Hollowland - Review

Hollowland (The Hollows, # 1)

By: Amanda Hocking

Published: September 28th 2010 by Amanda Hocking

312 pages

Genre: YA, Horror, Zombies

Source: Personal Kindle Library

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Goodreads description--"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

Let see… I’d give Hollowland 4 Stars. For not having this book go through the typical publisher with editor and line editor process that most books go through, Amanda Hocking did a really superb job and I really have to commend her for that.

Hollowland kept my interest the entire way. I did have some opportunities to put it down in the beginning but that was mostly because I was finishing up some other books and not because I wasn’t interested in the story. Some of the storyline felt convenient, like finding a fully gassed up vehicle at the first house they stop. And then being provided with another fully gassed vehicle later. However, I’m sure the same could be said for plenty of other books on the market. In the same way, the condition of Remy’s brother Max was really convenient as well.

I can’t really think of any plot twists that threw me for a loop or that I couldn’t see coming. But I also didn’t feel like everything was predictable. The characters definitely faced ongoing peril instead of persistent safety. And then there’s the ending. It pretty much just ended. I mean I think she was going for a cliffhanger. And while I do really want to know what happens next, overall the ending felt…unpolished.

Good book. Much better than I could have done self-published. And also much better than some books I’ve read over the last year that had the help of seasoned publishers and editors. 4 stars. Check out Hollowland.

*Updated: September 6, 2013

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception - Review

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, # 1)

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Published: October 8th 2008 by Flux

325 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Personal Library

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Goodreads description--Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.

4 Stars.

Finding that I don’t have much to say after my review of Beautiful Darkness.

Lament was really good. I was hooked. When I did have to put it down, I found myself always wanting to read more. I read it quickly (Wednesday to Friday). I was excited about the story line and the characters. And even when my sister-in-law presented me with a KindleFire for my graduation present Wednesday night, I couldn’t stop reading Lament to play with my new toy. Must say again, really like Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. Ballad, book 2 is on my Christmas Wishlist and so is The Scorpio Races (her newest book, but not in this series). Again, I’ll repeat what I said at the end of my Beautiful Darkness review. Beautiful Darkness was 503 pages and Lament was 325 pages. So much more happened (or seemed to happen) in Lament than in Beautiful Darkness. Good stuff. Sorry I don’t have more to say at the moment. Check out Lament.

*Updated: September 6, 2013

Beautiful Darkness - Review

Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, # 2)

By: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Published: October 12th 2010 by Little, Brown and Company

503 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Borrowed from my friend, Paula

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Goodreads description--Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Ok…so 2.9 stars. Can’t quite give this 3 Stars because I can’t say that I “liked” it—which is what my 3 Star rating is listed as. But it doesn’t quite feel like a “Really?” either.

Here’s the deal. I read Beautiful Creatures (the first book in this series) last year during the holiday season on a trip to my in-laws' house. I read the entire book in one day. It wasn’t so much that the reason I finished it in one day was because I couldn’t put it down so much as I really just had the opportunity to keep reading, so I did. I think because I read it all in one sitting, it didn’t feel like it took as long. But after the ending of it, I was left…wanting. But even with the disappointment I did feel, I still think I thought it was better than it was because I read it all at one time.

That being said…Beautiful Darkness, I didn’t read in one sitting. As a matter of fact, I have several opportunities to put it down. And put it down I did. It wasn’t that I disliked the book. That wasn’t it at all. Honestly, I just didn’t feel much of anything one way or the other. It wasn’t that the whole time I was reading it I was thinking “this is such a crappy book, I hope it gets better.” But I also wasn’t thinking, “Oh my goodness, what happens next?” either. I have to think that not feeling anything is not quite as bad as hating a book, but it does say something about it when you don’t feel anything after (or during) reading it.

This book was different than book one. Book one followed Lena and Ethan’s journey up to her “Sixteenth Moon” where she’s supposed to be Claimed for Light or Dark. She supposedly doesn’t have a choice, yet at the end we find that she can choose. If she chooses Light all of the Dark Casters in her family will die, including her beloved Uncle Macon—who tries to fight the Darkness—and her misguided cousin, Ridley—who was like her sister before Ridley’s Claiming. In this book, book two, we follow Lena and mostly Ethan’s journey up to Lena’s “Seventeenth Moon” where she in essence finally does choose. I won’t ruin it one way or the other. But at the end of book 2, Beautiful Darkness, it say something about the fact that if Ethan was paying attention he would hear the new song playing “Eighteenth Moon.” And honestly, that just left me feeling depressed. I guess the numbered moons are supposed to be the theme between the books in the series, but I just feel like Eigteenth Moon, or Beautiful Chaos (book three that is already out), is going to follow the pattern of the last two books. And more than anything, I just want to be done with the numbered moons, and this series.  I know, sounds harsh. Just telling you how I feel.

But, I never feel like I can abandon a series without seeing it through to the end, so I will read Beautiful Chaos at some point. I just really have no idea when, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.

P.S. I also just finished reading Lament by Maggie Stiefvater. Beautiful Darkness had 503 pages and Lament had 325. SO much more happened (or at least it seemed that way) in Lament than in Beautiful Darkness. Just saying…

*Updated: September 6, 2013

Catching Fire & Mockingjay- Reviews

First of all, my computer did an automatic shut down in the middle of typing this post. Thanks to Blogger’s auto save feature, I didn’t lose everything, but I did lose a good bit.  Oh well, that’s life. On we go…take 2.

4 Stars for both

Because I read these books so quickly and so close together, it is somewhat hard to keep them separate in my head. And so much of how I feel and want to say applies to the whole series. So for the first time ever, I'm doing a joint review. I'm going to try my best to separate them as best as I can though.

For me, Katniss has trouble with her emotions coming out—or not coming out in this case. It makes sense considering how much she has already been through at the beginning of Hunger Games and how much she has yet to go through. But it almost seems like consciously or unconsciously, most every decision she makes in respect to her relationships with Gale and Peeta are made to rebel against the Capitol. Gale is pretty open about where he stands at the beginning of the Hunger Games, but Katniss doesn’t return those feelings. Then Katniss and Peeta decide to pursue the strategy of presenting themselves as a couple to the Capitol. In the first Games, Katniss and Peeta have these interactions that neither Katniss nor the reader knows how real and how deep those interactions go—or again, don’t go. Katniss achieves the rebellion she seeks—again consciously or unconsciously—with the show of her relationship with Peeta. But as soon as the games are over and the Capitol isn’t watching their every move, Katniss backs away. But the Capitol isn’t done with Katniss and Peeta. The Capitol wants more of the lovely couple. And it is my belief that Katniss returns to Gale because the Capitol demands so much of her relationship with Peeta. In essence, taking her choice away. I think that’s what she rebels against the most. And so, on and on it goes. When the Capitol calls for Katniss and Peeta, she reverts to Gale. But when the Capitol gives her release and freedom to pursue Gale, she changes her focus back to Peeta. It is obvious that she doesn’t spend a ton of time focusing on figuring out her emotions and how she feels. But who can blame her with all that she’s been through?

Mockingjay had a different feel to me than the other two books. It focuses on the war between the Capitol and the Rebels rather than the Games. Although, I suppose the war itself is really just a multiplied form of the Games. Especially because both the Capitol and the Rebels are trying to manipulate Katniss into being who they need her to be and behaving how they need her to behave. Seriously these books—this entire series—was majorly stressful to read. I was paranoid throughout the whole series, but especially through Mockingjay. I wanted to know which characters survive and which characters we lose—due to the nature of war, we can’t save everyone. Some must die to protect the masses. I really felt like the series ended exactly the way it needed to end. And that’s as much as I’ll say about that. One final comment about Mockingjay, there were parts in this book that I found hard to follow. I didn’t really experience this in the other two books, but multiple times in Mockingjay, I had to stop, say “What just happened?” back up, and re-read. I don’t enjoy that. It messes up my rhythm.

Anyway, really good, exciting series. Can’t wait to see it in theaters in March 2012.

The Hunger Games - Review

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, # 1)

By: Suzanne Collins

Published: September 14th 2008 by Scholastic Press

374 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Source: Personal Kindle Library

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Goodreads description--Katniss, 16, takes her sister's place in the televised annual Hunger Games, competing against Peeta, the boy who gave them bread to survive after their father died. The cruel Capitol forces each of 12 districts to submit a boy and girl 12-18, to fight to the death. Only one can survive and be rewarded. President Snow manipulates behind the scenes.

In my last post, my review on Clash of Kings, I mentioned that I was reading the Hunger Games next because I wanted something to blow through really quickly. And that, that I did. And Catching Fire too! 5 Stars for this book.

This series is right up there for me with Harry Potter and the Vampire Academy--I hesitate to compare any thing to these series because they're so phenominal and different in their own rights, but it is the best comparison I can think of at the moment--because Suzanne Collins has created this whole new world. New rules, new beliefs, new fears, new...well I could go on, but I'll stop.

Several of my friends read this series before me, and I have to be honest and say that I really hate when my friends read books before me. It is not because I want to be first, but they build it up, or tear it down--there's nothing wrong with that, it is what I do myself in this very blog--but it taints my view of the book before I even begin. They told me not to get attached to any of the characters because you never know which ones will survive and which ones will be killed off. And while this is true, I wish I hadn't know it before hand. Which totally stinks because I just shared it with you. It is just that because of this, I truly have been expecting everyone to die. And therefore none of the plot twists (no matter if it included a death or was just an unexpected event) have really caught me all that off guard. And that just kind of sucks. I enjoy the twists and unexpected events. I enjoy the not knowing. It is the experience of reading, of exploring, of adventure. It's why when my friends get to a good part in a book that I've read before them and they come to me begging me to tell them what happens that I just can't bring myself to do it. I'd rather tell you how a book makes me feel rather than what happened during it. That is for you to explore and find out for yourselves.

That being said, the Hunger Games made me experience and feel alot. I always begin a book on the lookout for who the protagonist is either already in love with or going to fall in love with. I have reasons I feel strongly about that have caused me to rule out various characters in all books that I read and characters to pick out as that very person, and it is no different for this one. After finishing Catching Fire, I'm still holding out hope for who I think that person is. But Katniss goes through so much in this book that you feel yourself. Fear is one of the biggest emotions and themes throughout the majority of this book. It's that fear that drives you forward, to keep reading at an increased and accelerated pace. There's also sadness, a need to protect those she loves, a need she can't always meet. And there are these very essential human moments in such a terrible Game created to keep the citizens of this world in check. Moments that I wont describe because of my feelings toward the experience. It just shows that even though the world that we live in verses the characters that we read about may be very different, basic humanity remains very much the same.

As I said, 5 Stars. This book easily kept my attention. Kept me reading--quickly. So much so that I started Catching Fire before I even really knew that the Hunger Games was finished. Look out for my review on Catching Fire next.

*Updated: September 6, 2013