Fifth book in the Vampire Academy series, I do have the fourth book reviewed. I do explain in that why I do not have the first three books up. Maybe one day I will reread them and also review them. There is one more book for this series, and eventually I will get around to reading it. Mead has quite a number of other books out, including a series called the Bloodlines series and it sort of goes along with the Vampire Academy. (Yes, there is a reason why I didn't mention the movie, I'm pretending it didn't happen.)
A heartbroken Rose returns to St. Vladimir's after a long and tiring trip to Siberia. She returns back to Lissa, and soon graduation takes place. The girls are ready for their life to begin outside of the academy's grip. Though even with that excitement looming there is almost always something that reminds Rose of Dimitri and she feels the heartache all over again. He's out there, and she knows it. Rose failed to kill him when she had the chance, Dimitri tasted her blood and now he's hunting her. She knows that if she doesn't join him as a Strigoi he will silencer her forever. But Rose won't give up hope, there are rumors and she must decide who matters most to her because of them. Risk everything and lose it all, or gain from it, is one of the hardest decisions she must make.
Rose is still my favorite character, though she annoyed me this book which I will get into in the next paragraph. Abe is creeping up in second place for favorites now. Rose was sassy and it had me laughing along with Adrian and him being himself. Speaking of Rose and Adrian, I was really happy to see that Rose apologized to him for certain things. She wasn't above apologizing when she knew she was in the wrong. I think more people need to be like this, and not so full of themselves. Apologizing to someone when you have done wrong isn't bad, if anything it can pave the way for making things better between the people. I liked that there was action pretty much throughout the book. It kind-of had to be that way because I probably wouldn't have finished Spirit Bound. The main problem was "solved" about half way through the book, so if there wasn't any action through the rest of the it I would have been disappointed. There where breaks long enough to process what just happened but soon after things would start back up again. Now, a lot of you know that I loath cliffhanger endings. This one however, when I finished reading the last line, it felt right. I don't know how I would have taken any other ending.
As I said before Rose annoyed me. Even though both she and Adrian knew that Rose wasn't over Dimitri, they still decided to try out a relationship together. This personally made me want to smack them both. Rose and Adrian should have stayed close friends (no I don't mean that in a sexual way unless they wanted that mutually) and waited until Rose was either over Dimitri or knew fully that she wouldn't be able to be with him. Let your heart heal before you try to jump into another relationship with someone, this keeps you from being hurt again and hurting the other person. I could go on about this but I won't. The other thing that bothered me was Adrian's family was being nice to Rose, including Tatiana. This didn't sit well with me, I almost feel as though Rose is being set up. I wouldn't have been rude, but I wouldn't let my guard down either. Also, with everyone being nice how did this not raise a number of red flags with Rose? The last thing that bugged me, I mentioned before, is the big issue for the book was "over" half way through the book, because of this I knew something big had to happen to be able to fill a second book. This thing had to be something other than Dimitri being a Strigoi. So I wasn't surprised when that big event was revealed.
I'm still a big fan of this series and I really look forward to reading Bloodlines down the way. I didn't realize that its been 5 years since this book came out, I was genuinely baffled when I saw that. I do recommend this book to readers of all ages, and not just teens. I will put a warning out for younger readers, there are a couple of heated scenes but they don't go far at all. This is my personal copy, I rescued it from my library on one of their book sale days. I did have problems with Spirit Bound but I still very much enjoyed reading it. I do plan to read the last book eventually but I will not start Bloodlines until I do, so that should lit a fire under me to get on it.....sometime in the future.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Page Count: 489 pages (hardcover)
Price: $17.99 (I got this book for less than $0.10)
Next: March & April Book Haul
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
Third book in the White Rabbit Chronicles I do have book one and book two reviewed, feel free to check them out if you want. Showalter was originally going to end the chronicles with The Queen of Zombie Hearts but things have changed and there will be another book. The next book will be called A Mad Zombie Party and as of now it is set to be released later this year. I don't think I will be reading that one as soon as it comes out, I will probably wait a while before I do. There is another book out that fits between book one and book two called Cole...Meet Ali. If you want to read that just click and it will take you to Showalter's site where you can read it.
The worst is behind the slayers, or so they think. Ali is ready to go a step further with her boyfriend Cole Holland. Who also happens to be the leader of the zombie slayers. Everything was going good until Anima Industries lands a sneak attack. They are the ones controlling the zombies, and they are the reason why four of Ali's friends get killed. Ali realizes that people can be the most dangerous things, sometimes worse than monsters themselves. What's even worse is that this is only the beginning. Trying to overcome what just happened the remaining slayers gear up for war, and Ali finds that she can control the zombies too. She learns that she isn't who she thinks she is, along with so much more. She's connected to the woman who killed, and turned Cole's mother. More and more secrets come out into the open, and a relationship can only endure so much. Ali will find that taking down Anima is going to be harder than she thought and she just might have to sacrifice herself to do it.
I didn't have too many likes this time around. Zombie Hearts was an okay book, but I really had more problems with it. What I did like however was the action that was all throughout the book. There where down moments, but they were not down for very long. Things got going almost right away, and it just kept going from there. I laughed almost the whole way through the book, between Ali, Kat, Gavin, and everyone else there was an abundance of sass everywhere. The fact that Showalter kept me laughing is about the only reason why I didn't put this book down and not finish. *SEMI-SPOILER-ALERT* I will commend Showalter, she knows that her fan base is mainly younger readers. Things get heated with Cole and Ali, and Showalter promoted safe sex. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Safe sex needs to be promoted, because teens are going to be teens (not saying all teens will be teens but you get it).*SEMI-SPOILER-ENDED*
I'm on the fence about this next point, if you are sensitive and have not a clue about what happens in this book skip this little blurb and go to my dislikes (the very next paragraph). As soon as I read that four people where going to die, I knew exactly who they where. Along with the other. It wasn't really a big surprise to me, the four weren't huge characters. I did feel a touch of heartache, but it was because I was hoping to get a little more from them.
I had a lot of annoyances with this book, but I will cut them down to the ones that bugged me the most. The first one was the hints throughout the book specifically the ones on page 63 and 76. *SPOILER-ALERT* I knew that Ali was adopted before anything happened because of these two hints. I do think there was hints in the first two books but I don't quite remember them being so prominent. I also knew that Kat was going to die, just not the way that she did.*SPOILER-ENDED* The next one that bugged me was Ali's constant "OMG Cole is so hot, OMG Cole is the best, OMG Cole this, OMG Cole that" on just about every other page. I literally felt like Ali was 12 with her first crush and not a young adult. If I could have reached into the book and shaken her I would have. I liked Cole before, but not anymore. After commending Showalter, I do have to say that personally I do not think it is okay to tattoo your boyfriend/girlfriends name on you. Especially at a very young age, things happen and people change. I have seen more often than not that after getting a persons name tattooed on them, they split. Now they have a constant reminder of the other person until they get enough money to cover it up. Tattoo's are permanent unless you want to shell out a lot of money. Lastly, if the slayers knew that Anima was planning something (but not necessarily when per say) I would have never gotten as relaxed as they did. That's a big no-no, you do not get all relaxed when you know the enemy is still very much alive and kicking.
If I wasn't kept laughing from the sassiness I would have not finished The Queen of Zombie Hearts. I really was disappointed with this book. I kept hoping that things would turn around but they didn't. I didn't even list everything that I had a problem with because no one would have bothered to read a huge whining post. I know my opinion is one of the less popular ones, but this is what I think nonetheless. I hope that I like the next book more. I do recommend this book, only because I know there are people out there who are going to love the book and that's great.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Page Count: 459 pages (hardcover)
Price: $18.99
Next Book: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
Note: I would still like to say that I am busy in college, this term is really packed with work to do. I don't have too much time to read, but I still do when I can. If reviews are further apart I'm sorry but you gotta do what you gotta do to live. If something happens and I cannot get reviews up for a while I will make a separate post saying so. Once again, thank you!
The worst is behind the slayers, or so they think. Ali is ready to go a step further with her boyfriend Cole Holland. Who also happens to be the leader of the zombie slayers. Everything was going good until Anima Industries lands a sneak attack. They are the ones controlling the zombies, and they are the reason why four of Ali's friends get killed. Ali realizes that people can be the most dangerous things, sometimes worse than monsters themselves. What's even worse is that this is only the beginning. Trying to overcome what just happened the remaining slayers gear up for war, and Ali finds that she can control the zombies too. She learns that she isn't who she thinks she is, along with so much more. She's connected to the woman who killed, and turned Cole's mother. More and more secrets come out into the open, and a relationship can only endure so much. Ali will find that taking down Anima is going to be harder than she thought and she just might have to sacrifice herself to do it.
I didn't have too many likes this time around. Zombie Hearts was an okay book, but I really had more problems with it. What I did like however was the action that was all throughout the book. There where down moments, but they were not down for very long. Things got going almost right away, and it just kept going from there. I laughed almost the whole way through the book, between Ali, Kat, Gavin, and everyone else there was an abundance of sass everywhere. The fact that Showalter kept me laughing is about the only reason why I didn't put this book down and not finish. *SEMI-SPOILER-ALERT* I will commend Showalter, she knows that her fan base is mainly younger readers. Things get heated with Cole and Ali, and Showalter promoted safe sex. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Safe sex needs to be promoted, because teens are going to be teens (not saying all teens will be teens but you get it).*SEMI-SPOILER-ENDED*
I'm on the fence about this next point, if you are sensitive and have not a clue about what happens in this book skip this little blurb and go to my dislikes (the very next paragraph). As soon as I read that four people where going to die, I knew exactly who they where. Along with the other. It wasn't really a big surprise to me, the four weren't huge characters. I did feel a touch of heartache, but it was because I was hoping to get a little more from them.
I had a lot of annoyances with this book, but I will cut them down to the ones that bugged me the most. The first one was the hints throughout the book specifically the ones on page 63 and 76. *SPOILER-ALERT* I knew that Ali was adopted before anything happened because of these two hints. I do think there was hints in the first two books but I don't quite remember them being so prominent. I also knew that Kat was going to die, just not the way that she did.*SPOILER-ENDED* The next one that bugged me was Ali's constant "OMG Cole is so hot, OMG Cole is the best, OMG Cole this, OMG Cole that" on just about every other page. I literally felt like Ali was 12 with her first crush and not a young adult. If I could have reached into the book and shaken her I would have. I liked Cole before, but not anymore. After commending Showalter, I do have to say that personally I do not think it is okay to tattoo your boyfriend/girlfriends name on you. Especially at a very young age, things happen and people change. I have seen more often than not that after getting a persons name tattooed on them, they split. Now they have a constant reminder of the other person until they get enough money to cover it up. Tattoo's are permanent unless you want to shell out a lot of money. Lastly, if the slayers knew that Anima was planning something (but not necessarily when per say) I would have never gotten as relaxed as they did. That's a big no-no, you do not get all relaxed when you know the enemy is still very much alive and kicking.
If I wasn't kept laughing from the sassiness I would have not finished The Queen of Zombie Hearts. I really was disappointed with this book. I kept hoping that things would turn around but they didn't. I didn't even list everything that I had a problem with because no one would have bothered to read a huge whining post. I know my opinion is one of the less popular ones, but this is what I think nonetheless. I hope that I like the next book more. I do recommend this book, only because I know there are people out there who are going to love the book and that's great.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Page Count: 459 pages (hardcover)
Price: $18.99
Next Book: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
Note: I would still like to say that I am busy in college, this term is really packed with work to do. I don't have too much time to read, but I still do when I can. If reviews are further apart I'm sorry but you gotta do what you gotta do to live. If something happens and I cannot get reviews up for a while I will make a separate post saying so. Once again, thank you!
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
I know, I know, I'm a little late on reading this book (more like four years). This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone...but it's better late than never! To be perfectly honest I have had this book for a good year or so and I just now got around to reading it. For those of you unaware this first book in the Peculiar Children trilogy is going to be a movie in 2016 and rumored to be directed by Tim Burton! The second book is out and I do own it, though I don't know when I will get around to reading that. The final book is not published yet, but is set to be in September of this year.
If it weren't for a family tragedy Jacob wouldn't have been driven to a little island off the coast of Wales. While there he finds Miss Peregrine's Hone for Peculiar Children, it's in ruins but after looking around he sees that these peculiar children are more than what they seem. There's a chance they are dangerous, and have been quarantined here for a reason. There's a chance that they may still be alive.
I very much enjoyed this book, Riggs did a fantastic job of drawing me in but I wasn't kept there which I will get into in the next paragraph. I really enjoyed the idea that peculiar children need to be protected from this greater evil. Once the backstory is told of the greater evil I was really intrigued and I wished that there was a novella or something that goes along with the backstory more. I sympathize with Jacob, because if I had a grandparent telling me tales like Jacob's I wouldn't believe them either. It would take for me to come face to face with what they were talking about before I where to believe, like Jacob. I couldn't pick just a few characters that I liked, because I liked basically all of the peculiar children. They are unique and all really cool on their own, and I love how they are kept a secret from the "real world" for their protection too. I was surprised to see that I recognized a few of the photos that Riggs included.
The only real problem I had with Peculiar Children is that I found I could be drawn away from reading it. In between starting and finishing this book I also read 3 or 4 other books. I did always go back to it but if something caught my attention I didn't feel the need to finish Peculiar Children. Now this isn't so much as a dislike, but more of a annoyance. It also takes away from the full 5-rating that I was intending to give. My attention just wasn't kept by Riggs. I will hold off reading the second book for a little bit because of how easily distracted I was from this one.
I did enjoy Peculiar Children very much, I just wish my attention had been kept all the way through. I do recommend this book to everyone, not just young adults. I think that adults could enjoy this book easily. I also think younger readers could enjoy this book, I don't think there is anything in this book that they wouldn't come across worse just listening to the afternoon news. I already own this book and the second, it remains to be seen whether I decide to get the final third book.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 382 pages (paperback)
Price: $10.99 (I bought this around $7-$9 at my local Sam's Club)
Next Book: The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
I had reviews going up every Saturday (for me) but seeing as I have a class on Saturdays now, I will just push back the reviews by one day. Now it will be every Sunday that I put a review up.
If it weren't for a family tragedy Jacob wouldn't have been driven to a little island off the coast of Wales. While there he finds Miss Peregrine's Hone for Peculiar Children, it's in ruins but after looking around he sees that these peculiar children are more than what they seem. There's a chance they are dangerous, and have been quarantined here for a reason. There's a chance that they may still be alive.
I very much enjoyed this book, Riggs did a fantastic job of drawing me in but I wasn't kept there which I will get into in the next paragraph. I really enjoyed the idea that peculiar children need to be protected from this greater evil. Once the backstory is told of the greater evil I was really intrigued and I wished that there was a novella or something that goes along with the backstory more. I sympathize with Jacob, because if I had a grandparent telling me tales like Jacob's I wouldn't believe them either. It would take for me to come face to face with what they were talking about before I where to believe, like Jacob. I couldn't pick just a few characters that I liked, because I liked basically all of the peculiar children. They are unique and all really cool on their own, and I love how they are kept a secret from the "real world" for their protection too. I was surprised to see that I recognized a few of the photos that Riggs included.
The only real problem I had with Peculiar Children is that I found I could be drawn away from reading it. In between starting and finishing this book I also read 3 or 4 other books. I did always go back to it but if something caught my attention I didn't feel the need to finish Peculiar Children. Now this isn't so much as a dislike, but more of a annoyance. It also takes away from the full 5-rating that I was intending to give. My attention just wasn't kept by Riggs. I will hold off reading the second book for a little bit because of how easily distracted I was from this one.
I did enjoy Peculiar Children very much, I just wish my attention had been kept all the way through. I do recommend this book to everyone, not just young adults. I think that adults could enjoy this book easily. I also think younger readers could enjoy this book, I don't think there is anything in this book that they wouldn't come across worse just listening to the afternoon news. I already own this book and the second, it remains to be seen whether I decide to get the final third book.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 382 pages (paperback)
Price: $10.99 (I bought this around $7-$9 at my local Sam's Club)
Next Book: The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
I had reviews going up every Saturday (for me) but seeing as I have a class on Saturdays now, I will just push back the reviews by one day. Now it will be every Sunday that I put a review up.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
The Farm by Emily McKay
First book in the Farm trilogy, I will try to get my hands on the other three books. One of the three books is a novella that took place before this first book did. If I can't get the others to read, I will carry on reading what ever I happen to pick up as usual. The last book was published in 2014 and from reading a few things I think it might be safe to say that it is the last book. McKay does have a number of other books published and this trilogy looks to be her first go at YA novels.
In the Before life was completely different. There weren't any holding pens for young people, there weren't any blood thirsty monsters called Ticks devouring humans. The world was as normal as it could get. Then the Ticks came everything changed, now twins Lily and Mel are stuck at the Farm. Mel is autistic and it comes in handy quite a bit. Mel noticed that there is a portion of the electrical fence that is off every night. Lily takes this as their ticket out, though it won't be easy it is the only chance they have. Or so they think. Carter is a classmate of Lily's from the Before, and he has managed to stay alive this whole time. He has very valuable knowledge about life outside the Farm. Much like everyone else he has his own agenda, he also knows that there is a driving force behind the Ticks and it is a dangerous one.
I very much like how McKay had this apocalypse come about, it is a concept that I don't dismiss readily. The Ticks reminded me a little of The Strain but there are "normal" vampires running around too. I do like the idea of how things may end up going back in favor for the humans (possibly) because of the abductura and their special abilities with the Ticks. I really enjoyed that McKay didn't make Carter and Lily get together in this first book. It was nice not having the main characters all over each other constantly because they are together. Plus it saves me from going on a tangent that this leads to the cliché of the second book being the break up of the relationship. I loved that the action was pretty much nonstop from the beginning, it really kept the pace of the book up. When things did calm a bit I would catch myself wondering what was going to happen next and what was coming. I wasn't drawn to Carter and Lily, but Mel and Sebastian actually. I really wanted to see more interactions from them but obviously it was more about Lily and Carter in this book. I do believe that the next books might have more of Mel and Sebastian in them which I look forward too.
I did have a couple of problems with The Farm. It was a very good book, well written, very descriptive, and I didn't want to stop reading. There was action throughout the book, but when it came to the end and the "big action" that was being built up to, I felt that it lacked very much. Everything was literally over within a couple of pages. I know I shouldn't be too harsh but it bugs me when this big event for the end of the book just flops. I also didn't like how I can tell what relationships are going to ensue throughout the series. For example Carter and Lily, Sebastian and Mel. I wouldn't be surprised to see McKay switch them up too. I still have high hopes for the trilogy, I just hope this isn't going to be a let down in the end like another trilogy I finished up with not too long ago.
The Farm wasn't a complete disappointment, but I was hoping for more when it came to the end. I can see "adults" liking this book, along with young adults. I don't see a problem with a younger reader having at this either. There is talk of sex and subtle hints of rape but it's nothing compared to some other books out there. I definitely don't see the younger readers being traumatized over The Farm. Owning this book would be nice but I would most likely read the rest of the books before I make a definite decision on it. I can see myself reread this a couple of times though they would be spaced out quite a bit. As usual what I did happen to mention is not everything that happened. If you think you may like to read this book, I say go for it.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 420 pages (paperback)
Price: $9.99
Next Book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Thank you for reading!
~Jade
In the Before life was completely different. There weren't any holding pens for young people, there weren't any blood thirsty monsters called Ticks devouring humans. The world was as normal as it could get. Then the Ticks came everything changed, now twins Lily and Mel are stuck at the Farm. Mel is autistic and it comes in handy quite a bit. Mel noticed that there is a portion of the electrical fence that is off every night. Lily takes this as their ticket out, though it won't be easy it is the only chance they have. Or so they think. Carter is a classmate of Lily's from the Before, and he has managed to stay alive this whole time. He has very valuable knowledge about life outside the Farm. Much like everyone else he has his own agenda, he also knows that there is a driving force behind the Ticks and it is a dangerous one.
I very much like how McKay had this apocalypse come about, it is a concept that I don't dismiss readily. The Ticks reminded me a little of The Strain but there are "normal" vampires running around too. I do like the idea of how things may end up going back in favor for the humans (possibly) because of the abductura and their special abilities with the Ticks. I really enjoyed that McKay didn't make Carter and Lily get together in this first book. It was nice not having the main characters all over each other constantly because they are together. Plus it saves me from going on a tangent that this leads to the cliché of the second book being the break up of the relationship. I loved that the action was pretty much nonstop from the beginning, it really kept the pace of the book up. When things did calm a bit I would catch myself wondering what was going to happen next and what was coming. I wasn't drawn to Carter and Lily, but Mel and Sebastian actually. I really wanted to see more interactions from them but obviously it was more about Lily and Carter in this book. I do believe that the next books might have more of Mel and Sebastian in them which I look forward too.
I did have a couple of problems with The Farm. It was a very good book, well written, very descriptive, and I didn't want to stop reading. There was action throughout the book, but when it came to the end and the "big action" that was being built up to, I felt that it lacked very much. Everything was literally over within a couple of pages. I know I shouldn't be too harsh but it bugs me when this big event for the end of the book just flops. I also didn't like how I can tell what relationships are going to ensue throughout the series. For example Carter and Lily, Sebastian and Mel. I wouldn't be surprised to see McKay switch them up too. I still have high hopes for the trilogy, I just hope this isn't going to be a let down in the end like another trilogy I finished up with not too long ago.
The Farm wasn't a complete disappointment, but I was hoping for more when it came to the end. I can see "adults" liking this book, along with young adults. I don't see a problem with a younger reader having at this either. There is talk of sex and subtle hints of rape but it's nothing compared to some other books out there. I definitely don't see the younger readers being traumatized over The Farm. Owning this book would be nice but I would most likely read the rest of the books before I make a definite decision on it. I can see myself reread this a couple of times though they would be spaced out quite a bit. As usual what I did happen to mention is not everything that happened. If you think you may like to read this book, I say go for it.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 420 pages (paperback)
Price: $9.99
Next Book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Thank you for reading!
~Jade
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