Review/ Prodigal & Riven

Review/ Prodigal & RivenProdigal & Riven Series: The Lost Imperials #2 & #3

Format: Paperback
on May 5th, 2015
Pages: 157 & 197

Prodigal Book 2:

Two journeys. One inescapable outcome. No time to lose.

Stein has been with the Hollows for as long as she can remember. Taken as a child, she has no memories of her past—and that's always been fine by her. Until the day she stumbles across a hidden journal containing the devastating truth about her paternity. Now everything she thought she knew—and everyone she thought she could trust—has changed. The truth about who she is and where she came from is a secret so deep, it will rock the Hollows and the Tesla Institute alike.
During a test to verify her bloodlines, Stein makes a terrible discovery. She is carrying a rare genetic mutation that is slowly killing her. Unsure who to turn to and running out of time, she has no choice but to turn to Tesla—her most hated enemy—for help. But can she trust the man who she's been fighting against her whole life, or will she end up another piece in his deadly game of cat and mouse with the people who betrayed her so long ago?

Riven Book 3:

Two journeys. One inescapable outcome. No time to lose.

What should be a routine mission leaves Ethan with a serious problem. He's fractured—a break between mind and body that leaves him at the mercy of his Rifter abilities, which are quickly tearing him apart. He will have to trust the only person who might know how to fix him, a mysterious Rifter named Stewart Stills, who seems to have a special connection with the time stream.

Forced to face his dark past and a decision he may never forgive himself for, he will be trained unlike any of the others, to become a true guardian for time. If he accepts, it will mean leaving everyone he loves behind. If he refuses, time itself could unravel. After a glimpse of the dark future awaiting them all, he will have to choose between destiny and desire. Will he rise up and take his place as a defender of the natural order, or will he watch as all of time burns at the hands of the girl he loves?
Welcome to the time war.

I am so thrilled that I was able to stop by the Clean Teen booth to pick up a signed copy of Prodigal & Riven by two of my favorite authors Sherry Ficklin and Tyler Jolley and I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with them. They are two of the most awesome authors out there.

As per BEA tradition this was the book I packed with me to read on the train ride home. If you recall from my previous BEA (2013) I was lucky enough to have met Sherry and Tyler at a breakfast their publisher had put on for selected bloggers. I was lucky enough to have sat near them and they spoke about  their first book, Extracted and I’m not going to lying this wasn’t a genre I have read or had an interest in but listening to them both speak about the book I knew I had to read it and I don’t regret it. I read this book on the train ride back to Montreal and I loved it.

Prodigal and Riven were on my top ten list of books that I must get at BEA or die trying to get. Thankfully I was able to get a copy but it was so hard to hold off on reading this while I was in NYC because I really wanted to dive in and see what was happening.

I won’t get into to much of a review because I don’t want to give it all away since this is book 2 and 3 in the series.

Prodigal picks up right where Extracted ended. Stein discovered a journal from Tesla on her last mission. She probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to it had it not been for the emblem on the front of it. Its the same emblem she has on her navel. Curious about it she grabs it. She begins to question her past. With a simple blood test it will uncover who she really is. Will this provide her the answer she needs or wants to know?

I love how Prodigal was more about Stein because she was a favorite of mine from Extracted. She is this feisty nothing is going to stand in my way kind of character. She is that strong girl you want to me.

I was so happy that this was actually a flip book because Prodigal ended in a cliff hanger and I couldn’t imagine having to wait for Riven to come out. I probably would have stalked written Sherry and Tyler and begged them for book 3.

Thankfully having Riven on hand I was able to dig right into book 3 because other wise I might have gone ballistic on the train which would not have been good since there was already at least one wack a doodle on the train.

Riven is the extension of Prodigal and it tells Ethan’s side of the story of the events that have just happened. It was nice to discover more about Ethan since not alot of information about him was given. I really like Ethan. He is probably the kind of guy I could see my crushing over. I loved learning about his past and I think it made him who is today.

Riven gives a little bit more information about the time stream and how important is was.

I loved the friendship between Stein, Ethan, Ember, Lex, Nobel, Stills and Sissen. They stuck together and they had each other’s back which is my definition of a true friend. I can’t wait to discover more about these characters because they all have a story to tell.

I don’t know how I am ever going to wait for book 4 to come out. The suspense is killing me.

I loved both of these books and they were so much fun to read. I had to hold myself back from just breezing through the book because I know I could have but I wanted to savour the story and I didn’t want it to end.

If you are a fan of steampunk and/or futuristic then you would probably enjoy these books. I can’t recommend these two authors enough. You will fall in love with their writing style, characters or world. As I was reading this I could only imagine the world they had created.

Review/ Courtney Crumrin Tales of a Warlock Vol. 7

Review/ Courtney Crumrin Tales of a Warlock Vol. 7Courtney Crumrin Tales of a Warlock Series: Courtney Crumrin Volume 7

by Ted Naifeh
Format: Hardcover
Published by Oni Press on March 18th 2015
Pages: 128
Goodreads
Genres: Comics & Graphic Novels, General, Young Adult

At long last, Courtney Crumrin Tales returns... in full color! Though the Witches and Warlocks of Hillsborough keep to themselves under Ravenna’s Law, there are outliers who are a danger to others. The Anti-Sorcery Society, headed by mortal Horace Crisp, seeks to destroy these individuals, and Aloysius Crumrin, an eager young man, offers his assistance–keeping his magical ancestry to himself, of course. But he doesn't count on Alice Crisp, Horace’s tenacious daughter, accompanying him on missions, or on trusting her with his secret… or on falling in love. Which proves more dangerous than anything when Horace becomes his enemy…

May Book Unhauling #5

BookUnhauling

In the month of May I took roughly a week to go through a few boxes of books as well as the book cases to try and purge them down in prep for the books I would be bringing home from BEA. I managed to gather a box full of books but sadly I never got the chance to document or take photos of the books I was giving away so I have no idea what I gave away or how many.

I think with all the hype and getting ready for BEA I think at some point I told myself I had taken photos and I never second guessed that.

So as of right now I have give away 89 books. I wish I could remember how much was in that box oh well I think I am still doing good and I am pleased with my work so far.

Do you have a hard time giving books away?

Review/ The Girl On The Train

Review/ The Girl On The TrainThe Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Format: Paperback
Published by London Publishers on November 20th 2014
Pages: 241
Buy on Amazon

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives.

I have heard alot of good things about The Girl on The Train and I was always tempted to pick it up when I was at chapters but I would always put it back because of the price. The price of the book was what bothered me because I knew it would be a book I wouldn’t end up rereading. Then I happen to see it at Costco for almost half the price I knew that was my sign to pick up the book and read it.

I was a little unsure because its being compared to Gone Girl a book that I really enjoyed reading. Honestly I have to say it started of slow for me and I wasn’t sure I was going to like this but once I got over that little hump OMG it was amazing. I loved the book and I could see why its being compared to Gone Girl.

The Girl On The Train has three narrators: Rachel (who is an divorced alcoholic), Megan (a lady Rachel sees on the train ride into London daily) and Anna (her ex husband’s new wife). You would think having three narrators to be a bit confusing but its not and looking at the book you would think it was sort of like a diary because you have a morning and evening entry.

Rachel begins her story in early July of 2013 and then Megan begins her story a year earlier from Rachel’s. Rachel’s is more current and Megan’s offers a little bit of a history of her character. It was nice getting that little bit on her. Then Anna comes in about 1/4 of the way through.

I am going to state right off the bat that I wasn’t a fan of Anna. I didn’t like her from the beginning and how she was always on Tom about Rachel. I honestly can’t blame Rachel because she did lose her husband to Anna because of the affair she and Tom where having. Gradually towards the end I started to like her but not very much.

Rachel was a train wreck waiting to happen and it was a story line you just had to read to watch it unfold. Yes Rachel is an alcoholic and she doesn’t deal with things very well but due to the emotional abuse she was going through do you blame her? I can’t imagine what it would be like to be told you will never have children especially if you really want one. With her problem with alcohol she basically has to hit rock bottom for her to see things aren’t that great.

I have to say that I was beginning to think that perhaps in one of her drunken states she might have had something do to with Megan’s disappearance because of certain things that had happened and this was when the book got really interesting and things began to unfold.

I was speechless when it got to the point that things were coming up. I had not seen that one coming and I think I literally sat there with my mouth open in shock. At this point I was unable to put the book down and spent the morning rushing to finish it up because I needed to know what was going to happen.

If your looking for a fun and thrilling read then I have to recommend this. Yes it starts off slow but once you hit the half way mark you will be engrossed in the book and unable to put it down.

Review/ Can’t Look Away

Review/ Can’t Look AwayCan't Look Away by Donna Cooner
Format: Paperback
Published by Scholastic Inc. on August 26th 2014
Pages: 272
Goodreads
Genres: Adolescence, Dating & Sex, Death & Dying, Social Issues, Young Adult

Donna Cooner establishes herself as our own Jodi Picoult in this timely tale of sisters, loss, and redemption. Torrey Grey is famous. At least, on the internet. Thousands of people watch her popular videos on fashion and beauty. But when Torrey's sister is killed in an accident -- maybe because of Torrey and her videos -- Torrey's perfect world implodes. Now, strangers online are bashing Torrey. And at her new school, she doesn't know who to trust. Is queen bee Blair only being sweet because of Torrey's internet infamy? What about Raylene, who is decidedly unpopular, but seems accepts Torrey for who she is? And then there's Luis, with his brooding dark eyes, whose family runs the local funeral home. Torrey finds herself drawn to Luis, and his fascinating stories about El dio de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. As the Day of the Dead draws near, Torrey will have to really look at her own feelings about death, and life, and everything in between. Can she learn to mourn her sister out of the public eye?

This is Donna Cooner’s second book and it was just as good as her first one called Skinny. Which I read and review on my blog and you can read my review by CLICKING ON THIS TEXT.

I didn’t realize she had a second book out until I was going through the Scholastic book club flyers. When I saw it I instantly ordered it. I read it right away. It was a fun quick read.

Torrey Gray is a 15 year old youtube beauty guru with a huge fan base who is dealing with the lose of her sister, Miranda who got hit by a drunk driver.

When you watch youtube stars you think that everything in their life is perfect and that is exactly what they want you to see and Torrey is not exception. She views all her subscribers as online friends and they are there to boost up her confidence and make her feel good.

What once brought joy to Torrey is now her downfall as all the haters are coming out and blaming Torrey for the death of her sister, saying it was her fault.

I am going to admit in the beginning I had a hard time warming up to Torrey because she came off as very vain and wanting to please the fans more then what her sister wants. Miranda had better things to do then be conned into taking photos of her sister at the mall. I am sure when Torrey started out she was humble but I think once those subscriber numbers increase she turned into this whole other person and I have noticed that in watching some youtubers.

In the beginning they are so humble and appreciate what they have but once they start growing its like they forget who they are and its all about getting more viewers and they loose who they truly are.

So I was wondering how this journey of moving to Texas would change Torrey and it was nice to see with some help of a good friend, Luis who helps her see things and helps her come to terms with the death of her sister.

But will Torrey come to terms with the lose of her sister?

Just remember everything you say and do on the internet lives forever.

Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Final Spell Vol.6

Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Final Spell Vol.6Courtney Crumin The Final Spell Series: Courtney Crumrin #6

Format: Hardcover
Published by Oni Press on August 20, 2014
Pages: 152

On the run from the Coven with her former teacher Calpurnia, Courtney Crumrin is quickly learning just how sinister the witches and warlocks of Hillsborough can be - but she never thought she'd see the day when Uncle Aloysius turned on her as well. It's a lot harder to fight a battle when the only family you care about is against you, and Courtney's only salvation may lie in the Twilight Kingdom - and away from the mortal world. But Aloysius won't give up his niece so easily, even if he has to fight the night creatures to do it!

Originally this was suppose to be the final book in the Courtney Crumrin series but I see they did another volume which I am just about to read.

Like the previous books it picks right up where volume 5 ended which I think is really nice. I am sure they could have combined all the comics into one volume or even two but that is just my opinion.

This will be basically a mini review because I don’t want to give to much away. This was a quick read and I really enjoyed this one. Its nice to see how much Courtney has grown from the first volume. She is a cute and spunky girl who takes nothing from no one.

Courtney is reunited with her former teacher Calpurnia and they are on the run from the Coven. It seems like everyone has turned on Courtney even her uncle. It appears like Courtney knows too much and they are trying to get to her and make her forget everything she knows but will she allow that?

In this volume Courtney dominates and lets nothing stand in her way.

This was a fast pace read.

 

Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Witch Next Door Vol 5

Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Witch Next Door Vol 5Courtney Crumrin, Volume 5: The Witch Next Door Series: Courtney Crumrin #5

by Ted Naifeh
Format: Hardcover
Published by Oni Press on May 14th 2014
Pages: 148
Goodreads
Genres: Comics & Graphic Novels, General, Young Adult

The first five issues of the full-color Courtney Crumrin comic series are collected for the first time in a special hardcover edition! Holly Hart is new to Hillsborough and witchcraft. When her family moves in next to Courtney, the two girls quickly become friends. But as Courtney watches Holly making the same mistakes she once made, she begins to have second thoughts about teaching the girl magic. And when Holly sees the aftermath of the other children's

One of the good things about getting back into the library is being able to catch up on some graphic novels that I discovered last summer and imagine my surprise when I discovered that the next three volumes of Courtney Crumrin  were out. I quickly borrowed them because I wanted to catch up.

The Witch Next Door is volume 5 and they are super quick reads. It picks right up from where volume 4 left off which is really nice.

In this graphic novel a new girl (Holly) moves in and its right across from Courtney’s uncle’s house. Courtney is thrilled to finally have a friend and things are going really good until magic steps in between their friendship. Courtney and Holly get along so well because they both are deemed as outcast and appear to be exactly alike in manner and style of clothing. I think Holly is thrilled to finally have found a friend.

I don’t want to say much more about the book because I can literally give it away. Its a really good read and if your a fan of dark graphic novels then I have to recommend this. It was nice to see how much Courtney has grown emotionally, mentally and magically.