Book Review: Unspoken - C.C. Hunter

Unspoken - C.C. Hunter

Despite her superhuman strength and enhanced senses, Della Tsang's life as a vampire certainly hasn't been easy.  Especially since she was reborn and bound to the mysterious, infuriating, and gorgeous Chase Tallman.

But if there's one thing that's always kept Della going, it's  her dream of being an elite paranormal investigator.  Her newest case is the opportunity she's been waiting for, but as Della tries to solve the twenty year old murder and clear her father's name.  She uncovers secrets about the vampire council.  And about Chase.

Feeling betrayed by all the secrets he's kept hidden from her, Della is determined to keep him as far away from her heart as she can.  But she'll need his help to solve the case that will lead them into the darkest and ugliest vampire gangs in town and into the scariest reaches of her heart.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

Sometimes I wanted to smack Della and sometimes I wanted to smack Chase.  And sometimes I just wanted to smack both of them at the same time.  This book was everything I expected and more.  I absolutely love Della.  Although I still say there need to be at least one book about Burnett and what he was like as a young vampire.  I love all the characters in this series and I really hope that there are more coming!

Book Review: Nightfall - Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski

Nightfall - Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski

The dark will bring your worst nightmares to light, in this gripping and eerie survival story, perfect for fans of James Dashner and Neil Gaiman.

On Marin's island, sunrise doesn't come every twenty-four hours--it comes every twenty-eight years.  Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon.  The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long.

Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night.

Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure.  Locks must be taken off doors.  Furniture must be arranged.  Tables must be set.  The rituals are puzzling--bizarre, even--but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way.

Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing--the twins' friend Line.  Marin and Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line's gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it themselves.  But Night is falling.  Their island is changing.

And it may already be too late.

2/5 stars (it was ok)

Maybe it's because I did not like Marin and she is the main character but I didn't think this book was that great.  I guessed why they had to do all those strange rituals.  I thought the book just kind of ended and I found myself satisfied enough with the ending that I don't need another book.

Book Review: Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was just seven years old when her older brother massacred her family while she hid in the cupboard.  Her evidence helped put him away.  Ever since then she has been drifting, surviving for over 20 years on the proceeds of the 'Libby Day Fund'.  But now the money is running out and Libby is desperate.  When she is offered $500 to do a guest appearance, she feels she has to accept.  But this is no ordinary gathering.  The Kill Club is a group of true-crime obsessives who share information on notorious murders, and they think her brother Ben is innocent.

Ben was a social misfit, ground down by the small-town farming community in which he lived.  But he did have a girlfriend - a brooding heavy metal fan called Diondra.  Through her, Ben became involved with drugs and the dark arts.  When the town suddenly turned against him, his thoughts turned black.  But was he capable of murder?  Libby must delve into her family's past to uncover the truth - no matter how painful...

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book has a lot of people that are not totally innocent.  The books goes back and forth between characters (mostly Libby, Ben and Patty) and time (the day of the murders and present day).  We learn things about Libby and what her life is like now.  She basically has never learned to take care of herself and was not grateful to those who did take care of her.  Also we see what Ben was like as a kid and what he is like now.  I did not see how the events would unfold and I like how all the pieces fell into place.

Book Review: The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud.  On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in.  A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection.  However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore.  Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination.  The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This is so much more than a ghost story.  Its creepy and even though it was a short story I feel like I got a whole story.  I felt like I knew the main character so well and we don't even learn her name.  I thought the Victorian house was creepy.  The ending was so unexpected, either scenario presented at the end was believable.

Book Review: The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness' enchanting series, historian and with Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies.  At Matthew's ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches--with one significant exception.  But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.  In the trilogy's final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences.  In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I waited so long to see the conclusion of this book.  I thought this book was a little long and drawn out.  Although I loved seeing some of the old characters make an appearance, especially those I thought we would not see again.  I would love to see a story of Rebecca and Phillip (the twins) as they grow up and what they are like when they grow up.  Also thought it was so sad that Emily died.  Overall I'm glad to have a conclusion to this trilogy.

Book Review: The Merciless - Danielle Vega

The Merciless - Danielle Vega

Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged.  No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she's here.  No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn't have gotten involved.  When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day of school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways.  They said they wanted to save Brooklyn.  They wanted to help her.  Sofia didn't realized they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn--but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation.  All Sofia wants is to get out of this house.  But there is no way out.  Sofia can't go against the other girls...unless she wants to be next...

In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page.  By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all:  Is there evil in all of us?

2/5 stars (it was ok)

This story pretty much takes place in one night.  Riley and her friends trying to exorcise Brooklyn.  They do this by cutting her, torturing her and turning on each other.  I though the ending was pretty predictable and I thought more could have been done with Sofia and her past.

Book Review: Soundless - Richelle Mead

Soundless - Richelle Mead

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining.  Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beigou, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry.  Feir's home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunges into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei's jagged mountain village to the valley of Beigou, where a startling truth and unlikely romance will change her life forever...

3/5 stars (liked it)

I was very much looking forward to a Richelle Mead book but this book was not as great as her other ones.  Although it was a nice change to read a stand alone book instead of a series.  This book is set in a very beautiful place, I very much imagines the beautiful mountain that Fei's village was set in.  Also her treacherous climb down to save her village.  Although the ending was very predictable.

Book Review: The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey

The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans?  Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible.  Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone.  As the 5th wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben and Ringer are forced to confront the Others' ultimate goal; the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven't see the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

Great follow-up to the first book.  I love how there is so much of Ringer in this book and we get to know her back story and what she had to go through to get to where she is.  We also learn a little bit more about the Others and why they are there and what their ultimate plan is.  I can't wait to see how this series will conclude.

Book Review: The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen - Katherine Howe

The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen - Katherine Howe

It's summertime in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU.  While shooting a seance at a psychic's in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose petal lips and her entrancing glow.  But there's something about her that he can't put his finger on that makes him wonder about this intriguing hipster girl form the Village.  Why does she use strange slang?  Why does she always seem so reserved and distant?  And, most importantly, why does he only seem to run into her on one block near the Bowery?  Annie's hiding something, a dark secret from her past that may be the answer to all of Wes's questions...

3/4 stars (liked it)
We slowly learn Annie's story and what happened to her.  I really liked the character of Maddie and which she had been in the book a little more and we had learned more about her story.  Although I liked the character of Wes, I wasn't too attached to him.  I almost liked the minor characters more so than the major ones.  Overall a fast read and something spooky to read right before Halloween.

Book Review: The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains.  After the 2nd, only the luck escape.  And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive.  After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them.  The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see.  Who have scattered Earth's last survivors.  To stay alone is to stay alive,  Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.  Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself.  But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death.  To give up or to get up.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I love how this book was divided into sections and the sections were from different point of views.  We see how life is like for Cassie now after the 4th wave and what life was like before everything started.  We also see how her family was broken apart by everything.  I loved the story and the characters.  I can't wait to read the next one.

Book Review: The Accident Season - Moira Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season - Moira Fowley-Doyle

It's the accident season, the same time every year.  Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been party of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember.  Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them,  Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone.  They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-glowing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed?  And how can they break free?

3/5 stars (liked it)

This was a great book to read in October.  Had a little bit of a spooky factor.  I really liked all the twists and turn that kept me guessing.  I loved all the characters but I wish the mom had been in it a little more.  Overall a fast read.

Book Review: The Fate of Ten - Pittacus Lore

The Fate of Ten - Pittacus Lore

The sixth book in the thrilling, action-packed, New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series!  For years the Garde have fought the Mogadorians in secret.  Now all of that has changed.  The invasion has begun.  If the Garde can't find a way to stop the Mogs, humanity will suffer the same fate as the Lorien:  annihilation.

There is still hope.  When the Elders sent the Garde to Earth, they had a plan--one which the Garde are finally starting to understand.  In the climax of The Revenge of Seven, a group of the Garde traveled to an ancient pyramid in Mexico known to their people as the Sanctuary.  There they awoke a power that had been hidden within our planet for generations.  Now this poer can save the world...or destroy it.  It will all depend on who wields it.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

Not enough of Nine and not enough of Lexa!  Other than that this book was great.  I love how we see John a little more vulnerable.  Also meet new characters such as Daniella.  I love that Adam is so accepted by the Lorien and that he helps out so much.  I like that we saw a little of Setrakus Ra's past and how he came to be the bad person he is.  I can't wait to read the next one because the ending of this book left me screaming "NO!".

Book Review: I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Rebel Allies - Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four:  The Lost Files:  Rebel Allies - Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four:  The Lost Files:  Rebel Allies is a collection of three thrilling stories by Pittacus Lore.  Originally published as the e-novellas The Fugitive, The Navigator, and The Guard, now, for the first time ever, they are together in one print volume.

The Fugitive follows Mark James as he tries to track down Sarah Hart, evade the Mogadorians and the FBI, and discover the identity of the mysterious blogger he knows only as GUARD.

The Navigator reveals the truth about the crew of the two Loric spaceships who escaped to Earth and shows what happened to the pilots after they arrived and parted ways with the Garde.

The Guard tells the story of the hacker who has been aiding the Lorien survivors from the shadows for years.  She's determined to defeat the Mogs--and she just found her secret weapon.

You know the truth about the Mogadorians' invasion of Earth and the Garde who will do anything to defeat them--yet there is still so much to learn.  The stories in Rebel Allies will help you get the answers you seek, but they will not help you stop the coming war.  Only the Garde can save our planet.  But they are not alone...

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I love how these short stories give us a back story on characters we don't get to know in the books.  I also like getting a glimpse of what life was like in Lorien before the Mogadorians destroyed Lorien.  I feel like this book made me understand things a little better for the next book in the series.

Book Review: Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures.  When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew.  Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590.  But they soon realize that the past may not provide a haven.  Reclaiming his former identity as a poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night.  Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...

4/5 stars (really like it)

This is a great follow-up to the first book.  I love seeing Matthew and especially Diane out of their element.  Seeing and learning about Matthew's past and his family was great.  Also seeing Diane experience the past and live it rather than just reading about it.  I love all the members in the School of Night and how they treat Diane.  Also love new characters and the witches that eventually help Diane learn what her power is and how to control it.  I can't wait to see how this trilogy will end.

Book Review: Big Red Tequila - Rick Riordan

Big Red Tequila - Rick Riordan

Everything in Texas is bigger...even murder.  Meet Tres Navarre...tequila drinker, Tai Chi master, unlicensed P.I., with a penchant for Texas-size trouble.

Jackson "Tres" Navarre and his enchilada-eating cat, Robert Johnson, pull into San Antonio and find nothing waiting but trouble.  Ten years ago Navarre left town and the memory of his father's murder behind him.  Now he's back, looking for answers.  Yet the more Tres digs, trying to put his suspicions to rest, the fresher the decade-old crim looks:  Mafia connections, construction site payoffs, and slick politicians' games all conspire to ruin his homecoming.  It's obvious Tres has stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble.  He gets attacked, shot at, run over by a blue Thunderbird--and his old girlfriend, the one he wants back, turns up missing.  Tres has to rescue the woman, nail his father's murderer, and get the hell out of Dodge before mob-style Texas justice catches up to him.  The chances of staying alive looked better for the defenders of the Alamo...

3/5 stars (liked it)

I liked Tres and especially loves his cat and wish Robert Johnson was in the book more.  Although I found it a little hard to keep track of some of the characters as it seemed like there was a lot of people from his past that came back.  Overall a good story and I think I would read more books in this series.

Book Review: Paper Towns - John Green

Paper Towns - John Green

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar.  So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school and discovers that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery.  But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him.  Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

2/5 stars (it was OK)

I did not like Margo at all, not the idealized version that Quentin had of her or the actual version of her.  So because of that it was really hard for me to care when she disappeared.  Quentin drops his life to find her along with his friends.  Then at the end I feel like it was just wasted.

Book Review: Ink & Bone - Rachel Caine

Ink & Bone - Rachel Caine

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses.  Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly--but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market.  Jess has been sent to be his family's spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library's service.

When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life--and soon both heretics and books will burn...

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I thought it was a little confusing at first in terms of what kind of world this was set in.  But once I figured things out I really liked it.  I like that the main character whose mind we are in is a male.  Also there is no great love story here although there are love interests.  All the students, even the ones I didn't like I enjoyed reading about.  The last 100 pages of the book really kept me reading and now I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Book Review: Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbling on the wild, blue Pacific.  The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orangutan...and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.

The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I thought this book was well written and very thought provoking.  Pi shows incredible strength and compassion.  Even when things look so bleak he tried his best to survive and provide for Richard Parker.  He goes through and incredible journey, not just physically but emotionally.  I like how we get glimpses of him as an adult living in Canada and as a boy trying to survive on a lifeboat.

Book Review: Until the Beginning - Amy Plum

Until the Beginning - Amy Plum

When Juneau's clan disappeared, she lost so much more than her friends and family.  She soon discovered everything she though she knew about her life was a lie.  Her people's gifts were actually secret abilities that others wanted, desperately enough to kidnap an entire village.

Juneau and her new companion Miles's cross-country journey to find her clan has led them to a game preserve in New Mexico.  Now Juneau's people are finally within reach, and she will stop at nothing to save them.  But she has a target on her back too, because unbeknownst to her she is the key to unlocking everything.  To rescue her people - and herself - Juneau must discover what she, and her abilities, are truly capable of.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I like Miles even more in this book.  I also really like that we finally got to see Juneau's clan and her father.  I thought it was a great conclusion to this two book series.  Miles has become more confident and deals with his past, which includes his mother.  Juneau also deals with her past, and the past of the clan.  

Book Review: One Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

One Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate.  As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them--in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul--they come to form a bond that makes them both sister and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation.  With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I think I like book better than The Kite Runner.  Both Mariam and Laila were likeable and I was rooting for both of them to get the life they deserved.  They both struggled in different ways.  I would love to see a follow up book on Laila and how her life has dramatically changed since the events that occurred at the end of this book.

Book Review: The Mime Order - Samantha Shannon

The Mime Order - Samantha Shannon

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly.  Jaxon Hall and his Sever Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.  Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows.  But where is Warden?  Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I think I liked the first book better than this one.  This book seemed to be a little slow and there was a big lack of Warden.  I would have liked to see more of Warden in the book.  Although the ending of this book greatly redeemed itself.  I love the forbidden relationship between Warden and Paige.  Also as much I don't like Jaxon I like him.  All the other clairvoyants that are friends with Paige are great.  I can't wait to read the next one.

Book Review: That Summer - Sarah Dessen

That Summer - Sarah Dessen

For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly.  She's nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister-the always perfect Ashley-is planning a wedding of her own.  Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were.  Then an old boyfriend of Ashley's reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

Sarah Dessen is a great author and I always love reading her books.  They are always a quick read.  This book is about Haven and how she is at a place in her life where she is no longer a kid.  Her life is changing, her sister is getting married and her father is also getting married.  This was a great book about a young girl and how she must accept change.

Book Review: Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular - Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith

Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular - Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith

In Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular, 11-year-old siblings Nick and Tesla Holt find themselves on the set of a big-budget superhero movie.  But someone's sabotaging the onscreen debut of their favorite comic book hero, so the brother and sister sleuths must crack the case with the helpf of a fresh assortment of homemade special-effects gadgets.  This cinematic saga features instructions for all-new movie magic projects that kids can build themselves, such as a camera gear, stunt dummies, make-up magic, and more.  Science and electronics have never been so much fun!

4/5 stars(really liked it)

Nick and Tesla books never disappoint.  My 11-year old was excited when this new one came out and her read it first and really liked it.  Then I read it and loved it too.  Nick and Tesla and their friends always seem to find trouble but they are always the ones to solve the trouble.  I hope the next book shows us a little more about their parents.  The ending really makes me want to read the next one.  I could use a little more Uncle Newt in the next one.

Book Review: The Shadows - J.R. Ward

The Shadows - J.R. Ward

Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in the heart-wrenching new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward.

Trez "Latimer" doesn't really exist.  And not just because the identity was create so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world.  Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S'Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Cadwell, NY for years - all the while on the run form a destiny of sexual servitude.  He's never had anyone he could totally rely on...except for his brother, iAm.

iAm's sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing-and he knows he's failed.  It's not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez's life that the male begins to turn things around...but by then it's too late.  The pledge to mate the Queen's daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run,  nowhere to hide. and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others-or forever leave behind the female he's in love with.  But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything.  Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever.  And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...

3/5 stars (liked it)

It was nice to see a book that focused on the shadows, Trez and iAm as they have been in a few books but we didn't know much about that.  I would have like to have seen more of Lassiter and I hope in other books he is featured more.  Rhage was having emotional issues and that was never really resolved.  There is the story with Trez and Selena and that took up most of the book.  iAm finds love but we don't see too much of that.  Also a new character, a young female named Paradise which was just put in to set up her story in the spin-off series Black Dagger Legacy.  Overall a typical book by J.R. Ward and enjoyable to read.

Book Review: Inferno - Dan Brown

Inferno - Dan Brown

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces...Dante's Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science.  Drawing from Dante's dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust...before the world is irrevocably altered.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book follows the typical Langdon book formula.  Landgdon is caught in something, he is running from someone, he is searching for clues and a woman is involved.  I was not very familiar with Dante's Inferno before I read this book and I think the book did a good job explaining things so I was not lost.  This books makes me want to visit Italy and all the sites they visited.  The ending was surprising and I really like how it ended.

Book Review: Size 12 is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

Size 12 is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

Heather Wells Rocks!

Or, at least, she did.  That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two--and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina).  Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges.  That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the resulf of reckless youthful mischief.  But heather knows teenage girls...and girls do not elevator surf.  Yet no one wants to listen -- not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives -- even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways.  So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But he new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal.  And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong...

2/5 stars (it was ok)

I actually did not like Heather very much and it really got old her says she was a size 12 and it wasn't fat.  I really liked Cooper and think a book about him and how he became a P.I. would have been more interesting.  The killer was surprising and not who I thought it would be.  I'm not sure I would read more books in this series.

Book Review: The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father's antiquarian bookshop.  On her steps she finds a letter.  It is a hand-written request from one of Britain's most prolific and well-loved novelists.  Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history.  The request takes Margaret by surprise--she doesn't know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter's dozens of novels.

Late one night while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter's personal story, Margaret begins to read her father's rare copy of Miss Winter's Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation.  She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories.  Where is the thirteenth tale?  Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.

As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now  burnt-out estate that was her childhood home.  Margaret carefully records Miss Winter's account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story.

Both women will have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets...and the ghosts that haunt the still.

2/5 stars (it was OK)

I liked the writing in this book and thought it was very well written.  I actually didn't like the character of Margaret so it was hard to get into the book.  I found Vida's story very interesting though.  I wish the book had more of Vida's story and less of Margaret's story.  The ending of Vida's story did surprise me.

Book Review: Vanishing Girls - Lauren Oliver

Vanishing Girls - Lauren Oliver

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.  When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around.  But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked.  Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

3/5 stars (liked it)

Another good book from Lauren Oliver.  This book is from Nick and Dara's point of view.  It flips back and forth between before the accident and after the accident.  Nick doesn't remember what happened to cause the accident.  We learn what the relationship between Nick and Dara was before the accident.  I like how Oliver links the disappearance of Madeline Snow with Dara.

Book Review: Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen

Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett.  But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she's devastated.  For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley.  Though their friendship may be tested by the strain, like a true friendship, it will endure.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

Halley and Scarlett are typical teenagers, they talk about boys and complain about their parents.  But then Scarlett's boyfriend Michael dies and then she finds out she is pregnant.  Then Halley gets close to Michael's best friend Macon.  Though all these experiences Halley learns so much about herself.  Overall a good story with a good ending.

Book Review: Children of God - Mary Doria Russell

Children of God - Mary Doria Russell

The only member of the original mission to the planet Rakhat to return to Earth, Father Emilio Sandoz has barely begun to recover from his ordeal when the Society of Jesus calls upon him for help in preparing for another mission to Alpha Centauri.  Despite his objections and fear, he cannot escape his past or the future.

Old friends, new discoveries and difficult questions await Emilio as he struggles for inner peace and understanding in a moral

3/5 stars (liked it)

I didn't like this book quite as much as I did the first one.  Although it was nice to get a little closure on Emilio and what life was like in Rakhat after the humans were there.  Because of the humans being in Rakhat it made them question their way of life as well as how the Ja'anata treated the Runa.  Overall I think this book was about Emilio and how he was coping with what happened to him on Rakhat and how he needed closure.

Book Review: The Bane Chronicles - Cassandra Clare

The Bane Chronicles - Cassandra Clare

This collection of eleven short stories illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality, flamboyant style, and sharp wit populate the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

Originally released one-by-one as e-only short stories by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Rees Brennan, this compilation presents all ten together in print for the first time and includes a never-before-seen eleventh tale, as well as new illustrated material.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I loved reading about how Magnus got to know Camille and their relationship.  Also his relationship with Santiago when he was first made a vampire.  Loved seeing all the people and Shadowhunters that Magnus got to know over time.  Especially the end stories with his first date with Alec and how he begins to help Clary.

Book Review: Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.  Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything.  But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life--a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free.  Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems.  With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha...and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I thought this book started out a little confusing.  But once Alina saves Mal things really picked up.  I really enjoyed that Alina was clueless on Grisha history and how things worked so we were able to learn about that world along with her.  I also really liked watching her struggle with her new found power and how she was not able to harness it well.  The book ended in a way that made me want to read the next one.

Book Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye - Cynthia Hand

The Last Time We Say Goodbye - Cynthia Hand

There's death all around us.

We just don't pay attention.

Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before.  When she had a family that was whole.  A boyfriend she loved.  Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself.  And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died.  But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone.  But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

3/5 stars (liked it)

What a sad subject to read about but so well written.  Lex is dealing with losing her brother and not understanding why he did what he did,  a father that is no longer around and really doesn't communicate, a mother that is dealing with the same loss and an ex-boyfriend that she couldn't deal with.  You see how Lex is by reading from her perspective in first person as well as journal entries she has written.  I thought it has a great ending.  I would love to read where things are with Lex 5 years from now.

Book Review: A Feast For Crows - George R.R. Martin

A Feast For Crows - George R.R. Martin

After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce.  But it's not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather.  Now, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed while surprising faces--some familiar, others only just appearing--emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenge of the terrible times ahead.  Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes...and their lives.  For at a feast for crows, many are guests--but only a few are the survivors.

2/5 stars (it was Ok)

Not my favorite book in the series.  I thought it moved slowly and had characters that I did not care too much about.  Although I really liked Arya in this one.  Also I love how some characters under different names will run into each other and not even know it.

Book Review: The Ruby Circle - Richelle Mead

The Ruby Circle - Richelle Mead

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires.  They protect vampire secrets--and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times best selling Bloodlines series.  When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis.  Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

4/5 stars (really like it)

I LOVE Adrian and Sydney together, they are absolutely cute.  They are both living in at court with Adrian's mother.  It was so sad to see this series come to an end.  It was great to see some old characters from the Vampire Academy series such as Rose and Dmitri.  Of course the shocking thing that happens between Adrian and Dmitri is great.  Also love how Sydney kicked butt and used her magic skills.  I really liked the ending and it was even more great to see the epilogue that happened months later.

Book Review: Reached - Ally Condie

Reached - Ally Condie

After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again.  Cassia is assigned undercover in Central City, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie.  Xander is a medic, with a secret.  All too soon, everything shifts again.

3/5 stars (like it)

It was a great conclusion to the trilogy.  There is a Plague that is causing people to get sick and although The Rising has a cure, it mutates and kills many people.  Xander is right in the middle of all this since he is a medic and is seeing all this first hand.  Ky is separated from Cassia and they are desperately trying to get back to eachother.

Book Review: Crossed - Ally Condie

Crossed - Ally Condie

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.  Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border.  But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again.  Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book starts off right where the last one left off.  Cassia is working in a camp and her family is safe.  She takes that job in order to find out where Ky has gone.  Also Ky is in a dangerous place and he escapes.  I loved how Ky left clues for Cassia to follow and how she was able to decipher them to get to him.

Book Review: Matched - Ally Condie

Matched - Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe.  So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate...until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander.  But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

3/5 stars (liked it)

It is a perfect society in which people are matched in order to achieve children that are genetically strong.  People live to be 80 years old, choices in what they read, what they watch and what they do are no longer an issue since these are decided for them.  No one is overweight because meals are catered to each individual as well as physical activity.  Although it sound like a perfect society it really isn't and Cassia begins to see the flaws in it.  When she starts spending more time with Ky and learns that there is more out there beyond the Society.

Book Review: The Kill Order - James Dashner

The Kill Order - James Dashner

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner Series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived.  But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.  Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there's something suspicious about its origin.  Worse yet, it's mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there's a way to save those left living from descending into madness.  And they're determined to find it--if they can stay alive.  Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price.  And to some, you're worth more dead than alive.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I am glad that I waited until I had read the trilogy before this one.  Although it was interesting to see where the disease came from and how it mutated and spread I did not really like the main characters in it.  I wish there had been more of Theresa and Thomas and how they came up with the maze and what happened at WICKED.  Overall though it was a good prequel.

Book Review: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire, is the powerful account of one woman's struggle to recapture her identity.

When twenty-four-year old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she has no memory of how she'd gotten there.  Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and promising career at a major New York newspaper.  Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk.  What happened?

In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family's inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn't happen.  "A fascinating look at the disease that could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life" (People), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic.

3/5 stars (liked it)

I thought this story was great and a little scary.  I could not imagine going through something like that and not being able to remember and seeing and hearing about all the crazy things you did.  Susannah has great parents that never gave up on her and always knew she was inside herself.  Also a great boyfriend and friends who stood by her and helped her.

Book Review: Dead But not Forgotten - Various Authors

 Dead But not Forgotten - Various Authors

Charlaine Harris' smash-hit Sookie Stackhouse series may have reached its conclusion, but the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, lives on in this all-new collection of 15 stories.  Written by a killer lineup of authors including New York Times best-sellers Rachel Caine, MaryJanice Davidson, Jonathan Maberry and Seanan McGuire, and with introductions read by Charlaine herself, Dead but Not Forgotten puts your favorite characters center stage.

2/5 stars (it was OK)

It is a very interesting idea to have other authors write about these characters.  Although I actually did not like most of the stories.  My favorite stories were "The Real Santa Claus" by Leigh Perry and "Love Story" by Jeanne C. Stein.  The first being about Diantha and takes place several years after the series ends.  It was nice to see where Sookie and Sam were.  Then the second story was about the love affair that Adele had and how she had her children.

Book Review: Rooms - Lauren Oliver

Rooms - Lauren Oliver

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime.  His estranged family--bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna--have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone.  Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls.  Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives.  Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself--in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force.  When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human world collide--with cataclysmic results.

Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginary ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.

2/5 stars (it was OK)

So I was very excited to read this since it was written by Lauren Oliver.  I was a little disappointed with the story.  I think she could have done so much more.  I just feel like not much really happens in the book and stories were not completely told.  Also seems like everything was left until the end to come to light.