Great Imaginations

The Vanishing is the type of book you read when you want to escape into another world and another time. Though it is set in the present, most times it certainly doesn't feel like it. It's gothic, it's creepy, and I think it's the perfect book for fans of Rebecca and Jane Eyre. There's a large crumbling mansion, ghosts, a swoonworthy love interest, a mystery to be solved, you name it, it's there. In many ways it is the quintessential gothic novel, and it was a joy to read. The characters were well-developed, the tone creepy and a bit scary, and I flipped through and finished this book quicker than most I read.

But it wasn't a perfect book for me, and I think the main issue I had was the writing style and that started from the get go. It felt forced and pretentious. As I read further, I began to get into the story and most of my troubles with the writing became desensitized as I got used to the prose. There was a point in the book where I felt completely hooked and into the story. I read most of this book overnight (I have pretty odd sleeping patterns), and I felt VERY isolated in the dead of the night when the rest of the world was asleep. It was the perfect book for that moment. Past the halfway point though, I began to have issues again. I'm not sure what it was, but the book seemed to lose me. I know I can pinpoint some of the problems I had on the protagonist. I just didn't think she had a whole lot of common sense. Some of her decisions felt ignorant to me and I don't think she made the right ones. I found myself thinking, OUT LOUD even, how I would have gone for help. I would have left. I would have done things differently. 

Aside from that, I found the book got a bit repetitive towards the middle as well. I felt that characters were withholding information from Julia just to keep the plot from progressing more quickly. There is nothing that irritates me more than plot devices I can see coming from a mile away. And when the ending finally came, though it surprised me, I found it abrupt and rushed. If you are going to drag the rest of the book out for the sake of building tension, why rush the ending? It didn't make sense to me. 

But here's the thing. I read it all and I liked most of it. I enjoyed the usage of giant dogs and I LOVEEED the atmosphere. I thought the author captured the feeling of a gothic novel through her words and setting brilliantly. I never thought I would have been able to find the Great Lakes creepy, but I did. I loved Amaris Sinclair, and I almost wish she had been the protagonist instead of Julia. I have a feeling she would have made smarter decisions. I don't think this book was a waste of time, by any means, and I really look forward to trying the author's other book, The Fate of Mercy Alban, because I think I might like it more. 

I think if you are looking for a read to escape for a day, this is the perfect book for that. I can imagine someone reading it in front of a fire, cuddled under an afghan with a large dog at their feet, and a cup of cocoa in hand. If you are looking for the perfect book for THAT situation, this is the one. 

You've probably read the reviews and heard the complaints. Clearly, No One Else Can Have You is a book that a lot of readers are talking about. Going into reading this, I was aware of how polarizing it was. I wondered which side I would fall on, if any, and how I would respond to the alleged offensive content and the tone of the book. I am happy, and a bit shocked to say, that for the most part, my response is good. 

Here's the thing. If you don't connect to Kippy, the protagonist, if you aren't feeling the tone of the book and the humor, I think you ARE going to be offended. But make no mistake. This book is definitely not politically correct. And though I'm stating that I did not have a problem with the content, there is some language here that I could have done with out. 

Examples? 3 instances of the R word. Things described as "so gay" twice. Yeah, a character even used the F word (that word we NEVER, EVER call gay people). I wasn't happy. The characters using these words were unlikable and supposed to be that way, but I still think the author could have made them plenty unlikable without using language that pisses off a large portion of the population. I also have to mention the scene where Kippy and Davey sneak into a support group masquerading as a couple dealing with domestic violence. I didn't like it and it kinda pissed me off. It's just not right to make light of domestic violence that way. It's not something to pretend or joke about. I imagine that if I was someone who had been abused by a significant other and I read this, I would be incredibly upset. And it just wasn't necessary in the larger scheme of the plot.

I told myself before I started this book that I was going to go into it with an open mind. That I was going to think for myself and form my own opinions. I wanted to read past the offensive content and analyze it for readers who might not be bothered by the previous paragraph. It is not my place to judge what people are/are not offended by, so that is what I did. And that's where we get into the good stuff.

I absolutely adored the characterizations. I thought they were brilliantly rendered. I loved Kippy. I thought she was ignorant and naive, but she was also precious and quirky. I loved her internalizations and I loved her voice. I loved her descriptions of small-town life in Wisconsin, and though this book was a caricature of what that was really like (and the humor really proves that as well), I still found it realistic and relatable. That's a really hard thing for a book to do. And aside from the offensive content, I really LOVED the writing too. The rest of the characters were well-developed and loaded with personality. From Kippy's dad (she calls him Dom) who is an eccentric high school counselor to their family friend across the street who is obsessed with video games and collecting random crap, I found the characters detailed and a lot of fun to read. 

This is a book loaded with humor (some of it very crude) and I found myself laughing out loud on various occasions. But this is why I say I get that this book is not for everyone. If you aren't relating to the tone as you go along (and honestly, I would say you will know this after the first ten pages), the book is probably not going to work for you. Some people found it forced and unfunny while I felt the complete opposite. I laughed a lot and I couldn't put this book down. There is a lot of talk of hunting and taxidermy and hitting animals with your car with humor related to that, and that's not something everyone is going to laugh about, and I get it. Maybe I was just in the right mood at the right time and I was ready to read this after waiting to be in the right frame of mind. It's a satire, a black comedy, but it also covers some very serious issues. Obviously I am only rating it three stars (it's more of a 3.5) and a lot of that is due to the content I had an issue with (I have to take off for that--personal ethics and all that), but aside from that, I totally adored this book. I do recommend it but I do think you should try a sample first if you can as it is not for everyone.

Reading is subjective. And that's the great thing about books. They can make us feel different things and reach us in various ways. This book happened to connect with me and hit on a lot of things I love. The humor was totally my thing. Kippy was someone I would have been friends with in high school. I was a misfit. Her behavior is out there and she's insecure, very real, and definitely not perfect. The characters were all flawed in believable ways. This book worked for me. And that's all I can say.

How I looked forward to Being Sloane Jacobs. How I looked forward to reading a book by this author! But this book was simply not what I thought it was going to be, and perhaps Meant to be is her better book and I am STILL looking forward to reading that. Before I get to the complaining and ranting, I want to talk about the good things first...which there are not a lot of. Sorry.

The writing was not bad. It wasn't good either, but it was passable and that's pretty much the reason this book gets two stars instead of one. I felt detached from all the characters and I don't think they really stood out or had much personality, unfortunately, so to me this book was just words on a page that I really could not wait to be finished with. That said, I do think the author can write, just maybe not this particular subject. There is no one more sad about that than me. I know I say that a lot, but in this case I really mean it, because FIGURE SKATING!!

No. Do not read this for the figure skating. You will be disappointed. Especially if you are educated on the sport like I am. There is nothing that pisses me off more than a book that is poorly researched, or what I feel in this case feels like ZERO research at all.

There were so many inconsistencies and things that would never have happened. There were so many times I was tempted to DNF. But I stuck it out because I thought it might get better. I thought the payoff would be worth it in the end. Honestly, it wasn't. Not worth my time. For those wondering, the sport of figure skating does NOT work the way it's portrayed in this book. You cannot learn the jumps this girl does after only a summer of figure skating camp. The way the competition works at the end? Would never happen. That is not how the scoring system works. Everything has a point value , and a simple routine like the one they did would not get them enough points for second place. Pairs teams rarely, if EVER, attempt side by side triple axles. Most female skaters will NEVER be able to do a triple axle. Heck, some men can't do one. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. It's very irritating to have to read a book written by someone who didn't even bother to research the sport they were writing about. It leaves a REALLY poor taste in my mouth.

So you have poor research, flat characters, and then on top of that, just a really predictable and unoriginal plot line. It was pretty much exactly like The Parent Trap which was cute and not what I had an issue with. What I had an issue with was that nothing was a surprise. I saw everything coming and it felt all very amateurish. The romances were cliche and too cutesy for me. Everything just let me down. I was sooo disappointed with this book, you guys. You don't even know. I really want to give it one star because it was pretty bad but it wasn't awful. Like there is a line or something it was so close to crossing but it didn't.

This book was just a fail on almost every level for me.

I didn't review Everbound, and I most likely will not be, but I do feel it was a stronger book than Evertrue, so I will just state right off that I am a little disappointed in the way this series wrapped up. It was not a bad book, by any means, but I expected more OOMPH, more power behind the words I was reading.

One thing that has always been an issue for me with this series is suspension of disbelief. I just don't believe in an Everneath. I don't believe in Hades, and I certainly don't believe that Hell exists. Now I know that none of these are the same thing, but the concept is similar and I am an atheist who pretty much only believes in facts and what she can see. So for an author to convince me that something like the Everneath exists, it needs to be fantastic. Let's just say that Everbound ALMOST convinced me. Evertrue? Not as much as its predecessor. 

The story was still there and so were the characters, which I enjoyed. Unlike most of my friends, I have always been a fan of Jack so the way he was being portrayed and developed didn't bother me. Cole has always been self-serving and I could see through him. I am happy that his story ARC takes a different turn in this novel but I wasn't happy about how he was just brushed aside and his personality completely changed in what I felt was an unrealistic way. 

My brain always does this really weird thing while reading this series. In my head I am always saying, "Well isn't the convenient?" Somehow Nikki can always conjure the exact thing she needs when she needs it. Or they are able to escape from the Everneath at exactly the right moment. This happened to me a lot in this book, and way more than it happened in the other two novels.

But ultimately, Evertrue is not a bad book. It just didn't seem to be as strong as the first books in the series were. And talking about the ending without spoiling it, oddly enough, what I wanted to happen happened. And I predicted it all from the very beginning of the book. I saw it coming, and it was what I wanted, but it let me down anyway. It just felt anticlimactic and didn't do much to bring out the emotions that I thought it would pull out of me. This was sad because it SHOULD have done that, and I don't know why it did. Brodi Ashton's writing style is fine but I've never emotionally connected to it, and I think that might be the reason. 

And you know, I know I am in the minority when it comes to this series. I know most people love it and I am a bit black sheepy, and I am fine with that. I can't say I'm not glad I didn't finish it, because I am. I stuck it out and completed it and now I have finally finished something that is loved in the book blogger community (I rarely do this). This series ends up being just average for me, but I did enjoy the experience and I will read this author again. I just hope she steps out of writing about the afterlife because I always have trouble.

I enjoyed every second of this book. In fact, it was so close to me giving it 5 stars that I can almost NOT justify giving it 4. But I have a few tiny nitpicks, and actually I rated this a 4.5 on Booklikes, so it was a super close to perfect read for me. It's incredibly hard at this point to find a dystopian with some originality. Almost everything has been covered and the genre is so saturated. But somehow, Pawn managed to bring it. The ideas are similar to others out there while being not quite the same. 

The world-building might be a bit flimsy (incidentally this is where I made a deduction), but the plot makes up for it. The pacing is breakneck and there is never a dull moment. Seriously, this is one hard book to put down. It's loaded with twists and I actually drooled at one point I was so entranced. That's hard to admit as drooling is pretty embarrassing, but it gets worse. When one of the twists was revealed toward the end, I actually said a few swear words out loud and spit flew out. I haven't been this shocked by a book in a while. Clearly. 

The plot is pretty simple. Or at least it begins that way. Kitty is a teenage girl who grows up in dystopian D.C., not knowing her parents because they gave her up since, in this society, you are only allowed to have one child. Kitty is an extra, and thus, her last name must be Doe. She goes to take her aptitude test and is only given a III on a scale of I-VII, VII being the highest. This means that she will be stuck doing menial labor the rest of her life, and since she is an extra, she'll be shipped off to Denver to work in the sewers there. Rather than leave Benjy, her dear boyfriend, she decides to stay in D.C. and work underground as a prostitute (I KNOW) until Benjy takes his aptitude test and then they can get married. On her first night as a prostitute, she is bid on by the Prime Minster himself, and offered a deal she cannot refuse. What occurs from then on is a mesmerizing mindfuck of a book that I cannot recommend more. 

And you know, another area where the book excelled was in its characters. I loved Kitty and Benjy, and I loved their relationship. I thought it was refreshing that a protagonist started off IN a relationship instead of falling ass-backwards into one. Every other character was interesting in one way or another, too. Some were outright evil, but a few were ambiguous and I am still not sure what the deal is. I suspect that was intended, and I am really looking forward to seeing what twists the author throws at us in the next book. I expect brilliance because Pawn was nothing less than. I think this might be my new favorite series, like really.

There isn't a whole lot to nitpick here, but due to the lackluster world-building (but I swear, with that plot you will hardly notice) and what I felt was not enough imagery or setting visuals, the writing itself was a little dull for me. Honestly though, it was an almost perfect book and I do recommend it to anyone looking to read on late into the night. I know that's a cliche thing to say but it's true. I read this late into the night. 

I don't know what it was about this book, but it was one of the oddest reading experiences I have ever had. Burning Paradise was ridiculously compelling while also boring me to tears sometimes, and other times I had zero idea what was going on and yet I couldn't stop. The book, for me, was pretty much unputdownable, and yet, I am hesitant to recommend it. Basically, my thoughts are all over the places and it has me wondering if all his books are like this. I can tell you one thing: I want to read more of his books because I have a feeling they are better, but how am I to go about reviewing THIS book?  

No clue.

The story is weird, weird, weird. That's a good thing though as it was one of the parts I enjoyed most. The book kept you guessing, and I can honestly say that I was stumped until the end. I had my ideas but they were all wrong. That was the good thing, and I can say that the ending did NOT let me down. The build to the conclusion is the best part of this book, and it's very difficult for me to say what or how without spoiling anything so I think I am just going to skip that part. You can read the summary for yourself, and while it is a teensy bit misleading, it does cover the most important parts. What I can tell you is that it's a book about aliens and they take the shape of humans. In my mind, these are the scariest kinds of aliens because you can't see them coming if they look like you. Here's the bad part though: there weren't NEARLY enough scenes with the aliens. When it was good it was great, but there are some things I really didn't like at all. List time.

1. The pacing was all over the fricking place. There was a lot of driving from one place to another, a lot of scenes where not a whole lot happened, and then something exciting would happen, and then it would be infodump, infodump until the next bit of action. Annoying.

2. There was a lot of scientific jargon that really made my eyes gloss over. I was worried that it would affect my understanding of the events that occurred later on in the book, but it didn't. So the fact that I really didn't absorb any of it didn't matter one iota, so why was it there. It made shit drag majorly.

3. None of the characters were likable. I have been having this issue a lot lately with books though. I know the author tried to make characters like Cassie and Leo likable but I just couldn't relate to them because I don't feel like they were developed enough. I was on the fence. The characters were compelling enough, but when you don't like any of them, is that okay? I guess that depends on the reader. 

Here's the thing though. There were some really grand ideas here that I have not read anywhere else. I've read about aliens that take human form before but not in the way that these did. The events that happen in this book are pretty terrifying because it's not so hard to suspend disbelief. I do think that something like this is possible. The universe knows no bounds and who knows what is going on out there somewhere else? To think that there are not other worlds out there that sustain life like ours just seems ignorant to me. But again, you have no idea what I am talking about without me spoiling the book for you and I won't do that. So what I say to you is this: if the blurb sounds interesting to you, then perhaps you should give it a shot. It wasn't my favorite book but I definitely don't regret reading it, and I think down the road this will be probably one that sticks with me for some time. Technically, I believe it could have used some work. But that's not all there is, is there?

Also, I need to add in at the last minute because it would not fit anywhere else: the world-building is excellent, though I suspect this is what this author truly excels at. He takes you from rural Vermont all the way to the Atacama desert in Chile, and it alternates from viewpoint to viewpoint, and he does it well. So, I am conflicted, and you can see my dilemma. Which is why I will read more of his work to truly decide. He's won the Hugo award so I have high hopes. 

Racing Savannah is a cute and cuddly contemporary that touches on some serious issues like poverty, class differences, pregnancy, and animal abuse. Miranda Kenneally's stories have an easy to relate to quality that I love and have a hard time finding elsewhere, but somehow I expected more from this one. I'm not even sure I am going to be able to explain why, exactly, this book didn't blow me away like it did so many of my friends, but you should know that I read it all in one sitting so there IS a lot of good here. But.

It's something about the writing. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't flow right. Most of the sentences are choppy, simple, and there is a lack of imagery in the writing which is something that I prefer. It's hard to explain because I don't believe I had this issue with Catching Jordan, but with this one I feel like there was too much summarizing and telling but not enough storytelling. Clearly I am one of the few that feel this way, and the writing is not nearly bad enough for me to not read this author again, but it was enough for me to get a bit frustrated from time to time. It's also a bit predictable and some of the dialogue is super cheesy. 

What we have here is a story about a girl that grows up with a dad who is a horse groom and he doesn't make very much. Her mom died from cancer at a very young age and the family is still struggling to pay her medical bills and make ends meet. Her dad takes a better job at a horse farm in Tennessee and brings Savannah and his pregnant girlfriend (soon to be wife) along. Savannah gets a job as an exercise rider, but is soon found out to be the only person who can relate to a very difficult horse. (Note: This is the part of the story I enjoyed most, because the romance was overly sappy for me some of the time.) She also meets Jack, the owner's son, and obviously he is very rich and comes from a privileged background. 

It's a decent story and the characterizations are pretty well done. There are also some cute cameos from past characters which I found SUPER cheesy but I also kind of loved. This is definitely fluff fiction at its heart, which is not a bad thing, and it made me smile, but there's also not a lot of depth. If you are looking for a book to make you feel good and let you escape from the mundanity of life for a few hours, this is definitely the book for you. But if you are looking for fiction excellence, this is not the book I would personally recommend. 

So to recap: mediocre writing, decent storytelling and characterization, predictable, but also big on heart. It's your call whether or not it's the perfect book for you. For me, I look for a little bit more. 

I just finished The Cute Girl Network last night, and this was one of the cutest, fluffiest graphic novels I have ever read. If you are looking for something dark, look elsewhere, though the cover should pretty much tell you that anyway. But that doesn't mean that this isn't compelling and enjoyable, cuz it is. 

It's about a girl who lives in New York City; she's a skater, and one day she skateboards past a soup cart and meets Jack, who is running it. They begin a fledgling relationship until Jane's friends get involved, telling her about something called the network, and offering to take her to meet a bunch of Jake's exes to prove he's a loser and that Jane should not be dating him. The story goes on from there, and I have to stop here before I spoil anything. 

The writing is good, the dialogue is realistic, and I really loved the illustrations and characterizations best. I thought Jake and Jane were super adorable and likable. There were other characters that I basically wanted to murder, but that is to be expected, I suppose. The only issue I really had was that I found a couple of the panels hard to follow. This could be because I am still sort of a newbie as far as reading graphic noels goes, but there were a couple of places where I was not sure what line of dialogue I was supposed to read first. This, of course, interrupts flow, but it was hardly an issue.

But my FAVORITE thing about The Cute Girl Network was how pro-female it was. Jane was a kickass character because she was a girl in a man's world, she was a feminist, AND it was seen as a good thing. She was the only female skater at her work (a skate shop), she was constantly having to fight off sexism at the skate park, and try to make her bosses/co-workers understand why she didn't need a man to support her. I LOVED IT. Jack respected her for it, and their relationship was just adorbs. Seriously. I was blown away by the things I was reading in this graphic novel because it is just so rare to see that!

And with that, I definitely think you should read it. It's short, it's fun, and I KNOWWWW women would love it. Not that men wouldn't, but it's definitely going to be a book that the ladies enjoy more. 

I read 25% of this while I had insomnia last night, and I really wanted to like it, but I ultimately ended up DNFing for two main reasons:

1. The characters are insufferable. I tried to have empathy for the protagonist because of her condition. I DID. But I gave up after she refused to stand up for herself at all. I mean a bully literally lights her sweater on FIRE and she gets burned, and all she does is vomit on the floor. Not to mention, WHAT SCHOOL doesn't suspend or even EXPEL a child that lights another child on fire in science class?? WHAT?! 

 

And then, her mother is the school nurse in a high school, and she treats her teenage daughter like she is a 5 year old. She walks up to her in the hallway and babies her in front of the entire school. Also does this in the cafeteria during lunchtime and it made me so freaking angry. What mother doesn't understand that that shit is social SUICIDE in high school? And of course when she leaves the cafeteria the other kids attack Scarlet and throw food and tampons at her and somehow her mother doesn't hear this from out in the hallway?

 

2. Plot holes. Which I basically mentioned already above, but things were NOT adding up here. I really wanted to leave notes in the margins as if I was editing it but it was on my Kindle so I couldn't. I am sure if I had read on, this would have continued and since I could not tolerate the characters, I just didn't want to bother.

 

I also felt the book really lacked a focus. Was it just trying to be a YA contemporary? There was a mystery starting just as I was quitting, so I think there was more to it but the entire first 25% of the book was about a girl's first day at school and everything she endured and the people she met. I feel it took too long to get going, and if it was to be a thriller which is what the blurb made it seem, where was the thrilling part of the story?

The writing itself wasn't bad though it was nothing special. I think there were a lot of good ideas here but the execution was pretty all over the place. I know this author writes adult novels as well, so maybe those are better. I hope. 

The thing I love the most about Victoria Schwab as a author is definitely her writing style. It flows, it's gorgeous but not overtly purple, and it's compulsively readable. It's also incredibly atmospheric and she is an expert at conveying tone through words. This is a brutal book, for the characters and for the reader, and it also transfers to the voice of the narrative.

I didn't have a lot of time to read while I was making my way through Vicious, and I had to keep putting it down for other tasks (editing). So it's hard for me to tell, if the circumstances were different, whether this would truly have been an unputdownable book for me. I do probably think so. It's a compelling story and it's definitely a thinking book. Ultimately it's a revenge story but there is much more to it than that. It' a story about morality, mortality, and good vs. evil and everything in between. It will make you question and wonder, and though there i an antagonist, no one is completely good or bad, much like real life. 

It's a brilliant book technically, and it's not often that you come across an author as skilled as Schwab. There are multiple layers to this story, it weaves in and out expertly, and there are so many subtle nuances and things that can be missed if you aren't paying attention. Short chapters, different POVs, flashbacks, all these techniques are utilized, and where I would normally criticize that there's too much going on, that is simply not the case. You don't even NOTICE that you are in a different POV when it switches because the book flows so damn well. How is that even possible? It's like almost every other book I have read pales in comparison to the talent I saw here.

But in spite of all the excellence, I can't give it the full five stars because I lacked an emotional connection to the book. I'm not sure why that is because everyone else seems to have connected to it, but while I was in awe of the story, the characters, and all the skill presented here, I wasn't attached to them. I was excited about the conclusion that I knew was coming; I wanted to see what happened and how it was handled, but that is the extent of what I felt. For the record, I loved the ending so that wasn't the issue either. So basically, this is an epic, epic book that I think EVERYONE should read, but in order for me not to mark it down for anything, it has to be a perfect book for me. That includes an emotional connection. 

I still am a huge fan of Victoria Schwab. I will read anything she puts out. I guess I need to read The Archived next.

How long I have waited for a new Sarah Addison Allen book. She's finally back, and Lost Lake was worth the wait. While I don't think it was her strongest book to date, it was certainly much more enjoyable than her last, The Peach Keeper, and it made me cry and love the characters, which I feel was the book's strongest element.

But first things first, I need to talk about the cover. I know everyone seems to like the redo better than the first one, but now that I have read the book, I think the first one fit the story better. I am conflicted. This one is definitely prettier, but which is better? And I wonder how the author feels about the cover change. 

You don't need me to tell you how much I love Sarah Addison Allen's books. She's one of the few authors of which I have read ALL her works. I would have made any number of sacrifices for an ARC of this (luckily I didn't have to), and I pre-ordered a finished copy for my shelf. She's one of my favorite authors, and the reasons are many. I love her writing, and she always writes passages I want to quote, like: 

"But it didn't," Eby said. "If we measured life in the things that almost happened, we wouldn't get anywhere."

And:

Sitting there, nodding off, Eby wondered if there was a form of mental illness that wasn't biological but learned. Eby could remember her own mother on a downward spiral after her husband died. And even now, their mother was feeding Marilee's beautiful grief with outrage of her own that Eby had stayed away so long. They were wounded. They were victims. If only they had everything they'd ever wanted, then they'd be okay. But because they didn't, it was everyone else's fault.

Without getting into my personal history, that latter one hits home for me quite a bit.  A lot of the family drama did in this book, actually. And maybe that's why I love her books so much. She really nails the family drama in a realistic way. You would think some of the occurrences in this book would be a bit hard to suspend disbelief for, but not so. There is less magical realism in this one than some of her others, but I do have to say that what there is is incredibly inventive. 

The setting was pretty magical, I will say, but my main criticism is that I wish it would have been brought to life more. The focus was on the characters and I loved that, but I feel in previous books the setting was more lively and the writing had more imagery. I couldn't see it as vividly in my mind as I was hoping I would. And then on top of that, I feel like the book, as good as it was, kind of dragged itself out a bit. It's like you knew where it was going, but it took too long to get there. Not enough plot, I say.

But you know, I think most people read Allen's books for the characters, and they were larger than life here. I have this thing about senior citizens. I love them in real life and I love them as characters in books. In Lost Lake there were LOTS of them, and I loved every second of them. From Bulahdeen, the reminiscing, hopeful, and humorous old lady, to Selma, the vixen who steals married men from their wives, the characters were lovely. And then there was Lisette, the French immigrant who was born without a voice box, never learned sign language, and uses a notepad to communicate. The protagonist Kate and her adorably eccentric daughter Devin are wonderful as well. The only thing I can criticize Allen about here is that most of her characters are black or white. Either bad or good. It's a bit predictable in that once you know who a villain is, you can count on them to stay a villain. Though there was one character who ended up surprising me for a second there.

Lost Lake is like a frosted cinnamon roll. An ooey-gooey, doughy cinnamon roll. It's sweet, sugary, and absolute comfort food. This might be a bad thing for some readers, but for longtime fans of this author, and readers who love books about family and magical realism, this one is sure to be a hit. After all, it did make me ugly cry.

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Heartbreaking, horrifying, suspenseful, brilliant...these are all words I could easily use to describe Horde by Ann Aguirre. It is all that and more. I have had a long and bumpy road with this trilogy, but the last book...the last book has made that all worth it.

It's no secret that I am not a fan of Stalker. I do not appreciate that he was made to be a love interest at the end of book one and throughout book two. Since I am trying to write this without spoilers (which also means this will be a short review), I'll just say it gets better. Everything gets better, for the most part. Character development is better. The pacing is better (though it takes a bit to get going). All your questions about world-building and the freaks will be answered (though I did feel the explanation was a bit simple in parts). I guess I just I wanted a little more creativity from that. But...you will notice I gave this book 5 stars. I'm criticizing it and I gave it 5 stars; how is that possible?

Simply put, because of the way it made me feel. The book tore my heart out, stomped on it, put it back in my chest, tore it back out, rolled it around in the dirt, and then baked it at 375° for forty-five minutes before sending it down the garbage disposal. Yeah, I know. I always go overboard. I wasn't sure at first how I would feel, but as the tension continued to build, as characters started to die, as it got violent and graphic, my heart and anxiety levels couldn't take it. This is a book I wanted to savor and yet I could not put it down. This is one of those books I wish I could read all over again for the first time. I will never get that moment back. And it kills me. I haven't felt emotions like this in a long time. Maybe it's my antidepressants, I don't know, but this day when I finished THIS book, they were out in full force. I have never felt such pure rage, sadness, happiness. I laughed, I sobbed, I vocally yelled. The ending was perfect. AUTHORS. If you want to know how to end your trilogy right, read THIS BOOK. I went to bed with swollen eyes and woke up with them burning. I cried over characters I thought I would never feel a lick of emotion for. I don't even know who I am anymore. 

That is why this book gets 5 stars. Sometimes emotions books make you feel ARE enough. I'm not even going to attempt to talk about the mechanics of the narrative. It was good. It was great, even. It wasn't perfect but this is a wonderful book that gets an eensy bit repetitive in places. The battle scenes are what I am referring to. Some of them are awesome. And the ones that take place past the halfway point are fantastic. So it's a minor thing, and if you aren't looking for it, you might not even notice. I love Ann Aguirre's writing. I read a lot of books (several a week), and if there was one author I could write like, I would choose her. She balances emotion, imagery, plot, and characters in a way that I find to be a work of art. It's something most authors can't do. And I appreciate the shit out of her for being able to accomplish this in what seems like an effortless way. I know it's not at all, which makes it even more of an accomplishment. 

There's not a whole lot more to say without revealing spoilers. And I won't do that. I want people to read my reviews so it's better to make them short than hide them under spoiler tags, in my opinion. Sidenote: I know not everyone feels this way and that is totally okay too. So, do I think you should read this series? Yes, I do. I rated Enclave and Outpost both 3 stars. I had issues even though I loved the stories in both books. This one was just went so above and beyond the other two, in my opinion. Not that they were bad at all, this book just fulfilled all my expectations and then some. I am sorry it is over. But I am definitely not sorry I stuck it out, because those emotions I felt were totally worth the wait.

This book has me on an emotional roller coaster. It started out a bit slow, but I just sobbed my tired little heart out for something that I never thought I would. I've had a love-hate relationship with this series and its protagonist, but I've grown to like her and respect her for who she has become. I don't know how this is going to end, but I am all in. 

Lyn: I broke my sister’s heart when I told her I was not crazy about the book. I find the subject very interesting, but the writing was just very lacking. What turned you off of the book?

Kara: It was just dry to me. I already have issues with non-fiction books due to my shitty attention span. If the topic is not interesting to me, I am going to have issues. There were some moments that I enjoyed reading about at the time, but honestly, don’t even ask me to remember a specific detail because I have brain dumped it all already. I do think her other book might be more my speed because I love forensics.

Lyn: I was not wild about the writing style. It felt like the author thought she was a lot funnier than she really is. I also found the writing sort of choppy and mangled. Some of the parts were interesting, but then I hit another wall and I lost interest again. I do like the points the book brought up, such as astronauts losing bone density in space and how people in space use the toilet. That whole chapter is worth reading.

Kara: Yeah, I missed that chapter because I DNFed it at page 144. I remember a mention about using a tube but if there was more detail than that, I didn’t catch it. I hear you on the writing style. I did find it to be trying too hard in a lot of places. I expected this book to have a lot more humor than it had. I could only read about 20 pages at a time before I had to put it down. I’m also kind of in a reading slump, and most things I am attempting to read are not impressing me right now. This just made it worse. I had a feeling I was going to have trouble with this book from the very beginning unless it was absolutely amazing. It was not, unfortunately.

Lyn: Was it the subject that bored you? Why did you know you were going to struggle with it?

Kara: Yeah. I just have never been interested in space. I am more interested in the life sciences: Zoology, Biology, etc. I do think certain aspects of cosmology are interesting but it is not my favorite topic. Also, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to go up in a tiny little rocket and risk their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that they do or we would be completely clueless about the universe, but still. I have a tough time relating to the topic, I think.

Lyn: I never considered that you were not into space. It makes sense now that I think back on your lack of love for Star Trek and such. I can’t believe you don’t want to go live on Mars. No one is there, you know. Sounds awesome to me.

Kara: YES. I never made that connection either. I just suck at math too and I had trouble with Astronomy in college even though it was basically an easy course. It’s just never came easy to me. LOL but there are no trees and water on Mars. No beaches. No animals. Part of being alone and away from people for me is getting lost in the forest with the birds and the rain and the greenery around you. Mars does not have that. Put me in the jungle. :D

Lyn: Weirdo. So, can you point out anything positive about this book? Do you remember any single fact?

Kara: Uhhhh...Sort of. I liked the experiment in the beginning that took place in Japan, was it? I liked learning about how being locked up with people for long periods of time can get to anyone and make them do some really bizarre, and even dangerous, things. I know that I would NEVER make it as an astronaut even if I wanted to because I cannot be around most people for more than a few hours before I start to get cranky. Can you imagine three months? Or on a space station? That’s the part I think I enjoyed most. The rest of it I’ve kind of already forgotten. How about you?

Lyn: I think it is crazy that one of the issues that comes up when we look at going to Mars is that people can’t stand one another. It is really weird. If we have the technology, it still doesn’t matter because people want to kill one another when faced with no personal space.

My favorite was the bathroom issue. I know you never reached it, but the author pointed out that astronauts have to poop into a hole that is 4 inches across. They have a potty that is rigged with a camera so that they can “potty train”. The book did make me realize what we take for granted on Earth. I also found it fascinating that gravity plays a big role in reproduction. I never really thought about it.

Kara: I must have missed the reproduction part too. Pooping in a hole that is 4 inches across? Yeah, I definitely can’t go into space. ROFL. Also, I think I would definitely end up killing someone. I also when they discussed how much sex is an issue after such a long period of time with the tension relieving and how they were considering sending a bunch of couples up there, but then decided they couldn’t because they would save each other and not put the mission first. These are things I never thought about. So you know, I did learn something. I begrudgingly admit that. ;)

Lyn: YAH! THE MORE YOU KNOW. 

So, in the end, I would give the book 2 stars because there were parts I did like, but I think I’m going to skip out on the rest of the series by this author. Her writing really annoys the hell out of me.

Kara: Yeah, I know I DNFed but I feel like I read enough to rate it, and I am also awarding it 2 stars. I think at some point I might try to read her book on death, but I will definitely wait a while. Non-fiction books are iffy for me. Oh, and we are reading Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld next. Hopefully this will be a hit for both of us! 

Lyn: I think we should see who averages better on picks in a year. So far, I am L-O-S-I-N-G.

I also started reading Leviathan today on the Kindle (on sale, 1.99, folks!!)

Kara: I haven’t started yet. Any initial thoughts? I can’t wait though. I’ve heard so many good things. And yes, I am totally with you on keeping track of our averages. I’ve only done one book so far but I am kicking your A-S-S, W-I-E-N-E-R. Hahaha.

Lyn: Whatever. You cheated. You had a reread. 

Kara: But I didn’t know YOU would like it. :D My rating doesn’t count. Only yours does.

Lyn: I’m going to rate all of your picks 1 star. :P

Kara: I noticed you dodged the question about how you were liking the book so far. ;)




Lyn: Here is my answer:

>:(

Kara: Hahahaha! I am dying. DYING. Love you, mama! 

Lyn: Aw, I love you, too.

A fairy tale about Syphilis, the author says. Yup, that's pretty much exactly what it is, though it goes a bit deeper than that. I wish I could say this book blew me away. I wish I could say its contents were as beautiful as its cover. Though there are some good things here, for the most part, this book was an enormous disappointment. I was looking forward to it so much, but it just wasn't all that I hoped it would be. 

First thing I need to talk about is the book's genre classification. This is published by Candlewick as a YA novel. Candlewick is strictly a children's book publisher. In my opinion, The Kingdom of Little Wounds is not a YA book. It's not just the graphic (and I mean graphic) sex, rape, violence, disease, and everything else that runs rampant. It's the fact that there is really only one teenage character, and she is only about one third of the novel. There are a large number of characters, and none of them are teenagers. The focus is not on teenage issues and teenage development. The focus is on Syphilis, court politics and deception, a power-hungry dude who rapes the help, executions, dying children...this book is pretty brutal. I just think the themes are not themes you find commonly in YA novels. I think it has crossover potential. But ultimately I must question WHY this was published by a children's publisher. In my humble opinion, it should not have been.

It wasn't all bad though. I actually really liked the story. And I think had I not been concerned about the genre classification as it continued to get more violent and creepy by the second, I would have enjoyed it more. As an adult historical fantasy, this would have worked better, in my opinion. But if you like court politics, beheadings, dungeons, lots of poisoning, and doctors and astronomers who have no flipping clue what they are doing, you might like this one. I have to give major accolades to the author for the amount of research she did on this. I know this book took her 7 years to write (says so in the author's note at the end), and even though I didn't love it, her time investment shows.

So why then did I not love it? Because I didn't connect to the characters, mainly. It was very much written in a fairy tale style, with an omniscient narrator that kept the reader at a distance. This did lead to a whimsical, meandering feel with beautiful prose so it wasn't all bad, but I did feel like I never really got to know the characters. And thus, I did not care much about their plights. Oh, someone died? So what? Children keep dropping like flies? Ehhhh. It's a very difficult perspective to pull off even for the best writers, and though I am sure this author is talented, it just didn't work for me. There was way too much telling, not enough character development, and I needed the prose to be more vivid. Without my feeling any emotion towards the characters, I am just not going to connect with this book at all. Books like that rarely, if ever, achieve more than 3 stars from me. So this gets the highest marks for its inventiveness. 

The world-building was excellent, though I am still a bit confused as to whether this was a fantasy or not. There were trolls living  under bridges and dwarves, which makes it seem like it was, but no magic or dragons or other fantasy aspects. If it was meant to be fantasy (still not sure), I would have liked more fantasy elements here. And then there was the fact that some of the writing felt disjointed to me. There were multiple POVs here, some of which were through a narrator, and some through the characters, so there was a lot going on. One of the POVs had a very strong dialect and I had a tough time following those chapters. That's not all though. I did find myself distracted by the writing and word choices sometimes. It's hard to explain and it might just be a 'me' situation. Sometimes it flowed and sometimes it didn't, but it was not very consistent.

So you know, there is a lot of good here. Unfortunately it's peppered with a lot of things I didn't like as well. I do recommend it, but with reservations. It depends on the person doing the reading.