December Books: 8 Reviewed
Burnt Children by R.E. Washington
Start Date: December 23rd
End Date: December 29th
PUBLICATION: December 15th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Fantasy, YA Paranormal, YA Dystopian
SYNOPSIS: When you live in Meli, everyone is born with a type of magic. There's Tongue, where magic is created by the tongue, Hand, where magic is made only by the hands, and Spirit, where magic is not limited like Tongue and Hand, but the Spirit people are shunned. Ever since the war started by the Spirit Queen, who slaughtered many people, all Spirit people have been "cleansed" by having the magic part of their soul ripped from them, leaving their hands burnt, and giving the name "burnt children" to them. Burnt children are no more than garbage in Meli, with no rights and cannot handle magical objects, except for Rokas Stone since they tend to explode. Like Elaria, shes a Burnt Child too, shunned from society and detested by her mother, but she has a secret. She can see magic, and with her secret ability, the shopkeeper she works for allows her to handle and figure out magical Artifacts. But her ability may lead her down a hard path. Stuck with an Artifact locket, holding a dangerous secret, she's run away from town and is being hunted down by the Purifiers. She just wanted to find a place to belong, but will she live to see that dream?
REVIEW: This was another book received in a Goodreads Read To Review Program.
At first, the story had a slow start up, but it didn't last long. By the time the story got to the Shop, I was intrigued. I felt the author was trying for a Fantasy and Middle Eastern feel, and in some parts its there, but this bears all the signs of a good Dystopian! Magical people, who are shunned because of a historical event? Total Dystopian.
Despite being my fave genre, I had some problems. The names for one. They were very odd, but closely related to American names, which had me calling the characters by that. Like Jenia was Jenna to me, or Korvin became Kevin. Another thing was that this was a very long read. Too long, if you ask me. It got long in some places, but its not like usual issues. It wasn't the text that was long, it's just the story ran around to a lot of areas, which made it long. If only half that length and dedication went into Stone Bearers... One last complaint. The text towards the end had many simple mistakes and it seems like the author wasn't done editing before the book was published! There were many misspelling and notes towards the end of the book! What!?
In the end, the book was an enthralling read with lovable characters, an amazing society, and a lovely storyline, even though it had a little predictability in it. Recommended for Dystopian lovers and Divergent fans who want something to do while waiting for Insurgent.
End Date: December 29th
PUBLICATION: December 15th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Fantasy, YA Paranormal, YA Dystopian
SYNOPSIS: When you live in Meli, everyone is born with a type of magic. There's Tongue, where magic is created by the tongue, Hand, where magic is made only by the hands, and Spirit, where magic is not limited like Tongue and Hand, but the Spirit people are shunned. Ever since the war started by the Spirit Queen, who slaughtered many people, all Spirit people have been "cleansed" by having the magic part of their soul ripped from them, leaving their hands burnt, and giving the name "burnt children" to them. Burnt children are no more than garbage in Meli, with no rights and cannot handle magical objects, except for Rokas Stone since they tend to explode. Like Elaria, shes a Burnt Child too, shunned from society and detested by her mother, but she has a secret. She can see magic, and with her secret ability, the shopkeeper she works for allows her to handle and figure out magical Artifacts. But her ability may lead her down a hard path. Stuck with an Artifact locket, holding a dangerous secret, she's run away from town and is being hunted down by the Purifiers. She just wanted to find a place to belong, but will she live to see that dream?
REVIEW: This was another book received in a Goodreads Read To Review Program.
At first, the story had a slow start up, but it didn't last long. By the time the story got to the Shop, I was intrigued. I felt the author was trying for a Fantasy and Middle Eastern feel, and in some parts its there, but this bears all the signs of a good Dystopian! Magical people, who are shunned because of a historical event? Total Dystopian.
Despite being my fave genre, I had some problems. The names for one. They were very odd, but closely related to American names, which had me calling the characters by that. Like Jenia was Jenna to me, or Korvin became Kevin. Another thing was that this was a very long read. Too long, if you ask me. It got long in some places, but its not like usual issues. It wasn't the text that was long, it's just the story ran around to a lot of areas, which made it long. If only half that length and dedication went into Stone Bearers... One last complaint. The text towards the end had many simple mistakes and it seems like the author wasn't done editing before the book was published! There were many misspelling and notes towards the end of the book! What!?
In the end, the book was an enthralling read with lovable characters, an amazing society, and a lovely storyline, even though it had a little predictability in it. Recommended for Dystopian lovers and Divergent fans who want something to do while waiting for Insurgent.
Stone Bearers by R.E. Washington
Start Date: December 22nd
End Date: December 22nd
PUBLICATION: December 15th, 2011
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: YA Realistic Fiction, YA Paranormal, YA Magic
SYNOPSIS: 8th grade is hard enough as it is, but when you ahope for a sequel!dd dying to the mix, you get Constance's life.
Constance and her friends, Avery and Maria, used to be average 8th graders, trying to survive Middle School and stay away from Danielle and her boyfriend, Jonathan. But when they all get detention for being in the halls, life couldn't be worse for Constance, right? Wrong. When the group of five get caught in the crossfire of a supernatural battle,they are killed, but Tyler, who is in on the battle that killed them, saves them all. Now they carry part of the Stone to live. The price? Save the world without going insane.
REVIEW: I received this book in the GoodReads Read To Review.
As I started this book, I felt is would be interesting how the author could craft the story, that begins and reads like a Realistic Fiction, into a Paranormal adventure! The first few pages were about how Constance's friend, Maria was being bullied as Danielle watched. Nonetheless, the author pulled it off and turned the story on its head when the group was in detention. It was when the battle begun in the Botanical Greenhouses that I felt like the author was trying to write the story in a similar way to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson And The Olympians. The odd, yet humorus chapter beginnings in some, the similar idea of an average person becoming involved with supernatural and has to be the almighty saver of the world, and how a close ally turns on them all. However, Washington manages to write a magnificent story and keep her idea standing apart from Riordan's.
I was enthralled with this story, I finished it in one night and I couldn't try to sleep unless I finished it, it kept me up! But as much as I loved it, it ended wayyy too soon!!! I felt that the novel was a little too fast paced and had so much potential to stretch out and be a long yet exciting book. There were some key details cut out, and more action wouldn't have been a bad thing. In the end, I loved this book but was dying for more in the end! Recommended for Riordan fans, those who love Riordan but find him a little long winded, and any paranormal adventure fans!! Oh how I
End Date: December 22nd
PUBLICATION: December 15th, 2011
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: YA Realistic Fiction, YA Paranormal, YA Magic
SYNOPSIS: 8th grade is hard enough as it is, but when you ahope for a sequel!dd dying to the mix, you get Constance's life.
Constance and her friends, Avery and Maria, used to be average 8th graders, trying to survive Middle School and stay away from Danielle and her boyfriend, Jonathan. But when they all get detention for being in the halls, life couldn't be worse for Constance, right? Wrong. When the group of five get caught in the crossfire of a supernatural battle,they are killed, but Tyler, who is in on the battle that killed them, saves them all. Now they carry part of the Stone to live. The price? Save the world without going insane.
REVIEW: I received this book in the GoodReads Read To Review.
As I started this book, I felt is would be interesting how the author could craft the story, that begins and reads like a Realistic Fiction, into a Paranormal adventure! The first few pages were about how Constance's friend, Maria was being bullied as Danielle watched. Nonetheless, the author pulled it off and turned the story on its head when the group was in detention. It was when the battle begun in the Botanical Greenhouses that I felt like the author was trying to write the story in a similar way to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson And The Olympians. The odd, yet humorus chapter beginnings in some, the similar idea of an average person becoming involved with supernatural and has to be the almighty saver of the world, and how a close ally turns on them all. However, Washington manages to write a magnificent story and keep her idea standing apart from Riordan's.
I was enthralled with this story, I finished it in one night and I couldn't try to sleep unless I finished it, it kept me up! But as much as I loved it, it ended wayyy too soon!!! I felt that the novel was a little too fast paced and had so much potential to stretch out and be a long yet exciting book. There were some key details cut out, and more action wouldn't have been a bad thing. In the end, I loved this book but was dying for more in the end! Recommended for Riordan fans, those who love Riordan but find him a little long winded, and any paranormal adventure fans!! Oh how I
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Start Date: December 18th
End Date: December 22nd
PUBLICATION: June 14th, 2011
STARS: N/A (read below)
GENRE: YA Contemporary, YA Horror, YA Paranormal
SYNOPSIS: In a sleepy little town in New York sits an amazing girl that everyone admires. Ruby, Chloe's older sister, is an admired citizen of the town, who every boy dreams of being at her side and every girl wishes she were. Chloe has lived with and been raised with Ruby since the day she was born. Ruby is Chloe's world. But one night at the town's legend reservoir, Chloe's life spirals out of control when she finds a dead classmate, floating in a boat on the reservoir. Now, Chloe has been sent to live with her deadbeat father in Pennsylvania and away from Ruby.
But Ruby won't take no for an answer. She'll do anything to get Chloe back. But when the "anything" gets extreme, Chloe will learn the truth about Ruby and her life and how far sisterhood can go.
REVIEW: This is one of the few books I've read in my life that I cannot justify with a starred review. There's just no right rating, and this review is so hard to write without giving something away!
As I began the book, I wasn't too sure what to expect. It had the feel of a good, gentile Contemporary/Realistic fiction book. And even with the girl, London's death, in the boat on the reservoir, it still held that image.
Until the night Chloe came back.
Everything became eery. Turns out, a girl who served Chloe beer (which I defend as entirely realistic!) was the dead girl, London! You can just hear the Twilight Zone theme play. And as the book progresses, Ruby isn't the girl you thought her to be at the beginning!
I only had a few problems with the book, and one was that you had to heavily read between the lines! I felt that so much was up in the air in the last half of the book, and you had to speculate. I was constantly having to think, So Ruby did this? Oh no, she's actually someone who does that. The other part was that there were just some sentences in this book that made little sense and needed a little editing help. However, I was too in love with Chloe and Ruby and the storyline to quit. I couldn't put the book down, no matter how horrified I became, and I was definitely horror-struck in the last 100 pages! It reminded me of the King novel Misery in the way that Ruby has such power over Chloe and even pointed it out!
This was one of the most fascinating, yet horrifying reads I've read this year. What I thought would be an innocent, soft read turned wildly out-of-control into a lovely horror. Recommended for Horror fans, and someone craving a good psychological thriller!
End Date: December 22nd
PUBLICATION: June 14th, 2011
STARS: N/A (read below)
GENRE: YA Contemporary, YA Horror, YA Paranormal
SYNOPSIS: In a sleepy little town in New York sits an amazing girl that everyone admires. Ruby, Chloe's older sister, is an admired citizen of the town, who every boy dreams of being at her side and every girl wishes she were. Chloe has lived with and been raised with Ruby since the day she was born. Ruby is Chloe's world. But one night at the town's legend reservoir, Chloe's life spirals out of control when she finds a dead classmate, floating in a boat on the reservoir. Now, Chloe has been sent to live with her deadbeat father in Pennsylvania and away from Ruby.
But Ruby won't take no for an answer. She'll do anything to get Chloe back. But when the "anything" gets extreme, Chloe will learn the truth about Ruby and her life and how far sisterhood can go.
REVIEW: This is one of the few books I've read in my life that I cannot justify with a starred review. There's just no right rating, and this review is so hard to write without giving something away!
As I began the book, I wasn't too sure what to expect. It had the feel of a good, gentile Contemporary/Realistic fiction book. And even with the girl, London's death, in the boat on the reservoir, it still held that image.
Until the night Chloe came back.
Everything became eery. Turns out, a girl who served Chloe beer (which I defend as entirely realistic!) was the dead girl, London! You can just hear the Twilight Zone theme play. And as the book progresses, Ruby isn't the girl you thought her to be at the beginning!
I only had a few problems with the book, and one was that you had to heavily read between the lines! I felt that so much was up in the air in the last half of the book, and you had to speculate. I was constantly having to think, So Ruby did this? Oh no, she's actually someone who does that. The other part was that there were just some sentences in this book that made little sense and needed a little editing help. However, I was too in love with Chloe and Ruby and the storyline to quit. I couldn't put the book down, no matter how horrified I became, and I was definitely horror-struck in the last 100 pages! It reminded me of the King novel Misery in the way that Ruby has such power over Chloe and even pointed it out!
This was one of the most fascinating, yet horrifying reads I've read this year. What I thought would be an innocent, soft read turned wildly out-of-control into a lovely horror. Recommended for Horror fans, and someone craving a good psychological thriller!
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Start Date: December 16th
End Date: December 18th
PUBLICATION: April 5th, 2011
STARS: 2
GENRE: YA Historical Fiction, YA Mystery, YA Realistic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Geeky thirteen-year-old Charlie Bucktin was the invisible kind of boy in his community, until legendary Jasper Jones comes a-knockin' on his window in the dead of night. Everyone knows Jasper Jones is a bad kid who lures other kids to help him, and everyone but the kids stay away from him. So when Jasper comes for Charlie, how could he say no? As Jasper takes Charlie to his hideaway in the Bush, he regrets coming along. Bloody and hanging by a rope, the shire president's daughter, Laura Wishart is dead, and no one but Jasper and Charlie know. The town manhunt for Laura begins and a quaint little community threatens to turn itself against each other. In this time of the Vietnam War, will the community survive, or destroy each other? Will Laura's mysterious death be put to rest?
REVIEW: Great synopsis right? I felt that way when I read the inside flap. Boy, was that misleading!
The book wrote like this; 50 pages of Laura's death and Charlie and Jasper together, 200 pages of filler about the horrible 60's community, Charlie's parents on the verge of divorce, and Charlie's tough friendship with Vietnamese teen, Jeffery Lu. Then 60 pages about how Laura's death came to be. I got the gist of the book just by reading every paragraph's first, maybe second, sentence. It was 150 pages too long.
The entire time I was reading this book, I kept comparing it to The End Of Everything by Megan Abbot (Found HERE), a book about a girl's best friend's kidnapping. It was written with a lot of filler too, but made less sense than this book. Silvey sounded disorganized and stretched everything out longer than needed be. I felt the whole murder was downplayed and was just used to be able to open a story opportunity to Silvey to write and Australian contemporary placed in the 60's. Plus I had no idea what was going on in the cricket scenes!!! Cricket!
And then there was the title. I felt like it was exactly like Lisa Shroeder's Chasing Brooklyn (HERE), making no sense or little relevance to the story. Jasper Jones really wasn't the main character, as much as Charlie was. Heck, Jeffery Lu was more a character than Jasper!
All in all, poor writing format with an odd angle. It had its moments, but I was ready to throw it at a wall when I was done. Recommended for people who understand cricket and the Vietnam war, and can take an Australian angle.
End Date: December 18th
PUBLICATION: April 5th, 2011
STARS: 2
GENRE: YA Historical Fiction, YA Mystery, YA Realistic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Geeky thirteen-year-old Charlie Bucktin was the invisible kind of boy in his community, until legendary Jasper Jones comes a-knockin' on his window in the dead of night. Everyone knows Jasper Jones is a bad kid who lures other kids to help him, and everyone but the kids stay away from him. So when Jasper comes for Charlie, how could he say no? As Jasper takes Charlie to his hideaway in the Bush, he regrets coming along. Bloody and hanging by a rope, the shire president's daughter, Laura Wishart is dead, and no one but Jasper and Charlie know. The town manhunt for Laura begins and a quaint little community threatens to turn itself against each other. In this time of the Vietnam War, will the community survive, or destroy each other? Will Laura's mysterious death be put to rest?
REVIEW: Great synopsis right? I felt that way when I read the inside flap. Boy, was that misleading!
The book wrote like this; 50 pages of Laura's death and Charlie and Jasper together, 200 pages of filler about the horrible 60's community, Charlie's parents on the verge of divorce, and Charlie's tough friendship with Vietnamese teen, Jeffery Lu. Then 60 pages about how Laura's death came to be. I got the gist of the book just by reading every paragraph's first, maybe second, sentence. It was 150 pages too long.
The entire time I was reading this book, I kept comparing it to The End Of Everything by Megan Abbot (Found HERE), a book about a girl's best friend's kidnapping. It was written with a lot of filler too, but made less sense than this book. Silvey sounded disorganized and stretched everything out longer than needed be. I felt the whole murder was downplayed and was just used to be able to open a story opportunity to Silvey to write and Australian contemporary placed in the 60's. Plus I had no idea what was going on in the cricket scenes!!! Cricket!
And then there was the title. I felt like it was exactly like Lisa Shroeder's Chasing Brooklyn (HERE), making no sense or little relevance to the story. Jasper Jones really wasn't the main character, as much as Charlie was. Heck, Jeffery Lu was more a character than Jasper!
All in all, poor writing format with an odd angle. It had its moments, but I was ready to throw it at a wall when I was done. Recommended for people who understand cricket and the Vietnam war, and can take an Australian angle.
Adventures in Funeral Crashing by Milda Harris
Start Date: December 9th
End Date: December 15th
PUBLICATION: June 16th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Realistic, YA Mystery, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: Sixteen year old Kait Lenox is known as the weird girl around school, thanks to her ex-best friend who ditched her when Kait's mother died of cancer. While trying to survive high school, she indulges in her favorite hobby- funeral crashing! She's figured out how to blend in and not get caught at a funeral, but when she crashes her latest one, who else is there but the high school hottie and her crush, Ethan Ripley! When she's caught by him, instead of ratting her out to the school, he asks for Kait's help in solving how her supposed ODed sister died. She could never say no! But will the path to finding out how Liz Ripley died put them at risk? Its worth it to Kait since Ethan knows her name!
REVIEW: This was another book picked up in a Read to Review on Goodreads.
When I first read the original synopsis, I was intrigued. I couldn't really judge much from the cover, but nonetheless, I was on a Mystery Fiction pig-out. I start the book, and I felt it was interesting, but after a few pages in, I was becoming a little disheartened by the constant teenage tone the protagonist held while telling her story in first person. Luckily, there was plenty of interesting background on Kait that I was still interested, despite the whiny tone.
As the story progresses, we're told Kait is going to another funeral about a girl who was the latest to OD on heroin at a community college. Too bad while reading the obituary, she skimmed the part that Ethan Ripley, every girl's dream boy, would be there! When it got to the part of how Kait and Ethan meet up at the funeral, I start feeling again that the story is getting too... too narrated(?) by Kait in her mind. But I continued and the theory for Liz's murder was interesting. And of course Kait joins in! You just don't say no to the hot guy at school!
The story continues at a easy continuing pace that kept me entertained! I enjoyed the many interesting theories as to how the girls were killed, Kait's relationship with Ariel, her ex-BFF, and the threats towards Kait later on, even though I was a little confused with the username deal of the online threats. The story continues on to have a grand climax and amazing plot twist that had me scratching my head, yet applauding the author for such an interesting twist. This has been definitely been the better any mystery books I've read, and I can't wait for a sequel! My only reason for 4 stars is how Teenage-ish Kait sounds and how the head dialogue can go on for a little too long, but it isn't a terrible deterrent. Reccommended for Mystery lovers, and Realistic Fiction lovers!
End Date: December 15th
PUBLICATION: June 16th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Realistic, YA Mystery, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: Sixteen year old Kait Lenox is known as the weird girl around school, thanks to her ex-best friend who ditched her when Kait's mother died of cancer. While trying to survive high school, she indulges in her favorite hobby- funeral crashing! She's figured out how to blend in and not get caught at a funeral, but when she crashes her latest one, who else is there but the high school hottie and her crush, Ethan Ripley! When she's caught by him, instead of ratting her out to the school, he asks for Kait's help in solving how her supposed ODed sister died. She could never say no! But will the path to finding out how Liz Ripley died put them at risk? Its worth it to Kait since Ethan knows her name!
REVIEW: This was another book picked up in a Read to Review on Goodreads.
When I first read the original synopsis, I was intrigued. I couldn't really judge much from the cover, but nonetheless, I was on a Mystery Fiction pig-out. I start the book, and I felt it was interesting, but after a few pages in, I was becoming a little disheartened by the constant teenage tone the protagonist held while telling her story in first person. Luckily, there was plenty of interesting background on Kait that I was still interested, despite the whiny tone.
As the story progresses, we're told Kait is going to another funeral about a girl who was the latest to OD on heroin at a community college. Too bad while reading the obituary, she skimmed the part that Ethan Ripley, every girl's dream boy, would be there! When it got to the part of how Kait and Ethan meet up at the funeral, I start feeling again that the story is getting too... too narrated(?) by Kait in her mind. But I continued and the theory for Liz's murder was interesting. And of course Kait joins in! You just don't say no to the hot guy at school!
The story continues at a easy continuing pace that kept me entertained! I enjoyed the many interesting theories as to how the girls were killed, Kait's relationship with Ariel, her ex-BFF, and the threats towards Kait later on, even though I was a little confused with the username deal of the online threats. The story continues on to have a grand climax and amazing plot twist that had me scratching my head, yet applauding the author for such an interesting twist. This has been definitely been the better any mystery books I've read, and I can't wait for a sequel! My only reason for 4 stars is how Teenage-ish Kait sounds and how the head dialogue can go on for a little too long, but it isn't a terrible deterrent. Reccommended for Mystery lovers, and Realistic Fiction lovers!
Symphony of Blood by Adam Pepper
Start Date: December 9th
End Date: December 11th
STARS: 4
GENRE: Adult Mystery, Adult Thriller, Adult Sci-Fi
REVIEW: Hank Mondale, a private P.I., is struggling financially and needs a case. Dealing with a gambling and alcohol problem and his Bookie on his back, things look bad, until a phone call comes in. A man wants his services and will pay handsomely! Little does hank realize its the city's richest guy, Thomas Blake, and he wants him to find out what's causing her daughter so much grievance, but is that the real mystery? Or is something else afoot?
This was one of the many books I've gotten out of a Goodread's group's Read To Review. I didn't know much about this book, going into it, but eventually, I caught on that it was gonna be a mystery novel, and then I got nervous. I'm not one for mystery novel, and my only history of mysteries is about 3 Nancy Drew novels and Crime Dramas. However, I was very intrigued by this mystery, even though the Sci-Fi element was a little far-fetched in the beginning. I enjoyed the beginning of Chapter 1 and how the secondary characters were really fun, and the cynical-yet-realistic attitude of Hank.
The mysterious call for Hank to take on Blake's case really had me hooked. However, bu the time it came to meet the daughter, I was skeptical. A normal 19 year old (kinda) in fits in her bathroom. I thought that part was a little unrealistic. Overall, Mackenzie's behavior was really irrational for a 19 year old and mimicked more of a 13 year old love struck for an older boy. Her whining was cute before, but got annoying in Chapter 3.
While Chapter 1 told us about Hank and his friends and how the case started, Chapter 2 is the story of how the monster came to be and what happened to "Symphony". Symphony is some alien lizard, taller than a human, who can mimic human speech and disguise itself as a human. It killed quite a few people, because it needs to eat the innards of a human to survive and keep its strength, but when Symphony is seen, killing a boy, he hunts down the girl, who ends up being Mackenzie. Mackenzie adopts the monster and names it and feeds him the gardener and business partner of Thomas. Eventually, Symphony refuses to kill someone and Mackenzie kills Symphony's pet lizard. Symphony sets out for vengeance then, but must hibernate. After hibernation, we reach the point where Hank and Symphony meet. I believe this chapter was the most intriguing than any as the way Symphony's behavior is describes is horrific yet incredible, much like a car accident in that way where you can't watch but you look between your fingers anyway.
In Chapter 3, Hank and Mackenzie are on the run from Symphony, and hide in upstate New York, but Symphony and Thomas Blake meet up there at the same time. I won't tell the ending though! However, I felt it was like a Shirley Jackson ending, which pissed me off, but in a good way. I felt the book needed to be read with a specific reader in mind, which can be tough for the author. The characters were a little 2 dimentional, but not as bad as other books, and the dialog can run on and lose readers. I felt it just needed a little editing and it would be good, but they didn't take away from the story as much as Mackenzie's whining did. Recommended for Crime Drama lovers who can handle a Sci-Fi twist.
End Date: December 11th
STARS: 4
GENRE: Adult Mystery, Adult Thriller, Adult Sci-Fi
REVIEW: Hank Mondale, a private P.I., is struggling financially and needs a case. Dealing with a gambling and alcohol problem and his Bookie on his back, things look bad, until a phone call comes in. A man wants his services and will pay handsomely! Little does hank realize its the city's richest guy, Thomas Blake, and he wants him to find out what's causing her daughter so much grievance, but is that the real mystery? Or is something else afoot?
This was one of the many books I've gotten out of a Goodread's group's Read To Review. I didn't know much about this book, going into it, but eventually, I caught on that it was gonna be a mystery novel, and then I got nervous. I'm not one for mystery novel, and my only history of mysteries is about 3 Nancy Drew novels and Crime Dramas. However, I was very intrigued by this mystery, even though the Sci-Fi element was a little far-fetched in the beginning. I enjoyed the beginning of Chapter 1 and how the secondary characters were really fun, and the cynical-yet-realistic attitude of Hank.
The mysterious call for Hank to take on Blake's case really had me hooked. However, bu the time it came to meet the daughter, I was skeptical. A normal 19 year old (kinda) in fits in her bathroom. I thought that part was a little unrealistic. Overall, Mackenzie's behavior was really irrational for a 19 year old and mimicked more of a 13 year old love struck for an older boy. Her whining was cute before, but got annoying in Chapter 3.
While Chapter 1 told us about Hank and his friends and how the case started, Chapter 2 is the story of how the monster came to be and what happened to "Symphony". Symphony is some alien lizard, taller than a human, who can mimic human speech and disguise itself as a human. It killed quite a few people, because it needs to eat the innards of a human to survive and keep its strength, but when Symphony is seen, killing a boy, he hunts down the girl, who ends up being Mackenzie. Mackenzie adopts the monster and names it and feeds him the gardener and business partner of Thomas. Eventually, Symphony refuses to kill someone and Mackenzie kills Symphony's pet lizard. Symphony sets out for vengeance then, but must hibernate. After hibernation, we reach the point where Hank and Symphony meet. I believe this chapter was the most intriguing than any as the way Symphony's behavior is describes is horrific yet incredible, much like a car accident in that way where you can't watch but you look between your fingers anyway.
In Chapter 3, Hank and Mackenzie are on the run from Symphony, and hide in upstate New York, but Symphony and Thomas Blake meet up there at the same time. I won't tell the ending though! However, I felt it was like a Shirley Jackson ending, which pissed me off, but in a good way. I felt the book needed to be read with a specific reader in mind, which can be tough for the author. The characters were a little 2 dimentional, but not as bad as other books, and the dialog can run on and lose readers. I felt it just needed a little editing and it would be good, but they didn't take away from the story as much as Mackenzie's whining did. Recommended for Crime Drama lovers who can handle a Sci-Fi twist.
Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
Start Date: November 28th
End Date: December 8th
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Contemporary, YA Realistic, YA Crime
REVIEW: When you're a 16 year old who's not understood and in love, what do you do? That's Kid's situation. Kid's has been kicked out of his house by his father, who expects the perfect child, and has fallen in love with Felix, a homeless, heroin addict with a voice like no other. Kid loves to lose himself in Felix's voice and music, but when Felix dies, Kid vows to never love again. However, when the next summer comes around, Scout drops into his life with the old posted Felix and Kid made last summer for a guitarist, and when she plays a little, Kid falls head over heels for her. They are a perfect duo for each other and they have the whole summer for themselves. What could go wrong? Everything.
After being caught and arrested in Fish's bar, Kid's friend who lets Kid use her basement, he's brought down to be interrogated about the warehouse fire that burned for days and destroyed the historical landmark, but did Kid do it? Everyone but Kid believes so. How do you convince people that, while you were there at the time of the fire, you didn't to it? How do you convince your parents, including the father who kicked his own kid out of the house, that you're not a criminal? And how do you hold on to the one you love without being hurt again?
Brooklyn, Burning is an interesting contemporary work, to say the least. The most interesting piece of this work is how Kid is never explicitly identified as a gender. Kid is just Kid, which really changes the focus on this book as not just a romance/mystery novel, but a perception of homeless LGBTQ kids. To me, Kid isn't just a character, Kid is a euphemism for LGBTQ kids, who commonly face homelessness because of their parents, which is definitely an unknown topic in society.
That being said, I'm not to sure what the warehouse fire importance is. It was a true event that happened in Brooklyn, but the only guess I could make is common police bias towards teens, especially homeless ones, those who drink alcohol, and LGBTQ, which enough cop shows convey to society already.
Kid's parents really irked me in this book. Kid's father just reminded me of the ignorant people in the world about LGBTQ and how he wasn't accepting of how his child could be different and not like him. I could rag on the father forever, but the mother was a different story. She was just ignorant, period. She didn't know that Kid's father kicked him out! She didn't know that Kid was thrown a duffel bag and told to get out by her husband! My jaw dropped when Kid was telling her mother about him being kicked out, and she had NO IDEA!!! It makes me wonder how often THAT happens!
The way the other secondary characters were portrayed by Brezenoff was interesting as well. Konny is made to be a teenage slut, if you will, who will sleep with a lot of people. In the beginning, Kid describes her as such, but shes not made out to be a stereotypical slut who's is dumb as dirt and loves sex. She's actually important to Kid's life and is intelligent. I believe this is more realistic of people similar to this life, and society is quick to judge that they don't know how to do anything else but "whore around" when in reality, they're just as bright as the next person, if not more.
Jonny, who isn't Konny's brother (I thought that because of the names), is a fun-loving guy, who, to me, is like a modern hippie, who loves people and life. He greats you with a smile and open arms and knows how to care for Kid.
Fish is the bar owner where Kid and Scout hang out and used to be the place they Kid and Felix played for. Fish ends up to be like Kid's second mother. She may scold him from time to time, but she cares for him like a son. Fish is more the motherly, adult character the book needs, so the book isn't just about a bunch a misfits, plus the setting is necessary for the flashbacks and to compare Felix and Scout.
I really did enjoy this book, but I give it 4 stars because I got confused as to who set the fire, and how Felix and Kid's relationship came to be and work. Also, it was written in 2nd person, which I applaud Brezenoff for taking on as it definitely added a more intimate touch between the scenes of Kid and Scout, but is such an underused style of writing that many people have a hard time grasping it. Recommended for Contemporary lovers.
End Date: December 8th
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Contemporary, YA Realistic, YA Crime
REVIEW: When you're a 16 year old who's not understood and in love, what do you do? That's Kid's situation. Kid's has been kicked out of his house by his father, who expects the perfect child, and has fallen in love with Felix, a homeless, heroin addict with a voice like no other. Kid loves to lose himself in Felix's voice and music, but when Felix dies, Kid vows to never love again. However, when the next summer comes around, Scout drops into his life with the old posted Felix and Kid made last summer for a guitarist, and when she plays a little, Kid falls head over heels for her. They are a perfect duo for each other and they have the whole summer for themselves. What could go wrong? Everything.
After being caught and arrested in Fish's bar, Kid's friend who lets Kid use her basement, he's brought down to be interrogated about the warehouse fire that burned for days and destroyed the historical landmark, but did Kid do it? Everyone but Kid believes so. How do you convince people that, while you were there at the time of the fire, you didn't to it? How do you convince your parents, including the father who kicked his own kid out of the house, that you're not a criminal? And how do you hold on to the one you love without being hurt again?
Brooklyn, Burning is an interesting contemporary work, to say the least. The most interesting piece of this work is how Kid is never explicitly identified as a gender. Kid is just Kid, which really changes the focus on this book as not just a romance/mystery novel, but a perception of homeless LGBTQ kids. To me, Kid isn't just a character, Kid is a euphemism for LGBTQ kids, who commonly face homelessness because of their parents, which is definitely an unknown topic in society.
That being said, I'm not to sure what the warehouse fire importance is. It was a true event that happened in Brooklyn, but the only guess I could make is common police bias towards teens, especially homeless ones, those who drink alcohol, and LGBTQ, which enough cop shows convey to society already.
Kid's parents really irked me in this book. Kid's father just reminded me of the ignorant people in the world about LGBTQ and how he wasn't accepting of how his child could be different and not like him. I could rag on the father forever, but the mother was a different story. She was just ignorant, period. She didn't know that Kid's father kicked him out! She didn't know that Kid was thrown a duffel bag and told to get out by her husband! My jaw dropped when Kid was telling her mother about him being kicked out, and she had NO IDEA!!! It makes me wonder how often THAT happens!
The way the other secondary characters were portrayed by Brezenoff was interesting as well. Konny is made to be a teenage slut, if you will, who will sleep with a lot of people. In the beginning, Kid describes her as such, but shes not made out to be a stereotypical slut who's is dumb as dirt and loves sex. She's actually important to Kid's life and is intelligent. I believe this is more realistic of people similar to this life, and society is quick to judge that they don't know how to do anything else but "whore around" when in reality, they're just as bright as the next person, if not more.
Jonny, who isn't Konny's brother (I thought that because of the names), is a fun-loving guy, who, to me, is like a modern hippie, who loves people and life. He greats you with a smile and open arms and knows how to care for Kid.
Fish is the bar owner where Kid and Scout hang out and used to be the place they Kid and Felix played for. Fish ends up to be like Kid's second mother. She may scold him from time to time, but she cares for him like a son. Fish is more the motherly, adult character the book needs, so the book isn't just about a bunch a misfits, plus the setting is necessary for the flashbacks and to compare Felix and Scout.
I really did enjoy this book, but I give it 4 stars because I got confused as to who set the fire, and how Felix and Kid's relationship came to be and work. Also, it was written in 2nd person, which I applaud Brezenoff for taking on as it definitely added a more intimate touch between the scenes of Kid and Scout, but is such an underused style of writing that many people have a hard time grasping it. Recommended for Contemporary lovers.
Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd
Start Date: November 10st
End Date: December 1st
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: Adult Memoir, Non-Fiction Feminism, Non-Fiction Sexuality
REVIEW: Its a common, horrible thing that happens everyday that so little people understand: Teenage Prostitution. In this book, the author takes us into The Life with girls' experiences, and her own.
At the age of thirteen in Europe, Lloyd had to work in factories, hiding her age, to support her alcoholic mother and herself. With no adult support and an unstable home, she eventually was led into The Life (of teenage prostitution and the selling of girls), where she struggled to find a way out. She didn't know the way out would be an American Air Base and the salvation of a rural church, and finally broke from the hold of her pimp and her past.
After spending 3 years at the base, she had decided to leave and go to America. With painful farewells, she went off to New York City, where the pain of her past would lead her to create a successful, educated life and a life-saving program for girls who were in her shoes before, called
GEMS- Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. The program had bloomed into a ground-breaking, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to educating people and saving these commercially sexually exploited girls.
Normally, Non fiction is a rare thing for me to read, but this book was nominated for a 2011 Goodreads award, and it caught my eye because of the topic. I am a strong activist when it comes to this type of stuff, and I wanted to learn more about commercially sexually exploited girls, and man, was I educated! This book is packed with how the process of "pimping" works and what happens to the minds of these girls. I will admit, it gets long-winded in some places, and it would've left many readers dry and high without her memoir ingrained into the book. That's one of the things that kept me reading, her tale on her experience in The Life, and other GEMS girls' experiences. I also enjoyed how this book was formatted in how the progression of these commercially sexually exploited girls happens, from the chapter "Risk" to "Healing", and how the book wasn't written with the sterility of some written by professionals in their field with no real-life experience, but just book knowledge.
One factor of the book really intrigued me was the police corruption towards these girls and how easily they appeared to judge these girls as "they don't want help", "they could've gotten out if they wanted to", and "they choose to do this". I was just fascinated by how quickly they judged these minors who are forced into sex, abused, raped, etc., and then charged with the act of prostitution and sent to Rikers, and how there are few officers, more likely female, who believe these girls were forced and couldn't get out of their situation, and for that, I am grateful for those few people in the force. Recommended for feminist activists, those who live in areas know for teenage prostitution, and those who are commercially sexually exploited survivors.
End Date: December 1st
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: Adult Memoir, Non-Fiction Feminism, Non-Fiction Sexuality
REVIEW: Its a common, horrible thing that happens everyday that so little people understand: Teenage Prostitution. In this book, the author takes us into The Life with girls' experiences, and her own.
At the age of thirteen in Europe, Lloyd had to work in factories, hiding her age, to support her alcoholic mother and herself. With no adult support and an unstable home, she eventually was led into The Life (of teenage prostitution and the selling of girls), where she struggled to find a way out. She didn't know the way out would be an American Air Base and the salvation of a rural church, and finally broke from the hold of her pimp and her past.
After spending 3 years at the base, she had decided to leave and go to America. With painful farewells, she went off to New York City, where the pain of her past would lead her to create a successful, educated life and a life-saving program for girls who were in her shoes before, called
GEMS- Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. The program had bloomed into a ground-breaking, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to educating people and saving these commercially sexually exploited girls.
Normally, Non fiction is a rare thing for me to read, but this book was nominated for a 2011 Goodreads award, and it caught my eye because of the topic. I am a strong activist when it comes to this type of stuff, and I wanted to learn more about commercially sexually exploited girls, and man, was I educated! This book is packed with how the process of "pimping" works and what happens to the minds of these girls. I will admit, it gets long-winded in some places, and it would've left many readers dry and high without her memoir ingrained into the book. That's one of the things that kept me reading, her tale on her experience in The Life, and other GEMS girls' experiences. I also enjoyed how this book was formatted in how the progression of these commercially sexually exploited girls happens, from the chapter "Risk" to "Healing", and how the book wasn't written with the sterility of some written by professionals in their field with no real-life experience, but just book knowledge.
One factor of the book really intrigued me was the police corruption towards these girls and how easily they appeared to judge these girls as "they don't want help", "they could've gotten out if they wanted to", and "they choose to do this". I was just fascinated by how quickly they judged these minors who are forced into sex, abused, raped, etc., and then charged with the act of prostitution and sent to Rikers, and how there are few officers, more likely female, who believe these girls were forced and couldn't get out of their situation, and for that, I am grateful for those few people in the force. Recommended for feminist activists, those who live in areas know for teenage prostitution, and those who are commercially sexually exploited survivors.