Published: 12th September 2012 by Dolce Books
Page Count: 248
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Incenaga Trilogy
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Debbie Dee: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: For generations the Incenaga Witches have been forced to use their power to fulfill the wishes of others until they are drained of their magic and left to die. Desperate to protect his infant daughter - the last surviving witch - Emmeline's father escapes with her to the forests where he vows to keep her hidden from the world and from the truth.
Sixteen years later, Emmeline is discovered and finds herself in the grip of a traitor who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means abusing her power until she dies. She is taken to a distant country and told she must marry the Crown Prince or her own country will be overtaken, its people slaughtered. But what sort of prince would marry a witch? And why would she be the difference between war and peace? As she fights to regain her freedom, she is faced with a choice between a prince who offers a lifetime of security and a common gamekeeper who has no idea of her power, but offers his heart. But who do you trust when your power can be used against you?
Review: I was lucky enough to see a post on Facebook about this being on the Amazon Kindle Lending Library and the day I saw it was the last day it was available too. I'm really happy I did because I had yet to decide what to borrow.
I wanted to love this book from page one, it had a great concept behind it and as Emmeline didn't know about her heritage or powers we found out about them along with her, whilst it was frustrating that everyone wanted to keep her in the dark - quite literally too as her power comes from fire - it was fine to deal with because of how the story developed. My actual issue was that for me the rest of the story was a little too predictable for my likings, it wasn't one hundred percent oh yes this is definitely going to happen for most of the story but it was still pretty obvious. I wouldn't let that put you off picking up the book though because this is something I deal with for most books and movies, I just have a natural talent for taking guessing with what's about to happen and more often than not, it does. I really need to stop doing that and to suspend my thoughts whilst trying to enjoy myself but that is easier said than done too - the only thing that I felt was very obvious was the Gamekeeper and his background, to me it was just too impossible that there wasn't more to him.
So I've pointed out why I didn't rate this book higher than three stars considering I really liked Emmeline's character development and I want to point out what else I liked too because it was a great read, just my brain lacks the ability to shut off. I believe one of my favourite things about this book is that we get to see how Emmeline's powers can be controlled by others, we get to see her at her weakest as well as her strongest, how she has no choice but to do others willings at times but also how she has to depend on another to control her if only for a brief moment to make guarantee their safety. Basically, I like how just because she's the main character with all this power behind her doesn't mean she always has to be strong and kicking butt. Also I think its set the scene well for the second book which I think will be a lot better and I'm looking forward to be able to read it.
Published: 22nd June 2011 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page Count: 444
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Standalone
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Paige Dearth: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Alessa is just seven years old when her uncle rapes her for the first time. As the years pass, his sexual appetite becomes more voracious and his perversion more twisted, until the abuse has become almost a daily ritual, with the unspoken involvement of the girl's mother.
At the age of sixteen, after the death of her only friend, Alessa finds herself at the mercy of her real-life monster, with no relief in sight. She flees her home to escape this hell, only to find herself descending into a more dangerous one. Alone and helpless in the streets of North Philadelphia, she encounters more human predators who want to take over her life and devour her. About to hit rock bottom, Alessa manages to break away from her new tormentors and finds refuge in a shelter for homeless and abused women.
Wherever she goes, however, trouble keeps seeking her out, until she meets three people who change the course of her life forever. Though Alessa's bittersweet journey is perpetually fraught with challenges, she does, nevertheless, manage to find fleeting moments of joy along the way. But as she begins to settle down, a ghost from the past comes to haunt her again, threatening to destroy the very foundation of her small world and plunging her back into an abyss of despair, until she makes her final bid for escape.
Review: I honestly do not think I've felt such a range of emotions throughout a book before, it has left me somewhat speechless As I was finishing up reading it I burst into tears, not just because what had happened on the page in front of me but because I'd held back such strong emotions throughout the every page, it certainly becomes a weight and really touches your heart. Sounds silly I know.
This story follows Alessa throughout her roller coaster of a life - and by this I don't mean its thrilling and exciting, I mean it has plenty of ups and downs - a few of my friends asked myself how I could possibly sit, read, by choice, and enjoy a book where rape and abuse happens for what feels like 80% of the book and I felt a little lost and first because it does seem an absurbed thing to do when I choose to read to relax and as first I did struggle getting through pages of the book but soon I found the more I read, the harder the book was to put down, whilst what I was reading was far from pleasant it was interesting, interesting to see how Alessa not only handled herself and the situations she was faced with time and time again, but to see how as a person she grew, bloomed if you will, into this amazing woman. Not only that, we can't simply sit back and pretend things like this don't happen, because they do and you'd have thought by now the world would have changed but its probably something that's never going to happen, no matter how hard we all wish.
Anyway back to Alessa and her story, like I said it really is a tragedy, but on her journey she gains a new family and gets to live and cherish a life that we all take for granted. It is an amazing book. I'm not even going to delve into the ending which led me tears, that is something you're going to have to read about for yourself. But just remember no matter how insignificant you feel, if you will it enough you can change your life and the lives of those around you and make a difference in this world. I really really recommend this book and that's why I'm giving it a 4.5 star rating, I can't quiet commit to the full 5 but wow, it's just amazing.
Published: 22nd December 2012 by Jen Meyers
Page Count: 50
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Intangible #0.75
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US
Jen Meyers: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Perhaps the most dangerous person to gain unimaginable power is the one who feels oppressed.
And full of wrath. For very good reason.
Review: So when I got the opportunity to request this novella for review from J. Meyers I simply couldn't resist and jumped at the chance. Boy I'm super glad I did too.
This novella accompanies her book Intangible which is the first in the series, which I enjoyed to pieces and my favourite character was Jonas. This story of course follows Jonas before our first meeting with him in Intangible as well as enlightening us on his life on the night he became a vampire, the death he had to deal with and what it was like becoming a vampire and visiting The Realm for the first time.
It was all pretty wonderful and honestly I just want more chapters/stories from Jonas' point of view 'cause he's so completely bad ass and still retains some form of humanity too! Fifty pages wasn't enough to quench my thirst so I'm just going to sit and wait somewhat patiently for the sequel of Intangible ;)
Published: 1st April 2011 by Sourcebooks
Page Count: 448
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Sinners on Tour #2
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Olivia Cunning: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: An ultimatum can break your heart.... Every night lead singer, Sed Lionheart whips thousands of women into a frenzy with his voice alone. But the stage is the only place Sed feels any passion since he lost Jessica... If you’re not willing to break all the rules... It shattered her heart, but law student Jessica broke off her engagement to Sed, determined to be successful on her own terms. But no other man can ever hold a candle to Sed... Then a chance meeting and tortuously close quarters lead to uncontrollable flares of passion and rediscovery of their unique penchant for public encounters. Now, in addition to the risk of mutual heartbreak every time they get together, they’re in danger of truly scandalous public exposure... .
Review: I didn't think I'd start this one so soon knowing it was based around Sed and how he gives nothing more but "Hey, I'm a giant dick" vibes, luckily though 9% of the way through whilst I still got these vibes from him, it was explained in a lot more detail as to why he was this way and honestly it made sense and I ended up feeling a little sorry for him cause whilst he is a dick, Jessica is just a giant bat-shit-crazy-I'm-going-to-manipulate-your-feelings kind of bitch and she wound me up non-stop.
As you can probably tell I didn't really enjoy this book as the first, I felt there were too many similarities present to the first book (band member being hurt and the couple figuring out whether they are even a couple or not) and that all their problems could have be solved so easily if they just sat down and spoke, or even shouted out, their problems and then we could have avoided a lot of the drama that Jess set out to cause. Of course though things do get sorted out and the ending is rather sweet but it was all a bit too much and distracted from everything else that was going on. I'm not going to stop the series though just cause this one was a downer for me though if someone could tell me which is the actual third book that would be a help and I'll probably get to it a little quicker.
Published: 15th August 2012 by Rena Willemin
Page Count: 336
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: End of Faith #1 (Series possibly cancelled)
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Rena Willemin: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Ninety-five percent of the world’s population perishes in the worst pandemic since the Black Plague and Valentina’s about to find out that surviving means enduring the wrath of a prophet determined to see her dead.
At the onset of the pandemic, Valentina deals with an absent husband, a self-absorbed mother, and grief over another miscarriage. As the death toll rises, the plague claims the lives of everyone she loves. Alongside a coalition of survivors, she fights for diminishing resources and navigates a society where uterus renting is a guaranteed meal ticket. When she rescues a pregnant woman from an attacker, she unknowingly helps the woman escape from her husband, a prophet who has amassed a legion of followers.
With a price on her head, Valentina’s on the run and grappling with feelings of guilt, isolation, and hopelessness. She’s just about given up all faith in humanity until she happens upon a girl left alone to fend for herself. The girl fulfills Valentina’s yearning to be a mother and she vows to protect her. Before she can live up to that promise, she comes face to face with the prophet who gives her a choice: carry his child, or die.
Review: I was given this book in return for an honest review, and boy am I glad I didn't turn it down, and I almost did seeing as though my to-read pile has been getting a little out of hand lately.
When I first started this book I didn't get attached to it straight away and that was because from first glances you've got a Prophet and a Rich Girl who are the voices behind the chapters, honestly I'm not too found of religious-ness in books because they often come in two forms - very bad or overly religious or even a combination of both - and I just kind of don't really get either (oh and this is totally the bad kind, think brainwashing young girls ready for breeding programmes) and then of course the Rich Girl, who I feel I should apologise too as I automatically assumed she was your usual rich snob who you can't relate too, but it turns out she's so very far from that and isn't actually all too rich, in fact all the preconceived facts I had about her perfectly describe her mother, and Val herself is headstrong (for the most part) and your ideal pal for wanting to survive the end of the world with. Kind of. I say kind of because well the whole point of this book is the fact she gets mixed up with the wrong kind of things, first of all she helps the pregnant lady mentioned in the synopsis which ends up getting her only friends dead, herself stabbed and homeless and in a bit of a pickle.
Luckily there was this really lovely guy - Wayne - who she met earlier on in the book so she stumbles across his house eventually which y'know could be a good thing but after four years of most of the world being dead he does end up only wanting one thing and she has to move on, it was a shame really cause he was pretty in the know with this new world they're living in.
But Val doesn't give up, nope she keeps trekking on, surviving and living! Whilst surviving on her own for what seems like an impossible amount of time she seeks refuge in one of many abandoned houses and whilst here a young girl and she takes it upon herself to look after and escape the confines of the prophets rule from here on forth I found it to be a really difficult book to put down as I just had to know how they were going to survive together and escape the never-relenting trackers, of course things don't go as smoothly as planned but I don't want to give much else away but we do get to have more of an insight into the life surrounding the prophet and how bad and low he is willing to stoop to get his own way.
Overall I enjoyed the story and it left me wanting to know what life would bring for Val later on, oh and my favourite character was actually Wayne because to me his was important as he was kind of the marker to illustrate just how much time had passed, how much humanity had dissolved and much people were willing to give up on and trade for to have a life similar to the past. I would definitely recommend it and I have high hopes for the sequel.
Published: 1st October 2010 by Sourcebooks Casablance
Page Count: 384
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Sinners on Tour series
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Olivia Cunning: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Five stunning guys, one hot woman, and a feverish romance... For him, life is all music and no play... When Brian Sinclair, lead songwriter and guitarist of the hottest metal band on the scene, loses his creative spark, it will take nights of downright sinful passion to release his pent-up genius... She's the one to call the tune... When sexy psychologist Myrna Evans goes on tour with the Sinners, every boy in the band tries to seduce her. But Brian is the only one she wants to get her hands on... Then the two lovers' wildly shocking behaviour sparks the whole band to new heights of glory... and sin...
Review: I hope you're super aware that I wasn't even going to bother reviewing Backstage Pass 'cause I wasn't sure how to tackle it and because I guess erotica doesn't live on this blog usually, so if you don't want to read about this then hop on elsewhere. I should start with why I even bothered picking this book up out of all possible choices, why this one? This review is one reason, another reason is I've seen it pop up all over the place on all types of blogs and every one of my friends on GR has given it 5 stars (okay there is one four star review) so I was like woah okay this is going to be some awesome shit right there.
For cereal now. Okay I don't really know what I was expecting when I picked this up I just kind of started reading it like "Yeah I'm too prude for this and probably wont get past the first chapter" but its weird because in those first what 5 chapters or so you get to know the characters so well you're just like oh man I need to know what happens, does Myrna leave him? does she stay forever? does she get over her past? okay I just realised now that I'm probably one of the few people who was that involved with the rest of the story because from what I can tell with no previous experience with so many sex scenes in one book, it was written well. Any way what I'm trying to say is as always I got super attached to the characters and just had to know what happened and I hadn't read a book so quickly in ages. ~flails~ I don't know what else to type, it was good no doubt about it but I don't think I'll delve back into this genre other to finish the series cause I have to know more about these characters. I really didn't like Sed though so I hope that isn't an issue for the sequel. Now I must sleep.
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Published: 1st April 2011 by Corsair
Page Count: 336
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter Duology
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Seth Grahame-Smith: GR | Twitter | Website | Instagram
Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln was just a boy when he learned that his mother's untimely death was actually the work of a vampire. From then on, he vowed to devote his intelligence, strength--and skill with an ax--to the elimination of the soulless creatures. It was a path of vengeance that would lead him all the way to the House.No one ever knew about Lincoln's valiant struggle against the undead... until author Seth Grahame-Smith laid eyes on Abe's secret journal--the first living person to do so in over 140 years. Putting a supernatural spin on revisionist history, Seth has reconstructed Lincoln's true life story--while revealing the role vampires played in the birth, growth and near-death of our nation.
Review: I'm keeping this a fairly short review, or at least I intend too because to me the title itself is very self explanatory and well it does what it says on the cover! I picked this book up knowing very little about Abraham Lincoln so I think one of the worries I had for it was that I wouldn't understand much if it referred to something he did and I would just be sat there holding the book like a clueless Brit. However, this book doesn't drop in at the deep end, it is very much a biography of Abe's life from start to end, and a little further, it grabs your attention in every way possible and I'm not a fan of biographies at all yet I managed to stick with this - maybe the promise of Vampires helped? - by the time the Vampires were brought in on a large scale you're at the point where you believe absolutely anything the author throws at you. Heck, if you ask me now to answer anything regarding Abe and his life as far as I'm concerned he did go about wielding an Axe to slay Vampires, he did have in-depth discussions with Poe about said Vampires and well Vampires are indeed real. Completely real. No doubt about it.
So when I was about half way through this book when I sat down to watch the movie too, I was a little iffy about this knowing I hadn't yet read the book completely but surprisingly I enjoyed every moment. The movie presented itself slightly different to the book, focusing a lot more on the Vampire and slaying side of things and definitely made it a lot more action packed towards the end and when I picked up the book afterwards I started panicking that I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much (an incident like this happened with The Shining a few years back) but I was pleasantly surprised because the book kept to how it started out and didn't go all flamboyant on the action at the end - which I really liked because lets face it that last scene in the movie was a little unbelievable with his age - so for me the book was a lot better off though I wouldn't dismiss the movie: it simply adapted to fit the target audience and it did it well.
All in all I highly recommend both, at times I got a little dragged down by the lack of Vampire action in the book but the movie makes up for it. Happy reading.
Published: 1st January 2007 by Simon Pulse
Page Count: 417
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Uglies Quadology
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Scott Westerfeld: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.
But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.
Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.
Review: Needless to say the foul taste I had with Tally and Shay's friendship from the last book put me off picking up this one for almost a year even though I knew the story focused around a new character - Aya. This book is set three years after Tally ends the reign of terror but without the government keeping everyone as prettyheads, the world is left trying to make up for centuries of lost time which cause tech-heads and surge monkeys to go pretty crazy with their new looks, there are also kickers who spread gossip and stories. Each individual has a face rank now and this can be made higher by a multitude of things, in short Aya wants to boost her face rank much like her brother does - by kicking very intersting stories, her new story is of the Sly Girls who well don't want any kind of fame but Aya is willing to betray them to get hers. This really irritated me because she started to really enjoy being a part of the Sly Girls and if it wasn't for them she wouldn't have stumbled across the "Aliens" luckily though the Sly Girls end up giving her permission to kick the story because of everything they stumble across whilst pulling crazy tricks, its a matter of life and death for the whole planet ...or is it? I honestly think this is the best book of the series, but it wouldn't have worked as a stand-a-lone, the previous books do great at setting the world and giving us the correct knowledge regarding each "type" of person as well as letting us know a lot about Tally and Shay (I say this because they make an appearance in this book and with the knowledge of the previous books their characters make sense but they still really irritated me). I really want to say more about it but I really don't like giving away any big spoilers and for me to talk about my favourite parts in it would just completely ruin the story, I've already mentioned Tally returns and it was actually a pleasant surprise or Aya would have been in some deep shit so I feel like I've given enough away as it is. If it wasn't for this nice ending to the series I probably wouldn't recommend the series at all, luckily I now do.
Synopsis: Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you? Seventeen-year-old Erin has a problem. Seth has been hers forever, but now an ancient curse is tearing him away. And the demons who invoked it will stop at nothing – even murder – to claim him as their own. How can she win against a curse so binding that it has damned countless others to this same fate – an eternity alone?
The answer lies in the past. To find it, Erin and Seth must risk all, travelling back in time to a dangerous world where love is forbidden, and life – and death – hang on a pledge.
Follow Erin and Seth as they travel to ancient Shenaya and confront the curse that has plagued their families for millennia. Caught in a war between the Angelic Guardians and the Gefallen, the disembodied dead, they must fight to keep their souls in tact and their love untainted.
Review: Pledged follows Seth and Erin as they learn about their lives before they were born and the lives of their ancestors before their very eyes years and years after any of the events had happened, all thanks to one more than your average diamond.
What this whole story bottles down to is a thousand year old curse, good vs evil, brother vs brother, its not something that I could actually explain in depth now without giving anything vital away, but also because its so in depth and intricate that it'd probably take me a few days to decide how to explain it cause its a little confusing to begin with but nevertheless it all makes complete sense by the end of the book, of course you do have to keep reading because every small detail you unravel presents you with more questions and wanting to know more and the story does not fail in keeping you hooked or throwing problems in the characters paths that yourself, Erin & Seth just wish they could help them to deal with, but of course as on lookers of the past nothing can be changed.
As for the characters, I completely adored Erin to pieces and I was dying to get more development of the relationship between her and Seth but Seth is more of a closed book kind of guy who doesn't really allow that to happen yet so I have high hopes for the next book as the ending left us wanting to read on. As I've mentioned Seth is more of a closed book kind of guy and whilst there are hints or gestures of all these redeeming qualities he's supposed to have I just didn't really connect with him at all or feel much for him as a character, like I felt so much emotion for Caleb and Jared but not so much Seth, I can't quiet place my finger on it.
Whilst I enjoyed reading about most of the characters and the storyline I think over all it took a little too long to finally fall into place and if you don't put much thought into what you're reading you could easily get confused, there is a lot of names to remember, luckily this different happen with myself but it does seem like it could be rather overwhelming due to the fact so much happens and you're not always viewing it in the right time sequence which is why I'm not willing to give it a straight 4 star rating, I know I'm difficult ey?
Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan by Laurie Dolphin
Published: 1st July 1999 by Chronicle Books
Page Count: 144
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Standalone
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US
Candy Jernigan: GR
Synopsis: For eight years after her untimely death in 1991, the evidence of artist Candy Jernigan's life was stored in a quiet Manhattan basement. Drawers and shelves were crammed with paintings, collages, drawings, journals, and eclectic installation pieces like "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall"-composed of, well, ninety-nine small laboratory bottles of beer on a wall. Little known until now outside a circle of New York's artistic avant- garde, Jernigan's one-of-a-kind talent is finally brought to light in "Evidence." The works collected here reveal a fierce and funny creative spirit, an artist whose commitment to documenting life as she really found it led her not only to record sample swipes of the food she consumed, but also to stuff a roadkill rat and lovingly arrange it in a diorama. Jernigan's method - using the precision of a scientist to reveal the souls of discarded objects - makes her advocacy of the overlooked at once surprisingly charming and thought-provoking. Including four gatefolds, "Evidence" is an art book that gives readers a witty, transformative vision of the stuff that composes our lives - and bears witness to the genius of a truly original thinker.
Review: During my first few weeks in my Art class one of the teachers placed a few books out amongst them this caught my eye, I only wish I could have spent more time looking at the pages properly rather than just skipping quickly before being told to get back to work but Candy Jernigan's work is collections of food stains, cigarette butts and eventually bits and pieces to recall her travels around the world - tickets, receipts, toilet paper, fluff! It was rather fascinating really.
Published: 15th November 20101 by Green Box
Page Count: 44
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Standalone
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US
Gunda Luyken: GR
Synopsis: A central figure in the Berlin Dada circle, friend to Kurt Schwitters and Piet Mondrian and lover of Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Hoch (1889-1972) is probably the most important female artist from the German modernist period. She is best known for her pioneering works of photomontage, which briskly juxtapose mechanical and organic forms, ancient and contemporary bodies, symbols and text drawn from brands and headlines, also edging feminism, commodity critique and other political concerns into the mix. "It is striking how contemporary to us much of Hoch's work feels," Luc Sante wrote recently, "in its sexual politics, its humor, its gleeful appropriation of anything and everything at hand." In 1945, Hoch made this fantastical full-color children's book, which chronicles the adventures of the four mythical creatures Runfast, Dumblet, Snifty and Meyer in an enchanted garden, combining photomontage with the hallucinatory plant imagery she had come to favor. It is published here for the first time.
Review: As most of you may be aware I'm an art student and just before starting we had to write an essay on Dada art with reference to a book as well as internet sources, I decided to just go ahead and buy an affordable book on the artist I was basing my essay on. The only part I needed for the essay was the last two pages where the only writing part was but the rest of the book was beautiful, I love Hannah Hoch's collaged photo-montages and a lot of them are rather adorable.
Published: 1st July 2011 by POW Wow Books
Page Count: 460
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Standalone
Purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
Helga Zeiner: GR | Twitter
Synopsis: Lillian is only 13 when her parents marry her to a middle-aged Bishop of a fundamentalist sect who practices polygamy. She is forced to live with her new husband’s many wives and children on his compound tucked away in the Canadian wilderness. The hardships of poverty and isolation have crushed the will of just about everybody in his flock. They suffer in silent submissiveness, trying to please their despotic leader. He justifies the humiliating treatment of his dependents by citing ‘Section 132 of the Doctrine & Covenants’ of his fundamentalist religion. Until, one day, Lillian had enough. But it is dangerous to try and escape the Bishop’s iron rule. He practices blood-atonement, which is quietly sanctioned by the ‘Gatekeepers’, an American secret society within the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. Lillian must find out-side help if she ever wants to leave the Bishop’s compound – but how can she do this if she is locked up without any means of communication? Lillian doesn’t know how life outside a compound functions. She only knows that she can not live like this much longer. Many questions plaque her troubled mind. Why do her sister-wives put up with this hardship, knowing only a bleak future lies ahead of them? Where do the child-brides come from, the Bishop keeps adding to his family? Where do some of his daughters disappear to, once they come of age? Lillian’s defiance grows with every injustice she witnesses – until she can’t hide her rebellion any longer.Her desperate struggle to escape draws the reader into a very dark, very dangerous place. But not all is hopeless. When land developer Richard Bergman buys the neighboring property, Lillian’s luck seems to be changing…
Review: Wow, this book is definitely very different to my usual reads so different that I'm going to have to discuss a few subjects that you may find sensitive. I decided to give myself a week to read this book thinking I could do that easily, but boy was I wrong, in fact I think this book needs to come with a warning cause it really effected me and was super heavy to read.
For most books about religion I tend to steer clear because I don't find it that interesting nor do I follow any religion, but I decided to give this book a chance because I wanted to know what the mystery was that surrounded Lillian. The book for the most part is from two characters points of view Lillian the thirteen year old child bride to the "Bishop" and Richard who is in short a big time redeveloper, the main trouble I had with his chapters were that he'd go into so much into the business side of things that it went over my head and I had no idea what was going on but I soon learned to skim parts of what he was saying so that I wouldn't be so confused which helped moved the story on a lot quicker but I appreciated them all the same because I realised the author was using her own knowledge within his chapters, as for Lillian's chapters I initially struggled with them for a completely different reason, they were interesting but I had such a hard time coping with the idea of a thirteen year old being sold into a marriage to a 40 year old man who already had over 10 wives, not to mention the chapters where he forced himself on her to the point she threw up in his face, *shudder*.
So you're probably sat here thinking wow she didn't think much of this book but quiet the opposite, whilst what happened in the book tormented me I enjoyed how powerful the writing was to make me feel such a way and also want to throw up, but I couldn't put it down because I had to know what happened not just with her but with the other wives and children and whether the Gatekeepers could actually be of any help, it was all very tense.
Published: 12th July 2010 by Tor
Page Count: 335
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Trylle Series
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Amanda Hocking: GR | Twitter | Website | Tumblr
Synopsis: What if your entire world was built on a lie? Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she’s not the monster her mother claims she is – she does feel that she doesn't quite fit in... She’s bored and frustrated by her small town life – and then there’s the secret that she can’t tell anyone. Her mysterious ability – she can influence people’s decisions, without knowing how, or why... When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night – her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist. Förening, the home of the Trylle. Finally everything makes sense. Among the Trylle, Wendy is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring – not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about. The fate of Förening rests in Wendy’s hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever...
Review: So I started reading this straight after finished another book about Trolls which made me a little worried that due to similarities I wouldn't be able to enjoy it, however where he similarity started is also where it ended. Whilst this is about trolls, it isn't your average big green and ugly kind of trolls, nor is it any form of troll-like that you might imagine, these trolls are in fact so very human looking they're actually swapped out with human babies to help them survive with privilege human "parents" - its a tradition that dates back a while and a little complicated but I guess it works, most of the time.
Unfortunately for Wendy it didn't work, her human "mother" knew that Wendy wasn't her flesh and blood and eventually decided she wasn't even human flesh and blood to the extent that she deemed it worthy to take a knife to Wendy's belly in an attempt of murder. Flash forward a few years and Wendy is bored at school and what we assume a-ok other than a scar across her mid-drif (its a good job tank tops aren't ever nice looking I guess?) and her ability to well push people to do or not do what she wants, its a little spectacular really that she isn't more worried about the fact when looking at someone and thinking something hard enough they do just whatever she thought but I guess being brought up being called a monster makes you have a little tougher shell than usual people.
Anyhow this boy, Finn, gets a little creepy close with the staring and almost but not quiet flirting but he turns out to be from the Troll world too and its his job to get Wendy where she belongs, back with her Troll mother, only here is the catch not only does Wendy not want to leave her human family behind her real mother isn't just any Troll, she happens to be the Queen of the Trolls! Don't worry though, Wendy does end up following Finn back "home" but it takes an attack from the Vittra (bad Trolls) to get her to run away, here is the point in the story where things get interesting but at the same time not, its why the books has left me with very mixed feelings, whilst I adored reading and learning about the Trolls lifestyle and customs and seeing Wendy adapt to attempting to become the next Queen I just constantly felt like nothing was ever happening. I think if you've read the book too, you'll know what I'm going on about, whilst we're pounded with all these details nothing actually happens and it just leaves you wanting more that is until a big attack at the end from the Vittra which isn't all that big because we're seeing it from Wendy's point of view and she spends most of it worrying and running. I think if I hadn't found the whole initiation process of Wendy into her new life and the development between her character, Finn and her fake brothers real brother Rhys and the lack of relationship between herself and her real mother, I'd have given the book a lower rating, I'm definitely open to reading the next in the series to see how it progresses as I think things could potentially be rather interesting.
Published: 1st January 2006 by Simon Pulse
Page Count: 372
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Series: Uglies Quadology
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Scott Westerfeld: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Tally Youngblood 16 is a Special, scary surgically improved, Dr Cable's elite Cutter team, headed by best friend Shay. A super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. Ordered to stamp out the rebels, Shay plans the best trick ever at the Armory. Accidentally, the two girls start a war, and Dr Cable takes over the City.
Review: In this book we get through into the world of the Special Circumstances, specifically The Cutters. Tally and Shay are back, tougher than ever with their new surges and honestly this just made them more annoying. I guess I kind of just lost my shit when reading this book cause I could no longer stand the "friendship" of Tally and Shay, it irritated me beyond belief. I tried to ignore it, the best I could by getting engulfed in the world surrounding them and the rebellion they cause and such but it just put a whole damper on the story. I'm not going to lie I'm writing this in January 2013 because I just couldn't bring myself to review it after finishing as I had such a bad run with it and thinking back on it now I'm failing to remember anything good about it, other than I remember vaguely enjoying it at times. If this had been any other book I'd have probably given it a lower rating but as its part of a series it ties up any loose ends and ends in a way that makes sense so because of this I was happy awarding it three stars, not to mention it was interesting seeing this messed up world from the view of a Special and very fast paced.
Published: 1st January 2012 by Dark Horse Comics
Page Count: 82
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Dragon Age Graphic Novels
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David Gaider: GR
Synopsis: Available in print for the first time, Dragon Age: The Silent Grove is the perfect introduction to BioWare's dark fantasy universe In this essential, canonical story from David Gaider, lead writer of the games, King Alistair, accompanied only by rogues Isabela and Varric, embarks on a quest deep inside the borders of Antiva - a nation of assassins Together, they will encounter a prison break, dragons, the mysterious Witch of the Wilds, and one of the greatest secrets in the history of the world!
Collects Dragon Age #1 - #6
Review: I received a digital copy of this graphic novel from netgalley and whilst I had a few troubles as mentioned in other graphic novels read this way I didn't have so many this time because most of the font was large enough to not be over pixelated. Any how obviously I'm a fan of Dragon Age and even though I didn't complete the game (it's not my fault, I'm a hoarder, it's a disease!) I had played enough to let my inner nerd completely devour this book page by page and end up pretty wowed by it all. The art work is also beautiful and its a lovely touch that it was in colour - a lot these days go for a black and white theme so this was a refreshing change - especially because the colours were so bright and vibrant, even for the darker characters. This graphic novel follows King Alistair on a long and dangerous quest to find the answers of his fathers disappearance, I guess its also to find some inner peace as he's only King because there is no one else left, I loved this story as we got to see a few different settings each one more beautiful than the last, and of course a wonderful dragon that was breath taking. At 82 pages this book is a little on the short side for me BUT it is only part one, I hope to stick around for the sequel because its certainly set up a great adventure to follow with many questions that I want answered too!
Recommend: As with every graphic novel I review my answer is the same - Do you like graphic novels? Do you enjoy Dragon Age or simialr games? If yes, read it.
Published: 6th August 1996 by Bantam Books
Page Count: 802
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
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George RR Martin: GR | Twitter | Facebook | Website | LiveJournal
Synopsis: As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must ...and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark's family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.
Review: I actually kind of didn’t want to post this review, I hate it looking back on it now but y’know I want to be true to past me and post what she was thinking. I don’t think I’ll review the rest of this series unless I get better at taking notes and bookmarking favourite passages, they’re just too long for me to successfully reflect on.
A Game of Thrones has a huge standing reputation within the book community and I actually bought an eCopy of the book expecting to find it... okay at best. But boy was I wrong! It lived up to and excelled all the hype and praise that I have heard first or second hand, I was seriously taken back in surprise. It didn't take long for me to pick up watching the television series as well because I just couldn't get enough and hand to introduce it to my Dad too.
I realise I've drifted a little here but trust me if it wasn't that good, I wouldn't have two copies of the first two books and stuck with the television series. As this book is so large and never-ending (you know, cause its part of a super long series that is still being written) I decided to review it with a little bit of a twist - I'm not going to review the book. Nope. I'm instead going to give you my opinions on the main characters, and a few others. I hope you'll enjoy and at the end I'd like to hear what you think about the characters too, if that is okay? I really would love to discuss this book even more than I already have in a GR group.
Ned Stark: As far as I'm aware, everyone loves Ned Stark. He is a man of honour and always aiming to do the right thing... which turns out to bite him on his ass.
Catelyn Stark/Tully: To be honest when I was first introduced to her character I thought she was stuck up and I really didn't like her attitude, at all. Especially her foulness that is aimed at my beloved Jon Snow - but we'll get to him later. Whether it be fortunately or unfortunately, I still have yet to decide, but I grew to like her as a character, mostly, there is a lot she has to deal with and for most of the part is strong as a character, I mean it is all her fault (it is, isn't it!) but in a way... she made a right decision, from her point of view.
Robb Stark: As a character we hear very little about him and I know he still isn't a POV character in the second book, I'm hoping maybe he gets to shine for the third (Guys, if you've read the third and you know what happens don't hint to me because I know but I don't want to spoil it for anyone reading it and just I can't deal with it and it's not actually going to happen. Ever. Cause I'm going to just y'know... skip that part) but I do really like him as a character.
Sansa Stark: I feel sorry for her because of how naive she is for most of the book but it seriously makes me wonder how the two sisters can be SO different and it took Sansa SO long to realise what was going on and such. I really enjoyed her growth as a character. Basically I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with her, most of the time its love but the first half of the book she certainly got on my nerves.
Arya Stark: This girl is my spirit animal. I loved her from her first appearance and I think I will for the whole series, she's a perfect strong character and the complete opposite to that of her sister.
Bran Stark: He isn't much of a significant character, yet. I'm pretty sure he'll blossom in book two. I like him though.
Jon Snow: *flails* Welcome to the most gorgeous face in the whole series. I really love his character, he is the underdog, the bottom of the pile because he's Ned's "bastard" child but even though he has this tough life set before him he still seems to be coming out on top, doing what he has and need to do whilst being so very caring about others - Arya and Samwell mostly - and he's just sngbioernvsljeriegj :)
The Imp: Oh my god, I love Tyrion. He may be a Lannister but I honestly believe that if and when it comes to it, he would be willing to the do the right and smart thing even if it means betraying his family.
Daenerys Targaryen: I love her, I really do. She's only young and I think that is what everyone forgets, I love how her character develops and I'm aware the path she is going to take is going to be a tricky and bloody one but if you were in her shoes would there be a different path you could take and come out alive?
Khal Drogo: Just swoon, I feel sorry for him and its completely unfair what happens to him but I thought he was really sweet with Dany whilst he had the time.
*sigh* I’m sorry past me for bringing to light your inability to write thoughts and feelings. We’ll put you away now.
Please note this review is from 2012.
Published: 5th May 2005 by Simon Pulse
Page Count: 370
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Series: Uglies Quadology
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Scott Westerfeld: GR | Twitter | Website
Synopsis: Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.
But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.
Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.
Review: After such good impressions of Uglies I couldn't wait to continue the series, I had to see how Tally and Shay's friendship turned out of all the drama Tally managed to cause, unfortunately what I couldn't handle was Pretty-talk, I hated it so much and I just wanted to tear my hair out. However the story line was good, I'll give you that. I loved watching Tally and Zane tackle curing themselves of being Pretty-minded with some bad side-effects on Zane part and their plan and break out to get to The New Smoke, and Tally stumbling across an interesting and not so guarded secret conservation of "Primitive Humans", an aspect of this story I didn't like was Shay, I felt so unconnected from her and all she needed to do was listen, I mean I know girls have their bitchy personalities and all but if Tally and Shay could have just spoken and listened to each other I'm sure things wouldn't have turned as nasty as they had and I know she was't really a big part of the story but it did really irritate me, along with Tally's conflict between Zane and David, it just got super frustrating and because it followed a similar plot outline to Uglies it lacked the freshness that I felt and I just didn't feel as attached throughout the book hence the lower rating.
