Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
A New Online Bargain Bookstore!
Hey all!
Bookoutlet.com just opened another online bookstore with a new 3D reading experience! It's pretty awesome! Go check it out!
Bookoutlet.com just opened another online bookstore with a new 3D reading experience! It's pretty awesome! Go check it out!
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Clean Teen Publishing!
Hey everyone! Go to Crimson Tree Publishing and check out their giveaway! Plus, they've got great books to discover!
Thursday, November 27, 2014
A confusing (and tedious) existentialism novel that is blissfully short.
"Superunknown: Of Fairytales and Grunge
By: G.C. Huxley
Published: July 7, 2014
138 pages
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Source Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Okay, I would normally start a review out by giving by telling you what the book was about, but I'm not going to do that this time. The reason for this is because I have no idea! This book was extremely confusing. It kind of just jumped right on in without any buildup whatsoever. The prologue made you think, "Okay. So the prologue is the buildup." But then you start reading the first chapter and it seemed like the prologue was there for no reason whatsoever. (Don't worry; at the very end, and I mean the very end, of the book you find out what the whole point of the prologue was.)
So I'm just going to give a few thoughts on this book. First of all, the book is written in first person POV by a teenage girl named Emily, called Em. Em constantly said the word "whilst": "..whilst I'm in mid-thought.."; "..whilst we casually watch the students.."; "..whilst the fireworks exploding behind us.."; "..whilst almost laughing with myself.."; "..whilst typing on the keyboard..". It was in the book 36 times in a 138 page book. Now I don't know about you, but when I was a teenage girl, the word "whilst" was not in my vocabulary.
One of the main characters in the book was names Eido and Em would constantly call him "Eidiot". Now I really have no idea why, but for some reason this aggravated me. She would call him and Eidiot both to herself and to other people and when she specifically called him an Eidiot to one of the characters (who is only known as the Strange Old Man) he acted as if he heard people being called an Eidiot all the time. I honestly have no idea why, but the lack of reaction from anyone when Em referred to Eido as and Eidiot confused me. Most of these people, especially the Strange Old Man, seemed to adore and practically worship Eido. If someone I adored was called an Eidiot, I would definitely have something to say about it.
Please don't get me wrong; I didn't hate the book. There were aspects of it that I really liked. For example, this book was set in the 1990's, though sometime after 1994, as Em's friend Maddie told Em that Kurt Cobain had killed himself. I was a 90's kid. I started high school in the late 1990's, so I vividly remember (and deeply miss) the grunge age. The author mentioned numerous band from my childhood; Nirvana, Soundgarden, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M. While Em and Maddie were walking down the street, they were drinking Jolt Cola (Remember that? Crazy stuff!) and passed by a movie theatre that was showing The Crow and Clerks. They went into a record store that was selling cassettes alongside CD's. I was thrilled to be reading about all of this; I taking a walk down memory lane. One of the quotes from the books said it all: "Grunge is apparently the music of now, of our generation.." Yes, it was. And I miss it.
I also must say that I was rather jealous of Em's high school; they got recess! For me, elementary school marked the end of that blissful half hour.
Overall, I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought, and hoped, that I would. It was very difficult to follow; characters would have conversations that either made no sense to begin with or would jump topics so quickly that you couldn't follow along.
Now, please keep in mind that this rating and review are of my own opinion. You may very well enjoy books with an existentialism theme. If you do, then this book is definitely for you, I, however, do not normally enjoy books with philosophical undertones. But again, that's just me. Luckily, it was only 138 pages.
By: G.C. Huxley
Published: July 7, 2014
138 pages
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Source Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Okay, I would normally start a review out by giving by telling you what the book was about, but I'm not going to do that this time. The reason for this is because I have no idea! This book was extremely confusing. It kind of just jumped right on in without any buildup whatsoever. The prologue made you think, "Okay. So the prologue is the buildup." But then you start reading the first chapter and it seemed like the prologue was there for no reason whatsoever. (Don't worry; at the very end, and I mean the very end, of the book you find out what the whole point of the prologue was.)
So I'm just going to give a few thoughts on this book. First of all, the book is written in first person POV by a teenage girl named Emily, called Em. Em constantly said the word "whilst": "..whilst I'm in mid-thought.."; "..whilst we casually watch the students.."; "..whilst the fireworks exploding behind us.."; "..whilst almost laughing with myself.."; "..whilst typing on the keyboard..". It was in the book 36 times in a 138 page book. Now I don't know about you, but when I was a teenage girl, the word "whilst" was not in my vocabulary.
One of the main characters in the book was names Eido and Em would constantly call him "Eidiot". Now I really have no idea why, but for some reason this aggravated me. She would call him and Eidiot both to herself and to other people and when she specifically called him an Eidiot to one of the characters (who is only known as the Strange Old Man) he acted as if he heard people being called an Eidiot all the time. I honestly have no idea why, but the lack of reaction from anyone when Em referred to Eido as and Eidiot confused me. Most of these people, especially the Strange Old Man, seemed to adore and practically worship Eido. If someone I adored was called an Eidiot, I would definitely have something to say about it.
Please don't get me wrong; I didn't hate the book. There were aspects of it that I really liked. For example, this book was set in the 1990's, though sometime after 1994, as Em's friend Maddie told Em that Kurt Cobain had killed himself. I was a 90's kid. I started high school in the late 1990's, so I vividly remember (and deeply miss) the grunge age. The author mentioned numerous band from my childhood; Nirvana, Soundgarden, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M. While Em and Maddie were walking down the street, they were drinking Jolt Cola (Remember that? Crazy stuff!) and passed by a movie theatre that was showing The Crow and Clerks. They went into a record store that was selling cassettes alongside CD's. I was thrilled to be reading about all of this; I taking a walk down memory lane. One of the quotes from the books said it all: "Grunge is apparently the music of now, of our generation.." Yes, it was. And I miss it.
I also must say that I was rather jealous of Em's high school; they got recess! For me, elementary school marked the end of that blissful half hour.
Overall, I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought, and hoped, that I would. It was very difficult to follow; characters would have conversations that either made no sense to begin with or would jump topics so quickly that you couldn't follow along.
Now, please keep in mind that this rating and review are of my own opinion. You may very well enjoy books with an existentialism theme. If you do, then this book is definitely for you, I, however, do not normally enjoy books with philosophical undertones. But again, that's just me. Luckily, it was only 138 pages.
An odd fantasy adventure.
"The First"
By: Lisa M. Green
Published: February 25, 2014
326 pages
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Source Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. It might be just me, it probably is just me, but I was confused by this book. With a lot of books that are set in a different world with different laws and ways of living, the authors at least explain a little what the world is like and how the world works.
Not with this book. With this book. I was very confused about how the world Ms. Green created worked. I was confused on who the Shadows were, on how their marriage practices worked, and especially on how their hierarchy worked. I understood that the Primaries were in charge, but there were so many of them that I wondered how they came to any sort of decision. It was several chapters into the book before I finally started to understand how the world worked at all.
From the very beginning of the book, you knew that something was wrong, that there was a lot going on in their little village that didn't usually happen. The people's acceptance of their leaders, the Primaries, insistence that nothing was wrong, that everything was just fine, angered me. In a world where it seemed survival alone was extremely difficult, these things that were happening, and they were very large, very important things, would have made me question everything and everyone. I don't think that I could have stood by and just believed what the Primaries said just because they had never led us astray before. There's a first time for everythingttttiuuu. . And who knows, they could have been lying about everything for a very long time; they were just very good at covering it up.
I did like the protagonist, Rinni, and I very much liked her great-mother (grandmother) Ganni and her mate, Brahdon. They reacted much the same way that I would have. Her twin brother was a little hesitant, but I think that it was because he was just more cautious and he wanted to think things through before he just believed whatever anyone told him. Even if the person telling him these things was his twin sister. I did like that about him very much.
Overall, I found many parts of this book slow, tedious and very confusing, it is definitely the kind of book that you need to read all the way through in order to understand everything that was happening. It's not the kind of book that I normally would read, although the description made it sound like it was exactly the kind of book I would read. Unfortunately, it wasn't. It was far too slow and confusing for most of the book. But like I said, maybe it was just me.
By: Lisa M. Green
Published: February 25, 2014
326 pages
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Source Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. It might be just me, it probably is just me, but I was confused by this book. With a lot of books that are set in a different world with different laws and ways of living, the authors at least explain a little what the world is like and how the world works.
Not with this book. With this book. I was very confused about how the world Ms. Green created worked. I was confused on who the Shadows were, on how their marriage practices worked, and especially on how their hierarchy worked. I understood that the Primaries were in charge, but there were so many of them that I wondered how they came to any sort of decision. It was several chapters into the book before I finally started to understand how the world worked at all.
From the very beginning of the book, you knew that something was wrong, that there was a lot going on in their little village that didn't usually happen. The people's acceptance of their leaders, the Primaries, insistence that nothing was wrong, that everything was just fine, angered me. In a world where it seemed survival alone was extremely difficult, these things that were happening, and they were very large, very important things, would have made me question everything and everyone. I don't think that I could have stood by and just believed what the Primaries said just because they had never led us astray before. There's a first time for everythingttttiuuu. . And who knows, they could have been lying about everything for a very long time; they were just very good at covering it up.
I did like the protagonist, Rinni, and I very much liked her great-mother (grandmother) Ganni and her mate, Brahdon. They reacted much the same way that I would have. Her twin brother was a little hesitant, but I think that it was because he was just more cautious and he wanted to think things through before he just believed whatever anyone told him. Even if the person telling him these things was his twin sister. I did like that about him very much.
Overall, I found many parts of this book slow, tedious and very confusing, it is definitely the kind of book that you need to read all the way through in order to understand everything that was happening. It's not the kind of book that I normally would read, although the description made it sound like it was exactly the kind of book I would read. Unfortunately, it wasn't. It was far too slow and confusing for most of the book. But like I said, maybe it was just me.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Everybody needs a good romance every now and then! (Plus, there's ice skating!)
"Crossing the Ice" (Ice #1)
By: Jennifer Comeaux
Published: August 2, 2014
308 Pages
Source Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Now, I usually go for the young adult fantasy and paranormal books, but who doesn't like a good old-fashioned romance every now and then? And watching the ice skating portion of the Olympics is a guilty pleasure. Let's start with a synopsis.
Courtney is an ice skater who has been preparing for pair skating in the Olympics with her partner Mark for 9 years since she was 12 and he was 14. At the beginning of the book, this year is her last shot as she is about to start college and Mark is planning on getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend and working in his father's auto-repair shop. Their trainers, a married couple named Emily (Em) and Sergei, take on as their new students Stephanie and Josh, a brother-sister pair skating team that is are from LA, rich and Courtney's (she's called Court in the book) and Mark's main competitors. Stephanie is your average rich girl- snobby, selfish and just a real bitch. Josh is her polar opposite. (Please pardon the pun.) He's kind, sensitive and talented in pretty much everything he does. (Except he can barely draw a stick figure.) This also happens to be Stephanie's and Josh's last shot at the Olympics as Josh will be headed to law school the next year and then to his secured spot at his father''a law firm in LA and Stephanie will be doing what she does best, being a snobby mean girl. Courtney and Josh end up falling for each other and try to fight it as both try to out the other on their way to secure the one open spot on the pairs-skating Olympic team.
I loved Courtney. She was strong, determined and very talented. She worked nights as a bartender at a local restaurant in Cape Cod (where they all lived) and spent the rest of her time training. She lived with Em and Sergei after her parents moved to Boston when her dad got laid off and had to find another job. She loved to help out Em and Sergei by babysitting their toddler twins, Quinn and Alex, even though she was exhausted with her full schedule.
Josh, her love interest, is what I consider to be every girl's dream guy- kind, sensitive, talented, rich and hot. You could tell early on that he was very much into Courtney, even though it took Courtney a lot longer then it did me to see it. It probably didn't help that her skating partner Mark kept being paranoid and suspicious and thinking that Josh was only being nice to her so that he could distract her and sabotage their chances at the Olympic spot. If only he could have seen Josh the way I saw him. (Sigh)
Now, without giving too much away, I will tell you that while this book didn't turn out exactly the way that I wanted it to, it did have a happy ending. And I am very pleased with the way Ms. Comeaux ended it. She gave me closure yet still left it open for a sequel, which can't be an easy task to do! Overall, I loved this book. It kept me wanting to read more and reaffirmed my belief that everyone should read a romance novel at least once in awhile, even if it's not your normal genre. Great job, Ms. Comeaux!
By: Jennifer Comeaux
Published: August 2, 2014
308 Pages
Source Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way does this affect either my review or my rating.
Now, I usually go for the young adult fantasy and paranormal books, but who doesn't like a good old-fashioned romance every now and then? And watching the ice skating portion of the Olympics is a guilty pleasure. Let's start with a synopsis.
Courtney is an ice skater who has been preparing for pair skating in the Olympics with her partner Mark for 9 years since she was 12 and he was 14. At the beginning of the book, this year is her last shot as she is about to start college and Mark is planning on getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend and working in his father's auto-repair shop. Their trainers, a married couple named Emily (Em) and Sergei, take on as their new students Stephanie and Josh, a brother-sister pair skating team that is are from LA, rich and Courtney's (she's called Court in the book) and Mark's main competitors. Stephanie is your average rich girl- snobby, selfish and just a real bitch. Josh is her polar opposite. (Please pardon the pun.) He's kind, sensitive and talented in pretty much everything he does. (Except he can barely draw a stick figure.) This also happens to be Stephanie's and Josh's last shot at the Olympics as Josh will be headed to law school the next year and then to his secured spot at his father''a law firm in LA and Stephanie will be doing what she does best, being a snobby mean girl. Courtney and Josh end up falling for each other and try to fight it as both try to out the other on their way to secure the one open spot on the pairs-skating Olympic team.
I loved Courtney. She was strong, determined and very talented. She worked nights as a bartender at a local restaurant in Cape Cod (where they all lived) and spent the rest of her time training. She lived with Em and Sergei after her parents moved to Boston when her dad got laid off and had to find another job. She loved to help out Em and Sergei by babysitting their toddler twins, Quinn and Alex, even though she was exhausted with her full schedule.
Josh, her love interest, is what I consider to be every girl's dream guy- kind, sensitive, talented, rich and hot. You could tell early on that he was very much into Courtney, even though it took Courtney a lot longer then it did me to see it. It probably didn't help that her skating partner Mark kept being paranoid and suspicious and thinking that Josh was only being nice to her so that he could distract her and sabotage their chances at the Olympic spot. If only he could have seen Josh the way I saw him. (Sigh)
Now, without giving too much away, I will tell you that while this book didn't turn out exactly the way that I wanted it to, it did have a happy ending. And I am very pleased with the way Ms. Comeaux ended it. She gave me closure yet still left it open for a sequel, which can't be an easy task to do! Overall, I loved this book. It kept me wanting to read more and reaffirmed my belief that everyone should read a romance novel at least once in awhile, even if it's not your normal genre. Great job, Ms. Comeaux!
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