Review on Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I've been avoiding this book for a long time. For some reason, I didn't think I'd like it, but I was so, so wrong. There are so many unexpected events that happen in this book, along with wonderful characterization and of course the connection to the Cinderella fairy tale. I thought it was obvious for awhile who Cinder really was, but the way she figured it out was believable and realistic. I love that she went to the ball as she was. I love that the doctor wasn't who everyone thought he was, and he ultimately left the choice of what to do to Cinder in the end. She had to accept who she was rather quickly, but I'm glad she embraced it. I'm sad that it seems the next book will move away from Kai, as I want to know what happens to him. Ironic to think he was looking for someone the whole time who he met by chance. I also loved that you get a glimpse of Cress in this book, and that she helped push Cinder to the ball.

I can't wait to read Scarlet. Maybe I waited so long because I knew deep down how good the series would be. Now I can read the second one, and the third one in February and only have to wait for the last one to come out in early 2015.

Review on Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

I'm not a reader of detective or mystery stories, but let me tell you, this was awesome!  I loved Casual Vacancy, so I knew I wanted to read this book eventually.  Rowling did not disappoint.  I enjoyed the 3rd person omniscient point of view, and of course, the motley cast of characters she assembled. Strike was a guy you could root for, and you knew from the beginning he would, however unlikely, find the solution no matter what.  His one indiscretion (if you can call it that) shocked me at first, until I remembered he had just learned his former fiancee (together off and on for about 15 years) had gotten engaged to someone else just 3 weeks after they broke up.  I loved that Strike wasn't afraid even after he was fairly certain who the killer was.  It drove me a bit crazy not figuring things out, but like I said, I'm a new-comer to the genre.  I took pages of notes after I was done reading just to make sure I had it all straight!  Everything was so complicated, beautifully so.  If you enjoyed Casual Vacancy, you'll love this book too.

Review on Splintered by A.G. Howard

I fell head over heels in love with this book!  I found it at the library and was intrigued by the cover. I was so happy to see it was an Alice in Wonderland spin-off.  The writing in this book is so vivid, and the characters are amazing -- flawed, yet perfect in their own ways.  I dare anyone to read this and not fall in love with Jeb.  Morpheus is intriguing, but ultimately too untrustworthy and selfish for my tastes.  I'm glad Alyssa ended up back in our world, but I wonder for how long?  I can't wait for Unhinged in January!

awesome Hunger Games giveaway

Beautiful bowl you can win.  Check it out:  http://blog.asseeninhungergames.com/as-seen-in-the-hunger-games-giveaway/  

Review on Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Though I read most of the book at one time, I'm only giving it 3 stars.  It was building toward something, and I feel like that something never really came.  Did Raven really have to die?  What happened to everyone after the end?  What happened to Portland, and the whole country?  What if all the Invalids ended up dead anyway, even if they managed to kill Fred?

Alex and Lena's "reunion", if you can even call it that, is short-lived.  I have yet to read Oliver's character short stories, but I hope Alex's talks about his time in the Crypts and his feelings.

I enjoyed the writing as I've enjoyed Oliver's 3 other books, but I didn't feel like this was a strong finish for the trilogy after everything that had happened.

Review of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I liked the time jumps in this book, then to now.  It was so much better than just telling Lena's story in a linear fashion.  And while it was predictable what happened with Julian and a certain other character at the end, that doesn't mean I don't want to run out and get the last book now!

There are a lot of loose ends that will hopefully get tied up in Requiem.  I'm still on the fence as to how I feel about Raven and Tack, after knowing they put Lena through that on purpose.  Did they really not trust her??  And what will happen with Julian if his cancer returns?

Once I saw the last chapter encompassed 60+ pages, I couldn't stop reading.  I think Oliver's writing is beautiful and poetic yet again.  She can capture a moment with the best authors.  In this world, the fleeting moments are all these characters have...

Review on Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

I liked this book.  It certainly had its good moments, and Franny is a wonderful protagonist.  However, it felt a little forced at times, like it was trying too hard.  Franny's "relationships" were questionable.  She, like a lot of us, couldn't see what was right in front of her.  I'm kind of glad everything didn't end too neatly, but I was very happy that she finally seemed to get her big break.  I love the title, and Franny's quirks.  I didn't feel that the other characters were very developed, even her best friend.  I liked spending time in Franny's world, but I'm not aching that I'm finished.

I read it because it was by Lauren Graham, and I'm guessing a lot of people would say the same.

Review on The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

I liked this collection of stories much better than book 2 in the series!  Book one I found to be somewhere in the middle.  The stories explain a lot -- it probably would have been better to read them after the first book.  Finally I understand all the background Carter has created and all the baggage these gods and goddesses carry with them.  The rivalries and battle lines are much more clear.  I still don't know if I want to read the third book.  If I do read it, it won't be because of Kate.  It'll be because I want to know how things turn out for Henry.  He is by far the most interesting character.

Review on Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I wasn't so sure about this book, honestly, until about halfway through.  I loved Before I Fall, so I knew I had to give Oliver's 2nd book a chance.  She dazzled me again, I'm happy to say!

Her writing is so beautiful and moving.  I feel like I made the transition with Lena from ignorance to knowing.  In Lena's world, love is a disease that humans have learned to eradicate with a procedure administered on a person's 18th birthday.  Lena has been raised by her aunt and uncle because her mother had the disease and killed herself when Lena was just 8.  Lena's cousin also was taken away (she was a "resistor"), so her children Grace and Jenny also live in the same house.  Everyone views Lean's family as tainted.

In the beginning, Lena counts down to her procedure, but that all changes once her evaluation is messed up because of a protest.  Good thing too, because she was actually giving real responses that the evaluators weren't liking.  That's also the moment she first sees Alex.

For awhile, not much changes.  But then she goes to find her friend Hana at an illegal party and hears music that isn't "allowed". It changes her, and of course, she find Alex there as well.  Later, she tries to save Hana and Alex during a raid night, and though she ends up injured, she also begins to fall in love.  Love, the forbidden word in a world where Romeo and Juliet is a cautionary tale instead of a tragic love story.

During the brief weeks that Alex and Lena steal time to be together, my heart broke for them.  You just know that something horrible will prevent them escaping.  When they finally do make their plans to escape to the Wilds, where Alex comes from (only after Lena learns something horrific about her mother), they are caught.  The ending leaves you wondering what happened to one character, while another makes it over the fence.  Such a compelling read once it got going!

Review on Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This book was absolutely captivating. Lauren Oliver is a beautiful writer able to capture detail and emotion so precisely. The main character, Sam, manages to redeem herself in the only catastrophic way possible by the end of the book.  It's both beautiful and tragic.

It starts with Sam and her 3 popular friends tormenting and harassing everyone on "Cupid Day" senior year. At a party, Lindsay drives them home drunk, but instead of dying outright, Sam wakes up to relive the day. This happens 7 times...7 February 12ths.  She dies the same way the 2nd time, sleeps at Ally's house and learns of a suicide the 3rd, goes completely crazy the 4th, spends time with her little sister and tries and fails to save Juliet, and wakes before/during a kiss with Kent the 5th, gets closer to redemption on the 6th and has a real kiss, and finally gets it right the last time. She somehow knew it would be her last try.

I raced to get to the end of this book.  I wanted to know if she really was dead, though I knew. There are some great life lessons in this book about enjoying your life and all the precious moments, putting yourself in others' shoes, and accepting yourself, flaws and all.  I highly recommend it, and I can't wait to read more of Oliver's books!

Review on True Colors by Kristin Hannah

This is a short one:

I'm not sure why I finished this one.  It's not the first of Hannah's I've been disappointed with, but I guess I read the whole thing because I enjoyed the beginning so much.  After Dallas was accused and tried, I lost interest.  The characters crumbled, not that there were more than 2 developed characters to begin with.  It's really sad to think about anyone spending that much time in prison if s/he is innocent.  I would recommend her book "Winter Garden" over this one any day.

Review on Sever by Lauren DeStefano

This book had tons of surprises and revelations, so I wouldn't read this if you don't want to spoil anything!

Things revealed:  Madame is Rose's mother!  I didn't see that coming.  I mean, we know she was somehow connected to Vaughn, but still...shocker.  Vaughn took Rose at the age of 11, telling her her parents were killed while telling her parents she was killed.  This was after Madame refused an engagement.  Great for Linden, but wow, Vaughn is a total jerk.

Vaughn has an awesome brother, Reed.  He takes in Rhine while she heals.  He's kind of a crazy inventor/tinkerer.  He and Cecily don't get along at first, but he comes around.  Speaking of her, she got pregnant again only 1 month after having Bowen.

Vaughn's first son's name was Bowen.

Rose's child was malformed.  Jenna was also said to have a malformed uterus.

Plus, the biggest thing of all is the "virus" only exists in the continental US.  Vaughn (and Rowan, who he's been studying, surprise!) has a lab in Hawaii, where people live normally.  He's got Rowan snowed, and Rowan has been working with him willingly.

I'm glad that we finally got to meet and know Rowan.  The bond between him and Rhine is completely real.  When Rhine learns the truth about her parents, that she and Rowan were created experimentally and treated a bit like Linden, he's there for her and he understands completely.  Cecily starts to become paranoid about Vaughn, for good reason, and Linden finally grows some balls and stands up to him.  He promises Rhine he'll never get his hands on her and makes a similar promise to Cecily.  Cecily, in about her 4th month, has a violent miscarriage and almost dies.  I didn't realize how much she meant to me and this series until this moment.  Linden in totally devoted to her.  Even though this is after he takes off Rhine's ring for an annulment, he still wants her around in the hospital.  (Btw, I thought Rhine showed incredible character when she chose not to kiss Linden and further lead him on.  She easily could have because she does have love for him.  She realizes, though, that it won't ever be the way it was for him and Rose, or even him and Cecily.  When Cecily returns to Reed's, he teaches her to use a gun.  I knew this moment was significant, so more on that in a bit.  After all is revealed to Rhine, she is torn.  She wants to hope for the cure, but she hates that Vaughn is the one to finish her parents' work.  She agrees to cooperate with Vaughn because he has Gabriel under sedation at the mansion.  So, everyone is now trapped there again:  Linden, Cecily, Bowen, Rhine, and Rowan.  At an eerie "family" dinner, Vaughn asserts himself about the twins remaining under his thumb always, and Bowen and Linden too.  Cecily knows she's done for.  She gets increasingly paranoid, as she should.

The big moment of shock happens when Reed gets his junky airplane to function.  Rhine and Cecily talk Linden into going with them on the first flight.  Vaughn comes to the property just in time to see the fateful landing.  Linden, who was sitting in front, and who just heard the truth about the cure from Rhine, has been fatally injured.  His death causes everyone to go berserk in their own way.  Vaughn even shows his human side and buries him in the orange grove.  Eventually, Rhine and Vaughn end up at the graveside.  Unexpectedly, Cecily fires the gun that Madame gave her (surprise!), killing him.  You go, Cecily!  I was so proud of her in that moment.  Vengeance for Rose and Jenna and the baby and everyone he ever experimented on against their will.

Rhine and Rowan continue their treatments, and eventually their friends are eligible to receive the cure as well.  Rhine turns 21 happily with Gabriel with her.  It's implied that Cecily and Silas get together, which I find unlikely.  Gabriel's love for Rhine is absolute; they share a sweet moment when he tells her he loved her since the moment he first stole that atlas for her, but I just don't know how much passion she feels for him.  Oh well.  I'm so glad this group survived.  Sad about Linden, but at least Cecily will live to see Bowen grow up.

We can assume that eventually the cure will be more widespread and the US will rejoin the world, but I don't mind that DeStefano left us wondering about that.

Excellent series of books!

Review on Fever by Lauren DeStefano

I wouldn't really say that I was sad that Rhine and Gabriel made it out of the mansion in book 1 (Wither), but I was sad about leaving the story behind there.  I couldn't stop reading about the sadistic things that Vaughn was doing in the basement and the drama on the wives' floor.  I was really wondering if Gabriel would find freedom worth it on the outside because I knew they would struggle.  Though I found Madame pretty interesting, I hated the entire part of the book where they were in her red light district.  They were drugged and made to do things against their will, and when Vaughn showed up, their escape was surprising in the sense that it wasn't very realistic.  I did really enjoy Rhine's reading with the psychic, who knew about Rowan.  When Rhine got to New York, I'm glad she was able to get Maddie, Lilac (or Grace's) child to her grandmother and safety.  Rhine's home was destroyed, so that was a big letdown for her.  I thought, though, since it had been a year, she should have been more prepared for something so catastrophic.  I enjoyed the character of Silas in the orphanage and for a fleeting moment thought there would be a fling between him and Rhine.  All this time, Gabriel has been more of a caregiver than a lover.  He's devoted to Rhine especially when she falls ill.  It seems Jenna warned him to take care of her since she realized Rhine was being experimented on as she was.  Luckily, Rhine didn't decline as fast as Jenna did.  The end of the book was riveting.  Rhine goes with Vaughn willingly after she realizes how sick she's become.  He reveals a lot to her -- that he was the one who made her sick with the candies she loved, how he killed Jenna (just a confirmation, really), and how he found her: a tracking device in her thigh.  For a period of time (weeks? months?) she is put through test after test and kept heavily drugged.  She sees her former domestic Deirdre and Cecily also finds out she is back.  Cecily makes a big mistake in not telling Linden, who is still in his bubble of oblivion and holographs.  Vaughn has lied to her and said that Linden disowned her (I never believed that since Linden is so tenderhearted.  She may have broken his heart, but he's not a monster like his father.)  Rhine is taken to a hospital where she begins to recover.  The curtain is pulled back from Linden's eyes, though he doesn't 100% believe everything yet.  There is a moving scene between husband and former wife at the end of the book.  I immediately started the 3rd book upon finishing the 2nd -- the ending was just that good.  So, even though I didn't love a lot of the book, overall is was well-written.  Once you read the 3rd book, you appreciate things you didn't know about when you first read them....

Review on Wither by Lauren DeStefano

I forgot to add on Goodreads that I think Lauren DeStefano's writing is incredible.  She describes dreams and images in a way that is completely engrossing.

This was a really amazing book, and the best part was that I wasn't expecting it to be. I just picked it up at the library because I recognized the cover. I read it in a day and a half. Rhine is just such a real, authentic character. She lives in a time in the future when all children born don't live past 25 (males, that is -- females only make it to 20). When they reach the fatal age, a virus strikes them down. There are "first generations", old and gray, still around. These are the lucky people made in labs and born free of diseases and cancers 50+ years ago. For reasons no one has yet discovered, none of their offspring survive. Rhine and her twin Rowan were born to first generations and lived in New York City. When their parents die, Rowan and Rhine must fight for survival. At 12, they work hard, and Rhine tries not to be captured by the gatherers. Eventually though, they get her when she is 16, and she is shipped off with 2 other girls (ages 18 and 13) to be a sister wife to a House Governor named Linden, who is 21. Rhine has 2 different colored eyes, which is why she is chosen and not shot like many other girls were. The next year of her life had me riveted. She is a prisoner in this mansion where Linden's evil doctor father Vaughn (a first gen) is in charge. Vaughn has created a fake life for Linden, who is very ignorant of reality. (Holograms play a big part in this book.) Linden has no idea that Jenna (one of the wives) had 2 sisters who Vaughn killed before taking them. He also doesn't know that Rhine isn't simply an orphan, that she had a family she was separated from. The mansion is in Florida, and supposedly in this world, North America is the only continent left with inhabitants. Rhine begins to fall for one of the servants, Gabriel. Though she tolerates Linden, she will not giver herself over to him. They never consummate the marriage. Cecily, the 13 year old, has Linden's son, but Jenna dies without having a child. Personally, I think she made sure she never got pregnant. She was bitterly angry at her situation. So it falls to Rhine to replace Rose, Linden's first love who dies in the beginning of the book. Rhine feels caged and wants desperately to get back to her brother. I felt for her after her first botched escape attempt. I had to keep reading to see if there would be consequences. Of course there were, but she doesn't give up. At times, she is endeared by Linden, but she never forgets the life she was stolen from. She questions herself repeatedly because in the mansion, she has so much luxury and comfort. But it comes down to the fact that she's not free. She convinces Gabriel to come with her. Finally, she thinks she sees a way out after having been driven off the property a few times for parties. 

I'm curious how the 2nd book will be. I think, oddly enough, that I'll miss Linden (and even Cecily) and the mansion even though they were Rhine's prison. I can't wait to meet the new characters in Fever, and to learn why that is the title. 

Wither is a really excellent book to get caught up in. There are so many mysteries yet to be resolved in the next 2 books!

new idea

So, husband suggested I start reviewing books on a blog.  Sounds like a good idea, even though there are tons of people already doing it.  It may give me some practical experience in writing and forming opinions.  Who knows?

I visited the WCU Career Center yesterday, and I learned I definitely need to continue my research as far as the dream of achieving a new career goes.  Maybe I'll tie in those dreams and activities to this blog also.

I need to get started with LinkedIn and just general networking....