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Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Bodies Left Behind Review

Finally I can post my review for this book! I've had no time to read between SAT's and school papers and work, but now it's done!

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver was actually not as scary as the title sounds. The most interesting part of the book happened rather quickly, which was disappointing, and then the bad guys were caught on flukes. No gun chases or epic revenge scenes, it was disappointing! This book was definitely not the best Deaver book I have ever read, but it was still good. And it's a good mystery book for people who like suspense but don't like really scary books.

There was another part in the book that bothered me towards the end, I almost stopped reading after this part it bothered me so much. The main bad guys, who turn out to not be bad guys, get a file on the heroine that would end her career and put her off the case. It's the perfect black mail scenario and they don't do anything with it! I was practically crying at how stupid it was! It was a sad moment for Deaver's books, but his others are awesome so I am forgetting this book.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Blast From the Past Giveaway

So last night I was searching through my old book shelves when I came across some books that I hadn't read in AGES. And that's when I had an idea, Blast From the Past. Every month I will post a "blast from the past", a book that came out years ago, for review and giveaway. Someone else is probably already doing this somewhere, but I haven't seen it anywhere so I can't give them credit for it (sorry).

This month's Blast From the Past is: *drumroll* Coraline by Neil Gaiman. This book won an ALA Best Book for Youbg Adults Award, among others, when it first came out and now they have a movie. The story is about a girl named Coraline who finds a secret passage out of her flat into the "other" world where her other parents live. But they want her to stay forever by sewing big black buttons on her eyes and she doesn't want that, not after the mice told her not to go through the door.

Now, to enter this give away you must do one or all of the following:

+1 For commenting on this post
+1 For following (+3 if you are already a follower)
+3 For posting about this in your sidebar or on your blog (you must show proof)
+2 For the first person to tell me another book by Neil Gaiman
This giveaway is only open in the US (sorry) since it's my first giveaway and it will end on:
April 18th

Friday, March 13, 2009

Happy Friday the 13th!

So I was going to post a review for Jeffery Deaver's The Bodies Left Behind today... but, alas, there is no review. I've been cramming for SAT's tomorrow, so it's going to be a little while longer.

But, becuase it's friday the 13th, I'm going to give you a preview of the book by posting the description from Borders.com. Enjoy and happy Friday the 13th!

When a night-time call to 911 from a secluded Wisconsin vacation house is cut short, offduty deputy Brynn McKenzie leaves her husband and son at the dinner table and drives up to Lake Mondac to investigate. Was it a misdial or an aborted crime report?Brynn stumbles onto a scene of true horror and narrowly escapes from two professional criminals. She and a terrified visitor to the weekend house, Michelle, flee into the woods in a race for their lives. As different as night and day, and stripped of modern-day resources, Brynn, a tough deputy with a difficult past, and Michelle, a pampered city girl, must overcome their natural reluctance to trust each other and learn to use their wits and courage to survive the relentless pursuit. The deputy's disappearance spurs both her troubled son and her new husband into action, while the incident sets in motion Brynn's loyal fellow deputies and elements from Milwaukee's underside. These various forces race along inexorably toward the novel's gritty and stunning conclusion.The Bodies Left Behindis an epic cat-and-mouse chase, told nearly in real-time, and is filled with Deaver's patented twists and turns, where nothing is what it seems, and death lingers just around the next curve on a deserted path deep in the midnight forest.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Gaslight Grimoire Review

Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes definitely lives up to it's name. I would say that fantastic is almost stretching it. For avid Sherlock Holmes fans who want everything perfect, I would not suggest reading it. But for anyone who just loves a good mystery/thriller/supernatural story it's a great choice.

Throughout the book, which as it's name suggests contains many tales, you encounter all sorts of supernatural beings. You get djinns, ghosts, aliens, vampiric squid, Count Dracula, monsters, dinosaurs, and common criminals all rolled into one book. The stories themselves were strange and very un-Doyle-ish, but very good nonetheless. The writing was very well done, but very graphic in some stories to I guess go with the mood. Some of the main characters die that would completely ruin the canon and any sane Holmesian, as well as some character defects not found in the original canon. I prefer books of this short to at least try to be a good representation of the author's original work, but this was not. However, the stories themselves were good for a horror story and putting aside the characters, the ideas expressed were very creative and sometimes humourous.

I would read this book again as I felt it was very good, but if you like the way Doyle writes and want to keep the canon intact I wouldn't suggest reading this book ever.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Almost Time for a New Review

Hey everyone. I'm almost done with Gaslight Grimoire and then it's time for a new review! And for the two people following me... I wonder if anyone else knows about my blog... how to fix this dilemma???? Oh well, it's sad and depressing but I'll live... for the moment. Anyway, check back soon for my newest review!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Night World Vol. 2

This book is the sequel to Night World no. 1, and includes the stories Dark Angel, The Chosen, and Soulmate.

In Dark Angel, Rashel watches as her mother and little brother are eaten by a vicious vampire. Now she is the most feared of all vampire hunters... The Cat. But everything goes wrong when her soulmate turns out to be the most feared of all the vampires in the Night World, Quinn. This story is less romantic than the others in the previous book, but still very touching and well written.

In The Chosen, an ordinary, unpopular girl named Gillian dies after falling into a frozen river. But it isn't her time, and her guardian angel, Angel, comes back with her to help her try to become what she's always wanted to be... popular. But there is something wrong with Angel, and after he almost kills two people Gillian knows she has to stop him. This is another story with a soulmate, but you don't find out about it until almost the end so it's more of a traditional teen-trying-to-find-acceptance story than a romance novel.

In Soulmate, Hannah believes she is going crazy when strange notes in her handwriting appear in odd places around her room. The problem is, she doesn't remember writing them and they are all warning her of her death. When she goes to a psychologist, he recommends hypnosis and what she discovers plunges her headlong into the Night World and her soulmate, Thierry. This is a very romantic story and has a lot to do with forgiveness and trying to find the best in the person you love.

All-in-all a very well written book and a good sequel. I can't wait for the third volume to come out!!!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Night World Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith


The Night World is the secret world of Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, and Shapeshifters. They can be anyone, anywhere, and the Night World has only two laws. One: don't fall in love with a human, and two: don't tell anyone about the Night World. The penalty... death.

Night World is basically three stories in one book. The stories are all interconnected, but can be read separately if need be. However, there are references to previous stories and characters that won't make sense unless read in order.

In the first story, Secret Vampire, Poppy discovers that she has an incurable disease known as pancreatic cancer. The only way to save her is for her life-long friend, James, to change her, but can she make that sacrifice?
This story is told from the perspective of Poppy and is basically a classic love story. The beginning reads like a Twilight knock-off, but it gets a lot better after the first couple of pages.

The second story, Daughters of Darkness, is the story of three vampire sisters trying to escape the mediocrity of living on an all-vampire island. They travel to a small out-of-the-way town where their Aunt lives only to find her dead. Now someone wants them dead as well and the only ones who can help them now are two humans, Mary-Lynn and her brother. This is told from the point of Mary-Lynn and, although there is a very large romantic piece to this story, it isn't your typical love story. It also introduces the main aspect of the soul-mate principle which is mentioned in Secret Vampire, so it's kind of the opposite version of a love story.

In Spellbinder, two witches fight each other for a human. One to save her sister from certain death, the other for love. Thea and Blaise Harmon are the last of the famous Harmon witches, but Thea has found her soulmate and he's human. This story is told from the perspective of Thea Harmon and is similiar to the first story in this volume, except that she spends almost the entire story trying to fight her destiny. The story shows the power of the soul-mate principle and the fact that nothing can stop it once it has started.

The stories are excellant in my opinion, but very romantic and they all follow the same basic principle of a Night World person finding their soul-mate in a human. But very well written and there are some definant twists and turns in each one that make them unique. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes supernatural stories or romantic novels.

First Post, FTW!

Hey everyone! Now that my blog is cooperating and my template works (thanks to my sister, Willowe), I can finally start posting my reviews... YAY!!