2015 review – Page 2 – Bibliophile Gathering

Review: Storm Front by D.L. Robinson

December 7, 2015

Published October 15th 2015

In just a few short days Loriel has major concerns about her new job. First thought to be a dream career, she realizes the job she had so anticipated has placed a target on her back, and she will be lucky to come out unscathed. Without the help of Givanni, her boss’s nephew and the CEO at Shellbrook, her fate would have been sealed a few times over. But his world, though frightening, brings with it breathtaking sights, adoring family, and stronger feelings than Loriel wants to admit. And although making it out alive had seemed impossible, it becomes desperately more important to make it out together.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this book but I ended up really enjoying it.
This book caught my attention pretty quickly and it was really entertaining all the way though.
It was a lot more action packed than I thought it would be and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.
I read though Storm Front really quickly so I could find out what would happen next.
Overall, definitely a fun and entertaining read. I can’t wait for the next book because that ending was crazy.

Sent to me by author in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

December 6, 2015

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Published December 18th 2012

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

I had seen so many people reading and loving this book for years now and I only just now got around to reading it. I didn’t want to be influenced by the hype so I didn’t read any reviews before starting The Darkest Minds. I didn’t know what to expect and I think that made me like it more.
I didn’t fall in love with this book right away. It took me until around page 250 before I really started to get into it. It was slow and a little boring at first but the last half was really great. If the end wasn’t so good, I probably would have rated this book 3 stars but the end was really great.
I liked the characters but Ruby was frustrating to me at times. I understand why she did some of the things she did but I still didn’t like it.
The last 50 pages were amazing and I’m definitely going to pick up the next book soon.

Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

December 5, 2015

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Published March 1st 2012

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

I’d seen so many negative review for this book. My best friend warned me not to read this book and I didn’t listen. But I was curious and there was a couple positive reviews so I read it. A small part of me thought I might like this book. Okay, I hoped that I would like this book. But I didn’t and I ended up quitting around page 200. I’m not surprised that I didn’t like this book (my best friend told me over and over that it was an awful book) but I’m still really disappointed.
I could tell that this book was suppose to have a lot of humor in it but it just didn’t work for me. I smiled a little bit in the first few pages but it got old real fast.
Greg was one of the worst narrators ever. He’s right up there with Bella from Twilight and Anastasia Steele from
Fifty Shades of Grey. He was so annoying and he just wouldn’t get on with the story. It just kept dragging on and on. I don’t even know how I made it to page 200.
The characters were boring, underdeveloped and not well written at all.
I don’t understand how an editor could have read this book and thought it was ready to be published. I don’t like the concept of this book that much but great writing could have saved it. But I just can’t think of anything about this book that I liked other than the cover is kind of cool.
I feel like I’m starting to rant so I’m just going to stop here. But overall, I should have listened to my best friend and not read this book because I lost a few hours of my life for nothing and I also wasted $10 on buying this book.

My best friend’s review

Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

December 1, 2015

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Published July 8th 2014

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. Like having to marry someone she’s never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

I had this book on my shelf for so long and I just never got around to picking it up until one of my best friends was very passionately raving about this series and I got so excited, I had to read it right away.
I don’t want to say that I’m disappointed but I kind of am.
I loved the first 100 pages of this book. It was so fact paced and exciting. I loved the characters and the plot so much. But after the first 160 pages, every time I would pick this book up, I felt like I was losing steam. I would become less and less interested and I wanted to push past it but I felt stuck and lackluster.
I don’t know why I felt like this because the story and the characters were still great but I just didn’t feel as excited about it. Maybe my expectations were to high (they were sky high) and I got lost in my own hype.
I don’t really know.
But I did really like this book and I’ll read the sequel. I would still recommend it for lovers of fantasy or if you’re looking to get into a fantasy series.

Review: The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

November 30, 2015

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Published August 18th 2015

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara’s life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara’s family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items – but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

This book is so insane. There’s is so much crazy that happens in this book and it’s amazing. I loved every second of this book. The concept is so different from anything I’ve ever read before and it’s executed beautifully. I loved the writing style and the way the story was told. The characters are so awesome and I was surprised by all of them. I really liked how unpredictable this book was. I had no idea what direction the story was going to take and I loved not knowing what was going to happen next. I’m still blown away that this is the author’s first book. Everything was amazing and I highly recommend checking this book out.

Review: Black Five by J. Lynn Bailey

November 29, 2015

Black Five by J. Lynn Bailey

Published November 2015

No one ever accused Penelope Jackson of being normal, nor did they suspect the dark secret she kept. A dangerous web of deceit and secrecy unravels when news of a stranger’s death puts Penn on a collision course with the very person she’s been hiding from her whole life. Her fragile world is shaken to its core with the sudden arrival of Vacavious and she soon discovers the bizarre and magical world surrounding her seemingly ordinary life.
No one is who they claim to be, including those closest to Penn. A mysterious security detail emerges from the shadows scrambling to protect her as powerful forces await the fall of her protective veil on her eighteenth birthday.
Penn prepares to fight against unseen evils before it’s too late. The world of Nighmerianotte and its population depends on her survival, for she is the Sanguine.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book so I went in with a completely open mind. I didn’t have any expectations so I can’t say I’m disappointed but I do feel a little lackluster.
I was mostly bored with the plot because it wasn’t original. It was a basic YA concept of a completely normal girl that ends up being super special and has an amazing destiny. I wish there had been a little more creativity.
I liked the main character well enough. I thought there was some pretty good character development, which I wasn’t expecting so that was nice.
I did feel like the writing could have been polished up a bit with better editing. Some words were really repetitive and overused. At times I caught myself editing this book instead of reading it.
Overall, this isn’t a bad book by all means but it just wasn’t for me as a critical reader. I think with some better editing, this book could have caught my attention more.

Review: Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall

November 29, 2015

Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall

Published June 1st 2015

Sugar Legowski-Gracia wasn’t always fat, but fat is what she is now at age seventeen. Not as fat as her mama, who is so big she hasn’t gotten out of bed in months. Not as heavy as her brother, Skunk, who has more meanness in him than fat, which is saying something. But she’s large enough to be the object of ridicule wherever she is: at the grocery store, walking down the street, at school. Sugar’s life is dictated by taking care of Mama in their run-down home—cooking, shopping, and, well, eating. A lot of eating, which Sugar hates as much as she loves.

When Sugar meets Even (not Evan—his nearly illiterate father misspelled his name on the birth certificate), she has the new experience of someone seeing her and not her body. As their unlikely friendship builds, Sugar allows herself to think about the future for the first time, a future not weighed down by her body or her mother.

Soon Sugar will have to decide whether to become the girl that Even helps her see within herself or to sink into the darkness of the skin-deep role her family and her life have created for her.

I’m not what I expected with this book but I do feel kind of disappointed.
I liked the concept of this book but I felt like a lot of it was repetitive. I felt bad for Sugar and how she was always been bullied and verbally abused at home. I really cared about her. But I felt like the book kind of dragged on because a lot of the book was the same thing. I felt like this book was about a girl that was overweight and that was the only focus. I wanted it to be about Sugar, not her weight.
I felt like some of the bullying was kind of unbelievable. Maybe it’s just because I’ve never been bullied because of my weight so I don’t have that experience but I just couldn’t see some those things actually happening in real life.
Even though I liked Sugar well enough, I couldn’t relate to her at all. I’ve never experienced any of her troubles and because I’ve that I had a hard time understanding some things. I just couldn’t understand why Sugar would keep eating junk food when her mother was bedridden in the next room because of her diabetes. A lot of my family has diabetes and I know how serious it is. I found it really frustrating that Sugar knew what could happen to her if she kept eating so much junk food and yet she wouldn’t stop.
Overall, I liked this book but I don’t it was right for me. I wish there was more of a story outside of Sugar’s weight but I think the biggest problem with this book wasn’t even a problem. It was me because I couldn’t relate to Sugar at all. I don’t think this book is for everyone but I do think it’s a good book for the right reader.

Review: Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl

November 28, 2015

Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl

Published October 13th 2015

Enter the world of the Avengers’ iconic master spy

Natasha Romanoff is one of the world’s most lethal assassins. Trained from a young age in the arts of death and deception, Natasha was given the title of Black Widow by Ivan Somodorov, her brutal teacher at the Red Room, Moscow’s infamous academy for operatives.

Ava Orlova is just trying to fit in as an average Brooklyn teenager, but her life has been anything but average.The daughter of a missing Russian quantum physicist, Ava was once subjected to a series of ruthless military experiments-until she was rescued by Black Widow and placed under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection. Ava has always longed to reconnect with her mysterious savior, but Black Widow isn’t really the big sister type.

Until now.

When children all over Eastern Europe begin to go missing, and rumors of smuggled Red Room tech light up the dark net, Natasha suspects her old teacher has returned-and that Ava Orlova might be the only one who can stop him. To defeat the madman who threatens their future, Natasha and Ava must unravel their pasts. Only then will they discover the truth about the dark-eyed boy with an hourglass tattoo who haunts Ava’s dreams. . . .

I’m a massive Marvel fan and I adore Black Widow so I was insanely curious to see what this book would entail.
It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. Great writing, even better characters but not emotionally engaging. I really enjoyed reading this book but I wasn’t glued to the pages. I liked the characters (okay, I loved Natasha) but I wasn’t surprised by any of the characters. Ava was really cool but I just didn’t love her. I can’t pin point why, I just didn’t fangirl over this book. I wasn’t expecting to but it would have been nice.
Maybe because the characters that I really loved (Natasha and Coulson) weren’t new to me. Between the Marvel movies and comic books, I know these characters fairly well. And I love them but I knew that I would. All the other characters didn’t really shine in any amazing, spectacular way.
Everything in this book was very Marvel. It was fun, witty, action packed. I loved it all but I loved everything I knew I was going to love. I wasn’t overwhelmed with excitement but I still really enjoyed reading this book. I had a great time and I’d read any other Marvel YA books that may or may not be released in the future.

ARC Review: Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

November 26, 2015

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Expected publication: December 1st 2015

The Rules:

Don’t deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don’t help me unless I ask. Otherwise you’re just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don’t be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I’m just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there’s only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right, her eyes don’t work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn’t cried since her dad’s death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened–both with Scott, and her dad–the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

I’m so pleasantly surprised by this book! I was sure what to expect when I started it but Not If I See You First is definitely one of my favorite of 2015!
I love the writing of this book. It’s written really realistically. The dialogue and characters are very real and honest.
I liked Parker a lot. She wasn’t always likable but it was realistic. She had her ups and downs but who doesn’t?
I just loved reading about her. And her character development was great. It was a little rushed at on point in the book, but that’s just a little thing.
My favorite thing about this book is it wasn’t romance driven. It wasn’t about Parker finding a boyfriend. It was about Parker and her life. How she lives her life without her parents. How she copes with high school and her friendships. Sure, it has some romance but it wasn’t the main point of the plot. And that’s why I loved this book so much.
I wasn’t exactly pleased with the last %4 of this book. I thought it was a little too late in the game though throw that kind of a curve ball. But it really didn’t affect my opinion of this book. I think it’s more of something that readers can have a discussion about than something that can majorly affected a readers thoughts on the book.
Overall, I loved this book and I highly recommend it. It’s really well written and different from any other book that I’ve read. It has great character development and I loved the plot.

Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

November 24, 2015

Steelheart by Bandon Sanderson
Published : September 24, 2013

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart – the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning – and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

I haven’t read a book this good in a while (aka October when I read Queen of Shadows). I loved this book from start to finish. There was always some sort of action going on, something that kept me on my toes. I still cannot believe how great this book was!

Super well written the whole team was an array of different walks of life who come together to take down one of the biggest, strongest, most enigmatic epics out there. For one boy who is searching for revenge and a better world. I enjoyed David as a character although at times I felt like he acted much younger than 18 and which he’d mature a bit, seeing as he was a man who essentially raised himself for 10 years in an crazy dystopian place.

The plot and continuity of it was great. I loved the progression of the whole thing. It was more of an up and down up and down plot line. There were the climactic and then a mellow out, and then moments later you’re reading a super action packed scene again. It was super action packed.

The writing was wonderful too. I never expected to like this book so much. I’ve had trouble with high fantasy and just regular fantasy books, but Brandon Sanderson does amazing things. I found it to be a good read, somewhat challenging at times, but not as challenging as I thought Mistborn was (at least the first chapter of it that I’ve read), in the aspect of content. This was much easier to read.

I really recommend this book to anyone, it’s almost written in a way that you could imagine it as a TV show or a really good action movie. It was really easy to visualize the setting and the characters and the scenes.

Bibliophile Gathering

Turn Pages Together

Tag: 2015 review