It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (#8)

meme is started by bookjourney

What I Read This Week:

I started reading Wintergirls a week ago? I think. This book has made me.... different per se. I'm not sure what my final thoughts on it are yet, but the review will be up on Tuesday.

 Amazon l Goodreads

What I Am Currently Reading:

I am part of the blog tour for Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick. I read the prologue without knowing about the first book, and so far I'm sucked into it. :)

Amazon l Goodreads

What I'm Going to Read Next:

Living together unsupervised, five troubled teens confront demonic forces and are compelled to deal with their problems in distinctly different ways. Paranormal meets psycho meets Goth in this story of a supernatural haunting and budding love.

High school junior, Ben, hacks into his step-father's real estate holdings and provides rooms in an old two-story house to various outcasts: the schizophrenic kid, the angry Goth girl, and the homeless girl who worships him. When Megan needs a place to live she comes to the rooming house with a different set of problems and the ability to confuse and attract Ben.

One by one strange and mysterious occurrences stretch the teens’ beliefs in the supernatural. How they deal with demons, real and imagined, has tragic as well as redeeming consequences. 

from goodreads

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.

It's Monday! What are You Reading? (#6)

meme started by bookjourney 

What I Read:

I started reading Bridgeworld, and am very close to finishing it. Does that count? Yeah,... sure...  goodreads l amazon

What I'm Currently Reading: 

So far, so CUTE!! goodreads l amazon

What I Hope To Read Next:

Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. They are worse than you think they are.The feeling of something you thought you had but you never did. Your whole train of thought changes direction. Suddenly everything you have lived for becomes a life you never had.
I thought I knew everything. My name is Evaline Pangborne, and I am a werewolf. amazon

Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Author: Website Twitter Goodreads
Book: Amazon Website Goodreads B&N

Earlier this year, I read half of The Name of the Star, and didn't really enjoy it so I put it down. Months now later, I picked it up at the height of the novel, and really want to kick myself in the shin for not continuing to read at least the next few pages. The Name of the Star is an unexpected modern "Ripper" novel with a paranormal twist, which I absolutely love and adore. 

I remember kind of trashing MJ the first round I read the novel, and I want to take that down right now, but I'm not because it shows how opinions can change and drastically at that. I started following MJ on twitter a few months ago on a whim, because I knew she was one of the most tweeting author there is. Also she makes me laugh at really long twitter stories. Through her writing the novel I found that twitter writing in her very different and the same, and I guess that is because she is constantly changing as an author, and this novel did come out last year. I loved how she incorporated small stories at the end of a section of the novel, to open a whole new world, and people to the next. I appreciate how much British things she added to the novel, and how much I learned from this novel alone. From a levels, to the layout of East London it was all very well informed and carefully written to not overwhelm the mind, and screaming at it " This is SO MUCH BRITISH!!!!". Fyi not trying to say being British or their culture is bad or anything like that, it's only because it's new stuff to Americans and anyone else.

Review: Survival by A.M. Hargrove

 

Book: Goodreads Amazon Website
Author: Website Twitter Amazon Smashwords 

As you may know from the list of book reviews I have done that I love young adult/paranormal romance novels. This is exactly what I thought I wanted to get myself into after I finished Nevermore by Kelly Creagh because I just love the genre. I didn't know though that I'd come out in a faze and wondering is this really the future of young adult novels. I'm ashamed to say that I could not finish this book because it was just too unreal to me. It was like watching ice melt, you knew exactly what was going to happen.

A.M. Hargrove, I loved the effort in creating the Vesturon aliens and the background knowledge of everything. I love how the author didn't really shy away from issues that are in their world true to ours in a way and how she took the novel step by step at a time. Most of the time I was confused by the pacing of the book and how things went. I love the first part of the book, Maddie's story. Then later the novel fell short on the big things that I wanted to happen or thought I wanted to. The author's writing was very strange to me. The dialogue felt very stiff, I didn't flow like a normal conversation and maybe it's just because aliens were speaking English and that was intentional? I don't know. I do love how she incorporated the slang and differences from the humans and the Vesturon. I was very interested in their species and felt like she could have added more, though I love all the tech stuff the author added.

Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Book: Website Goodreads Amazon

Author: Website Blog Twitter Goodreads

So I borrowed this book from my library back in November I think and it was huge back then, and I guess it still is. Hush, Hush is one of those overly hyped up books of last year (2011). It had everything going for it, the cover, the publisher, and some arc readers. Then it came out to the general public and then came the mixed reviews. Some bloggers I read adore the series and the first book, some of them despise it, and some of them just don't know. I think I'm on the fence of despising the book and just don't know because it was just... strange.

Like the bulk of young adult novels these years Hush, Hush is a paranormal romance, and from the cover of it, it's pretty easy to tell the paranormal part are angels. Becca Fitzpatrick didn't have a distinct writing style you could point out and her word choices were just plain ol' simple. Nothing lavish or intricate, just average. The book was quite short, or maybe I just read it quick because of how simple the writing was. Btw I read it in a day. I spent a whole school's day holiday off reading that book. I'm not spiteful of it, but I'm not glad about it either.

Review: Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

Book: Amazon Website Goodreads

Author: Website Goodreads

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson was a surprising read for me. I read it only because I had to find a book in the library for English class. It was an interesting read indeed and very opposite of what I thought the novel was about. Catalyst is a contemporary read and Laurie Halse Anderson surprised me once again with this book. I was never sure what I was getting into when I read this book, but it made me think huh at the end.

I've seen and read some of Anderson's interviews before and noticed that she put a lot of herself in this book. For example, she was the priest's daughter in town. Laurie Halse Anderson still makes me want to read even though the story is some what normal. I think that because you think that it's kind of normal on the surface if I told you what it was really about, but when you read Kate you see all her different sides and all the different sides of the people around her.

Review: Envy by Gregg Olsen

Book: website  goodreads amazon
Author: goodreads twitter amazon website

I'm not a fan of this book. There it is. I don't think there is anything else much to say, but wait. I have so much to say why.

Well, first off the pages in the book are too white if that makes sense. Probably not, but it feels like I'm reading an ebook with the brightness all the way up and my ebook reader is broken. :( The font plays a great role in why I don't like this book and also because the story was eh.

The plot seemed like been their done that, and it's true because the story is based off of an actual news report. You'll understand if you read the summary, or just looked at the book title. That explains the novel quite immensely. It's the basic small town, big story novel, and the teens are teens. They don't have anything spectacularly scandalous or "special" about them. They are just normal, and I don't read books for normality. I read books to experience things that are not "normal".

Review: Common Criminals by Ally Carter

I

Novel: Goodreads Amazon B&N Website

Author: Website Twitter

t's strange this one. Common Criminals was something that I wasn't especially excited for when I read the summary. Mostly because of the Cleopatra be involved in it. I have a strange urge to think dry sand dunes when every I hear here or Egypt and that is a very broad generalization that I should get out of my mind(I know that). It was unexpected how it went. Of course there was a lot of traveling of sorts, but I could catch up with the fast paceness of it all.

I'm on the fence if I love the second one better than the first, but I really loved the beginning of this one *eye winks* if you know what I mean. It's still a cute summer read that is wonderful for a day on the beach tanning, or if you want to get in the habit of reading in the summer, but don't have the time. It's very easy to start this book and pick it up again without having to remind yourself.

Series Page: Heist Society by Ally Carter

This is a first of many series that I've decided to start this summer. I will have at least two weeks in every month a "series week". A series week is when that whole week is only about that series. That week may lead up to the up coming book or maybe a movie release. This is a series page where you will have on page dedicated to the whole series including: reviews, playlist, and etc. This page will update as soon as something new is posted. I hope this will be easier for you if you like series.

from atapestryofwords.blogspot.com

Heist Society: Review Playlist
Book: Amazon Goodreads Website

Common Criminals: Review Playlist
Book: Goodreads Amazon B&N Website

Author: Website Twitter Goodreads

*reviews and playlist will be linked when posted*

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson Review

Reading level: Ages 12 and up

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; First Edition (September 29, 2011)

Language: English


Author: Website Twitter Goodreads
Book: Amazon Website Goodreads B&N

I think it's time to write a review on this book. On my goodreads account it says that I've started reading this book at least a month ago, but personally I don't see anything special about it. I'm on page 176 and there 's not much that keeps me going. The characters are mundane and the setting is the main focus of the novel. Even though that's awesome, I love character driven novels. NOT ohh let's put this person in this situation and see how they react. That to me is some what equal to animal testing if you understand where I'm coming form. 

The main character Rori or Aurora is only interesting from where she comes from and why she moves to London and there's a new ripper in the city. She's very mundane to other characters I've read. Although mundane is good for supernatural and fantasy stories telling the world, as for historical fiction you want the leading protagonist to be strong and independent or lost and finding themselves. I felt that Rori was in the middle. She was just riding along on this roller coaster her parents put her on. Only positive thing I can say about her is that I love her name. It's the name of one of the Gilmore Girls and that was my favorite show growing up. 

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Review

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel Review Link

Clockwork Prince:  Website Amazon GoodReads B&N
Cassandra Clare: Website Flickr Facebook Twitter Tumblr

Its been a while since I read this book.(I read it in December and my memory is not the best it could), so I've decided to not have a summary on this review. You may go on goodreads or amazon, or any of the links above to understand the synopsis of the book. As most may know Clockwork Prince is the second installment of the Infernal Devices series.