March 18, 2015

Review: The Year We Fell Down


The Year We Fell Down
The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



If Hartley wouldn't have been such an idiotic douchebag, this would have been a surprisingly good read. However, Corey was a great character and I loved every aspect of her journey. That alone made this book worth the read to me.



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Review: Black Lies


Black Lies
Black Lies by Alessandra Torre

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I'm just going to sit over here in the uncool crowd, because I did not understand the hype around this one. Again.

Black Lies was just okay. There wasn't really anything in the storyline that I found outstandingly intriguing. It was well written and the characters themselves were complex and interesting, but when you spend the entire second half of the book wishing they would just get on with the owning up to what was really happening, it kind of ruins the suspense factor.



On that note, I really would like to find one of these books with the "twist" ending where I don't figure out the twist before it actually happens. Suggestions?



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March 16, 2015

Review: Soaring


Soaring
Soaring by Kristen Ashley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars






Please reference every other KA book review for the last year or two, replace names with Amelia and Mickey, go from there.



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March 11, 2015

Review: Confess


Confess
Confess by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Sigh.

Everytime I read a new Colleen book, I go into it with the hopes that I am finally going to love something like I did Slammed. I'll go through the first chapters and I'll think, this is it, it is finally going happen. And then it fizzles out. Confess was so close though. So close.

Even if Colleen's books haven't quite hit the mark for me, I find her approach to writing to be amazing. She doesn't just write a book, she writes an experience. Confess is an experience. Not only did she work with an artist to bring Owen's character to life, she brought in actual confessions from readers who were willing to put a piece of themselves out there. Honestly, those confession and Danny O'Conner's artwork made this entire book. They were the experience here. They were why I kept turning the pages. They overshadowed Owen and Auburn. How do you rate a book where you are in awe of an idea so much that it make the actual writing seem a little..less? Owen and Auburn were predictable. The writing wasn't bad, it was just expected. I knew the secrets and reasons before they happened, which made it hard to fully immerse myself into their story. My biggest gripe would be the ending though; it needed to be more than what it was. It made me sad, not because it was over, but because how it was over.

I honestly think that Colleen is something special. She is doing things that should make people stand up and take notice. I am, even if I don't feel that she has quite hit that perfect marriage between her ideas and her writings yet.




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March 8, 2015

Review: The Dream Thieves


The Dream Thieves
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



You know those books that when you finish, you sit back and wonder what you have been doing with your life that kept you from reading this before? This is one of those. It is also days like this where I wish I didn't live 40 minutes away from the nearest bookstore so I could rush there to buy the actual book so I can pet it and tell it how much I love it. Okay, so that is a slight exaggeration but you get my point.

I honestly think I could write a review that waxes poetic about just about every aspect of this series so far, but that would interfere with my listening time for the next book. I'll just cut the chase about to cover my favorite aspect so far. Despite the seemingly so pace of the books so far, it is done in such a way that you just don't care. Every word has a reason and it unfurls slowly but you are enjoying the ride so much that you actually revel in the pace of the story. Also, Blue rocks. Seriously, she's a character that I would be ecstatic to find out my daughter was reading about.

"I don't want to be just someone to kiss. I want to be a real friend, too. Not just someone who's fun to run around because - because I have breasts!"

"Right, sure. Because there's no girls in politics! I have no interest. Voting? What? I forgot my apron. I think I ought to be in the kitchen right now, actually. My rolling pin - "


Yeah, I kind of love Blue. Especially when compared to the oh so many female characters who make you want to slam you head into the nearest wall.

So, that's it. I'm off to start book three and read it slow enough that I go completely crazy waiting for September.



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February 24, 2015

Review: 30 Days of Night, Vol. 1


30 Days of Night, Vol. 1
30 Days of Night, Vol. 1 by Steve Niles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Loved the artwork, but I'm kind of so-so on the storyline. I think that has more to do with having seen the before prior to reading this though. This didn't seem quite as fleshed out in comparison. I haven't seen any of the half-baked sequels though, so I'm going into the rest of these blind. I'm hoping it helps..



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February 19, 2015

Review: The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires


The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires
The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires by Molly Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I have yet to read a Molly Harper book that I didn't love. They are just snarky fun. When you are looking for a book that doesn't take itself too seriously and is just a fun read, anything by this author works. I can't say that I loved this one as much as her Jane Jameson series, but it was still a great, and much needed quick read.



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