Saturday, August 31, 2013

Another Little Piece Review



TITLE: Another Little Piece
AUTHOR: Kate Karyus Quinn
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 6/11/2013
PAGES: 432
MY RATING:


SUMMARY (from Goodreads): On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish...a bloody razor...and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape--unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I enjoyed this book so much. I loved every second of reading it and flew through it very quickly. One of my favorite types of books to read is stories revolving around split personalities or past lives, basically when there's more than one personality living inside one person, whether there's actually two being inside one body, or there's flashbacks to another life, that sort of thing. I really liked following along with Annaliese and trying to figure things out with her.The ending of this book was great. Everything was wrapped up nicely with a perfect little bow. :)

CHARACTERS: I loved Dex. He was my favorite character in the book. I really enjoyed the way his character developed over time and the pace of details that we learn about him.

COVER: The cover is gorgeous. I love the outfit the girl is wearing and I also love that we cannot see her face, it gives it that mystery of who is she? I like the font on the title as well.

**I received an ARC copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon


I have so many books in my collection that I haven't read. I mean, ton of them. I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to books I need to read, as well as a huge stash of books that I keep under my desk that I haven't read yet either. Here's some pictures...

The bottom two shelves don't count, those aren't mine :)

I know this one's hard to see, but most of the stacks are 3 rows deep...
So, needless to say, I have got to get reading! 

That's why I will be participating in the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon hosted by Tressa's Wishful Endings & Colorimetry.

There will be giveaways and challenges as well! So go check it out!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Ghost Time Review


TITLE: Ghost Time
AUTHOR: Courtney Eldridge
PUBLISHER: Amazon Children's Publishing
PUBLICATION DATE: 6/11/2013
PAGES: 416
MY RATING: 

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Thea Denny hates the tenth grade, and her home life isn't easy. But she's passionate about making art -- and about her math-genius boyfriend, Cam. One day Cam mysteriously vanishes -- and then things really get weird. The stars on the school flag go missing, eerily cut out. Intimate videos of Cam and Thea start going viral online -- videos they never took. The FBI gets involved. And Thea can hear the voice of Melody -- a beautiful, disabled girl her age, whose illness has left her mute since birth. Cam once claimed to be the world's foremost hacker...Is he trying to reach her, send her a sign -- or is Thea losing her mind?

OVERALL IMPRESSION: What? That's what I said to myself as soon as I finished reading this.

It took me a little bit to get used to the writing - we hear Thea's scattered thoughts, it was a little annoying to me, but I adjusted eventually.

The whole story line captivated me. I was really interested in finding out what happened to Cam and why all of the strange things were happening throughout the story. 

The timeline jumps back and forth starting from the disappearance of Cam and going backward and forward in time with each chapter. It sounds like that would be confusing, but I had no trouble following it, and for me it really added to the interest of the story.

Then, I got to the end and I was extremely disappointed. From what I now understand, is that there is going to be a followup book to this one. When I was reading it, I had no idea, I thought it was a standalone book. I felt like the book kept picking up speed, going faster and faster, and then just - BAM. It stopped and there nothing. No crash, no explosion, just nothing. It just ended and left me feeling unsatisfied. I understand that authors want to pull you in and get you excited to read the next book in a series, but this one just left me confused with no idea where the story is going to lead next. I don't think I'll be picking up the next one in this series.

CHARACTERS: The characters were fine. I didn't get particularly attached to any of them, but I am curious to see where they take Mel's character. I liked hearing her thoughts and her feelings towards her father.

COVER: I do like the cover. I'm not really sure how it ties in with the book, because I'm so confused about what this book was trying to accomplish, but I do like the way the cover looks.

**I received an ARC copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest opinion.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The End Games Review


TITLE: The End Games
AUTHOR: T. Michael Martin
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/7/2013
PAGES: 384
MY RATING:
DNF

BACK COVER SUMMARY: In the rural mountains of West Virginia -- armed with only their rifle and their love for each other -- the brother follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of "Bellows" -- creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But the game is changing.
The Bellows are evolving.
The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors -- survivors who don't play by the rules.
And the brothers will never be the same.

T. Michael Martin's debut novel is a transcendent thriller filled with electrifying action, searing emotional insight, and unexpected romance.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I really wanted to like this book. I haven't read a good zombie story in a long time so I was really hopeful about this one, but it just didn't do it for me. 

The language in the first chapter threw me off. It didn't feel natural or something -- it's hard to put my finger on it, but I had a hard time reading through it. 

This book was very boring for me. It needed more action. I found myself trying to find other things to do in order to avoid reading this book. Reading isn't supposed to be a chore, but this one was becoming a chore for me, so I gave up on it. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the future, but for now, I just can't continue it.

CHARACTERS: I really like the relationship between the two brothers, Michael and Patrick. I feel like Patrick is such a trooper, dealing with everything and hanging in there. And the way Michael takes care of his brother is heartwarming, you can tell he would do anything to protect him.

**I received an ARC copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.