Sunday, December 1, 2013

Revealed by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

Genre: paranormal(vampires), young-adult, romance, fantasy

Published: October 15th 2013

Pages: 306

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

                                                                        

                        Synopsis(from flap)

Drastically altered after her fall. Neferet is clinging to life with one goal in mind: to regain her strength and consciousness. But before she goes into hiding to relive her past-and hopefully find the key to surviving in the present-she will make one deadly strike. This time against a human. And the aftershocks will leave no one untouched.
  In the wake of a gruesome murder, Tulsa humans are panicked, blaming the House of Night for what was clearly a vamprye attack. But Zoey and the rest of the school know that none of them was involved. So who killed the mayor of Tulsa? As the police open an investigation, tensions on the other fronts are growing even higher-Dallas is on a rampage against Zoey and her friends. When he finally makes a move against Stevie Rae and Shaunee, the battle lines are drawn-and someone will have to take the fall.
  Meanwhile, somethings going on with Zoey...and not the fun kind of something. She's feeling strange and stressed all the time-well, more stressed then usual. Which shouldn't be a surprise, considering that a powerful immortal is on the loose and she's having some boyfriend issues. Again. But is something bigger at work? Z might not have long to find out. Light and Darkness are out of balance, awakening Old Magick....and Old Magick always demands a sacrifice.
   In the thrilling eleventh House of Night novel, more then just the House of Night is at stake in a dangerous battle for Zoey's life-and soul. Can the Nerd Herd help her stay free long enough to fight back?

                                                                                                                     

                                                                 Thoughts

I have been waiting a full year to get this book into my hands, so I can read it. But I had a very complicated experience to get this book, so it was definitely worth reading. So, after I got the book after the experience(which I rather not share), I decided to wait a few weeks to read it since I was already reading another book at the time. But I just couldn't wait anymore(after a few days), so I started reading.
 I was expecting this book to be dramatic and heavy, which it was. I was also expecting it to just sort of have a conclusion  on what they are going to do. What I mean by that is: for Zoey and her friends to  have an actual solution on how to kill Neferet.  But they came up with nothing instead, which made me feel disappointed.

Now, I have been reading the entire series since 2009, and I always have had mixed feelings on the series. But reading this just escalated these mixed feelings even more. Like I don't even know what to think about it anymore. Some books are good, and some are bad. With the reviews, some have been good and some were bad. But I will be giving a mixed review.  

Revealed was not the best book in the series, but I still had a great time reading it. I loved the characters(expect Zoey), and the overall plot is pretty good. But what I didn't like in the book was that the plot in this book was just sort of the same plot from the previous book; Hidden, but it was just mixed around to make it more dramatic, and to make the plot (for lack of a better word) worse(or better, whichever way you want to put it).

Zoey, Zoey Zoey, what should I say about you first? Oh! I got it! Zoey is one of the worst main characters I have read in a book. I don't know what the thing is about her, it's just that I don't like her. But, there are also lots of little things about her that make me not like her ethier. And trust me there are too many little things to say, so I won't be explaining any of them right now (I'm being serious). Another thing I want to say, is that Zoey just irritates me so much, and just her attitude was getting me angry. What she was going through with the stress, is way to much for a 17 year old to go through. It's not healthy. And the whole point of reading a book is to escape reality, but reading about her stress just brings my current reality into reading, and it makes it less enjoyable. 

Overall, I won't go into too much details, but it wasn't the best book ever  but it was still entertaining. I seriously cannot wait for the final book, I just hope they end the book on a really good note. And actually end the series well.

                                                                                                                       

                                                                              Rating


3.5/5

October-November 2013 Book Wrap Up (2)

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson here, and this blog post is going to be my book wrap up for October and November. I'm really sorry I have been so busy with school, and everything else in between, that I have not had a chance to read a lot. And as a result, I haven't had the time to blog. I only read 4 books in the last 2 months, and I normally don't read that amount.(I am so ashamed of myself) I promise I'll be reading more in the next two months mainly because of the Christmas break. So, without further ado let's get on with the wrap up.

The first book I read in the month October, was Blue Bloods by Melissa De la Cruz. It is the first book of the Blue Bloods series. Since October was the month of Halloween, I was in the mood for something more paranormal and creepy. And I also wanted to move onto a new vampire series since the House of Night series is almost done. Anyways, I loved this book, and enjoyed every minute of it, and I rated it a 5/5 stars. If you want more details, on why I loved it, I did a review on this blog. The second book I read in October, until the beginning of November was I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga. Since I finished Blue Bloods, I wasn't fully satisfied on my mood, so I picked up this book. And after I read it I was definitely satisfied. I loved this book as well, it was full of suspense, and mystery. Like, I have no more words to describe on how amazing it was. But it was a very different genre for me to read, as I normally don't read these types of books. I rated this a 5/5 stars. It was so good. I did a book review on this blog too.  
The third book I read throughout November was The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I was now in the mood for something more romantic. So I chose this one, just because it was right there in my school library. It was sort of an impulse actually. I have seen the movie many times before, so just reading the book made me not like it very much. Yes, yes I wasn't a huge a fan of it. Things were very different from book to movie, and it was so confusing for me to understand. However, in my opinion the movie was way better. I rated this a 3/5 stars, if you want to know more details about why didn't like it so much,  I have a review on this blog.   The last book I read in November was Revealed by P.C and Kristin Cast. It is the 11th book to the House of Night series. I have wanted this book since last year, and it was a very complicated experience to actually get this book. But I read it just now, so I still need to collect my thoughts on it. But I will say to you now, that it wasn't as good as their other books have been. That's it, that is all I will say about the book. I will write a book review on this blog, for the full details on my thoughts on this book. 
 
So that's it for this book wrap up. And again. I'm super sorry I haven't been blogging, I have literally been so busy with life, and school, so I haven't had the time to read. I promise that during the holidays I will read A LOT more books(and they are going to be long ones).  
Until the next post, goodbye everyone.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Review: The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks

Genre: romance, adult-fiction, chick-lit, contemporary

Published: December 1st, 1999(first pub. 1996)

Pages: 254

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

                                                                     

             Synopsis(from copy/book)

At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted of the girl he lost more then a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer,  but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tradegy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...

                                                                                                                                      

                                                               Thoughts

I have always wanted to read The Notebook since I first heared of it. So when I saw it at my school library, I thought I had to pick this up. Nicholas Sparks is such a great author, I loved every book I read by him(which was about 3 or 4).

There's also a movie based on this book starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, and I seriously liked the movie way better then the book itself. In the movie, there was a lot of detail about the relationship between Noah and Allie. In the book, there was not too much detail about anything. So in that sense, I was very disappointed and, I personally thought it was going to be better then the movie.

What was so sweet about this story was the true love that Allie and Noah had for each other. I think that's how love is supposed to be like; you meet someone, fall in love, and stay in love forever until you die. Love now-a-days is just so different from this. It's all about rushing, and less on taking you time to develop the relationship. I think every relationships should be like Noah and Allie's

                                                                                                                                  

                                                                      Rating


                                                  3/5

Sunday, November 3, 2013

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Genre(s): young-adult, mystery, thriller, horror

Published: April 2nd 2013(paperback)

Pages: 384

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

                                                                       

            Synopsis(from book)

It was a beautiful day.
It was a beautiful field.
                                                  Except for the body.

Jazz is the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, "Take Your Son To Work Day" was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops only wish they could-from the criminal's point of view. Now with bodies piling up in the sleepy town of Lobo's Nod, Jazz must work with the police to prove that murder doesn't run in the family.

                                                                                

                                                              Thoughts

Since the month of October, is the month for all things scary, and mysterious, I was in the mood for reading a dark-heavy(content) book. I first heared of this book, when I was looking up different books online in one of my classes at school(clearly I was bored). I showed my friend, who happened to be sitting next to me at the time, she thought it was quite interesting. Now going forward a few months later, I saw it and the rest is history.

At first I was a little uncomfortable reading this, but once the book progressed onward, I felt a lot more urgent, and confident. I loved how there was more mystery, then horror and gory, because I didn't want to be scared to death reading this, but I still wanted my heart to race from the suspense. And there was lots of suspense to look forward to!

Jasper "Jazz" Dent, was legitimately a bad-ass character who I liked. He wasn't too cocky, or anything like that. He was very rebellious, which I can completely understand why he was. He was very smart, he knew what he was doing, even though the police didn't believe him in the beginning. He was a perfect character, with a very dysfunctional life. His father killed many people, his grandma(who he was living with) had lots of mental problems. I felt so sorry for him, I just wanted to jump into the book(literally), and hug him. He had multiple problems himself though, but the major problem was, was that he had a voice in head, like taking control of his thoughts, and stuff like that, which made it a little scary for me. But I liked how he had a (sort of) father figure, who was G. William Tanner, the sheriff. Although Billy was his father, he wasn't a loving and supportive parent. G. William was the loving supportive father figure for Jazz, which I thought was really nice.

Connie, and Howie were okay characters. They were the first characters(ever pretty much), that I didn't like a whole lot. However, I will say I liked Howie a little better then Connie.
 Howie, was Jazz's best friend with a severe condition that whenever he gets hit, like a poke, he will bruise and bleed. The bruising and bleeding happened multiple times in this book. Anyways, Howie was always there for Jazz, which made it seem like Howie was Jazz's only friend. Even though Howie wasn't sure about Jazz's decisions, he always stuck by him. He was really funny, and sort off like a dramatic reliever for me.
 Connie, on the other hand, was Jazz's girlfriend of a different race(African-American). I did not like her at all. I know that girls get very emotional, and a time of death, and just about anything sad in general. Girls cry; that's how they express themselves and I totally get that, I cry sometimes too. But Connie, was crying ALL THE TIME! Just about every other page the she was in: crying. Like bitch please hold yourself together! Aside from all that, I appreciated her for being the race that she was. You don't see a lot of black girls in books too often, so it was a definite refresher and unique to see  that. And it was also nice how Jazz had a girlfriend, who can accept him for who he was.

Overall, this book was amazing! Loved the mystery, suspense, and just everything about it. Nothing was a disappointment(aside from Connie). This book was a very different book for me to read. I was completely out of my comfort zone, and that was a good thing. I needed to get out of it, and it made me realize that I do need to read different genres, besides the ones I do enjoy reading. I recommend this book 100%.
                                                                                                                   
 
                                                                 Rating



                                                                     5/5

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Currently Reading

Hello everyone, it's Nicole Henderson here, and I hope all of you(Canadians) had a great Thanksgiving, and had a good time with your families. October has been a really busy month for me so far, and I haven't been able to find the time to read. But somehow, I ended up finishing Blue Bloods, and have started to read more of I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga; which is the book I'm reading at the moment. Since I'm halfway done reading it, I thought this would be the perfect time for me to post this, and do a quick summary on what this book is about.
Summary: Jazz Dent is the son of Billy Dent, who was the small town's serial killer. Jazz has learned lots from his dad, and has seen many of the crimes before. So, now when bodies are being discovered, Jazz realizes that a new serial killer is in town and "secretly" works with the police to figure out who it is.

Thoughts: First off, I think this book is really good, and I know it's going to get even greater as the book progresses more. At first I found it really hard to get into, and was quite slow pacing. But after the first 10 chapters, everything started to pick up, and it is now on a faster pace.
  Secondly, there's so much suspense, and a lot of mystery, it's really hard to put down this book.
 Thirdly, it's a little confusing, because this book is written in a third person perspective so I keep reading "I" instead of "He." I'm just so used to reading books in the first person, it's hard for me to adapt into reading in third person.
 And lastly, this genre of mystery, thriller, and horror is new for me. It's really cool to be reading something different, and unique. This book goes completly out of my comfort zone, which makes me realize that I do need to read things that I'm not really used to, and to expand my "reading" horizons.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Genre(s): young-adult, paranormal(vampires), fantasy, romance

Published: April 1st, 2007(paperback)

Pages: 302

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
                                                                            

                          Synopsis
 
Schuyler Van Alen has never fit in at Duchense, her prestigious New York City private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes to the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates. But when she turns fifteen, Schuyler's life changes dramatically. The death of a popular classmate haunts her in unexpected ways. And strangest of all, Jack Force, the most popular boy in school, is showing a sudden interest in her.
 Once an outcast, Schuyler is thrust into Manhattan's most exclusive social circle. Its members are the powerful, the wealthy,and-as Schuyler soon discovers-the unhuman. They are Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires and for centuries they've been invincible. Now something is preying on his elite group, and Schuyler wants to find out the truth. But is she the most vulnerable of them all?

                                                                                                                 

                                                                Thoughts

I wanted to start off the beginning of this month with a paranormal-scary type of read, so I decided to pick up this one up. And it was a great book to start off the month of Halloween. I am officially in the mood to read another supernatural book. 

Blue Bloods is the beginning if a 7 book series.  And it is set in present day New York City, at a very sophisticated private school. I really liked the concept in that sense, and then to put a twist onto the concept, was that some of the students were vampires(called Blue Bloods, that's the reason why the series is called whats it's called). And Schuyler, was one of them, which made me love the concept even more. 

When I started reading it, I was a bit confused of which perspective it was in, which I finally figured that it was in the perspectives, of Schuyler, Mimi, Bliss, and even a little bit of all the characters. That is what made me think that it was little misleading, in case you were wondering, or maybe i explained it differently I DON"T KNOW! Anyways, once I understood what was happening with that situation, I LOVED it. I was pulled into the story from page 1,and I never wanted to put the book down.

Schuyler,was an easy, likable character. She wasn't that annoying, even though at times I wanted to slap her in the face and say:"it's so obvious!" She seemed like a very normal character, who reacted realistically when she found out she was a Blue Blood herself. I liked that she was different from all of her other female classmates, which made her stand out. she was also very curious to find out about everything and to find out the truth about what was going on(I would want to find out too). I really love Schuyler, and wanted to be her friend, I definitely want to read more about Schuyler.

I enjoyed this book from the very beginning and can't wait to read the next book in the series: Masquerade. To end off the review,  I want to wish all of you Canadians(since they celebrate it this month) a Happy Thanksgiving!

                                                                                                        

                                                               Rating


                                                                   5/5

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Currently Reading

Summary:Fifteen year old Schuyler Van Alen goes to Duchesne, the prestigious private school in New York City. She has never seemed to fit in anywhere within the school, until she finds out that a popular classmate has passed away and is exposed to The Committee, who are a group of vampires called Blue Bloods.

Thoughts:Since I have the paperback version, the synopsis gives me a completely different one then the original hardcover(which still has the same sort of concept), so I thought the actual synopsis itself to be very misleading. I visioned this book to be very different from what I've read so far. I am really enjoying this book, and since this is the first one in the series, I want to read the second one.  However, I still don't entirely understand what's going on, but since I am halfway done, I will have lots of time to figure it out. I haven't made the final decision as for a actual rating, but I definitely know, it's going to be a high rate for sure.   

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Review: Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Genre: young-adult, contemporary, romance, realistic-fiction

Published: May 21st 2013

Pages: 352

Publisher: Simon Pulse

                                                                              

               Synopsis(from the book)

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is: The Varags brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She's seen the tears and disasters dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath--with candles, contracts,and everything to never have anything to do with one.
 Now Jude is the only sister still living at the house,and she's spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle. No one wants to end up with a toaster on wheels, so they hire a mechanic to help out. Was it Jude's fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?
 Jude tells herself it's strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Varags tricks a mile away--no way would she fall for them. But old warnings fade fast, because Emilio turns out to be the first guy in forever she likes. Really likes. Jude's defenses are crumbling,and if history is destined to repeat itself, she's speeding toward some serious heartbreak...
 But what if her sisters were wrong?
 Jude may have taken an oath, but she's beginning to think that when it comes down to love, some promises might be worth breaking.
                                                                                                                          

                                                              Thoughts

From what I read in the synopsis above, I knew this book would be amazing. I figured this book would be fantastic, because of all of Sarah's other books being great. 

I loved the plot, it was so original and different from all of her other books. I loved the characters as well,like: Jude, Emilio, Mari--even the father! I loved the father, he was so funny when he wasn't having one of his memory losses(hint, hint, wink, wink). He literally made laugh aloud at some parts.

Jude was actually a very likeable character for me. I managed to put up with her, and not get annoyed by her all the time. I loved her badass attitude. If I related to her feelings about her family circumstances, I would've been able to understand her a lot more, then I did while reading it. But aside from that, she was a really great character to read about, and one of the most realistic characters I've read in a long time.

Emilio turned out to be a really sweet guy in the end. Although in the beginning he was being a bit too cocky for me, he was still able to change his ways, and be this great guy that every girl loves. He was not judge worthy at all towards Jude and her family, with the circumstances that were there and, he was perfectly supportive of them. You know? I seriously want a boyfriend who is good with bikes to teach me a thing or two about them, and how to fix one up...and stuff. LOL. *jumps up and down, and giggles like a little girl* He really cared for and loved Jude..like a lot. IT WAS SO CUTE! <3 yeah that's it, i got nothing left say about that....awkward.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It is truthfully one of my favourite books of all time, and I hope I will re-read this book again soon. Plus, Sarah Ockler is one of my favourite authors of all time. I love her writing style so much,because it is very relatable to what teens are actually thinking and feeling. It was all emotional and happy all at the same time. It is (again) one of those books where you learn a very valuable life lesson. This time, the lesson was: Don't focus on the past all the time. And live life with NO regrets. There's probably more lessons but that 's all I got right now(sorry). This is a great book, so i strongly recommend it to all of you! :)
                                                                                                                     

                                                                 Rating

                                                                 
                                                                    5/5
                                                     

Monday, September 30, 2013

Book Wrap Up for August and Semptember 2013 (1)

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson here and this is my first book wrap up blog post. I will do these posts at the end of every month or two months depending on how many books I've read in those  months.
 So, these are the books I've read in August and September:
 
I also read The Summer Of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells, after Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton, and before Summer Boys by Hailey Abott. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the image for The Summer of Skinny Dipping onto the page, something was wrong, but I don't know what it was. I will work something out.


  I have full reviews for the first three books on this blog, so you can check them out if you scroll down. I have not quite finished The Book Of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler yet, but I will finish it soon(like in the first two days of October soon). I'll have a review up for the Book Of Broken Hearts as soon as I'm done.
 I really hope I read way more books in this next month then I have been lately. Good Luck to me! So that's it for this blog post, I hope you found it to be entertaining to read. Goodbye for now.

 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Review: Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott

Genre: young-adult, romance, woman's fiction(chick-lit)

Published: June 1st 2004

Pages: 214

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks

                                                                                

            Synopsis(from Goodreads)

It's summer. It's hot. And it's time to hook up.

Cousins Ella, Beth, and Jamie are at the family beach house, and there gearing up for the wildest time of their lives. Sassy Ella is majorly crushing on a cute older boy--who happens to be her sisters boyfriend. Meanwhile, practical Beth is surprised when she finds herself falling for her best friend, George. And shy, creative Jamie gets her heart broken when her summer love abandons her.

Three girls, too many boys, and some seriously stormy romances... it all adds up to one unforgettable summer.
                                                                                                                               

                                                                  Thoughts 

 I wanted to end off my "beachy" summer romance reading in the most appropriate way possible. So when it was time to pick which book to read, I went straight for this one because I knew this would be a decent summer book to read to end the "summer" reading for the year.
 I sort of thought this book was going to be the typical summer read. But, it turned out to be completely different from what I originally thought. It was full of drama, full of craziness, and full of cute boys.

Three cousins, Ella, Beth, and Jamie Tuttle, go to Pebble Beach with their families for the summer in Maine.
Ella- She is the sassy, flirty, confident girl out of the three cousins. She feels like she can get any guy she wants, and that she can take advantage of any opportunity she has. Now, in my opinion I didn't like Ella very much. A part of me wanted to slap her across the face, because it seemed to me that she was being slutty(excuse my profanity,but it is true) around the guys. Then of course as we all know for whoever has read this book, she develops a crush on her older sisters BF Peter.  She tried way to hard to impress him, and just was downright a whore towards him(excuse my profanity, again).Truthfully, it was not necessary for Ella to do any of the things that she did, she could of just been herself without her "sluttiness" and her immaturity. However, at the same time I liked Ella because she was very confident with any situation that she was faced with. Which was what I appreciated about her.

Beth- She is the practical, sporty, mature girl out of the three cousins. She feels like no guy has ever really paid attention to her in the way that she'd like. She also feels like she doesn't need to care about her appearance as much as everyone else. I really liked Beth, she was my favourite out of the three of them, and it was nice just to read about someone who is a little bit more mature for there age. In this book, Beth starts to fall for her best guy friend George. It seemed as if  he didn't really return her feelings, but it was nice to find out in the end that he indeed did like her back. I loved the fact that she was the most relatable person, and that she was reserved as well. Beth was one of those characters where she "thought before she acted" on something, which is what I think all girls should be like. 

Jamie- She is the shy, creative, independent girl out of the three cousins. She feels like she's in her own little world, plus she feels that certain romances or situations are going to last forever. I had a love-hate relationship with Jamie. One part I loved her, but then the next part, I hated her. I liked Jamie, because of her love for writing, and for the arts in general. I hated her because certain things she did were extremely immature. In the book, she feels heartbroken about the fact that Ethan, who was her previous summer love, is distant, and in the end breaks up with her. She is constantly trying to find ways to get over him, but she doesn't really do a good job  it at first, but she ends up getting the hang of it as the book progresses. I liked that she was trying to move on from Ethan, and not try to win him back. It was also nice how, she ended up with Scott, who is one of Ethan's friends. She realizes(thank god) that not all relationships throughout her life are not going to last forever.

The guys that the girls were interested in, were very different from one another. Peter, was the punk, jerk, and rude one. While George, was the kind, sweet, and sensitive one. Lastly, Ethan was a mix of both Peter's and George's personalities.

The book itself was good. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I wouldn't say I hated it either. I still found it to be a quick and easy read for me to get through. I don't 100% recommend this book, but if you want to read it, I suggest you do.
                                                                                                                      

                                                                        Rating


                                                                            3/5

Friday, September 27, 2013

The Book I'm Currently Reading At The Moment

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson here, and I know I haven't posted anything new in awhile but I am just really busy with school, and to be quite honest I haven't been reading anything new. But just recently I started to get back into it with a fantastic new book I will be showing you today. Actually, I did start reading Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott, but I'm literally 5 chapters away from finishing it. So, there's really no point in doing a blog post on what "I'm Currently Reading".But, I promise you I will do a book review for Summer Boys in my next blog post.
 The book that I'm reading right now(which I will show you now), is The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler. I will summarize to you on what it's mainly about in my own words, and then express my thoughts on the book.
Summary: Jude Hernandez, has been influenced by her 3 older sisters that the Vargas brothers are a bunch of heart breakers. But, that all changes when her father decides to hire Emilio Vargas to fix an old motorcycle of his(along with Jude's help). But then Jude starts to fall for Emilio, and wonders if her sisters might be wrong about the brothers.

Thoughts: Now, Sarah Ockler is one of my favourite authors of all time, so I loved her previous books. But, with this book, I wouldn't say this is an all time favourite, however, it is on the list to being one of my favourites( Do you see what I'm saying?).
 I really do like the plot, it's very original, and very different from her other books. I like all of the characters; there not super annoying, but not boring either, they are just right.
   I am enjoying this book a lot. It's making me super emotional, and super happy all at the same time.
 Since I am halfway done, I haven't made a final decision on rating it yet, or my full complete thoughts on this book. Alright, those are my main thoughts on the book so far, and I will post a full review soon. So until then, goodbye everyone.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Book Review:The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

The Summer of Skinny Dipping

Genre: young-adult, romance, contemporary

Published: June 1st 2010

Pages: 295

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire


                                                                                                      

                 Synopsis(from the book)

Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish, But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before it seem like it belonged to another life. My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything.  

                                                                                                                                                         
                   
                                                                      Thoughts

I know that everyone who has read this book, has said in their reviews, that they were expecting a light and drama free read. Well, there not wrong. I could actually agree with those people and say "yes, I was expecting a light read out of this book", which is true. I was. But, I got the complete opposite instead. Which is what everyone else had said about it too.

 I'm really having a hard time collecting my thoughts about this book. It's hurting my head just thinking about it. However, I'm still going to write this review as planned. So, let's begin:

Mia was a very well developed character I thought. I found that she wasn't super annoying or anything like that. But she did kind of seemed always sad and never happy(and I'm seriously talking about all throughout the book) Okay, I shouldn't say that necessarily, she was happy(when she was with Simon), but it's just that it didn't seem very realistic to me. It was as if she was an angel from heaven and saying that she's happy and free. Angels are not real you know (and I'm talking about mythical angels, not our guardian angels). In the aspect to relating to Mia, I couldn't relate to her, at all. I don't love the ocean, I don't have a dysfunctional family, and I never had a boyfriend who died from a tragic event. Also, with her thought process, I didn't relate to her there either. I really did feel sorry for Mia though, when she finds out Simon(which i will talk about next) had gone through a tragic experience which lead to death. What did upset me though about that, was when Mia thought Simon drowning, was a JOKE. I'm like: "Mia, your so dumb, he's actually drowning, and you think this is one of his pranks?" Even I would've known he was drowning, if I were there. Like my god Mia, get your head together.

Simon, was not like any male character I have ever read. He was witty, wise, charismatic, and charming. And of course he was kind, sweet, and wonderful. Simon was very different, from anyone else; he had his own personality, his own values and beliefs on life. I really loved Simon a lot. Even though he didn't seem to be the most attractive guy ever, he was definitely the smartest guy I have read about in a book, and that's a good thing. However, towards the end he got rebellious and I was kind of turned off by that a little bit, but I knew where he was coming from with it. I still really enjoyed Simon though.

The book itself was really good and I enjoyed it, but there was a problem that kinda ticked me off just a bit; which was, the amount of usage of alcohol, and cigarettes (plus drugs), was terrible. Some of the characters smoked and drank, and it happened very frequently. Personally, Amanda should not have done that, it was like she was trying to promote smoking, drinking and doing drugs to teens. Which I was NOT okay with. It pissed me off very much. If that didn't happen, then I would of been fine.

It was a very emotional, dramatic, and life-lesson-type read. It was one of those books where you're taught a valuable lesson. I definitely realized that life-lesson which(to me) was: don't be afraid to take chances, and to take some risks. Always follow your dreams and stick to them; and that sometimes it may not work out for you, you just gotta try again and never give up.
                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                     Rating

                                          
                                                                      4/5
                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                 Last Words

I recommend this book to people who are looking for a surprising, wise, life-learning, emotional, and dramatic book. So, that concludes this review. Until the next one, goodbye everyone!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Book I'm Currently Reading

Hello everyone, it's Nicole Henderson here, and I know I haven't been blogging in a bit, and I'm really sorry about that. I was so busy with being on vacation and getting ready for going back to school. I really hope I am able to manage my time with school, the homework, life, and also with this blog. If not them I'm very sorry, but that's life. So, back onto today's blog. The book I'm currently reading at the moment is called The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells. Like in my last blog that I did about this, I will summarize it in my own words on what it's about, and then tell you my thoughts about the book so far.
Summary: A 16 year old girl named Mia Gordon, goes away from home to spend the summer in the Hamptons. At first she is looking forward to it, but when her cousin Corrine becomes distant, she is disappointed about her cousin's new lifestyle and friends. But everything changes when she meets a boy named Simon at a party. And things take an unexpected turn for the better and for the worst.

Thoughts: I have to say I do like this book, but I wasn't expecting
what I read to actually happen when I first picked it up.(spoiler alert) There's drinking and partying, and drugs are being used, I was pretty shocked. However, I do understand this because I have realized that people I know actually do party and drink and smoke weed. And it's not my cup of tea to do any of those things. Now, I'm not hating on this book, I really do like it. It was perfect for me to read half of it  while on vacation on the beach because I really got the feeling of the setting and what it was actually like. So, I can't make the final verdict. But I am enjoying this book so far.

So, that is about it for this blog. I really do hope you guys like seeing my thoughts. I really do want to be done with this book, so I can do a book review on it, and also start on another book as well. So,until the next one. Goodbye everyone.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Book Review: Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton

Sixteenth Summer

Genre: young-adult, romance, contemporary

Published: May 3rd 2011

Pages: 283

Publisher: Simon Pulse

                                                                                         

               Synopsis(from the book)

Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice-cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love. But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kisses, and walks on the beach, Anna can't ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna's never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn't even a possibility, one summer doesn't feel worth the promise of her heart breaking...

                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                      Thoughts

At first I had no intentions of reading this when I first saw this book on Goodreads,  but then I had this sudden urge of wanting to read it and have it in my hands really badly. It just happened one day.  So when I finally purchased it, I was super excited to read this. I did and I literally fell in love with this book. I loved everything, and I mean everything about this book. It played out so nicely. Just the way the story flowed with no "bumps in the road" was just simply amazing.  The characters were great, I loved the setting, which was on a beach (I love beaches).

Anna, was a fantastic character. I loved Anna. She wasn't mean, selfish, snobby, or  a total bitch. She was nice, happy, positive, in love (like most characters are). If she were a real person, I would love to be friends with her. Yeah, that is how much I adore her. Anna is literally, everything I want in a character when I write my own book someday. I found that I could relate to Anna a lot in this story. With how she felt, and the way she thinks is how I would think too if I were ever in her situation. There are honestly no more words for me to describe her, but to only say that she was an amazing character.

Will, was another fantastic character. He was sweet, and nice. He treated Anna well, which is what all guys should do in young-adult books. He was everything I wanted in a guy. Generous, genuine, kind etc.. I'm pretty much just repeating myself before with Anna.

Sixteenth Summer is an amazing book, and one of my favourite books of all time. Just because it was so light, beachy, and romantic. It was anything anybody would want in a summer book. It was absolutely perfect. I love Michelle's writing style, and how it flows along with the story.

                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                    Overall Rate


                                                                            5/5
                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                   Last Words

I really felt happy while reading this, I hope other people have read this, and have felt happy as well. Michelle Dalton is one of my favourite authors now. I recommend this book for people who want a perfect book to read on the beach. Of course, for people who want a summer romance, so wonderful. That's it for this review, until the next one, goodbye everyone! 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Book Haul (1)

Hello everyone, it's Nicole Henderson here. You know, I like to go to used book stores from time to time. The reason being is because, the books are cheaper, and even though there used books, they still look in good condition. Anyways, today, I went to a used book store, because....well I don't know why, I just needed new books for myself. And I go into the store not knowing what books were going to be there, and the total amount of books I bought were 4 books. I will give info. on the books, give you a summary on them, and tell you why i picked them up. Here we go:

The first book I bought was Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer. It is an older young adult vampire book, being published in 2008. The whole saga was made into movies(like you guys obviously know that already).  
I won't give away too much because this is the last book to the Twilight Saga. It's pretty much about Bella Swan experiencing a love-triangle between Edward Cullen, who is vampire, and Jacob Black, who happens to be a werewolf. After getting married, Bella ends up becoming pregnant, with Edward being the father. Once the child is born, the baby is mistaken for some reason I cannot remember, but you guys have most likely seen the movie, if not, then go to Wikapedia, and read the full plot, or get the movie on DVD. And the story pretty much goes on from there (and I'm sorry I couldn't really help you out). 
I picked up the book because I have not read the whole series because, I have not had the whole series in my collection of books. I have only read the first two books in the Twilight Saga, even though i own Eclipse, I have yet to read it, including Breaking Dawn. I honestly, wanted the whole saga already, 'cause it has been way to long.

The second book I bought, was Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz. It was published all the way back in 2007. It is another paranormal vampire series, and it consists of 7 books. This is the first book to the series.
This book is about a teenage girl named Schuyler(interesting, yet confusing name) Van Allen, goes to this prestigious private school in New York City. Then her life changes, when the death of a popular classmate happens, and it haunts her. Then Jack Force, who the most popular boy in school, takes interest in her. Plus she discovers that the most exclusive social circle are inhuman. Blue Bloods(hence the title of the book), are a group of vampires, and have been for centuries. But something is preying on the group, and Schuyler wants to find out "the truth".
I picked up this book mainly because, I wanted to start reading vampire books again, and i needed a new series, with a new story line, new characters, and a new setting. I just needed something new and different. Of course, I was curious so, I bought it.

The third book I purchased, was The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells. This a contemporary summer novel, that was published in 2010.
This is about a 16 year old girl named, Mia Gordon, who has the best summer of her life, at Indigo Beach, with a boy with pale skin, and how it deals with the ups and downs of first love.
I picked this book up because, I needed another summer read, and I thought it was quite mysterious sounding. I have heared that this is quite an emotional book, but I am willing to keep an open mind on it and see how it turns out to be.

The last book I ended up purchasing was Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott. It was published 10 years ago, which was back in 2004. And it is part of a series called Summer Boys(which is the title to this book by the way). The series consists of 4 books, with this book being the first one.
The plot of the book is about three cousins, Ella, Beth, and Jamie and they all end up having potential summer romances, but something has to get in the way for all these girls to get the man of their dreams. Ella has a crush on a boy, who happens to be her sister's boyfriend. Beth is starting to fall for her best friend. And, Jamie, fell for a boy the summer before, but ends up getting her heart broken, by him. There is going to be lots of drama, this summer.
I have heared of this book before, plus a good friend of mine actually owns this book. So I definitely wanted to own this book for myself.  I have read some of Hailey's books before, so I know what her writing style is like. I picked it up today because  I needed just a light summer book that was going to fly by quickly, but still also have a little bit of drama. I'm quite excited to read this book. It will be a perfect beach read for me.

So that is it for my first book haul on this blog, and I will do a lot more of them. I am still trying to get better at this whole blogging thing, I am still new to all this, and it will take some time for me to be an expert on this. Anyways, back to the books, I am really happy about my purchases and I look forward to reading them sometime soon. That is it for this book haul, until the next one. Goodbye, everyone.

Book Review: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Second Chance Summer

Genre: young adult, romance, drama, contemporary

Published: May 7th 2013 (Paperback)

Pages: 468

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

                                                                                                       

                         Synopsis(from book)

Taylor Edwards had a tendency to run away when things get tough. But when her father is diagnosed with stage four cancer, Taylor knows this is one situation she can't outrun. To have one last summer together, Taylor's parents decide to take the family back to their old lake house in the Poconos. Even though Taylor was twelve the last time she went to Lake Phoenix, the people she left behind are still there-like her former best friend Lucy, who's still hurting from a long-ago betrayal, and her first crush Henry, who's gotten five years cuter. With nights full of fireflies and fireworks, the summer holds the possibility of forgiveness, and maybe even love. Taylor wants to hold on to the moment instead of walking away, but she knows the end of the summer is getting closer-and that time is running out to make the most of her second chance.

                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                          Thoughts 

I have wanted to get my hands on this book since, the summer of 2012. Yes, since LAST SUMMER. But now that i finally own it(and this is my first book review ever with a book i own), i was able to read it, finally after so long of wanting it. I felt good when i started reading this book, even though i knew it was going to be a emotional book. I really adored this book from start to finish.

Taylor was an easy, and likable character. I found that i could relate to her, with certain thoughts that she had. Actually, I could honestly just relate to her in general. She was one of the more normal characters i have read, not to plain, not to dramatic, but just in between. The way that Taylor dealt with  situations, was actually a proper and mature way to deal with them. Not like those other characters, that are like:"I'm sad, this is too hard, I can't do this, I'm leaving." God, I hate characters like that. When Taylor wanted to run away, she didn't. She was brave enough to deal with it, instead of being a chicken, and running off. Like she has the tendency of doing. I was very proud, of Taylor, in that sense. I found to be sympathizing for Taylor and her family, and their emotions that went along with it.

This book was a complete, emotional roller coaster. One part, it was happy, the other part was sad, then happy again and so on and so forth. I didn't cry however, but it was definitely heart wrenching for me. I was so depressed about what had happened to her father, I was absolutely devastated. I can't imagine, in reality, what it must be like for people who are going through the exact same problem as the Edwards family. I have had family members die of cancer, but it didn't really effect me too much, but it must of effected other people, like their wife, or sister, a best friend, it could be the husbands too who are suffering.

I adored this book 100%. I really loved this book all throughout, without complaining or getting annoyed with any of the characters. It is one of my favourite books of all time, that is literally how much I loved it. It truly moved me, in a way that it made me think about cancer differently. It was a wonderful book.

                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                Overall Rating


                                                  5/5
                                                                                                            

                                            Last Words

Like, I mentioned before, it was a fantastic book, and I really enjoyed it. I recommend this book to people who are looking for a summer read, but it is still a heavier, dramatic, emotional read. That concludes my review, until the next one. Goodbye, everyone!