The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick - 5 stars

Wow another great piece of story telling buy Selznick. I actually just picked this book up for our local UBS and could not wait to read it. Brian Selznick is an auto buy and auto read for me. His stories, that are told in both illustrations and words, never cease to amaze me. They wrap me up and sweep me away every time I read one of them. His words and illustrations are always so engaging and exciting.

Synopsis
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

The plot of the story of course is heartwarming, adventurous, exciting and even a bit mysterious. I can not think of anything else that could have been added to the story. I can guarantee it will sweep you away and you will be so completely enthralled with Hugo's world and lifestyle that you will never want to leave the beauty and excitement you find there. The illustrations are all done buy the author and they are such wonderful pencil sketches. The writing itself is so fluid and easy to follow while the illustrations also tell this beautiful story as well. Such a great experience every time I turn the pages.

The characters are fantastic and developed so well. They all have such great individual personality and when you meet them, you will feel as though you know them in real life. The illustrations make them all come to life so well. Hugo is now one of my all time favorite characters after reading this book. He just shines through and makes such a wonderful impression on those who get the pleasure of reading this book.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE! I feel like everyone should experience the world of Brian Selznick because if you don't you are really missing out on a true treasure. His works can affect everyone, every age. So if you have not read anything by Selznick please do.

Above the Sky - Jenny Lynne - 4 stars

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not real sure about this books since it does have that Dystopian feel, but surprisingly I enjoy the book A LOT! I found it to be very engaging, and very fluid.
Synopsis
HER FIRST EIGHTEEN YEARS WERE FILLED WITH LIES.
SHE IS ABOUT TO DISCOVER THE TRUTH.

Eighteen-year-old Seven and her best friend, Ten, live where all is peaceful ... except for the violent war raging above the sky. Lifelike humanoid robots and self-operated drones tend to everyone's needs, leaving people free to spend their time stimulating their minds and enjoying life's pleasures. But there are strict rules and few choices.

Every year, on Assignment Day, the path of each eighteen-year-old's life is laid out. Some are given the jobs for which they have shown exceptional aptitude and are "paired" for mating. The others are sent off to fight in The War and never return.

When Assignment Day comes for Seven, the assignments shatter everything she's ever believed. The rules force everyone to accept their fates, but Seven decides to do something unprecedented: to go against the Decision Makers' wishes.

I really enjoyed the plot to this story, it had quite the different feel than most dystopian and that, to me, is a good thing. I also thought that the world building was good as well. There was some great imagery that allows the reader to place themselves in the story. There were some twists that were pretty awesome too. I have to say that it was pretty unpredictable because I did not expect where this story went to at all and I love that. I feel as though this was left off in a place where a sequel might come into play, so yea the story feels a bit unfinished but will be worth it if there is a sequel.

I really enjoyed the characters a lot as well, I found them to be pretty well developed and that is so important. Some of them surprised me quite a bit in the aspect of thinking that they would be different or would turn out differently than I thought they would initially. I think probably Seven and Ten were my favorite characters for obvious reasons. I think there are a lot of great characters though.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Dystopian first off, but even if there are those who don't like dystopian may be able to enjoy this one. If there are to be anymore books to make this a series, I would definitely read any of them.

The Young Elites - Marie Lu - 4 stars

I decided to read this book so that I could finish my A-Z Challenge. I have had this book for awhile now on my kindle and I had recently heard really good things about it. I am glad that I finally got to this one because I really did enjoy it. It was pretty engaging and now that I did finally read it, I want to read the next one sooner rather than later.
Synopsis
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

I really enjoyed the plot to this story. I thought that this was well thought out . I liked the world building to this one and also it has a medieval feel to the book which I thought I would not like, but I actually really did. Lots of action and excitement to wrap readers up in and get whisked away in the story. However, some of the events in this book I did not entirely agree with and it aggravated me a bit. I feel like essential elements were taken from the story.

I enjoyed most of the characters in this book. I think they were well developed and I only see them getting better with the next book. I did find that Adelina did play things very smart at times and that was really annoying to me. She made me wanna reach into the book and slap some common sense into her. I also did not really care for her poor pitiful me routine that she embraced for a lot of the story. I hope to see her use those flaws to better herself so we will see.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA Fantasy, maybe even dystopian books. It is a good read and I feel like the story will improve even more over the next books and I look forward to reading them as soon as I can get them.

Unsouled - Neal Shusterman - 5 stars

This series was recommend to me by a couple of people quite awhile ago and I am glad I decided to get started on it, I don't really care so much for Dystopian novels/series but WOW I feel like this series just gets better with each book I that read. I am loving this series so much and I am so glad that it was recommended to me. I hope to finish this series up by the end of this year. I have only one left.

I won't give a synopsis on this particular book since it is the third one in the series. This series is a Post Apocalyptic where parents are given the right to have their child unwound if they are troubled or they are not quite what the parent expect them to be up until the age of 17. Their parts are then given to people who need them. The children are told that they will not cease to exist but that they will exist in a divided state.

I love the plot of this story so much, it is told with so much depth. It is so different from normal dystopian books. I know I keep saying that but I want to stress how different it is. The storyline is very engaging, fluid, and easy to follow. The world building is amazing and the imagery really allows readers to put themselves in the story and live through the experiences that all these characters live through. I have to say that this story really makes me think, What if this could happen in reality, how would we deal with it.

I love the development of the characters as I go through each book. They transition so smoothly from one book to the next. There are plenty of characters to love and hate. I love Conner and Risa the most. I think they are strong and so motivated. They have so much on their plates to deal with right from the start, And I find myself rooting for them. Some of the characters transition in a way I o not expect and I think that keeps the story exciting.

I recommend this series to anyone who wants a little something different in the dystopian genre. I think this series is the perfect fit for that, And of course those who love dystopian would probably really enjoy this series as well. Even though I have been really enjoying this series and don't want I to end, I look forward to reading the last book and see how the author wraps things up. Pretty sure with his talent, I won't be disappointed at all. I look forward to more books by him in the future.

Kiss - Ted Dekker - 4 stars

I decided on this book to go towards my A-Z challenge. I really enjoyed this one quite a bit. The book was really engaging and had me hooked right from the start. I do think it is more plot driven than anything and has a great plot line with lots of mystery thrown in.
Synopsis
Let me tell you all I know for sure. "My name. Shauna."

I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend--how could I have forgotten him?--my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true--can it?

I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.

"And even worse, I think they want to kill me."

But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?

I found this plotline to be very exciting and also addicting. I could not put the book down. Is was very fluid and easy to follow. There was so much mystery in this story and I felt like I was Shauna trying to figure out exactly who to trust. It certainly did keep me glued to the pages. I did find though that it lacked the usual adrenalin pumping action that most of his other books have. I missed that in this one, but I think the mystery aspect is enough to make it a great story.

The characters were great. I loved Shauna and her drive, even at her lowest point she refused to give up and kept pushing forward. There are a lot of different characters to figure out in the story and plenty to both love and hate. I think they were developed well and I loved the mystery that surrounded them especially Shauna. When we go into this story we know nothing about her, then gradually we see who she is and who she becomes.

I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Ted Dekker, likes Christian fiction (Not a 'shoved down your throat' kind of Christian fiction.), or anyone who likes Mystery like I do. Those readers are sure to enjoy this book. I look forward to more of Ted Dekker's work.

Just One Look - Harlan Coben - 4 stars

I decided on this book so I could use it for my A-Z challenge since I love Harlan Coben and I have not yet been disappointed by anything that he wrote. I really enjoyed this book just as much as other ones. I love the writing style and all the mystery. He is just a pleasure to read.

Synopsis
An ordinary snapshot causes a mother’s world to unravel in an instant. After picking up her two young children from school, Grace Lawson looks through a newly developed set of photographs. She finds an odd one in the pack: a mysterious picture from perhaps twenty years ago, showing four strangers she can’t identify. But there is one face she recognizes—that of her husband, from before she knew him. When her husband sees the photo that night, he leaves their home and drives off without explanation. She doesn’t know where he’s going, or why he’s leaving. Or if he’s ever coming back. Nor does she realize how dangerous the search for him will be. Because there are others interested in both her husband’s past and that photo, including Eric Wu: a fierce, silent killer who will not be stopped from finding his quarry, no matter who or what stands in his way. Her world turned upside down, filled with doubts about her herself and marriage, Grace must confront the dark corners of her own tragic past she struggles to learn the truth, find her husband, and save her family.

I loved the plotline of this story. I found it to be very interesting and the more I read, the more intriguing it got. This one did seem a bit more complex than other Coben books with all the characters to remember and the separate plotlines as well, but it still flowed pretty well. I only really had one complaint and that is that it seemed just a little unfinished when I reached the end because it ended on questions, questions I had no answers to. Other than that, I loved the story. Lots of great twists in this one too and I loved that.

I found a lot of the characters to be very intriguing. They were each developed very well. I also liked how some of them were rather mysterious and remained that way throughout the entire story. They were both relatable and realistic. Grace was probably my favorite character, and she one of the smarter ones. She used her head before making choices. I was on the fence about Carl Vespa who plays a large role in this story and I am still not too sure what to think about him.

Overall this was a great story by a very gifted author. I would recommend this one to anyone who likes mystery or anyone who enjoys Coben's writing style. This one is a real treat!

X,Y, Z A Detective Story - Anna Katharine Green - 2 stars

I chose this short book to use for my A-Z Challenge since it would be a quick read, and it was a mystery, so I figured I would like it. But for me, it just ok really. I did not like the writing style at all, there were far too many run on sentences and that got annoying really quick. I also thought that the beginning was just a lot of nonsense and it made the story a bit confusing. It was wrote in the 1920's and I feel like writing was a lot different back then so that would explain that.

I thought that the plot was a good one and it did pick up a bit, but I found the story to be very predictable. I think the Author gave too much away throughout the story which allows readers to solve the mystery, what there was of it, rather quickly so there is no element of surprise with this one.

I did not like any of the characters. I found them to be underdeveloped and boring. This could be because it is a short book. Less than 100 pages and I could be expecting too much. I think the author could have take the story much further making the story been much better.

Enders - Lissa Price - 4 stars

I decided to read this book so that I could have an 'E' for my A-Z challenge. I was not sure how I would like this book since I found the first one was just ok for me. I have to say that I enjoyed this one much more than the first book, Starters, and that made me happy.

I wont give a synopsis of this book considering it is the sequel. In this series, there were 'spore Wars, which wiped out a lot of people. Teens, who are the Starters can rent their bodies out to Enders, older generation, to make some much needed money, Callie decided that she would so she could save her brother and this book goes on from there.

I really enjoyed the plot of this dystopian series because it was different from most others. I liked how the book flowed so much better than the first one did and it was also much more engaging. While the first book was still good, I found that this one had a lot more action and excitement. It kept me more glued top the pages.

I also liked the characters better in this book, I think they transitioned well. I felt like they were developed much better and were far more likable and realistic. Callie is probably my favorite character of all of them. I missed having Tyler in this book though. There are some great bad guys to hate as well. I think the author pulled this duology together well and I enjoyed the ending of this tale.

Dead Ringer - Jessie Rossen - 4 star

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This is also a first time read of this author as well. I am glad that I got to read this one, I found it to be a great psychological thriller.

In this book we have Laura who is new student at Englewood high. She came here it make her own fresh start, but soon Laura notice that everyone is staring at her, but these are not normal, new girl at school stares, these stares are more along the lines of 'she looks just like her...' Laura looks like a girl, Sarah Castro-Tanner, who committed suicide 2 years prior. Laura tries to go on and ignore the rumors that are fly around and then she meets the popular boy in school, Charlie. But Charlie and his friends are acting a little paranoid and soon Laura discovers that it has to do with Sarah.

I really enjoyed this story a lot. I found it so engaging and so easy to read. It is a great psychological thriller with a lot of great mystery. It had me guessing from the very first page all the way to last. It had some great plot twists too that I never expected. However, I hated the way the story ended, it is obvious that there will be a sequel, but it felt more unfinished rather than being a good cliffhanger and I did not like that, I was disappointed with that part of it.

The characters to me were evil, and I did not really like any of them. I found, in my opinion, that there were really no protagonists in this story. They all felt like antagonists to me. I find this both odd and unique at the same time because I have never really came across a book with characters like this. There were a lot of good - bad guys that you can really hate, and I am sure they will all carry over into a sequel. So be prepared to not like anyone.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery or a good psychological thriller. Because of the abrupt ending I could not rate this higher than 4, but it has great potential to be a great series.

Quenched - Mary Ann Mitchell - 1 star

I chose this book for my A-Z challenge and discovered that it was a sequel to the first book of the Marquis de Sade series. I did not feel like it read like sequel and I will not be reading any of the other books in this series.

Synopsis

An evil stalks the clubs and seedy hotels of San Francisco's shadowy underworld. It preys on the unfortunate, the outcasts, the misfits. It is an evil born of the eternal bloodlust of one of the undead, the infamous nobleman known to the ages as...the Marquis de Sade. He and his unholy offspring feed upon those who wont be missed, giving full vent to their dark desires and a thirst for blood that can never be sated. Yet while the Marquis amuses himself with the lives of his victims, with their pain and their torture, other vampires to their new lives of eternal night. And as the Marquis will soon learn, hatred and vengeance can be eternal as well undead can barely imagine.

I had expected this book to be a horror of some form and I really did not find that at all with this story. I found it to have some dark humor with a pretty unrealistic plot line. I have to admit though, some parts did make m laugh. It did however take the glamour out of Vampire stories. I try to figure out though which is the lesser of the two evils, a poorly written vampire story or one that glamorizes vampires but had an actual plot. It definitely did not make me fear vampires in the least. I feel that it had a small feel of the Anita Blake series when it came to sexual escapades. Not enough to it to really make it exciting or enjoyable. I felt that it lacked depth and this story could have been so much more. Maybe had I read the first book it would have amounted to more for me. The ending of this book was not a cliffhanger at all it just left me feeling somewhat frustrated because the story just felt unfinished and incomplete. It was like the Author decided to just stop writing.

I did not like any of the characters in this story at all, and since this is a second book I feel like they should have been much better developed than they were. I really did not find any of them to be believable, leaving them feeling very unrealistic and unrelatable. There was a mix of immortals and mortals both and at times I found it hard to decipher which was which and it also felt like the author just randomly threw in new characters and that led to some confusion trying to keep everyone straight.

I honestly can't recommend this book to anyone. I really don't think anyone I know would enjoy it. I will not be reading any of the other books in this series.

Unseen - Karin Slaughter - 5 stars

Wow another great book in the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter. Her writing is always consistent and I have not really been let down yet with her books. I have really enjoyed this whole series and this book is the last to date in the this series. I am unsure on whether or not there will be any other books in this series.

Don't want to give a synopsis on this one since it is further into the series and I feel like it could give away a little of the story. I have to say that I absolutely love the plotline to each one of these books. They are all so well written and thought out. There is always a lot of great mystery and a lot of action as well. I genuinely feel as though I am in the story and experiencing everything that is happening first hand. I find her writing so fluid and engrossing and it keeps me engaged from start to finish.

I also love the Author's ability to create such realistic and relatable characters, from the good guys to the bad guys. They are all written so well. I think that Will Trent has got to be among some of my most favorite characters and it is hard to find characters that add up to his stature. He is completely flawed and very likable I love how Will interacts with others and I love his relationship with Sarah. Everything about them is written beautifully.

Anyone who like a good mystery will love this series or Karin Slaughter's writing in general. She should be experienced by all Mystery fans. I look forward to many more of her books and series in the future.

Center of Magic - J.S. Fields - 2 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a first time read of this author for me so I was not too sure about it since it is a fantasy book.

Synopsis
Thirty years ago a spell was cast that exploded the magic in those who wielded the power and millions were consumed by fire. Countries and Governments that had grown dependent on wizards for the new arms race were left floundering and confused. Tensions rose and bled into World War III, and the world was broken by the global bombardment. Magic was thought lost forever.

Reese, a young girl of only fifteen, knows the stories and the lore. She has grown comfortable with life in the miles of caverns that make up Mammoth Cave. When Tereo, a wise traveler, arrives to weave a tale of history and fact, the pulse inside her screams out that she is meant for more. Tereo knows that Reese is the only one that can help him perform an unimaginable task. Together, along with her cousin Erik and her friend, Emily, the ragtag team set off to move the Center of Magic – and stop the gathering evil from destroying the final spark.

Dangers, both magical and mundane assault them from all sides. New faces and allies find them while betrayal lurks close. It is a journey of fantastical determination, one that sweeps this group into heights none could dream of before and into the very depths of despair.

Pulling from our own past and myths, this is an alternative history that combines lore, legend, current fiction and popular mythos to create a tale unlike any you’ve read before.

This book was just ok for me, it lacked that wow factor. I think that the plot was interesting but it seemed to lack depth. I think it flowed well and was easy to follow but parts of it seemed pretty unrealistic to me, and maybe that is the intention of the author. I would have liked to see better world building as well. I think the book is worth reading, I just feel like it could have been so much more.

I liked the characters ok. I think they were developed fairly well, but if this is a series I think they could be developed much better in future installments. I would like to have known just a bit more about them to maybe make them a bit more exciting. I do think they are likable characters but for me not very relatable.

UnWholly - Neal Shusterman - 5 stars

I had learned about this series from a couple of friends in the reading community. They talked me into wanting to read this series. I don't really enjoy the Dystopian genre all that much, but I find this series very different, unique and a little creepy as well.

I won't give a synopsis to this book since it is the second one in the series. But I will say that the craziness continues with our familiar cast of characters from the first book with some new, crazy, and dangerous people thrown into the mix for a very exciting continuation.

I LOVED this book, I enjoyed this one more than the first one if that is even possible. I love the spin that the author gave to this Dystopian series, along with a bit of creepiness, giving it a uniqueness that is not easily found in this genre. You find the government more in the backfield rather than the forefront making the story much more enjoyable. It is so very engaging, fast paced, and action packed from the minute you open the book till the moment you finish. I also love the world building and the fact that it is not futuristic but modern day, it gives it a more realistic feel.

I love the characters in this series both the ones you love and the ones you hate. I find all of our protagonists very well developed and very likable as well. I like how the newer characters are slowly introduced so that readers do not get confused as to who is who and that also adds an air of mystery to the story. Conner is definitely one of my favorite characters, I love his leadership, but also his compassion as well. I also enjoy that the antagonists make great bad guys. You have to have those characters that you love to hate. This books gives readers a healthy does of both.

I recommend this book to everyone, even those who don't like dystopian all that much, I think can enjoy this series a lot because I find it so unique. I look forward to reading the rest of this dystology in the near future. If I could rate this higher than a 5 stars, then I would.

Zombie Games: Origins - Kristen Middleton - 4 stars

I chose this book to read for my A-Z challenge and I was pleasantly surprised by the story since this was a free download for Kindle on Amazon. I expected this to be some cheesy Zombie story but it really wasn't, I liked the story a lot and it flowed very well.

Synopsis
Seventeen year old Cassandra Wild thought living in the chaos of her mother’s home daycare and dealing with her developing feelings for Bryce, her new Martial Arts’ instructor, was a struggle, until the night her world turned upside down. When an untested vaccine kills more than just a rampant flu virus, Cassie learns how to survive in a world where the dead walk, and the living…run!

I really liked the plot of this story and I liked how well it flowed. I was thoroughly engaged with the story. It read very realistically and it quite believable considering it is about a Zombie apocalypse. I found lots of actions and I enjoyed this author's style of writing. I also think this story will develop well throughout the rest of the series and will be quite interesting.

I really liked our main character Cassie. She is one tough cookie and handles herself well in a crisis, however there is a bad case of 'insta-love' but I can overlook that as long as the plot of the story is. There are some great characters in this story, both to love and hate. I look forward to their development throughout the rest of the series.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a solid zombie story. This is not over the top on blood and gore, as it is a YA so if you like less intense stories then this could work for you too. I look forward to more from his author and the rest of this series.

Never Said - Carol Lynch Williams - 3 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through Book Look Bloggers. This is a first time read for me with this author as well.

In this book we have twins Annie and Sarah. Annie is the popular girl and Sarah is the shy anxious loner. Annie is changing though, she has gained weight, chops off her hair, quits her pageants and Sarah knows something has happened to Annie when they start hanging out with each other again, and even now Annie is still the center of attention only on a different scale.

I enjoyed the plot of this story, I liked the realism of it. I found the story engaging, it flowed well nd was very easy to read. I do think there could have been a bit more depth to the story than there was though to bring up the excitement level a bit. It did have a pretty decent plot twist that I did not expect, so that was good.

The characters could have been developed little better than they were, but it was a short book s that is to be expected. I did like Annie and Sarah and found them to be pretty well grounded even though they were going through their own issues. Mom and Dad, I could have shot them both. Mom was a nagging, demanding and very critical woman and Dad was pretty non-existent most of the time as his work comes first. I could not stand either one of them and do not think they deserved to be parents.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys realism, YA or contemporary novels with relatable characters. Overall it was a pretty good read. I just think it needed a little more depth to it.

Drums of Autumn - Diana Gabaldon - 4 stars

I am reading this book along with our Outlander series read along group here on Good Reads. I am taking quite a lot of time with each book so as to savor the contents and I have loved every book so far, and I look forward to continuing with Jamie & Clair's saga. It is just a beautifully written series in my opinion.

I wont be giving a synopsis of this book since it is in the middle of the series but I can say that I thought this book started out a little slower than the others did, but I still found it interesting nonetheless. It was well worth the wait once it did pick up and the pacing was much quicker. I think it helps with a large book like this to pace yourself and take your time to absorb everything. I know I get more out of it like that. The book really did become engaging and it flowed really well. Also as with all of these books the author keeps us guessing and keeps us asking many questions.

What can I say about the characters that I have not already said in other reviews. Still very well developed, likable, and realistic. I feel as though I am a part of their lives with each new development. Readers meet new characters in this story along with all of our favorites from previous books. So many characters to both love and hate. I love how we get new perspectives of the characters when we learn new things about them. I think that keeps them exciting. I enjoy Jamie and Claire of course, but we also get to visit again with Lord John Grey as well and I loved that. I think his character is somewhat mysterious and I hope to learn more about him.

I could recommend this series to a ton of people so I am just going to recommend this to everyone. Pick it up, what do you have to lose and maybe you will even like it! I did and I still do and I am looking forward to continuing my journey with Jamie and Claire.

Hard Magic - Larry Correia - 3.5 stars

I was recommend this book by a friend, so I decided to try it out even though it is an adult fantasy and I rarely do well with this genre. I both listened to this book and read along with it which helped since I don't really like Audio all that much. The story did keep my interest, it just did not blow me away. I am glad I read it and I think there is enough here to the story for me to venture into the next one.

Synopsis
Jake Sullivan is a licensed Private Eye—with a seriously hardboiled attitude. He also possesses raw magical talent and the ability to make objects in his vicinity light as a feather or as heavy as depleted uranium, all with a magical thought. It's no wonder the G-men turn to Jake when they need someone to go after a suspected killer who's been knocking off banks in a magic-enhanced crime spree. Problems arise when Jake discovers the bad girl behind the robberies is an old friend, and he happens to know her magic is just as powerful as his, and the Feds have plunged Jake into a secret battle between powerful cartels of magic-users--a cartel whose ruthless leaders have decided that Jake is far too dangerous to live.

First off let me say that the world building was not the greatest, it was lacking a bit, which was probably the biggest problem I had with the story. I did like the plot of this story once I recognized what the plot actually was. There was a lot going on in the story and was not always easy to follow at the beginning, but it does come together. I liked the writing style of the author which helped a lot. There were also not so many characters that I got confused by who was who, as many fantasy books do and that made me happy. There was plenty of action and excitement to keep me very entertained and engaged. I have to say that this is not your normal run of the mill fantasy which is why I enjoyed it.

I found the characters to be my favorite part. This book is very character driven I think. I found them to be quite fun. They were well developed throughout the story and most were very likable as well. I really liked Jake Sullivan's character a lot. He was very flawed, gritty, and very strong willed. I also enjoyed Faye a lot as well. I was not too sure of her in the beginning but she really grew on me. There is a great cast of very unique characters in this story.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a different kind of fantasy, because this is it. Even if you don't do well with fantasy I think you would enjoy this one. I look forward to the next book in this series, Spellbound. I am giving this book a 3.5 star rating.

Criminal - Karin Slaughter - 4 stars

I have really been enjoying the Will Trent series a lot this year, and have a goal of completing all the books that are out right now. This one is book 6 which means one to go. I was eager to get started on this but when I started reading it I was not all the sure that I was going to like this one like I had the last 5.

In this book we cover Amanda's career when it first gets started in the 1970's. It was a rough run for her and Evelyn both, lots of chauvinistic men who really disapprove of women out in the field. They both still keep poking around this case of prostitutes who end up missing when one is found dead. In present day an investigation is surrounded around a local college student's disappearance, as Will begins a battle with his past.

This book did a huge turnaround for me. I found the beginning kind of slow not realizing I was going to learn so much more about Amanda and Will both, and what the 'obvious' connection is that Amanda feels toward Will. It started to really pick up for me around page 150 and then it just continued. The plotline became much more interesting to me and also very engaging and so much easier for me to get into both the past and present. It opened a lot of windows on both of their lives. I loved that because now I feel like so much more is cleared up.

Of course the characters are probably my favorite part of this series. I love the flawed and twisted roles they all play. They are all so well developed and we can love them or hate them, and they are equally enjoyed. Everyone is imperfect, but perfect for the roles they play and I love that the most. I also love learning so much more about them in this book, especially Will. I look forward to more of these characters in this last book that is out.

I recommend this book/series to anyone who loves a great mystery, to those who love flawed, twisted characters, to those who love psychological elements in a mystery. This is definitely the book for all of those mentioned, written by a very gifted writer.

Edgewise - Graham Masterton - 5 stars

I read this book as a read along with several people and this is now my third time reading it. I come to the same conclusion, Graham Masterton is an amazing writer. Even after reading it for a third time I do not find it boring or repetitive.

In this book Lily's children are taken from her by a group called FLAME which stands for Father's League Against Mother's Evil. She does not feel like the FBI are doing enough for her to get her children back and she turns to George Iron Walker who claims he can summon the Wendigo, a Native American forest spirit, who will find her children and bring that safely back to her, but it will be for a pretty high price.

This is a very quick read and a definite page turner even after reading it many times. I read this in one sitting and still loved it just as much as the first time I read it. I love that it is based on Native American folk lore, the "Wendigo". I find it to be so engaging right from page one and it is very easy to follow. Some parts of the story are very graphic though so if you are faint of heart it might not be something you want to read.

I also have some favorite characters in the book. My favorites being John Shooks, who is supposed to be "not loved by many" and then also Special Agent Nathan Kellogg. Both have great characters. Although there is not a lot of background to these characters and not the greatest character developement it is still enough to fall in love with them anyway. The main character Lily, my favorite character, has a lot on her plate to deal with, she goes through so much and never seems to give up. I love the strong, perservering type, not the defeated, whiny ones that you wanna kill yourself.

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves horror, mystery or thriller and wants a quick easy to read book that is hard to put down. It won't disappoint!

Melophobia - Jim Morris - 3 stars

I had received this book in exchange for an honest review from the Author. This is the second book I have read by this author. I did find that this book was very engaging which kept me quickly turning the pages. So it was good, it just did not WOW me.

In this book you have a world where the government controls all forms of art, and music is one form that is prohibited. Merrin, who is a 'Patrol Officer', is on the case to seek out and apprehend 'the source', a fugitive musician, so that this new world is no longer jeopardized.

I thought the premise of the story was pretty unique since there are not of too many stories about music being illegal, unless of course you include Footloose. First off, I found this story to be very fluid. It flowed really well and was pretty easy to follow. The writing style does keep you turning the pages. There was some great action scenes. However, there were some aspects of the book I found unnecessary though. I don't want to get into those so I don't spoil the story. Overall it was very well written and very entertaining.

With that said, lets talk about characters. I did not really enjoy our main character Merrin. I could not connect to her at all. To me she seemed pretty wishy washy and could not decide what she wanted or didn't want. She made some dumb mistakes along the way as well. She really does not think before she speaks. She does grow on you a bit by the time the story is over, I just wish she would have been more grounded than she was. The only character I really liked was Rowan, I think he could have been much bigger than he was in this story by playing a more influential role. I don't feel like we got to see enough of him. I would have loved to have seen much more of Rowan.

The House Jack Built - 5 stars

Another great book by one of my favorite Paranormal-horror Authors, Graham Masterton. I decided I wanted to read this for spook season because I love to read some creepy books this time of year. I knew that I would not be disappointed by this one at all.

In this book you have Craig Bellerman who stumbled across an old 1930's house named Vallhalla and he was determined to make it his, claiming the house was him. His wife Effie was discovering some pretty odd things going on in this house and she did not get good vibes from it at all, but after seeing how it gave her husband confidence she agreed to look at it and later make plans to buy it. Effie knew they were getting much more than they bargained for.

I loved the plot of this story so much. So unique and different. Something I really enjoyed about this book was that there was no random stuff just added to it. Everything had it's place and everything was backed up to make a very rich story full of creepiness and some edge of seat action. This book was also very fluid and easy to follow, with lots of great plot twists and an ending I never saw coming. It was also very interesting with it's great historical elements.

I liked how the characters evolved in this story. They were developed so very well and were very realistic and believable. I think I probably liked Effie the most of all of them. She was such a strong character and she told it how it was. I found Craig had a very unique character and I don't really want to go into why since it would spoil the story a bit, but I liked how the author wrote him, it made readers pay attention.

I recommend this to anyone who likes horror, historical or Graham Masterton stories. It is sure to soothe any lovers of these genres. Graham Masterton is a great talent.

Bird Box - Josh Malerman - 4.5 stars

I wanted to read creepy books for this month and came across this one at our local UBS and decided to get it. I had not heard a lot about the book but from a friend so I decided to just go into it blindly, and wow I am glad I did.

In this story the world is very different, something terrible has happened. There is something out there that makes people go mad and when this happens the madness takes over, killing and destruction is everywhere. Malorie and her children are left to their own devices living their lives inside an old house that has sheltered them from this madness only to go outside to get water from the well and all the while blindfolded to keep from seeing the creatures that lurk there.

Wow this book was pretty intense. I could only imagine how horrible it would be to have to go around blindfolded while outside and with children. It had such a great creepy aspect to the story not knowing what was around you, and I loved that. It makes it a great read for Halloween. The perspective changes many times from Malorie in present time and then also in the past that works it's way up to where she is now. Despite this the book stayed very fluid and easy to follow. One thing that I was a little disappointed about was that there was not a clear understanding at what these 'creatures' were. A mental image of them would have been interesting.

I really enjoyed the characters of this story, especially Malorie. She is a very strong character and she is very disciplined almost to a point of being to disciplined which can make her feel a little unrealistic at times. It could have maybe used a bit more about her and the children in the span of about 4 years that is only mentioned and not really included in the story, but it might have a added a bit more depth and we would have gotten to know her and children a little bit better.

The story is left somewhat open I think where perhaps a sequel will come into play, but it has enough closure in the chance that there is not a sequel. I recommend this to anyone who loves creepy mysterious books. Tis was a treat to read. I am rating this a 4.5 stars.

Gerald's Game - Stephen King - 4 stars

I decided to read this book for the season and I had not read it yet so I thought it would be good book to read for spook season. I am glad that I finally got to this one though because finally I found a book that creeped me out sufficiently enough.

In this book we have Jessie and her husband who get away to their cabin in a pretty remote part of Maine for some kinky play time. Jessie finds herself handcuffed to the bed and before things take off in a way she is not comfortable her husband dies leaving her there in a very compromising situation. While thinking that is worse thing that could happen, Jessie soon discovers that it is not.

At first while reading this I did not understand all of these flashbacks in the book, and kinda threw me off because I did not see the importance of them, but it was made pretty clear to me that they are a very important part of the story. I also thought that our main character was not always very smart and I was made to realize a lot of the things she did or did not do was directly affected by the fact that she was handcuffed to the bed causing some restrictions that she would normally not have. Once I got head wrapped around the story it made for a pretty creepy read, and when I can find a story to creep me out I find that refreshing. I liked how King strings along the readers almost to the breaking point until finally there is some relief. I also did not expect the ending to this book. There may be some scenes in this book that people will not care for but I feel like they do well to define the person Jessie is in this story.

Now onto our character Jessie. I don't think she is a very smart person, again, her situation is a huge part of that, so I can be lenient on her in that aspect. I think she has pretty good development due to her flashbacks because it explains a lot about her and her personality and why she is the way she is. I liked her and I found that I could really feel the way she was feeling while reading this. The Apprehension, the fear, and the loneliness as well. I could only imagine being in her situation and how I would react to it. I loved her slow decent into the insanity of the situation.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good psychological thriller and for those who crave the creepiness and does not always get that in books. This one had that creep factor for me and I loved that, which is why it gets a 4 star rating.

The Silkworm - Robert Gailbraith - 3 stars

I decided to continue with this series also reading it as a buddy read. I had heard that so many people enjoyed this one more than it's predecessor, The Cuckoo's Calling. I actually did not find that this one was any better than the first.

In this installment, Strike and Robin are on another case when Strike gets asked by Leonora Quine, the wife of a missing author, Owen Quine, to find her missing husband and bring him home. Strike becomes aware that there may be more to this case than just a missing husband.

Ok so the plot of this story is really nothing special, there have been many mystery books that have had this same kind of plot, but I thought it worth reading because I love mystery. One of the problems I had with this one and the before it is the fact that it starts off super slow. I was on page 125 before it really took off, so that, again, was disappointing. Once it got going it did become more enjoyable and was pretty easy to follow. I also had another problem, and this was the fact that you never knew what was going on. Strike would delegate a job to someone, but it was never said what the job was and that was really pretty annoying. It made me feel like I was missing something. This happened several times in the book. I love a mysterious story but this was a bit ridiculous. Also I did not find the ending surprising at all when it comes to the bad guy. No WOW factor where that is concerned. I mean the villain could have been any one of characters. All of them could have been guilty as sin. So that was a bit disappointing as well. There were good parts to the story that were very enjoyable, I just think it lacked the overall excitement and surprise.

The main characters of the story I loved, Strike and Robin. I have to give it credit for that. I think they are well developed and easily likable and is really the reason this book got 3 stars instead of 1 or 2. I like how flawed Strike is, and even though he has a lot of issues, he does not give up on the task at hand. Robin is also very strong and does not put it up with a bunch of crap unless we are talking about Matthew. He is annoying and Robin practically bends over backward for him.

I am not sure who to recommend this book too because I think it would be a disappointment to a lot of mystery lovers like myself. I guess just go into it without huge expectations. Like I said it gets 3 stars, which is probably generous, because of the characters. Not quite sure if I would read the next book or not. I would like to see what happens with Strike and Robin, it is pretty obvious that they feel something for one another.

The Basement - Chad P. Brown - 2 stars

So since it is spook season I decided to go scope out Amazon and finds a scary story that would be easy to get through pretty quickly, and I found this book. I was pretty excited to get it because it was a free e-book for my kindle.

With a title like The Basement I figured it would be a pretty creepy story and also I thought the plot of the story sounded really good which is why I grabbed the story to begin with. After taking into consideration that this was only 13 pages long, I still thought it could have had some kind of scare factor. It is true though that I do not get scared easily, but this one did not even touch on creepy at all. I thought this could have been much longer and then maybe it could have used a few more scary elements.

I guess that this book could be recommended to someone who gets scare rather easily, or maybe more scared than I get. So if you do get scared pretty easy go ahead and give this one a shot you might enjoy it.

Shards: A short story Anthology - C.J. Cummings - 3.5 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I think the author has a great talent for writing. It felt very poetic, fluid and easy to follow. However, some of the stories in this book felt incomplete, like they lacked closure to the story almost like they were the first chapter of a book. Even though they are short stories they still need to have some closure in my opinion. There were others that felt more like poetry, and had this been a book of poetry they would have fit very well.

There were several of the stories that I enjoyed as well. Stories such as Just Right, The Aching Vengeance, Soil in the Eye, Saturday Night Movie Massacre, Pieces and This One House. Those felt a lot more complete to me and were quite entertaining. Some even had a creepy element to them that I also enjoyed. Because of the poetic writing style, the fluidity and those few stories that I did enjoy, I am giving this 3.5 stars.

Soul Corrupted - Lisa Gail Green - 4 stars

I got this book from the publisher by way of Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This is the second installment from the series 'Of Demons and Angels'. I am glad I had the opportunity to read this book since I enjoyed the first one as much as I did.

I am not going to give a full blown synopsis on this book since it is book 2 of the series and I don't want to spoil anyone on that book. We do have Josh, Grace and Keira in this book along with good old Lucifer who is still wreaking havoc on Earth. Their is now a threat of an Anti-Christ who has to be stopped at the same time involving several other people putting them in danger.

I found some things were a little odd in this book such as part of the plot line not being very realistic, but it was not to the point of ruining the story. I found this book to flow very well like the first one did and lots of excitement to keep the pages turning for me. It is also very easy to follow and comprehend. It feel like a pretty simple story but very entertaining at the same time. The author also does very well stringing along her readers. Once to grab ahold, you can't let go. This one ended in a pretty good cliffhanger and I am anxious to see where it will go.

I do like the characters in this series and I love how they evolve so much making you change your mind a hundred times over as to who you like or don't like and who you can trust. I know that eventually they will all be where they are supposed to be, I just hope I enjoy where that is. I really would like to see more wicked bad guys in this book though besides just the few that we get to read. I think it could be a little more exciting in that aspect.

I recommend this to anyone who likes angel or demon stories or YA in general or maybe even Urban fantasy. I am not sure exactly how many books are in this series but I do look forward to reading the next book. Great story and plot line.

Prisoner of Night and Fog - Anne Blankman - 5 stars

This book was chosen for me to read as a part of the pick 5 challenge that I am doing with a friend of mine, where we chose books for each other that were out of our current comfort zones. This book was a good choice for me even if I did not think so at the start of the challenge, but since then I have enjoyed more and more historical fiction, so it turns out that this one was a great choice. I am so glad that it was a part of my challenge.

This is the story of Gretchen Muller who grew up in the Socialist National Party. She thought she would always be protected by her 'Uncle Dolf' who turns out to be Adolph Hitler. This is not really her Uncle but he had been a part of her family for many years after he served with Gretchen's father. It had been said that her father gave his life protecting Uncle Dolf and Gretchen followed his every command, in return he would protect her and her family. This only lasts until she meets Daniel, a young Jewish reporter. She had been taught to despise Jews, but she could not resist Daniel and his story. A story that would change everything.

I absolutely loved the plotline of this story. I thought it was very interesting how the author took true facts and wove a story of fiction around that while still using some very real people in the story as well. It all flowed so brilliantly. Always something was happening to keep me on the edge of my seat silently praying for Gretchen and Daniel. The story was also very real and I loved how it brought so much history to the forefront. It gives another deeper look at Hitler and his life and the mental problems that surrounded him.

The characters were developed beautifully, and I fell in love with Gretchen and her stubbornness. She knew right from wrong and she was not afraid to act on it regardless of the sacrifice involved. She went through some real struggles dealing with the issues of her family and Uncle Dolf at the same time while her world crumbled around her from discovering the truth. She showed so much strength through all of it. I also really enjoyed Daniel as well, another very strong character who tried desperately hard to get the truth out there for anyone who would listen.

I recommend this to everyone, even those who do not necessarily like historical fiction. It is so worth the read and I feel like everyone should read it. I look forward to Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, and will hopefully get that book soon. Look like another trip to the Library! 

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson - 5 stars

This book was chosen for me by a friend that I am doing a pick 5 challenge with for this year. I was not too sure about this book, as this is a first time read for me with this author. I finally got around to getting it from the library and after reading it, I decided that I need to own this book. It was such an awesome, feel good book that I found hard to put down. What a great summer read.

In this book we have Amy who recently lost her father to an accident in which she blamed herself for. She is told that she is taking a road trip with Roger, (who by the way, needed to get to Philadelphia.), to where her mother moved them to in Connecticut. Amy realized that she was losing herself and this road trip is exactly what she needed to find herself again.

I really liked the plotline of this story. This is an awesome 'feel-good' story. Who doesn't love a good summertime road trip? I know I do, so this book was right up my alley. I found it heart wrenching, exciting, happy and sad all at the same time. I found it to be very engaging and very memorable and I had a hard time putting the book down. I love stories like this.

I loved the characters so much. I found them to be developed so well and also very memorable. I really found Amy to be both likable and relatable, in so many ways. I loved her character probably the most. I liked how she learned to take the bull by the horns and just live, and enjoy what she was experiencing. I also liked how she really started opening up throughout the story. I was not all that thrilled with her mother though I have to say. She seemed cold and distant, but it also made me realize that these things can happen as we struggle to deal with loss in our lives.

I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you like great adventure stories with a little romance on the side, because this one has plenty of both. I do look forward to reading more from this author. She is quite talented and has a very fun writing style.

Voyager - Diana Gabaldon - 5 stars

I am reading this series/book for our Outlander series Read along group. We are reading one book a month until we finish the series. This book, Voyager, is a favorite next to Outlander for me. I am so glad I decided to read this series, there is so many great elements in every one of the books I have so far.

I don't want to give a synopsis for this book since it would contain spoilers for the books before it and I don't want to spoil anyone. This journey should be taken without knowing any of the events to come with each installment. So I will just say that the adventure, the romance, and the sacrifice continues with this book.

Again the world building in this book is amazing. Readers get to not only time travel, but also travel to many different places that we could only dream of visiting. Again with no surprise this installment was very engaging, hard for me to put it down when I needed to. The story just carries you way on these adventures that, as a reader, will never forget.

The characters are all so realistic and unforgettable. They are so well developed that you feel as though they are your own family and friends. They grow on you with each turn of the page and as readers of this series we invest so much time into their lives learning about them and getting to know who they are and what they stand for. A lot of times the characters will surprise you, make you mad, and fall in love with them all over again. There is a great cast of characters, but not so many that readers feel overwhelmed with them all. Claire & Jamie are definitely my OTP.

I do have to recommend this series to anyone who loves a good adventure with great elements such a time travel, historical, and of course Romance. If you have not yet picked up book 1 to this series, you need to because this is an adventure that you don't want to miss. I have not been bored or disappointed with anything I have read in this series so far. Diana Gabaldon has a great talent and I look forward to the rest of this series and going even further into history and into Claire and Jamie's lives.

Inkspell - Cornelia Funke - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend here on Good Reads, and since I enjoyed the first book, Inkheart, and it's world building so much I thought I should get to this one as soon as I could. I am glad that I decided to get into this series, but I must say it is a pretty complex story and is definitely not light reading.

In Inkheart we learn that Mo, Meggie's father, can read characters out of the books that he reads aloud. Well this one continues on with all those great characters and several new characters for readers to enjoy as well. You have to pay attention to what you are reading in this book though because the story and the characters both are very complex. It really is not a light read, but it has a beautiful world with a lot of great imagery.

The characters in this story are very well developed, vibrant and complex. There are plenty of characters to hate as well. I really enjoy Meggie and Dustfinger the most I think. They are both very likable. I think they just get better with each of the books in this trilogy and I certainly look forward to spending some more time with them.

I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy. It has great world building with a pretty complex plot line and characters. I do look forward to the last book in the series Inkdeath. I am sure it will have an amazing conclusion.

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness - 3 stars

This book was picked for me by my friend Shannon for our pick 5 Challenge. I had heard some really good things about, but was not sure when I would actually get to it. So this is a really good challenge to get these books read. I ended up not liking it as much as I thought would like it, so that was a little disappointing, but it was a decent read.

In this book you have Conor who has started having 'nightmares of a monster' that in a way helped him better deal with his Mother's illness. As he tried to figure out where this monster comes from he begins to see things in a very different light.

I thought the premise of this book was pretty good, I just expected something entirely different than what I got after reading the synopsis of the story, and I think this is what took away from the story for me. I did think the writing was beautiful and it gives a good look into dealing with illness, loss and how people deal with these things differently. I thought the illustrations in the books were amazing. I love that part of the story. Even though the book did not blow me away, I still found it to be engaging and easy to read. There were some pretty heart wrenching parts to this book.

I think Conor was developed very well and I really enjoyed his character a lot. I think his personality could be easily relatable for teen readers. I like how he used these nightmares to better deal with his mother's illness. I thought Grandma was a little rough around the edges and pretty hard on Conor as far as how she dealt with him when it came to his own dealing with situation at hand.

I think this book is very worthy of reading. So I recommend this to everyone. I do think it would have been helpful to have a better synopsis written. I think it is a little misleading and says more than what it really is about I think.

Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend. This is also a first time read for me of this author. I was unsure about it since I do tend to struggle with historical. I do find this 1940's era interesting though so I decided to go ahead and read it. I am so glad that I did. I found this book and Lina's story very engaging.

This the story of Lina, a very gifted 15 year old girl and her family in the 1940's residing in Lithuania. In the middle of the night their home is invaded by the NKVD and Lina, Jonas, her brother, and Elena, her mother are forced to climb into the back of a truck. They are then deported to a farm and they work for mere bread rations. This is Lina's story of their journey to Siberia.

This is a very gripping story full of sadness and depression, but also love and courage. It was so engaging and I could barely put the book down. I could never imagine what these people had to endure at the hands of Stalin and his control. It certainly does make you wonder what a human life is worth. This story is told with honesty and feeling. I think the author did a beautiful job with getting this story told on a more personal level than history teachers can convey.

The characters were just amazing, and so well developed. It made them so believable. I loved them all. The author allows readers to experience and feel the pain that they felt everyday. I know I did. Readers are also witness not only to what really went on and how these people suffered, but also those small victories that they counted amongst themselves.

I recommend this book to everyone. It should be read and talked about. It is such an important part of history, and those of in America should be grateful that we did not have to endure this kind of life.

Fallen - Karin Slaughter - 5 stars

I have been reading this series for a few months now and I have enjoyed all of the books I have read so far and this one is no different. This could be my favorite so far in the series, and I look forward to the rest of the books and any that may be written in the future.

In this installment we have Faith who goes to her mother's house and sees that things are not what they usually are when the front door is open and a bloody handprint in on the door. Her mother has been abducted, and it is up to her and Will to find out why.

I love these books so much. Each has a different mystery to solve, while we watch our characters develop through each story. I love how they are so engaging and easy to read. I just get so easily wrapped up in the story that I feel as though I am there in the middle of things. The authors uses great imagery throughout the story to keep readers totally enthralled. I did not expect the wrap up that I got with this installment and I loved the added drama.

The characters are brilliant and so well developed. I feel as though I know them personally. Will is definitely my favorite of all of them. He is so gritty and flawed you can't help but love the effort he puts out to get through each obstacle in his life, such as his maniacal wife and the fact that he is dyslexic to boot. There are also plenty of characters to hate as well. All of them are amazing.

I can recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery series wrote by a strong female author. All of the books are so well done. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Madeleine's Kiss - Peter Gilboy

I got this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I picked this one up because it is a mystery and that is one of my favorite genres. It also had some pretty good reviews. I was not sure what I was going to think of this since I have never read this author before and I gotta say, I did not care all that much for it to be honest. It was like it said though, not your normal mystery.

In this story you have Professor Snow who is being tried for a missing 17 year old named Madeleine. The jury thinks he did it, Adam says he did not. This is his account of the time he spent with Madeleine leading up to her disappearance.

The plot was an ok idea but it lacked depth, excitement and the actual mystery. Nothing really happened at all in the story. I think what was supposed to grab readers was the fact that he was a 40 year old professor and she just a teenager of 17. He narrates the entire thing, there is no investigation involved so I find it hard to even class as a mystery. There is a lot about art history in this book so that was interesting. Readers who have an interest in that topic may enjoy this story.

I did not really like any of the few characters in this book. I did not find them very relatable at all so that made them a bit unbelievable. The only character I found to be somewhat believable was probably Elsa, but even she had a rather strange thought process.

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury - 2 stars

I decided to read this book for a buddy read because I never had read it before. I hear that this is required reading in school however it never was for me after reading this it made me wonder why it was even required reading in the first place. I am however glad that I finally got to it and can check it off my list of classics to get to.

In this story you have a world where it is illegal to own or read books. There are firemen who do the opposite of what firemen do in our world, these firemen start fires by burning any books that they find. Guy Montag is one of those firemen. He meets a young girl named Clarisse and she makes him begin to rethink what he does for a living in a very messed up dark world.

I am not sure exactly what it was that I was reading when I picked this book up. I did like the plot of the story, but this was really just ok for me. I did not like the writing style of this author at all. I found some of the sentences did not make sense at all and it make the story very unrealistic. There were also scenes that send to slide right off into another scene and it made it a little confusing.

I did not really care for any of the characters in this book. I did not find that they were relatable to me at all. I think they lacked depth and personality as well. It felt like Guy went from one extreme to another and it did not make him very believable.

Don't Look Back - Jennifer L. Armentrout - 5 stars

I finally got to go to one of my small local libraries to look for a few books I needed or my pick 5 challenge and I saw this one on the shelf and decided I would read it. I had heard pretty good things about and all I can say is that I am glad I finally got to this one. It was a pretty amazing story.

In this book we have Sam who was found by the road by the Sheriff's department. Nothing looked familiar to her, she did not know her name or anything about herself, or where she had been or what had happened to her. Everyone else tells her about who she is, or who she was, and that was one of the popular 'mean girls'. She had a hard time believing what she was being told until fragments or memories started coming back to her, and where was her best friend Cassie who is still missing? As Sam begins to piece together her life again she gets closer to the truth.

I really liked the plot of this story a lot. It flowed so well and was so engaging. I loved the mystery aspect of the story too. I found myself asking a lot of my own questions along with Sam. It was very fast paced and creepy at the same time, and I loved that as well. I found the book not predictable which I thought that it would be. I also enjoyed the plot twist at the end that I never expected. This story also has some nice psychological twists as well.

I liked the characters a lot too. I think they were pretty well developed. I liked Sam's character and how her thought process went. I also like how she was a rehabilitated bully. There were plenty of both, antagonists and protagonists in this story to love and hate. One of the best things about this story was none of those annoying love triangles with any of the characters.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves YA, Mystery, romance, it has all of this. Also recommended to anyone who likes the writing style of Jennifer L. Armentrout. I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this story and I am so glad that I decided to read it. A great first read of the month and well deserving of this 5 stars.

Sorry, I'm Not Sorry - Nancy Rue - 3 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is a middle grade read and I enjoyed it for the most part. It just did not wow me.

In this story we have Kylie Streppe who was the queen of Gold Country middle school. She and her friends had bullied a fellow student and Kylie found herself expelled for it. She was put to the test to regain her position back into the school, but it would not be easy, especially when the tables are turned and she becomes the bullied.

I liked the idea of this story because bullying is a big issue in our society today. Bullying should never be ok. It is wrong and hurtful and sometimes the desperation of the bullied becomes far more serious the longer it goes on. This leads up to more serious situations. I think this books tells a good story, it was engaging and easy to read, and hits on some key points as far as bullying goes, so the story was very realistic in that aspect. Even though, there was not much backstory told at all, since the story starts at Kylie being expelled. So you could only guess how much actual bullying went on and to what extent.

I also had a slight problem with the characters. I think they were developed ok, but I felt like they were written much older than 12 year olds, they seemed far too mature for that. I would have guess them being more like teenagers of about 16. So they were not all that believable to me and it was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this was being told by a pre-teen. Other than that though, I liked them ok. The parents were pretty clueless and seemed to support Kylie's bullying by saying things like "They are kids, they do things like this." And they really don't, so I was glad to see some changes come about with Kylie's mom. I really did not care for her dad at all. The sad thing is that some parents today think exactly like Kylie's parents, and I think this is where part of the change needs to occur.

The Looney Experiment - Luke Reynolds - 4 star

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I find that I don't give too many review books higher than 3 stars very often, but this was good. I was actually surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did since it was a middle grade book. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to read this one. A very small book with a huge story to tell.

This a story of Atticus Hobart who seems to struggle with everyday life. He is in love with a Audrey, but lacks the courage to let her know. He is also bullied by Danny Willis who thinks he is better than anyone else, and on top of all of this, his dad has just left the family to think things out. Then Mr. Looney, a 77 year old substitute English teacher, makes his way into Atticus's life. At first the class just thinks he is this crazy old man, but Atticus and his class soon sees a different side to Mr. Looney's crazy teaching as it shows Atticus what the meaning of courage is.

I found this to have a really good plotline and a very realistic story to tell, that is both heartfelt and sincere. I found the story to be very engaging and very easy to read. Bullying is such a huge problem today that really just needs to end, and books like this can both encourage those who are bullied and maybe deter those who are the bullies. I also liked how the ending was not glamour and glitz, but a more realistic approach to what 'really happens' and not that feel good fake kind of ending.

I really liked the character of Atticus, mostly because of how realistic and believable he is written. He is your typical bullied kid who really sees no way out of the situation he is in. I love how he gradually begins to see things in a different light. There were a lot of good characters in this book, all of them very believable and well developed.

Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James - 3 stars

I read this book, or rather skimmed this book a few years back but decided to revisit this for a buddy read with a friend. I feel as though I really focused on it more this time around and have a better understanding of it now because I found myself a bit more open minded to what I was experiencing with this read.

In this book you have Anastasia Steele, who is a very timid individual. She goes to interview Christian Grey in place of her friend who had taken ill. While interviewing Mr. Grey, an intimidating, arrogant, well to do billionaire. Ana feels a disturbing attraction towards him that she can't explain. As she furthers her relationship with Mr. Grey, he lets her know that he does not do romance but instead something she is not sure she wants to be a part of, domination.

I found the story line intriguing. It was rather fast paced and easy to read now that I was more open to the content. I think you get a good look into this lifestyle, but it leaves questions as to why this lifestyle is preferred. I am sure this question is answered in the following books to the series. I did discover that there is a lot more to the story than first meets the eye, but it must be read with an open mind, otherwise the purpose of the story will not be observed. I found it to be more about a relationship and what each person is willing to give, in that relationship, and what a person is willing to give up as well. I also find it is about people who have issues that must first be absolved before they can see clearly as far as a relationship goes. Our upbringings and what we have had to deal with can affect so many different things in our lives and how we handle situations as we grow.

The characters, Ana and Christian, are pretty dysfunctional in this story and you begin to see their issues unfold slowly but not completely in this first installment. You start to get a feel for them in this book and it really made me want to know more about them. So their development is pretty good so far, but not quite there yet. I am hoping for much more development with the rest of this trilogy. I did like the way Ana handles things at the end of this book, I think I actually cheered her on. On thing that bothered me about both of these characters is that they are pretty wishy-washy, and really not making up either of their minds as to what they want from the relationship. This too I hope is resolved through the other books.

As far as recommending this book, all I can say is if you can be open minded then you can probably handle this book. Maybe even if you are one to like romance books you can enjoy this one, but again open mindedness is key.

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon - 4.5 stars

I am reading this series for our Outlander Series Read along. And I really enjoyed this books so very much. I am so glad that I decided to get on board with this series after hearing so much about it. This is one decision I will never regret.

So in writing my synopsis of this book would be to give too much away and possibly spoil someone else and I really do not want to do that. So with that said I will just say that in this book Claire find herself sharing her her story twenty years later which brings her to a point in her life for hope and love and much more. You must read the series and experience it for yourself.

I can't really share words to express all the feels I experienced with this installment. So many new questions come to light that I am desperate to have answered and I know they will only be answered with patience involved. In the beginning of the book I found it to be a little less dramatic, more along the lines of being kind of nonchalant, not much happening like in the first book, but as I read on it got better and continued to do so till the very end and I was left speechless. There were many shocking moments that spiced the story up even more.

The characters are still beautiful and well developed, I need Jamie and Claire in my life for sure. They are the epitome of such a great love story and they really are my OTP. You will find so many colorful characters in the book/series to love and of course those to hate as well. Those who were in the first book make reappearences, and then there are many new faces as well.

I can't recommend this series enough, it needs to be experienced and enjoyed by everyone. Since it was a little slower in the beginning I am giving it 4.5 stars. With that said I want to link to our read along group to give everyone the opportunity to experience one of the most amazing series out there today. So do yourself a favor and come join us https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/166493-outlander-series-read-along

What Lies Within - James Morris - 4 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review by the author. I really did enjoy this book a lot and I found it to be pretty engaging and very easy to read. It has somewhat of a creepy aspect to it and it had a good mysterious plotline as well.

You have a high school senior who is really just background fixture in her school, that is before she gets a very mysterious text message saying "You're going to die." from someone she does not know. This puts Shelley on the alert and pushes her to find out who this is and why she is going to die. As the mystery unfolds she begins to se a side of her that is not only frightening, but a side she never would expected.

I love the plotline to this story so much, full of mystery, terror and even a little romance. I found the story to be very fluid and easy to follow. I think it was well thought out and written very well. I also thought that the story was very believable, something that could possibly happen in the world today and those are always the scariest stories. There was plenty of action to keep me entertained and turning the pages.

I did have a slight problem with our main character, Shelley. Again I found her to be made to look stupid and I detest that so much in books. She did not use her head in a lot of situations, but then in other situations she was on the top of her game and making good choices. So she was a little wishy washy at times, but other than that I really enjoyed the characters.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes Mystery, thriller and action packed stories. I feel like this book is very open to a sequel and I know that I would love to read it.

New Group - Monthly Recommendations

Hey guys I just joined a new group called Monthly Recommendations run by Trina at Between Chapters and Kayla Rayne. Each month we will recommend books according to the monthly topic. I feel like this will be an awesome group to be a part of. So click here if you wanna come join up.

I did my first topic which was for recommendation of under rated books. If you would like to go check out that video then click here. Don't forget to comment like and Subscribe if you haven't already! Thanks guys!

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend and also to push this series through on my series-a-thon for this year. This is a Middle Grade to YA book. I thought this would have been a lot better had it been written as an adult novel. I thought it had an adult feel to it, but since it is intended for younger audiences it was pretty tame. Even though I thought that so much more could have been done with it as an adult novel, it was still very engaging.

In this book we have Meggie and her father, Mo who absolutely loves books. Mo is a book binder and he restores old books back to how they first were. Mo is a different type of father, when he reads aloud, he pulls characters and/or objects out of the story he is reading, but that's not all he also could possibly lose someone into the that same story. Things go awry, so Meggie and her father are in for an adventure to make things right and reclaim someone they had lost.

I absolutely loved the plotline of this story. A modern day world with fairy tale characters coming alive by being read out of a book. I have never heard of a plotline quite like this one. I love it's originality and uniqueness. Something that bothered me about this book was the synopsis. I found that is really could have been a spoiler to the story because what you read in the synopsis does not really happen in the book. Readers get a vague description of it, and it also made me think about how a prequel would be beneficiary to this series. I know I would definitely read it if it were to ever be written. I also really loved the world that was built here even though it is just modern day, the other fairy tale elements really jazzed it up and made it exciting.

The characters in this book were brilliant, a lot to love and a lot to hate. I can really see them developing a lot throughout the series and I hope to see some of them become a bit stronger. I felt like Dustfinger, who is one of my favorite characters, was not as strong as I would I have liked him to be. I can picture him as a total hero if he showed a little more strength. So I am hoping he develops more throughout the series. I also enjoy Meggie a lot. I can see her as a hero also and I find that she is a very strong character. She is easy to relate to even though she is only 12 she uses her fear to strengthen her. One small thing that bothered me about Meggie was that she called her dad Mo instead of Dad. That was a little annoying to me. Most of these characters are very believable and I loved that.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes something a little different, a YA novel with a little fantasy, a little mystery and a lot of other great elements. Even if you are not huge on either of those genres, I think you could enjoy this book. I am looking forward to the rest of the series with Inkspell and Inkdeath.

Mr. Mercedes - Stephen King - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with some friends. I am really glad that I got to it this month. I found it pretty enjoyable for the most part. The beginning was started a little slow, a lot of build up to the story, but it soon picked up and became a really good mystery.

In this story you have this man, Brady Hartsfield, who takes a Mercedes without a warning and drives into and over a group of unemployed people who are waiting at a job fair to get jobs. There are eight people killed and many others who are injured. Ex-cop Bill Hodges is contacted by Mr. Mercedes a year later only to learn that this madman may just try to strike again.

I really liked the plot of this story and how it was constructed, and I think Stephen King wrote it very well for it being a mystery. It is not by any means his best novel, but it was really engrossing and pulled me in quite quickly. I found that it did take a bit to pick up, but once it did it had my full attention. It was very fluid and easy to read.

Again I feel like the characters were the best part of this story and we all know that King does very well with Character development, this novel was no different in that area. I liked Hodges the most I think. He is a washed up ex-cop who is now past his glory days. He put in 40 years with the department, but he has allowed life afterwards to get the best of him. Now he has this one last time to do something good and maybe make is life worthwhile. I loved how he was created and who he was. There were some other very interesting and likeable characters as well, like Janey, Jerome and Holly. All of them so well created and realistic.

I recommend this to anyone who loves Stephen King and his ability to spin a great tale, and also to those who like crime novels, Mystery, or thrillers. I now look forward to the sequel to this book Finder's Keepers.

All Good Deeds - Stacy Green - 4 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I could not pass it up since it was a mystery and a very good one at that. In this story we have Lucy who is a CPS worker turned Private investigator. She has a lot of her own issues and handles things in her own way. The only trouble is her own way could see Lucy arrested especially when a self proclaimed sociopath wants to help Lucy and knows her secrets. When a child turns up missing, Lucy jumps on it and starts her own investigation against the wishes of local law enforcement. With so much at risk Lucy works against the clock to save a child.

I really enjoyed the plot of this story. Even though it is fiction, it touches on a very extrusive problem in the world today, that being pedophilia. I found this story to be very engaging and action packed. It was also very realistic, fluid and easy to follow. I really enjoyed all the mystery that surrounded this story as well. The author definitely gives readers a lot to think about, and as soon as you feel you are on the right track, something else happens and keeps readers guessing. There are many lose ends that need to be tied up, but I am sure that comes with future installments for this series.

I liked the characters a lot, they were pretty well developed and pretty complex. I think my favorite was probably Chris. He had a lot of issues that he needed to work through, but I think he used that to his advantage. I also like Lucy for the most part, and I felt like her thought process was pretty flawed and that made the story interesting. It seems a lot of the characters were scarred in one way or another, but it makes them more believable and realistic than having a 'perfect' character. I would love to see some more back story on these characters though, maybe in future installments of this series.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, but it could definitely have triggers for some readers, so be aware of that. The story does get somewhat graphic in nature and is not for those who are faint of heart. I do look forward to reading more in this series as they come and I am happy I got the chance to read this book and review it.

Love's Curse - Darren Gallagher - 3 sars

I got this book in exchange for an honest review from the Author. I had started enjoying zombie books back in 2013 and I am always looking for something new to try, so when the author approached me I knew I wanted to read it.

In this book we have a small cast of characters who are surviving the affects of a zombie apocalypse. Justin gets a call from a girl that he was pining for claiming that everyone she knows is dead and she needs his help. Justin decides, against his better judgment to go the 150 miles to save her. He got far more than he bargained for.

I love Zombie stories and I thought this plot was pretty good. I found a lot of action, adventure, and excitement with this book. I also found that it was very fluid and easy to read and follow. However, I did have a problem with Justin, the main character, I simply found him to be stupid. He made obvious wrong choice after wrong choice that can't be afforded in this world, and that just threw the story off for me and I found that annoying. If the story were to continue and this was a lesson learned for Justin, then I think it could be a good story because the characters can grow and develop.

I can recommend this to people who do like action packed zombie stories if you can get past dealing with one of those characters who are just wrote to be stupid. If there are more books to the series, then I would read them for sure, because I think the writing was good with this one, I just get annoyed with stupid characters.

Outlander Series Read along!

Hey guys we are now on Book 2 of the Outlander Series Read Along. We take a month to read each book while we have discussion threads to go along with it, both non spoiler and spoiler threads for a more full discussion after the book has been read. You can share favorite quotes and passages, or even talk about your favorite characters.

We would love you to come join us if you are reading it, already read it, or you are a bit further through the series. We have a lot of great people in the group that are fun to discuss the series with. Here is the link for anyone interested in joining us on the epic Journey.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/166493-outlander-series-read-along

Unwind - Neal Shusterman - 4 stars

This is a dystopian, and I don't enjoy too many dystopian but I chose to read this book as both a buddy read and a book for the TBRTakedown 2.0 challenge. I have not had this book long only a few weeks and decided to read it because I had heard some great things about the series. Now I am glad I did and I look forward to the rest of the books in this series.

This story is about a world after a second civil war over reproductive rights takes place. So between the ages of 13 and 18 parents can decide to have their children unwound where every part of them is transplanted into others who needs a specific part. Connor our main character has gotten to be too much for his parents and the sign him over to be unwound. Connor along with 2 other unwinds decide they will fight back.

I loved the whole concept of this of this story. So different from other dystopian novels I have read and that is what I love the most about this book. I also found there to be a lot going on, a lot of adventure and excitement. I felt like this was almost wrote with realism because this story is not so far fetched as you might think. I can se this happening in real life and it is a scary thought. It was a very thought provoking story that was very fluid and very easy to read.

The characters I thought were very well developed and I expect that they will develop even more throughout the series. I really enjoyed Connor's characters along with Risa. I think they were very realistic and believable. There were some I did not care for but overall I think they were well done and I look forward to further development.

I would recommend this to anyone really, but especially those who like Dystopian novels. It is not your normal dystopian and it has many different element added to the story that are enjoyable. I look forward to the rest of the series.

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith - 3.5 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend and also decided to use it for the TBRTakedown 2.0 because it would count for one of the challenges. I have had the book for a month or so and decided that it was time to read it. As we know this is written my J.K Rowling. It was different seeing her write in a different light from how she wrote with Harry Potter.

In this book we have a legendary model, Lula Landers, who has committed suicide as police have concluded. Her brother, John Bristow goes to Detective Cormoran Strike, a former soldier, telling him she would never commit suicide, that she was murdered and he wants to hire Strike to find the murderer. Cormoran, who is barely managing and currently fighting off creditors, agrees to take the case. The story goes rom there.

I enjoyed the plot of the story, I think it is well constructed. I did find some parts of the story pretty slow, mostly the part where Strike is reviewing the old case. I found it much more interesting when he began his own investigation. Once at that part the book became very fluid and easy to follow. I really enjoyed the story after that, however I found it to be a little predictable, and the ending seemed to be wrapped up too perfectly for me. It seemed that everything fell into place too smoothly for my tastes, but there was a little twist I did not expect so overall it was a good story.

I liked how flawed Strike was. To me this makes a character much more realistic and believable. He had several issues to work through that I think made him a stronger character. I also really enjoyed Robin's character. She was strong yet sympathetic, she knew when to push and when not to. She does have her own issues I think deep down, they were just not as prominent, not brought to the forefront. Maybe in the second book we will get a deeper look into Robin.

I will recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, but be aware that this is an adult book and not YA. We see a completely different writing style with this book, and I think that is good. I am rating this book a 3.5 stars. I had to take a bit off for the slow parts, the predictability of the story and the 'too perfect' wrap up.