Review: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

GoodReads Description:

Junior high really stinks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: His mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers and no one to teach him, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a strange substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he realizes he has a much bigger problem: He’s being hunted by a vampire killer who is closing in . . . fast!

My Review:

Why I read this book: I read this book for the Unread Reader's All Male Review Challenge. I love reading from the Male POV, especially if the author is also male. When I read these books, I feel like I get a glance into the confounding male psyche and maybe, just maybe I can begin to decipher some of my own boy problems lol. I'm sad that this challenge was only a month long...and that I only found out about it about a week or two ago. I would have tried reading many many more books for it. 

This was a quick, easy, light read. Granted, it is for a younger audience so I guess I can't be too harsh. Unfortunately, I found that there were many things that left me unsatisfied. This book commits one of the most severe crimes (well...for me) in YA books....this book is EXTREMELY dumbed down. Small words, simplistic plot twists, and underwhelming characters in general all leave me with this air of irritation and doubt. There is just something lacking that is keeping this book from becoming a great one. 

Vlad is kind of a different character. He is an orphan, yet he doesn't seem particularly depressed or upset about it. Ok...SO has anyone other than me noticed that heroes tend to not have parents? For example, in Disney movies,it is highly unlikely to ever finish a movie with both parents alive and healthy. Cinderella, Finding Nemo, Aladdin, Snow White....and the list goes on. And it's not just a Disney thing anymore....its like the defining quality in a hero is that one or more parent was savagely killed/maimed/infected etc and is no longer able to care for(inhibit) the hero. My thoughts on the matter is that by protecting their kids, parents accidentally weaken them. They don't let their kids experience the hardships of life, therefore allowing them to slip through the cracks of heroism and becoming mundane. While orphans, step-children, and those who have dealt with a loss of a parent are thrown out into the harsh world, and the story could end right there with the dying on the streets, but the newly made hero grows a tough skin and becomes the man(or woman) they always had the potential to be. Unfortunately in the case of Vlad...he isn't a very good hero. He makes poor choices based on little or no fact, and he switches sides every other chapter so you are left rather confused

I give this book a 1.5/5 Stars...Not my cup of tea :(

XOXO

 Andra 

XOXO

Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

4.75 of 5 Stars!!!

GoodReads Description:

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.


My Review:
As one of the first Dystopian books, I owe a lot to Scott Westerfeld. His novel has opened a whole new door for this genre, and has evolved into such amazing works as The Hunger Games series as well as all the other Dystopias coming out. Scott really got the world thinking it seems, and this book was absolutely wonderful. 


Uglies is an interesting portrayal of what our world could become. Right now, our whole world (mainly in the USA, but also all over the whole world) There is an obsession with looking beautiful. There is very little acceptance of people as who they are. We always have to be skinnier, tanner, blonder, or something else. Uglies is kind of a fear of what will happen eventually if we keep this up. Now I'm not going to lie, I've been tempted to go under the knife. I have always been uncomfortable with the shape of a certain body part, and have longed to fit in better with it more shapely. However, the issue that is more important in the book is the blind following of the people due to brain control. I would NEVER give up control of my life and emotions in order to be pretty. 


I didn't really identify with Tally at first. I thought she was stupid and naive and weak. When she just gave into the Special's demands I thought that she was ridiculous. I believe that if given the choice I would have left with Shay immediately, but then I thought deeper on the matter. If you were raised your whole life, being psychologically damaged into believing that you were hideous, and that all your dreams would come true when you turned "Pretty", then all of that was ripped away, what would you do? All of your friends, all of your family are living their lives and you're stuck there with kids years younger than you and you'll never change. Ouch...that would be pretty depressing. So eventually I identified with Tally a little bit for her hardships. 


As much as I loved it, I did have a few small problems with it. The plot was VERY predictable. You knew basically everything that was going to happen about two chapters before it did. Only the very basic details were left unclear. It made the whole thing kind of boring, if it is possible to be bored while extremely interested in something at the same time lol. Also, the language in the book was a little childish. I have a huge pet peeve of authors dumbing down books for young adult or teen readers, and this book is kind of guilty of it. There wasn't anything obvious about the childishness, it was more of a gradual thing.All in all, a very enjoyable book. I bought this one, then bought the next two in the series to know what happened. Buy it, borrow it, steal it...well maybe not that....but if you haven't read it, you should. 


~Andra~

So Now You're a Zombie: A Handbook for the Newly Undead by John Austin

3.5 out of 5 Stars!

GoodReads Description:

Being undead can be disorienting. Your arms and other appendages tend to rot and fall off. It’s difficult to communicate with a vocabulary limited to moans and gurgles. And that smell! (Yes, it’s you.) But most of all, you must constantly find and ingest human brains. Braaaains!! What’s a zombie to do?This handbook also explores the upside of being a zombie. Gone are the burdens of employment, taxes, social networks, even basic hygiene, allowing you to focus on simple necessities in “life”: the juicy gray matter found in the skulls of the living.

My Review:

Even though it took me a little over an hour to complete the it, I really enjoyed this book. It was pretty hilarious. Of all of the zombie survival guides out there or even most novels with zombies in them, no one ever bothers to show the zombie perspective of an attack/infection. The newly dead are people too, even if they are shambling corpses. There are TONS of books trying to help humans survive zombies, yet there are no books to help guide the poor unfortunates who were infected how to live in their new undead lives. Well all that has changed with this book. The only problem, is that I am not sure if zombies can read…or even if they have the mental capabilities to remember what a book is…and if they can read and know what a book is, can they actually remember what is in the hand book and put it to use? Lol 

The zombie lore was interesting in this book. Like a lot of zombie plauges, this one was caused by a virus. In this case, the virus not only causes reanimation, but also causes the desire to seek out and devour human flesh…that is pretty much standard for many of the other books/movies in the zombie cannon. (Noted exception…in the 28 Days franchise, the virus doesn’t actually kill the people…only make them animalistic and full of rage) One thing that was different than most traditional zombies is that their insides still worked in order to feed the virus…I don’t know about you , but when I picture my zombies, I picture intestines falling out, maybe a limb or two missing. Lol The last page of the book was freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud. Overall it was a very enjoyable book. 

Any fan of zombies, infections, etc would love to get their hands on this book. The drawings and cartoons in the book are hilarious and just as descriptive and relevant as the text. There was lots of blood and gore without it being too graphic, so I think younger teens could enjoy it as well as older people like me :P It is kind of just good for a laugh however, so I would imagine that it would be best to borrow from friends or to get it from the library like I did. Even though I enjoyed it, I probably won’t ever read it again.

Thanks for Reading!

Andra 

Review: Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce

4.5/5 Stars!!!

GoodRead's Description:
Former "street rat" Briar leads a comfortable life at Winding Circle Temple, learning plant magic from Rosethorn. But street kids are still his friends, and when one of them gets sick, she turns to Briar for help. When her disease proves beyond even Rosethorn's power, Briar realizes that all of Summersea is in danger. As the mysterious illness spreads, Sandry, Daja, and Tris join Briar and their teachers to fight the epidemic. But just as the situation improves, the unthinkable happens. Will Briar be able to save what he loves the most?


My Review:


I absolutely adore Ms.Pierce's books. I started this series when I was in middle school, and they still are a good fun read today. This is the fourth book of the first quartet (there is one more quartet and a stand alone novel about the same characters in this world at Winding Circle) The books have multiple perspectives from the 4 mages in training Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja, though each book does spend more time developing the title character's, well, character. I love that Pierce deals with very mature themes especially compared to most young adult fantasy novels. Each character deals with big issues like Racism, Sexism, Class/Equality issues and eventually gender identity issues. 


I was totally going through an emotional roller-coaster this whole book. Briar and Rosethorn are my favorite characters and I was soooo worried that everything wouldn't turn out alright. It does end with some loss, but I was practically pulling out my hair in the last few chapters. For some background for those of you not familiar with the series, Briar has an affinity with plants, and he and his teacher Rosethorn can weave magic using the life force and magic that is inherent in the plants. It has been great to see Briar grow throughout the quartet. He started off really surly and mean, and kind of jaded. It is amazing how far he has come from the streets to being a fabulous mage in the making. This book really captures his differences as he fights to save something he loves. Just a short year ago, Briar would never have loved anything in the first place, let alone show any kind of emotion to anyone. 


 I really enjoyed the depth of the metaphysics in this book. It is truly interesting to see the web that the 4 have woven and included their respective teachers in. When the four dive down into the depths of someone's soul to save them from the disease, it was a really cool and different kind of mystical event. 


I also found it interesting that throughout the series, all of the mages are dedicated to gods. They have their own unique pantheon of gods, which draw similarities to Greek and Roman or even Norse gods. I thought it was interesting that these people who can do such wonderful things for themselves with magic still draw upon the powers above. I think that this whole world of the Pebbled Sea is amazingly well thought out and it is my favorite series that Peirce currently has out. I was kind of sad that she is still focused very much on Tortall, the other mystical land that she writes about. 


Of the covers, there was a more cartoony version that I got, then a darker and more sinister feeling one that came out later. Maybe I am just a sucker for animation, but I liked the illustrated version better. The other version fits the feel and theme of the story better, but it isn't as heart-felt, and you don't really get an image of what Briar actually looks like.

Thanks for visiting my site! Feel free to follow, jump around and comment on the reviews! I am trying to get my name out there so do what you can for publicity!!


~Andra~

Review: Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars :D

GoodReads Description:

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

My Review:

I really enjoyed Vesper. I was surprised, especially because I saw a few really damaging reviews around the photosphere, but I think that from now on I will trust only my own opinion. I let the other reviews color my opinion of the book at first, so that I started it with some trepidation and thought really scornfully of it for the first few chapters. However, as I got more involved with the storyline and grew to like the main character, Emily Webb, my enjoyment grew until I had quite a good opinion of it. There were some parts that were kind of confusing. There is kind of a flashback type plot line, in that Emily is being interviewed about her experiences, and then there will be 3 or so chapters  in her perspective. I tend to like books that flow all the way through, and are only interrupted by dream type “other conciousnesses” The flashbacks were actually the most interesting and long parts of the story, while the parts occurring in real time just serve to break my stride while reading and give me an opportunity to put the book down. 

There was one quote that made me laugh out loud  in the library, causing quite a few dirty looks. 

“He was so cute that I didn’t particularly want him to be a murderer, but I’d read enough  to know that you can never trust the cute new guy not to go all wild-eyed and stabby.”  ha…I thouroughly enjoyed that quote thank you very much. 

The cover is well done, if a little misleading. Like I kind of thought the red mist was a ghost or spirit or something. But I really like the cover it conveys a sinister and creepy feel without getting too horror movie on us. It doesn’t really apply too much to the book really, but it sure is cool. 

I didn’t even know in the beginning that this book was about werewolves. I thought it was more of a ghost story, or perhaps a psychic story, but for werewolves it was pretty original. I enjoyed the transformation between  Daytime Emily, Nighttime Emily, and Werewolf Emily. The addition of a second, more spry and athletic, and outgoing persona that was still human was an interesting addition.  The last chapter of the book was awesome. I totally loved it. It answers a ton of questions you have, while simultaneously leaving you in the dark. Even thought the ending came pretty quickly, you don’t really feel bewildered by how you are left. I can’t wait for the next book and will be eagerly awaiting it on its release day (or maybe I will be more affluent in the blogging community and might get it as an ARC!!! ) 

I read this book for The All Male Review Challenge, hosted by the Unread Reader

Thanks for reading! 

XO Andra XO

Review: Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin

GoodReads Description:
Sophie Blue started wearing a black skirt and Midnight Noir lipstick on her last birthday. It was also the day her father disappeared. Or spontaneously combusted. Which is sort of bad timing, since a Popsicle truck with tinted windows has started circling the house.Kenny Fade is a basketball god. His sneakers cost more than his Jeep. He's the guy all the ladies (and their mommas) want. Bad. Sophie Blue and Kenny Fade don't have a thing in common. Aside from being reasonably sure they're losing their minds.


My Review:
I honestly don’t know how I felt about this book. I’m even having trouble finding a word to sum it up…um…maybe it is a very…”crazy-emo??” type book…As in there is a Goth who wears black, and there’s zombies, and mind control, and a boy changing into a girl, and an evil ice-cream truck …and there may or may not be a time traveling vacuum. Hahah. It confused me for the most part.

The plot is rather disjointed and random. It was super interesting though.  Like all of the book was though provoking, but then the next chapter had absolutely nothing to do with the last. To be honest it was kind of viewing the world like I would think a schizophrenic would. Or maybe someone with multiple personalities…The book is straight up bizarre in some parts, and kind of sad sometimes as well. The main character is more than the clothing she wears and the mean nicknames the kids call her. She is navigating this crazy world of hers and even though you are kind of lost, you just want to be along for the ride because you are with Sophie.

There are some cool comics in the middle and it has kind of a retro, comic book geek kind of feel throughout.

I kind of feel like this was a modern take on Alice in Wonderland. The original book by Lewis Carroll was also quite bizarre. With this book you kind of feel like you are tumbling down the rabbit-hill yourself, but that’s ok. You keep going and exploring the feelings, philosophies, and vivid imagination going on in this dreamscape. I don’t really get how I feel still. I kind of hated it while simultaneously really enjoying myself while reading it… I think you need to experience it for yourself in order to see if you love it, hate it, or just get so confused you lose your mind and end up the next victim of the ice cream truck. 

Under The Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer Review

Sorry about being MIA to anybody who is reading this. I had my 21st birthday this week...and in the American Tradition, I spent the week fluctuating between total intoxication, sleep, and hangoverville. I also had to work 40 hours this week, so I really got behind in my blogging...SORRY!!! but here I am, back, and much more sober that I have been all week. (believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to read any posts I attempted anyways lol) So heeerrrress my new review!

Under the Jolly Roger (L. A. Meyer)

Under the Jolly Roger

(The Bloody Jack Adventures, Book 3)

L. A. Meyer

Harcourt 

Fiction, 

YA Adventure/Historical Fiction

Goodreads Description:

A pirate at heart, unlikely heroine Jacky Faber returns to the sea in a truly swashbuckling tale filled with good humor, wit, and courage.
After leaving the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston--under dire circumstances, of course--she boards a whaling ship bound for London, where she hopes to find her beloved Jaimy. But things don't go as planned, and soon Jacky is off on a wild misadventure at sea. She thwarts the lecherous advances of a crazy captain, rallies the sailors to her side, and ultimately gains command of a ship in His Majesty's Royal Navy. But Jacky's adventures don't end there. . . .

My Review:

Jacky is at it again in what is probably my favorite book of the series so far. I love that Jacky is back on the open ocean and away from land for most of the book. As much as I loved her visit to Boston, she just has her bearings more when upon the deck of a ship. This book is EXTREMELY full of action and adventure and Jacky’s crazy cunning and bewitching nature. The best part is that of all the adventures she has yet had, none of them get repeated! It is all new, hilarious, sometimes terrifying and fantastic. Jacky has this way about her of getting into insane amounts of trouble, then somehow miraculously wriggling her way out of it. 

Here are a few things that I adore about this book and the series in general. 

I love the fact that some of the previous characters come back into play in Jacky’s life. It is cool to see how they have changed (or not) in the times since Jacky has seen them. I LOVE Liam! I loved him in the first book, and he’s even better in the second. I also enjoyed seeing Muck again, despite him being a dirty, lying, stinking waister. Some new characters were pretty memorable as well. Higgins, a man servant that will become a key character in the series finds his introduction as a mad captain’s steward. Also, Mairead Delaney is a high-spirited and well deserved(after spending so much time with boys and men) girlfriend of Jacky’s. 

FINALLY, Jaimy (sort of) starts measuring up to his femme fatal of a fiancé. Until now, I kind of thought that he doesn’t deserve Jacky. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are some good scenes where he finally stands up to his mother, or does something else that is cool. He also is pretty funny at times. I love seeing both of the character’s letters to each other. It is so starcrossed knowing how they barely miss each other several times .

We get some new male pursuer’s of Jacky’s heart Robin Raeburn, a dashing and honorable midshipman who is absolutely adorable, A Lecherous Irishman by the name of Arthur McBride, and JOSEPH JARED!!!!! I now introduce you to my favorite male hottie in all of literature!! I can’t do his coal black hair, build physique, and cocky personality justice, so I will just quote one of my favorite parts of the book ;)

            "Charging in with sword drawn, I see a well-dressed man hurriedly stuffing papers into a cloth sack.       There is a small fire on the desktop into which he has already thrown some letters. There is a pistol on the desk next to the fire and when he sees me, he picks up the pistol and aims it directly at my face.

My mouth drops open and there is the roar of a pistol firing, but it is not that pistol, no, it is the pistol in the hand of Joseph Jared, which he has just fired next to my ear.

            I’m seeing all this as in a dream. A small hole has appeared in the well-dressed man’s forehead. He stares sightlessly forward for a moment, then crumples to the deck, the pistol falling from his hand. I stand stunned, my mouth still open. 

           Jared whips me around and puts me up against the bulkhead. He grins his damned cocky grin and says, “That’s at least three times I’ve saved your life, Puss-in-Boots, and now I’m gonna collect some reward.” And he kisses me hard on my still-open mouth. Long and hard.

Finally, he backs off and looks at me, smiling. “First time you’ve ever been kissed by a man, Puss? A real man?” 

I come back to my senses and say, breathlessly, “Put out the fire, Jared.”

“If you mean the fire down below, Jacky, that will never go out…,” he says, coming for me again.

“The fire on the desk, you fool!”

*SWOOONNNNNS* OMG I Love Jared so much!!! He comes off really cocky and kind of lecherous, but in the end it turns out he really cares for Jacky and I totally love him. Plus I love his nickname “Puss-in-Boots” that he comes up with for our darling heroine. It totally fits!

Warning (kind of) Spoiler Alert: I ended this book crying my eyes out. Meyer has a way of making Jacky’s world come alive so that if a character dies in the book, you feel it as if it happened in real life. The battle scene at the end was so awful that I was crying as much as I did when Fred Weasley (May He Rest In Peace) died in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  When you read this book, make sure you have the next book in the series In the Belly of the Bloodhound on hand so you don’t spend your night wallowing in misery like I did. Heaven forbid I would have read these books before the fourth one came out. I can’t imagine how agonizing the wait for the next one would have been had I been left with that burning imagery of death for a whole year.(Meyer publishes a Jacky book usually at the end of August/ early September every year) 

I didn't even put up a copy of the new cover...I hate the new one...it is horrible. It absolutely in no way whatsoever captures Jacky's awesomeness or the feel of the book. The illustrations are again SO much better. 

--Overall Report---

Originality: 10/10

Ending: 9/10

Characters:10/10

Plot: 10/10

My reaction/enjoyment: 10/10

Theme: 10/10

Imagery: 10/10

Setting: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Style: 5/5

Tone: 5/5

Cover: 10/10

Total: 99/100

ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS BOOK!!!

Alright, that's it for me today...I promise I will get back to posting things more often! I even have a giveaway coming up soon, yay me! lol

Andra

Review: The Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L.A. Meyer

GoodReads Description:

After being exposed as a girl, Jacky Faber is forced to leave the Dolphinand attend the elite Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a lady.

Everything she does is wrong. Her embroidery is deplorable, her French is atrocious, and her table manners--disgusting! And whenever Jacky roams the city in search of adventure, trouble is never far behind. Then there's the small matter of her blue anchor tattoo. . . .

So will Jacky ever become a typical lady? Not bloody well likely! But whether she's triumphing over her snobbish classmates, avenging a serving girl's murder, or winning over a stubborn horse that's as fast as the wind, one thing's for sure: Jacky's new life in Boston is just as exciting as her old one on the high seas.

My Review:

The next adventure in store for Jacky starts off really sad. She is forced to abandon ship, when the British Navy leaves her in Boston to learn to be a “fine lady ”. You really feel for her as she meets her new catty classmates, domineering Mistress of the school, a constable that has it out for her, and a murderous preacher who is intent on beating Jacky’s past sins out of her.  It is the same feisty Jacky we love, on a whole new type of ship. As in the first book,  I found that I really connected with Jacky and all the other characters in Jacky’s world. There are only two other YA series that I found I have connected with like this, those are Harry Potter, and Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic quartet.

Sometimes you just want to grab Jacky and shake her for being such a fool, but the whole time you are rooting for her. She just has this eternal optimism and mischievous nature that I find completely endearing. Jacky has a lot to learn at her new school for fine ladies, and one of the biggest lessons she learns is how to fight like a girl, after several rather embarrassing ordeals with Miss Clarissa Worthington Howe, resident Mean Girl of The Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls.  I felt that some of the time at school passed rather slowly, but all of the lessons, and visits to neighboring farms and  everything was all very interesting.

The new cast of characters like Mistress Pimm, Amy Trevelyne (and her dashing brother Randall), Peg and the downstairs girls; they are all are fabulous characters, and the mysteries they unravel are creepy and sad, yet fascinating.  In addition to the new characters, we get a new voice. Well sort of new. It’s Jacky’s true love Jaimy, and in this book we first get a peak into his head through the letters he writes to Jacky. The poor starcrossed lovers are now kept apart, not by the deception of Jacky acting as a boy, but by Jaimy’s mother and Mistress Pimm who both disagree with the young couple’s engagement. To be honest, though I love the two together, Jaimy kind of seems like a namby pamby wuss. He is extremely naïve about his mother’s actions toward him. He also seems to think that once he and Jacky are married, Jacky will be content to live off in some cottage while he goes sailing around…psshhh if he truly believes that is so, he doesn’t know his lady love very well.

Jacky has this way of being sneaky, yet nice, conniving, yet warm, and all with this open honesty that makes you wish you could live in her world, just so that some of her charisma rubs off on you.  This book definitely teaches her a lesson in humility, as I am embarrassed for her for the good middle part of the book. It is interesting to see that as Jacky attends school, and the more educated she becomes, the more her language becomes more formal, and seems to contain less slang and cockney.


Side note: I really love the way that Meyer includes minor characters both from actual history and from other resonant literature. For example, the main villain in this book is the grandson of an actual villain of American history: Cotton Mather. He was almost solely responsible for the convictions in the Salem witch trials; trials, that most of you know were based on shoddy evidence and mostly hysteria. Another character that was included at the very end was Ishmael…and Captain Ahab…unfortunately there isn’t too much inclusion of the classic Moby Dick, but that is understandable. It was just kind of cool to see Jacky interacting with the characters from other books without making the plot ABOUT the other book.  The little side references are fun and make you feel all smart and well-read when you catch them, then you can pat yourself on the back and say “umhummmm yes, that IS part of the classical cannon of literature, how wonderfully intelligent I am for finding it here” (must be thought with a smarmy British accent for full pompous effect)

Again with the covers, I love the artwork much more than the new paperback covers. For one, on the live girl, they put Jacky’s tattoo in the wrong place, for two the illustration shows Jacky’s “foxy grin” A grin to which I am very partial lol.

--Overall Report---

Originality: 10/10

Ending: 9/10

Characters:10/10

Plot: 10/10

My reaction/enjoyment: 9/10

Theme: 10/10

Imagery: 10/10

Setting: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Style: 5/5

Tone: 5/5

Cover: 9/10

Total: 97/100

A fantastic adventure, with mystery, and awesomeness :)

Peace, 

Andra

Book Blogger Hop! (1)

I have ALSO decided to join the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy-For-Books!

Because, as you know, I am desperate for friends/followers and am willing to pander to any audience and perform unspeakable acts to get them (well...not so much that last one...)

Here is some rules and whatnot from the host site that talks about the Blogger Hop :)

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added!  We get over 200 links every week!! 

RULES:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews. 

1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below, including the genre that you review!

In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (contemp. adult fiction) 

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  

If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks! 

This week's question comes from Ivan who blogs at Ivan Bookworm:

 "If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?"

3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY week!!!

Well thank you for that...except now all of her big and colored fonts are making my blog look plain and boring...well, I will have to work on that I suppose...I just need some more CONSTANT VIGILANCE to make my blog even more awesome than it already is.

Anywho. to answer the question. This should be obvious. Harry Potter's world...der. I would absolutely love to visit Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade, and every other place...even Number 4 Privet Drive would be fine with me :) The magic, the creatures...everything about J.K. Rowlings world makes it a paradise for me!

Alrighty Now I REALLY have to get to work. Feel free to follow me and leave a comment here or on any of my other posts and I will make sure to follow back!

~Andra~

My First Follow Friday !

Heyo!

This is my first time participating in Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee's View! And already I've Octrupled my followers!!! (that's what happens when you go from one follower to 8) coolcoolcool

 Annnnndddd here is my awesome, yet stolen button from parajunkee's site :)

 Here is a list of rules and whatnot from the host site of Follow Friday.

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://ninjagirlreads.blogspot.com/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

And there you have it. I'm going to add my blog to the list right now. I suggest you do the same if you haven't already! Oh, and comment on this post if you're a new follower so I can follow you back (don't forget to leave a link to your blog in your reply!).

So a little bit about me to all of my fantastic new followers out there! I currently reside in Mid-to-South-East Michigan...depending on the time of year. I am a full time student as well as working 40 hours a week for the local township office. I have been part of the blogger world for a while now, but restricted myself to just commenting on other blogger's reviews while I sat back and stole all of their books as prizes :P Yet I am entirely too self-centered to sit back and listen to what other people say about books I read...people have to listen to me, and my opinion, and DO WHAT I SAY (sends waves of brainwashing-ness over all of the new followers) Ha not really, but I thought blogging would be cool, and I would get to meet some new people and talk about the books that I love. I mean, YOU try to find someone to talk about vampire/lycanthrope sex scenes while you live in a sorority house...(yes thats right, I'm a current sister of a sorority...don't judge me too harshly....its NOTHING like you have seen on Greek or Glory Daze lol ) 

Q. It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

1. I am absolutely OBSESSED with the most recent Star Trek movie. I know every line word for word. You could play me a ten second clip of music from the movie and I could tell you what is going on in the scene at the time. I can even tell you what actors play all of the major and minor characters. And I frequently use Star Trek pick-up lines while out on the bar scene...hoping against hope that some nerdy trekkie will be at the bar and answer back the correct answer :)

2.I can fold my tounge in half- no, not the little tube thing that every one can pretty much do...I can take my tongue, jam it down my throat, so that it is folded in have and goes all the way to the back of my throat....(did you all just try that? lol)

3. I organize my clothes by color, style, and class level...as well as have them all facing the same way, on hangers facing the same way. yet the floor of my room hasn't been seen since 2005.

4. I am the owner of a hairless cat. I like to tell people who see her for the first time that she had cancer so we gave her chemo-therapy...relatively evil...but kind of fun at the same time.

 5. Are you still reading this? CONGRATS! you get a super awesome cookie!!! My fifth quirk is that I eat everything with my fingers...even weird things like spagetti or casseroles....not that I am eating many casseroles now that I am living away from my parents...but still...fingers=awesome, spoon/fork=lame.

Good.Great. Nice to meet you, hopefully you think it's nice to meet me, lets all get together for some coffee in a hipster cafe somewhere...I bet THEY won't judge us about vampire sex...much...

That's it for me!!

Peace, 

~Andra~

Review: The Haunted e-book by J.L Bryan

Wow. Just Wow...I somehow found my way to J.L.'s Blog the other day, where I read about this book's blog tour. I checked out a couple of links, reading interviews and such, and I found myself liking the hilarious interviews and just the general banter that the author supplied. Though it isn't true for all books, typically when I like the flow the author has in real life I like the way they write as well. This was no exception. 

The haunted e-book was everything you wan in a horror book. There was suspense, blood, gore, all that good stuff. But there was also a very good, intricately woven plot, something I find missing in many books lately. In addition,the story played on natural fears that many of us have, from the monster literally hiding under your bed, to the fear of being forgotten. I found that last fear especially meaningful. One of the struggles I myself have been dealing with is leaving my mark on the work. It is a timeless conflict...going all the way back to Achilles. You know...go to Troy and you will be known for thousands of years but lose your life, stay here and you will have an amazing family but after they are dead no one will remember your name...that whole chestnut. I feel like a writers attempt to leave their mark revolves around their work, because as long as their book is being read, part of them is alive. This is the premise of how the villain in Bryan's work stays alive and becomes stronger.

The diction in the book bears notes of Stephen King-ism without being quite so graphic, though believe me, the book has its share of disturbing imagery. All together the creepy and disturbing air of the book lends itself to the plot, and the characterization of the villain Jonah. Definitely something you should pick up if you aren't afraid of spending a few nights staring into the dark for Jonah over your shoulder.


I'm not a big fan of the cover, but it fits with the book and is actually explained in the story...which makes it cool by me :) The only major thing I didn't enjoy in the book was the one episode of sex. It was bland, kind of tasteless, and made me feel uncomfortable reading it. I think this MIGHT be because it was written by a guy, and i think Bryan might have less of an understanding of how a woman wants her sex (complete with hot, sexy paranormal who swears to love me forever(and can do so cause he's immortal) thank you very much) lol. But other than that the book was very enjoyable.


-Overall Report---
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Plot: 9/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 9/10
Theme: 10/10
Imagery: 10/10
Setting: 4/5
Voice: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Tone: 5/5
Cover: 8/10 ( fits with the book but is still kind of bland)
Total= 89/100 or an A- A very good book by my new favorite indie author :)

Black Dagger Brotherhood Challenge :D

Heyo!

As My second post….I have decided to join Reading With Tequila’s Black Dagger Brotherhood Challenge.!!!!!!!

I have heard soooooo much about this series, and for some reason haven’t managed to get my hands on them. Well…this changes NOW. I have heard that the series is Hot, Steamy, and Mysterious…everything a girl wants in her fictional men. Since they all have Lover in the title…I’m assuming there is a ton of sex and fabulousness! Heres hoping that the fabulous sex doesn't get frivolous. I am rather hesitant to try the more erotic of the adult romances because i feel like sometimes the plot gets neglected in favor of fantastic mind blowing sex.

Now, I don’t have anything against a good steamy love session…But I’m hoping these books aren’t JUST about the sex…I have a former favorite author whose series went from fantastic to sex-tastic in just a few short books. Nothing kills a series for me more than pointless, play-by-play sex for chapters and chapters and chapters…I kid you not…I once counted, and of the 23 chapters in the book, 17 of them were devoted to sex…That’s a little too much for me…I remember sitting on the bus reading this book and feeling like I must have looked like a tomato that was on fire because I was blushing so much. I kept furtively hiding the cover and turning so that no one behind me could read it because I didn’t want to appear to be some sex deviant lol.

ANYWAYS lol…I will be participating in the challenge and will begin reading Dark Lover ASAP… wish me luck Brotherhood fans!

Peace,

Andra

Post Numero Uno

Heyo everyone!
Who am I talking to? Well…probably myself for a while as I have yet to gather any followers…but just in case someone stumbles upon this blog, decides that I am indeed a truly awesome person, and then wants to follow me for a while, this is for you :) You are the first to join me as I embark on my own quest to blogdom. Long have I sat in the shadows, watching, reading about other bloggers who have gone before, creating fantastic reviews, winning fabulous prizes, and meeting commendable authors. Now, the unknown girl from the marshes ( well...the lakes of Mid-Michigan...) comes forth to earn her place in the ring of blogo-champions...Dum Dum DAHHHH....

Wow...did i just post that? ha, whatever...if you are following my blog, you will have to become accustomed to my eccentric nature. I will probably come back years from now and look at this first post. I will then scoff and think “wow. I was SUCH a little newb…I didn’t even do this…or that…or the other thing…I was so lame” but for now, however lame it is, this is my post :D  Whatever.

So in honor of starting my blog, I have decided to join in the Blood Jack Challenge!!!!!!!

The challenge is hosted by Bookworming in the 21st Century. I absolutely adore these books. They rank right up there with the Harry Potter series for me, and if you know anything about me at all…that is something HUGE…So. I will be doing the  Dead Men Tell No Tales part of the challenge, meaning that I will be reading all 8 books in the series ( hopefully 9 in August!) and share will all of you….or just myself….my fabulous thoughts on the subject. Alrighty….good first post? Yes, yes I think so.

Peace Out,
Andra