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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Review of Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Golden
Son by Pierce Brown
So I just
finished reading Golden Son. What can I say about this read… it was dark,
gritty, impactful, heartbreaking, gorydamn amazing. (Yeah, I think I like that
last one the best.)
Golden
Son is the second installment of the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. If you
haven’t read Red Rising, go do it. In
this book we leave the surface of Mars and the brutal training play yard of the
Golden children and head intergalactic. There’s a touch a space opera, other-worldly
technological advances, new adult angst, power struggles, slaughter, violence and
death-the list goes on and on and on. We watch Darrow lose his focus and find
it again, lose his friends and find them again, lose his family and find them
again, but best of all we watch Darrow lose himself and find himself again.
In a
booklovers universe that’s filled with YA giants like The Hunger Games, Harry
Potter, Ender’s Game etc, Brown’s titles are a step in another direction. This
author doesn’t need comparison to others in his genre because he does something
that these other books don’t, he stabs you in the gut with a slingBlade made of
fire, rips you to the sternum, lances your heart and then does it all over
again without apology, without the assistance of a Carver to sew your soul back
up. His writing is unique and consuming, his characters over the top but still captivating.
The world he’s created… tremendous. There are Reds, Golds, Yellows, Pinks, factions
residing over factions in an intricately designed world cross-stitched with Greek mythology. And don’t blink while
you’re reading this, you might miss the deception, the thrill, the passion, and
it’s all going to slap in you in the face at the end, leaving you wondering
what the hell just happened, because it’s all pure awesomeness.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
The Genome by Sergei Lukyanenko
The
Genome by Sergei Lukyanenko
2/5
stars
I
don’t even know what to say about this read. So I’ll try. This book is divided
into 3 sections. The first section, I could not put down. The reader is
immediately thrown into world of space and genetically altered beings and we
are introduced to Alex Rominov a space captain who happens upon a young girl
and helps her.
The
second section is heavily laden with thoughts of love and Alex’s supposed
inability to love since he is a pilot he is only able to love his ship. This part
was where the flip switched. At 52% I
found myself putting the book down a lot and very easily. The entire story
changed into something reminiscent of a fourteen year old boy’s dreams of
romance and sex. Alex turns into a man-whore with the women on the ship, the descriptions
of him connecting to the ship sound like erotica, and then the love-square develops
with Alex, Kim, the boy trapped in a gel-crystal, and the female doctor on the
ship. Ugh.
The
third part of the book turns into a whodoneit,
complete with a Dr. Watson and Mr. Homes investigating a murder on the ship. Not
my cup of tea.
The
author does give a warning note before the start of the book about cynical and
immoral things. The Genome is well written, the fictional aspects are greatly
executed, but I still feel like this book could have been something amazing
besides a tongue-in-cheek mockery. Maybe that’s what the author was trying to
accomplish, maybe he wanted this work to really stand out from the pack, but I
feel like it could have been executed differently.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Zombie Crawl Blog Party!
Zombie Crawl Blog Party Schedule
Party Host & Grand Prize: Band of Dystopian
October 22
October 23
October 24
October 25
October 26
October 27
October 29
October 30
October 31
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
The Healer by Allison Butler
ARC provided by the publisher
The cover: I am so sick of rippling abs on romance novels, this cover is a welcome stray from the norm. I kinda love it ;)
The book:
One word comes to mind as I power off my Kindle and that is: Refreshing.
The Healer is a historical romance that's sweet and angsty. The pacing is perfect, the characters are well developed, and the setting was a welcome change. Not once did I find myself skimming as I read. The RN in me really enjoyed Lynelle's passion as a healer.
If you're looking for a bit of romance with historical charm, pick this book up.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Reluctant Prince by Dani-Lyn Alexander
ARC received from the publisher.
Let's start with the cover. I Like it. I feel like the cover is a little dark for this book, and something seems a bit off. But I do like it, it's just not my favorite.
The Book:
This was a great read. I was hooked from the start with the action and intrigue. Reluctant Prince reminded me of a very toned down version of Elizabeth Norton's Eternal Guardian's series (which I loved). The romance was sweet but not overbearing.There was plenty of action so boredom was not an issue at all. And, there were dragons! Loved that tidbit in the book.
4/5 stars
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Review of Undertow Book #1 in the UNDERTOW Series by K.R. Conway
Received an ARC from Netgalley
Undertow was a pretty good read. The beginning was slow and it was the typical new girl in a new town dealing with a new high school drama, and I was a bit bored with it. Around 47% the book really picked up and sucked me in. The plot was exciting but the overuse of adverbs and lack of descriptiveness (ex: beautiful bed, delicious food, suddenly, immediately, etc) became a bit annoying.
I was reminded a bit of Twilight mixed with something new and refreshing.
Overall a good read. But this is the first in a series so expect having many unanswered questions.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
What you missed at the Bookies event on facebook last night.
The author Takeover on the Bookies Facebook page last night was pretty awesome. A ton of people showed up, here's a tiny bit of the shenanigans:
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir
The Martian by Andy Weir
This is the best book I've read all year. Hands down. It's about a man who gets left behind during a mission to mars and has to survive on his own for over a year. If you can get past the first few sections where the MC is calculating potato calories, endlessly, it's so worth it. I'm wishing I had bough a copy of this instead of borrowed it from the library.
I feel like my BS in Biochem was rejuvenated. This geek girl loved the hard science banter mixed with humor. When I finished this book I wanted to go get my MS and work for NASA. An inspiring read. Just go read it.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Book Review: Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch
I was
super pumped to receive an ARC of Unborn!
The
cover: LOVE!
The
blurb:
Born into
mystery. Shackled to darkness…
Khara has
spent centuries discovering everything about the Underworld―except her place in
it. But when she’s ripped from her home, solving the riddle of her origins
becomes more important than ever. With evil stalking her through the dark
alleys of Detroit, she finds salvation from an unlikely source: a group of
immortal warriors sworn to protect the city. Khara needs their help to unravel
the tangled secrets of who and what she is—secrets many seem willing to kill
for. But time is running out, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer
necessity binds her to an arrogant fallen angel.
Can their
shaky alliance withstand that which threatens her, or will her soul fall victim
to the unholy forces that hunt her―those that seek the Unborn?
From the
author of the bestselling Caged series comes a pulse-pounding new romantic
urban fantasy series.
--
My thoughts:
I was so
excited for this read. I wanted my pulse to pound, but, sadly, it stayed at its
normal sluggish rate throughout this entire book. And the romance? Where the
hell was it? Oz starts out as an interesting love interest but by the end it’s
all toast. Too much talking, barely any action. The spots that had me hooked
were few and far between.
The mix
of greek mythology and angels did not meld well in this book. The world
building was just not up to par.Great ideas, poor execution.
I marked
my kindle at 46% with the note of, “finally gets interesting.” But by then it
was too late, I was already detached. Khara’s character was hard to connect to;
she lacked emotion.
There was
a lot of awkward dialog, one minute everyone is talking like they are from
another era and then there’s some slang thrown. It would be funny, if Khara’s
dumbfounded reaction to it wasn’t so odd. She states that she’s been around for
hundreds of years, she reads books, and although she detests television, she
had one for a while, also she spends six months out of the year on earth hiding
in the woods somewhere. So tell me, how does this character not understand
simple slang terms and other languages? Khara has had hundreds of years to learn Greek! Does not make sense.
This book
is not for everyone, but it may still be for you. Try it out. Sadly, I don’t
think I’ll be reading the rest of the series. This was the biggest
disappointing read of the year for me :(
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Book Review: The 100
This was a fast read. Typical YA, strong on the romance aspect. I loved the Science Fiction/Dystopian storyline of everyone living in space and waiting for the earth to recover from the apocalypse. Every character has a love interest. I liked the alternating POVs but I feel like it ended very suddenly. The cliffhanger wasn't bad, but it was slightly annoying. I will more than likely read the next book in the series.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
A Review: Of Bone and Thunder
ARC received from NetGalley
3/5 stars
First thing, let’s talk about the
cover. Beautiful, amazing, intriguing. The cover drew me to this book. I love
it. Pure fantasy.
Now let’s talk about the book. I have a hard time connecting with books that
have an epic war at the forefront of the storyline without knowing some
background information. This is where I would have appreciated a LOTR worthy
prologue. The literary world says
prologues are dead, but I think this book deserves one, especially since Of
Bone and thunder is hailed as a LOTR-esque read. From a LOTR reader, what do I
see that this book has in common with LOTR? Dwarves and Dragons and the hint of
an epic battle. Except, I don’t care much for the battle, since, as a reader, I
have not been introduced to the danger of the Slyt’s, as I have been to the
evil of Sauron. I can understand why the soldiers didn’t understand their
mission, because neither did I.
Moving on.
Of Bone and Thunder is told from
multiple points of view. We see through the eyes of the enlisted men at the
forefront of the battlefield, a man on the ground who just might be a secret
weapon in winning this war, and the eye-in-the-sky dragon riders. There is war,
deception, drug use, the mistrust of new technologies, the role of women on the battlefield, and they
are all artfully intertwined.
What did I love? The scenery and the
mixing of magic, dragons, weaponry that deserve a fantasy novel of their own. Our
most captivating characters, Jawn, a trained Thaum (think mind magician with
electricity) and trained military officer in the Kingdom’s army, as well as
Vorly and Breeze with their dragons are the plot points that kept me reading. Not
only were these characters the most captivating, but the scenes were well
written and imaginative. I think I did fly on a dragon while reading this, and
I did that crazy mind-meld thing that Breeze and Vorly did using the crystals. But
what we were given wasn’t enough for me. Deep in my heart, I wanted more
dragons, More magic of the Thaum, More
Jawn, more Vorly and Breeze and Carduus. We are only given hints at the strongest
characters and most interesting storylines, and then they are heavily coated in
jungle sweat and frontline banter and combat. I really wanted to connect with
the front line military men, but since (yes, I know I’m beating a dead horse
here) I have no way to connect with this war, they were simply a lot of static
in the storyline. That being said, Of Bone and Thunder is still a great read.
Does Evans combine the best of
fantasy and military fiction? Yes. Is it for me? Some of it is. I think my
problem is that I just prefer more fantasy and less military fiction
If you’re more into military fiction
than you are into fantasy, this is a good read for you. If you’re fond of
fantasy, but not a fan of military fiction, consider moving on.
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