Wicked Saints | Buddy Read #1

Author: Emily A. Duncan
Title: Wicked Saints #1
Release: April 2, 2019
Rating: ★.5
Pages: 385
Format: Hardcover
Series: Something Dark and Holy
Summary: 

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.
A prince in danger must decide who to trust.
A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.
Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.
In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy. (Goodreads)

Me and my friend Calrissian18 started a weekly buddy read challenge to motivate us to finish books we have for a while that we both own.

Thoughts: I was excited going into this book. The premise was promising and new to me. Sadly, it let me down. The story seemed like it would be a good starting point to a series and it felt like the characters had so much potential. However, there was just so many moments that I was confuse throughout the story line.
The story itself felt like it was too many different books set in one book. It didn't feel like the book had an identity. I wish it was just focus on one theme instead of multiple for at least this first book. I felt like the author didn't know what to focus in her book, that she ended up putting all of them in it. It just didn't work for me. I wish that she just focused one one element.
There wasn't really any emotional connections with any of the characters in the story. I felt like the characters were just there to be set ups for future books. Many of the minor characters were shown but they weren't given reasons for us to care for them. I felt like we needed more development.
Maybe if the second book has a more clear path it could be turn around.


Buddy Read Book #1 week of 5/13/19-5/19/10 

Next Buddy Read: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill  5/20/19-5/26/19

Will be posting my Buddy Read review until I am currently caught up to date.

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) | Thoughts

Author: Felicia Day

Title: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

Release: August 11, 2015

Rating: ★★★★★

Pages: 261

Format: Hardback

Where to find them: Amazon | Goodreads | Bookdepository

Series: No

Summary: From online entertainment mogul, actress, and “queen of the geeks” Felicia Day, a funny, quirky, and inspiring memoir about her unusual upbringing, her rise to Internet-stardom, and embracing her individuality to find success in Hollywood. (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review:

This book was amazing. I loved every step of the way. We got more of an insight into Felicia Day’s world. You get to read her journey and love of gaming through her childhood to now. Also and insight of her acting career and how she became the woman she is today.

If you are a gamer, love Felicia, or fan of anything, this book is for you. There is so many ways this book could connect with you. It connected with me in so many levels. From meeting friends from the internet world when it was weird and not so welcoming, to over thinking about everything now and in the future. Your own mind can be a scary thing. This book was also an emotional journey for me. I am glad I took my time in reading this book making the journey so much more enjoyable.

It’s so surprising to read the struggles she faced in a community that she loves so much and make you see that there is still hate in communities that we cherish. It’s sad to see that in things that we love there is still so much prejudice just because you are a specific gender. Instead of focusing on the love of the art.

It’s so hard to express my feelings for this book in words. This books shows that if you have a vision and want a place to belong that you are not alone and should give up. Just keep trying. You will find your way. There are so many amazing people out there that have proven that. Thank you Felicia Day for sharing your experiences with us and anyone who is a fan of anything should read it.

Embrace your weirdness.

Go Set a Watchman | Thoughts

Author: Harper Lee

Title: Go Set a Watchman

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Rating: ★★★★

Pages: 278

Format: Hardcover

Where to find it: Amazon | Goodreads | Bookdepository

Series: To Kill a Mockingbird

Summary: Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch--"Scout"--returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past--a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review:

This book was a short and wonderful read. I didn’t re-read To Kill a Mockingbird (TKaM) before starting this novel and in a way I wish I did. I had read TKaM in high school, it’s been almost 10 years since then. I do remember details of the book and was looking forward to reading the next stage of these characters lives. I did feel the characters felt familiar in this story. It made sense where these characters life lead to be.

I enjoying reading the novel in Scout’s perspective as an adult. The story follows very closely to where her point of views are now as an adult and how she see the world. It does reflecting to her family went through in TKaM. I did enjoy seeing the person that she became. This novel is not an insight of its previous book, its more of a book that shows where a character would go after growing up and growing up in the era they did.

I do see why some people didn’t enjoy the novel. It’s not the same as a novel that impacted so many people’s lives and continue to impact people's lives now. TKaM I believe is a timeless novel that will continue to impact people because the issues written in the novel will always be a theme in our culture. I do like GSaW because it continues to address those issues. But, I do feel that it doesn’t give the same as impact as TKaM.

I do recommend you guys do read it. I do believe that it would give a bigger impact to female readers. Really enjoyable read and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the novel.I am hoping to re-read TKaM soon.

The Accident Season | Thoughts

Author: Moira Fowley-Doyle

Title: The Accident Season

Release: August 18, 2015

Rating: ★★★

Pages: 288

Format: ARC

Where to find them: Amazon | Goodreads | Bookdepository

Series: Stand Alone

Summary:It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free? (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review

I picked up an ARC copy of this book at SDCC.

Picking up this book at SDCC, I was immediately pulled in by the summary. It was something different than what I was use to reading and wanted to give something new a chance. However, after reading the book I wasn’t impressed at all by the story.

The main reason I wasn’t impressed by the story has mainly to do with the characters. There is a moment in the book where Cara’s sister is hurt really badly. Cara doesn’t seem that worry about her sister and is more focus on trying to solve the mystery. She doesn’t even go to the hospital with her sister. She just lets someone else take her and she doesn’t even call her to see if she is okay. I didn’t really like that about the character. It seems that they really didn’t communicate. I felt that the sisters in the novel were very distant even though in the book it stated that they would hang out together often. Also, characters got away with thing I wouldn’t expect people their ages would get away with.

If you guys have seen the film An American Haunting it feels very familiar to this book.There was the mystery behind the story and the journey to trying to find out why things were happening. That is how I felt about this book when I finished reading it. Although, there is certain different topics.

It’s an interesting concept and it was creepy at parts but I just felt that it was too easily convenient for the story from setting to events in the story. For a family that was very caution about the dangers of the time they weren’t cautious at all.

It was an interested read and different but it wasn’t something I had expected from reading the summary.

I would give the book a chance if you like a mystery and a real fast read. I did wanted to know what the mystery was behind it all.

The Veil | Thoughts

Author: Chloe Neil

Title: The Veil (Devil’s Isle #1)

Release Date: August 4, 2015

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Pages: 336

Format: ARC

Where to find it: Amazon | Goodreads | BookDepository

Series: Devil’s Isle

Summary: Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.

Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head. (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review:

I  picked up this book as an ARC copy this year at SDCC this year and I am extremely grateful I had the opportunity to pick up this book.

It’s been awhile since I have read some Paranormal and I think this was a very good book to get back into the genre. I was really intrigue with the world of this book and how it worked. The characters seemed interesting and the world seemed different that what I have been used to  reading lately.

But that is where I had a problem. I wish we had more background information about the characters and the war that happened before the events in this book. We are just given a small brief explanation from the point of view of Claire Connolly the main character in our book. Also, we are not given that much information about her life either. Just the essentials of her family and her friends. We aren’t even given information about how she had meet her friends.

We are thrown with random fact that could be potential explore in the next books in the series. Which is something that is understandable but wish there was something explore in this book and not just left to wonder. We are given too many possibilities in a way all thrown into one book instead of given them in other book in the series.

I understand that this book will be a series but it would have been interesting to get more information and even some flashbacks. One thing that I didn’t really enjoyed was how Claire immediately wanted to be with Liam after knowing him for a period of 2 to 4 days. I understood the attraction and I did like that they weren’t put together. But it would have been interesting too not see that attraction until further books.

One thing that I did really enjoyed was the friendship between Claire and her friends. It felt that they had each other backs at the beginning of the book and in the end of the book also. Although I wish we had more information on them also. I felt like the books was a little too short for a paranormal book and wish there was more information on a lot of areas. I am use to reading a paranormal book to be more than 450 pages.

I am intrigue to see how the author will continue this story and I am thinking of picking up the next book in the series to see where these characters end up.

Armada | Thoughts

Author: Ernest Cline

Title: Armada

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Summary: Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer. (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review:

It may contain a few spoilers. I mention themes that happened throughout the book but don’t give specific plot points.

I want to start this review by saying that I LOVE Ready Player One (RPO). However, Armada is another story. I have so many mixed feelings about this book. I felt that this book was cliche and predictable, from the description of the characters, to the plot line. The book felt too much like a formula. We follow Zack Lightman as he re-discovers his father’s relics that he left behind. His father was a gamer before he passed away in a freak accident when he was just a few months old. Zack is currently a senior in high school and also a gamer as his father was.

Things that I did love about the book are the pop culture reference. I felt that I connected more with the references in Armada  than in RPO for the reason that I was more familiar with these references and they were closer to my era. Another thing that I really enjoyed about the book is that it was fast pace and to the point. It didn’t linger too much in one things. It moved along smoothly.

One thing that I found really irritating is the cliche love interested. “Sees girl, love at first sight, girl is a rebel and independent. Instant love.” That is one thing that I don’t like about any novel. I felt that it wasn’t realistic at all and it felt too convenient. I know the book is fictional but it doesn’t mean that the characters have to be unrealistic. Then there was the cliche young adult that knows what to do but no adults will listen. The adult that is to hard-headed to realize his mistakes and thinks that he is always right. Then everything goes to hell. I really didn’t enjoy that.

I was intrigued with the story line and where it would lead. I was drawn by that. But the thing that pulled me away from the book was that I kept guessing what was going to happened and kept getting it right. Nothing was a surprise to me. If I would have gone with it blind and not have been reminded over and over about how similar it was to Ender’s Game and other sci-fi films and books. Which took away the unique quality from the story line.

I think the ending did surprise me a little bit, but I felt that to easy in a way. It’s was neatly presented for my licking.  

I would say to give the book a try and see what you think about it. If you like pop culture and video games it would be an entertaining read. I think you just have to be in the right kinda mode to read this book. Which is something I feel that I wasn’t. I think I expected too much of this book for the reason that I loved RPO so much. In a way it wasn’t fair but I just couldn’t help myself.

Rating: 2/5

Made You Up | Thoughts

Title: Made You Up
Author:  Francesca Zappia
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Goodreads: Link
Rating: 
Summary: Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college... (goodreads) 





Thoughts:
I got this book at Yallwest this year. They were doing a raffle by Epic Reads. Anyone who spin the wheel was able to win a book. I spin the wheel and got Queen of the Tearling. However, since I only own it I found someone who was willing to trade the a book with me. I have never heard about Made You up before. I completely went into this book blindly. Without knowing what it was about or hearing anything about it. Which I think that is a reason why I think I enjoyed this book so much. I finish this book in two days, that is how much I liked it. It hard to find a book now in days and going completely blind. Having no expectations for it. It's something that I have missed and it's something I received with this book.

One thing I really enjoyed of this book is the main character. Sometimes it's hard to enjoy the main character in YA contemporary books for me. They usually seam really predictable and in this book I didn't feel that much with that character. It did have a moment were I did predicted in the first few 100 pages but during the whole book I still had hopes that that outcome was different. Which that is a thing I really loved. The book still gave me hope that it would be different and made me wonder how it would end.

I love when a book makes you feel that. But in this book I loved Alex as a main character. She seemed relatable as a character to me. Another thing that I really enjoyed was the character development in the book. The characters grew from the beginning of the book. Another thing that I love about books.

Although, I did have a few problems with the book it's an amazing debut novel that I recommend everyone to try out if you live contemporary YA novels.

Lock In | Thoughts

Title: Lock In
Author: John Scalzi
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Rating: 
Summary: Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus.

One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people “locked in”...including the President's wife and daughter.

Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not.... (goodreads)

Thoughts:

Okay. This book marked my love for John Scalzi writing. I really love his style of writing and story telling. I must try to read all his books now. I want to thank Lindsey Rey for introducing me to John Scalzi. I would have never would have thought of picking up his books before.

This book was such and interesting take of people using machines and other people to control them with their minds because of a disease that attacked their bodies keeping them trap in their own minds. I liked how focus the book was on the case and didn't really dragged the story line. The information given to the reader was straight to the point.  Also liked that the setting was part of the story instead of the focus of the story. Scalzi didn't drag the storyline at all by giving us terminology and world building at all because it wasn't necessary for the story. Which I loved.  

That is what made me love this book.  It gave you what you needed to know and went straight to the point.

Really don't want to say much afraid to ruin the book to anyone. What I do want to say is that I really loved it and I highly recommend it.

The Monstrumologist | Review 2015

The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist #5) by Rick Yancey   

Genre: Horror/YA
Release Date: July 20, 2010 
Rating: 
Summary:These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.
 So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.
 A gothic tour de force that explores the darkest heart of man and monster and asks the question: When does man become the very thing he hunts? (Goodreads)

I think if I would have picked up this book earlier last year I may have enjoyed it. But sadly this was not the case.

I did think the story had potential and it was and interesting idea. The idea of people study monsters was what pulled me into the book.  The thing that threw me off were the characters. The characters didn't feel right. The Monstrumologist felt to be too forceful. It felt like the author was trying to make him a sorta Sherlock character and Will Henry to be his Watson, it failed for me.

I didn't think it would be realistic that an adult would be that naive towards a young child even in the time period the book was set into. Another thing that I felt misguided was thinking that there would be more creatures in the novel and there weren't. I felt that the book needed more action.

This story wasn't for me. I will not be continuing the series.

Book Thoughts | The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir
Genre: Scifi
Release Date: February 11, 2014 (self publish 2011)
Rating:
Summary: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.
It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? (goodreads)

Amazon | BookDepository

This is just such a unique story line. Different than what I am use to reading. The story is a survivor story. What one must do to survive in a whole different environment and use their knowledge to do so. Being smart is not so bad when you are trap by yourself in a planet years away from Earth.

Immediately I was drawn into the story line. I loved how it just jump into the story. Not making the reader wait to know a detail account of how it all went wrong.

I really liked how the novel description explained the procedures in a simplest way. Usually when a book over describe it's surroundings it ruins the book for me and I end up loosing interest. However, this did the complete opposite. As a reader I was invested in every single step Mark Watney our main charachter took. It feels like I was watching the little engine that could and was cheering him on in the side line. 

Every page I was routing for Watney survivable and hoping all went well. When something went wrong I was on the edge of my seat reading what he will come up with to solve the problem. 

I really love Watney character  a  lot. His sense of humor in his situation was amazing. It lightens the mood of the book forgetting the horrible situation he was in. It was also amazing how we read so many people working together to get him back home. I recommend this book to everyone. I am happy that I picked it up.

Favorite quote: 
"That makes me a pirate, a space pirate." 
~ Mark Watney

This line made me laugh so much. Any time I think of space ships and space I think about Firefly.

Book Thoughts | Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Golden Son (Red Rising #2) by Pierce Brown
Genre: Dystopian/Fantasy/Sci-fi
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Rating:
Summary: With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.
Bloodydamn this book was brilliant. If you have yet to read the first book of this series Red Rising I highly recommend that you do so. (Goodreads)
 
The first book takes place in a futuristic dystopian future where we have come to live in different planets in our solar system. We follow the journey of Darrow our lead character taking part of rebellion to over power the corrupted society.

I received this book by participating in a goodreads giveaway. Which I was grateful and happy to receive since it was one of my most anticipated books of 2015. Let me just start by saying it didn't disappoint at all. The world that Pierce Brown has brilliantly crafted pulls you even more into the second book. Answering questions left unanswered by the previous book. As a reader you are given even more twist and turns that you would have expected to see.

I think it was a smart decision to start the book where he did, allowing the characters grow from were we last saw them and not dragging story into the same routine some series have a problem with. I think that is a unique way to continue the story and is something I have not seen before in my reading experience.

This was my first book of the new year making it a great start.

IT by Stephen King | Review/Thoughs

(Image Source)

I went in to this book already seeing the miniseries adaptation of it. (I being one of the few that like the miniseries - I think). I really enjoyed the miniseries when I saw it. Seeing it when I was 6 or 7 years old (yes I started seeing those horror movies young) I loved seeing horror movies. This one in particular intrigue me because it involved actual kids. They where the main characters at the beginning of the miniseries.

I have always wanted to read the novel that the miniseries was base on and I was glad that I finally came around in reading it. This novel shows way more into the characters history and why they connected. Also, how the town was blinded by this creature. Compare to the book the miniseries seems like a Disney movie to the novel. I felt that the miniseries lack the connection of the characters.

I was scared for the characters in the novel. Stephen King truly capture the pure essence of evil with his character Pennywise. The creature scared me. I like the connection between the kids and how there was so much character development. Another thing that was terrifying was the idea of them being kid and not getting help from the grown-up. They where alone in this horrific situation. They couldn't trust the people that had the authority or the adults simply didn't care.

I thought it was was such a brilliant book. If you are looking for a novel that scares you and focuses on characters this is a great book.

I have read 3 Stephen King books so far and all of them have been 5 stars for me. This man has done no wrong so far in my book.

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭