Book Review - Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children - Trilogy
Ransom Riggs

YA/Adult/WW2/fantasy/
Easy Read

Soon to be a major motion picture

Miss Peregines Home for Peculiar Children
7 Stars
348 Pages

Abe Portman is a master storyteller, tales of the children he grew up with (who had super strength, could fly, were invisible and other such amazing talents) living in an enchanted school house during WW2. Abe himself left the home to battle monsters and save his people. Jacob Portman believed every word his grandfather spoke was gospel, until he grew up and realized the story's where really a retelling of the Holocaust. Or was it? Grandpa Abe is killed by wild dogs in front of Jacob, the fact that Jacob saw a monster right out of his grandfathers stories was just a stress reaction of course. In an attempt to come to terms with his grandfathers death and what he saw, Jacob retraces his grandfathers life travelling to the island of the "enchanted" school house hoping to meet someone who may have known Abe as a child, literally thrown for a loop Jacob finds his grandfathers long lost friends and much more than he bargained for.

I first read Miss Peregrines when it was first released, finding it in the airport and reading it all in one sitting while I flew. I always find with a reread that I get so much more out of the book than just the story, because I am not rushing to know what happens next. This is yet another novel that is between YA and adult, fast passed but not what I would deem to be action packed. I found all the characters to be strikingly real. This is one of those novels where, there is so many overlapping layers, and so many different ways to consider it and interpret it. The pictures add so much to this novel as well, putting faces to names, I look at it as the book came from the pictures vs the pictures trying to fit the book.


PS: I have now read this first novel, four times, maybe five and love it and wanted to continue the series and even started Hollow City, but I just can't get into it or its the wrong time or when I am in the mood I don't have the books on hand.
Super frustrated by this.

Totally recommend this book and the series

PPS : I wrote this review in early 2016 maybe in 2015 and its been sitting as a draft until now. So like 2 years because its 2017. I figured I had better just publish it already, I was going to just publish one post for the whole trilogy but... obviously not... so yeah enjoy!

Full Wrap Up 2016!

I read ______ books in 2016 my goal was 52 books (which I had accomplished by September!) 

1. In the After Light, Alexandra Bracken
2. Never Fade, Alexandra Bracken
3. Superstitious, RL Stine
4. Twisted, Andrew E Kaufman
5. Odd Thomas, Dean Koontz
6. Forever Odd, Dean Koontz
7. Odd Interlude, Dean Koontz
8. Brother Odd, Dean Koontz
9. Red Dragon, Thomas Harris *reread
10. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
11. From Darkness Comes the Horror Box Set (8 books)
1. That Ghoul Ava by TW Brown 
2. Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke 
3. The Colony: Genesis by Michaelbrent Collings 
4. Chronicler of the Undead by Mainak Dhar 
5. Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman 
6. Chasing Spirits by Glynn James 
7. The Home by Scott Nicholson 
8. Preta's Realm: The Haunting (Book 1 of The Hidden Evil Trilogy) by J. Thorn 
12. Wife Number Seven, Melissa Brown
13. Under the Banner of Heaven, John Krauker
14. Berserk, Tim Lebbon *reread
15. A Babies Cry, Cathy Glass 
16. Winter, Marissa Meyer
17. A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay
18. Cabin in the Woods, Tim Lebbon
19. The Saddest Girl in the World, Cathy Glass
20. Please Don't Take my Baby, Cathy Glass
21. The Stain, Guillermo Del Toro
22. The Fall, Guillermo Del Toro
23. Eternal Night, Guillermo Del Toro
24. Sickened : the memoir of a munchausen by proxy childhood, Julie Gregory 
25. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, Robert Louise Stevenson
26. Cress, Marissa Meyer
27. Dark Hunter Box Set (Books 1 - 21), Sherrilyn Kenyon
28. One Foot in the Gravc, Jeannie Frost *reread
29. Halfway to the Grave, Jeannie Frost
30. At Graves End, Jeannie Frost
31. Long Hard Road Out of Hell, Marilyn Manson *reread
32. Serial Killers the faces of evil - Magazine
33. In the Afterlight, Alexandra Bracken
34. Killer Families : murder by dads, moms, kids and spouses, Sylvia Perrin
35. The Stand, Stephen King
36. Misery, Stephen King
37. Salem's Lot, Stephen King
38. The Fireman, Joe Hill
39. Bloody Bank Heist, Tim Miller
40. Hell Texas, Tim Miller
41. The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong
42. The Awakening, Kelley Armstrong
43. I Ripper, Stephen Hunter
44. The Reckoning, Kelley Armstrong
45. Omens, Kelley Armstrong
46. Bloodtraitor, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
47. Visions, Kelley Armstrong
48. Deceptions, Kelley Armstrong
49. The Lord of the Rings : Two Towers, JRR Tolkien 
50. Betrayals, Kelley Armstrong
51. The Masked Truth Kelley Armstrong
52. The Lord of the Rings : Return of the King, JRR Tolkien
53. Animal Farm, George Orwell
54. Fingers Keepers, Stephen King
55. 1984, George Orwell
56. A Madness so Discreet, Mindy McGinnis 
57. Fairest, Marissa Meyer
58. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 
59. Odd Apocalypse, Dean Koontz
60. Deeply Odd, Dean Koontz
61. Saint Odd, Dean Koontz 
62. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
63. The Zoo, James Patterson 
64. Northanger Abby, Jane Austen 
65. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 
66. Persuasion, Jane Austen
67. Sin City : The Hard Goodbye, Frank Miller
68. Skeleton Crew, Stephen King
69. A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
70. Sin City : Family Values
71. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas
72. Sins of the Mother, Irene Kelley
73. Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Stephen King
74. Eleanor, Jason Gurley
75. A Thousand Lives : The untold story of hope, deception and survival in Jonestown. Julia Scheeres
76. The Girl With All the Gifts, M R Carey 
77. Just After Sunset, Stephen King
78. Everythings Eventual, Stephen King
79. Four Past Midnight, Stephen King
80. Different Seasons, Stephen King

Wrap Up - September 2016

Starting school this month meant that I wasn't sure how my reading routine would be set up. I was kind of hoping for about 30 minutes a day, I think I ended up with closer to 60 minutes on average. Probably closer to 2-3 hours on the weekend - with the first week of September being the long weekend. I am pretty happy with how it all ended up. I have been really bad with publishing TBR's this year and didn't get one out until have the middle of the month :(  so it was a combination of September and October (link here) . While 15 books a month seemed ridiculously ambitious at the time I might get pretty close to finishing, although I doubt it will be the books I had listed. Any of the novels with a  " *** " where on my TBR. And (for once) this months list is in the order I read them!

*The links over the novels is too the full book review

1. Omens, Kelley Armstrong ***
2. Bloodtraitor, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
3. Visions, Kelley Armstrong ***
4. The Lord of the Rings : the Two Towers, JRR Tolkien 
5. Deceptions, Kelley Armstrong ***
6. Betrayals, Kelley Armstrong ***
7. The Masked Truth, Kelley Armstrong
8. The Lord of the Rings : Return of the King, JRR Tolkien
9. Animal Farm, George Orwell
10. Finders Keepers, Stephen King ***
11. Every Heart A Doorway, Seanan McGuire
12. A Madness So Discreet, Mindy McGinnis 
13. 1984, George Orwell

Started 

1. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
2. Fairest, Marissa Meyer

I also read a few essays/short stories this month 

A Door in the Wall, HG Wells
The Open Window, Saki
The Verger Somerset Maugham
Rocking Horse Winner, DH Lawrence

Favourite Book this month was :

Wrap Up - August 2016

Got lots of reading done this month. Had lots of time to read in the airport, travelling is one of my favorite reading times because you don't really have anything else around to distract you. Extended uninterrupted reading time for the win!

1. The Stand, Stephen King
2. Hell, Texas, Tim Miller
3. Bloody Bank Heist, Tim Miller
4. The Fireman, Joe Hill
5. Salem's Lot, Stephen King *I am not going to do a full book review for this book, I just don't have enough to say, It was great, a must read for Dracula fans. Very much a vampire novel, not so much a typical King.
6. Misery, Stephen King
7. I Ripper, Stephen Hunter
8. The Darkest Powers Trilogy, Kelley Armstrong
1. The Summoning 
2. The Awakening 
3. The Reckoning

Favorite Book This Month

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.

Book Review - Misery

Misery

Stephen King

Stars 8
Pages 369
Med Reading Level
Horror/ Thriller / Psychological / Dark

Being a Stephen King this has been on my TBR for a while, I have watched bits and pieces of the movie and mostly knew what the novel was about. It just didn't seem very appealing, like it was going to be one of Kings incredible character novels. That would lack on the action, too much buildup and setting, maybe a little bit anticlimactic

I was really wrong, this was an amazing book, probably one of my fastest King reads. I just couldn't put the book down, read it all in one day. There was so much action, and just a perfect balance of "this can't be happening" and "this is so real". That King added a book into the middle of this book, gave a glimpse that he could write whatever he wanted. If he wanted to write sterotype, super mainstream popular novels I'm sure he could. If he wanted to write YA I'm convinced he could and he would dominate in every field.
I am just happy he chose to stick with his own visions instead of fallowing advice I am sure he got from publishers at some point.

Disney Princess Book Tag

Disney Princess Tag

1. Snow White: name your favourite classic
Dracula, Bram Stoker

2. Cinderella: name a book that kept you reading well past midnight
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

3. Aurora: name your favourite romance
Iggy and Merrin, Horns, Joe Hill
Amelia and Lincoln, Bone Collector, Jeffery Deaver

4. Ariel: name a book that’s about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams
Diverent, Veronica Roth

5. Belle: name a book with a smart and independent female character
Beka Cooper, Beka Cooper Series, Novels of Tortall, Tamora Pierce

 6.Jasmine: name a book with a character who challenged the social issues
,Ruby, The Darkest Minds Trilogy, Alexandra Bracken

7. Pocahontas: name a book whose ending was a roller-coaster of emotions
Alex, Pierre Lamaitre

8. Mulan: name a book with a kick-ass female character
The Naming, Allison Croggon

*Mulan is my favourite disney princess, and very appropriately I have read tons of strong female lead novels. I chose The Naming to avoid a repeat.

9. Rapunzel: name a book that features an artist
Broken Monsters, Lauren Beukes

10. Merida: name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship
Sickended : The Memoire of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood. Julie Gregory

Top 5 Wednesday - February 2016

February 3 - Biggest Badasses

1. Shot Gun Suzie, Nightside Series, Simon R Green
2. Archeron, Dark Hunter Universe, Sherrilyn Kenyon
3. Bekka Cooper, Diana, Alanna, and Kel, Tortal, Tamora Pierce
4. Jack Sawyer, The Talisman
5. Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum

February 10 - Books You Were Spoiled For *what spoiled them

1. Divergent (only book 1), Veronica Roth *movie trailer
2. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald *people
3. Twilight, Stephanie Meyer *people
4. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien *films
5. Immortals Tamora Pierce & DarkHunters, Sherrilyn Kenyon

The first four books where (as I am sure you know) super popular and then they where all made into movies. The final books where spoiled but they weren't at the same time, both are book collections that have multiple series within themselves, in reading other novels I acquired information that revealed the outcomes of other books

February 17 - Best Suggested Books You Loved (books recommended to you)

1. The Lunar Chronicles. Marissa Meyer 
2. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
3. Bloody Jack Series, LA Meyer
4. The Shinning, Stephen King
5. Warriors, Erin Hunter

February 24 - Worst Love Interests (male or female) 

1. Liam Stewart, The Darkest Minds, Alexandra Bracken
2. Ana Steele and Christain Grey, 50 Shades of Grey, EL James
3. Aiden, Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klause
4. Rafe, The Darkness Rising, Kelly Armstrong
5. Gwen, The Precious Stone Trilogy, Kerstine Gier

TBR - May 2016

I am going to be making this months list really short, I have no idea how much time I am going to be able to dedicate to reading and would rather be pleasantly surprised vs disappointed in what I get through.

*I have all of these on audiobook I have been listening over reading a lot lately.

Top 5 Wednesday - January 2016

Will be Publishing T5W on the final Wednesday of every month, I just can't seem to find the time to keep up with it all each week.

January 6 - Favorite Fandoms (books, tv, movies, etc)

1. Hannibal, Thomas Harris
2. Harry Potter, JK Rowling
3. A Game of Thrones, George R Martin
4. Jason Bourne, Robert Ludlum
5. Twilight, Stephanie Meyer

All of my choices are books, movies and Tv shows, I organized the list from my most favourite to my least favourite. 

While I have not seen the Tv series that goes with A Game Of Thrones, I have read all the books and seen all the films that go with the other 4. 

*Twilight is the exception to my choices,  I am part of the fan base for the other 4 choices. I am NOT a Twilight fan (although I will admit I enjoyed the first book). The Twilight Fans made the list because they are so hardcore. I find the bickering that goes on within the group - Pro Jacob, Pro Edward, Book 1, 2, 3, 4, ect. - and the fighting that goes on between "twihards" and "anti-twilighters" to be hilarious. I don't think I have ever seen another group of people who are 100% a "diveded united front". Reminds me of a disfunctional family.

January 13 -Favorite Self-Published Books

I thought that this topic was going to be a piece of cake. I mean tons of novels are self-published right? erm no...

1. 50 Shades of Grey, EL James

Sadly this is seems to be my only self-published novel, and of all the book it had to be 50 Shades (of which I am moderately ashamed to have even read)

January 20 - Favorite Buzz Words (words used to describe a book that is a guarantee buy for you)

1. Gory
2. Repulsive
3. Twisted
4. Shocking
5. Taboo

These words hold even more weight if they are "spoken by"  Stephen King or Fearnet. 

The third indicator is a Bram Stoker award, books that have all three are deadly.

January 27 - Disappointing Eye Candy (books that looked beautiful, but the inside did not match up to the outside)

Before I start to seem two faced, I want to clarify that these are not my most hated books. I honestly liked the novels. But the T5W title is "Disappointing  Eye Candy" . Therefore judging them based on the covers they would have all been 5/5 stars but in reality they fell a little short. 

1. Emerald Green, Kerstin Geir 
2. The Twilight Series, Stephenie Meyer
3. Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klause
4. The Nightmare Affair, Arkwell Academy, Mindee Arnet
5. Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson

TBR - December 2015

I have not published a TBR list in a few months now. I have been in somewhat of a reading slump, some of it is lack of motivation and I just haven't had the time.

The bit of reading that I have done has been rereads more than anything.

I am going to be really ambitious for December however.

• The Darkest Minds Trilogy, Alexandra Bracken
• The Darkest Minds
• Never Fade
• In the Afterlight
• The Right to Life, Jack Ketchum
• The Stand by Stephen King
• Allegiant, Veronica Roth
• Watership Down, Richard Adams

Plus continuing on with the Lord of the Rings, Audiobooks

Wrap Up - August

1. Fever, Lauren DeStephano
2. Sever, Lauren DeStephano
3. The Island of Dr Moreau, HG Wells
4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Tayor
5. The Days of Blood and Starlight, Lani Taylor
6. Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Lani Taylor
7. True Crime : 17 Deadly Women Through the Ages, Stephenie Glover
8. Twisted Imaginings Vol 1-4, Garry Charles
9. Off Season, Jack Ketchum
10. Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
11. The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien

My favourite novel this month was : Off Season, Jack Ketchum

Book Review - Off Season

Off Season
Jack Ketchum

9 Stars
Horror / Thriller/ Cannibal/
Easy Read
270 Pages

The Story of the Lightkeeper has been told around campfires for years. The island where the lighthouse stood flooded nearly killing the whole family, severing their connection with civilization, slowly starving to death. Father and son are lost at sea attempting to reach the mainland, the mother dies hours before rescue in her daughters arms, and the final daughter the youngest becomes a feral child in order to survive. The tale only a generation or two from becoming a legend. The facts forgotten and eroded by the passing of time and many many retellings. Dead River is a small town, No-Wheres-Ville to the city folk who flock there during the busy summer. With winter in the air it is the off season, six travellers from New York settle into a rental home blissfully unaware of the cannibal tribe prowling in the darkness.

#1 right under the title the novel was recommended by Stephen King. #2 Cannibals #3 Ketchum wrote The Girl Next Door, which is one of the only books to stop me dead (pun intended) in my tracks.
This was such a delightful quick read, this had such high expectations after The Girl Next Door, I would have settled for nothing less than being deeply disturbed. Wish Granted! From the word go the action begins, I got a little worried once through this beginning part when the descriptions - which where far from boring, built up anticipation until the tension was pliable - got to be a little longer than I had thought. But it was worth the wait, because once The Family begins there hunt you can't put the book down!

**to the uncut version, which I had started and shelved after deciding to wait till I had the whole series - which I still have yet to get my hands on - you people did the world a terrible disservice, we would have had this masterpiece way sooner if not for your small minded mass market paperback, grubby greedy little manipulations.

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)

The Dr Seuss Book Tag

I wanted to put this at the top of my post because this was what gave me the idea for this Book Tag

The Butter Battle Book - A book involving nuclear war

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr 

Wither, Lauren Destephano

The Sneetches and other stories - A book involving racism

The Help, Katheryn Stockett

The Lorax - A book about the environment OR A book regarding the destruction of the/an environment

The Secret Garden, Frances Burnett-Hodges

Yertle the Turtle - A book with an unquestioned tyrannical ruler (government/ king/ religious leader)

Not Without My Sister, Kristina Jones

Brian Jaques - Redwall theme

How the Grinch Sole Christmas - A Christmas novel OR A book regarding extreme materialism

NOS4A2, Joe Hill

Green Eggs and Ham - A book with a difficult, frustrating main character

Gwen, The Precious Stone Trilogy, Katherine Gier

Horton Heres a Who - A book about a world within a world

Under the Dome, Stephen King

The Cat in the Hat - I Can't Think of a Good Enough Question to go with this book... Suggestions????

Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decisio

Efficiency the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste

Skepticism a questioning attitude towards any knowledge that is stated as a fact. For you to believe requires all information to be supported by evidence.

TBR - August 2015

TBR
August 2015

So I just moved to New Zealand and things are crazy so I am not really expecting to be reading much this month, setting my sights pretty low, its still 6 books that have been in my TBR pile for a little while now which is good.

1. Divergent Trilogy, Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, 
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy, Lauren Taylor

Bonus for this month would be 

• one classic
• one horror novel
• AND OR
• Starting the hobbit/ lord of the rings (because the movie sets are here in NZ and I should get around to reading those books soonish)

Series Review - The Chemical Garden Trilogy - Fever & Sever

Series Review

The Chemical Garden Trilogy

Lauren DeStephano

Review For Wither


Fever
8 Stars

I read this on my trip from Canada to New Zealand its my mission to finish as many of my started Duologies and Trilogies as is possible this year.
This is one of the rare sequels that rivalled the first novel. I finally thought that the characters matched the story and the world. During the first book Rhine's behaviour seemed childish and naive there was a whiny tone that I couldn't grasp considering the world she was living in and the life she had lived before. I was left in disbelief and the end of the last novel when she escaped the Ashby mansion.  I was not in love with Gabriel and was very much against a relationship between the two of them.

SPOILDERS BELOW, SEVER REVIEW

Book Review - The Unwelcomed Child

The Unwelcomed Child
Ghost written by Andrew Neiderman
Published Under VC Andrews

373 Pages
Contemporary/ Memoir / Teen / New Adult/  Religion
Medium Read
5 stars

I have never read a VC Andrews novel or anything published by Andrew Neiderman who took up her pen name after her death. I have made up a list of authors with over 50 books and decided to try and read at least one book from each of these authors as a challenge.

"My mother had looked into the face of evil so many times she knew what it was. It was me. I was born without a soul. . . .

Elle Edwards grew up believing that because of her mothers sinful ways she was born without a soul; thats why she was abandoned and left in the care of Grandmother Myra and Grandfather Prescott, who try to ensure her evil will not infect them;by raising her in a virtual prison. Because her days are occupied with homeschooling, strict religious studies, and vigorous housekeeping in their upstate New York home, Elle knows practically nothing of the outside world, even as she emerges as a young woman with impressive artistic talent. But when she makes a secret, forbidden connection to vacationers at the nearby lake;a handsome boy and his precocious twin sister;Elle's world will shatter. Will discovering the truths about her past send her future plummeting to hell"

That was the synopsis for the novel copied and pasted off of goodreads, I really disagree with the way its worded and the message that it sends it way to harsh for what the book is. This novel feels like it is told almost as a memoir from the point of view of Elle looking back upon her younger years from some unknown age. In the beginning of the book I was very critical and judgemental of her grandparents (partially because of the synopsis) as the book progressed however that changed drastically while I don't agree with everything I don't think that her grandparents where bad people or that they meant to harm Elle in any way, the opposite in fact. I think that they loved Elle very much and where honestly trying to do what they thought was best for her. Elle realized this as well, she did express some regret and frustration more than anger. The only issue I found with this novel was the twins, I liked there personalities and most of there relationship but I felt like maybe there where some overly sexual innuendoes injected into the story that where totally uncalled for. The oversexualization of both Elle's relationship with Mason and Mason's relationship with his sister took this book down from a 7 star read to a 5 star.

This is not really my kind of read, not what I thought I was going to be reading. Good writing but not my cup of tea. Don't think I will be picking up any other VC Andrews novels.

Book Review - Infity

The Chronicles of Nick

Sherrilyn Kenyon

This is part of the DarkHunter-verse - Which includes the Dark-Hunter, Were-Hunter, Dream-Hunter, The League, Hellchaser)

464 Pages
Ya/ Supernatural / Paranormal/ Greek Mythology/ Mythology
8 Stars
Easy Read

Meet Nick, a cheeky geek from New Orleans, he lives with his mother, hand to mouth just barely getting by. Poverty is a tough pill to swallow on its own, attending a rich kids private school (where everyone knows they are above you) on a scholarship while wearing tacky secondhand Hawaiian shirts doesn't make life any easier. Trying to grow up, get an education and avoid trouble can be enough for anyone, adding in a world full of supernaturals, gods, two zombie plagues, your serial killer father and an all powerful uncle you've never heard of or met before (who other people can't see) and Nicks has his work cut our for him.

Its been awhile since I've read anything by Kenyon although I always enjoy her novels. I was trying to read the whole Dark-Hunter verse in order so that I didn't spoil anything for myself. I did spoil myself a little bit with this novel but it was totally worth it. I really liked how this is a YA instead of a adult novel the way the rest of the series is, it fit so perfectly with Nicks character. I will be continuing this series once I have gotten a little bit farther with the rest of the books. Kenyon's writing is amazing, I love the Dark-Hunter world, I think her characters are fantastic, and the stories are wonderful.


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Book Review - The Nightmare Affair

The Nightmare Affair
Mindee Arnett

5 Stars
YA/ Supernatural

I picked up this book for a couple of reasons, Id never heard of the book or the author but the cover was pretty cool and it has a Marissa Meyer (Cinder/Lunar Chronicles) recommendation printed on the front cover of my copy.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this book. The concept behind nightmares as a supernatural creature was great so much potential. Unfortunately the author over used so many of the YA writer crutches that it wasn't an enjoyable read for me. I am glad I finished the book (I was really close to putting it down) but I will not be continuing with this trilogy.