Review: My Little Monster(Anime/Manga)

Summary:
Shizuku Mizutani has learned to deal with life's disappointments by repressing her emotions and trusting no one but herself. She has only one focus and that is academic achievement. Haru Yoshida throws himself at life with every ounce of emotional power he has which would not necessarily be a problem except he deals with deep seated rage issues. He has seriously hurt several students over the years and consequently everyone is afraid of him. Shizuku sees no point in engaging the world around her and Haru doesn't know how to engage the world around him. All that begins to change when the two first meet and find themselves almost immediately attracted to each other. Their unlikely pairing leads both of them to begin to break out of their lonely, little worlds to see what life really has to offer.

from animenewsnetwork

Like I've been saying in my recent posts, I've been wanting to read/watch more romantic type things and this is definitely one of them. I watched the anime in about a half a day, and fell in love with it immediately. It was just really easy and fun to watch. So there are thirteen episodes in the series that aired in 2012, and I the animation is not anything crazy cool like Attack on Titan or Beyond the Boundary, but it's pretty and watchable.

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I had the absolute delight to get a signed copy of the novel, through a goodreads giveaway. So, when I started reading the book I had somewhat high standards for it, as a lot of you guys told me how lucky I am to have it signed, and how just amazing the book is. I have to back all of you guys up and say that you are 100% correct. :D

I heard about Libba Bray when I first got into the entire YA books. She's very popular among the YA readers, and I'd like to imagine her, Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Scott Westerfield being the best English teachers and authors anyone could as for. Beauty Queens is not a quick read at all. It took me several sittings to get through the novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel is written in third-person with some epistolary documents sporadically spread about. I just enjoyed the humor of pretty much everything.

Having a bunch of beauty contestants is difficult to remember each and everyone of the characters, but I think because of how the novel is kind of written in pieces of the girl's personality, it showcases them one at a time. Because this novel is pretty much satire of the pageant world, it was like having an argument with my best friend about how stupid and brain-washed those girls are.

One of my favorite things about this novel is, as a teenage girl, you look and see Hollywood starlets looking 'beautiful' because they do this, and do that and look like a certain way, when they aren't nearly as awesome as you are. I guess what I'm trying to say is, not every teenage girl is going to look like a size zero, 5'8 model straight out of the runway, and we as teenage girls should take that in stride, because I don't want to be as skinny as a stick, and be hairless like mole rate, just because the tv says I should be. So this book is pretty much a f*** you, media, and your idea of what makes a girl beautiful.

Uhh...I hope this review made sense, and the weird part is the day I'm writing this review, is the day I got a letter by National American Miss asking me to go to their casting call. Somehow they got my name and address, even though I don't do pageants. If some of you guys have gotten a letter from them too, and you don't do pageants please let me know. I'm really freaked out that they even have me in their database. Oh well, I give Libba Bray's Beauty Queens a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Review: The Forgotten by Claudia Carozza

Hazel's job at the Antioch didn't work out at all like she had planned. After a daring escape and one very risky delivery of the first baby born in years, she's still holding on to the hope of a better future. Out of the Antioch and on the run, who can Hazel turn to for help and can they really be trusted? In the second book of the Barronlands Trilogy, relationships are tested and even more secrets are revealed. Hazel tries to put the pieces together, hoping everything doesn't fall apart. Will she be able to hold it all together or will there be those who slip through the cracks?

from goodreads

I read the first novel of this series a few months back, I can't even remember when now. Ahhh! Where has 2012 gone? Anyways, I started reading The Forgotten about a week or so ago, and because I was in a reading rut, I didn't finish it until recently. Though, the novel could be read in a matter of hours.

Claudia Carozza really peaked my interest a little more in the sequel, so that was a really good improvement. I was more excited for a lot of things to come in this novel, and surprises are everywhere. Since the last novel ended in a cliff hanger, I'd say that you'll have to read about twenty pages in, an then the cliff hanger continues. The middle was lagging for me, and that's when  I usually loose interest. I skimmed some parts, and things still made sense, so that wasn't something I appreciated I can do when reading a novel.

Hazel really stepped it up a notch in this novel. I think I like her a bit more than in the first novel, because she's becoming more of herself and a strong heroine. She changes quite drastically in the novel, and if you're ready for the character development, then you'll love The Forgotten.

There are some soap opera scenes during this novel, but don't worry, it gets better, and unlike soap operas the drama ends, in a way.

This is kind of a spoiler, so if you want to be absolutely spoiler free, then skip this paragraph. Like the first novel, there is a death. I won't say who, but it's someone that is quite present in most of the novel. The death for me felt strained, and just away to kill off a character, at first. Later reading,  I did noticed that the death was for something huge for Hazel. If you liked this character a lot-I didn't- then you'd be devastated at her fast leave in the novel.

Pigeons were a huge symbol in this novel, and because of that I look at pigeons in a different way then before. Unlike thinking about them as the pesky fat birds that wander the city, I think of them as quite courageous creatures. I know that pigeons have developed a friendly term with humans, so they don't find the need to fly away when someone comes in a foot radius of them. The small birds with blue bellies I see around my town, they are cowards, in their way. I guess we're all like that at the beginning. Finding food, and then flying away when danger approaches, but Pigeons are the opposite.

All in all, to wrap things up in a nice little package, The Forgotten won't be forgotten in my mind, and some serious character battles support the novel, and the novel goes to a more violent side. Near the end, it actually gets vulgar, and that was something I didn't expect one of the characters to say. I love the story, as its world fascinates me, so I'll give The Forgotten by Claudia Carozza a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Blog Tour: Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.

Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.

Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.

Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.

From goodreads

Shadows may be the only book that has got me sucked in a the beginning. I've talked about this book for about a month on the blog and all I could say was the prologue was intense. I have to say a fair warning now that I didn't read the first novel yet, but I'm planning to read the entire series all at once soon.

Ilsa J. Bick is a new author to me and boy do I want to meet her now. I usually like to keep wanting to meet an author at a distance because sometimes your role models or heroes let you down. Ilsa, though, really made reading a sequel to a novel you've never read a bit more bearable than I thought. I especially love how she manages to write incredibly detailed actions scenes with out slowing everything down. It seemed incredibly life like.

I didn't meet these characters in Shadows before hand in the first novel because I didn't read the first novel like I said at the start. My perception of all the characters are different then most and not completely sure about any. I find that I miss so much history between characters that I skim. It's going to be my duty to read Ashes soon.

I learned a lot about guns. That's a simple statement that I'm not sure that I wanted to say or not. I was completely clueless about guns before, and somehow I've came out a better? person knowing so much about a weapon that killed millions. It's hard to say, but I think that if you're into that kind of deal Shadows is made for you. This being stated again: I need to read the first novel to get the full effect; I'm going to give Shadows a head nods and thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Review: Bridgeworld by Travis McBee

William Haynes was the type of guy that every boy wanted to be. He was an honor roll student and captain of his middle school football team. He was dating the most popular girl in the school and had dozens of friends. Yes, life was perfect for Will...that is until a strange man shows up and forces his parents to reveal a secret they have kept hidden since he was born. He is told that he has been given a scholarship to a prestigious private school that his parents attended, a private school that happens to be in space. Will must choose between a life many would die for and a life none could imagine. A life where he is no longer perfect, where he must make new friends, and where he must survive a school rivalry like no other.

from amazon

I write honest reviews. I have never read a book that I didn't particularly like, and then write a beyond amazingly book review. Saying that, I'm not trying to say that I didn't like the novel, but what I'm saying is that I couldn't finish it. The novel had a loose frame, and didn't have a clear problem, and I was waiting every next chapter for that big ba-boom to hit me, but it never came. It could be the next chapter, but I don't want to waste anymore time on a book that I don't see any clear problem the character has to overcome.

Travis McBee has to have a list of similes and metaphors in a huge journal, because when I read this novel, it sounded like my English teacher went high on them. I love how he described a scenery, and time and time again, I felt like he could be writing a better story. I hate saying that, but the idea of the boy goes to an alien school isn't original or interesting enough, for me. Maybe you'll like it, but I personally don't. Also, I have to mention that I skimmed over many parts of the novel, and still didn't miss a beat. There's a part of me that feels let down by that fact.

I don't read many male protagonist books, because I usually don't connect with them, and how Will is described really erks me. Will actually reminds me of a couple of guys I know into one, and it isn't a nice experience. His attitude to things are so carefree at times, it doubles my frustration that there isn't a real problem in the book. Nothing is challenging him.

Book Review: Settling by Shelley Workinger

Book: Goodreads Website
Author: Goodreads Twitter


At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

from goodreads


I was very excited to receive Settling from Shelley Workinger a week or so ago. If you haven't read Solid (the first novel in the trilog) you should. I'll link the review here. Anyways, I started reading the novel over last weekend, and this is the very first novel that I read on my new nook. I don't want this to be about ereading so here goes the review.

Shelley Workinger is one the authors that I love, and her debut series has satisfied me quite well. For her second novel, I was spoiled with spoilers before, and I was shocked at first. Then when I read the novel, the spoilers of what Clio does, does not surprise me, and I don't hate Shelley for writing the way Clio is. I wouldn't say that I'm thrilled by the prospect, but I'm not going around hating it. Shelley's writing is wonderful like last time, and I enjoyed the new characters she brought on and the mystery she still brings to a novel that is supposed to be about settling down in your new home.

Review: Solid by Shelley Workinger

Book: Goodreads Website

Author: Goodreads Twitter

I started reading Solid on August 5th and thought it was alright. The story intrigued me, but I didn't have many expectations for it or anything that I was hoping will have in it. Then I set it down for a week and just picked it up the past few days. I can't say that this review will be readable by the end because my thoughts are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Shelley Workinger's writing was refreshing when I really got into the novel. I love the quick step pace, and how she made the characters her's. I think that she nailed the dialogue perfectly. It had a bunch of pop culture references, and you kind of have to know your stuff to get the humor. The endless witty remarks and quips kept the characters alive in my opinion. I feel like how the problems and resolution played out what I thought it was. There wasn't much mystery, and it was very easy to spot the "bad guy" and the new person that comes to everyone's rescue. I didn't feel the anticipation that I hoped when I really got into the story. Though I love how everything was told and the history behind why Clio is where she is.

Clio, my favorite sarcastic character that I have extreme amount of respect for a character that's "not real" tells the story, or should I say her story. I hoped that the main protagonist won't be a Debby Downer or a mediocre gal because we all know that authors have a tendency to not know who there female protagonist is and makes them dully mediocre. Clio and her background made her different from the all ready "special" people around her. She didn't get on my nerves and ask the most obvious questions and I have to give props for that. My most favorite character other than Clio has to be Garrett with all of his brotherly aspects and the humor similar to Clio's. He's just an all around good guy that you'd want to have on your side.

Something that made me kind of mad and frustrated by was the fact that the main love interest Jack and Clio fell deeply in love all of a sudden after two actual conversations. It didn't seem real, but if there is some other explanation to this than I'd accept their loving ways. I just dislike when authors find that two people can fall in love so suddenly and so soon. Maybe it's because I've never truly fallen in love or believe in love at first sight, but I feel like their relationship was rushed and didn't have much substance. Sadly though, I still want them to be a couple.

I don't have anymore to say, except that the small excerpt of the second novel made me want to read more than anything else in the entire novel before. I still love the story and would recommend it to someone that I'd know loves this kind of conspiracy theory. Without much to say, but "yeah and go read it" I give Solid by Shelley Workinger a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)