***May contain spoilers for Book #1 *** Synopsis: Her parents are dead. Her only sibling, her brother Eric, has been taken from her. And after her first experience with a foster family goes horribly wrong, nine-year-old Connelly Pierce doesn’t know who, if anyone, she can trust. Her caseworker, a ditzy ex-actress named Lillian, tries her best to help. But an ever-wiser Connelly sees that Lillian can barely take care of herself, let alone help her with her ever-worsening situation. Then, a chance encounter with her brother at a San Francisco emergency room changes everything. Eric tells her that his own foster parents have divorced, kicking him back into “the system” just like her. When she later learns that Eric has disappeared, running away to New York City, now fourteen-year-old Connelly knows what she has to do. She’s going to run away as well. She’s going to New York to find Eric. And then, together, the both of them will have the family that the system could never provide. But what she doesn’t know, but begins to understand the deeper she descends into her darkening journey, is that quests of this magnitude, often come with consequences to match. Review: SO MANY EMOTIONS. It was much better than the first book. I give this a solid 4/5 stars. Unlike the first book where Connelly’s life seems to get worse and worse, this book is a roller coaster. I have to admit that the first 50 pages or so were pretty slow. But the book completely picked up after that, when just as her life is coming together as a promising art student, her new dynamic changes, and Connelly makes a complete life changing decision to run away. The consequences of this are so scary and intense. By the last sentence, I had tears in my eyes. James Snyder shows how easy it is for someone to go off the deep end - with good intentions. How life can go from bedroom suites and private art schools, hardcore drugs and abuse all in the course of 3 years. I really don’t know what more to say about this, other than don’t give up because the first 50 pages are slower - it picks up after that AND YOU DON’T WANT TO REGRET MISSING IT. And I just have to mention the first paragraph of page 53 - OMG.JUST OMG. Rating: 4/5 Stars
0 Comments
Synopsis: Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark. Review: Dark, original, and powerful. Neil Gaiman seamlessly combines fantasy with the real world in a way that makes you feel like everything is real - and that is terrifying. This is the first book I've read by author Neil Gaiman, and I'm impressed. His style of writing is very descriptive, yet smooth and relevant. He gives the perfect amount of detail for you to feel like you are a part of the story and combines that, transitioning smoothly, with a perfect amount of action and dialogue. His writing also has a very distinct voice which, I find, gives the book itself a definite personality. The story itself is very dark and mystical yet feels so very real, which makes for an eerie read (if you read at night in the dark like I do, it will make your hairs stand on end). The protagonist, whose name is never revealed (other than his old nickname being "Handsome George"), is very well developed. He is a seven year old boy, gentle and quiet who has a love for books and who is the outcast of his family and society. For a child, he is as would be expected - naive and full of questions about the world. As we journey with his through his childhood we realize that as much as we think we know about the world, it turns out that together we are learning things about this world that neither of us knew existed. In this way we are a part of the journey through this story with "Handsome George". The antagonist is quite the character as well. She claims her "human name" to be Ursula Monkton. I find her name curious in the sense that, being a Disney fan, I associate the name Ursula with a monstrous, evil creature (from the Walt Disney's, The Little Mermaid). From the moment we are introduced to Ursula, you know something is off. She is too perfect - perfect to the point of being scary. She is not as she appears to be, which is a theme of this story and is what makes it so scary to read. The only reason I didn't give this book a full five stars is because overall, I prefer reading books that are more fast paced with more paranormal elements. I found this book to be a little confusing as well - you really have to pay attention to some parts to understand if the main character (of whom it is written in first person) is lying to protect his image or if he truly does not have memory of certain events. If you're a fan of horror and fantasy books, I would highly recommend this to you! Rating: 4/5 Stars Synopsis: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. Review: I thought this book was overall really original (considering it was loosely based on Cinderella). I mean who would have guessed, a cyborg/alien princess mechanic with memory loss thinking she was once human. I started this book not knowing exactly what it was about, but quickly got sucked right in. I felt a connection to the main character, Cinder right away - I love when that happens! She was very well developed and had a distinct personality that had lots of depth and was in no way cliche. Even the storyline itself was exciting. I mean, obviously there was an evil stepmother and an evil stepsister, an invitation to a ball, Cinder being their slave, blah blah blah. But even with all that, the modern elements and a plague threatening the entire human race gave the story more energy and excitement. The reason I gave this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 is for a couple reasons. 1. I was confused when the chapters started switching main points of view. There was no real pattern to how that was laid out and I would have liked more consistency with that. 2. I had predicted the ending of the book about half way through. It seemed to be a little too obvious as to who Cinder really was/is. Overall I loved the plot twists, the interesting characters, and the entire world this story takes place in. Yet for some reason I don't have a huge urge to continue the series. Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Synopsis: Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom... Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance. Review: My initial thought: "This is totally meant for an audience of girls younger than me - preteens maybe" My second thought: "Oh wait, I'm actually hooked (pun totally intended)!" Of Poseidon was actually really good!! For the most part, this book seemed like it should be a featured film of the Disney channel (now Family channel I guess). Even though this story wasn't very original for the most part, I was still completely sucked into the lives of the Emma and Galen. I loved how the chapters switched points of view from Emma to Galen - It gave the story much more depth. For the most part, the story was pretty predictable except for the ending. The story has been told before many times in different books, but what makes this completely different is the ending. I should have, but didn't, see that coming! When I finished the book, I just put it down and smiled - satisfied and happy that Anna Banks decided to tie everything together with a twist. The one thing that bothered me throughout the story is Emma. Her personality was very cliche in the way that she got embarrassed by everything even if it wasn't very embarrassing at all, or the way she overanalyzes everything. It got to be a little annoying for me. Overall I still loved this book and I'm definitely going to buy the next two books too. I feel like the next one will be more original, and I'll also get to see the fallout from this book's ending. Rating: 4/5 Stars Synopsis: A young, enigmatic woman - Lily Azerov - arrives in post-war Montreal expecting to meet her betrothed, Sol Kramer. When Sol sees Lily at the train station, however, he turns her down. His brother, Nathan, sees Lily and instantly decides to marry her instead. But Lily is not the person she claims to be, and her attempt to live a quiet existence as Nathan Kramer’s wife shatters when she disappears, leaving her baby daughter with only a diary, an uncut diamond, and a need to discover the truth. Who is Lily, and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It is up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know. Review: This is a book I chose to read and study for school, and I regretted my choice right after the first chapter. I really didn’t like this book and had no desire to continue after the first couple lines, alas, I had to for my project. I felt like Richler was trying wayyy to hard to write in amazing detail and give us a clear image of the story. The problem was that there really wasn’t much of a story there. I endured the whole book to get to the climax, and guess what, there really isn’t a climax. This book fell completely flat. When I finished the book my reaction was, “That was a story?”. The writing style was full of dragged out descriptions or surroundings, smells and emotions. The story itself really didn’t go anywhere. The story switched points of view between “Lily Azerov” in the past, and her daughter in the present. From Lily’s point of view we don’t get much information other than she is trying to fit into her new family and she can’t so she runs away after giving birth. From her daughters point of view we follow the story of her growing up - which is nothing special - and eventually finding her mom. The meeting between the mother and daughter went something like this (quoted from me): “You’re my mom and you left me when I was a baby? I’m not even going to ask way. It was nice meeting you!” THAT WAS THE CLIMAX. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone truly. I can tell the author really tried to make a heart wrenching book but I found it to be a waste of time and money. Rating: 1/5 Stars |
WelcomeHey everyone, my name is Amy and this is my reading and writing blog. Look out for book reviews, hauls, recommendations and original writing! xo Archives
October 2016
Categories |