Goodbye... for now

So this is going to be my last blog.  I just haven't been able to keep up with writing reviews here, but I'll still be around on tumblr and goodreads.  Come June I'll be starting a new blog, and if you're interested in blogging with me, contact me.  I'll leave the link here when it comes up.

Goodbye, dear readers.  I'll talk to you again soon.

Book Review: Gilded

Sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself. When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her biggest challenges will be fitting in to a new school and dealing with her dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god, Haemosu, has been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family for centuries. And she's next.

But that’s not Jae’s only problem.

There's also Marc. Irresistible and charming, Marc threatens to break the barriers around Jae's heart. As the two grow closer, Jae must decide if she can trust him. But Marc has a secret of his own—one that could help Jae overturn the curse on her family for good. It turns out that Jae's been wrong about a lot of things: her grandfather is her greatest ally, even the tough girl can fall in love, and Korea might just be the home she's always been looking for.

Rating: 1 ½ stars

This was the kindlefirst for last month and I was psyched because the last book I read this way I absolutely loved!  This one sounded better than the other had, too.  I did a little research and saw both good and bad reviews and went into it expecting a good story, just nothing special.  The idea was original and I love mythology, so by all means I should have liked this one.

I really, really didn’t, though.  At first, for like five chapters, I liked it.  Do not be fooled by the back, it’s much cooler from the little blurb on the back then it is reading the whole entire thing.

The big problem, I believe is the writing.  It’s mediocre at best, childish at worst.  The words don’t always flow, the story makes sense on a very basic level, and there is absolutely no character growth.  This book takes place in Korea and so I expected to get some culture, but the few parts there are don’t really seem that different from America.  And there’s absolutely no “show” to the storytelling.  It’s all “tell”.  We don’t get to experience this ourselves at all, we just have to go along for the ride and let Jae tell us everything.  Looking back on it now, if written a little better and with a few scenes tweaked around, it would be great middlegrade storytelling (and I don’t mean to demean other MG writers, I’m just saying the way that it was written felt more like it was aimed at younger readers in that it wasn’t as mature as some YA and NA writers write).

The characters were all dry.  Jae, the protagonist, should have been freaking awesome, but she fell flat.  Plus, she’s also some amazing warrior already in all these AP and IB classes at school, and you don’t get into those unless you’re smart.  The whole time, though, she can’t seem to pick up on simple concepts or understand that her plans are atrocious.  She just accepts she’s not good at planning and moves on.  An AP student doesn’t act like that, I mean, come on.  Another problem was that, being an awesome warrior and all, there was no room to grow in that section.  She was already freaking perfect and so, oh no, no way for her to learn at all.  Where’s the character growth?  Just a little?  Oh, wait, there is a little.  For half a chapter she learns this awesome new trick that’s supposed to be mind bending or something.  Yeah, she learns it in half a chapter.  Really?

And the romance.  Marc could have been dreamy, but he was too… nonexistent.  He’s there for her all the time, ready to do anything for her, and should have been your regular prince charming.  Nah, for me he was just blah.  Not particularly romantic or anything.  And the chemistry between the two?  None.  They share a few kisses that are described as being explosive, but um, there was no description to actually show us how great they were.  She was happy, he was happy, it was a good kiss, done.

The consequences in this book are totally off-kilter, too.  Here’s a spoiler to explain what I mean, so read the following paragraph at your own risk:

Jae and Marc are arrested by the police for stealing from a museum.  Her dad’s just mad she was talking to her grandfather.  They’re fined a little.  No court date.  No nothing.  They spend a couple hours in jail and are grounded.  Which, by being grounded, I mean she just can’t… or wait?  There’s really nothing she can’t do.  It’s just a word: grounded.  The police aren’t even super mad.  That doesn’t happen in real life no matter where you are.  Stuff like this just kept the world an arms-length away and totally unbelievable on every level.  End spoiler.

Really, there wasn’t much good about this book except the originality of the concept.  I’d say don’t bother picking it up.

What's Up, March

So last month I really did plan on doing a bunch of reviews.  What happened, though, was that I decided to binge-read Riyria.  If it wasn’t my favorite series before, it totally is now, and I recommend you go check it out immediately.  It’s really, really amazing fantasy.  I would review them, but it wouldn’t be very fair because I would just be gushing the entire time.

So here’s my TBR for the month, stars next to them means there will be a review for sure, otherwise, probably not:

• ·        *Gilded by Christina Farley (It was last month’s kindle first and I’m almost done)
• ·        Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief (a re-read)
• ·        Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters (a re-read)
• ·        Torment by Lauren Kate (a re-read)
• ·        *The Archived by Victoria Schwabb
• ·        *Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• ·        *Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
• ·        *Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
• ·        Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (a re-read)
• ·        *Charming by James Elliott
• ·        *Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

And the book of the month is: MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner.  Check out the goodreads page to keep up on that discussion.

I’ve been doing some writing, setting really good goals for myself that help move the pace along, so I have a good feeling about this one.  Trick is coming along well and if I can get five chapters done this month I’ll post one for you guys to read, if you’re interested.  It’s technically an adult urban fantasy/sci-fi book, but I think YA readers will like it, too.

As for TV, well… I’m still behind on just about everything.  When I get caught up I’ll try to start reviewing things again.  Until then, I’m sorry.

Movie-wise I want to see a couple this weekend and things have been slow, so it looks like I’ll get 

to at least one.  Fingers crossed.  If I do, I plan on reviewing it.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave a little something below.  I love hearing from people!

Book of the Month: Poison Princess

She could save the world—or destroy it.
Sixteen-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.
But she can't do either alone.
With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?
Who can Evie trust?
As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side.

It’s got a gorgeous cover, so there’s something going for it, at least.

That sounded really harsh, and I hate being mean when I know someone puts a lot of work into something and is extremely proud of it… but I feel like there was absolutely no heart in this book. I felt like the author just slapped stuff together because she wanted a bestselling YA novel she knew she could achieve. The characters are boring and stereotypical, the world used up and, while being a depressing dystopian world filled with horrors, seemingly easy to survive, compared to other ones. Let’s break it down:

Plot- I knew who the bad guy was the second it was mentioned. There isn’t really a “bad guy” I should say, but the figure haunting Evie’s dreams is who I’m talking about. It was obvious with a capital O. And the matters of sex. The whole book tries to be steamy, but it’s not really. There was very little chemistry between Jack and Evie, even less between him and Selena. Plus, Evie’s pretty much worried about who to give her V-Card away to, and it was rather uncomfortable reading that when the world was ending around her.

Characters- Boring and barely there. Evie is that girl I would hate in school. Very popular, super smart, and a “friend” to everyone. What little perfect world does she live in that that can all happen? I can see by the end why characterizing her so extremely (it’s a case of telling rather than showing, btw) is important, but I also feel like it was totally unrealistic. And annoying, because no one can be that perfect. And her major character flaw? She might be crazy. Come on, we know she’s not. It’s the oldest trick in the book. So really, she’s not crazy, she’s just a super important person. She’s not a mean person, though. Not bratty or whiny, which was nice and comfortable reading about, but also totally unrealistic. Who doesn’t complain when the world just ended? No one’s that perfect. Then there’s Jack. His accent- Cajun- really got on my nerves. I couldn’t pinpoint it through the writing. It sounded a little like he just had a lisp or something because he didn’t say every word with an accent, really. Just a few, most particularly, “goan” instead of “going” and “doan” instead of “doing”. It didn’t work and it was very frustrating. When there’s a character with an accent I like it to fly off the page so I can hear it. He’s also supposed to be really Catholic, but he never really acts that way.

World- Dystopia is all the rage, and while it’s not my favorite genre (I prefer fantasy), I can appreciate a well written one. At first I thought it might be a pretty cool world. Bag men, militia’s, cannibals, slavers, etc. They’ve been seen before, but I’ve never really seen them together. Guess what? I still didn’t. They kept saying all these things existed, but, I don’t really believe it until I “see” it, and we never “see” half of them. So, it wasn’t just a plain world, where they were somehow managing to survive, but it was a really boring one, too.

The Good- Tarot cards! I love tarot cards, I think they’re so pretty and fun, which is part of the reason I was attracted to this story. That portion of it didn’t let me down. Each tarot had its own personality and alliance and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that aspect of the story.

So overall, I’m giving this a three star rating. I may read the next book. I may not. Really, it depends on whether my library has it or not. So, we’ll see.

Movie Review: Vampire Academy

It's been a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it?  Well, I went to go see the newest YA novel to become a major motion picture and the vote's in: it sucked.

Okay, I just had to use that line.  Let's be fair, it could have been a lot worse.  In the rankings of recent YA failures, it was better than Beautiful Creatures but worse than Mortal Instruments.  I would be very surprised to see a sequel made, although I wish it would just so they could cast Adrian.

For the most part it follows the story in the book, but it pulls out everything that makes the book good and turns the movie shallow.  I took my mom to see it with me and she could guess who the villain was from the very start.  She also thought it was confusing, which I would understand.  For someone not so familiar with the books, it would be hard to just stop in and see this film.  They sort of talk about the different kinds of vamps but pretty much leave out how Strigoi can occur.  They also completely disregard the fact that Dhampir can't have children with other Dhampir, which would have helped the movie along a lot.

The actors were all pretty decent (although there were some who just really, really were bad (we're all looking at you, Kirova)) but I would say the choices for Rose and Dmitri were the best.  Easily thought they were who they were pretending to be.

I think if there were any problems here, it was with the writing- while the adaption wasn't bad, it wasn't great- and with the editing.  The scenes felt thrown together and incomprehensible sometimes.  Really, it needed a little more TLC and it would have been much better.

Overall, I'm giving it 3 stars.  If you're a fan, see it because it's definitely worth the watch.  It actually made me think of the books again since it's been a while since I read them and made me want to write some more, so I'm giving it props for sticking to the source material.

Book Review: Croak

Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex's parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape.
But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teach Lex the family business.
She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But Lex can't stop her desire for justice - or is it vengeance? - whenever she encounters a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again.
Will she ditch Croak and go rogue with her reaper skills?

I picked this one up from the library a while ago and just left it sitting on my shelf.  I had seen it in stores when it first came out and had been interested, but not enough to actually pick it up.  So seeing it in the library with that amazing cover I couldn't resist.

And it was great.  Reading it was like taking a breath of fresh air in a sense.  It's not a very heavy book- actually a rather quick read- and the writing, while a bit shaky at the beginning, was easy to fall into.  The story is very life and death, seeing as the main character is a Grim Reaper, after all, and there are parts where some of the squeamish readers may want to look away.  There wasn't much of a plot compared to other things I've been reading and watching (I've been binge watching Doctor Who so anything compared to that is pretty much a puny plot) but it was enjoyable.

The characters were... interesting.  But not in bad ways!  No, not in bad ways at all.  It takes about a chapter before you fall in love with Lex, and while I never really became attached to her family, through her I was able to like them enough that they mattered.  Mort was also another that I couldn't really connect with because I felt like we were missing a vital piece of information about him, that will hopefully be revealed later on in the series.  Driggs didn't take long to like, but I wouldn't say he's exactly swoon worthy, either.  All the junior reapers were likeable enough.  I must say while I was able to guess who the villain was (because there were really only two possibilities), figuring out how they did it was a surprise of sorts.

The mythology in the series isn't super new or exciting, but it's fun and an expansion on an idea that normally has to play second fiddle to a vampire or werewolf storyline.

Overall, I was very happy with this book, so I'm giving it 4 stars.

What's Up: February

I know I still haven't been around that much, life has been... hard.  But it's getting better, for sure.  About 34 hours of my week have just been cleared up (I kid you not) so you can plan on seeing me some more.  Like I said before, I have a tumblr account now, so if you want more up to date goings on, check that out.

Writing wise I've been very slow, not doing much, but this month will, hopefully, turn that around.  I want to work more on Trick, and maybe next month I'll post an excerpt and tell you all what it's about.

Release wise this month is The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass, which I plan on getting, but not anytime soon.  I like short stories, but I'm just not in the mood.

I didn't get as many books read last month as I would like, so this month will be me trying to get back up on that horse.  Books with an asterisk next to them are ones you can expect reviews for (if I get to them) while all the other's are just maybes.

• Finish up Mockingjay (a re-read)
• *Poison Princess by Kresley Cole- this is the book of the month, so please join in at goodreads!
• *Gilded by Christina Farley- this is the YA kindle first this month and I'm soooo excited to dive right in
• *Croak by Gina Domico
• Emerald Storm (Ryria Revelations #4) by Michael J Sullivan
• Torment (Fallen #2) by Lauren Kate- another re-read, but it's been so long I can't even remember what happened
• *The Archived by Victoria Schwab
• Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
• *Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
• *a secret, surprise novel I really, really, really want to read; but it's a surprise because... you'll see
• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand- a re-read because I loved it the first time and want to finish the trilogy
• Death Masks (Dresden Files #5)
• *Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

So yeah, there they are.  We'll see how many I actually read.  If you have an recommendations or questions, comment below!

Book of the Month: The Darkest Minds

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. I’ve heard so many things, so maybe I was just setting the book up to fail, but I think it was more than that. The book was certainly exciting (and I got the novella seconds after completing it!) but I don’t think it was exactly my cup of tea. Which is okay. In fact, if anything, that gives this book more credit because I still rather enjoyed it.

The premise sounded good and original, and for the most part it was. The mythology and history behind the plotline made complete sense, and, scarily, I feel like that’s what’s in in store for our nation someday. This believability factor played throughout the whole book- characters faced problems that were real under the circumstances and reacted how one might expect. I did feel like the book was one of those adventure-journey’s that go on forever, though. They were always running, always on the move, and it took a while to settle into these parts, especially when the scenery was constantly changing. Once I did, though, it was easy to feel right at home, whether in Betty or with the Slip Kid.

The characters, too, took a little time to like, but now I don’t think they’ll ever leave me. Ruby was an interesting main character. From the very beginning I saw she wasn’t what most heroines tend to be these days. She’s not conventionally “strong”. In fact, I would go so far as to say she was rather meek. When she had to, though, there was certainly a fire that burned within her that other characters didn’t have. She was willing to step up and do terrible things that others couldn’t or wouldn’t. This dual nature, though, made it hard to connect with her, even up until the end. I would think I had a grasp on her, but wouldn’t, and that frustrated me. I felt that way about pretty much all the characters, too.

Liam is totally crush worthy- let’s start there. He’s a good guy, too. Not too tough, but somewhat romantic, and also a leader. He hates to see other’s hurt but sometimes has to deal with it. He’s got a past shrouded in some mystery, but he’s honest. I liked him right away and thought his voice was the strongest of the characters, even over Ruby’s. Again, though, the dual nature of him- a really soft hearted guy who led an escape and is on the run in a dangerous world- made it hard to connect. When he and Ruby were together, though, everything would fall into place. Chubs was by far my favorite character. I didn’t like him right away, but once he grew on me, I knew he would be the one I cheered for throughout the novel. I really, really liked him, even though he was rough on the outsides. Finally, Zu. I felt like there was little to work with for her. I liked her, sure, but I never got too connected to her. Maybe it was the age thing, because I find it harder to enjoy younger characters, or maybe it was because she didn’t talk so finding her voice in all the text was rather hard. Whatever it was, she wasn’t a bad character, just not as well developed as I would have liked to see.

I can see why so many people have liked this series (even though I haven’t yet read the sequel, Never Fade). With the dystopian love spreading throughout the book community, there is no reason this shouldn’t be on the top of the list of TBR books for everyone. I’m not especially fond of the genre, however, so that’s why it’s not exactly a favorite. I plan on continuing the series to its end.

Rating: 3 ¾ stars

This was our first book for the book club this year. Next month is Poison Princess by Kresley Cole. Please feel free to follow here, on Tumblr or goodreads where most of the discussions will be held. If you’ve read the book before feel free to join in, too, because we’d love to have you!

Book Review: Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4)

This is the fourth installment in my favorite urban fantasy series and I couldn't have been happier with it.  While number three was all about the action, this one was all about the color and the imagination.  The NeverNever was amazing, the faeries were amazing, the everything was amazing!  Butcher's descriptions were so real I felt like I was watching a movie.  He pulled from Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, and other assorted fairy tales to populate his magical world and I never wanted to leave (which is the very point of the fey).  In fact, I think the cover is perfect for this very reason.  At first glance it's nothing special.  You might use the word nice to describe it.  But then you look closer.  You look at the shades of yellows and greens, the monsters, the small red accent, and you go, Oh!  This is sorta amazing.  Which was how I would describe Butcher's imagination leaking into the pages.

 

Equally amazing was Harry's growth.  I feel like, out of all the books I've read so far, this is the one that has most defined him.  In this book I can really see who Harry is and I can understand him.  Somewhere along the way we shared a soulgaze, because finally, finally, I truly understand this character.  All walls have been broken down and every installment after this will be all the better because he has grown into a permanent thing in my life.

 

Plot-wise I was completely surprised by the big revelation.  The lead-up investigation was my favorite so far and the hints throughout the novel towards where it was going were well placed and subtle.  The re-appearance of old characters made my heart sing and the insight on the White Council was great, as well.  The battle at the end really takes the cake, though, and I can see that Butcher has a talent for fantasy (Codex Alera, his other series).

 

My biggest problem is that I would like to see more of Murphy.  Yes, in this book, she does make great leaps and bounds into the world of the supernatural, and that was awesome and kick-ass, but she still remains sidelined for the majority of the story.  I want to a see her take center stage with Harry for a bit longer at some point, but there are many books to go, so my wish may yet be granted.

 

Overall, I'm giving this book a 4 3/4 stars, just shy of a perfect five.

 

Hell's bells, that was a good book.

Top 13 of 2013

It's a new year and that means new books!  Here are my favorite reads of 2013.  Note: They're books I read this year, not necessarily books released this year.

13. The Host
Not a big action adventure, or book that had me biting my nails (in fact, I read it after seeing the movie!) but it's one of those that will always stay with me.  It's a book you want to go back and read your favorite scenes when you're feeling lonely.

12. This Lullaby
This was my first Sarah Dessen ever and I fell in love.  The romance was amazing, the story was amazing, and I don't know how I could have ever lived without reading a Sarah Dessen.  I haven't read anymore, but this year I plan on trying to read them all!

11. The Dresden Files (Butcher) & The Iron Druid Chronicles (Hearn)
Really, these are amazing.  Iron Druid was hilarious, it had me on the ground laughing, and Dresden keeps my heart rate up.  This was the year I discovered that I loved Urban Fantasy, and these are the books that did it.

10. The Selection
At first I didn't think I would like this book, but as soon as everything really got going I was in love.  I remember sitting on the couch in the middle of the day and not looking up from the book until it was early evening.  If you haven't read this, I seriously think you should.

9. No Place Like Oz
I hadn't been planning on putting a novella on this list, but Oz has me salivating for the full length novel, Dorothy Must Die.  The writing is amazing, the premise is amazing, and I wish I could live within this author's mind because it must be beautiful.

8. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Another book that I just couldn't put down.  I bought it because of all the early buzz and hadn't planned on loving it as much as I did.  It definitely is gothic horror and it is definitely amazing.

7. Julie Kagawa
I know she's not a book, but she is my second favorite author of all time (second only to Cassandra Clare).  The Eternity Cure left me a little ball on the floor crying my heart out and The Iron Traitor left me screaming at the wall.  She can break my heart and piece it back together and I love her for it.

6. Days of Blood & Starlight
EPIC!  Epic on the scale of epic fantasy.  Epic on the scale of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.  Epic, on a scale of 1 to Sherlock Season 3, it reaches the level of Sherlock Season 3.  While I wasn't thrilled with Daughter of Smoke & Bone, this one was so amazing, it was all worth it.

5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Sadly, I don't own this book.  I read it on vacation and was planning on getting a good creep out of it (because, on vacation, I like to read horror.  There's just something about Florida...) but was enthralled.  I hadn't known much about it prior to checking it out from my library, but it quickly became one of those books I recommend to everyone.

4. Mara Dyer
One of those series everyone should read.  It has taken on a life of its own and I'm dying for the final one.  Dying, literally.  I think I'm going to take a day off of school to read that bad boy and I won't regret anything!

3. Ryria
Speaking of books I recommend to everyone, I've become a missionary to these books.  I spread the word, even to people who hate reading, because these books are life altering.  One day when I was just miserable and didn't want to get up I said to myself, "But you have to get up and see Royce and Hadrian!".

2. The Bone Season
It got a lot of early buzz, and if not for that, I wouldn't have read this one.  Samantha Shannon's not the next JK Rowling or anything, but I thought this book was one of the most perfect ones I ever read.

1. Clockwork Princess
Last, but not least, is the one book I truly consider perfect.  I have a bad track record with final books in series.  They just never seem to wrap everything up nice and neat, they leave me hanging, or they just feel rushed.  Well, this one was everything but, and Miss Clare has delivered to me the only book I have ever given 6 stars.  Well done, well done.

Book Review: Phoenix Island

So time has just gotten away from me.  I feel like I've done absolutely nothing.  I meant to write and post this review earlier, but heck, it's still early enough, right?  Phoenix Island is the first ARC I have ever received and I was so excited to get it.  It releases on the seventh along with the first episode of the TV series it inspired, Intelligence.  I'm super excited for Intelligence and can't wait to see how they tie into each other.

Now, this book was underwhelming, and you have no idea how much I hate writing that down.  I wanted to read this book, so, so, so, so bad.  I may have set my standards a little too high, though, because in the end I just couldn't get into it.

My biggest problem was Octavia.  Pretty much, the only female character in the whole book, and she was nothing special.  In fact, she depended on the guy's for absolutely EVERYTHING.  It wasn't trying to be sexist, I don't think, but the way the book is written makes it very guy-centric with no room for the strong female character.  I was glad to see that there were female characters, though, because before I even started reading I had the impression that there wouldn't be any.

Now, before I go any further, let me tell you that this is very, very similar to Lord of the Flies.  For those of you who haven't read that book, I seriously recommend it.  I had to read it for school and thoroughly enjoyed it.  But having read that book (albeit being a couple years ago) this book wasn't that original.  I even felt like I saw some parallels between characters.  If you were a fan of Lord of the Flies, pick this one up!  If that's your bread and butter, you'll love this one, I promise.

It is really guy-centric, though.  Not something I would have picked up if it weren't for the fact that Intelligence was based off of it.  The main character, Carl, spends a lot of time talking about wrestling and his knuckles.  There's also a large deal of obsession over the city of Philadelphia.  I mean, neither of these things are bad, but they took up to much room.

The storytelling voice was dry at some parts.  The flashbacks were boring when they were meant to shed light into the characters.  There were a lot of parts that you just can't believe in, even with a good imagination, this book took things a little too far.  Besides Carl there weren't any flavors to any of the characters.  Disappointing.

But there was good!  The action scenes were heart-racing and intense.  The details and images sometimes made perfect pictures in my head, like I was watching them on a screen (although for those with weak stomachs: it can get pretty gross).  At parts my heart was clenching in sadness, fear, and, at parts, I felt empowered by the wise things coming out of characters mouths.

This is not a light read.  In fact, it's a rather heavy one, even though the page count doesn't way in at that much.  I do want to read the next installments of this series, and I don't think it was really as bad as the picture I'm painting.  It just wasn't my cup of tea, and that's disappointing.

Overall, I'm giving this book 2 3/4 stars. 

What's Up: January

Hey guys and welcome to the new year!  I have a couple things to share with you and let's start with the most important: I've got a tumblr now!  It's so much fun, being on tumblr.  Here's a link: http://sammymfrost.tumblr.com/   I post both book related stuff and fandom stuff, so please go check it out.  Also, that book of the month thing that was around last year and I said would be changing this year?  Well, it's now a book club on goodreads and you can discuss our first book, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/121723-bl33-book-of-the-month-clup .

On the writing front I've got two projects going right now.  A Doctor Who fanfic (find it here: https://www.fanfiction.net/~smfrost) and the first in a sci-fi, urban fantasy series that I've dubbed Trick.  More details to follow.

This month Secret by Brigid Kemmerer is released and I'm dying for it!

As for my TBR list, here it is.  I want to read them all this month, but we'll see.

• Summer Knight (Dresden Files #4)
• re-read Hunger Games
• A Great and Terrible Beauty
• re-read Catching Fire
• Croak
• re-read Mockingjay
• Emerald Storm (Ryria Revelations #4)
• re-read-ish Lightning Thief
• The Name of the Star
• re-read-ish Sea of Monsters

I don't think there's anything else... So yeah!  I hope you have a wonderful New Year!