Series Review - The Lord of the Rings

JRR Tolkien

1220 Page or 55 Hours of Audiobook

+ Authors Notes

Started August 20 2015

Finished September 21 2016 
(1 year, 1 month and 1 day)

9 Stars

Hard Read

Epic Fantasy/ Classic/ Film/ Fiction/ 

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

It is such an accomplishment to have finally finished this series.  I have picked up these novels so many times, only to put the books down again as I was unable to get into the writing. It is however a classic and the father of so many epic fantasies, I just couldn't take it off my TBR list.  After visiting New Zealand  - where the movies where made although I didn't get a chance to do the set tour like I had hoped, I did however get to go for a tour with the horses and the trainer from the movies, Steve Olds was the best advertisement for the movies and the books. -  I decided to give the series another try and picked up the audiobooks hoping that would make following along with the book easier. It didn't take me long to give up on the novel and just listen to the tapes. But I am so glad that I got the audiobooks!
Even with the audio books this has taken me more than a year to get through the trilogy. I have listened to the Fellowship and Two Towers, twice over completely; because I felt like I missed so many things the first time around. The last few chapters of The Two Towers I must have listened too half a dozen times over, I just couldn't get the names straight... It just felt like I was missing parts over and over. So anyways it took me a year to get through the first two books, and only a month to get through the final book. The Return of the King was a perfect finale, it brought everything together in such an amazing way...words cannot describe how wonderful it is, I am speechless trying to convey how I feel about it. I have the biggest book hangover.

My only critical points are that; I can't say that I am a fan of the writing style,  I am not against it but I would never manage to get through physical copies and that makes me a little sad (although I have scene a hardcover large print 7 novel split on amazon that makes me want to try).
While Middle Earth is brought to life by Tolkien's beautiful detailed descriptions - from the Shire to Mt Doom you know exactly what the landscape is, the atmosphere, nothing is overlooked - this quality also (unfortunately) makes the work very wordy and very slow. The story (even though I know the story) was still almost lost among the rest of the information, I found at times there was a lot of confusion. A neutral point being the timeline of the novel, we jump forward and backwards, from character to character and while I know the timeline (Frodo's journey taking him a year) I had no sense of the time at most points.

I am looking forward to starting The Hobbit (probably not until the new year) and possibly some of Tolkien's other writings.

Similar Series

The Songs of Ice and FIre Series 

Series Review - Cainsville

Cainsville

Kelley Armstrong

Easy Reads
Paranormal / Supernatural / Mystery / Teen or Adult / Thriller /

*I won't adding a summaries to these novels the way I normally do. Because there would just be too many spoilers. I feel like even the goodreads synopisis gives too much away.
You just have to read this series it is AMAZING and totally addicting!

So here are my Spoiler Free Reviews :

Omens

8 Stars
483 Pages

I just finished The Darkest Powers Series and decided I should check out some more of Kelley Armstrong's novels. I went into this novel blind, I did quickly skim the synopsis before opening the book but I really did not have any expectations. I was in love by the second chapter, I don't even know where to begin explaining how excited I am about Cainsville! The setting is perfect, the pace is spot on, amazing characters - especially Gabriel who is just swoon worthy - the buildup is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, more importantly the questions posed are answered in a timely and satisfying manner. Action packed and fast paced, I just couldn't put it down!

Visions

8 Stars
476 Pages

It is Armstrong's style to have the next novel pick up exactly where the previous novel left off; I often find that really irritating as there is excessive repetition and the first few chapters of the book always seem unnecessary. While this novel is no exception to her start up rule, but in this case it just enhances the story. With so much action and the primary (Larsen Mystery) and secondary storylines (Cainsville) both leaving cliffhangers, the characters are still developing. We the readers know more than the characters within the story and that dynamic more than anything is what has my anticipation levels so high. I have to know when the characters are going to find out what I know! As a result I have been marathoning my way through this book, picking it up whenever I have a free moment. I am a little worried that I will forget things because I am reading so fast, but these are also something I think I could read over and over. I might end up buying this series so I can have my own hardcover copies. I haven't read anything this captivating since The Daughter of Smoke and Bone last year!
We are given enough answers to be satisfied and interested but there is enough held back to keep you wondering.

Deceptions

7.5 Stars
458 Pages

I read the first 2/3 of this novel a lot slower than I wanted to, a couple chapters at a time instead of in big chunks like the first two. This was all due to life being in the way of reading, I think it would have been way better if I had read it with the same pattern I did the first couple books.  I am writing this review after I read the fourth novel and I am really regretting not taking the time between the two books to write this up as now my feelings for both books are kind of combined.
About half way through this book, I realized how many answers and how much information Armstrong has given me as a reader; without an overwhelming info dump. Yes she does give lots of info at once here and there, but overall its just little bits and pieces that come together seamlessly to form the big picture. There is a little bit of welcome repetition as we move around between characters and its "hidden" in such a way that until I looked back I never even noticed it. Getting the facts straight without that irritating tone that YA novels sometimes get. The conclusion of this novel was perfect, a wrap up of the first three novels that was satisfying and gave me a complete feeling. But still knowing there is more with the world and the characters driving you on to continue. *Armstrong has found the balance between the good and bad of so many characteristics... I can't even explain its just such good writting.

Betrayals 

8.5 Stars
416 Pages

I commented this on goodreads about 1/4 of the way through the novel and it sums up the beginning very nicely.
"Armstrong knows exactly when and how to change it up a little. First goal completed after three books, change the time line a little, switch up how all the characters interact, add another perspective and voila same old love but fresh" 
There is about three months between the end of the third novel and the beginning of this one - where as the first three novels were back to back timelines, and also Gabriel's perspective is added. I had so many mixed feelings going into this book. I wanted to love it,  but I was worried ; our main question had been answered. Would the new driving force behind the novel live up to my skyhigh standards for this series? Knowing so much now about the whole world what was left to really explore? Would it just be info dumping to fill in all the blanks with a half baked plot line to string out those facts?
I am beyond happy to report that this novel was just as amazing, although waiting a year for the 5th novel is going to be awful. I can't recommend this series enough.
*it is getting so hard to do reviews without spoiling anything!


Similar Reads

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Book Review - The Fireman

The Fireman

Joe Hill

747 pages
6.5 Stars
Fiction/ Disease/ Apocalypse /

The world is ending in a new plague - Dragonscale - a spore instead of a germ, with origins unknown. The spore (which brought to mind Lemony Snicketts Unfortunate Events) bonds with the human body both inside and out, the visible symptoms are beautiful but deadly swirls of gold and black on a hosts skin. The spore is highly flammable and will eventually spontaneously combust for reasons unknown, burning the host alive. It is at the hight of the epidemic that nurse Harper Greyson discovers she is pregnant and infected with the fatal disease. Determined to survive for her unborn child (research shows that the disease is not transmitted in utero) she watches her husbands mind unravel as civilization collapses around her. As her husband mental state deteriorates he becomes a danger to Harper, himself and everyone around them, intro Fireman. 

*this piece is straight from the back of the book  "A mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged. In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke. "

Joe Hill is Stephen Kings son, and I find myself comparing the two constantly. I seem to have some hyperawareness towards their similarities and differences, which I am sure is a common but frustrating occurrence for both authors. I came across the novel by chance, cruising through a Chapters and the cover caught my eye. I did make a huge mistake when I went into this book; I had really strong opinions of how it was going to be, who the characters were and how much I was going to love it. I really Liked the novel but it was nothing like I had thought it would be. and there was some disappointment because of that.
In the end this wasn't my favourite Hill novel, but it was still a great read. I think if my headspace had been different my rating would probably be higher than it is.

Wrap Up - July 2016

Once I started this list I realized I had done more reading than I thought, pretty happy with what I got through this month.

1. One Foot in the Gravc, Jeannie Frost *reread
2. Halfway to the Grave, Jeannie Frost
3. At Graves End, Jeannie Frost
4. Long Hard Road Out of Hell, Marilyn Manson *reread
5. Serial Killers the faces of evil - Magazine
6. In the Afterlight, Alexandra Bracken
7. Killer Families : murder by dads, moms, kids and spouses, Sylvia Perrin

Was really excited to get back into Jeannie Frost's, Night Huntress Series, they are quick and easy reads. I really like her characters and will post a review of it all. I did find that by the end of the third novel I just wasn't feeling it (nothing to do with the book). I didn't start the fourth, tried a different romance, couldn't get into it. Tried a few lighter novels one adult one ya, just wasn't sparking any interest. In a bit of a reading slump.

Also picked up The Stand, read just under half on several occasions, its a pretty sizable detailed slowish read. Around halfway through it now hoping to finish it in August.

Series Review - DarkHunter - Part 1

The Dark Hunter Verse
Books 1 - 21

9 Stars
Fantasy / Supernatural / Romance / Fiction / Adult / Erotica /

I want to start by saying that I am in love with Kenyon's writing, and that more than half of these books are rereads for me. These novels are in chronological order and while each book is its own story and can be read separately, it adds so much to the books reading them in sequence.

Review
I am reviewing the collection as one book.

The world is one of the best I have ever read, right up there with the Stephen King Universe with the complex interwoven multifaceted plots and characters. While the novels have great depth and many layers, they are first and foremost romance novels. I am reviewing them as such; meaning that I am aware they all fallow: the man (scared past, tough, unloving, distant, strong, handsome) falls in love with the woman (also has baggage,beautiful but doesn't know it) and dispite the 1001 reason why they cant be together, they end up together relatively happily ever after.

Yes the general layout is repetitive and predictable but that is romance novel 101. Each on of these stories is also very unique. To anyone who has read and enjoyed the Percy Jackson novels (once your old enough) grab up these. Focusing on ancient Greece and Rome, and slowly as the series progresses spreading out the other ancient civilizations. Kenyon incorporates the everyday realities in with the impossibly fantastical world of gods and monsters flawlessly.

Warning! These books also step over a few boundary lines into areas such as torture, sex slaves, rape. Some fairly heavy topics that are more erotica than romance.

Series Review - The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By Laini Taylor

YA/ Teen/ fantasy/ fiction/

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone
9 stars

I had heard of this book or Taylor before and I really didn't know what the story was about. The reviews looked good though so I thought I'd give it a try. I started reading all of these on my way to New Zealand, and I finished the whole series in a little over two weeks (even though I didn't really do very much reading).
Meet Karou, she is Prague's hidden mystery. No one knows where she comes from, who her family is, where she goes when she disappears on her "errands" for days at a time. Although Karou is bound to tell you she disappears into another world, into a workshop filled with teeth where you can buy wishes, for the right price. Run by the chimera (human-animal hybrids). When angels come to earth, Karou's life is torn apart. Desperate to put the pieces back together, mysteries surrounding the angels, the other world and Karou herself must be solved, before their time runs out.

Amazing, fantastic, phenomenal, wonderful, magical. I fell in love with Karou and all the characters, Prague, the workshop, everything. These books are not YA but they are also not adult books, they fall into a very small elite category in between.

SPOILERS (tried to leave out anything major but BEWARE)