Soon he’s pulled down to London Below, another world beneath his faithful city in the sewers and the tunnels, where rats are regarded as royalty, the homeless look down on people like Richard, and there is a certain magic that is hard to explain. He meets Door, a princess in her own right, who has the power to open things, whether they can be opened or not is no challenge to her, and create doors where there were no doors before. Door is determined to avenge the brutal slaying of her family, and although she doesn’t intentionally do so, Richard gets pulled into her world.
And so Richard, because now no one in London Above knows who he is, even if he does manage get their attention. In London Below he is determined to find a way back home, even if that means traveling on trains in the tube with Earls, pulling information out of a man covered in feathers, facing an ordeal of the black friars, and keeping one step ahead of two uncharacteristic killers for hire.

I loved this book. This book was ridiculously fun, and Neil Gaiman’s writing is witty and off the wall. With every twist I was left wanting more, and no matter how strange his world building may have seemed, he wrote it in such a way that I was sold on the idea before he even wanted me to buy it. His writing just caught me and left me wondering, “Why the heck don’t I read this guy more?!”

The plot was so in depth that I started feeling a little homeless. Well, you know what I mean. Things made sense and I was rolling with the rules of his world better than the main character was.

I couldn’t put this book down. I was reading it with a friend and when she got through her reading for the day I had to embarrassingly admit that I was several chapters ahead of her and I still wasn’t down reading. I read in the car, at my computer, and was up to three in the morning to finish the last one hundred pages. After I did finish it I sat there wishing there was a sequel or at least several hundred more pages.

And may I just say this book ended in a way I think more books like this should end.
This book is set in the sewers, by the way. I say this because we all know what’s beneath our feet in cities. Sewage pipes, tunnels, old subway lines. This was the setting, and it was constructed perfectly. The three dimensional representation of the underground was just amazing, and as someone who reads as much as I do, I really demand that the setting is planned out with detail. And particularly when the book is set in the sewers, well I darn right demand that the details are there. I’m picky about my sewage.

Needless to say I wanted more during the book and at the end of the book. I still want more. I’ll probably finish this review and go online to find more. I’ll have a list at the end of the next hour of books by Gaiman I don’t want to get my hands on, but books I need to get my hands on.

This book is just fantastic and one of the most fun books I have had the pleasure of reading this year. Go out and get your copy.

Disclaimers: This book has some suggestive dialogue and occasional strong language.



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Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Radhika Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How I Got It: I own a copy.

In an overgrown churchyard, a grizzled convict springs upon an orphan named Pip. The convict terrifies the young boy and threatens to kill him unless Pip helps further his escape. Later, Pip finds himself in the ruined garden where he meets the bitter and crazy Miss Havisham and her foster child Estella, with whom he immediately falls in love. After a secret benefactor gives him a fortune, Pip moves to London, where he cultivates great expectations for a life which would allow him to discard his impoverished beginnings and socialize with the idle upper class. As Pip struggles to become a gentleman and is tormented endlessly by the beautiful Estella, he slowly learns the truth about himself and his illusions.

Great Expectations.

It’s one of those novels so many of us have heard of but we haven’t sat down to read. Why? Who knows. It’s like that with a lot of books and frankly it’s sad. I can tell you the only reason it took me this long to read it is because I had no idea what it was about. That’s super sad, isn’t it? I should have a better excuse than that, but I don’t.

One day during an outing to my local bookstore, I decided to buy some classics. Many of you know that Barnes and Noble as a buy two and get the third free sale on their classics, so I decided to load up. I was buying some particular titles that I’d always meant to read, and GE was one of them. And, to my surprise, I decided to just pick it up one day because it was sitting close by and read it.

GE follows Pip, a young fellow raised by his uncle and sister in a small village in England. His future has been decided as he’s declared an apprentice at his brother in-law’s blacksmith’s shop. After a strange childhood punctuated with criminals, he discovers, much to his surprise, that he has been given a great fortune by an unnamed benefactor.

The novel then goes on to tell the story of how Pip moves to London to become a gentleman. He meets a good sort of peculiar characters and graduates from country boy to young man living on the high. Then follows several chapters of what is to be expected from letting his head get too big, and his wallet too skinny, and all the while the mystery of the mysterious benefactor follows him.

I lot of people are turned away by classics that haven’t been publicized as something modern or romantic. I find that once a classic has been translated into a movie in recent years, then somehow everyone is running out to read it and declare its mastery.

Great Expectations is a classic mystery that just happens to have been written several decades ago instead of in the past ten years. It’s a classic and a wonderful classic at that.

The book moved quicker at some parts and slower at others. There were some areas I was curious why Dickens had to include them at all, but it wouldn’t be Dickens without them. (It also wouldn’t be Dickens without his sarcasm laced within the pages.) His characters are super memorable, and I love pip’s character I think most young people who have been given some sort of freedom, like money, a car, going off to college, etc… have been in his shoes.

I would go so far as to say this is a classic novel that would translate well for mostly young adult readers. If you’re used to reading a lot of YA and want a classic to work through, as everybody should get through at least one a year, then this is a great choice.

Furthermore, I love Dickens. Some people hate his writing, but I don’t. I think he’s witty and imaginative. Don’t believe the Dickens haters, just find out for yourself.

Happy reading!


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Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*** Spoiler Alert - If you don’t want to ruin the book for yourself, please take caution when reading ahead… ***

I was super excited when I sat down to read this book. I loved the first one in the series and I was told that my issues with the first book would be cleared up in the second. What issues? I had problems with the characters going along with the demands of the Capitol and not rebelling enough. So I was told by more than one person that this changes in Catching Fire, which it does and which makes me happy.

So the book goes on with Katniss being a victor and going on with her Victory Tour with Peeta before returning home. There are obvious signs of unrest in Panem which she can’t help but encourage. The Quarter Quell is approaching, the special anniversary of the games where they make them extra “special,” is well on it’s way. The announcement calls for previous victors to be reaped and called back into the arena.

This is really my only problem with this book. I was terrified of this happening and in my crazy plot brain-storming I sort of thought this would happen. More games. Don’t get me wrong, they were interesting in the first book, but now it’s like Miss Collins can’t write about this society without having half, if not more, of each novel set in the games. Even when I read through the rest of this book and saw the end of these “games” I was still a little bothered by them having to occur at all.

That said, when the novel finally came to and end I was pleased with where it was heading for the final installment. I love a good uprising, and this is one of those few books in my entire existence of reading that has brought out such an emotional reaction from me.

Much less annoying issues I had with this book include the speed. I don’t know what Collins was after in some parts. At first she’s going at a fine pace and all, details riddling the pages, emotions in every corner of the paragraphs, and then in a few short lines she’s jumped ahead several weeks or months like we’re supposed to just assumed what happened anyway. It didn’t ruin any of the story for me, but I was still shaking my head and wish she’d done so a little more fluidly.

Second, the love triangle is confusing the crap out of me. Who is Katniss in love with? At first it’s Gale, and she’s so sorry for what she’d done to Peeta, dragging him along and all. Then she’s in love with Peeta and can’t stand not to be out of his arms and thoughts of Gale are nowhere to be seen. I just wish there’d be a healthy page somewhere the outright explains what’s going on with her screwed up love life.

But onto the book…

Once again I commend Miss Collins for her dystopian world that is so screwed up you can‘t help but want to dive in. It’s only the second book, and I read the first book a little while ago, but when I read this one I felt as if I’d never left. I suppose you really bring out the Hunger Games fan in you when you understand it all and “know the drill” so to speak.

If you are considering reading this book because you read the first I highly suggest you do so. I feel it was much more in depth and driven than the first. It gets down to the main idea of the plot and the reason I think we all want to sit down and read these books.




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Review - Jane Eyre by Charlotte

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I wish to highly apologize to not only myself, but every other self-respecting reader out there. I am SORRY. I don’t know why I did it, but I did. I can’t apologize enough and I regret every moment of my life having done so.

I watched the newer movie version before I read the book.

Reading the book was inevitable, and SURPRISE! The movie ended up under the Christmas tree before I had my hands on the book, and I got bored one night. Don’t yell at me, just let me go on with my review and deal with it.

I was once told that Jane Eyre was something like Pride and Prejudice which excited me because PaP is one of my absolute favorite novels. Then I was told, in large numbers, that the two books had little in common at all, which confused me but made me want to read the book all the more.

Let’s start with a quick overview. Jane Eyre’s parents die, and she’s raised by one of those aunts you’d rather use as firewood. Aunt gets sick of Jane and sends her away to a school, where she’s raised as Plain Jane for the rest of her life until she’d old enough to leave. She gets a job as a governess at a large, imposing hall and finds out her employer is sort of a crack-pot.

This book wreaks of gothic lore and dark, shadowy places you’d prefer not to stick your hand into. This I loved. This is one of those books I’d use during my lecture concerning how stupid genres are. A lot of people, including, it seems, the movie director, would like to claim that this is a romance. Well if that’s the only tag you can give this book I feel extremely sad for you and I’d really rather you never touch a book again.

More people feel that the novel surrounds Jane’s romance with Rochester, which isn’t true. This is a nineteenth century biography of a girl who comes of age, finds herself, faces demons, and eventually finds love. I do agree with those who say this is a piece of literature that illustrates a strong degree of feminine independence. I highly doubt that in that age, a woman of Jane Eyre’s upbringing would be as brave and outspoken as she is in the novel. (I feel this is a reflection of Miss Brontë’s own beliefs at the time.)

I will try to write the rest of my review without saying, “I loved this book because I major in British Literature and this is the crap I dive into because I love it.”

I loved the mystery of this book. A lot happens in and around the house and to Jane that really pulled me in. I was so happy to find the novel wasn’t so romantic that I wanted to throw it to the wall. It was a very dark piece of literature with a witty twist in the end that really spoke of the horrors, and of the real face of the nineteenth century without the façade once presented.

I think this is a classic that a lot of people will enjoy, even if they don’t necessarily reach for the classics on their shelves. It’s a brick of a novel, which is wonderful anyway because I love a book that will take me a while to get through, but it is so worth it. If you want a break from the usual, please check this one out.

Really, I don’t know how to make this any clearer, aside from giving this its own paragraph. Do not assume you know what this book is about. I can’t tell you how many arrogant people have claimed to know exactly what happens in this book, and they’ve been horribly wrong. It sort of upsets me, because they’re usually the people who force something in my face. At least give it a chance, although you should do that for every book, eh…?

I also want to say I have this book in one of those sexy, Penguin clothbound editions. SEXY. I get high just frigging holding this book. I didn’t even have to read it to think it was awesome. This classic series just makes me want to squee.

Review: All These Things I've Done by Gabreielle Zevin

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidentally poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

Organized crime is intriguing. You can’t possibly look at the criminal structure and not be amazed by it. Now, to be honest, the only mafia I don’t think is full of douche bags is the Italian Mafia. (I am so getting whacked for this…) But seriously, they might extort and kill every so often, but compared to gangs that kill children on street corners and destroy families, they’re really the least violent group of criminals you can find.


So when I read the back of All These Things I’ve Done when I received the arc, I was so ready for this.


Set in the future, it follows Annie, the daughter of a now slain crime boss, as she tries to carry on her life with her dependent family, her quirky friends, and eventually, her boyfriend, the son of the Assistant DA. Annie’s family is in the illegal chocolate business (yes, they made chocolate against the law…), and she pops into speakeasies every so often for a scandalous cup of coffee (also illegal). The plot balances her life as a regular teenager with the usual family difficulties, and her life as the daughter of a mob boss who’s ‘crime family’ leads her to the worst circumstances.


So let me start with the goods of this book. I really did love it, the idea was fun, and the author really worked well with it. I loved the characters, they were unique in their own way, and it was a relief to find characters that weren’t cliché, as found in most YA fiction. Even though this book had a heavy dose of romance, it was perfectly mixed with drama, action, and mystery so that the multiple plots woven worked together so that the book could appeal to all my senses. Honestly, I can’t stand books that base their entire plot on romance, because that’s not really a plot… That’s something you find in high schools that make you want to dry heave. This book had a plot, kudos to the author.


Simply put, this book was fun as heck to read. I just loved Annie and Win, I loved how honest the story-telling was, how sarcastic (in a good way) it could get, and how you couldn’t tell how emotionally driven the book was until it slapped you in the face. But the kind of slap your best friends gives you when she’s trying to tell you how awesome something is, not the kind of slap you give your arch-nemeses. It never failed to deliver, and there weren’t any lulls in the book, something I hate. I wanted to read this book, every page of it, and I didn’t find myself feeling like I could care less whether I decided to read it or not.


Things I did have issue with was the pacing; at times important scenes seemed rushed, scenes that would have been a lot more powerful if the author had taken her time with them. Also, Annie, the main character, was incredibly strong, this is what made me love her all the more, but at times her relationship with Win, her boyfriend, made her seem weak and a little desperate.


I still absolutely loved this book, and I am beyond pumped that this is a series. I can’t wait to read the next book, I’d honestly love the arc to book two as well, but that’s never going to happen. I think this is how young adult fiction is supposed to be written. It’s raw and straight-forward. It left behind the young adult fiction we all know and loathe and projected adult circumstances and themes into a piece of fiction that young people, and adults a like, should be able to enjoy without a single complaint.

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Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

After seeing all the hype that surrounded ‘The Hunger Games’ I decided to read the book. There seemed to be a serious following of people who didn’t look like raving fangirls flipping shit over sparkly boys with no personality, so it had to be a win, right? Right!

Te book was actually pretty good, I really enjoyed it, and although the book wasn’t a completely original idea, it was a refreshing read from what most Young Adult fiction has to offer these days. When I read through it, I could easily see places where the author was at risk for tripping up and ruining the novel, but she didn’t Instead I walked away with what appears to be a new favorite!

In an effort to somehow organize my review, I’m dividing it into three sections. So here goes…

The Good

I actually loved the characters Katniss, the narrator of the novel, was a strong willed female character with just the right faults to make her human and not a moron. I loved her strength and voice, and her overall being. I think she was the perfect candidate to carry this story forward, and I don’t think the book would have been as wonderful if it hadn’t been her telling it. Then there is Peeta, who I just LOVE. He’s an amazing man, and he is amazing because of his GASP! personality! He’s smart, witty, humble and devoted. I’m sure he’s also quite handsome, but I love him for his character as a whole.


The games I think were planned and written in such a fashion that it made them unlike anything I had expected. And what a relief, too! I was afraid, when starting this book, I would grow bored when things seemed to fall into place, but I was happy to see Miss Collins could navigate the idea so wonderfully.


Violence! Oh, sweet violence… I love violence. I mean, not in a creepy way, but damn. YA books everywhere have all these sex and stupidity, and then no violence. Why the heck not? Be honest with the kids. I’m so glad for the raw violence in this book.

The planning of the book, the setting, the plot was simple, but you could see how well it worked. SO glad for this, and it’s really why the book is as amazing as it is.


The Bad

There were times this book was a little corny and I wonder where Collins got the idea for some of the details. They were just off the beaten path and I didn’t know how to react to some things. I was laughing, but not with her.


Sometimes the plot seemed to take a turn when it was most convenient for the characters. It gave me whiplash when I had to read over something that turned the book in an entirely different direction, but didn’t really convince me of how well it fell in with the rest of the plot.


Sometimes Katniss just bugged me with what she was thinking about or where she was directing her energy, especially before the games. At times, I guess I could just say she acted out of character.

The thing with the dogs at the end really was lost with me. I just went through this emotional ride with the death of characters. Violent, horrible deaths, and I think they should have been left like that. The mutated dogs made from/with the dead contestants just went down a path that didn’t seem like the rest of the book’s style

Questions I have but will wait for the next book. I don’t think they are holes in the plot, just missing information that could go for or against the overall rating of this book.

Where the hell is the rest of the world? Seriously, there is an entire world out there, and after what seems to be some sort of war, I want to know what’s happening outside of Panem, if anything. Are there other countries, were they destroyed, are they in the same political chaos as Panem? Are there people in Europe realizing that there is something wrong with Panem, do they know about the wrong doings, do they care? I just couldn’t believe that the rest of the world is just… blah.

About this rebellion… what about it? What did the people face? A military? If so, where is it? Why are these people so loyal to this political movement? Why are people at the Capitol okay with this? I understand that the districts are forced into participating in the games, but there are people running this show that apparently think it’s okay. Not to mention the people waving banners and sponsoring this shit. Are they just crazy or are they playing along as well?

Is there going to be another revolt, is my biggest question. This book had a lot of people somewhat speaking out against their government, but I’m not going to read three books about people just complaining and not acting. I know there is fear and forces to stop them, but please, this book is screaming for a revolution. (I seriously think it’s going to happen, but I just had to say this…)


In conclusion… I really liked this novel. It was witty, fun, violent, harsh, emotional, and raw. I loved the characters, I laughed with them and cried with them. It’s sort of a little gem of what YA novels should be, and what a lot of fiction should model. I’m so glad I got to read this, : )





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Review: Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this case, Special Agent Pendergast doesn't want only justice; he seeks revenge. His wife Helen has been murdered, and his hunt for her killer will take him to faraway places and lead him to dangerous contacts. As his search takes him ever deeper into the secrets of Helen's life, he comes to the realization that the woman closest to him had held her secrets tightly. An exceptionally strong number of a bestseller series.

Preston-Childs fans unite, but be warned. This book is best read with the others underneath your belt. A least the one before it, Fever Dream, if you want to understand this one. The other ten if you want the full impact. Do not pick this book up going, ‘Oh! A week-end beach read!’ This is not a beach read. If you want knitting patterns and recipes, the cozy mysteries section is out back.


Once again Preston and Child both grasp the mysterious aspects of their most memorable characters, this time with the biggest mystery of all; whatever happened to Pendergast’s wife? Killed in Africa, or something else?


This review will be extremely short for many reasons. These books are to be shared among fans once completed. There is something of a following, where at the last page we grip out fellow fans by the shoulders in an overdose of joyful emotions and express our hopes and fears about the upcoming book and the book now finished.

This is one of the best in the series, sending the characters, and readers, off a precipice where we’ll have to wait and see where and how we land.

For those of you considering the series, please pick it up, and stick with it. The books are always beautifully written, the characters become instant favorites, and there is no genre or category with enough strength to keep these novels in. I love the style the prose, and the plots that I can never compare to anything else I’ve ever read. Some people have the ability to describe these books to inquiring fellow readers, I do not. I can only tell you to read them.

(If you are interested in discussing the book further because you have read it, feel free to message me.)


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Review: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . .


Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . . .

It has been years since I've read a book and fell in love with it without the least bit of hesitation. When I started reading 'The Eyre Affair,' moments later I had fallen in love, and this book became an instant favorite of mine. I LOVE this book.


Fforde's fictional world is priceless. The police state of England is populated by citizens who are damn serious about their literature. You can go to prison for trying to pass knock-offs of famous prose, and riots start between groups conflicting over who really wrote the works of Shakespeare. And you can literally step into a novel and interact with the characters of classic literature... or kidnap them.

Thursday next is an amazing gal, and the main character. She's a detective in literature, tracking down and nabbing the literature criminals. She's one of a kind, with Pickwick of course, her pet dodo, and really carries the novel forward. Along with Hades, the evil mastermind whose aim is to just... well, be evil, and to capture and kill literature's most beloved characters.


'The Eyre Affair' is beyond fun, witty, and creative. In a world where everything is upside down at times, Fforde manages to write his book with the utmost of distinction. He doesn't think twice about what he's crafting, and for that reason even the most comical of aspects comes off as just plain perfect. The characters as easy to fall in love with, and I found myself hanging on their every word an experience, whether professional or personal, I just loved the men and women in this novel.

Like I mentioned, instant favorite. A great mystery, sci-fi, drama, and comedy that really belongs in a category of its own. Don’t try and label this book, don’t give it a genre. It’s in a class all its own.



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Review: Thunderhead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Thunderhead by Douglas Preston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Archaeologist Nora Kelly is adrift in her career and her personal life when a violent, inexplicable incident leaves her in possession of a mysterious letter. Written by her father, who vanished sixteen years ago in the remote desert, the letter reveals the location of a legendary site hidden in the red rock canyon country of southern Utah: Quivira, the Anasazi Indians' wondrous lost city of gold.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child know how to scare the shit out of people.


I am a huge fan of Preston and Child. They have a way of writing thrillers that hit every emotion, that are unlike any other novel I’ve ever gotten my hands on, and they just plain make an impact.


Nora Kelly, an archeologist, receives a letter from her father who has been missing and presumed dead for decades. At the same time she is attacked by creatures that haunt her daydreams for weeks after. The letter tells of the legendary city of Quivara, a city of gold. With an expedition in toe, she leads the group into the canyons of the American west in search of the city and, unknowingly, danger.


As usual the authors are amazing writers, and I love their styles. It’s simple with a dash of something exotic. The characters are all fleshed out with an accuracy that helps you to follow their every move and believe their dialogue. They’re grisly, make you shudder and produce horror on an entirely new level.

There’s a mystery, which is answered with a twist and the most curious of answers. It’s never a cut and dry source for suspense, there are more elements that drag the reader deeper into the story.


Biased I may be, but I’m extremely picky when it comes to mysteries. I’ve read ones that are pure cliché and thrillers that just bore me with their corny premises. I praise these authors, and this book, because of how well it was written, how on the edge of my seat it pushes me, and because it’s a damn good thrill ride.


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Review: Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first of Jane Austen's published novels is the story of two starkly different English sisters: Elinor Dashwood, the epitome of prudence & self-control, and her younger, more impetuous sister Marianne, who embodies emotion, openness, & sheer enthusiasm.

Jane Austen has this ability to portray people at their very best, and at their very worse. So it is with her acclaimed novel, 'Sense and Sensibility.'



Portraying two sisters, two completely different sisters, rather, Austen paints a tale of false assumptions and loss of communication. There is a lack of common sense and a rarity of logical sensibility as lovers are bred, torn apart and thrown into a woe of unspeakable yet memorable romance that only Jane Austen could procure.



Jane Austen's writing style is just fantastic, and screams of all classic English can present but also simplifies the tone so that even the most commonplace reader might enjoy her craft. She tells the story of Miss Elinor and Miss Marianne Dashwood, two eligible and lovely ladies who each have their own ways of falling in love and each their own taste in men to catch them. As a variety of characters take the stage and several plots wind within each other to create a master tale, any reader can learn to appreciate the world of Jane Austen.



never believe quite what you are told by this lady writer. Miss Marianne quickly falls in love with Mr. Willoughby while her sister quietly develops affection for a young Mr. Ferrars. Family's dispute over money and rank, the amiable Colonel Brandon stays back stage to admire the woman he loves. Neighbors and cousins rush to and fro across the play to sometimes improve upon the story and other times tear it asunder.



Her fans will easily recognize this tale for being completely and truly her own, while other readers will pick up this book and fall in love with her for the first time. As a classic, it is hard for me not to just hand off the book and command for you to read it.





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