Carrie by Stephen King Book Review

Genre: Drama and Horror

Age: Adult

Pages: 245

Gender: Female (Maybe male)

Publication Year: 1974

Story Plot: 5/5

Description: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing: 4.5/5

Other: 5/5

Total: 23.5/25

Percent: 94%
Grade: A

    The plot as from fantasticfiction.co.uk: A modern classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction -- Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time.

Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...Carrie.
I think the plot is very interesting. It seemed original and scary. Though as I read it I realised that it was not that frightening, since the first half of the book is very much like a drama, it only turns into real horror for the around the last fifty page. That doesn't ruin the book, it is still very interesting.

   The description in this book is good. Nothing spactacular. I did like what words the author used in describing Carrie compared to the other girls: "Carrie stood among them stodily, a frog among swans."  I just like that comparison at the end. I also loved how Stephen King described her right before she started going crazy when she got her period: "Carrie stood dumbly in the center of a forming circle, water rolling from her skin in beads. She stood like a patient ox, aware that the joke was on her (as always), dumbly embrassed but unsurprised." I don't know why I like it I just do. So the description was good, but not amazing.

   I loved the characters. They were the opposite of flat. I felt so sorry for Carrie. All she wants to be is normal, but her mom makes that impossible. Then when she does get the chance to be normal, it is all ruined. So I don't blame her for going on a rampage. Sue was a good character too, since she was a very realistic character. She had her faults and her strengths. She was very mature since she would be willing to not go to prom just to make up what she did. Most people wouldn't do that. I also think a lot of the other kids in the book are just atrocious. Carrie's momma is just downright creepy. Anyone that would be that into religion that she would think that is a sin to do anything and that she herself can not get pregnant should live in a mental institute. So I think Stephen King did a good job making her creepy.

   The writing was good and different. I loved how he wrote Carries side thoughts out in. It made the book extra creepy. This book didn't really have any parts where the writing just lost you. The book is also nice and fast.

   This book held my interest and it was fun. I really had no problems at all with this book, except for the cover since it is really boring and doesn't catch your attention, also it doesn't have the book title or author's name on it.

   So in all this was a wonderful books with a main character you feel really sorry for.

Montmorency: thief, liar, gentleman? by Eleanor Updale Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction and Thriller

Age: Young Adult

Pages: 233
Gender: Male

Publication Year: 2003

Plot: 10/10
Description: 8/10

Characters: 10/10

Pacing: 10/10

Writing: 9/10

Interest: 10/10

Other: 10/10

Cover: 5/5

Memorable: +2

Total: 74/75

Percent: 99%

Grade: A

   I must say this book made me happy through and through. This post may not be too detailed because I read this book a long while ago.

  The plot was absolutely wonderful. Here is the plot that was takenback of the book: London, 1875. When a petty thief falls through ad glass roof while fleeing from the police, it chould have been the death of him. Instead, it marks the beginning of a whole new life. The thief is sewn back together by a brilliant young surgeon, and before long he's become the chief exhibit at medical gatherings across the city. It's at one of these learned discussions that he first hears about an amazing addition to the London streets- the sewer- and an idea begins to form. The sewers are the perfect escape route for a series of daring robberies, and the thief is the only one with the ingenuity to pull them off. He takes on two identities- the wealthy, sophisticated gentleman Montmorency and his filthy, corrupt servant, Scarper. But Montmorency must constantly be on guard. His whole life is bulit on lies, and the slightest mistake could betray him.   Sorry that I didn't write the plot myself, it is just that I decided that this is much easier. Well, anyway I think that the plot was very original, even though the location and time is not.

   The description in Montmorency is nothing to call home about. But there wasn't anything bad about it. So I gave it a 8/10. I did like the authors description of his scars though and for sure the descriptions she used to describe his character.

   The characters were great, absolutely great. The characters were very flawed. Montmorency was very interesting because he is a bad person really, since he steals, but when he is not stealing things he seems like a very kind person. So it really is like their is two characters in the same character. So I think that characters diserve a 10/10.

   The pacing of the book was very fast, so I had no trouble getting in to it. Since it was quick it was a very easy read. You could probably finish it in about two hours.

   The writing was good. There was nothing remarkable about it, but it for sure wasn't bad.

   I was really interested in this book, since I love books about criminals and based in Victorian England. So this book just called to me when I saw it at the used bookstore. I would recommend it just for it's creative plot.

   I have nothing else I can comment on in this book.

   The cover is very nice it looks mysterious and interesting. I would also just pick this book up just for the cover.

   This book was memorable for pretty much what I have talked about for this entire thing.

   Sorry, this review has taken me a long while to put up and I have not written much, I just need to get back into the habbit of writing. So hopefully I will have some more reviews up tonight. Also if you have any ideas for a new grading system please comment, since this one is giving me some trouble. :(

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice Book Review

Genre: Drama, Horror, and Romance

Age: Adult

Pages: 435

Gender: Male and Female

Puplication Year: 1992

Plot: 7/10

Description: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Pacing: 6/10

Writing: 10/10

Interest: 9/10

Other: 9/10

Cover: 1/5

Memorable: +1

Total: 62/75

Percentage: 83%

Grade: B

   This book took me a long time to finish, as most of the other books I read by Anne Rice. It was an ok book, not the best but still worth reading.

   The plot was interesting, but at points ridiculous. The anti hero of the series, Lestat got an offer to switch bodies with this man who had the power to switch bodies for a short period of time. The man gave Lestat many warnings that he was a not very trustworthy man, but Lestat wanted to be human, so against all his friends advice he switched bodies. So in this book you get to read about how Lestat tries to be human, and many other slightly interesting things.

   The characters in all of Anne Rice's books are very well developed. You really get to feel as if you know them. The characters really should get ten, but I have one problem with Lestat. He is just extremely annoying, he always does really stupid things. Then he mopes around feeling sorry for himself and that just makes me extremely irritated so I only gave characters a 9.

   Their is one, singular reason why these books take me so long to finish. The pacing of them. They are always really slow and it is not really a even slow either. In some parts it goes just slow and in some parts it goes really slow. But maybe it is just me who thinks that.

   Anne Rice has a wonderful writing style. I don't know how to explain it, but it is just epic. To if you are looking for a book with excellent writing in it, this is definetly a series for you.

   Since I read some books in this series already, my interest level was pretty high. I recommend this book to people who like vampires but not really in the horror area but more in the drama area.

   There is not really anything else that bothers me with this book except for the nun character in this book. She is supposed to be a nun, but she doesn't believe in God, so why is she a nun? That's my question.

   The cover for the edition of this book I read was just hideous, nothing really else I can say about it.

   This book is memorably, really just because of it's plot that is more on the weird side.

   This book was an ok edition to the vampire chronicles. But it definitly is not as good as the first book.

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction and Romance

Age: Young Adult

Pages: 383

Gender: Female

Publication Year: 1981

Plot: 8/10

Description: 10/10

Characters: 6/10

Pacing: 9/10

Writing: 10/10

Interest: 8/10

Other:  10/10
Cover: 2/5
Memorable: +0

Total: 63/75
Percent: 84%
Grade: B

   I thought this book was going to be great, it didn't turn out that way. I am not saying it was bad, but there was a few things that bothered me. Mostly the characters, but other then a few things, it was a decent read.

   A Countess Below Stairs was about a Russian countess names Anna. After the Russian Revolution leaves her family in ruines, Anna, her mother, and her brother move into her governess's house in England. After a little while Anna decides to get a job to earn her family money. So she goes to work at Mersham. After a short bit of time she becomes widely accepted among the other servants. The reason why she was hired was because the new master of the house was coming home from WW1 with his fiance who happens to have a pretty nasty attitude. This book is pretty much about her life in this house and at the very end her love life with the Rupert. When I picked it up it sounded like a pretty good plot. So I gave it a 8/10.

   The description in this book was just spectaculor. The best part of the book in fact. One of my favorite descriptions used in this book is this: "Mersham was honey-colored, graceful, light. There was a central block, pillared and porticoed like a golden temple plucked from some halcyon landscape and set down in the hollow of the Wiltshire hills." Isn't that just great? Since this book was such beautiful description in it I gave it a 10/10.

   The characters were my real problem with this book. The main character Anna, is in my opinion, one of the most boring characters in literature. She is just way to perfect. Characters are supposed to have flaws. She has absolutely none, except maybe not being drop dead gorgeous. She was just so unreal. You couldn't relate to her at all. Other then her all the other characters weren't that bad. So I gave characters a 6.

  The pacing was good. But at times, mostly when they were focusing on the side characters it got a little slow.

  The author's writing skills were really good. Everything about it was good. All the author needs to do is work on her characters a little bit.

  My interest level in this story was pretty high, since I love reading books based around the time of WW1.

  I had no other problems with this book.

  I think the cover is just horrible. There is nothing on it that would make me want to pick up this book. It looks like they only spent a few minutes making it.

  The book was not really memoreable at all.

  This book was a pretty good read if you like romances and historical fiction. But if you like a good interesting main character. I would not suggest this book to you.

We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction and Romance

Age: Young Adult

Pages: 422

Gender: Female

Publication Year: 2007/2010

Plot: 9/10

Description: 8/10

Characters: 9/10

Pacing: 10/10

Writing: 9/10

Interest: 10/10

Other: 10/10

Cover: 4/5

Memorable: +2

Total: 71/75

Percent: 95%

Grade: A

   Sorry for the temporary break. But I'm back with a review about a book I read while I was in England. I must say, I'm impressed with it. It totally drew me in.

   The plot was very interesting. The story is about the Fox sisters, who are said to have created Spiritualism. The story started with Maggie and Kate Fox playing a prank on their family to get their neice (who was way older then them) to leave. Their prank starts becoming very serious and before long the sisters become entwined in it. Eventually, they end up practically making a new religious. The story mostly followed Maggie. For the first half of the book it described how they became stuck in a hoax. In the last half it describes Maggie's love for Dr. Elisha Kane and how she thinks of quiting her Spiritualism business. It is really quite a great plot. (Though I think my description is a little lacking.)

   I don't remember anything quite exceptional about the description, but it was not bad. I remember thinking that they should of described the characters appearences. So I gave it a 8.

   The character were really well done. In other books with real people as main characters, I find that the characters are as flat a cardboard. But not with this. The characters had depth. I loved reading the story from Maggie's eyes. I also liked the few chapters where Kate talked. They were just so insightful. Even though I loved Maggie's character, I think if they made the book from Kate's point of view it might of even been more interesting. The character Dr. Kane was also very good, but sometimes he was quite annoying, his family just seemed to be controling him way to much.
  
   The pacing was great. The story just flowed perfectly, absolutely sucked you in. Nothing else you can say about it.

   The writing was good as well. I don't remember much about it, but I don't remember having any complains about it.

   My interest level was very high. 1800s, spiritualism, those two just go so well together. Since I have already heard of the Fox sisters it was even more interesting. I recommend this for people who like Historical Fiction and romance, but also like their stories to have a dark twist.

  There was nothing else that really bothered me about this book. So I gave the other section a 10.

  The cover is really nice, but I really don't think it fits the book. I think it fits more with a book about a circus, not one about spiritualism. It was also not really accurate, since the real Maggie Fox doesn't really have red hair. The first edition of the cover first this book it really good though.

  The book is semi-memorable. I will remember it since it was a great interpretation of a true story.

   In all this book was an outstanding piece of Young Adult literature and a definite read for people who like young adult books with Spiritualism in it.

Under the Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Romance

Age 12+

Pages: 518

Gender: Female and Male

Publication Year: 2005

Plot: 9/10

Description: 8/10

Characters: 9/10

Pacing: 8/10

Writing: 10/10

Interest: 10/10

Other: 6/10

Cover: 5/5

Memorable: +4

Total: 69/75

Percent: 92%

Grade: A-

    The third edition in the Bloody Jack series thrilled me. It was a perfect mix and history, romance, and adventure. I first started reading the Bloody Jack series about 2 years ago. I absolutely loved the first two, but after I read them I never seemed to have the time to read a series book, but finally I did. I enjoyed it immensely. 

  

    The plot was wonderful. After Jacky leaves Boston she goes to London in search for her love of her life, Jaimy. But when she gets there she sees holding the hands of a beautiful maiden. Jacky immediatly thinks that he is not smitten for her anymore. So she runs off, but right after she runs off she get pressed into the navy. You think the captain would let her go immediatly after he found out she was a girl. But no, he decides to keep her on for vulgar intentions. Soon Jacky figures out that the ship is a mess and she decides she is going to fix that. In this book she has many adventures and the story is utterly satisfying.

   The description in the book is good. I really have few complaints, but I sometimes had a hard time figuring out what was happening on the ship because I don't really know what all those ship words mean, but that is completely my fault. Other then that I love Jacky's descriptions of things.

   I adore the characters in the Bloody Jack series. They are all so unique and interesting. I think the character Jaimy is just charming. But sense he was not in this book for the most, I had to choose another character to adore. So I chose Georgie, he just acted so cute. But the end was just so sad! There is one single reason why I gave characters a 9/10, it is because Jacky, don't get me wrong I love her character, but she just did so many reckless things, yes, her doing reckless things is what makes the story interesting, but it just makes me so worried!

   The pacing was pretty good. There were times when it went a little slower then needed, but in all it was pretty good.

   I love the writing in this book series. Exspecially the first book. I love all the written accents. I jsut love everything about the writing.

   My interest level for this book was very high. Everything in it was interesting. The historical facts, the romance, the whole plot was interesting!

   There was only one other thing that does not fit in the other sections that bothers me. Near the end of the book Jacky says the world crap, this bothers me because this takes place during the early 19th century. And the word crap didn't enter the dictionary until 1846. I know it is not anything horrible, but it still bothered me.

   The cover for this book is just beautiful. I have always been fond of Cliff Nielsen's work.

   I think this book is very memorable. So I gave it a +4.

   This book was just so good. I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Napolean War and to anyone who likes adventure stories.

  

Blogger Hop!

It is time for another Blogger Hop hosted by the wonderful blog Crazy for Books. If you haven't heard of it go and check it out now. Hope you have a nice Friday! Oh yes, I am also going to try to write my two book reviews right after I am done typing this.

News

Sorry I haven't posted a review in a while. The reason why is because that I was in England for for 6 days. Since my last post I finished two books. So I should have those reviews up soon. I also made a new grading system I am going to test out and hopefully like. I was trying to make it add up to a hundred, but I could only think of enough to add up to 75 if you have any ideas just post it is the comments. I would highly appreciate it. I also plan to make a color scheme for my blog that is much lighter colored and I also want to make little pictures to put with the letter of each grade. But that might take a long time.Thank you for reading.

New Grading System:
Plot: 10


Description: 10

Characters: 10

Pacing: 10

Writing: 10

Interest: 10

Other: 10

Cover: 5

Memorable: +_

Total: _/75
Percent: _%
Grade: _

Blogger Hop

A new Blogger Hop! Yay! Blogger Hop is a meme hosted by Crazy for Books, a wonderful blog. Anyway thanks for visiting!

Pandora by Anne Rice Book Review

Genre: Horror and Historical Fiction

Age: 13+

Pages: 344

Gender: Male and Female

Publication Year: 1998

Plot: 5/5

Description: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Developed: 4/5
Fast Paced: 5/5
Cover: 2/3
Memorable: +1

Total: 26.5/28
Percent: 95%
Grade: A

   This book was awesome. I don't know why it got so many bad reviews on Amazon, it was just awesome. My second favorite Anne Rice book (I have read four). But before you read this at least read up to Memnoch the Devil, becuase I made the mistake of only reading up to Queen of the Damned and at the beginning this book gave away things that happened in The Tale of the Body Thief and Memnoch the Devil. So just make sure you don't make the same mistake as me, for even though this is not really part of the vampire chronicles it discusses some things in it. But this book was still very enjoyable.

   The plot was fantastic. It was about Pandora, the vampire born in Augustan Rome. It tells mostly of her life before she turns into a vampire. It gives you a lot of facts about Rome as you are reading it so you can also learn something. It tells of her love for Marius and of how she had dreams that might suggest she was once a vampire before in a past life. It tells of how Marius watched over the Akasha and Enkil. So if you have read some of the other books you will know what I'm talking about. It is truly great to read of Pandora before she was a vampire.

   The description was just great! But the author could of described a little less at some parts.

   The characters were brilliant. Pandora was full of depth. They were all very interesting and fun to read about. I was exspecially fond of Flavius, for the short time he was in the story. Anyway the characters were throughly enjoyable.

   The story was well developed until after Pandora was made a vampire, after that the story got a little choppy and thin. But it didn't ruin the story, even though the end was choppy it was still enjoyable. But I think the author could of added more stuff at the end to make it better.

   The book was very, very fast paced. As I said earlier, this is the fourth Anne Rice book I have read. It took me a week to read Interview with the Vampire. I took me around a month each to read The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned (in my defense I was reading other books at the same time). I read Pandora in a day. So obviously it was much faster then the other books. Actually, this was the fastest I have ever read an adult book. So it was super fast.

   The cover is okay. It is pretty, but so much more could of been sone with it. Exspecially since it was such a great book.

   I gave it a +1 for being memorable since it is a Anne Rice book and all Anne Rice books are memorable.

  This book was a great book in all (face that you one and two star amazon reviewers). I suggest this book to anyone who likes the non-Twilight vampires and Rome.

Grace Hammer by Sara Stockbridge Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age: 13+

Pages: 277

Gender: Female

Publication Year: 2009

Plot: 4/5

Description: 4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Developed: 3/5

Fast Paced: 5/5

Cover: 3/3

Memorable: +1

Total: 23.5/28

Percent: 84%

Grade: B

   I originall found this book at my local library. I intended to check it out but I decided not to since it was only a one week rental. So I bought on Amazon for a few dollars a couple months ago. I finally decided to read it. It was ok, but it had some major flaws, well at least in my eyes it did.

   The plot was good, but the problem is that the author went off and just had to talk about things that had nothing to really do with the plot. The story was about a women named Grace Hammer. She lives in Whitechapel in the year 1888 (I know such a wonderful year to live in Whitechapel) with her children. Grace is a thief, in fact it is the only way she really gets money. Apparently she is really good at being a thief because she lives a well life for living in East London. But her past is coming back to hunt her, because she stole a precious gem from this guy she used to work for, Mr.Blunt. You see, Mr.Blunt is a easily angered man, so he now wants his gem back, but he does not want to stop after getting the gem. There is really not much else to the plot. There are a lot of little side plots though.

   Since I finished this book awhile ago, I barely remember anything about the description used in it. All I remember was that I wasn't astounded by it, but I wasn't disappointed by it. I remember that the author never described the setting well. So I gave it a 4.

   I believed the characters were never fully developed. There was nothing really anything unique about the characters except that they had all their teeth. Jack is a player and Grace is a thief. Her children are smart and good looking. Mr.Blunt is angry, he kills people. They are as flat as a piece of printer paper.

   The story was poorly developed. Mostly because they kept going to different people's point of views. The author never made you care about the characters, or what happened to him. The story just seemed to go in a pointless direction. The characters did things for no apparent reason. The author told us things that the story didn't need. It was just so pointles, nothing really had any depth.

   The story was generally fast paced. If you aren't put down by the changing point of views. Then since it is short and has big print you should be able to just zip through this book.

   The cover is really good. Except for one thing. There are these orange splatters on the cover. First I thought someone spilled something on my copy, but once I looked up the picture on the internet apparently all the covers have the splatters on it. I don't know if it is blood or supposed to be lights or something, but the cover can for sure do with out it. Otherwise the cover gives the book a mysterious look to it.

   This book was a little bit memorable. I remember it because another one of my favorite characters in the book was executed (In almost all the historical fiction I read, if there is a execution in it, it has to be my favorite character.)
  
   This book was not the most impressive book in the world, but it is not the worst either. I recommend this to you if you like historical fiction.

Blogger Hop!

The Book Blogger Hop is a wonderful meme by Crazy for Books. It is where new people can find your blog and you can find other peoples' blogs. To any readers who have been here before, sorry I haven't posted musch this week, because I read a book full of short stories and I have no idea how to grade it. Anywa, have a good week.

Black Rabbit Summer By: Kevin Brooks Book Review

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age: 12+

Pages: 488

Gender: Both

Publication Year: 2008

Plot: 5/5

Description: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Developed: 5/5

Fast Paced: 3/5

Cover: 2/3

Score: 25/28

Percent: 89%

Grade: B+

Black Rabbit Summer.....Pretty darn good book. First, the plot! The main character Pete is just leting his summer go by, sitting around the house basically doing nothing. Then he gets a call from one of his old time pals, Nicole. She wants him to join a get together with the others(which he doesn't really want to go and afraid his new, good friend Raymond) at their old hideout. He decides to go bringing Raymond. Not a good start when they bump into a really bad "tough" bully, Campell. But things get a little better with meeting Pauly, weird, high teenager, Eric sister of Nicole, and Nicole herself, the peppy, cool acting girl(I'll explain Raymond later). They talk a little, remembering past times, then after they all leave and after the weird run in with Nicole, Raymond and Pete head into the carnival. They do what everyone does at a fair. Ride rides, consetion stands and what not(visiting more people). Raymond wants to visit the Madame Baptiste Fortune-Teller. Pete gives in. Madame Baptiste let's them in and gives Raymond his fortune. But what she sees troubles her. One of the cards she drew were an Ace Of Spades. Raymond says it's a death card and asks is someone going to die? She dodges the question and says sometimes bad things happen. Tonight? She don't answer. Just sends them on their way. Later after that....Pete finds out that Raymond disappeared. Through out the book he tries to find out what happened to his friend while also discovering deep secrets within his old friends. The stuff that happens is really interesting and fun to read about. Now, the description is very precise in my opinoin. Like a movie, in a way. The characters are explained perfectly. You'd know their personality well and still wonder, and see if youcan find out what they're hiding. You really get into them. I said some of the characters already except for Raymond and Pete. Pete is the kind of person that you would think is quiet and sort of keeps to himself, but is very kind and do whatever it takes to succeed his goals. Raymond is super quiet and some think he is very weird. He thinks his rabbit talks to him. I think that kind of funny, not weird, just funny. Like hehe, funny. But that is all you get out of him I think. Because the author leaves him mysterious in a way which he did really good at. That leads to developed. Really good it is. Always tries to leave you guessing and lets you into Pete's feelings all the time. Fast paced, I don't think it is. As I said the feelings and thinking of Pete kind of stalls in the events that are happening. Cover is kind of good, but they could have done better. I suggest this book to reader's who like long books and enjoy a sort of twisting and turning of events. Very good and I almost couldn't put it down(especially at the end). ;) Now scram and get that book!!!!!!

In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren (a really cool blog). In my mailbox is used to display what books you got this week.

   Last week I didn't post anything because, of course because I didn't get anything. This week I got a book that I preordered in the mail and the library's reading program started so I get some cool free books.

 Library Reading Program

Sovay by Celia Rees

It's England, 1783. When the rich and beautiful Sovay isn't sitting for portraits, she's donning a man's cloak and robbing travelers—in broad daylight. But in a time when political allegiances between France and England are strained, a rogue bandit is not the only thing travelers fear. Spies abound, and rumors of sedition can quickly lead to disappearances. So when Sovay lifts the wallet of one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, it's not just her own identity she must hide, but that of her father. A dazzling historical saga in which the roles of thieves and gentry, good and bad, and men and women are interchanged to riveting effect.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

Set in 1790's Covent Garden this book whisks you back to a bygone era. The narrator's colourful slang and confident I-will-tell-you-how-it-really-is, makes the story sparkle off the page. It is the tale of Cat Royal, an orphan who lives at the back of the real-life theatre in Drury Lane. It contains a wonderful colourful cast of characters - awkward actors, on stage, and off, barrow boys in the grimy marketplace, street gangs fighting for territory...and it's packed with local colour and authentic detail. And of course there is the diamond mystery. What more could you want?

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Bought off Target.com

Shadows of the Redwood (Book 1, The Scions of Shadow Trilogy or the Faire Folk Trilogy Two) by Gillian Summers

The acclaimed Faire Folk Saga continues with a new trilogy starring half-elf Keelie Heartwood

Summer is here, and all sixteen-year-old halfelf Keelie wants to do is visit her friend Laurie in L.A. Instead she, her cat Knot, and her cranky, medieval, elf-lady grandmother are on their way to help the Redwood Forest, whose tree shepherd is missing.

With the help of the handsome Sean, and Scott, her father's former apprentice, along with a mysterious coyote, Keelie sets out to find the lost tree shepherd. But can she discover the deadly secret of the Bloodroot tree in time to vanquish the darkness and save the Redwood Forest?

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Untamed (House of Night) by P.C. Cast + Kristen Cast Book Review

Genre: Paranormal Romance and Fantasy

Age: 13+

Pages: 338

Gender: Female

Publication Year: 2008

Plot: 2.5/5

Description: 5/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Developed: 3/5

Fast Paced: 5/5
Cover: 2.5/3

Memorable: +0

Total: 21.5/28

Percent: 77%

Grade: C

   I really did not have high expectations for this book. I actually just read it to give me some variety. I started this book the day it came out, which was a while ago but I couldn't get past page one hundred, so I restarted it. Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it wasn't absolutely horrible. As you can see it is the lowest grade I have given since my new non-strict grading system. But still I guess the grade isn't that bad, it is passing. 

   I obviously did not like the plot at all. Well, it just seemed, well cheesy. It is the fourth book in the House of Night series. In the last book, if I remember right she had three boyfriends. One human, Heath. One fellow fledgling, Erik. One vampyre, Loren. Well she was imprinted with Heath. Then she did the nasty with Loren, so the imprint broke making Heath upset, then while she was doing the nasty Erik came in and saw her. Then soon after Zoey figured out that Loren really loved Neferet, the really evil High Priestess, and that Neferet set up the whole relationship to get Zoey's friends mad at her. So all three boyfriends were ticked off at her. (That was all from the third book Chosen, so you really should read the first three books before you read this one.) Well, in Untamed, all her boyfriends are mad at her, and then this new apparently hot kid named Stark, who when shooting an arrow can never miss which is bad because he killed his mentor (well not in the story it just says so). Zoey feels attracted to him, how obvious. So she gets really upset when his body rejects the change into a vampyre and he dies. But no, he might not die, he could come back as a red fledging, how good for Zoey. Also Neferet is brewing up some trouble, first Zoey sees this crow like thing that hurts here arm, but don't worry it heals quickly, and it throws her into another big mess, mostly to do with a very old Cherokee legend. But with the help of her friends she might be able to solve everything. There is also a side plot about her boyfriend issues too.

   I liked the description in this book, yes they used ultra modern phrases constantly to describe things, but there is nothing wrong with that. I loved how they described the Raven Mockers: a creature that existed only because of ancient rape and evil. That was a quote from the book. Cool huh? Well, anyway I liked how they described things in this book, a lot. Though there was limited amount of intelligent use of words, most good vocab came from Damien.

   I liked all the main characters excluding one, the main character, Zoey. I just hate her so much, she is so disgusting and she still thinks she is right. You see, Erik was being nice to her in the last book by letting her still kind of be in a relationship with Heath, but then she gets all gross with Loren, and then thinks that she should forgive Erik for being mad at her. She is just so..... ew. If it wasn't for her this book might of been able to pull off a B-. Anyway I liked the diversity in characters, it is always nice to read a book that shows gay people in a good light, because they can't help being gay it is just the way they are. I also surprisingly like Aphrodite, not just because here name is also a name of a Greek goddess, but because she has character, and I like characters who have character. I like Stevie Rae too, but sometimes she acts a little corny. But even if there was a whole gigantic set of awesome side characters, nothing can make up for how bad Zoey is.

   There was one thing about this book that bothered me. A whole bunch of things happened in a very short amount of time, this book took place in only two days, which is crazy. Some of the scenes the author could of added more depth into, maybe described more.

   This book was super fast paced, actually I have no idea why I couldn't finish it in the first place. So if you read this book and end up not liking it you can just speed your way right through to the end! (It's too bad Zoey doesn't die).

    I absolutely love the covers for this book series, mainly because of the little swirly things all over them. It is just so cool. The reason why I only gave it a 2.5 is because for this book I didn't really like the picture in the middle, seriously, how could that model be 16, but her swirly tattoos are cool. This book is just filled with swirly things!

    This book was really not memorable, except for maybe the cover and the horrible protagonist.

    As you can see, this is not my favorite book in the world. The first book was ok, but not the rest. I seriously hate the main character. I recommend this to fans of Vampire Academy and Twilight.

  

Blogger Hop!

Time for a new blogger hop! I am so happy because I actually got up early enough to be number 39 on the list! Anyway, Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books, go check the blog out it is really cool. Well, anyway, have a fun time hopping!

The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction/Alternative History

Age: 11+

Pages: 257

Gender: Male (Some Females)

Publication Year: 2002

Plot: 4/5

Description: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Developed: 4/5

Fast Paced: 4/5

Cover: 1/3

Memorable: +1

Total: 23/28

Percent: 82%

Grade: B-

   I read this book in sections. I guess around 2 weeks ago, I started it and read the first 50 pages then stopped for a day or two then slowly read the next hundred pages. Then stopped for about two days because I reread a book, then started up again around 10 o'clock yesterday night, then finished the book around 11 o'clock. The book was good, but it lost me a little bit in the middle.

   The plot was pretty good, but it was kind of odd hearing a lot of America's founding fathers were dead. This story is an alternative ending to the American Revolution. It is from the point of view of a 15 year old boy named Creighton Brown (isn't his first name great!). His mom hires someone to kidnap him and send him to America because she can't handle him. So once he gets to England he has to live with his uncle, but not for long because he has to go somewhere. So they both get on a ship, where the ship is attacked by Yankees, Creighton pretends to be his uncles indentured servent. So the Yankees set Creighton "free". Then they send him to live with Benjamin Franklin. His uncle asks Creighton to spy on Mr. Franklin. But after awhile Creighton's loyalties to England fade and he comes to question if he is doing the right thing.

    I thought the description was good, I really have nothing to say about it. The author described the characters and setting well. But I think he could of described other things better, like he could of described Benjamin Franklin's funeral better. But I still gave description a 4/5.

    I thought the characters were really good, exspecially Creighton. He was full of depth. I loved seeing him change to a not so mature kid who messes around all the time. To a person who doesn't just plays games and glorifies war, a person who knows what is right and wrong. Other then that I liked Sophie, because she wasn't perfect like some characters. I two things wrong with characters. First I think they should have developed Benjamin Franklin more. I was also very confused about Benedict Arnold. I though he was supposed to be really on the Britich side. But I still gave it a 5/5 because I think Creighton is a very good character.

   The book was well developed, I guess. There were just some parts they could of lingered on more. I can't really say much about it.

   This book was mostly fast paced there were just some parts I couldn't get into. Like as I said in the introduction, it took me a really long time to get through the middle part of the book I just kept picking it up and setting it down again. But I read the beginning and ending at a rapid speed.

   If I had not already new what this book was about ahead of time and I went to the bookstore and saw this book on the bookshelf, I would not pick it up. I think it is quite ugly acutally. The only reason I gave it a 1/3 is because I think the cover fits the theme of the book.

  This book was semi-memorable, I will remember it because of the alternative ending to the war that every American child over learns in school, but not really for anything else.

  This book was ok, not my favorite, but not horrible. I suggest it to anyone who likes alternative history.
  

Comparisons of Covers- The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Ok this is just somthing I came up with after looking at some US vs UK covers post. I decided I wanted to do something like that but with any covers not just US and UK. So I decided first I am going to The Monstrumologist, a great YA historical fiction/ horror novel. If anyone wants to do this too they can. So here are the covers:

US Hardback:

US Paperback:

UK Paperback:

German Hardback:

If you want to comment on what you think of the idea and of the covers.

Blogger Hop!

Time for a new blogger hop. Blogger hop is a lovely meme hosted by Crazy for Books. It is where you can discover cool, new book blogs and be discovered. It goes on every Friday. So have a good time!

In My Mailbox (1)

Ok this is my first In my Mailbox post. It is hosted by the wonderful blog The Story Siren . So go and check it out. Oh yes, I am not doing just books I got this week I will be doing anything that is a book, movie, or cd. But I usually only get just books if I get anything at all.

(Sorry for the quality, I have a bad camera.)

Bought off of Barnes and Noble Online

A Spy In The House (The Agency) by Y.S. Lee

This is a colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel centred around the exploits of 'agent' Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary is rescued from the gallows by a woman masquerading as a prison warden. She is taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school, Mary learns, is a front for a private investigation agency and, at 17, she is taken on as an agent. In her new role she is catapulted into the family home of the Thorolds to investigate the shady business dealings of Mr Thorold.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

The novel focuses on the romance between Jane and Rochester, but Bronte clearly reveals a feminist message through a heroine arguing for sexual equality and refusing to adhere fully to the restrictive expectations of early Victorian society.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

We Hear the Dead by Dianne K Salerni

It started out as a harmless prank. But soon enough, spiritualism was the fastest growing movement of the nineteenth century, and Maggie Fox was trapped in a life of deceit.

Meticulously researched by the author, We Hear the Dead reveals the secret of how the Fox sisters faked their rapping sounds and their motives for inventing the séance and founding spiritualism.

Maggie:

I began the deception when I was too young to know right from wrong. No one suspected us of any trick, because we were such young children. We were led on by my sister purposely and by my mother unintentionally. Only with the passing of time did I come to understand the consequences of my actions. As Doctor wrote to me: "Weary, weary is the life by cold deceit oppressed."

Kate:

My sister has used the word "deception." I object to her use of that word, for I do not believe that I have ever intentionally deceived anyone. Maggie has a different understanding of all the events that have happened since that night in Hydesville forty years ago. To her the spirits were always a game. For my sister Leah, they were a means to an end. For my mother, a miracle. And for me, they were my life's calling. I have no regrets.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Ginger Snaps (Movie)

A movie that compares turning into a werewolf to puberty. One of the best movies ever

Mom Bought for Me

The King's Rose by Alisa M Libby

Life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard catches the king's eye, she quickly transforms from pawn to queen. But even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life - and her heart - threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Will their agendas deliver Catherine to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn - sacrificed at the altar of family ambition?

Engaging historical fiction with a throbbing YA heartbeat, this thrilling novel will draw readers into the intrigues and dangers of the Tudor court.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood

In 1776, the rebellion of the American colonies against British rule was crushed. Now, in 1777-the year of the hangman-George Washington is awaiting execution, Benjamin Franklin's banned rebel newspaper, Liberty Tree, has gone underground, and young ne'er-do-well Creighton Brown, a fifteen-year-old Brit, has just arrived in the colonies. Having been shipped off against his will, with nothing but a distaste for English authorities, Creighton befriends Franklin, and lands a job with his print shop. But the English general expects the spoiled yet loyal Creighton to spy on Franklin. As battles unfold and falsehoods are exposed, Creighton must decide where his loyalties lie... a choice that could determine the fate of a nation.

(from fantasticfiction.co.uk)