Undone - Karin Slaughter - 4 stars

This is book #3 to the Will Trent series and it is a mystery/thriller. I have to say I did enjoy the book, and the characters. It flows well with plenty of action and excitement.

In this installment Will and Faith have to find and stop a serial killer who brutally manipulates his victims through starvation, torture and rape, all while dealing with their own personal issues. Who will be next?

I really enjoyed the mystery to this installment. I think the story flowed well and had some pretty good 'edge of your seat' moments. I think the imagery was also really good with a great plot line while tactfully targeting eating disorders. So it had a great mix of different elements.

I really like Will Trent a lot. He has some major issues with some that have not been touched on yet. I am eager to see if in upcoming installments we learn more about him. I also enjoy Faith's character. She is tough as nails and knows how to get the job done. A great mix of antagonists and protagonists that are well developed throughout the series.

I recommend this book/series to any mystery lover. Slaughter pushes the limits between moral and immoral issues in her writing and I really enjoy that. Sometimes teetering on the darker side. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick - 4 stars

I actually just picked this book up a week ago and decided I wanted to see what it was all about. So I put down my current read for a couple of hours and read this one. It was such a sweet book and I like it's originality with telling two different stories at the same time that come together beautifully at the end. One story told with text and the other with pictures. It was a positive read with a great story to tell.

This story is about a boy name Ben who lost his mother to an accident. He does not feel at home living with his aunt and Uncle. He finds some clues to who is father is and he treks off to find him in New York City. The time is the 1970's. We also have the story of Rose, told in pictures. She too feels as though she is missing something in her life and at 12 years old goes off in search of a famous 'silent' Actress. Her story is set back in the 1920's.

The pencil sketches were really my favorite part of the book and they told the story of Rose very well. It was like I really was reading text instead of gazing at pictures. The art was just amazing I thought. Now that I read this one I will be sure to pick up Hugo Cabret the next time I see it at our local used book store.

Cress - Marissa Meyer - 5 stars

This is the 3rd installment of The Lunar Chronicles, and in my opinion the best of the bunch so far. I find this series has been really engaging right from the start and I feel like the books get better the further I go. I have every intention of reading Fairest before November when Winter is released.

In this installment we have Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress all working together for the greater good, with their sidekicks of Wolf and Thorne. The life of the earthen hangs tediously on Cinder's decisions along with the choice that Emperor Kai also makes where Queen Levana is concerned. Everything is coming to head in this book ending on a great cliff hanger.

Wow the world building and the plot both are fantastic in this series. If things were not so messed up on Luna I would almost want to live there since earth is made to look so inferior. I like the imagery as well. A lot of action, adventure and excitement in this book, I think it grows with each installment and I love that. They get better and better in my opinion.

The characters are amazing, and developed so well throughout the series. You meet new ones and cling to the original ones. There are a lot I love and hate and several I am on the fence about. The antagonists are some of the best created villains ever. I find myself seething at the thought of them. I have to say I love Thorne and he is probably my favorite of all of them. I also love how all of the characters some together and connect! Just very well done!

I recommend this series to anyone who loves YA Fantasy/ Sci Fi. It is a very well put together series so far and I look forward to continuing my journey through the pages of the Lunar Chronicles!

Ready to Die - Lisa Jackson - 4 stars

This is book 5 of Lisa Jackson's 'to die' series. Although not as good as the first 2 in the series it is still a great mystery. I look forward to reading book 6 Deserves to Die next month and finishing out the series.

In this book our serial killer is targeting people closer to home for Alvarez and Pescoli, and they need to stop the culprit before he gets even closer. Pescoli has a some surprises in store for her, and some decisions to make as well.

This is a another great mystery within a mystery plot for Jackson filled with excitement, action and great imagery. The plot to the story was not a favorite but it was still pretty good imo. I found this one to be a little predictable and I have never had that happen before with a Jackson book. But overall it was a great read.

I just love Alvarez and Pescoli so much. They are probably my 2 favorite female protagonists in mystery books. They are 2 of the most flawed characters out of all that I have come across and I love that. I love Pescoli's image and her 'not gonna take this' attitude. It gets her through life. And then Alvarez keeps her leveled headed when she needs to be. They are a great team! As far as Pescoli's kids, they drive me insane and need to cut her a break and I hope I see them mature a bit more in the story, but then again it kind adds to Pescoli's struggles which contributes to her being such a likable character.

I will always recommend Lisa Jackson to people who love mystery, because I feel like Jackson writes it so well. Always sure to leave her readers guessing and always giving readers plenty to think about.

Want to Play? - P.J. Tracy - 4 stars

I picked this book up of the sales rack in our local Used books store. I picked it up solely on the cover design and when I read the synopsis I knew I wanted to read it. This also has a sequel called Live Bait that I also plan to read in the near future.

In this book we have the murder of a couple who were killed in a pew in the church they attended. While the police try to find out 'whodunit' Grace MacBride and her company MonkeeWrench have their own problems going on when they discover that recent murders in their town are set up the same as in the game they are designing. Both investigations lead back to a catholic school, do all of these murders connect in some way? This is what Detective Magozzi and Grace need to figure out before it is too late.

This was really a great read. I think it was written very well, with a great plot and very flawed characters. This is a thriller/mystery and I loved the plot the most, it was written very well and was very engaging. And a lot of mystery to have to figure out. I love a book that has more than one mysterious plot line and this book satisfied that really well for me. It had me guessing the whole time as to who was the guilty party. I thought it was going to be really predictable, but boy was I wrong!

The characters were also developed pretty well. I just wish there would have been a little more on the characters from MonkeeWrench. So I would love a book that gives me the backstory on Grace, her crew and their lives, back in college when Grace goes through a very brutal time in her life, maybe the next book will cover that. Grace and Magozzi were my favorite characters in the book and I really like the trust that develops between them.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery or thriller. I look forward to the next one in this series, even though I do not know how many are in this series.

The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan - 5 stars

Another great installment to the Percy Jackson series! I am really enjoying the series a lot especially since I did not think I would like it all that much, but it has been a treat reading it and I will be sad when the series is over.

In this book Percy and his comrades must explore the interior of the Labyrinth created many many years ago by Daedalus to prevent an attack on Camp half blood. What secret will be revealed, who will survive and who will not?

Wow the world and imagery that Riordan has created only gets better with each book. It is like you can just insert yourself right in the middle of the plot with all these amazing characters. Even though we know these things could not happen they become real to the readers and experience everything the characters experience. Such a fin and engaging read for everyone.

I really think the characters are my favorite part of this series. I find Percy is much less annoying than he was in the first few books and that is awesome. I think the author shows the characters growth well throughout the series. In this installment we meet some new characters along the way. I think they are all developed very well.

I recommend this book and series to anyone who likes middle grade books. With its mix of magic and mythical themes it is sure to be loved by many! I do look forward to the final installment even though I must say good bye to all of these memorable characters.

Leviathan - Thomas E. Sniegoski - 3.5 stars

This is book 2 to the fallen series. I did not find this one quite as engaging and the first one, however it was still a good read with a lot of action and excitement to enjoy.

In this installment of the series, everything continus to where it all left off and Aaron goes deeper into the Angelic wars that are going on between the Powers and the Ex-powers as he goes on a quest to Blithe in search of his foster brother. He discovers many more things that are even more difficult to fathom.

I thought that the world building and the imagery are still very good in this book. I also really enjoyed the plotline as well of which more questions did arise for me, and I look forward to discovering the answers. The story was engaging, I just did not feel like it was as engaging as the first one was. It was still a quick fun read and for the most part I enjoyed it immensely.

I don't know, I was even more annoyed with Aaron in this book. I find him really weak and he is afraid of who is supposed to be. I am still hopeful that in later installments he stops hesitating in the face of corruption and danger and he does what he is supposed to do before someone else dies or gets hurts.

I still recommend this book to anyone who likes angle stories and also enjoyed the first book* I am rating this a 3.5 stars and I look forward to the rest of The Fallen Series.

The Fallen - Thomas E. Sniegoski - 4 stars

I did not know what to expect with this book. I love angel stories ever since reading Angelfall. So take that story and add some darker elements to it and you have The Fallen. It was pretty fast paced for the most part, but it was also pretty dark and violent as well.

In this book we have Aaron who has his 18th birthday and who also is hearing strange voices in his head. Fearing he is going crazy he is not able to confide in anyone, not even his foster parents of whom he lives with. He then meets Zeke, who seems to know everything about him him, but can he show Aaron the way?

I thought the world building in this book was good. I find books surrounding fallen angels, really intriguing, and what peoples takes are on this subject. I think the Author did well developing both our good and bad angels in this stories. One thing I notice though is that no one writes about the events that cause the angels to fall, the war that goes on causing all this turmoil in heaven. This story gets the closest to that and I really liked that part of it. I also like the darker elements to this story, the ruthlessness of the antagonist really adds to the tale.

So now for the characters, Aaron, he was a little annoying. I know the things he was told was a lot to take, but I think he needed to be a bit more accepting of things. I think because he was not so accepting it made him look ignorant and weak. He did get better the further the story goes, and I hope in book 2, he becomes even more aware of who he is and what he was meant to become. Verchiel was the perfect antagonist. He was evil, ruthless and sadistic. I really found myself feeling so much hatred and anger towards him. There are plenty of characters to both love and hate in this story.

I recommend this to anyone who loves angel stories if you like a more gritty, dark take on the subject. I am pretty sure this should be more adult than YA just based on the dark elements and the violence alone. I look forward to the rest of the series.

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner - 5 stars

This book was for a buddy read with my friend Shelleen and while she was waiting for her book to come, I could not stop myself from reading this. I have to say that I absolutely loved it! I think it was better than the first one in the trilogy.

In this book we find Thomas and the gladers recooperating from their narrow escape from the maze. Theresa has been seperated from the other gladers, why? Well because she is a girl of course. Now the group is beng made ready for the next trials, the Scorch trials. But why all the tests? What is going on with Theresa?

Wow I loved this book so much and it was so angaging that I was just blowing through the pages. I did not want to put the book down. The imagery in this book was amazing and I could almost feel the heat that these boys were feeling as they entered the next phase of the trials. The plot line and the twists were great as well. I find that this plotline was much more exciting and had a lot more action!

The characters were really awesome. They are developing and growing really well in this series I think. I did not know what to think about Theresa in this one, I am scratching my head and I am pretty sure I understand what is happening with her and I dont like it at all. I also find Thomas showing weakness where she is concerned, maybe too much even.

I recommend this whole series for ANYONE! There is an amzing story being told here and everyone should experience it. I am looking forward to the next book in this trilogy, The Death Cure.

Deadly Echoes - Nancy Mehl - 3 stars

I recieved this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review. This is a christian fiction book and came out on February 15th 2015. I also discovered once I recieved the book that this was book 2 in a series. I don't know if that affects my thoought on this book or not, things were pretty self explanatory of what had happened in the past.

In this book we have Sarah and her sister Hannah, who were very young, had lost their parents, to what was filed as a burglary gone wrong, were stabbed to death. After the death of their parents the girls were lost to one another due to Hannah being adopted. After many years had passed when Sarah turned 18 she reconnected to her sister and her niece Cicely, only to discover that her sister had been obsessing over the murder of their parents because she new something was amiss. Sarah did not want to listen because she did not want to relive that fateful night, that was until she recieved word that Hannah was murdered and in the same exact way her parents were.

I really liked the mystery plot to this story, I thought it was well written and very engaging. It was very easy to read and very easy to get wrapped up in. However I thought the end result felt flat for me, I expected something bigger, and the ending was predictable and that was disappointing for me.

I liked the characters in the book but as I have found in many christian fiction novels, the characters were somewhat unrealistic as in the friendliness and forgiving aspects. People, whether christian or not are not so easily forgiven when family members lives are at stake. There is always more rage and even the need for revenge when bad things happen so I just felt like they were not very believeable in that aspect.

I can recommend this book to anyone who likes tamer Christian fiction novels because overall it had a good plotline, it just needed to be more realistic.