REVIEW: Saved by Allegra Skye

TITLE: Saved

AUTHOR: Allegra Skye

GENRE: YA, Supernatural

WHERE I GOT IT: Google Play store

READ FROM: October 25^th to November 1st, 2013

BOOK BLURB: Kiera and Amanda are twins. Kiera is always overshadowed by her sister Amanda. Everyone seems to prefer Amanda, even by the twins parents. So when they move and start in a new high school, Kiera once again feels like an outsider. This new town isn't what it seems though. Kiera meets a boy Cooper who is hiding a secret of his own. 

MY THOUGHTS: 

some things that really bothered me: (I'm pretty sure I stopped jotting them down after awhile.) 

- The twins parents are horrid people, especially the mother! Who treats their kids like the way she treats them. You shouldn't have kids if you can't love them both equally!

- SERIOUSLY I would NOT be driving her ANYWHERE until she put that seat belt on! Besides being dangerous it is also illegal and the way she was throwing a fit. Yeah you can walk there if your going to act like that. Most people put their belts on so I don't see why she flew off the handle like that! 

- The accident was just an ACCIDENT! It was not the fault of anyone! Here again, maybe you should be happy that one of your kids was pretty okay and that they both weren't severely hurt. OH wait! You don't care if Kiera lived or died, after all she should be the one on the hospital bed and not Amanda. 

- Explain to me how a day after this bad accident Kiera is strong enough to go to school but not strong enough to talk to the Police and tell them what happened? Sure she could just be too emotionally distraught to talk to them, but if that is the case she shouldn't really be going to school now should she! Especially where everyone and their uncle will be asking her a million and one questions about what happened!

- I hate how the mother is such a bitch that she refuses the let Kiera see her sister! OMG hello they are TWINS! Even if they aren't that close they still shared a womb together, there for on some level they still have a connection. Maybe it would help Amanda, wouldn't it at least be worth a shot.

- Also what kind of road as really deep ravines on either side of the road that goes behind a school. I cannot picture this for the life of me?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I don't even know what to say about this book anymore. I finished it awhile ago and honestly have barely any recollection on what happened through the whole thing.

It follows in the same vein as the last book I read. Badly needed to be edited, it seems more like a first draft and I'm pretty sure that Cooper just comes out of nowhere. I won't be continuing with the series at all.

RATING: 1 star

REVIEW: Sworn by Emma Knight

TITLE: Sworn

AUTHOR: Emma Knight

GENRE: YA, Supernatural

WHERE I GOT IT: Google Play store

READ FROM: October 19^th to October 21^th, 2013

BOOK BLURB: Rachael Wood has to move to a new town when her father has to move for a job. She is the newbie of the school, things are going crappy for her until a football player takes an interest in her. But when he starts to act weird, she meets a loner of the school who doesn't seem to be your average teenager.

MY THOUGHTS: I don't even know what to say about this book. I only downloaded it off of the Google store because it was about vampires, free and I needed something easy to read. The only good thing about it was that it was fairly short.

The most frustrating part about it was that about half way through I realized that so far there has been no introduction to any 'person' that could be a vampire. We don't see him until almost the end and it was instant love. ~rolls eyes. She literally just was snubbed by her first true love, runs into this guy and then is madly in love with him. She just says oh well who knows why the other guy (I can't even remember his name that's how much I don't care about him) snubbed me but that's okay because I just met real my true love....again. 

She doesn't even know this person for a day and notices all these strange things about him. It ends with her demanding to know what he is and saying that if he doesn't tell her she doesn't want to see him. I mean really? He leans over to whisper and then it ends! I mean, come on, it would have been more effective to have the last line of the book "I am a vampire"! We KNOW he is one considering Sworn is book #1 of the VAMPIRE LEGENDS. GEEZ if the author was trying to build up suspense it really didn't work.

I rated it one star because this book seems like a first draft. There were lots of grammar errors, repetition of thoughts right after each other, and incomplete sentences. Also it really bugs me when things that are normally a common occurrence, but change all of a sudden and then switch back and then are not explained. For example Rachael (her name was Rachael right?) and her siblings always, ALWAYS, get picked up by their mother from school but conveniently one day she decides to walk home and meets the 'vampire'. There is no mention on how her mother knows she doesn't have to wait for her or anything. Wouldn't her mother worry or sit there waiting for a long time. It wasn't like it was planned that she would walk home. She literally walks out of the school and then decides to walk home and I think even mentions that this way she wouldn't be a debbie downer in the car when her sister shares her excitement with her mom about making the cheerleading team. Then the next day she is being picked up by her mother again. There are probably other examples but I don't remember.

I would say pass on this book. I won't be reading the next in the series. I don't care for any of the character, nor what happens to them, and it really is hard to read with so many glaring errors.

RATING: 1 Star

REVIEW: Perverse by Larry Rodness

TITLE: Perverse

AUTHOR: Larry Rodness

GENRE: YA, Supernatural

WHERE I GOT IT: from the author for review

READ FROM: August 6^th to September 14^th, 2013

BOOK BLURB: 19 year old Emylene Stipe, a 2nd generation Goth, is shaken to the core when her make-believe world turns out to be real.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have to start off by saying that I absolutely love the cover of this book! I could totally see it hanging on one of my walls.

I really like how I was pulled into the story right away. Emylene is 19 years old and born to Goth parents. Her parents own a Goth night club downtown which makes Emylene pretty much royalty to the Goth community. She decides that she needs to break out on her own and rents an apartment. One day she stops off into an antique store and is compelled to purchase a drawing of a cabin in the woods. The next day she wakes up and sees something strange. There are footprints in the snow that were not there the day before.

This is such an interesting concept and I didn't expect the story to go in the direction that it did. I love when that happens! It was interesting to learn as Emylene did, who the girl in the drawing was, through Emylene's interactions with new acquaintances.

Emylene's world really was turned upside down, even losing a few years of her life, and having to deal with the aftermath of releasing a Vrykolakas (basically a vampire-like supernatural creature) upon the world. The twists kept coming and the ending was not at all what I had expected it to be.

This book was really good. The story, the characters, and seeing how a Vrykolakas viewed the world, were all very intriguing. It's actually refreshing reading a supernatural story that is 'dark' in nature instead of 'fluffy' (for lack of a better word) that seems to be the common trend these days.

(I was asked by the author to read and review this book honestly. I am so glad that I did!)

RATING: 4 stars

Review: A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

TITLE: A Memory of Light

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 14

WHERE I GOT IT: borrowed

READ FROM: August 5^th to August 12^th ,2013

BOOK BLURB: The last battle continues, will Rand be able to save the world and defeat the dark one?

MY THOUGHTS:

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."

This quote I have always loved and every time I read it now it sends chills down my spine. I love this series to pieces even though some of the books along the way slowed to a crawl. I was in my early teens when my sister lent me the first book. I was instantly hooked and have been waiting for the conclusion ever since.

I decided early last year that rereading all the books would be a good thing to do, so that everything would be fresh in my mind when the last book was released. I was so excited to finally get to read this book (and funnily enough my sister is the one who lent me her copy of this last book because I really didn't want to wait till the end of this year for the soft cover to come out.) It just seems fitting that she was the one that got me started on the series and she is the one that lent me the last one.

I'm honestly still not really sure what to think about this one. I can't decide if I liked it or hated it but I am thankfully for a ending.

I thought it seemed a bit rushed in parts even though the last battle essentially started a few books back and this one was also massive, some 900 pages. Some events seemed to be glossed over and it really bugged me that one of the forsaken, Demandred, was so insistent that Rand was out on the battlefield some where. He just kept ranting on and on. I don't know, I can't decide if he went completely crazy or what. I mean GO look for him not shout from the mountain top and demand that he come to you over and over again. HELLO he is destined to fight the dark one not you!

I also am shocked at some of the casualties of the war! I expected loses but nobody likes it when characters you have grown to love dies! :( I am still really bummed about that. Then the ending came and it left me scratching my head. In ways, I am happy that it ended but at the same time it left SOOO many questions and I can't even imagine what would happen next. I mean the battle ended, then the story ended after a few more pages! Such a unsatisfying ending in my opinion. Although one thing did happen at the end that shocked me because I really didn't see it coming.

Also I think this book has to take the record of longest chapter ever. The actual main part of the last battle lasted over 200 pages long! It was jam packed with action though so I read through it fairly quickly.

I still love this series even if I don't particularly like the ending but I'm glad that Robert Jordan left enough notes and was able to tell others how he had planned to end the series, before he passed away. It probably will be a long while before I attempt to reread the series though.

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.”

(Another quote that I love!) I can't help but to wonder how the fight with the shadow would be the next time. Would the Dragon need to do the same things as before or would the prophecy be fulfilled with different events leading up to the last battle as well. I guess we will never know.

RATING: 4 stars

REVIEW: Gimme a Kiss by Christopher Pike

TITLE: Gimme a Kiss

AUTHOR: Christopher Pike

PUBLISHED: 1988

PAGES: 152

GENRE: YA Horror

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

ABOUT BLURB:

Some secrets are worth dying for....

Jane Retton would never let anyone read her diary. After all, was filed with her wildest secrets – the sort of things she wouldn't even tell her closests friends.

Then something terrible happened. Somehow her diary ended up at school. And soon, everyone was reading her final, shocking entry. Some girls would simply die. Others girls would kill. But Jane Retton... she would do both.....

GIMME A KISS

NOTE: If your interested or read Christopher Pike in your youth you can read my recap of this book on my other blog Book Rat Nostalgic Reading.

FIRST SENTENCE OF THE BOOK: The girl looked scared.

MY THOUGHTS:

I had no recollection of anything that happened in this book what-so-ever. I'm actually not even sure if I read this one when I was younger. A few years back I was on the look out for any books by Christopher Pike and R.L Stine to complete my collection and this might have been one of them.

Regardless this book was fairly short at only 152 pages long. It is pretty similar to Fall into Darkness in that it bounces back and forth between the police station and events as they took place. Actually one of the main reasons for reading this one second was that I had read that the book that Ann based her fake death scenerio on, from Fall Into Darkness, was actually this book.

Jane Retton keeps a diary, except the entries are pure fantasy and didn't really happen. She is pretty meticulous at making sure that her diary stays away from unwanted eyes. One morning unfortunately, she was writing her latest entry  when she noticed that a cat was trying to eat her rabbit in the back yard. So what did Jane do? She left it open on her desk.

Later that day her latest entry was photocopied and distributed to everyone in school, an entry that detailed how her boyfriend Kirk and herself had sex. Kirk didn't deny it and everyone was staring and laughing at her.

She vows to get even by faking her own death and making it look like Kirk and Patty were responsible. Things didn't go exactly how she expected it to go. 

The story was okay but it isn't one of my favourites. I pretty much guessed the ending part way through the book though. The last bit of the book I find absolutely hilarious – but that might be because I am in shock at how unbelievable stupid one of the characters is and her reasoning behind things.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars.

REVIEW: Fall into Darkness by Christopher Pike

TITLE: Fall Into Darkness

AUTHOR: Christopher Pike

PUBLISHED: 1990

GENRE: YA Horror

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it.

READ FROM: August 17th to 18th 2013

ABOUT BLURB: They said she murdered her best friend. The trial is for murder. Ann Rice is dead. Her best friend, Sharon McKay, stands accused. But there is no body. And the three witnesses to the crime only heard what happened, and did not see it. Nevertheless, the prosecution is almost certain of victory. Ann was alone in the dark with Sharon on top of the cliff when Ann fell the 500 feet into the torrential river that claimed her life. There was only one route leading to the cliff, and all the witnesses can remember hearing the girls arguing before the fall occurred. Sharon's only defense is that Ann committed suicide. But everyone who knew Ann, including Sharon, said she was not the suicidal type. And they were right. Ann was much more then suicidal. She was obsessed.

NOTE: If your interested or read Christopher Pike in your youth you can read my recap of this book on my other blog Book Rat Nostalgic Reading. 

FIRST SENTENCE OF THE BOOK: The trial was for murder.

MY THOUGHTS:

So this is the first book that I have ever read by Christopher Pike. This book is what led me to discover other authors such as R.L. Stine, LJ Smith and Richie Tankersley Cusick. I think it was somewhere in the grades 5-8 that one day during choir practice my friend brought the book she was reading with her. It was this book. I remember that all my other friends were taking turns reading one passage out of the book. My friend basically told us - read this part and you will be hooked. She's right, I was. I really don't know what that says about me as a person or as a kid but it probably is where my love for supernatural/horror stories comes from.

If your interested in reading the passage here it is but be warned it is basically a big spoiler. If you want to skip it just look for the big end spoiler text.

“ The pants were tattered, the shirt and jacket torn. A coil of rope, perhaps as long as five hundred feet and entwined with heavy moss-covered stones, circled the lower body. No one in the school had approached Ann's incredible beauty, and even in that horrible moment of discovery, Sharon felt sad that she would never again be able to remember Ann as she had been. Sharon looked for only a fraction of a second before she clenched her eyes shut, but the horrible image burned to deep. The swollen black cheeks. The twisted purple mouth. The pink slit throat. It was a pity, Sharon thought, that Ann could no longer close her own eyes and look away from what was left of her body. But the fish in the river must have been hungry.

Ann's eyes were missing.” pg 180.

/END SPOILER

I think what made us all become obsessed with those books is that they were something different and they almost felt taboo to us. I mean just look at the subject matter of that passage up there. I'm pretty sure before that I was reading Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon and Sweet Valley high!

Reading this book again, brings back the memories of that day and my love for reading as a child. It's been so long since I've read this book. It's kind of amazing to me that I remember pretty much everything that happened considering how long it has been.

I really think Ann was crazy to pull what she did and I really don't get her hatred for Sharon since they were best friends for a long time. I understand why she says she did it but it makes me believe that she secretly was jealous of Sharon's success and achievements, maybe even throughout their whole friendship. Ann might have had money but she really didn't have any talents, she didn't have anything exciting happening in her life or to look forward to and her family were dropping around her. Such a deadly friendship! I almost feel sorry for Ann, especially when she sort of 'sees the light' so to speak but she still had to be some kind of evil person to do what she did. I'm also not convinced that Ann's boyfriend really loved her anyways, it seems almost like he was using her for the money. Who knows though maybe that last part is just over thinking the story and everyone's motives.

Anyways it was a nice trip down memory lane. I think I am going to dig out the rest of my books from my childhood and reread them.

Also check out my recap of the book with my comments on my other blog.

RATING: 5 stars

REVIEW: The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

TITLE: The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers

AUTHOR: Margaret George

GENRE: Historical Fiction

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: July 17^th to August ^3rd, 2013

BOOK BLURB: Much has been written about the mighty, egotistical Henry VIII: the man who dismantled the Church because it would not grant him the divorce he wanted; who married six women and beheaded two of them; who executed his friend Thomas More; who sacked the monasteries; who longed for a son and neglected his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; who finally grew fat, disease-ridden, dissolute. Now, in her magnificent work of storytelling and imagination, Margaret George brings us Henry VIII's story as he himself might have told it, in memoirs interspersed with irreverent comments from his jester and confidant, Will Somers. Brilliantly combining history, wit, dramatic narrative, and extraordinary grasp of the pleasures and perils of power, this monumental novel shows us Henry the man more vividly then he has ever been seen before.

MY THOUGHTS:

I had enjoyed reading The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George so I thought I would give this one a try as well. The story sucked me in right from the beginning and I was rather amazed that I seem to be flying through the book at a good pace even though it is just over 900 pages, at least at first.

I think I was about 400 pages in when I started getting bored. There were bits and pieces that helped regain my interest only for it to start to drag again. I really didn't find that many people that likeable and actually I was a bit confused by some of the court because they all had similar names or gained a name that belonged to someone else before. I don't really know that much of Tudor England other then the fact that Henry VIII married seven times and beheaded two of his wives.

Henry at first was very unlikable, he seemed to throw tantrums when he didn't get his way. I guess that could be because of his station in life, after all being king made people do your bidding and do everything and anything for you. He did sort of grow on me as I got deeper into the book. I felt bad for Catherine of Aragon. It really can't be that easy to have that many pregnancies only to lose almost all of the babes. Then watch your husband who you love slip away from you. Ann Boleyn in this book was very unlikeable, very manipulative and thought she was invincible. I can't imagine what went through her and Catherine Howard's mind while they were being led up to the executioner's block! I swear some of the executions back in the day were pretty harsh. I think at one point he had people hung, then taken down before they died, then had their innards pulled out of their bodies, then set on fire. That is a pretty complicated and crazy death!

I was pretty sad that Jane died. She seemed to actually be happy with Henry and even gave him the son he wanted.

I'm actually surprised that by the end that I actually felt sorry for Henry. Although I still think what he did to Katherine was pretty horrible and no matter what he did she was still his proper Wife. It was sad that she seemed to really love him only to have him treat her the way he did.

I look forward to reading more of Margaret George's books especially Mary, Called Magdalene and Elizabeth I.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

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!

Feature and Follow Friday! #2

This is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. :)

Q: What is your preferred reading format? Hardcover, eBooks, paperback etc?

Honestly for the longest time I was anti-ereader. I just couldn't see myself ever loving reading a screen because I love the smell of books and visually seeing how much progress I was making. While I still prefer reading paperbacks, I finally caved and bought a ereader earlier this year and I love it! I never purchase books unless I know I will love them and reread them. Anything else, I either borrowed from someone or from the library. With the ereader, however, I could literally own hundreds of books and it would only take up as much room as the ereader itself. My husband rolled his eyes when I was gushing about how many books I could own. Can you tell he isn't a reader? LOL.

REVIEW: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

TITLE: Knife of Dreams

AUTHOR: Robert Jordan

GENRE: Fantasy

SERIES: Wheel of Time # 11

WHERE I GOT IT: Own it

READ FROM: January 28^th to June 18^th 2013

BOOK BLURB: (taken from Goodreads) The Wheel of Time turns, and Robert Jordan gives us the eleventh volume of his extraordinary masterwork of fantasy.
The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers. There are those among the Forsaken who will go to any length to see him dead--and the Black Ajah is at his side....
Unbeknownst to Rand, Perrin has made his own truce with the Seanchan. It is a deal made with the Dark One, in his eyes, but he will do whatever is needed to rescue his wife, Faile, and destroy the Shaido who captured her. Among the Shaido, Faile works to free herself while hiding a secret that might give her her freedom or cause her destruction. And at a town called Malden, the Two Rivers longbow will be matched against Shaido spears.
Fleeing Ebou Dar through Seanchan-controlled Altara with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, Mat attempts to court the woman to whom he is half-married, knowing that she will complete that ceremony eventually. But Tuon coolly leads him on a merry chase as he learns that even a gift can have deep significance among the Seanchan Blood and what he thinks he knows of women is not enough to save him. For reasons of her own, which she will not reveal until a time of her choosing, she has pledged not to escape, but Mat still sweats whenever there are Seanchan soldiers near. Then he learns that Tuon herself is in deadly danger from those very soldiers. To get her to safety, he must do what he hates worse than work....
 
In Caemlyn, Elayne fights to gain the Lion Throne while trying to avert what seems a certain civil war should she win the crown....
 
In the White Tower, Egwene struggles to undermine the sisters loyal to Elaida from within....
 
The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Even the White Tower itself is no longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds, or the Dark One will triumph.

MY THOUGHTS: WOW! This one took me quite awhile to get through! I mean I LOOOOOVE the world and the characters but damn taking numerous books to resolve a few things really made the book drag on and on for me. It probably also didn't help that a week or so after I first started reading it back in January, my oldest daughter (who is 2) pulled out my book mark and it took me a month or so before I felt like picking it back up and finding where I had left off. Robert Jordan has so many characters that it is hard to keep track of them all, especially when they don't appear in the books regularly so I tend to forget who they are and what they were doing. At some point I just started blending all the Aes Sedai that I didn't recognize anymore into one lump, figuring that in any rereads I could maybe try to keep them straight then. At this point I just want to get through the series to find out what happens when the last battle finally arrives.

I still don't really like Elayne and by the end of the book my feelings of dislike intensified. I mean how stupid can she be! Near the end she made a few stupid choices that made me want to reach into the book and throttle her! Thanks Elayne for not only putting yourself in danger but those around you at the same time for NO reason at all. Others could have taken care of it without you at the forefront.

My favourite characters still are Egwene and Nynaeve. I found that any time I came across a part of the book that dealt with them I couldn't put the book down. Unfortunately they were not that many parts that dealt with them. Perrin used to also be a favourite but after a few books of him still trying to locate and get his wife back his story line just got boring to me, plus his wife is another character I can't really stand either. Mat's path was also interesting as well in the beginning but it basically has started to drag on too. Rand is semi interesting but he has changed so much from the first book that I don't necessarily like him as much as I did before. However, I can cut Rand some slack since he does really have a lot on his shoulders. I wouldn't want to be in his position.

At least near the end of the book things have started to slowly come together. A few things happened that shocked me. I know that at least in the next three books I will get some answers. Hopefully I will read through them faster then this one. Although looking ahead to book 12 I see that it is actually 300 pages longer then this one. I look forward to seeing how Brandon Sanderson finishes the series and am also sad to realize that for the most part this book was the last one that Robert Jordan fully completed himself. I still can't believe it has been six years since Robert Jordan passed away. May he rest in peace.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Feature and Follow Friday!

So this is my first blog hop! Hopefully I do everything correctly. :) 

 Q: Create a line of poetry with your book spines (take a picture)! 

This is such a neat idea! I wish I could go through all my books and make a poem but they are all unfortunately packed in boxes in the basement. This sort of reminds me of those magnetic poetry pieces you can get (which I also have somewhere to). My favorite poem however has always been "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. I remember one of the first times I heard it was on an episode of the cartoon Beetlejuice and fell in love with it.

What I'm reading Wednesday

Or should I say what I've been watching. This this last week I've barely picked a  book because I have been devouring every single episode of Ugly Betty. By the time I reached the end of the first season I was hooked and just like a good book it's so hard to stop reading/watching until you are done. This show pretty much has become one of my favourite shows of all time (up there with Seinfeld and Freaks and Geeks).

I loved all the characters, especially Marc and Amanda, and loved how you could see each of them grow as people throughout the four seasons. The only downfall of watching the show so quickly is that now that I have watched all the episodes  I feel the loss of them.

I like how the last episode tied up all the story arcs for each of the characters and I like how the writers waited until the last few episodes to really show Daniel consider that maybe his feelings for Betty are more then just platonic. I never considered them getting together until those last few episodes. I can see myself watching this show again sometime soon.

Betty's progression of character and her accomplishments made me really stop and examine my own life. She was so fearless in chasing after her dream even though it seemed like it was somewhat out of reach at the start of the show. Everyone laughed at her when she first arrived at Mode, but she never gave up and proved her worth in the end. Who knows maybe someday I will finally have that novel that has been floating around in my head published.

I am still reading A Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan. I decided to forgo starting any other book at the moment or I will never get through it. I was happy to finally reach a point in the book about Egwene and her battle for the White Tower which made the pages go by quicker. Unfortunately I am now reading about Mat's and the reading pace has slowed down again. At least I am more then 3/4ths of the way through the book now.

Hopefully I will have more time to read now that I won't be glued to my TV screen, that is unless I find another show to be obsessed with.  :)

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I thought I would start a weekly post to update everyone on what I am currently reading and what I have in the wings to read. I am really bad for starting and reading more then one book at a time. I basically read what I am in the mood for at the time.

Right now I am still slogging through Book #11 of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I know slogging sounds harsh. I really love the story he has created it's just taking soooo long to get to the end. I started rereading the beginning of this series last January! As in 2012 January! This story is huge with so many characters that it is really hard to remember everyone and what is happening if you put it down and then come back to it. I made it through 7 books straight without reading anything else before I needed to take a WoT break. What I said before happened but thanks to things such as the Wheel of Time wiki anytime I forgot who someone was I just look it up. I only decided to reread the series from the beginning again because it had been a while since I read any of the books and because I knew that the last book was finally going to be out this year. I was pretty much bang on that it would take me a year to get to the last few books.

So that brings me to Knife of Dreams! I am now about 75% through it and then only have 3 more books to go before I find out what happens to everyone. Right now the book is starting to drag again and I am in no mood to read big walls of text so I might take a break from it and read one of the three books I just got in the mail yesterday. Figuring out what to purchase is always hard for me because I want to buy books that I know I will love and ones that I will reread. Everything else I read I either borrow from someone or borrow from the library.

The first one is Margaret George's The autobiography of Henry VIII. I have wanted to get this book for a long time. It is a behemoth of a book though over 900 pages. I read her book The Memoirs of Cleopatra in 2010 which I absolutely loved! Two of my favorite time periods are of the Ancient Egyptians and anything to do with the medieval era. I'm not quite sure where my love for either came from but I can't get enough of either of them.

What really sold me on getting Henry VIII was the fact that it seems to be written in letter or diary form. It sounded interesting and Henry VIII is well known, I just don't know his full history.

 I also purchased Ken Follett's, The Pillars of the Earth and it's sequel, World Without End. I am looking forward to reading both of them as well. I first became interested in those books when watching the World Without End  miniseries on TV. At some point I saw that it was based on a book and naturally I had to add it to my TBR list.

I've also been asked to review a book called The Pavement Gardener by Nyla Naseer. I will be starting that very soon. It sounds to be a very interesting read!

That's all for me this week. :)

REVIEW: The Night Shift by Brian Goldman

TITLE: The Night Shift

AUTHOR: Brian Goldman

GENRE: non-fiction

WHERE I GOT IT: library borrow

DATE READ: May 10 to May 28, 2013

ABOUT BLURB: Dr. Brian Goldman shares his experiences while working the night shift in busy Mount Sinai hospital in downtown Toronto.

MY THOUGHTS: This is another one of those books that I put on hold at the library on a whim because it looked interesting. I didn't realize that after it became available to check out from said library, I would have already have been rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night by my husband. This left me very nervous to even read the book because I was afraid of reading anything that resembled what happened to me and at the time I had NO idea why it happened. (My heart went into atrial fibrillation for the second time in 5 years and it is not to common for a young healthy person to experience that!) Of course my curiosity got the better of me and I slowly started reading it anyways. There were a few parts where I almost stopped because it was talking about a patient with heart problems. I was convinced that regardless of my age there was something wrong with my heart and reading anything to do with people in the ER with heart problems really made my anxiety fly sky high.

I however, still kept reading and found it rather interesting. I knew of course that life in the ER is nothing like the TV shows but I never realized just how hectic it could be. I did find it frustrating at times though because Dr. Goldman would start talking about one patient then leave you hanging while he told stories about similar or related topics before going back to the original story at the end of the chapter.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  Although Dr. Goldman does talk in some medical terms and about certain medications that I have never heard of, he does give a good impression of what working in a ER is like. I know it's something I could never do and I commend anyone that does. I guess I can understand now sometimes when nurses or doctors come across as indifferent. It's probably either work fatigue or their only defence against getting too emotionally involved with each patience situation. I would imagine working the long hours in an ER, would be emotionally draining after awhile.

(Also in case anyone is wondering after all the tests I have had done, my heart is totally healthy and they found nothing wrong with me. The specialist determined because of what I was doing both times it happened (chugging cold water and trying to get some burbs out) that I am one of the lucky few that people in this world that could experience atrial fibrillation due to either food, liquid, or gas disturbing my esophagus. Lucky me :(. )

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Death Cure

TITLE: The Death Cure

AUTHOR: James Dashner

GENRE: YA, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic,

SERIES: Book #3 of the Maze Runner Trilogy

WHERE I GOT IT: Borrowed from the library

READ FROM: March 03 to 05, 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. So read with caution.

BLURB: They cracked the secret of the maze and crossed the scorch. Now WICKED has one more task for them and that is to finish the blueprint for the cure. Just one thing, Thomas knows that he can't trust them to tell the truth.

WHAT I HATED: I was SO disappointed with this book. I loved the first one and thought the second one was okay but I had really high hopes for this one. I was totally disappointed. I started skimming parts near the end because I just wanted it to be done!

I felt that parts of the book really seemed to drag. This was probably due to the fact that once they made it to their next destination something happened that stalled them for awhile. Then once they finally started moving to the next point they were stalled again. I just wanted them to get to the end point so I could get some answers. It's almost like in a suspense movie. The person is running away and getting so close to the safe spot, that your sitting on the edge of your seat biting your nails hoping they make it but knowing there is the possibility that the won't. .

I was really hoping that Thomas would get his memory back. As bad as it sounds I was practically cheering when WICKED was going to force him to go through with the procedure because I wanted some concrete answers. On the other hand I can understand why Thomas wouldn't want to remember anything but since he was one of the most mysterious characters I felt like he should have anyways. But once it seemed like that wasn't going to happen I expected maybe learning something from Teresa but she was barely even in the book! 

CHARACTERS: I feel that Teresa and Thomas had so much potential to make the story really interesting considering we get snippets of how they were involved with WICKED from a young age, how they could communicate mentally with each other and how they had a big part in the development of the maze. I really wish that Dashner would have chosen to let us in on a bit more. The whole thing is shrouded in so much mystery that we are left to make up our own minds and to be honest I really don't like that. There is just to much left unanswered for my liking.

While I was interested in Teresa, I really hated Brenda. The only point I saw for her being there was to make Thomas continually debate about who he should be with. It got annoying after awhile. Sometimes love triangles can be interesting, this one definitely was not. Plus was she a WICKED spawn or was she really on Thomas's side and in love with him? It doesn't seem like it could be both since Wicked really doesn't seem to be “good”?

ANOTHER THING I HATED:  I also was so disappointed with the letter Newt gave Thomas to read at the right “moment”. I was willing Thomas to read that note at least a half a dozen times and when he finally did I had to reread to make sure I read it right. I was thinking it was going to be something profound, something moving, something that made me think. Instead it was 'if your my friend, kill me when I get past the gone”. WHAT!?!?! Why couldn't he have just pulled Thomas aside to ask him that and make him promise then? I mean come on Newt! You can't tell him he will “know” when the time to read it is and when he doesn't, get all mad at him because he let you down! Seriously. If it was that important to you that he kill you right after you go crazy you should have taken him aside and made sure he understood! Not leave it up to a letter you wrote! I get maybe that would have been a hard conversation but still at least he would have known your wishes. Considering the world that they are living in there are a million possibilities why Thomas wouldn't read the note at the 'right time'! I felt sooo cheated that there was all this suspense leading up to reading that note and that was all we got.

PLOT: I really did believe that WICKED was close to a cure. I really, really, really did. Even though the explanation on how they were going to reach that really didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. So I was hopeful when Thomas went back.

Then rat man said this: “Thomas we need your brain” I knew at that point (and was slightly disappointed because the story was totally going in a direction I didn't expect) that rat man, and quite possible all of WICKED were all way past the gone and had been for a really long time. UGH!

Then Teresa DIES! WHAT? But to be honest, while it shocked me I found I really didn't care. She was barely in the books anyways so I was not attached to her at all. I was sort of appalled that Thomas basically was like 'meh that sucks.' 

WHAT I LIKED: I actually found that their style of swearing/slang humorous for some reason. “Those Cranks are way past the Gone.” I have a feeling I might be saying 'what the clunk' a lot or thinking people are being real 'slintheads' for awhile.

THE ENDING: While there was an ending of sorts, I was left with so many more questions. Like what was the extent of Thomas and Teresa's part in building the trials? Why were they able to communicate telepathically to each other? How did they learn that? Why can't everyone do that? Who is Chancellor Paige? Why didn't we learn about her sooner? How did they think this research was going to help them find a cure? Why did they find everything so necessary? Why didn't WICKED hire more munies to oversee their research? How did WICKED think it was going to solve the flare infection? Why didn't WICKED send immunes to this magical start over place before they discovered failure!? Was WICKED really good? Sigh, I could go on.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I have to give Dashner a high five for being very creative in this trilogy. He did create an interesting world, even if he left us with a million more questions then we started with. I guess I will have to use my imagination as to what happened to the ones that were sent to start over, even though I don't want to. I just really wish that I wasn't given such a free rein to come up with my own conclusions. I may have ranted a lot with this book but it really did make me think a lot about the story.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE TRILOGY: As a whole I really loved this series, I think maybe to go on as far as to say, one of my favourites even though I didn't like book 2 and 3 nearly as much as the 1^st one.   I'm actually pretty excited to see that the first one is being made into a movie. Should be interesting to see when it comes out. 

My final thoughts on the trilogy is this: is WICKED really good? I can't really decide. I think their quest to find a cure was a good thing but I think they way they went about it was bad. Who knows maybe they were already starting to go past the Gone when they decided the trials were the only way to go. I guess we will never know. Your thoughts?

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars