REVIEW: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: The Towers of Midnight

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 13

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: June 26th^th to July 10^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight.

The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.

Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in Tel’aran’rhiod and find a way--at long last--to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever.

Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways--the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn--have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.

This latest novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series--the second based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007--brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice.


MY THOUGHTS:

This is another 1000+ paged book but it honestly didn't feel like it. I read through this fairly quickly. It's nice to finally be near the end of this series. I wish thought that I would have written my review right after I finished it because I forget specifically what happens. I mean this is the 13^th book so it's hard to remember what events happened in which book.

Anyways I did find Perrin in this one to be fairly annoying. He was continually whining about how he is just a blacksmith and not a lord and that he doesn't understand why people follow him. I wanted to reach into the book and shake him! Seriously they follow you because they feel that you are a good leader, you just pulled off what seemed like the impossible and yet you stand there and say crap like that. Perrin used to be one of my favourite but not anymore. It's almost like when Rand, Matt or Perrin where in a situation where they had to talk to a girl and they were like “ I wish I could talk to girls like Rand..” etc. It got so annoying that my husband and I have a little joke where we say that line in a high squeaky voice. I mean come on!! At least they stopped that after awhile. Perrin though needs to just get over it already! The last battle is upon them.

Elayne I still hate. I have never liked her. As the story line progressed her actions just kept annoying me more and more.

I looked forward to Matt, Thom and Noal finally going to the tower of Ghenjei and while it was exciting it was over really quickly which was a disappointment. I was a bit shocked at the price Mat had to pay to get them out safety though. All I can say is ouch!

Looking forward to reading the last book finally!

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

TITLE: The Boyfriend App

AUTHOR: Katie Sise

GENRE: YA

WHERE I GOT IT: ebook library borrow

READ FROM: July 6^th to July 8^th 2013

note: I try my hardest to give a spoiler free reviews but sometimes when talking about a book it is hard to keep it that way. When that is the case I like to warn readers that my review will give things away. This review might have some things that could spoil parts of the story for you. I have indicated where the spoilers start so never fear. :) 

ABOUT BLURB: Audrey is a computer smart techie girl who enters a contest to win 200,000 grand and thus be able to attend a school of her choice after she graduates from high school. To do this she developed an app that matches you with the perfect match. It's when she takes the development one step farther, the boyfriend App 2.0, that things started to get out of control.

EXPECTATIONS: I really had no expectations when I started this. I requested it through my library on a whim while browsing their website.

CHARACTERS:

The Trogs:

Audrey McCarthy – she was an okay main character. At least in the first part of the book. I really began to question her morals during the second half considering she was messing with peoples brains.

Aiden Bailey – one of Audrey's best friend and the love interest.... I think. Audrey seemed to go back and forth between who she was in love with. One moment it's Aiden, the next it is Xander. I really never warmed up to either of them so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Nigit Gurung/Mindy Morales/Lindsay - Audrey's other two best friend, and her cousin Lindsay make up her small group of friends. Nigit and Mindy really weren't all that interesting to me at all.

Others:

Blake Dawkins - She is a royal b*tch. I think she might have been the only character in the book that I felt anything for. It was all anger and disbelief that someone can be soooo horrible – especially to adults. I really never saw what Xander Knight saw in her or really what she saw in him. Other then I guess claiming him for herself when she saw that Audrey was interested in him a few years before the story takes place. Some best friend she really was. Good thing she is Audrey’s ex best friend now. She is just a horrible,horrible person.

There were other random characters but they really don't matter. In fact I really found all characters to be pretty uninteresting.

WHAT I LIKED: There really isn't to much that I did like about it. The first part of the book might be the only thing. I mean at least the basic premise of the story was plausible then. I was at least somewhat enjoying the story. It definitely wasn't like an all time 5 star book for me but it was somewhat enjoyable.

WHAT I HATED: I really didn't like how Audrey explained her cool haxxor skills or her computer smarts. I don't really know why. It felt really preachy to me and like she was talking down to you because she figured you probably wouldn't grasp what she was saying even when she simplified it. That could be because I already knew and understood what she was talking about.

Once I approached the middle of the book an event happened that made me lose almost total interest in the story because it was just so far out there. I mean this event didn't even make any sense to me at all.

She does some things that I think are morally questionable and seems to not even care that she was messing with people's brains, emotions and lives without a second thought. All to win money so she could go to the college of her choice. It really bugs me that nobody questioned how and why the App worked. Even some adults were said to have used it!

WARNING: The section below contains spoilers. If you want to avoid them just pop on down to the final thoughts section.

<spoiler> Okay so she fries her phone on a battery and then starts to hear a buzzing sound. She starts to love whoever is around her uncontrollably and it so happened to be her cousin. If that wasn't weird enough, it also effects her cousin the same way when she goes close to the phone. We find out later that the company actually has some sort of secret technology that sends out a inaudible tone or sets of tones that brain washes the teenager using the phone to buy more of their products. As crazy as that is it would make sense that a company could potentially do that to drive up sales. But then why did Audrey and Lindsay fall in love with each other instead of feeling this urge to go buy something else of said company? Maybe I missed something reading that section but I was like 'what the shit is going on? How does that make any sense?'

I also find it hard to believe that she was able to hack into a multi billion dollar company without being detected. Maybe it could be possible but while I think she is pretty smart I don't think she is that smart. I would think a huge company like that is always targeted by hackers. She is also able to hack her way in in under 5 mins. Oookay with no trouble what so ever.

Also after she hacks into Nigit's fathers computer she finds evidence of blackmail. Would a head of company that large really leave a paper trail like that!! It's not like it was shut up about our sales revenue or something. It's shut up about this crazy study we did so that we can transmit noises to make people buy our shit. Yeah I don't think I would be leaving a paper trail like that.

Then she uses that technology and creates her app 2.0 and makes it so that if she points her phone at someone, makes eye contact, presses a button and they drop what they are doing, fall madly in love with you and then attack them with kisses. First of all who the hell wants a guy to do that. I'm sorry but if that happened in real life we would be calling the cops and accusing them of being a obsessive crazy stalker.

Also Audrey finds nothing wrong with using people this way to win an app contest so she can go to school. Yeah I really think your father would approve of that. Also at one point she says that she actually made the signal stronger then what the company used. Soooo your messing with peoples brains, using them as guinea pigs without their consent (I realize that the company was also doing this but still). Who knows what the long term effects are. Is is just soooo wrong on so many levels. I really started to hate her which is sad since she is the main character! Also wouldn't the company realize what she did? How did everyone in the world that heard about the app and downloaded it not QUESTION why it worked or how? I think I would be a little horrified if on the news or twitter or somewhere I hear that there is an app to make any guy/girl fall mad shit in love with me. Yeah I really want that. What happens if the app is turned off or technology is interrupted as it sometimes is? I mean really! This is after all supposed to be set in this time frame of our world. GOD she even admits that it would be 'fake' later on in the book when she was considering using it on Aidan. So then WHY did you think it was okay AUDREY? Don't you want something REAL? UGHHH so frustrating!</spoiler>

FINAL THOUGHTS: Okay I need to stop ranting lol. I really just expected something different then what I got. Like I said before, the first part was okay and enjoyable but when she developed the second version that it crossed over into totally unbelievable fantasy. This just wasn't for me.

RATING: 1 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: The Gathering Storm

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 12

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: June 19th^th to June 26^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: (taken from Goodreads)

Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.

The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan's editor--his wife, Harriet McDougal--to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will cover the outline left by Robert Jordan, chronicling Tarmon Gai'don and Rand al'Thor's final confrontatino with the Dark One. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.

In this epic novel, Robert Jordan's international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward--wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders--his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.

Egwene al'Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower--and possibly the world itself.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

MY THOUGHTS:

Wow! I really flew through this one and usually that doesn't happen when the book is 1000+ pages. I simply could not put this one down. When I started reading I was a bit sad to realize that this was (mostly) the work of Brandon Sanderson and not Robert Jordan. I have no idea what parts RJ had already written and what was Brandon's and honestly it really didn't matter to me. I am just happy that we get an ending to this series.

I love that finally it seems like the story is just not progressing, but progressing really fast. I loved Egwene's part and she was in this book a lot. I was pretty much cheering for her the whole time. I couldn't help picturing the Aes Sedai as ants scrambling to get away from enemies at one point during the end of Egwene's capture. Egwene sure seems to be a force to be reckoned with. All I have to say is the action was immense and sweet justice was served at the end. Rand will need Egwene's strength for sure during the last battle.

Rand's part of the story was more interesting then it has been in the past as well. There were a few OMG moments, that made my mouth drop open because I never really imagined what happened to ever happen. I mean maybe in the long run what happened really isn't that major but still shocking none-the-less. I really couldn’t even imagine what pressure he is facing and the fact that the world's survival rests on his shoulders.

I can't wait to read the next! I really enjoy Brandon Sanderson's writing. I thought this book was long at just over 1000 pages but the next in the series is actually 2oo pages longer. But only two more books to go!

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars!