Publisher: Two Dollar Radio Page Count: 172 Fiction Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Paranormal Dates Read: June 28-29, 2015 Summary It's the 90s in the Pacific-Northwest, and the music scene is killing, but so are meth and vampires. A rouge group of hobo vampire junkies are riding the rails and roaming the streets looking for their next hit. We follow the journey of a young woman who is running with these junkie vampires. A young woman who is running away from an unsatisfying life looking for her years missing foster sister. Review I wanted to like this. I really did. But, WTF just assaulted my eyes and brain?!?! I was immediately pulled into this book by the cover art (yes, I judged this book by it's cover), but even the synopsis seemed intriguing. The killer of this book was the writing and the delivery of the story. I think if you stripped this down and reorganized it, this could be excellent. I felt like I was in a drugged-up haze trying to keep up with the nonsense between the covers. The story was lackluster and confusing, to say the least. Imagine Twilight, but it's darker, grittier, and has fewer emotionally abusive relationships, but takes place in the 90s, and that's what The Orange Eats Creeps is. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 4 Pace - 5 Plot Development - 3 Characters - 4 Enjoyability - 3 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 6 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 2 out of 5 stars
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Publisher: Vintage Books Page Count: 400 Fiction Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Japanese Lit., Sci-fi, Dates Read: June 18-28, 2015 Summary Meet the man with no name. He has a good job, but he's curious. He knows there is more out there than the government is willing to share. A war is coming, but nobody can see it. Many people are searching for the man. Meet the professor, a mad man filled with incredible genius, and his granddaughter, a beautiful, cunning woman who is just as smart as her grandfather, in her own way. These family duo pull the man into their crazy war before the end of the world happens. Review This was my first Murakami book. Consider me blown away. The story was outstanding and the writing just beautiful. Reading this book made me feel like I was on some sort of lucid acid trip. Murakami creates a beautiful world that is very realistic, yet full of sci-fi adventure. The book itself is a bit dense, and can get confusing at times, but it was well worth the read. The translation was done smoothly which made reading it less of a chore. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 8 Pace - 7 Plot Development - 9 Characters - 9 Enjoyability - 9 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 5 out of 5 stars Publisher: Vintage Books Page Count: 288 Fiction Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Horror, Suspense Dates Read: June 17-23, 2015 Summary Dexter Morgan is the perfect brother, son, neighbor, employee, boyfriend, and friend. Except that Dexter has a dark passenger that hungers for death. Dexter works as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, along with his up and coming detective sister, Deb. By day, Dexter seems like everyone else, but maybe a bit more shy. What nobody, except his deceased adoptive father, Harry, knows, is that Dexter kills people. Harry say this in Dexter when he was very young and trained him to kill only those people who deserved it - people who were murderers in their own right, and who had been unable to be caught and convicted through legal ways. Harry, the detective, taught his son to clean up after himself, and to never get caught, and how to be purposeful and plan. Review It's interesting how similar yet different this was from the first season of the TV show Dexter. Lindsay has great prose, and the book allowed me to glimpse further into Dexter's dark passenger and thoughts, but overall the characters were not well developed. Because this is only book 1 on a series of Darkly Dreaming Dexters, it is possible that these characters grow as Lindsay's works grow. There were some big character and ending changes that happened between this book and the series, so it's almost like these two pieces of work are separate entities, with similar plot lines. This version of Dexter was less composed than Michael C. Hall creates in the show, and this version always seems like he's just barely hanging on to the edge of reality. I am unsure if this is a solo read for me, or if I will continue with the series. I am curious how the other books like up with the show though. This book was primarily season 1, so I wonder if they all follow that; one book per season. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 6 Pace - 5 Plot Development - 6 Characters - 8 Enjoyability - 7 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 6 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 stars Publisher: Penguin Group Page Count: 446 Fiction Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Medieval, Adventure Dates Read: June 15-18, 2015 Summary This is the story of Katla, a thrall (a slave). Set in Greenland, we learn right away about the brutal rape of Katla by her master's son. A rape that left her maimed and nearly destroyed. Thorbjorg, a seer, takes the beaten and pregnant Katla in. Thorbjorg becomes a surrogate mother to Bibrau, the baby produced by the rape. Katla is so fractured by her assualt that she cannot even look at her own daughter, because all she sees in the evil of her father. Bibrau is a smart and beautiful child, whom Thorbjorg trains in the Shamanic arts. No matter what Thorbjorg does, it does not stop the immense hate and evil that builds inside of Bibrau. A Thrall's Tale is the story of Katla, as told from the different perspectives of these women. Review This book is brutal. It is nightmarishly graphic in details, especially surrounding Katla's rape, and several deaths throughout the book. The book also has a lot of difficult prose. It is beautifully written, but at times I found it difficult to follow. There were numerous points where I had troubles keeping my attention to the book. There were moments that captivated me, and I couldn't put the book down, but then it was followed by moments of sheer boredom, where I considered skipping pages to move the story along quicker. Lindbergh spent 10 years researching for this book, and I have to commend her for her dedication to be genuine and authentic to history. However, it did not feel like she spent enough time developing her characters. Katla was the only character I cared about. Maybe that was out of sympathy for her situation, or maybe it's because Thorbjorg and Bibrau did not give you anything to love. Overall I liked this book. It was a challenge to get through, but I always like a good challenge. I will most likely never pick this book up again, but I do not regret reading it. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 4 Plot Development - 5 Characters - 6 Enjoyability - 8 Insightfulness - 8 Ease of Reading - 5 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars Publisher: Harper Trophy Page Count: 198 Fiction Genre: Historical, Children's, Classic Dates Read: June 16-17, 2015 Summary Laura, Mary, Carrie, Ma, Pa, and their dog Jack live in woods in Wisconsin. Laura leads us through the journey of daily life living in the Wisconsin backwoods, where the nearest neighbor is miles away, and her closest friends are her sisters, Jack, and the wildlife that surrounds them. Review Reviewing this one is difficult. I loved the Little House series when I was a child; it was one of my favorites. I would have adventures on the farm trying to recreate the adventures of the Ingalls family. It was magical and I was mesmerized by it. However, reading this as an adult, that magic is long gone. This is a great series for any young child (primary school aged) to read. They will enjoy reading about life in the 1800s and what it was like to be a child back then. If you did not read this as a child, and as an adult you are choosing to take a dive into the books, you might find yourself a bit bored. The writing is pretty basic, because it is geared towards a younger audience. The characters and situations are not deeply developed, but it is a light, quick, and fun read. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 6 Pace - 7 Plot Development - 6 Characters - 6 Enjoyability - 6 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 stars Publisher: Harper Collins Page Count: 526 Fiction genre: YA, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, fantasy, Romance, Adventure Dates Read: June 16-17, 2015 Summary We find ourselves back in dystopian Chicago, as Tris, Four, and the rest of the faction members just learned the truth about their factions and the Divergent. The Faction System has been torn apart, and it is now up to the members to decide how to move forward. Violence and power struggles are everywhere; no one is safe. Now they are looking past their city limits to see what the rest of the world has to offer. Review I apologize to anyone who loves this series. I just do not understand. I struggled to find many positive things with this. The premise of this story is so loosely put together that it falls in on itself. From book one, it if full of plot holes, and is filled with misused words and scientific theory. If a writer is going to use genetics as a premise for their books, they may want to do some research about it and make sure they know what they're talking about. The most scientifically accurate thing about this, was in book 2 (?) when the characters talk about "entropy" and how watered down and basic the explanation was. The watered down and basic statement was spot on. It's frustrating to read. It's even more frustrating to read as Roth haphazardly guesstimates what genetics are and how they work. Don't even get me started on the constantly changing personalities of Tris and Four. They were poorly developed to begin with, and then it seemed like they were different people in each book. This could make sense if there was a good amount of time for the characters between the books, but the stories run fairly consecutively, with no more than a few weeks between books. The relationship between the two was just as bad. It was inadequately developed and we are just supposed to believe that this is the most magical thing to have ever happened on the face of the earth. It felt like half of the book was just them making out - I know I've said this before ... Nothing changed. Tris never trusted Four or their relationship, and constantly went behind his back, expecting that he'd love her enough to over look her behaviors. Four was just as bad with the secret keeping and brooding silence. The ending. What the ... Seriously, what happened? I give Roth so many props for having the courage to end the series the way she did; not many authors would go down that route, and for that I commend her. Even though I had a lack of attachment to these books and characters. Tris, Four, Caleb, Peter, Christina, and the true fans of the Divergent series deserved better than what was delivered. There was a lot of promise at the end of book two. Roth could have done a lot of things with this, and made a great end of the series. However, I believe that Roth could only see the dollar signs in front of her, and decided that taking a shit on the pages was good enough for her readers. This series was terrible. If any of you know me, you know how much I despise the Twilight series, but I would rather have to reread those books every 6 months for the rest of my life, than have to ever lay eyes on this series again. I am ashamed for the week of my life I wasted reading this series. This series, and in particular, this book was a bunch of horseshit. I'm going to go drink some tea and calm down. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 6 Pace - 5 Plot Development - 2 Characters - 2 Enjoyability - 3 Insightfulness - 1 Ease of Reading - 5 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 1 out of 5 stars Publisher: Villard Page Count: 128 Fiction Genre: Graphic Novel, Comic, Art, Fantasy, Horror, Adventure Dates Read: June 16, 2015 Summary Boy is snatched from his room in the middle of the night. The Boogeyman is to blame. He has a plan and he needs the boy. Boy's toys and puppy were unable to stop him. Max, Boy's favorite stuffed bear put up a tough fight. But now is the time for Boy's faithful toys and puppy to march through the closet and into the Land of Dark to save him. Review Creepy. Brilliant. Beautiful. These are the best words to describe this book. I used to be afraid of the boogeyman when I was a child. I was afraid that one night he would come out of my closet and take me away. To see my childhood fears put into a book like this is almost too real, and is a perfect balance of creepy and awesome. The plot of this story is fairly original. Think of it like a dark and demented version of Toy Story, except of the toys battling against Sid, they're battling the Boogeyman and his minions. To round out this amazing story, is extraordinary illustrations. The graphics are wonderful. the illustrators have created two distinct styles, one, as the toys are toys inside of Boy's room, and the other, when they transform into real people and animals after entering the Land of Dark. This was very well executed and created. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 7 Plot Development - 7 Characters - 8 Enjoyability - 9 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - 10 Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars |
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