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!