Through the Zombie Glass - Gena Showalter - 4 stars

This is book #2 in the White Rabbit Chronicles. I had wanted to get to this sooner than I did, but it never worked out. So I am glad that I finally got around to this one since I enjoyed the first one so very much. I had hoped this one would be just as good and for the most part it really was and that makes me happy. The beginning was a tad bit slow, but I think that was due to me trying to remember everything from the prior book.

In this installment Alice has a few added struggles to the ones she already deals with. Her and her posse need to take down the hoards of zombies now on a daily basis. But unforeseen events happen to Alice that gets in the way of her accomplishing this task herself but it really spices up the story a bit more. Also there are trials & tribulations where her and Cole are concerned.

The world created here is really pretty good as far as zombie apocalypse tales go. There is not a whole lot you can change or add extra, but the author does manage to keep the story exciting by not creating your basic zombies, but instead, your not so basic Zombies. These zombies like souls rather than blood, brain and guts. It is certainly a very different but fresh idea and I love that.

Our characters are also very interesting. There are a lot to love and hate in this story. We have our regular characters returning and also some new faces are introduced. I really like Alice and I like how the author has developed her in this story. Her growth as a character is amazing. I am a little on the fence with Cole, he seems to be a little wishy Washy in the love department with Alice. I just want him make a decision already!

So overall I loved the story and I recommend this to anyone. Just don't go into this story expecting some souped up fairy tale, because that is definitely not what this story is about. I so look forward to the next book in this series and I am sure I wont be disappointed! Gena Showalter is a great writer and easily one of my faves!

Opal - Jennifer L. Armentrout - 5 stars

I am really glad that I decided to take this journey through the Lux series. I had not read anything alien before I started it and it has been really enjoyable and fun so far. I find myself looking forward to every book in the series. I think this installment is my favorite so far out of the 3 that I have read to this point.

In this installment the crew plan the rescue of 2 captured friends from the clutches of the DOD, and have to risk putting their trust into people that they prefer not to just so they can get the job done. Katy and Daemon fall deeper in love while Katy hopes to rebuild a friendship with Dee and prove her worth to the others.

I am really enjoying the world building in this series. Not a terrible place to live but not completely safe either. I can totally envision myself there and being totally unaware of aliens being all around us. This world has a lot of depth and has great imagery as well, from the classic shops, to the restaurants, to the houses that they live in, and I love that. I love to be able to immerse myself in the middle of all of this. A fiction story being so realistic is amazing.

The characters too are beautifully created and I love all of them, from the antagonists to the protagonists, the author definitely gives the readers what they crave when it comes to great characters. My favorites will probably always be Daemon and Katy. Even though Daemon is egotistical and conceited the care he has for Katy is obvious. I love how the author did not use 'instalove' with these two because it makes it so much more realistic. We also get introduced to some new characters and some characters return.

The adventure and the excitement has been non stop throughout this series so far and I am loving it. A HUGE cliffhanger at the end of this one makes me anxious to start the next one, Origin I have these on my kindle and because of loving this series so much I plan on buying all on them in physical copies. I recommend this series to anyone who likes something different, aliens, or YA.

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas - 4 stars

So I picked this book up not intending on reading it at that moment but I opened the first page and then the next and then before I knew I was hooked. I am so glad I grabbed this book off of my shelf and started reading it. An emotional roller coaster for sure.

This is a love story between a man, wife, son and a bystander named Katie. Katie is in love with Matt until one day he disappears and she has no idea where he has gone. He leaves behind a diary called Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. She opens the diary takes a plunge into Matt's world that she never knew existed and she fell in love with all the characters and even deeper in love with Matt.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book because I read another contemporary by Patterson and did not really like that one. This one was very good IMO and I enjoyed it so much. First of all this was wrote in Diary form for the most part until we come to Katie's part. I was immersed into another side of this love story that made me feel so much.

I had read several of the other reviews with people saying how dumb, dry, and boring this story was, but I just can't see that at all. I see a very heart felt story that makes you grab a Kleenex, a story that you wont soon forget, and a story that made my heart fill with so many emotions. I guess emotional, heart felt books are not for everyone.

As far as the characters go, I think they are beautiful characters, maybe not the best developed that I have ever read, but I can say that reading them makes you love them. I grew so fond of all of them and wanted to know them, wanted to know more about them.

I loved watching Katie go through this diary and feeling those same things she felt at the same time. What can I say about Matt? He is a strong person? Or what about Suzanne or maybe Nicholas, they are beautiful, caring and understanding? I wont say much more about the characters, I will just recommend you read this book and decide what you think about them yourself. Don't let the bad reviews steer you away from this book, because there is truly something special to take from this story.

Isn't it lucky?

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn - 4 stars

I finally picked up this book to read since I have heard so much about it. This is my first book by Gillian Flynn and I have to say it did not disappoint. It was a tiny bit slow in the beginning but picked up quickly for me and then I could hardly put the books down.

In this book 2 young girls were murdered and had all of their teeth removed. Camille, a reporter, who is just released from a short stay at a psyche ward must return to her home town to report these murders as her first assignment. Camille is fighting many issues and tries to deal with everything once she arrives.

Wow is all I can really say about this book. So very messed up on so many levels. But the writing is so well done, so gritty, dark, engaging and even poetic. What a strange town painted in this book with some pretty strange people. The Author writes some very well developed characters, from your hateful and vindictive to your quiet and reserved. I would never in a million years want to live in a place like this with a mother like Camille's. It makes you steadily realize why Camille and her sister Amma were the way they were.

I recommend it to anyone who likes the darker side to a story because this whole story is a dark side of life that happens for real to real people on a daily basis in our world today. The author captures that so very well in this tale. I look forward to Gillian Flynn's other books!

Blue Heaven - C.J. Box - 4 stars

I read this book with a friend for a buddy read. This is a new author for me as well. I really enjoyed this book a lot especially with no idea what the book was going to be about. I have to say that I am glad that I read it and found a new author to enjoy. This is not a mystery but a thriller as there is not a "whodunit' to the story, well not to the reader anyway.

In this book we have two kids, Annie and William, bother and sister, who witnesses a murder. They were spotted by the murderers and are now running for their life until they run into Jess Rawlins. Jess helps the kids by hiding them, and then the story goes on from there.

I loved both the premise of this story and the characters. Both very well developed and wrote. I loved the action and the excitement. My favorite character, hands down, is Jess. Such a strong, well developed protagonist. He is definitely someone I would want on my side of things. For some reason as I read the book, I kept picturing Sam Elliot playing this role of Jess if it were ever a movie. There were several heroes born in this book, Jess being one of them. One of my favorite things about this story was how the relationship between Jess and kids grew. How these kids had to trust someone and how they discovered that they could trust this man simply by him being who he was.

The antagonists were also written very well. I definitely hated each one of them for many, many reasons that I can't get into since this is a spoiler free review. There were the 'bad cops' of the worse kind, a big mouth reporter, of course we have to have one of those. The kind that grate on your nerves and you want to either put them in their place or shoot them. I think the author developed all of them very well.

I have to say that I was a little surprised by the ending of this book. I feel as though the Author left it open for the reader's interpretation. So I feel like there was not any really closure to the end of the story. It can be interpreted in so many ways, one of which I hate to even explore. I recommend this book to anyone that loves a little mystery or thriller in their dose of daily reading.

The Iron King Read Along

My Hosted read along with Brittini over at Brittini's Book Find of The Iron King was awesome. I love the story as a whole, it was so different. I have a review up here on my weebly blog, and then also at my BlogSpot blog here as well. Let me know what you thought f the review, and also what you thought of the book if you read it.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor - 4 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a couple of friends. At first I was a little put off with the terminology and I also thought it was a little boring because it moved a little slow for me and I was contemplating putting it down. After part 1 had finished the book really took off. And then I was completely immersed in the story. 

In this story we have Karou who is a part of the Chimerae race, having been raised by Brimstone. Karou uses wishes freely without considering what makes them work. Brimstone continually tells her that she is foolish. She runs 'errands' for Brimstone of transporting teeth because they are essential for their survival even though Karou does not really know the use for them. She finds that she has to hide her life from her best friend, Zuzana. Soon burned handprints are found on doors(portals) everywhere and it becomes a threat to Karou and her world as she knows it. Wars rage between the Chimerae and the Seraphim. And the story goes on...

So like I mentioned the story started off a little slow for me and I had considered putting the book down. Once I finished part 1 the book took off. The world came alive, the excitement and adventure started. I think that the imagery was in the book was amazing. It was so visual throughout the book that I could picture myself there in Karou's shoes. I really enjoyed the world building in the story. I also love how poetic the author is. Plenty of passages to enjoy in this book. I also loved how significant the title is to the story.

The book did do some switching back and forth from one time to another but more near the end of the story. This is so readers can get an idea about what had happened to cause certain events in the story. The back story is helpful, you just have to be sure to pay attention to what point you are in the story or it will get a little confusing. But once you get used to the writing style it flows much better.

I love the characters in this story. Again there is quite a few characters introduced at the beginning so it gets a little confusing and it take a bit of focus to follow them all. Once you get used to them all it is easier to follow each one of them. My favorite of course is Karou even though at first she seems a bit spoiled she does grow on you and you figure out she has been kept in the dark about a lot of stuff. She does become quite a strong character. I also really enjoyed her best friend Zuzana. She helps keep Karou grounded and focused. One other character that I found quite enjoyable is Akiva who is of the Seraphim race. I like how he is written into the story and you learn more about him as the story goes on. The character growth in the story is amazing and you can't help but fall in love with them.

I find this book to be both character and plot driven which is always helpful. I look forward to the rest of this series. And I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy. Beautifully written and very engaging. So glad I stuck with it!