TROUBLED BLOOD - Robert Galbraith

First I want to mention that I debated not writing a review due to the negativity expressed in the other reviews I had seen, but ultimately I decided to write one anyway because there were just so many things that I wanted to personally mention.
I will NOT, however, be discussing any controversy, either related to the author or the book. And if you aren't sure what controversy I'm referring to, there are other reviews that mention it, and you can also google it.

Anyway, with that being said, onto the review.

TW: Numerous mentions of/references to rape and sexual assault/harassment.

Where to begin? I'll say right off the bat that I can't totally hate this book because it HAS just gotten me out of a reading slump that I've been in for over a year. However, that doesn't let this book off the hook for anything.

First of all, the characters were... something. Pretty much any character that wasn't Robin or Cormoran was described in an unflattering way, and if they were described in what could traditionally be described as "flattering" there were airs about it that left a foul taste. But it seemed like Robin and Cormoran could do no wrong. (And don't even get me started on this half-assed "will they/won't they" story-line. It's bullshit. We all know they'll end up together so this back and forth is just annoying filler for the already hefty book.) The whole book reeked of misogyny and it was very grating to read, especially when a good portion of that came from our protagonists themselves, more-so Cormoran but Robin wasn't immune either.

Most of the book could have been cut and it wouldn't have affected the main story-line at all. Too much focus was given to the side jobs that the characters were doing. I understand why they were included, I suppose, but it felt like most of the time the main plot was getting lost in the fog that was apparently "character development". (Is that what was going on? I'm honestly not really sure what the purpose of about 80% of this book was.)

I kept reading solely for desire to find out what happened to Margot Bamborough, the resolution to which came about very abruptly considering the meandering mess that was the previous 900 pages. I don't know if I'm thick or what, but the killer seemed to come from left field. Like they were chosen for the sole purpose of a shock factor. It's hard to really tell if there were cohesive hints to the killers identity, given how stretched the story-line was. Like it was stretched out as much as it was to prevent anyone from being able to correctly guess, without relying on red herrings or any such device which feels quite underhanded, in my opinion.

It felt like this book was trying to be incredibly clever, which didn't exactly feel poorly executed, but it certainly didn't stick the landing. Like when the killer was confessing at the end, it really felt as though it came out of left field as stated above, even as we were being led back through the reasons they were suspected in the end. I didn't end up feeling the kind of surprise you'd expect from the killer not being the person you suspected, but just general confusion at the choice.

There was also a lot of statements being made throughout the book, mostly through Robin and they were just... incredibly heavy handed. You could tell EXACTLY what kind of social commentary was being made and it was quite jarring whenever it happened.

MONUMENT 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Rating: 🌟 

CW: Sexualizing of minors; underage drinking; teen pregnancy; sizism; homphobia; drug use; attempted rape.

Where do I begin?

I hate to be harsh, but I didn't find anything redeemable about this book, unfortunately. 

From constant thoughts on the appearance of certain characters, to the many awkward sentences and phrasings, this book was a hot mess.
Literally nothing was spared. From rampant inconsistencies, poor word choices, the 'development' of the characters, and the so called plot. WHAT PLOT? It's literally just a bunch of stereotypes masquerading as people stuck in a department store during an apocalyptic event.

The characters were extremely one-dimensional, the dialogue was flat, the descriptions were all over the place, I could go on and on.
Not to mention the countless instances of misogyny and sexism, there were also a multitude of descriptions that I found appalling. The characters (particularly the main character) felt the need to comment on the weight of several of the other characters (at one point a character late in the novel felt the need to comment on the weight of a woman he had helped, when it was completely unnecessary).


I went into this novel with the notion that it would be a thrilling novel about a group of teenagers forced to survive in a Walmart-esque department store during an apocalypse.
Instead, I was forced to endure a novel revolving around the angst of teenagers set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic event.

The entirety of the book I FELT like I was reading a book, you know? There was no immersion that took place. Nothing felt real, and this book was a chore to get through. Literally the only thing this book had going for it was that once you started reading it, it was relatively quick to get through, but I had to fight my instincts to roll my eyes every two sentences!


The main character, Dean, was a creep, and at times appeared to display sociopathic tendencies. He is the most disturbing main character I think I've ever read. He literally STALKS his crush, Astrid, and is obsessed to the point that whenever she shows him the slightest bit of attention he goes on about how they're meant for one another.


                                  "It was like we were magnets, meant to be fitted together." 

and at another, comments:

 "What I wanted was Astrid. She looked so good to me I wanted to take her, in a dark and terrible way."

UMMMMM???? EXCUSE ME?!! He literally thought about RAPING her, and it is never mentioned again! I do not care that he had been exposed to the dangerous chemicals. That is no excuse!

He spied on her without her knowledge, as well as numerous other offenses. And this was the character we were supposed to root for? I found myself wishing a meteor would crash into the store to end my suffering!

There were constant thoughts on how provocative Sahalia is dressed, numerous mentions to the weight of the smaller children, and a lot of mentions of wanting to strangle said children. So many of these comments were incredibly creepy! There was one instance where Sahalia was dressed in short shorts and a white t-shirt and it got wet, and the teenage boys just STARE at her! She is 13!!!

Getting back to the sexism for a moment, the female characters (Josie, Astrid, and Sahalia) were the only ones who seemed capable of taking care of the younger characters at any given time. Our MC had one kid help him prepare meals, but that was literally the extent of it, and he made it clear his disdain for them early on.
Astrid was immediately forced into the role of babysitter when they become stuck in the store, and then disappears when something happens (I'm still debating whether or not to actually write spoilers on this review so we'll just leave it at that), and then Josie takes over. She is even referred to as "Mother Josie"!
Yet none, and I mean NONE of the male characters do much of anything besides "protect" the others. It was horribly imbalanced and sexist.

For instance, there is a scene where they have to take the children to the restroom and Astrid (naturally -.-) is volunteered to do this. Alone.

"Astrid got the kids organized. She told Henry that they were all going to stick together and go in the ladies' room, which was good psychology, even if it elicited a round of groans from the boys."

Why didn't the males step up and take the boys to the men's room, you ask? Because that would have been the LOGICAL thing to do, and this book has shown that logic is definitely not in its wheelhouse.
The female characters were CONSTANTLY relegated to the role of babysitter, while the male characters did whatever DIDN'T involve them. There is another instance, where they force Josie to go take care of the kids when they encounter an issue, rather than having her input on it, despite the children being asleep! And on and on it went.
No female was spared, towards the end, it was Sahalia who was forced to be the babysitter, and just... WHY?!

And to briefly touch upon the attempted rape, of which Sahalia was the victim. I'll keep this brief because I am not familiar with this topic, but I do believe that this was handled poorly. It was mentioned very briefly and then it appeared to be glossed over, with our main character even describing Sahalia as "more grown up" towards the end of the novel, once the event had passed.
I was so enraged after I read that, because no one listened to the ONLY character who had common sense throughout the novel, when you could see the red flags IMMEDIATELY.




Overall, flat writing, unrealistic characters, rampant sexism... I could go on and on, but I think my review has gone on long enough.
My friend has written a review of her own, which I will link here > https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3355129738?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 so please go and check it out, she was much more thorough than I was.


Do yourself a favor and skip this book, you're not missing anything exciting.

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

 (this review was originally post to my Goodreads account in March 2020)

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

It was... alright. I can't really think of anything that stood out in particular.
The writing style was compelling, but I couldn't connect with the characters, and while I understand that the world wasn't the focus, I think I would have been a little bit more invested to understand how they traveled and left their letters.

CHALLENGER DEEP by Neal Shusterman

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This was a bit of an intense read. 

It was very interesting to see Caden's descent into his illness, and knowing that this was inspired by Shusterman's son's own experiences makes it even more intense. 

I do have to say that I didn't like the parts that took place on the ship, though I did love at the end when Caden's two worlds began to blur together. It was interesting finding out who was whom in both worlds. 

There were a few phrases that gave me pause, but overall it was a good read.

YOKAI by Dave Ferraro

(This review was originally posted to my Goodreads account in September.)

(It also contains a spoiler, but I am unsure how to properly mark spoilers on here so it will have a slash through it so that it can be spotted easily, though I do NOT recommend this book at all)

DNF Where to begin... there were awkward sentences, unrealistic characters, repeated words within the same paragraph, and the list just goes on and on. I read 7 chapters and then skimmed the last few and they did not improve. None of the characters acted like people, they seemed more like cardboard cutouts who were playacting as people. Poorly. Most of the actions of the characters were extremely unbelievable. There was one point where Shou put his hand on Yumiko's chest and SHE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HIM! I just could not get passed this. He GROPED HER, and it was never mentioned again. And then when she finds out Mori accepted him as an apprentice, she doesn't even mention it. I don't care what his intentions were, or whatever excuse a person can come up with. He touched her inappropriately and there were no consequences.  I hesitate to rate it since I didn't actually finish it, but it would not be a high rating regardless. There are more things I could say about it, but they would not be positive so I will just stop it here. The premise sounded so promising, yet I was sorely disappointed.

RELICS by Tim Lebbon

Rating: 🌟🌟

DNFing at page 210

I may pick this up at a later date, but for right now I just can't. I have tried so hard to get into this book and I just can't bring myself to care about the characters.

The world was so interesting and had a lot of promise, but I'm just not impressed with the execution. So many things were bothering me, from the characters (mostly the characters), to the slow pace. Only a few pages before I DNF'd did things actually start to get interesting. Unfortunately, they weren't interesting enough to keep my interest.
Again, I may try this again at a later date, but for right now, I'm going to try and find a book I will actually enjoy.

The characters were SO 2-dimensional, they were all just focused on one thing, and while granted I can kind of understand given certain circumstances, the thoughts that would run through their heads just.. *sigh* I find it difficult to believe would ACTUALLY occur to an actual human being all things considered. 
The characters were self-centered at odd moments, and no one and I mean NOT A SOUL felt like a real person. And again, the world showed so much promise! 

COLD SUMMER by Gwen Cole

Rating: 🌟🌟

Trigger warning: PTSD (including flashbacks) This review will contain spoilers. You have been warned. First things first, the only positive thing I can think of for this book: The author's writing style. It was honestly the only thing that kept me reading, because it was very easy to read. And the only reason this book is not getting 1 star. And now onto the rest of the review: I'll just get right to it: this was one of the most frustratingly disappointing reads I've ever read. Now, I'll admit that I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this book, but I was still hoping to be pleasantly surprised. I was not. It started out alright, but just kept getting cringier and cringier as it wore on. Everything was SO melodramatic (remember that word, it comes up a lot in this review) and cliched, it's unbelievable. And quite frankly the whole book felt like shadow-puppets on a wall. The characters especially were melodramatic, bland shells of people, with only like 2 "personality" traits. And those were just the MAIN CHARACTERS! The side characters weren't as lucky, acting more like placeholders for characters than actual PEOPLE. Speaking of our protagonists though, they both annoyed me SO MUCH. The main female was just so quirky and perfect. The only person more perfect would be our "incredibly hot" male protagonist who goes by the attractive moniker Kale. (Yes, that is his actual name) There was a great deal of TELLING and not SHOWING in this novel (don't even get me started on the amount of conveniences that were stacked on top of one another), and I do think it suffered because of that. Because while we were in Harper and Kale's heads, we didn't really get much of a sense of who they were as people beyond the cliche's they embodied. And honestly, the characters were just passive, wet-blankets, just waiting for something to happen so they could react to it. And I pretty much just want to punch them all in the face and move on with my life, but first I need to finish this review lol (Also, a side-note: there is legitimately one instance where the name Harper is compared to Kale in terms of weirdness. Just let that sink in for a moment) And can we just talk about how this important plot point which is mentioned IN THE SYNOPSIS isn't even a thing until about 85% of the way through the book?! I was expecting the WWII scenes to be... more, I guess. As well as thinking that we would be trying harder to figure out WHY he's traveling to that point in the past but literally all the characters just accept it as a fact of life, and basically the entire book just felt like it was simply a way for the author to write about PTSD, by way of Kale, which I swear was his whole raison d'être. And as for the representation itself, as I don't have PTSD I can't comment on whether or not it was accurate or harmful. It certainly seemed like the author put more effort into describing the PTSD than anything else in the novel if that tells you anything. There were also several instances of missing words, and it was obvious where certain edits had occurred. One instances of this is on page 314 "I pull my shirt quick". [And another on page 295 "Perkins is already crouched into front of me, pressing his hands over the right side of my chest".  These just kept happening REPEATEDLY throughout the novel, and these moments really served to take me completely out of the story. And let me just say that I was also having an incredibly difficult time suspending my disbelief with this story. Not only can he randomly time-travel, but he can also heal incredibly fast. For some reason. Which is also not explained. Does it factor in with his time-traveling? Does traveling in time change your body or something? I mean a bullet wound heals in 3 days for crying out loud! As well as Jasper was able to steal the bullet he was shot with, stuff like that. Things that would just NOT happen in the real world.  We're just supposed to accept this but I'm not falling for your tricks, book. I'm onto you! Anyway, it's then established that Perkins was the one who wrote this important plot-related article detailing how Kale "died" saving his life. And then nothing else is mentioned about him. What was so important about Perkins that warranted sending a 17 year old to save his ass in the past? Was it just so his bloodline would endure? Who did Perkins go on to become if he was so important that Kale was forced to return to the past repeatedly for MONTHS? I thought that they were leading up to this reveal about Perkins, or his grandchildren, that perhaps they proved to be instrumental in some capacity. But that didn't happen, and it just feels like one of many missed opportunities in this book. Also, side-note, how come when Kale goes to the past he appears always in the same moment he left, but for the present he's gone for days at a time?? There were just weird time-traveling rules. As well as the fact that Kale can't control his time-traveling, knows zero to nothing about it, yet he is able to explain it to people? If I found myself randomly traveling back in time, I would NOT be able to explain logistics, yet Kale is able to explain it to Harper. [I want to put a bit of a disclaimer in here for this mention as I could have just misinterpreted this, but this sentence rubbed me the wrong way. At the end of the novel, Kale and his dad are driving home from the hospital, and they pull over and have a heart to heart. Nothing wrong with that, except that Kale's father says this: "I don't think there's anyone in the world who could have been through what you have and came out stronger in the end." It just came across as insensitive to me. And while I admit it could have just been that I took it wrong, it just didn't sit well. Overall, it was a very melodramatic, disappointing read and let's just say I am glad I'm done.

PAWN by Aimee Carter

(Review originally posted to my Goodreads on November 9th)

DNF on page 127

Due to this being a DNF, I will not be issuing a rating, though if I did, it would be very low.

This has to be one of the most insufferable books I have ever read. The main character was about as entertaining as a carpet, and the other characters were not much better. Everyone was so DULL, and there were some word choices that just brought me out of the story.
This has been on my TBR shelf for a really long time, and I began buddy reading them with my friend who managed to soldier on and finish it, but quite frankly I don't think my sanity can handle it.

Kitty was the main issue. For one thing... who names their supposedly badass heroine Kitty. Literally the only character named Kitty I can handle is Kitty Pryde, and even then she isn't my favorite. For another, she was like a chalk outline of what a character should be. It felt as though the author merely took the tropes that were popular at the time this was published (2013) and tossed them all together to create this mess.
She was obedient, weak-willed, and cowardly. But one of these side characters had the nerve to call her spunky.... Honey, a wet SPONGE is spunkier than she'll ever be.
Other than that, none of the other characters were memorable, and Daxton felt like a one of those mustache twirling villains. Completely unbelievable as anything other than a caricature, of which the same can be said of all of these characters.

The entire plot hinged on this, I guess, political intrigue and whether or not Kitty will become embroiled in this rebellion (it's not a spoiler! It's in the synopsis!), and quite frankly, I couldn't care less.
It felt non-existent and thin, like the author had a vague idea for a plot, but wasn't sure how to execute it. It didn't feel as though there were any stakes, and nothing about it intrigues me enough to complete it.
The idea behind the world was interesting, I guess, but I feel like this could have been executed so much better. I have read Carter's "The Goddess Test" but I'm sad to say this book has made me rethink what I thought about that novel.
She had an idea, but it was not executed as well as it could have been, I'm sorry to say.

Basically, it just felt as if the author wasn't sure what to write so she just did this, with numerous conveniences piling up on one another with some of the laziest writing I have ever had the misfortune to read. The characters are bland and emotionless, the plot is dry, and I really don't care about anything to do with this world. I have no interest in any of the sequels AT ALL.

I know this review has been harsh, but I'm just disappointed. I wouldn't go so far as to say I had particularly high expectations, but that just shows how, even with low expectations, I was extremely disappointed. It was tedious and melodramatic and I am glad that I never have to think about this world ever again.

FRESHWATER by Akwaeke Emezi

(This review is originally posted on my Goodreads account)

I keep wavering on my rating, I think I'll set it as 3.5, but that might change.
This was a strange book and a difficult one to rate, let alone review. I also am aware that this is an autobiographical/semi-autobiographical (unsure exactly which one) novel. Which makes this a little more difficult to rate & review, honestly.

(There are probably spoilers ahead. Be warned)

TW: sexual assault; self-harm; child sexual abuse; physical abuse.


First of all, I want to forewarn you that I suck at reviews, and this one is going to be kind of all over the place. This was an intense book, and honestly, the first chunk, though my favorite, is kind of a blur at this moment in time.

There were some things that stuck out to me, that struck me as odd and took me out of the story, but I didn't take notes so I can't remember them. Oops.
There were some odd phrasings and sentences, which COULD have just been the format in which I was reading it. I checked this out of my library as an ebook and noticed the oddities, which made me check out the physical copy as well just to be sure. But some of the phrasings (none of which I can think of at this point in time, naturally) did take me out of the story, and I was unsure of who was speaking in some cases, which, given that there isn't a lot of dialogue in this novel to begin with, was amazing. It took away a little of my enjoyment, but I still liked the book.

As stated above, this was an intense book, but there were some areas that were messy and felt disjointed as a result; however, given what Ada was going through, it seemed as if the author may have been trying to imply the sensation of spiraling that Ada was most likely feeling. I'm not sure if the author was or wasn't attempting to do this, but if so, then they succeeded.

Some of the characters felt like they weren't fully developed, and though that could have just been telling of the Ada's mental state (...and my calling her "the Ada" was NOT intentional by the way lol) it felt odd, especially given how we were TOLD that Ada loved some of these characters, or was fond of them, yet we were never given the chance to SEE that.

I adored the first half of this book, devouring every word. That first half alone would have been a full 5 stars - more if possible. It was so interesting to read, and I loved the language that was used, the visuals. Something to note, however, is that despite Ada being the main character, we rarely see her POV.
Unfortunately, when Ashugara entered the picture in the second half and the "We" chapters became less frequent, the spark that captivated me in the first half seemed to fade. It was still a hard book to put down, but it was becoming tedious almost because Ashugara was so single-minded in her desires. And I did not like how it kind of devolved from this beautiful novel to sex. (It wasn't just sex, but it definitely was at the forefront for this last half.)
The final chapter did redeem it somewhat, and it felt like it came full circle, back to the chapters I liked.

There were also certain things that were mentioned that I would have liked to explore more, or at least to have SEEN. Some chapters would mention something offhanded, almost casually, and then move on very quickly, almost choppily.

Like I said above, Freshwater is a difficult book to review, and I don't think I did it justice. If I could sum it up, I would say that even though there were some sections that seemed to lose the spark that attracted me in the beginning, I absolutely did enjoy the majority of this book and will most likely re-read it in the future, if only to try to pick up on some things I'm sure I missed this time. If and when I do, I will try to take more notes. But these are my overall impressions after closing it for the first time less than half an hour ago.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. While it was different from what I typically reach for, I was entranced the entire time I was reading it.

THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides

(This review was first posting to my Goodreads account in July. Again, there is a reason this is called The Forgotten Blog)


This was such a hard book to rate, but I think I'm going to just go with my initial rating while I had been reading, which was 3.5.

This was a very interesting book. I don't normally pick up thrillers, let alone psychological ones, so I'm wondering how much of that influenced my reading experience.
I will say, that this author has a clear voice, and I could see everything vividly. However, I felt like the characters fell into categories (the bitchy boss, the smug rival, the quirky mentor, etc.) and, while they felt like real people, in a way it felt like they were filling a mould, and not really allowed to be PEOPLE, if that makes any sense.
They seemed to lack something, some kind of spark that brought them truly to life, separated them from the clichés they filled and prevented me from truly connecting to any of them, or even really caring about what happened beyond finding out why Alicia wouldn't speak and what exactly had happened that night.

There were things that bothered me about the portrayal of the mental illness in this book, but as I have no knowledge of any of the illnesses described and/or hinted at, I have no way of knowing if they were accurate or insulting, so I'll just leave it at that.

There were some instances, particularly where the psychiatric facility was concerned, that I found myself raising an eyebrow in disbelief. I highly doubt that mentally ill patients are allowed the free rein the ones at the Grove seemed to have. I have no knowledge of mental health facilities or anything of the like, but I doubt they would allow patients to smoke and wander around with seemingly no supervision other than the occasional nurse. I do think that the Grove was mentioned at one point as being a little decrepit and slack in some areas, or at least I think it was hinted. I finished it last night in kind of a daze, to be perfectly honest lol.

I enjoyed the ending, though. It's part of why I am so torn on how to rate this, and threw my perspective of this book and its narrative off balance, to which I tip my hat (well, if I had a hat) to the author for accomplishing. I had spoiled myself on the twist, but it was done in such a way that I didn't feel like I lost much. I also felt as though my knowing that twist allowed me to follow closer, though I might just be dense when it comes to thrillers, psychological or not.

Overall, the author has a clear voice, and definitely has talent for weaving interesting and intricate stories. Whether it compares to other thrillers, I can't say, as it's not my usual genre, but it certainly held my attention. I had started reading it slowly and then ended up reading until 5am just so I could find out what happened.

I know that most of this review has been negative, but I did enjoy this book. It was a nice, quick and easy read, which might be an odd thing to say about a psychological thriller. It's just a very tricky book for me to truly express my feelings about. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It was an okay book for me.

WHISPERS OF SHADOW & FLAME by L. Penelope

(This review was first posted on my Goodreads account in August. This blog isn't named The Forgotten Blog for nothing)

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I won an uncorrected proof/ARC of this book through a Goodreads giveaway, so the things that I have noted in this review may or may not be in the finished novel. This book will be released on October 1st 2019 One thing I did want to say before I get into my (hopefully) non-spoilery thoughts is that I have NOT read the first book, so I have no idea how much it influenced this one, if at all. I was not aware that this was a sequel when I entered the giveaway, but I didn't feel lost while reading, so I feel like, at least where this one is concerned, you can jump right in without being too confused about the world, other than the time period, which I do discuss briefly. First of all, I did enjoy this book, though I did find a few issues which I will jump into: -The Time Period This book didn't appear to know what time period it wanted to be in, sometimes it felt more modern, other times medieval. There were essentially CARS for crying out loud. It was quite jarring to have them be around all of this medieval stuff, and then have something like electricity (which I believe they had, but please correct me if I'm wrong) and vehicles be thrown into the mix. -Magic I did like the idea of their magic being called Songs, I felt it was unique among books with magic for that reason. Though I didn't quite understand how the Nethersong was so rare, while Earthsong was abundant, because you would think that the world would need the balance, but it was probably just something that bothered me personally lol. -Pacing/World I will say, though, that this is NOT a fast-paced book. It's not that it dragged, but it was just very slow, with not a lot of action. And when something DID happen, it was over with quickly, almost abruptly. The overall pacing of the novel, however, felt quite monotonous for most of it, though some of the action scenes did lend a bit of color, as stated earlier, they were over quite quickly. I also felt that there was quite a bit of telling when I would have preferred a bit more visuals, though the visuals we got were nice and clear, they were kind of drowned out by the overall tone of the novel. -Characters The characters were... interesting, if a bit one-dimensional at times. You could definitely tell the people who were important, and who were just... there. The story has three main view points, Darvyn, Kyara, and Zeli, with an occasional fourth, but honestly, I really didn't care for Zeli's story-line, however I am curious as to whether or not it will intersect with Darvyn's and Kyara's in a future novel. though I also felt like the romance in this book was a little on the weak side, to the point where it felt forced. I didn't feel anything between the two love interests to warrant the things they do for one another. Other than those points, I don't really have much to say (non-spoiler wise anyway) beyond the fact that, while this book wasn't perfect, I still enjoyed it. And even though it was slow, I didn't necessarily feel bored while reading, and I think that L. Penelope has a clear voice. I will say again, that this is an UNCORRECTED PROOF that I received, so there is a strong chance that the things that I took issue with will be changed for the finished product.

Core by Teshelle Combs

                                                        
                 THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. BE FOREWARNED 


I really liked this book.
It was funny, and sweet, and it was interesting.
I did have a few problems with it, which I will get into in a moment.
I loved how tough Ava was, but it bothered me how much she was unable to open up. And for someone with trust issues, she seemed to trust a little too easily at times.
I adored Cale, he was so cute when he was being protective of her (at the times when it wasn’t warranted). It bugged me that everyone was so quick to assume that sweet, honest Cale had committed the crime he was accused of, his own father disowning him without asking him whether or not it was true.
I did like the Anders, although we didn’t really get to know them all that well. Rory was probably my favorite, aside from Cale. Karma kind of annoyed me that she was so analytical all the time, and yet didn’t seem inclined to offer her opinion very often.
I felt like she could have been a really cool character, but at times it felt like she was just there to provide cold, mechanical observations and information, but the way it was handled was well done, so I didn’t not like her.
Cameron was about the same, he is probably my second favorite (or third, after Cale), as his coldness had a humor about it at times that was lacking in Karma. And I loved when he spoke with Cale, their game.
(And can we just talk about the scene where Cameron and Cale were taking turns making the bouncer at the Cave uncomfortable? I laughed so hard at that. Made me love them even more)

And now onto the things that bugged me:

1. As mentioned above, how come no one gave Cale the benefit of the doubt? Just believing the charges instantly, as his own father did. I know the charges are sort of explained at the end, but it still bothered me.
2.  The pacing felt kind of inconsistent at times, one moment they are just meeting, but in the next scene they act as though they have known each other for ages. Literally the next day Ava goes over to his house and he pulls her onto the bed with him and falls back asleep, and she just lays there and goes with it. At least she mentioned how weird it was, which I felt was the author’s way of excusing the actions at times.
3. The fight scenes. The small skirmishes and the minor battles were detailed enough to be pictured, yet the big fight scenes like the one at the Grand Nest was glossed over, as were a few others.
And that may have been due to whether or not the author was comfortable with writing fight scenes, didn’t like doing them, or just wasn’t confident in them, considering how few fight scenes there actually were.
If so, I can respect that.

There were a few typos throughout, mainly towards the beginning, which didn’t take away from the story at all, I just thought I’d mention them.

Overall, I really liked this book and I look forward to reading more about Cale and Ava in the future, as I am really curious as to where their story will go.

I am just sorry that it has taken me this long to read it. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them by Newt Scamander

	Yay! Now I can ace my OWLs lol This was a really fun, easy read. I loved learning about all the Fantastic Beasts, though I was a little surprised that Boggart wasn't included, and Harry and Ron's entries were funny :D I recommend this to HP fans who want to become even more immersed in the world.

The Water is Wide by Laura Vosika

This is a hard book to review, so I’m not going to go into too much detail.

The writing was good, although there were some error’s, but there are always at least a couple, however some of them did snap me out of the story, for instance there was a line that said “We cannot we allow it!”

And there are some things that I just didn’t understand, for instance, how does one lower their eyebrows? Because near the end of the book, the author became quite fond of that phrase, as well as taking every available opportunity to mention the fact that Amy is pregnant, and yes that’s important, but I feel like it was mentioned a little more than was necessary, and at times, the way it was mentioned just felt like the author couldn’t decide what else to write.

And as for the format, it was a little unusual. The fact that it jumps time periods was fine, even the fact that it jumped perspective was okay, if a little confusing at times. What bothered me, and it didn’t even bother me that much I just thought I should mention it, was that for most of the book, it was in third person, but for the scenes that were from Amy’s perspective, it was in first person, and I didn’t understand why.

I do believe that the biggest problem that I had with this book wasn’t a problem with the book itself, but for the fact that it’s the third book in a series, and I haven’t read the first two, so whenever things were mentioned that had occurred in the previous books, I was left in the dark.

(I hadn’t realized that I needed to read them in order, though. I had thought it was more of a companion book series, than a chronological one, but I was wrong, and that was my fault.)

I didn’t really get close to any of the characters, and those that I did tended to be the side characters, like Allene, Red, as well as Eamonn, who was probably my favorite.

There were a few other problems that I had with it, but those were mainly that I didn't understand what the characters were saying when they began talking about the music stuff lol

Overall, it was an OK book, not horrible, but not my favorite.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

I was finally able to read this book, and unfortunately, I ended up not liking it as much as I had hoped.

Okay, so, this is a tricky one to review, but I am going to do the best that I can.

Overall, it was an OK book.
I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it
The writing itself was if-y in places, and it got inconsistent and left me confused a lot of the time, and I felt as though I had to try and figure out what was happening, with little success in some areas.
But near the end of the book, the author seemed to have found her rhythm and the confusing moments were less frequent.

The characters were difficult to get close to, and I don't think I was every really invested in them the way I probably should have been.
And the MC, Grace Delarua, seemed sometimes out of place, as a spot of color in a world of gray, seeing as how everyone else kept their emotions in check most of the time, but she always let her emotions come through, either consciously or not.
I did laugh at some moments, mainly things said by the MC, Lian, or at moments involving her and Dllenahkh (How does one pronounce that name, anyway?)

It was obvious from the first chapter, if not the first page that the two MC's, Delarua and Dllenahkh would end up together.
And it came across with more of a "get on with it" feel than the 'will they? won't they?' thing.
Not sure if that was the intention or not.

I did not like the overall plot. The idea that their whole adventure revolved around them finding wives for the surviving men bothered me.

All in all, I felt in the beginning it was a big disjointed and inconsistent in places, while in others there was the glimmer of talent.

I didn't like the plot, but the characters were OK, if a bit bland in places, but no less enjoyable in others.

An index would have been nice, seeing as how the characters would reference something from their world and give no translation as to what it could be the equivalent of in ours.
As well as a pronunciation guide for the trickier names, such as Dllenahkh or Ntshune, just to name a few.

And I will finish this review by stating that I don't think this was my cup of tea, and I wish the author good luck in all future endeavors. :)

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Review

This is going to be a spoiler free review.

 

This was probably THE most INTENSE book I have EVER read! It was non-stop action from page 1, and the formatting made sure that it was a quick read. It is next to impossible to put this book down.

I loved the characters, the plot was interesting (I’ve never read a story like this before), and that FORMAT, can we just take a moment to admire that? I have never HEARD of a book that has done a format quite like this one.

And yeah. I’m not sure what else to say except WOW!

Some moments verged on scary (the moments with those infected with the virus were down right spine-chillng), but for the most part, it was just non-stop action, with a few moments in between where things BARELY calmed down.

 I will DEFINITELY be getting book 2, Gemina.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre Review

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. But there were so many things that annoyed me that it was, unfortunately, beyond saving.

The writing was inconsistent and choppy in places and the characters were hard to relate to.

                                                WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

1. THE WRITING

Like stated above, the writing was inconsistent: sometimes it was good, other times it needed work.

There were odd phrasings and you could tell where the edits had occurred, and where they were needed.

There was a line in the book that I just can’t get over, I know that it was only once, but there were a few lines like these in other places, though not like this:

“It was a different from the buildings that surrounded it, more beautiful and with rounded points atop the windows. Most of them hung in jagged shards, and it had been marked with white painted that identified it as claimed territory.”

2. THE CHARACTERS

You couldn’t have made them relatable? I know they are in a dystopian world, but really? I couldn’t relate to Deuce, who, only until the middle part of the book realized that her Enclave had been keeping secrets and lying to her.

And then when they got Topside, she finally started to realize just how much she had been lied to.

I think the reason that Deuce bothered me so much is due to the fact that most YA (and especially Dystopian) protagonists are unhappy with their situation, they are always looking for something different, or they are more adventurous and see more for themselves then when they are dealt, unlike Deuce, who was quite content to live out her life in ignorance and blindly following the Enclaves rules.

The opposite of Fade, who is our other protagonist, and I have to say, I did like him better because he didn’t blindly do as he was told, but he annoyed me also because he fell into himself too easily when something happened. Banner was killed, he fell into himself and blamed Deuce for her death, Pearl died, he fell into himself, and at the end there is still an apparent rift between them, because of Stalker, who is a character that I feel was just added to create an unnecessary love triangle.

Fade and Deuce initially clash, but over time bond, and I don’t know if they are supposed to be in love yet or not, I honestly don’t know. It seems like that’s the plan, but Fade never opens up, and Deuce doesn’t know how to interact with a romantic interest, so most of their scenes where I guess they are supposed to be falling in love or something were awkward.

Then it kind of went downhill even farther with the introduction of Stalker, who, as stated above, I felt was an unnecessary character, as he seemed to be there just to be the opposite of Fade, mainly in appearance.

Deuce admires the fighter in him, but other than that, I don't see anything that indicates she has any other feelings for him, in fact, seeing as how he had 'claimed' her when she was taken by his gang to be a 'Breeder', you'd think she'd have more of a problem with him joining them, like Tegan did, and even her protests didn't last long.

And I don't even know what to say about Tegan, you sympathize with her character, but other than that, there isn't any real growth, or anything to really add substance to the friendship between Deuce and Tegan. She's just kind of there.

3. THE PLOT

The plot was kind of slow to get going, nothing actually happened until the middle of the book when Deuce and Fade took the blame for one of Deuce's friends, who had been accused of 'hoarding', which she knew he was innocent of, and was shunned as a result and forced to go Topside, where you'd think things would pick up, but no. Things seemed to drag a bit Topside as well, and then they got attacked by a gang, the Wolves, twice. And I didn't care.

Deuce was taken to be a 'Breeder', and is claimed by the leader of the Wolves, Stalker, and Fade was taken to be hunted for sport.

This is where she meets Tegan, who had also been taken a Breeder some time previously.

And, after escaping, they literally run into Fade and, after taking out a great deal of the Wolves, who, as it turns out, were initiates, basically, they run.

After meeting up with a girl, Pearl, that Fade knew from his past, they locate a library where, not too long later, they are once again attacked by the Wolves, who are then attacked by the intelligent Freaks that had been encountered previously, where Pearl, who had been abducted by the Wolves, is killed.

And, this is where the book lost me, and I realized that there was no hope: they let Stalker join them. SERIOUSLY? It wasn't even a long discussion, it took ONE PAGE! And only Tegan protested.

And then Deuce on the next page, after this had been decided observes of Tegan: "Tegan hunched her shoulders, tension in the lines of her body. She seemed upset with Fade's decision." YA THINK?!?

Okay, I'm going to end this review here because I wrote it out previously, and it got WAY too ranty lol 

The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay by Lisa Shafer Review

First off, I want to say that there will be spoilers in this review, so you have been warned.


1. THE WRITING
The writing was good, it had a nice flow to it.
                                                                   
2. THE PLAYLISTS
I thought that the playlists at the beginning of each chapter was a unique thing. I liked it, especially when I recognized some of the songs lol.

And now, unfortunately, for the things that bothered me a bit:

3. THE CHARACTERS
I felt that the characters seemed kind of 2 dimensional. You had the popular clique, and the outcast, and the caring, protective aunt.
But I felt that Nerissa was being portrayed more as a stereotypical 14 year old, than as an actual character.
She was obsessed with getting this one role in her school play, and she had been dressing up in different costumes every day for a year in the hopes that the drama teacher would recognize that she could stand out, later finding out that this backfired and had her assigned as the 'Costume Mistress', later deciding/realizing that the drama teacher would never have put her in the play because she wasn't 'pretty' like her nemesis, Gina, who, beyond the 'perfect, mean girl' personality, she had no real substance either, neither did her followers, who never really got much focus, aside from Cori, who was singled out from the beginning as being a former friend of Nerissa's who turned on her to impress Gina.
And while I did sympathize with Nerissa's problems, I just felt that she focused too much on comparing herself to others, dreaming about the 'hottest' guy in school (Also, whenever she mentioned his name, Braden, she would always add a 'sigh' near his name), and being the lead in the play, which she thought would finally get her noticed.
And while, it seems she does display several characteristics of your average teenager, I just felt that she didn't display anything beyond that, which was disappointing.

 4. THE PLOT
This is kind of two-sided, because I thought that having the mystery inter-woven and kind of seeping through Nerissa’s obsessive psyche was interesting and well done, but her motivation for wanting to figure out what’s been happening annoyed me. She only wanted to solve the mystery of who’s ‘haunting’ Gina and her groupies, as well as the other popular girls in her school, simply to expose Gina as the culprit and therefore get the lead in the school play.
However, I found this rationalization irritating, as it fed into her obsession with getting the lead and one-upping Gina.

Overall, it wasn't the best story I've ever read, but also not the worst.
The author has a clear voice, and it's possible that this just wasn't my cup of tea.

Blood Oath by Samantha Coville Review

This review contains spoilers. You have been warned. First off I would like to say congratulations to the author for her debut, it was quite a good book :)

I've never read a book about Sirens before, so it was unique and I could picture everything that happened in the book.

There were a few issues that I had with it, but they didn't take away from the fact that I enjoyed this book.

1. THE CHARACTERS
At times, certain characters seemed to be one dimensional, and as someone who is also writing a book, I understand how difficult it is to not focus on just one character, or a few.
Some of the characters seemed to be stereotypical teenagers. You had the nerd, the jock, and the bitch.
My advice is try and focus on each character as an individual.

And now onto the things I liked.

1. THE CULTURE 
The Sirens have their own culture that I would have liked to delve into more, and I hope that in the future books we get to explore it.

2. KAT 
She was probably my favorite character (I like kick-ass characters). I like that she fought with weapons, even though Sirens look down on using weapons, seeing it as an insult to their abilities.
I liked that she wasn't afraid to be herself and I hope that she gets more screen time in the next book.

3. THE SIRENS
The only thing I know about Sirens is that they would lure sailors to their deaths with their voices in ancient times, and I liked that this book explored them.
The Call is the most famous thing about the Sirens, and the only other thing is that they are beautiful, and I really liked that this book expanded on certain things, like that they try and be good, and they don't drink blood excessively, and that some of them are nice, so well done to the author for that.

4. THE WORLD
I know this may seem more like what I said about the Culture, but I've always been a fan of the 'world within a world' plots, so I really enjoyed this. It was unique, and like I said above, I have never read a Siren book before, so it was refreshing.


Overall, I liked this book. It was well written, and had a cool plot. I look forward to reading future books by Miss Coville.
Keep up the great writing! :D

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! :D

                                                 Hope you all have a really awesome year!!!

                                A new year, wonder what's in store... Hopefully awesome things :D

                                  Fun fact, 2014 is the year of the Horse in the Chinese Calendar :D