Book Review ; Summer of cotton candy by Debbie Viguie

Hi Guys,

So today I have a review for you, and I will warn you I’m a little rusty at writing reviews so have a little patience with me.  So this is a review of Summer of Cotton Candy by Debbie Vigue, it is a young adult Christian contempory novel. And the first in a four part series.

 This follows a girl named Candace who is forced by her father to get a part time job for the summer at an amusement park called the zone, at first she thinks that he’s ruining her summer fun with her best friend Tamara but after meeting the mysterious mascot guy ; Kurt, she’s not so sure anymore.

I loved this book. It was a total breath of fresh air, Candace was so realistic as she moaned about her job. She had the right amount of faults while she still realised her faults like she gets angry at a small girl who comes to her cotton candy counter and immediately asks god for forgiveness.

I also loved the friendships and family in this book. A lot of times in the contempory books I read friendship and family is pushed out for the romance and in this book I think it was entirely the opposite, I think Josh and  Tamara were in more scenes in this book and got more page time than Kurt did in the whole thing. And while I liked the relationship between Candace and Kurt, I much preferred reading about her friendships. Another thing on this point was that this book doesn’t suffer from absent parents like a lot of Young Adult books do, Candace’s parents were big parts of her life and effected how she thought of things.

I think this book deals well with the issue of getting jobs young, at one point Candace’s dad offers to let her quit her job when she’s having a real hard time with it and she says that if she can’t deal with a summer job then how is she going to function in the real world which I think is a valid point. The job changed her perceptive on her life in general so much so that she was actually sad when her last day of summer came.

Another thing that was brilliant about this book was the theme park. I mean why is this place not real. I could picture everything about it in my head and just wanted to be there so badly, it had sections like the historical zone, and the holiday zone and all the zones have a theme which is pulled off amazingly and since we follow Candace who has a job that can be in any of the zones rather than a character like Josh whose job is just in the Splash Zone, or Kurt whose job is only in the historical zone, we get a feel for the whole park.

So all in all this book was a really quick (only 220 pages) and amazing read. I definitely recommend it!

Love,

Book Review; City Of Ashes!

Right,
I'm way way way behind in my reviews so this might be rubbish as it's been a while since I read this one :P
Well City of ashes! here's the cover

So just to warn you this book review will contain spoilers for the first book so don't read it if you haven't read book number 1! So Valentine has gotten away with the motal cup. Jace and Clary and trying to cope with the fact that they're brother and sister. and their mother is still in a sort of coma. It includes all the same people from the first book and I can't really say much about the plot (because I hardly remember it ) but I remember a lot of twists and turns (and two that were royally ruined by watching the movie). But most of it was very shocking and I found myself always hating Cassandra clare because she's one mean woman!

I loved Simon in this book and my opinion on which boy I liked best was constantly changing and I had no idea who I liked more for Clary and my head was a confusing place to be in :P We got glimpses of other downworlders I especially loved the Faeries because what girl doesn't? 

But the werewolves and vampires were sort of cool too. There's a sort of relationship between Simon and Clary for a bit which really made me feel sorry for him because she really doesn't love him but she really wants to and it's just not fair on him.. :(

So.... Nothing else I can remember, I really did love this book though and I can't wait to continue on with this series soon ish :P

Love,

Promo and Guest Post; Secrets of the moon.

Hey,
I'm here with a promo for a book and also a guest post from said book's author. so the book is Secrets of the moon by Kristy Centeno Here's the (really pretty) cover;

Blurb;

Teenager Marjorie Emery eluded death. As she struggles to get her life back on track, she believes her efforts are paying off. Yet, when a black dressing, unfriendly, and incredibly handsome hottie walks into her classroom, she’s forced into a tailspin. Marjorie has no idea how much his presence is going to shatter what little tranquility she’s achieved.

 Kyran Rousseau’s gloomy nature has a name, one that is potentially fatal under the right circumstances. His family harbors secrets and does everything to protect Kyran. While, he doesn’t want to ruin Marjorie’s normal life, love has a way of changing his plans.

 Falling for Kyran is the least of Marjorie’s worries. With a faceless threat hunting her and a boyfriend who's as dangerous as he is good looking—how can Marjorie and Kyran keep all hell from breaking loose before it’s too late?

and here is the lovely guest post. time for me to sign off :) ;

The Werewolf - Myth and Fascination

The werewolf has been a source of fascination for hundreds of years. The legend of a half-animal, half-human being is one of the longest myths I have come across. During the time I was writing Secrets of the Moon, I researched hundreds of websites and came to the staggering conclusion that the werewolf legend is far older than I originally thought. Though it became extremely popular during later years, the first reports date back to somewhere in 600 B.C.
By the 1500’s it became a source of sheer, unadulterated terror. Hundreds of people were executed because they were either presumed to be werewolves, were accused by others of being this mythological creature, or they confessed to have the ability to shift from human to wolf. The eyewitness account seemed to consist with recent disappearances from the area. This alone was enough to set the town (village) into a frenzied mode. And thus, the accused became suspects.
Although the werewolf legend had spread terror to those who believed in the myth, during more recent times the way this mythological creature is seen has changed drastically. The werewolf now has a very unique appeal, which draws the general public to the point of obsession. Not that I can blame anyone. I’m probably just as obsessed as any other avid reader, or movie lover.
I do have to say though, as much as I am fascinated by the werewolf and what it supposedly represents, I have no doubt in my mind that, although incredible and downright irresistible, it is nothing but a myth. However, it was on these basic historical facts that I based Secrets of the Moon. I began to ponder the ‘what if’s’. What if the werewolf existed? What if the myth was real? What if the legend were not just legends, but actual events that involved real werewolves? What kind of lives did they live when they were being hunted down by humans? How would they live in modern times? What if they hid among us? What would we do?
The more I read about the legend and how it affected people, I began to really contemplate writing my own werewolf saga, taking into consideration all these questions. I wanted to play a bit with the legend and twist it around to a dramatic point where readers would not be able to guess in what direction I wanted to take the story until they finished the actual book.
My longtime fascination with this myth is what ultimately led me to venture into the werewolf world. With Secrets of the Moon I hope to achieve a new version to this myth plus transform the legend in some way. Or at very least give it a brand new twist.
After all, if the interest for these creatures has only increased over the years, one can only imagine how much more captivating it can get in the future?

Website: http://www.kristycenteno.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KristyCenteno

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KrissyGirl122

Blog: http://booksbycenteno.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/KristyCenteno

Love,

Blog Tour; Darwin's Children

Hello,
so another review! this book is another one I got from a blog tour and I really liked it. Here's the cover;

It is a paranormal fantasy book that follows a teenage girl called Jaycie Lerner who is a telepath, empath, and telekinetic and her family who also all have similar powers too. Her father has forced her into private school since up to this point she's been home schooled and her father wants her to gain some normalcy. She gets pysically trained by her 'mother figure' Allison. She very much tries to stay on the outside of social stuff until a strange woman tells her to get a job at a local bookshop and befriend Haley.

There is also a side plot of her romance with best friend Matt but it's not a massive part of the story which I did like because it wasn't a very interesting side plot but it added something to Jaycie's character.

Haley adds a lot to the story and is really my favorite character in this book. She has a lot going on that you get dealt to you in bursts and her dealing with this supernatural world that she's a part of but has never even realised is there before is the best part because mostly I hate it when in all supernatural books when a character finds out about it they don't freak out like most people would or completely deny it exists. This is where I think Haley was extremely realistic and I liked her for this. 

I loved Jaycie's whole family. Epecially her godfather who even though he is a brief visitor his power is super cool and he really cares about Jaycie. 

Allison was really cool too and I liked how she wasn't your typical adult character, she is Jaycie's trainer and has a hell of a lot of power within her. She's really over 90 years old but her power keeps her looking twenty as well as being able to heal quickly, run fast and be super-strong. really she has it all. Plus she goes on dates with a lot of different men which is another thing that is rarely seen in books. Promiscuous men yes. but women no.

I really loved the idea of evalution in this, that evalution isn't finished with humans and is still giving us abilities that aid our survival. I think it's really interesting to think about what that could mean!

So that's that.

Love,

Blog Tour; The Dream Metropolis

Hello!

Time for a blog tour!! So I got the book for review for this blog tour and I really liked it. I didn't love it as much as some other books I've read Lately but I did really like it. Here's the cover;

My explanation of this book might be rubbish but let's go with it. It's a novel set in a dream. Everyone's dream. A company have created this city where people can dream basically it's set in a world where everyone in the city is really asleep and it is all a dream and while they all think they are just dreaming but being given a chance to dream forever they are actually dreaming of real people who are also dreaming along with them. They get kind of skips in dreams and most of them do kind of control the dreams with their thoughts.

It follows quite a lot of characters which at first I thought was It's downfall but as the book went along and you figured out who people really were and their relationships with one another in the dreams and in reality it really became one of the most interesting parts. All the characters that it followed were completely different and very interesting and some of their stories did make me cry a little, especially Abele and Caine :-\ .

I did feel like sometimes we didn't really get to know enough about the world or the characters until the last second. there are still some people that I have no idea what their meaning was in the grand scheme of things. I do have to give this book and author major props for the fact that while inception boggles my mind even after seeing it three or four times I understood all the ins and outs of this dream world as it doesn't try to explain the ins and outs of dreaming and stuff. It gives you the world as it is and doesn't try to make you understand why it is the way it is. 

I loved the reasons why all these people decided that they wanted to dream forever. Like all their reasons for wanting to escape reality ranged from petty reasons that they could get over to big horrible issues that you can understand a person wanting to leave reality behind for. There were stories of people's dreams in the dream city that made me laugh and feel sad at the same time and they were basically really interesting. 

Overall I gave this book 3 Stars because while I wasn't fully engaged in all the characters there were some that I really loved and with as many POVs as there was in this book, I can't blame myself for disliking some of them. but the city itself and all the world building was excellent and I would definitely recommend it!

Love,

Book Review; Anomaly

Hey! 

So another book review.. I feel like my blog is becoming just book reviews, but I'm in a writing slump so... sorry. I got this book for the blog tour but that does not affect my feelings about this book or anything I say in this review. Here's the cover (which is pretty cool )

This is a christian fiction dystopian which really intrigued me as I haven't actually heard of any christian dystopians before but since I love dystopians I was thrilled to read this. The basic premise is that Thalli lives underground, a nuclear war made the whole earth inhabitable so a group of 10 scientists went under group and started rebuilding the society called The State. They live in pods and at this point in time there are only three generations who were all born out of test tubes and were designed for particular purposes. When the scientists started this society they ruled that it would be without the members of it having many feelings that weren't necessary to their jobs. Which means that Thalli is an anomaly since she does have feelings and is curious about this which she shouldn't question.

I really loved this book, It was the perfect mix of the Christian fiction and the dytopian. The world was really well built and I could picture it all in my head perfectly. The characters were well developed, I loved that Thalli was really trying to hide her feelings from her guardians and I hated how she failed since she'd done it for sixteen years but she was destined to fail at some point. This is really a story of how God will reach the people who let Him in whatever the circumstance. Even in a world where all feelings and religions have been abolished He still finds a way to show himself. 

One thing that really annoyed me about this book was the attempt at a love triangle, it was really disappointing. Since I am a sucker for love I normally relish in a good love triangle but this one seemed forced. It only lasted about 5 chapters before it was resolved and ultimately her choice wasn't surprising and I really felt like it was a worthless effort in the way that ended up. 

I really loved seeing Thalli's friend Rhen who is in charge of the Logic for their pod and doesn't feel things like Thalli does. She really highlighted how different Thailli is from everyone else in her pod. While Thalli is always hiding her feelings out of fear of the scientists, as soon as Rhen gets a common cold she wants to report herself to the monitors who will eventually decide to kill her. She is completely ignorant to the fact that handing herself in will result in her death as even though she knows this will happen she believes that logically it is the safest thing for the rest of the pod.

I liked that instead of Thalli believing in God as soon as she was told about him and just accepting John's word for it she really had to see it for herself. He showed himself to her in little bursts until she felt his presence on her own and couldn't deny Him. 

It's such a different thing to a lot of the Christian fiction I read and to me it is a welcome change to accept popular genres and give them a little twist to make them belong in this genre. I would definitely recommend this book to any one really. As it is a really interesting read that will have you thinking about it after you've finished reading.

Love,

Book Review; Percy Jackson and the sea of monsters

Hey,
I LOVE PERCY! God this world is just amazing. here's the cover;

So Percy is thrown into another adventure along with Annabeth. Groover has been kidnapped and Thalia's tree is dying. the only way to save them both is for Percy and Annabeth to retrieve the golden fleece from the sea of monsters. As with the first book they go through a lot of dramatic battles with monsters which all make me think how scared I'd be if I was a 9 year old reading these books.

I love this world. I love all the gods and half bloods and everything about camp half blood. and I love Rick Riordan's style. Percy has such a distinct and funny voice that the whole book even in tense parts he had me laughing at the things he'd think of. I loved Annabeth's curiosity in this book and I really think she developed well but my favorite character has to be Tyson. He is a cyclops who at the beguinning of the book is just a huge guy who Percy goes to school with but later in Camp half blood Percy discovers he is a cyclops and is also a son of poseidon. but because he is young but looks older as he is a cyclops. he is very touchy and cute but he's so protective and loving of Percy even though through the entire first half Percy hates having Tyson as his brother and thinks Poseidon is trying to make him feel bad. I loved how absent Poseidon was because I think even though he did send things for Percy and Tyson he didn't really do much, like Hermes helped Percy out the most and that was just in order to help out his son Luke. I really loved Hermes and his snakes as well they were the coolest. Anyway read this book

Love,