Series Review l The Vampire Academy

The Vampire Academy

Richelle Mead

7 Stars

I went into this series thinking that I was going to like it but probably not love it, just because it is a much younger style than I normally read and while I know I would have been crazy about the series as a young teen, I do find some of the 16 year old girl choices and voices annoying now.

It went pretty much the way, enjoyable and relaxing, brought up some nostalgia about other vampire books I read between 12 - 15 that were similar. Great downtime books, the first audiobook had an amazing narrator, but as a whole the series was nothing crazy special.

Book 1 : The Vampire Academy

We meet our cast of characters and their roles, Moroi, Stragoi, Dhampires, ect. Introduced to the school and its cliques and society. We learn about why Rose and Lisa are so special (why these two are our mains over the others), enter the love interests in Dimitri.

Very cookie cutter, so many cliches and stereotypes implemented. The plot was solid though and fast paced, the evil was a little too black and white even for a YA novel and I don't like how they classified these as vampires, I think it would have been better off leaving them as just Moroi and letting that be its own category. Letting the reader draw the rest of the conclusions themselves.

Book 2 : Frostbite

After the first book I wasn't really sure where we would be going and how they would stretch out one more year of school (this is "the academy" series after all) into another 5 books. I like the changes in the characters and how you can see them growing up. Nothing worse than static teens, who are some of the most fast changing age group in the boring real world let alone in a vampire / guardian / supernatural setting.

Book 3: Shadow Kissed

Things are still very interesting although I really don't like the love stories that we have going on. They are really bad examples of relationships, this is not what you want young girls to strive for in the boyfriend department. Too much glamourizing of older men and alcohol (which might be a reality of teenage years but I think it is all perpetuated by these kinds of representations)


Book 4 : Blood Promise, Book 5 : Spirit Bound, Book 6 : Last Sacrifice

Book 3 was the highpoint of the series, it was pretty much all downhill from there. Page after page of the same few things repeated over and over. The relationships in these books got more and more problematic. I don't even think I would have liked these 3 when I was a teen.

Book Review l Rituals

Rituals 

(Cainesville #5)

Kelley Armstrong

YA / Fantasy / Supernatural / Paranormal
8.5 Stars

I loved these books, and they were some of the first books that I annotated, for sure the first everyday kind of books I took notes on.  When I finally got around to this last one, I was so happy with how much of the previous books I remembered -  its been over a year since I read the  first 4 and I binge read them - Armstrongs stories tend to be great when I am reading them but the details fade really quickly (but not this time!).

*** No Summery because it will give away to much from books 1-4

I am still amazed at this series, I just loved it so much. It is a mix of Celtic, Irish folklore. A YA - teen version of American Gods. It does the predestined characters in the perfect way, its avoids most cliches. Gabriel was / is amazing, I have the biggest crush on him. Armstrong played him and Ricky against each other, but together, and to the reader in such a clever way. I love Ricky but I never rooted for him, but I wanted him to be happy. I didn't always like Gabriel, he was always sexy, dark, mysterious, and I always wanted him to end up with Liv. Even when I was sitting there hating him for being slow, distant, reluctant. I contracted myself over and over reading these. I am so happy with how it all ended, it felt a little anticlimactic at times, but then it just fits perfectly.

Amazing amazing amazing, would make a phenomenal TV show.

Series Review l The Hatching

The Hatching

Ezekiel Boone 

Horror / Creature Feature / Mystery / Thriller /

The Hatching
352 Pages
10 Stars

I picked this up as a treat to myself for moving (yet again) but this time I managed to get all my books and other random items from various storage places. I got it just based on the cover and the quick blurb on the back that compared it to Jaws.

I read this book twice in a week and plan on rereading it again in the next month or so. It is the best creature feature book I have read! my only complaint is : its Boones debut so there are not more books for me to read!

It hit all the right notes for me, creepy and crazy but not unbelievable... I think if I gush more I will spoil it but you HAVE TO READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Skittering
352 Pages
10 Stars

This was my most anticipated sequel this year. As the above review states I am obsessed. I was so nervous that I would be let down, I mean the bar was set sky high so how could this one compare???  NO SPOILERS so I can't say much but it was fantastic. And even better news, it was amazing in a new way from the first! We held onto the characters and continued the story line but Boone still kept it fresh.  

Like I said we shifted into a different gear with this book, more points of view and the spiders morphed into yet another kind of monster, we lost a little bit of the realism but we gained something that I have yet to identify. I can't wait for the third novel (in what I think is a trilogy) Zero Day should be released in February and I am hoping to get a pre order for my birthday in October!

Series Review - The Selection

The Selection

Kiera Cass

Now that I am starting this review, I think it is one of the biggest posts I have done to date, and I know I have done a few huge posts in the past. But I am trying to do a spoiler free review of 7 books here, we have the original three books that made up the trilogy (The Selection, The Elite and The One) the duology that was added to the series (The Heir and The Crown) plus two companion novellas (The Prince and The Queen)

Because this is trying not to give anything away I am doing the first three books as a group.

The world is a dystopian, that reminded me a lot of the Hunger Games set up. Casts based on numbers (One being Royalty, Eights being the lowest of the low) determine your rank and your job, you are born into your cast and  it is very hard to go up a number but very easy to go down. More than anything the society was a backdrop, politics are present but romance is very much the focus. We meet America Singer, a Five as she enters "The Selection" which is pretty much the Bachelor Tv show for Prince Maxon. There are 35 contestants randomly chosen from each province, and Fives are the lowest represented class. We also have a love triangle that goes on - normally I hate those but if you get through the tedious bits, it honestly adds a lot to the story (I hate to admit that but there it is). 

I was introduced to this series as "the best trash I have read since Twilight" and they were so right. Yes the book is shallow and there are lots of flaws, its not perfect. But I totally couldn't put these down I read the first three books and then the two novellas in three days and I would have done it in two if I'd had the time. 

I was going to leave these until last and had picked up The Heir but after the first 25 pages I put it down and went back to these. I just wasn't ready to leave the original characters yet. We get to see the Selection from Maxon's, Aspen's and Marlee's points of view. We also have a "prequel" of sorts with a glimpse into Amberly's Selection. The Queen and the Favourite were my two best picks, The Prince was enjoyable but didn't really give us anything new and the writing style doesn't mesh as well with a male voice. Aspen was my least favourite character in the books anyway, I can see how his role was needed but I still don't like him, so this was my lowest rated book. These books also come in a bind-up called Happily Ever After although I got each one separately

I read these books because I wanted to know where America and Maxon had ended up, and in the end I was left hoping for more from those characters and less from the main characters (their eldest daughter and her selection) of this book. By the end of The Crown I was happier with the characters but the initial behaviour ruined them for me in a lot of ways. They were rude and bratty and spoiled. There was no explanation for a lot of the behaviour either (like she was so stuck up and guarded because _______ enter reason here) and I just couldn't see America and Maxon allowing that behaviour from their child particularly their heir (but its not like she was really hiding it so they must have known).... Yea just didn't like it as much.

Series Review - Gemma Doyle Trilogy

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy

Libba Bray

Stars
YA / Fantasy / Victorian Era /

A Great and Terrible Beauty

403 Pages
8.5 Stars 

We meet Gemma Doyle on her 16th birthday. The day of her first vision and the day her mother is murdered. Moving from India to England and starting at a boarding school in the wake of such tragedy is enough for any girl to deal with. Adding visions, magic realms, mysterious societies, a web of lies and long dead secrets is too much for one girl to handle. Teaming up with Ann, Pippa and Felicity in an uneasy alliance Gemma braves the year at Spence's Academy for Young Ladies, where nothing is as it seems. 

I had heard of the trilogy through the booktube community and passed them over after hearing they were about witches. I had a preconceived idea about a school filled with silly girls learning to be witches (potions, spells, black cats) while keeping London none-the-wiser. I was SO wrong and I apologized to the novel and my bookshelf for my judgement. This was a great novel, the periodic setting was flawless, the realms were illustrated beautifully. The characters were spot on; their unattractive qualities were cleverly balanced by positive notes, keeping them endearing, imperfect enough to be real! Their was dynamics and subplots. A refreshing lack of tropes, such as intra-love or love triangles,  or novels with overly unattractive characters (which has been a big theme lately).

I would very much recommend this book!

Similar Novels

Bloody Jack, LA Meyer

The Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare

Precious Stone Trilogy, Kerstine Gier 

If you click "read more" there are two more summaries and reviews - BEWARE SPOILERS! -

Series Review - The Infernal Devices

The Infernal Devices

Cassandra Clare

7 Stars
1520 Pages
YA / Supernatural / Paranormal / Romance /

The companion series to the Mortal Instruments.
We are once more introduced to Shadow Hunters. This time in London, England, 1878. We meet William Harendale, James Carstairs, Tessa Grey, Gabriel Lightwood and Charlotte Fairchild. 
It has a Sherlock Holmes vibe as we learn of the infernal devices and race against the clock to thwart the evil Magisters plot to end the Nephelim. Along the way our characters must lift a curse, discover their family origins, find a cure for a terminal illness, and reclaim a family's honour... I wont give away anything else because it would spoil the novels. 

These books were wonderful!!! I got into them in a way I just couldn't get into the Mortal Instruments (which I have yet to finish 1.5 books to go). The setting fit so much better with the characters and their world; a steam punk, classic felling that just meshed with who the Shadow Hunters are and how their culture functions. These characters were (at least to me) a sign of how Clare's writing has grown and improved, they were a lot more dynamic and rounded, they still fell back on a lot of YA tropes but the flow was smoother. I think with it being only a trilogy instead of a full series helped out in so many ways because the books were condensed. Clare has a habit of repeating the same issues over and over again, having a character hung up on a single point that is semi solved only to reappear. This is one of my biggest issues with the Mortal Instruments and it was present but to such a small degree it didn't affect my rating much.

I would recommend these over the Mortal Instruments every day of the week, this series was just so much better in every aspect and I hope that this trend carries over into the next companion trilogy; Lady Midnight, which I hope to be starting soon.

Book Review - The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower

(The Dark Tower VII)

Stephen King

9 Stars
1050 Pages
Western / Mystery / Thriller / Epic Saga / High Fantasy

We finally come to the epic conclusion of the masterpiece that is the Dark Tower series. I am not putting down a summary because anything would give way too many spoilers away.

This is the best ending I have read in so long, maybe ever! I was worried that it would be disappointing after all that has happened but that was a waste of time. King has just given readers or at least this reader the ultimate finale, SO satisfying. It was closed and yet open all at once, a perfect balance it was an unexpected twist as well (just when I thought I had it all figured out) and it is never really the end because King is still building more books into his universe.  I am dreading the movie now, or is it a TV show? because even in 2017 with the best actors ever there is no way to recreate it all to satisfy me.

Similar Sagas are

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Series Review - His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials 

Philip Pullman

4 Stars
1088 Pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Trilogy / YA /

The Golden Compass

7.5 Stars

This for me was a reread, I have read this book 2 or 3 times now and I loved it every time. The movie is pretty good too.

Welcome to the world of Daemons and Dust, each person has a daemon that can take the form of any animal when they are a child, once they reach puberty their daemon settles into a single form (often one that reflects aspects of its humans personality) The orphan Lyra is living in the University among caretakers and professors. Suddenly her world is turned upside down when she is adopted by the lovely Ms. Coulter who is involved with child stealers called the Gobblers, they are abducting kids all over the city and taking them away far to the north .
Lyra is drawn deeper into a maze of secrets and lies. All the while drawing closer to her destiny.

The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass

2 Stars

The next two novels I really didn't like, these are some of my lowest rated novels of all time, within the top 6 most hated books I don't know why or how I managed to get through them. I should have stopped while I was ahead.

 The world changed and we started to jump between dimensions (reminded me of a poorly done Magicians Nephew, CS Lewis). It wasn't executed well at all, nothing made any sense, we got lots of information but it had no reason, no baring, just a lot of random facts thrown out. I guess as the reader, we where supposed to come to our own conclusions and make connections ourselves. Things got even more confusing and then very boring. Until we got into the part where Pullman began to sermonize about the evils of organized religion. We ended up with a host of half formed unpleasant characters, Everything and anything was shifted at will to make it fit the anti-god campaign. By the end they both felt like english essays, where the teacher forced the story to fit into the narrow topic.

Honestly not worth the time and effort of reading.

Book Review - The Song of Susannah

The Song of Susannah

(The Dark Tower VI)

Stephen King

8 Stars
544 Pages
Western / Mystery / Thriller / Epic Saga / High Fantasy

With the business in the Calla complete, we discover that Susannah has gone missing, taken captive by the manipulative Mia in the confusing aftermath of the great battle. Jake, Eddie and Roland race against the clock - time has grown very short for the tower while their minds were occupied elsewhere - Find Susannah, protect the rose, keep Calvin Tower safe from agents of many worlds, convince Tower to sell the vacant lot, stop the breakers save the beams and get to the tower... is it a quest two men, a boy, a bumbler and (if they find her) a woman can complete?

I want to start out by saying that this was still a fantastic read, an amazing book and a must read novel. Compared two the past couple of novels that started out running, and with such a big cliffhanger at the end of the last book, I found that this story took longer than expected to get going and there were a few parts that dragged on. Along with the mind boggling completeness of the world King has built, and the gripping maddening wonderful plot. We meet a host of new and wonderful characters that I fell in love with. Other the Eddie, Jake, Sus and Oi the first three novels didn't have many other characters to hold onto, we found a few in Wizard and Glass but sadly they where all characters of the past who had already travelled out of the story. In the Calla we where introduced to some who will come into themselves in this novel, Mia, Mordred, Callahan. The Talisman and the Black House in drawn in along with The Breakers.  I can't wait for the conclusion to the tale, I haven't been able to put the series down so far!

Book Review - Wolves of the Calla

Wolves of the Calla

(Dark Tower V)

Stephen King

8.5 Stars
931 Pages
Western / Mystery / Thriller / Epic Saga / High Fantasy

And so the Gunslingers and us the reader learn of the Calla, Callahan (of Salem's Lot) and the wolves. I was caught up in the story from page one.
In the Calla almost all people are born twins, and once a generation (every 25 years or so) the wolves come, grey men on grey horses. Stealing one child from each pair of twins who between the ages of 2 - 15. The stolen twin will be returned within months, their minds broken and ruined, they will grow to be toddlers as big as giants and they will die young of a terrible wasting disease. It has been so for more than 100 years. But this time it isn't just the wolves who are coming to the Calla. Roland, Susannah, Jake, Oi and Eddie will be there too. That is not the only problem for our gunslingers, they must also fight the battle of the rose in New York, convincing Calvin Tower and holding at bay the thugs from Eddies past. Susannah is keeping a secret from everyone including herself and while the gunslingers fight this noble fight time is passing... and the beams that hold the tower have very little time left.

The farther into these stories I get the more I love them. The more I reflect on them the more enchanted they seem. The whole world is just so perfect. I would recommend reading It, Salem's Lot, Hearts in Atlantis, The Dead Zone and a handful of other random King novels of your choice before reading this series because it will add so much to the experience.

With the movies coming out everyone should read these.
Everyone should read these anyways!

Book Review - Wizard and Glass

Wizard and Glass
(Dark Tower IV)
Stephen King

8.5 Stars
Pages
Fiction / High Fantasy / Saga/ Series / Thriller / Western / Mystery

This novel starts at the cliffhanger Wastelands ended on. Roland, Eddie, Jake and Suz are aboard the suicidal monorail named Blaine, they have a bet with the super computer. If they ask him a riddle he cannot solve then he will let them live, if he can solve every riddle when he reaches the end of the line Blaine will continue at his 800+ mph and kill them all.
We also go back in this novel to the beginning of Roland Deschain's day's as a gunslinger, as a boy of 14 in the land of Gilead; before the world truly moved on.  We meet the enchanting Susan his one true love, Bert and Alain his best friends and what befell them in that time and place so long ago now.

This was the best novel so far (I honestly can't decide between 1,2&4 but whatever) I have been wondering about Roland since the first novel and finally we got some answers to all the hints! I was speed reading the last half or quarter of book 3 to get to this and it didn't disappoint. I loved it and was upset at ever having to put the book down to do anything else. Everything in this is so well rounded and fully written. Each place, person and thing doesn't just seem real but is real. King truely has brought this all together in a masterpiece! He is a genius and I can't wait to finish the remaining novels on my TBR and get to the Stephen King Universe book that illustrates how it has all been woven together.

Book Review - The Wastelands

The Wastelands

(Dark Tower III)

Stephen King

7 Stars
422 Pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Western / Thriller / Mystery

This book begins with Roland, Suzanna and Eddie following the beam on their mission for the Dark Tower, Eddie and Suz are apprentice gunslingers and along with learning how to shoot, they and we are treated to more about how the world was before it "moved on". The Old Ones -who are turning point between this time and the time before it- sound like something out of a satirical science fiction, from the hints given we are lead to believe in a nuclear war and/or biochemical warfare. The war happened for an unknown reason, between people with incredible technologies, such as; cyborgs and possibly the ability to travel though time and space.
Having altered the past in New York, Roland has created a paradox in time, and that knowledge of what has been, could be and will be has started to tear his mind into pieces, as the madness snowballs a race against time begins to save the gunslingers sanity.
As if that is not enough they must still find and draw the third foretold person into their party.

I am loving this other side of King and when I start or end a book I keep wondering why I didn't get into them sooner because they are just amazing. A neutral note for the books, each is so different from the others that I just can't get into a rhythm with reading them. While they have action packed seconds where you can't put the book down they lack King's usual babbling lulls, this is such a clear and fleshed out realm and their are increasing references to other King works as we go along (which I love)
About half way through this I found out that the fourth book is about Rolands past and I rushed through the final chapters a little faster than I should have probably.

2017 is the year they come out with the Dark Tower movie and I am hoping it drives more people to these novels because they are SO worth reading!!!

Book Review - The Drawing of Three

The Drawing of Three

(The Dark Tower II)

Stephen King

8 Star
Pages
Fiction / Series / Thriller / Horror / Mystery / Adventure / Fantasy

I have become totally obsessed with this series! How did I not read it sooner!
Roland is the last Gunslinger and his destiny is to reach the Dark Tower. In the last book we were introduced to his world while questing after the Dark Man. In this novel Roland is completing the prophecy spoken by the oracle, that he would draw three people from our world into his own. These people will help him reach the tower.

I loved this book so much! I am normally a King fan and I  know that his style is not for everyone but this series is the exception to that rule. The set up is just as detailed but the novels flow at a faster pace, there is tons of action, it does not fall into the horror genera; any fan of epic fantasy would love it too. If you like Westerns I would recommend these as well. The characters are amazing,  it would give too much away to go into detail, but it is easy to picture them as real people. The world is relatable and logical, which isn't always important but I keep coming back to that fact and if alternate realities and everything did exist this is how I picture them.

I would love to hear what you think of The Dark Tower and/or Stephen King :)

Book Review - City of Bones

The City of Bones

(The Mortal Instruments #1)

Cassandra Clare

7 Stars
485 Pages
Easy Reads
YA/ Paranormal / Supernatural / Fantasy

We are introduced to the Shadow-Hunter world; witches, warlocks, vampires, angels and demons live among us, hidden behind a veil of magic. We meet Clarey and her best friend Simon, two normal humans, or so it seems. Until Clarey's mother goes missing and she meets Jace. Finds out that she too is a ShadowHunter. Drawn into this unbelievable new world, fighting to hold onto her old life, looking for her mother, fighting the forces of darkness, all while trying to survive being a teenager is a tall order but with a little help Clarey just might get though it.

This was a reread for me, I am planning to binge read through most of Cassandra Clares books in the next couple of months. I liked the book when I first read it (when it first came out) and was planning on reading the rest of the novels but they hadn't been released yet and my interest shifted away while I was waiting. Being older and closer in age to the target audience than I was on my first read I picked up on way more references and "clued in" in a way that I missed the first time. I really liked the world, the characters, the writing style, pretty much everything I don't really have any major complaints. There are lots of typical cliches fallowed (without spoiling too much) the choices or characters and there dynamic, some insta-love, characters oblivious to obvious infatuation, a few small plot holes or information used to fill a plot hole that doesn't really fit.
All in all I will be continuing these books and I think if you read them at the right time and didn't have as much of the YA genera read as I do the books would totally live up to there hype. Worth recommending
*and on a side note my boyfriend loved the books (9 Stars) and has read the whole series so bonus points for the rating

Book Review - The City of Ashes

The City of Ashes 

(Mortal Instruments #2)

Cassandra Clare

6 Stars
453 Pages
Ya / Fantasy / Paranormal / Supernatural


This was a typical second installment of a longish series. We got quite a few little answers to questions from the first novel and the information we already had was expanded on. There was action, but a lot of things were left unresolved, my biggest issue was the character dynamics, which were either at a stand still or ran in circles. However I got the impression it is building up to a few major climax's between several sets of characters and that there is going to be almost a first and second "half" of the series marked by the end of the third book.

The Summary is below this page break
There are Spoilers so BEWARE! I did try to leave out as many as possible so it is a bit of a point blank style

Book Review - The Gunslinger

The Gunslinger 

(The Dark Tower I)

Stephen King

7 Stars
231 Pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Horror / Thriller / Mystery 

I have this series as an omnibus, which has been sitting on my TBR shelf being daunting and terrifying for at least a couple of years now. I was very pleasantly surprised at how fast I got through this first book. It was the perfect size to introduce me to this amazing but vast world. We meet Roland - who I have read about in quite a few other King novels, including The Talisman, The Black House and Little Sisters of Eluria - he is our main character and I love him. Roland is a Gunslinger, and he is chasing the "Man in Black". Jumping between the past and the present we learn about the land, the world, the people and its customs. I don't want to go into detail because I would be giving too much away but it is action packed and beautiful.
Any lover of epic fantasy - The Songs of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones, Redwall, or The Books of Pellinor - will love these novels. A totally different breed of King novel, that still holds onto the essence of King.

Series Review - Stephen King Short Stories

101 Short Stories

by Stephen King

Date Started : November 1 2016
50 % Done : December  15 2016
Date Finished


All of these are going to be out of 5 stars instead of my usual 10 star system. I like short stories but they are not something I read with any consistency.

512 Pages, 22 Stories

Skeleton Crew : 4 Stars
The Mist - 4.5 stars I have this as a stand alone novel as well,  I can read and reread it over all over. I love the movie too. Some of the first monsters that come to mind when I think of things truely terrifying.
Here There Be Tigers - 3 Stars
The Monkey - 3 Stars
Cain Rose Up - 4 Stars
Mrs. Todds Shortcut - 3.5 Stars
The Jaunt - 3.5 Stars Reminds me of an old radio play I used to listen to wish I could remember the name
The Wedding Gig - 2 Stars
Paranoid : A Chant - 3 Stars
The Raft - 3 Stars
Word Processor of the Gods - 4 Stars
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands - 3.5 Stars
Beachwood - 2 Stars
The Reapers Image - 3 Stars Reminds me of the movie Oculus 
Nona - 3 Stars
For Owen - 3 Stars A beautiful poem from King to his son. A little odd among the horrific stories but not out of place at the same time. 
Survivor Type - 4 Stars My weird fascination with cannibals 
Uncle Otto's Truck - 3 Stars
Morning Deliveries (The Milkman) - 4.5 Stars
Big Wheels : A Tale of the Laundry Game (The Milkman 2) - 4 Stars
Gramma - 3 Stars
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet - 3.5 Stars another "old" feel like a radio play?
The Reach - 3 Stars It was the perfect note to end on

816 Pages, 24 Stories

Nightmares and Dreamscapes : 3 Stars
Dolans Cadillac - 3.5 Stars
The End of the Whole Mess - 3 Stars
Suffer the Little Children - 3 Stars Villiage of the Damned
The Night Flier - 4 Stars
Popsy - 4.5 Stars I felt so justified reading this
It Grows On You - 3.5 Stars
Chattery Teeth - 4 Stars Another justified ending!
Dedication - 2 Stars Good story just not my thing
The Moving Finger - 3 Stars
Sneakers - 2 Stars
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band - 4 Stars
Home Delivery - 3 Stars
Rainy Season - 3 Stars Makes me think of The Reaping and Cabin in the Woods
My Pretty Pony - 2 Stars
Sorry, Right Number - 3 Stars
The Ten O'Clock People - 3 Stars
Couch End - 3.5 Stars This I would love to see as a Tv Show Episode
The House on Maple Street - 3 Stars
The Fifth Quarter - 2 Stars Been reading Sin City comics by Frank Miller. Felt very in tune with those stories. 
The Doctors Case - 4.5 Stars
Umney's Last Case - 4.5 Stars Inkheart Stephen King style I loved it!
Head Down - 2 Stars
Brooklyn August - 2 Stars
The Beggar and The Diamond - 3 Stars It didn't fit in, was totally the wrong way to wrap up or else it would have been rated higher. 

336 Pages, 20 Stories

Night Shift : 4 Stars
Jerusalems Lot - 3.5 Stars
Graveyard Shift - 4 Stars I would love to read a novel like this, reminds me of The Zoo TV show.
Night Surf - The Stands, Captain Trips. Love references to other books.
I am the Doorway - 2.5 Stars
The Mangler - 3.5 Stars
The Boogyman - 3.5 Stars
Grey Matter - 3 Stars
Battleground - 4.5 Stars
Trucks - 4 Stars I love when humanities "brilliance" comes back to bite it in the ass.
Sometimes They Come Back - 4 Stars
Strawberry Spring - 3.5 Stars
The Ledge -
The Lawnmower Man - 3 Stars Love greek mythology references
Quitters Inc. - 3.5 Stars
I Know What You Need - 4.5 Stars
Children of the Corn - 5 Stars One of my favourites
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 4 Stars
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 3.5 Stars
One for the Road - 3 Stars
The Woman in the Room - 3 Stars

367 pages, 13 Stories

Just After Sunset : Stars
Willa - 3.5 Stars
The Gingerbread Girl - 2.5 Stars I was not a fan of the main character, I just sat there and thought stupid girl over and over and over again. Totally disappointed
Harvey's Dream - 3 Stars
Rest Stop - 3 Stars
Stationary Bike -
The Things They Left Behind - 4.5 Stars
Graduation Afternoon - 3 Stars
N -
The Cat From Hell - 4.5 Stars
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates - 3.5 reminded me a lot of Sorry, Right Number. Macabre love story
Mute - 2 Stars *wayyy to long for what it was, if it was shorter it would have been good but just ended up boring
Ayana - 3.5 Stars
A Very Tight Place - 2.5 Stars Good, but lost points for being too drawn out

464 pages, 14 Stories

Everything's Eventual : 2.5 Stars 
Autopsy Room Four - 3 Stars
The Man in the Black Suit - 3 Stars
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away - 2.5 Stars
The Death of Jack Hamilton - 2 Stars
In the Deathroom - 3 Stars
The Little Sisters of Eluria - 4 Stars *the best story of the bunch, and it got points for being part of the Dark Tower Series
Everything's Eventual -
LT's Theory of Pets - 2 Stars
The Road Virus Reads North - 3.5 Stars
Lunch at the Gotham Cafe - 3.5 Stars
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French - 2.5 Stars
1408 - 3.5 Stars
Riding the Bullet - 3 Stars
Luckey Quarter - 2 Stars

Four Past Midnight : 4.5 Stars
The Langoliers - 4 Stars
Secret Window, Secret Garden - 3.5 Stars
The Library Policeman - 4 Stars
The Sun Dog - 4 Stars
Different Seasons : Stars
Shawshank Redemption - 3 Stars
Apt Pupil - 4.5 Stars
The Body - 4 Stars
The Breathing Method - TBR!

Book Review - Jane Austen: The Complete Novels

I have been meaning to read Austen's novels for years and I did start a few of them on several occasions but just couldn't get into them, not because they weren't interesting I just wasn't in the right headspace (which came from my age as well I think).

Pride and Prejudice
5.5 Stars

Sense and Sensibility
5 Stars

Northanger Abby 
4.5 Stars

Emma
TBR
Stars

Mansfield Park
TBR
Stars

Persuasion 
7 Stars

Series Review - Odd Thomas (Part 2)

These are the alternate covers and are my preference over the originals

Odd Thomas

Dean Koontz

Part 2
*link to Part 1

BEWARE SPOILERS

Mystery/Suspense/Supernatural/Paranormal
7 books

Stars Overall

This series has been on my TBR list since 2007, a recommended read from my friend who is also huge King fan. I flew through the first 3 books relatively quickly -listening to all of these on audiobook, read by David Aaron Baker -  liking each novel more than the one before it. I took a bit of the break between the first novels and these ones.

Odd Hours
6 stars

Magic Beach, California. Home to an eccentric elderly actor, a mysterious girl, a happy monster, and villains in the least likely of places. A nightmare or a prophecy?

This book has equal negative and positive halves. On one side I have really gotten into these stories and the style of the writing. But this novel took a couple steps back for the series, while I loved the characters introduced they weren't as good as the previous ones. There was lots of action but nothing really happened in this novel, Anna-Maria is obviously a mystery to be solved in the next book or so can't wait to see what happens.

Odd Interlude
7.5 stars

Leaving Magic Beach, Odd and Anna-Maria stop in at The Corner, a family run motel/ restaurant/ gas station stop in the middle of no-where. Odd's sixth sense alerts him that all is not as it seems, what dark secret is hidden in this small town haven?

A companion novel within the series, this has been my favourite book so far. I finally found the creepy horror book I was looking for in the first place. With a refreshing change of narrator for part of the book. While the supernatural is again caused by impossible science, there is a healthy dose of government conspiracy, genetic alteration, advanced AI, aliens, and other dark taboo science. That makes up for the lack of truly supernatural.

Odd Apocalypse
7.5 stars

Noah Wolflaw is the owner of Roseland - a great estate with; a chef, maids, a grounds keeper, a ghostly maiden on horse back, and rules upon rules upon rules. Don't walk the grounds after or before dawn, do not venture anywhere but the first floor of the house, do not ask so many questions. These instructions veil the dark secrets lurking just beneath the veneer of the all american dream.

I can't believe how much these books have grown on me. I read this one twice over! Koontz has written these is a paradoxical manner where they are all at once polite and horrible. It seems like in the past few novels we have been getting hints to bigger things. I like how these are written almost like episodes each one self contained and yet equally part of the bigger story. The only thing I dislike is how the solutions keep getting more and more unbelievable and how much suspended disbelief is needed.

Deeply Odd
5 Stars

The ringing of the bell announces our next adventure is about to begin, meeting an insane an invisible? Trucker with plans to sacrifice children in the name of Satan, is just another morning for Odd. With help from a ride or die grandmother, the not-ghost ghost of Alfred Hitchcock, the ghost dog boo and other acquaintances. Odd races against time to find and rescue the children.

I don't dislike it but I do have to say there is a lot of repetition. Re-introducing characters, concepts, ideas in almost the same words in each novel. This has been my least favourite book in this half of the series. Odd's rambling is entertaining and keeps the book flowing wonderfully. But despite being action pack nothing is happening at the same time. My small summaries before the novels literally sum up all the major points and many minor ones. So much suspended disbelief is needed and there are plot holes everywhere filled by impossibilities. Personally I love these novels for what they are, but I recognize they are overall only OK books.

Series Review - Darkest Minds Trilogy

The Darkest Minds Trilogy

Alexandra Bracken

7 Stars
YA / Dystopian / Mystery / Action /
Easy Read

This was one of those overly hyped series yet again. As always that makes me wary of reading the novels because of how high my expectations are and how often the books then fall short (even if they are great books). I was really pleased with how the series progressed, I had labeled these as a younger YA then what they turned out to be. There are some pretty heavy topics interwoven into the story, including big influences from such as WW2, prisoner of war, and genocide. I will definitely be recommending these books.

The Darkest Minds

6 Stars
This is my original Book Review.  I will be adding to it as my opinions have morphed a little since.

I found the writing and the concept of the story to be everything promised by avid fans. The plot however was painfully slow and the characters are largely unappealing. Personally I found Ruby's story was told so well. It is shame her character is so repetitive, while it draws out understanding and connection in the beginning, that quickly fades into whining and frustration on the readers behalf. Liam I thought very little of, I believe he is overly sensitive and naive. An alright character but a poor love interest in this case.

I struggled to finish this novel but did want to continue the series.

Beware SPOILERS!