Book Review: Wicked

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not a bad book. I feel I should preface this review with this. Wicked is an interesting book with a very different view on the Wizard of Oz. The problem is that the book is slow. It takes time to build and time to decline and at times you can feel very lost in regards to things. So it makes things complicated. So I'm kind of fifty-fifty on recommending the book. I definitely wouldn't steer anyone away from it, but its definitely not my first choice to recommend either.

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Review: Where She Went

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I would like to start off by saying that the only reason that this review is two days late is because I haven't had internet that last few days. But that is neither here nor there.

I love this book. I say that a lot and it's always true when I say it but in this case I have to say that I liked this book even more than the first one. For those of you who don't know, Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay which I really liked. Far more than I liked The Fault in Our Stars which a lot of people might try to compare it to. Having said that I find that I like this book even more. And it's not just because we get to see the other perspective. I think it is because I could relate to this story a lot more.

Though it still ties back into the events of the first book as that does heavily influence many of the characters, there is something more to be said of this book and the struggle that we witness. It is about someone who is trying to figure out their life while everyone else around them is telling them that it has to be a certain way. And in a very clear way it also says that no one can tell you what your life should be or how you should live it. Only you can decide that. And really, your life isn't worth living until you make the choice for yourself.



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Review: Red White and Blood

Vanessa Brown's review

5 of 5 stars

Read from July 25 to August 08, 2014

You know that feeling you get when you finish a book and all you can think is: where is the next one?

That about summarizes my feelings in regards to this book. I can say honestly and without a doubt that I love the Nathaniel Cade series. Celever, tense, and utterly thrilling. With characters that are vivid and real, I recommend anyone who hasn't checked out this series or has only somewhat consider it to stop reading and go pick up the first book Blood Oath .

For everyone else or whoever just wanted to finish the review first: I really do love this book. It has the right mixture of humor, terror, and thrill. Of course, Mr. Farnsworth is brilliant at making a person want to scream (sometimes with terror and sometimes just frustration). It really is a wonderful read.

And to top off the utter insanity that is Cade and his "handler" Zach, this time around, Farnsworth tossed us the boogeyman. And it is a brilliant twist and take on him. Completely different than a person or rather, monster, that we might have expected to find. And honestly, that is what I love about this series. What you think you will find, isn't always what you do find. It's something unexpected and utterly exciting.

What more could someone ask for in a book series?

Review: Lover Reborn

Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I have been waiting for Tohr's book...for a while. Anyone who has looked at my reviews, knows from my reading of Lover Unleashed that I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. And this book has proved no different. I think I actually liked this better than some of the others. It's a very real book about having to grow and let go. It's about pain and love. It's about the things that make us human and the things that sometimes we don't want to do. It was amazing to me seeing the pain in some and the hope and joy at times.

Of course, as with all the other books in the series, it ties in and builds on what has already been created. I really like that about this series. Though it means that the books aren't stand alone and are very hard to read without having read the others, I don't mind that. You become enveloped in this world and Ward does a very good job at pulling you in and making you want more of it. I can say, without a doubt, that I absolutely love it.

I can't wait to get my hands on the next book and dive back into that world.



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Review: If I Stay

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I will start off by saying that this book did not make me cry. I cam really close, but I did not actively cry. I already know that a lot of people are going to be comparing this to The Fault in Our Stars, but honestly, I liked this book a lot better. I love the character Mia and I love the way that her story is told. I love that you see these glimpses of her life and that it isn't simple. She could live or die and the decision is up in the air the whole time. I know what I wanted her to pick, but it was never clear which she would. It all depended on a single moment that was being built up towards and that we just had to wait and see which choice would be made.

Now, I do not want to spoil the book for anyone because I do highly recommend it, but I do want to say that my favorite parts of the book involve two very important conversations in her decision making process. Though I do not think it is very fair to call them conversations since she can only listen while these people sit so close and yet so far away. It is her grandfather and her boyfriend Adam, who I believe are the most influential in motivating her. Their hands guide her. They love her and they do for her what she cannot seem to do for herself.

This story is truly beautiful. It might make you cry and it might not, but I don't think it matters either way. Really, the thing that matters is the sad and beautiful reality of it. This book makes you want to take a step back and look at life. Look at those moments which seem so inconsequential and yet so pivotal at the same time. Our lives can change in a moment. And we have to choose what path it is we take. That is what I see this book showing the most of all and it makes me love it that much more.



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Review: The Iron Trial

The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I was fortunate to find this book as an ARC when it arrived at the store where I work. And now that I have read it, I will be honest in saying that I am very glad that I managed to get a copy before anyone else did! Of course with that came a very sad and horrifying realization about twenty minutes ago.

It ended.

This book ended. I'm a little in denial about the matter. I didn't want the book to end. I want it to keep going. Of course, even more, I want to know when the second book is coming out! I absolutely loved every minute of this book. I loved the surprises presented by the wonderful Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. They have build a world that I absolutely love.

I am very pleased to say that I actually did not expect some of the twists and turns that occurred and that thrilled me. I love finding surprises in the book. It's nice to be able to guess things every now and then, but honestly, there are some things that I could never have imagined. And that made me the happiest of all.

Of course you could very easily compare the book to Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. And while I would highly recommend this if you like either of these, I do not think it is fair to completely write it off because of it. It's like saying that Divergent is a rip-off of the Hunger Games. They have their similarities, but they have their differences and wonderful differences they are.

Now, of course, I don't want to spoil anything for when the time comes and people get to actually read this. All I can say is that, you really should give it a chance. There is a new, wonderful kind of magic, that is being built here. One that I very much enjoy. It's laws are fascinating and its lore makes me want to learn more!

If you get the chance, I highly recommend this book and while you enjoy it, I shall eagerly await book number two!



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Review: To Marry a Scottish Laird

To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm a sucker for a romance. I've always been that way. And this book is no exception for me. A strong Highlander tends to make my knees go a little weak and Cam is certainly a strong man. I very much enjoyed the story woven by he and his lovely little Joan. I especially liked that the story also referred back to an older story that I ready a while before. I got so excited when I started to recognize the other story as it was mentioned. The building of that kind of world is fascinating to me.

Yes, it's a romance novel and a lot of people would mock that as escapism, but isn't that what all fiction is when you think of it that way? Reading is simply a way to build another world. It's no different from watching television or listening to music except I'd like to think that it compliments music wonderfully and is far more stimulating than watching TV (though I do love me some science fiction and fantasy shows).

I loved being so bound to these characters though. Giggling at their little moments of silliness and wanting them so much to just sit down and work things out. I loved the way that you got to watch them, at least for a little while, start to build a life together. One full of love and hope and family and friends. I guess that's what I really love about reading. Yes sometimes you don't always have a happy ending, and sometimes we wish that characters would do what we want them to rather than what they want to, but I don't think that really matters in the end.

Reading this little romance novel reminded me of why I love to read in the first place. It doesn't have anything to do with learning (though it's a useful way to do it) or escaping (but that is a wonderful byproduct). It is about meeting these new characters and making these friends that I can share with my other friends. I can read these books and it doesn't matter how strange I am, I am not judged and in so doing, I can also connect to people who I would have never thought to approach. I guess I kind of got off topic. I'm supposed to be reviewing this book, not telling you why I love to read.

But I guess, they're kind of the same thing. This book has it's corny moments. Yes it is predictable and that might annoy some people, but I'd like to think that we read not for the ending, but for the journey that it takes us on. And this story is quite a journey.



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Review: Four: A Divergent Collection

Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



So I actually finished this around three something this morning, but I thought I would behave and go to sleep and wait until this morning to write my feelings up. And even after a few hours of sleep, I absolutely loved this book. Just like her previous books, I finished Four in less than two days. It makes me want to read Divergent all over again. Reading so much of their world from Four's point of view makes me crave more of this world. It makes me crave more of the characters and the lives that they have begun to mold for themselves. It reminds me of how much I love the world that Ms. Roth has created. I really think it is a beautiful place, very intricate and always changing. I truly hope she does continue to build in it one day. And even more than that, I truly hope that she continues to write more no matter what world it is in.

As it stands, I highly recommend Four and the entire Divergent world to anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to explore it. It is well worth the read.



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Review: The Emperor's Soul

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I have to thank my friend Korey for this one. He not only recommended Brandon Sanderson to me, but also lent me this particular story which I enjoyed very much. I love the way that Sanderson presented the story. It is very rich and involving. I loved learning about the characters and about this world that they're a part of. And now I find, I want to read more. I want to read more of his work and hopefully more of these characters though I'll definitely have to see if that is possible or not. I certainly plan to read and review more of his work in the future. For those lovers of fantasy, I highly recommend this particular short story. It is exciting, thrilling and there is a sense of awe it leaves you with that is hard to ignore. And in the end, you want to keep reading which, I believe, is the best part about it all.



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Review: The Selection

The Selection by Kiera Cass

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book. When I first read the back I thought that it was an interesting premise. A mix between an arranged marriage and The Bachelor. And I have to say that I enjoyed myself very much reading it. Though I won't lie and say it was an easy read. Very well written, America comes to life. And with that in mind, she's very much a teenager. There are times I wanted to strangle her. There were times when I was seriously questioning her sanity and reason. And, of course, there were times when I really wished she would just open her eyes and grow up (still waiting on that so we'll see).

But I think that those little flaws in her, are what I like. She's not some perfect little grown up. In some ways she is still a child which is very appropriate for her age. And yet she also has those moments that, as a big sister, I can empathize with. The worry. The command. The simply wanting time alone or with friends who don't mind you being yourself. I've already decided I'm reading the second book as soon as I can get my hands on it. Kiera Cass has certainly brought this world to life.

With an interesting view for a future world, The Selection has this feeling of being both distopic and elegant at the same time. It is not the dark hardships of The Hunger Games or Divergent, but at the same time it is not some sweeping romance like Pride and Prejudice or Austenland. It is somewhere in the middle. Now some might question my choice of comparisons, but I feel that is the best way to describe the rich world that Miss Cass has begun to build. A world that I eagerly hope to return to very soon.



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Review: Lover Unleashed

Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



So I'm crying a little inside right now. I started writing a review and somehow clicked out of the box, pressed backspace and lost the whole thing. So, I'm definitely in deep mourning right now. And I'm also trying to remember what all I was saying and what I was thinking. It's a very complicated process.

But enough about that, I am supposed to be talking about the book, not my failings with my mouse pad. Alright, so I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. And after a little while of reading things that I do not typically read, I was very glad to get back to something that is within my genre spectrum. (The last book that could have counted before this being The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer also recommended).

So we have this, book number nine of the series and I find that I feel it is very disloyal really to try to review this book without mentioning any of the others. For those of you who have read any part of the series, the story builds on itself in such a way that it becomes almost a requirement to read the other books int he series before you even consider trying to read the later stories.

But, I will try to do just that. As much as I love this book and this series, I found myself a little disappointed. I wanted a little more. Maybe I'm just an action and adventure junkie. There was a little in the book, but it felt a little slower in its pace than some of the others. Mind it had its own surprises and I still love it, but I guess I just wanted a little bit more. even as the book was coming in the last few pages I found myself thinking: Well this can't be right, there has to be more to the story, doesn't there? As I have found, in this book there is not. Which means it is off to book number 10 where there must be more to come. Always more that I shall eagerly read.



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Review: Letting Go

Letting Go by Mary Beth Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



All I have to say is I was so disappointed...when it ended. I wanted to keep reading. Miss Lee very thoroughly brought the cast of characters to life and I wanted to read more about them. I wanted to immerse myself in the lives of Clarissa Dye and the Dillons. Mary Beth builds a world that is real and not overbearing in its Christian themes, something I have found that can be very hard to do. The characters are sincere and very relate-able. And though this review is much shorter than my usual, I truly believe that everyone should give it a chance and hopefully come to love Stearns and its residents as much as I do.



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Review: Raising the Curve: A Year Inside One of America's 45,000* Failing Public Schools

Raising the Curve: A Year Inside One of America's 45,000* Failing Public Schools by Ron Berler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm not a bid reader of non-fiction. I don't think I ever really have been, but every now and then there are books that make me consider, well, reconsidering that point of view. This definitely one of those books. Well-written, highly researched, and very honest, Raising the Curve gives us a glimpse into a failing school, Brookside Elementary. But it's more than just a year as the title would have you believe because there is so much more to this school. There is the history of the town to be considered. The view of education that has laid the groundwork for where the school is, and even the groundwork for several of the children's lives who play main roles in this narrative.

But it seems hard to call it just a narrative. Written in a very conversational manner calling it a narrative almost makes me think that I'm trying to tell you about a well-researched piece of fiction when, in fact, that is not the case. This is a real story and, in a way, that makes what is written all the more poignant. Not everything ends happily or even magically. Bad things still happen and people still struggle and don't always come through victorious. I suppose, in a way, that makes the victories that are seen that much sweeter.

The story, in many ways, felt all too brief. I wanted to read more. I wanted to become more immersed in the story and the lives of these children and their teachers. I pray the best for them and wish that there was something I could do to help any school facing such a situation. I suppose, in many ways, that that is exactly what this book is meant to do. And it does it very well. Education is something that should be taken seriously before it becomes too late to reserve any damage which negligence does to it.



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Review: Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Spoilers Ahead!
Cloud Atlas is a book that is both pressing and engaging at the same time. What I mean to say is that while there are times that the book becomes hard to read and you feel like you're forcing yourself through every sentence, there is an underlying current which draws you in demanding your attention and holding it in such a way that you cannot even consider looking away.

The book is built around six central characters whose lives are intertwined not in their presents but rather through the marks that they leave in time. Each story draws on some part of the past working it's way from the farthest point back with Adam Ewing to the farthest future of Zachry and finally back to Adam Ewing again. The book can seem daunting and heavy at times with themes of past and future and how we shape the world with our beliefs and prejudices, but, at the same time, it has these stunning lines that make it almost impossible to to ignore no matter your beliefs.

By far, the hardest part for me to read was the sixth narrative and farthest point back in history: Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After. It wasn't terribly written. It wasn't even boring. Actually it was very interesting. The story builds up a post-apocalyptic world. One which we have created for ourselves in our drive for power and progress. And it all culminates, at least for me, in a line that Zachry hears from a corpse as he finds himself being driven mad while a personification of the devil that they call Old Georgie tries to convince him to kill his companion, a woman named Meronym. "List'n to me, Valleysman, the soosided priest-king spoke, yay, list'n. We Old Uns was sick with Smart an' the Fall was our cure." (pg 279)

Despite the difficulty of the language for that entire difficult passage, that line engaged me. It's insinuations and even its ring of truth. It doesn't even matter to me that it is a figment of Zachry's imagination. Just because that is the case, does not make it any less true. And it makes you wonder if perhaps we should take a step back and wonder where all of our progress is taking us and if it is really worth it in the end.

But, I suppose that is why we also have the view point of Sonmi-451, a fabricant who is manipulated just to make a great show in a world ruled like a business. At the end of her testimonial which she gives before she is to be executed, she points out that she realized she was to die. She knew she was being manipulated. "But if you about this...conspiracy," the archivist asks, "why did you cooperate with it? Why did you allow Hae-Joo Im to get so close to you? Why does any martyr cooperate with judases? Tell me. We see a game beyond the endgame. I refer to my Declarations, Archivist.[...]But to what end? Some...future revolution? It can never succeed. As Seneca warned Nero No matter how many of us you kill, you will never kill your successor." (pg 349)

And in that moment, we see that just because you have to die to get your message across doesn't mean it will be ignored. In fact, it makes it more likely that you will be heard and that people will remember.

Of course there is much more to the story than even this point. Throughout every narrative we find prejudices. Most are racial, blacks against whites. Fabricants against pureborns. Barbarians against the civilized. Old against the young. Rich against poor. During part of Half-Lives: The first Luisa Rey Mystery, there is a scene where Luisa attends a party held by her mother for what could only be called the upper crust of society. The conversation devolves into a demand for a virtual overthrow of government to be replaced by corporations. "'A meritocracy of acumen. A culture that is not ashamed to acknowled that wealth attracts powers...' '...and that the wealthmakers-us-are rewarded. When a man aspires to power. I ask one simple question: "Does he think like a businessman?"'" (pg 403).

Ironically that is exactly what happens by the time of An Orison of Sonmi-451. But all of these are beliefs. Ones that change over time as is said in The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. He quotes a man he had once known and was visiting again by the name of Wagstaff who says "It's all rats' nests & rubble now. That's what all beliefs turn to one day. Rats' nests & rubble." (pg 486)

In a story that is both intricate and fascinating, Mitchell builds world upon world and twines them together intricately in a way that they cannot truly be taken apart and yet each stands on its own as a testament to a life lived those lives both happy and tragic. But of all the things in the story, I think that my favorite moment, my favorite part, my favorite line is the very ending as Ewing makes a conscious decision to change his life and the world that he is going to leave for his young son. "'He who would do battle with the many-headed hydra of human nature must pay a world of pain & his family must pay it along with him! & only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life announced to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!' Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?" (pg 508-9).

Would it be nice to be able to live that? To be the drop that helps to turn the tide? And wouldn't it be even more wonderful, to be the one to inspire the other drops and watch as the ocean turns, ripples, and shapes the world around it? I'd like to think so.



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Review: The Inventor's Secret

The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I was lucky enough to find this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy at the store where I work this last month. I have never had the chance to read anything by Andrea Cremer before nor have I ever read anything steampunk though the premise itself has always fascinated me. So has alternative history, though that I have at least had the chance to delve into before. Seeing the two aspects combined into one story was simply too much for me to pass up.

Unfortunately, because of how the cover was set up, I had no idea what I was getting myself into all. I had to guide my way was a little teasing blurb that did peek my interest. And so, I proceeded to read, slowly at first, but with an increasing curiosity and fever over the time that passed. I found the be charming and an exciting peak into a world that I am very excited to learn more about. I found the characters to be very real, especially the main character and narrator, Charlotte. While she seems very mature and sure, there are times when, as a person reads, they see that she is still very much a sheltered child.

Having grown up in the catacombs only surrounded by other children, there are times when Charlotte's ignorance of how the world works and how the relations between men and women can be, become very evident while, at other times, she can be seen as nothing less than a bold and daring young woman more than capable of taking care of herself and ready and willing to take charge at a single moment's notice. The other main characters have their own vibrance and secrets. Some that we see and some that we remain utterly ignorant of as Charlotte herself begins to see the world in new ways.

I can say without a doubt that I am very much looking forward to the following books.



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Review of The Fault in Our Stars

Possible Spoilers:

I heard a lot about this book and originally I refused to read it.  I wanted nothing to do with it because I did not want to read a book that would make me cry and from everything that I had heard about it, I believed that it would do just that.  I can say, now that I have read the book that I did not cry.  I had moments where I might have felt the urge to tear up, but nothing that I read pushed me over the edge.

Yet, given how much I have been told people love this book and all the hype and emotion attributed to it, I find that I do not feel the same way int he least.  I'll admit that there were parts that moved me.  Lines that made me feel something stir inside me either through sheer brilliance or through sentimentality.  But, overall, I was extremely underwhelmed by the whole book.

"Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway.  That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don't you believe in true love?" (pg 61)

When I read that quote for the first time, I had to read it again to my roommate simply because to me it was that brilliant, I felt in that moment that I might be able to fall in love with the book.  I felt like, in that moment, it might be worth it to travel through the pain and the suffering.  And maybe if it had been Isaac telling the story, I might have been able to.  But it was Hazel.  And I have nothing against her.  She had moments of utter brilliance.  Moments when she is so inherently human that I can't help but want to meet her and listen and smile as she talks with Augustus Waters and Isaac and her parents or any other person.  Of course she also has moments where she is a normal teenage girl and I want to strangle her so really it depends on the scene.

And yet as I read on, I found the book lacking.  There was something about it that I still can't quite put my finger on.  Some might blame it on a lack of fantasy or adventure which, I will grant, is what I usually read, but I'd like to think that I have more pride than that.  No, it's more than that.  In this slice of life, these moments of tragic time that are shared, I simply felt something lacking.  I wish I could explain it, but I can't.  And for a moment, towards the end I was going to rate the book far lower than I have.  But during those last three pages, for a moment, John Green gave me something that made me give him a little credit.

"Okay, maybe I'm not such a shitty writer. But I can't pull my ideas together, Van Houten. My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations." (pg 311)

But as much as those two lines, those sweet moments as well as any others I could find and name for you in the novel gave me hope, I still feel that, in a way, John Green is kind of like my own Van Houten.  Not in that he is some drunk who I can't get a straight answer out of.  Not in the least.  But rather, I feel like there was so much more here and that I missed something.  That there was something missing that should have been there that could have made this book great.  Or perhaps, I simply fail to see what so many others love so much about this book.