Book Review: Ruse (Want #2)

Title: Ruse (Want #2)
Arthur: Cindy Pon
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Genre: SciFi, dystopian, YA
Page Count: 336
Publication date: March 26th, 2019

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
In near-future Shanghai, a group of teens have their world turned upside down when one of their own is kidnapped in this action-packed follow-up to the “positively chilling” sci-fi thriller Want.

Jason Zhou, his friends, and Daiyu are still recovering from the aftermath of bombing Jin Corp headquarters. But Jin, the ruthless billionaire and Daiyu’s father, is out for blood. When Lingyi goes to Shanghai to help Jany Tsai, a childhood acquaintance in trouble, she doesn’t expect Jin to be involved. And when Jin has Jany murdered and steals the tech she had refused to sell him, Lingyi is the only one who has access to the encrypted info, putting her own life in jeopardy.

Zhou doesn’t hesitate to fly to China to help Iris find Lingyi, even though he’s been estranged from his friends for months. But when Iris tells him he can’t tell Daiyu or trust her, he balks. The reunited group play a treacherous cat and mouse game in the labyrinthine streets of Shanghai, determined on taking back what Jin had stolen.

When Daiyu appears in Shanghai, Zhou is uncertain if it’s to confront him or in support of her father. Jin has proudly announced Daiyu will be by his side for the opening ceremony of Jin Tower, his first “vertical city.” And as hard as Zhou and his friends fight, Jin always gains the upper hand. Is this a game they can survive, much less win?

Review:
Disclaimer: I received this book for an honest review through NetGalley from the publisher.

I've been awaiting this book since I finished Want just after it first came out. Want was my first book by Cindy Pon and made me buy two more - which I haven't read yet, but #booklife problems - and it was amazing. It blew me away. It was young adult dystopian, which I thought I was just over - the market had been saturated and I wanted nothing more to do with it.

The market was saturated, that's not a lie, but it was saturated with white, US based dystopian fiction. All of it taking place in the US - honestly I don't remember very many taking place outside the states, even - and so this felt amazing.

It was a very feminist, intersectional book, with a cast of people of color and also casual queer characters - meaning their being queer didn't really matter, it was just who they were as they were while trying to save the world.

The plot of this surprised me and I was scared it was going to go in a direction that'd make me angry but it didn't go that route. To be honest, I'd almost call this wholesome dystopian, but really it's just good, old (but new) YA dystopian where the heroes, of course, win.

Not without losses and, if you haven't read the first book I won't spoil it here but their plans are ambitious and intense. And they complete them.

The one thing in this book, following up Want that I really enjoyed was seeing a different city in this world. Not far from their city of Taipei, they end up in China - Shanghai to be exact - to help out a friend and to, once again, screw over Jin Corp.

To wrap this up, so I don't just continue to spew love - I really enjoyed this duology, and this book was even better then the first. Fast paced, fun, good characters that you wanted to root for, and also an important look at what our very near future may look like because of climate change.

That's one of the main reasons this book is so important to me because it's terrifying how close we are to this future - this dystopian future - but also maybe people reading this book will get a kick in the pants about the world around them.

Highly, highly recommend this duology, this book especially, and I'd love to chat about it in the comments if you guys have read it or plan to.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: 27 Hours

Title: 27 Hours
Author: Tristina Wright
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 400
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2017

Plot:
This book takes place over one night that lasts 27 hours, and contains an incredible, diverse cast of teens. Takes place on a planet that humans colonized but contained a species before they got there. The humans call them gargoyles, but they're Chimera.

The main characters spend the 27 hours trying to stop the war that's been going on since the original colonists landed on the planet. And learn things about themselves and their government they might of been better off not knowing.

The plot is interesting, and intricate, but the stars of this book are the characters. Four out of five are people of color, and all of them are queer. Rumor, Dahlia, Nyx, Braeden, Jude.

If you want a more in depth synopsis, goodreads, but honestly I'd suggest going in just knowing that. It's worth it and so good.

Review:
Content/trigger warnings (in the REVIEW, THIS REVIEW) for: colonization, racism.

I want to just put a disclaimer here that I loved this book. It's been a rough year for me - a rough life? - and something about this book touched me? The characters, mostly, I adored them all. I'm aware there are issues with it, though. However, hi, I'm white so the recent talk about this is not for me to speak about, though I agree with them. I'm just linking some reviews about the problems people had below which were about how it has colonization issues, and also not great PoC rep.

I’m not going to go into depth about either because it’s not for me to speak on, so I’ll just leave these reviews and go:

"Has colonist guilt & flawed racial representation" by Aimal (Bookshelves and Paperbacks blog) (quotes used here and below cause what their review is titled with/called)

2/5 - "disappointed and frustrated" by Jesse

3/5 - still had problems, but enjoyed by Anna Elisa Monte


I still have a few things to say, but honestly I feel like I should just leave it there. I just can’t, though, because I did really enjoy this book. Like I really, really loved this book. Mostly because I didn’t notice this was happening – well with the colonist bullshit, I was a little skeptical about the heritage representation, but I guess I added more time in my head. Looking back, maybe shouldn’t have read this during/right after BEA.

Tristina has addressed this online yet, so I’m just going to link that here with no more comment from me. Once again, not something for me to speak of.

I've rewritten this part about 100 times in the past three weeks and I just don't know anymore. First off - I loved this book, as I'm sure you can see by the rating. It's been a rough year, hell a rough few years, and this one just was amazing to me.

It was completely that right time, right book kind of thing and I'm fully aware of  that but the characters. I love them so much. I had minor problems with it when I was reading it, but didn't see all the problems that are there. Mostly because I kind of forgot any of the main characters were white - and was confused a few weeks ago when I saw fanart and he was white, but apparently he's white.

I first read this book in June and haven't reread yet, but I just got the physical copy in my hands - wanted to reread the physical one because things do change. My personal problem is that we never get a clear answer about Braeden, if he's aro/ace or gray-romantic, I'm kind of on board for either but really want gray-rom/ace.

I feel a little guilty now, which is why I've rewritten this review so many times, with that I love this so much and it is problematic. I just - I'm not dealing with that well but that's my problem. I still wanted to review this, though, because I loved it so much.

And, no, some good rep doesn't cancel out the bad rep, that's now how that works, but it meant a lot to me when I read it and I think it might to others. If it did hurt you, though, I'm sorry - and definitely, if you're going to check it out, check into this before you do (reviews above)

Happy reading!

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Book Review: The Shining Girls

Title: The Shining Girls
Author: Lauren Beukes
Genre: Horror, SciFi (time travel)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 375
Publication Date: June 4th, 2013

Plot (from Goodreads):
THE GIRL WHO WOULDN'T DIE HUNTS THE KILLER WHO SHOULDN'T EXIST.

The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own."

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times.

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth . . .

THE SHINING GIRLS is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal.

Review:
I really loved this book and I'm not entirely sure why, but we are going to find out. I first heard about this book sitting in a room full of book bloggers at BEA and 'time traveling serial killer' made me perk up a little. I'm a sucker for both of those things - in the same book? I will buy that immediately.

The funny this is - is that I did. And then preceded not to read it for over a year. Why? Who the hell knows, honestly, it's just sometimes how these things work out.

Now let me preface the rest of this review with this: since I'm a sucker for these two plot devices, I feel like my opinion is definitely biased. If you don't like time travel or serial killers (POV chapters from his perspective) or if you're not a fan of gore or random character studies or random, heavily researched historical things - this might not be the book for you. However, if that sounds interesting to you - continue on.

This book is a little confusing at first. The chapters have a name and a date, which is the perfect way to do it, but for the first 100 pages or so I was more trying to figure out who was who, who was still alive, and what the hell year they were in. Saying that - it was a lot of fun, figuring it out. And after about 100/150 pages, I had it straight enough in my head that I could plow through the rest of the book in one sitting (which I did).

There's so many POV chapters and so many different people, it's weird to think of this in classic terms as whose the main character? and I did not think of it in those terms until the very end, but by then it's obvious. Kirby is a strange main character to have, but also maybe the perfect one - she was attacked by Harper (our killer) and is now trying to figure out what happened, who he is, and if he's attacked anyone else. And all of her chapters tend to have a dark quirk of humor - that her and Dan have, that I really enjoyed.

Before I go off on another rambling tangent, I'm going to reign it in. This book is weird and is definitely not going to be everyones cup of tea. And, looking back, I had more small problems then I thought. However - I really, really loved it, in all, it was a very enjoyable book. And I was honestly surprised at the obvious research that had to go into some parts, and impressed.

Overall, I'd probably only recommend this to people who like serial killer books and who don't mind, or enjoy, getting tossed around in time by a slightly magical (?) house. I've always found serial killer things fascinating - and there's something that's strange to say - but the psychology behind it is interesting and that is probably very high on the list of why I liked this book so much.

Book Review: Fire and Flood (Fire and Flood #1)

Title: Fire and Flood (Fire and Flood #1)
Author: Victoria Scott
Genre: Science Fiction (dystopian, survival, adventure) - young adult
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 366 (paperback)
Publication Date: March 6th, 2014

Plot: (from Goodreads)

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own. 

Tella's brother is dying. He's got cancer, and Tella is helpless to save him. Or so she thought. When an invitation arrives for Tella to compete in the Brimstone Bleed, a deadly competition that will lead her through treacherous jungle and scorching desert, she doesn't think twice. Because the prize is a cure to any illness. But Tella will be facing more than just the elements.

Review:
I know there's been so many comparisons between this and The Hunger Games and while they do have some basic similarities (doing some for a young sibling, a screwed up society, a game), they're also very different, different enough I had trouble seeing where people who'd read the book compared it to that, because those themes are in a lot of books.

First off let's talk - pandoras, which are the animal companions in this book. They continue to make me think of Pokemon, and they might of been one of my favorite parts of this world. It's so interesting and I want to learn more about them and you do learn a bit, but not a lot.

I did really enjoy this book, but - I had a few small problems with it which is why it's not five stars, they weren't huge issues. That is to say, that didn't bring me out of the story or stop me from enjoying it. The characters were good, but I felt like we didn't get to know any of them really well but our narrator. It also felt like the world was, not under developed, but too... present, there didn't seem to be any other future things because the pandoras and the game.

 Overall - I would recommend this book to some people. It's fun and entertaining and packs a lot of action into a book that's less then 400 pages.

Book Review: Caliban's War (The Expanse #2)

Title: Caliban's War (The Expanse #2)
Author: James S.A. Corey
Genre: Adult SciFi (Space Opera, Horror, Adventure)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 595 (paperback)
Publication Date: January 1st, 2012

Plot: (from Goodreads)
For someone who didn't intend to wreck the solar system's fragile balance of power, Jim Holden did a pretty good job of it. When a single super-soldier begins slaughtering soldiers of Earth and Mars, the race is on to discover whether this is the vanguard of an alien army, or if the danger lies closer to home.

Review:
I reviewed the first book Leviathan Wakes, which you can check out, but this review isn't going to have any spoilers for either.

I loved this book more then the first one. Which is kind of saying something, because I really, really enjoyed and loved the first one. I was weary of new point of view chapters, but I really enjoyed them and the new characters they introduced, and I hope to see more of those characters in the next book. I really like multiple points of view in general, I tend to like when a book does it but sometimes it isn't handled right, but that's not the case here.

Holden and his crew are fantastic characters who are easy to love, I'd really love a chapter from Naomi, Alex, or Amos' point of view. I really like Naomi, but I'm much more interested in hearing Alex's background the most, I think. Also - the dialogue in this book, and not just between these four but the other characters as well, at some points it's just so completely perfect.

Like the first book, I loved the world building, this world just feels so real and you're so immersed in it from the very beginning, just completely. And - the plot was also really good, but for me these books are about the characters and everything they're doing, the fact that there is an awesome, well done plot in an astounding SciFi universe, however, is also really, really good.

This series has so many different facets of it and I cannot wait to read the third, Abaddon's Gate, and then the fourth, Cibola Burn, out in June!

Overall, I'd recommend this series, but I know it isn't going to be for everyone. It's heavy SciFi, a space opera, and they're over 500 pages (however, if you see a book, for some reason they all look gigantic, like they're at least 1,000 pages, I promise, just 500).

Anyway - if a heavy, character driven SciFi space opera with a crew is something you think you'd like then you'll love this.

Book Review: The Martian

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Humor
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 369 (Hardcover)
Publication Date: February 11th, 2014

Plot: (from Goodreads)
Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Review:
This book was a fantastic read. This book has some really interesting science in it, that's all rooted in fact and I found fun to try and mentally work out if it could (theoretically, at least) work. Is that too nerdy? Well - physics has become kind of my guilty pleasure. What I'm trying to say, talking about the science, is that it made it feel very real and down to Earth (well, down to Mars, anyway).

The beginning was a bit of a trek, I was still enjoying it, it was just taking me forever. And then as soon as it picked up, it didn't really slow down to take a breathe. I don't want to give too much, if anything, away, because I feel like going in only knowing the premise or general idea and just being swept up by it, was the perfect way to read this book.

I'm going to back up here, the first time I saw this book was, actually, someone complaining about it. However, they said that was too much like MacGyver in space for them. And I just stopped and my thought process was basically: MacGyver. In Space. Yes, I need that.

And I'm still convinced it's a pretty good comparison, though a tad more modern. And in space. I think what sold this book the most, when I was reading it, was the main narrators voice. He felt very real and very down to earth and he was hilarious, I loved how he phrased things or talked about them.

To wrap up this review before I ramble more, I'd highly recommend this book. It's fantastic, my only problem was it was a  very slight one (was how the beginning was a tad slow). Either way - highly recommended.

Added thing, and tell me if you like this idea/feature or not. These are some of my favorite quotes from The Martian:

"Yes, of course duct tape works in near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped.""As with most of life's problems, this one can be solved with a box of pure radiation."

"If ruining the only religious icon I have leaves me open to Martian vampires, I'll have to risk it." 

“As with most of life's problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.” 

“Once I got home, I sulked for a while. All my brilliant plans foiled by thermodynamics. Damn you, Entropy!” 

Book Review: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1)

Title: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1)
Author: James S.A. Corey
Genre: Science Fiction (Space Opera), Adventure, Mystery, Humor
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 561 pages (paperback)
Publication Date: 2011

Plot: (from Goodreads)
The first novel in James S.A. Corey's SF New York Times bestselling Expanse series.
Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

Review:
This book was everything I was kind of craving when I read it: a space opera that was character centric, and there was a crew. With things I didn't know I'd completely love - the noir feel that Miller and his narration have, also the horror elements. Overall - this book was just completely fantastic and I cannot wait to continue on with the series.

I hadn't really looked into the plot, I'd picked it up because it was a Sword and Laser pick and didn't end up getting around to reading it with the group (summers are hectic), but I still remembered it'd been something I was interesting in, and people were saying good things.

The reason it took me so long to read it, honestly, is because of the fact that I don't read a lot of SciFi, which is weird to me considering the shows or movies I'd loved, you'd think reading SciFi would of happened pretty easily. And then - I fell into a SciFi kick, which this book was a part of, and I'm so glad when I was wracking my brain for SciFi books, I remembered that I owned this one.

To get to the point of this review - I'd recommend this book, definitely. It's surprisingly realistic feeling and I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other. Everyone in this book is interesting and it feels very real, gritty real almost, the whole world and story, and that might of been my favorite part of it - it can't be easy to make a very far future world seem real, but it definitely did.

And, on the last point because I want to stress it again: the characters. This book is definitely character driven and it has two main narrators that do that - and those two narrators have very different views on some big things, and some of the same, but - it was interesting to see those two different people interact and how they thought and just everything.

So, to recap: space opera with a crew, noir, horror, fantastic characters, solid plot, which made it an all around fantastic read which I'd highly recommend if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

Book Review: Redshirts

Title: Redshirts
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science Fiction (Space Opera, Time Travel), Humor, Adventure
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 317
Publication Date: June 5th, 2012

Plot: (from Goodreads)
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship's Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn't be better...until Andrew begins to pick up on the facts that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces; (2) the ship's captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations; and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues' understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is...and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Review:
I'm not quite sure I can truly articulate my feelings about this book, but I'm going to try. First, I'm going to say that this isn't a book that everyone will love and fangirl over, like I did when reading it - however, I also don't think it's just for people who like Star Trek, I've never seen a full episode of the classic or just any of Star Trek, but it did make me think of other SciFi shows that I had scene that had spaceship scenes, and it made me ridiculously happy.

I think my favorite part about this book was the characters and their dialagoue, (besides the overall plot of the novel, that is, because that plot was amazing). I really enjoyed reading their interactions with each other, mostly just the things coming out of all of these characters mouths were just so good, normally ridiculous or hilarious, and it was great to read. Also how self aware they were at points, like how ridiculous they sounded - it was great to read, very meta. Hell, this whole book is like some meta fanfiction, and it was so much fun and so good because of that.

I didn't fully know what this book was about going into it, and I picked it up meaning to read a chapter to see if that was what I wanted to read next (I read 100 pages before deciding it was time to get some sleep). The whole start of this book, how this all works, I truly just kind of adored it. And probably because I grew up watching Stargate SG-1, and am still obsessed with that show even though it ended quite a few years ago now (2006? 2007? No, it can't have been that long ago).

Anyway - I highly recommend this book to fans of SciFi shows/movies, to fans of SciFi, and to anyone whose willing to give this truly hilarious and fantastic book a shot (Seriously, I laughed out loud at a lot of points for an only 300 page book, I looked like a lunatic).

Book Review: The Search for WondLa (WondaLa #1)

 Title: The Search for WondLa (WondLa #1)
Author: Tony DiTerlizzi
Genre: Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy (middle-grade)
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 484 pages
Publication Date: September 21st, 2010

Story Notion: Yes. Yes. That was awesome.

Plot: (from GoodReads)
Eva Nine is a curious and sensitive twelve-year-old who has existed only in a subterranean home called Sanctuary, cared for by a robot named Muthr. Eva's great desire is to go aboveground, and her wish comes true, though not as she had imagined. On the surface, Eva goes in search of other humans--she has never met one--and soon meets both friend and foe.



Review:
I knew nothing going into this book. Well - I knew the name and I knew the author had co-written the Spiderwick Chronicles and that was it. This book was one of those Kindle Daily Deals things and I'm so glad I picked it up and started reading it just. I kind of did just because it looked cute (I have a lot of books on my Kindle that are unread).

I'd definitely suggest a physical copy if possible, I'd like to get my hands on one myself and of the next books. This book has wonderful illustrations in it that my Kindle really didn't do the justice of. They were gorgeous, and so was this world that they were in and the characters and people, it was rich and fun.

And completely bewildered me at first. I read the first about 20-30% of this book quite slowly, just had no idea what I'd gotten myself into, but it slowly started to make some sort of sense to me. Or maybe I just gave into the story. Either was, it was a great decision, because this book was amazing, rich, lovely, and just play interesting. I really want to know more.

I'd definitely recommend this book, it's middle-grade but obviously that just means it's awesome (and can have pictures without judgement! That's how that works, yes?) And I do love myself a good middle-grade adventure story and if you do, I'd give this one a shot.

Book Review: Steelheart (Reckoners #1)

Title: Steelheart (Reckoners #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 5/5
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Dystopian, Post/Apocalyptic (Young Adult)
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013

Story Notion: I need more, right now.

Plot: (from Goodreads)
There are no heroes.

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Review:
I adored this book and Sanderson is definitely one of my favorite authors at this point, really he was after I read his first book last year and went 'I need all of his books now.' Anyway, I didn't even realize this book was young adult until after, and it didn't occur to me it was 'dystopian,' probably because I thought of it very much more as apocalyptic and post apocalyptic.

Besides that, onto the book itself. I loved all this characters and I adored some of the stories and things Cody said probably much too much, I found myself trying not to burst out laughing. And, of course, David, Megan, Abraham, Prof, and Tia. They're fantastic characters and everything is very intense, it doesn't stop moving, I couldn't put this book down. I finished it in about a day.

I think one of my favorite things about this book is that David, the main character, cannot make metaphors or anything like that to save his life. It was probably one of my favorite recurring things, I found myself laughing to myself more then I care to admit about some. Also the pure just comic nature of some of the Epic's powers made me oddly happy, I'm sure other people found it annoying or a rip off or whatever, but I really loved it, especially in a novel instead of comic, it was different.

Overall, I really love Sanderson's writing and I really liked David's voice and how he changed over the course of the book, I felt it was very different to what normally happened with people thrown into a situation like the one he found himself in and I feel oddly proud of him for that. To sum it up, I'd recommend you check this out if you're into this kind of book, it is truly fantastic and I really need to get my hands on the rest of his books I haven't read already.

Also, there's a short story/novella available for ebook stuff called Mitosis, that kind of gives you a little snap of what the consequences are for the end of Steelheart and it's completely fantastic, I loved it a lot. It's to be read after Steelheart, to just enforce that.

Book Review: The Gunslinger

Book: The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1)
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, SciFi, Western
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 300 (Mass Market Paper back - revised and expanded)
Favorite Character: Definitely Roland.


Plot: (from Goodreads)
In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.



Review:
I just started this series, so I have not been waiting decades for this story to be finished (I haven't even started the second one yet and, actually, I wasn't born when this came out), but I would of waited. This book is just so different then other things I have read. Between the world and the characters, the history behind it, and the plot, it's just completely seperate. I don't even know what to call this at all. As you can see from what I classified it under the 'genre' it's a very different novel.

And I think this is one of those few books where you really have to read the series in it's entirety to understand what the hell is going on. But I loved it, truly, I did. It was quite the adventure and the writing was as good as ever and the plot was good and the characters were amazing. Everything about this book was very good, very interesting, and very confusing. I don't think really anything, at least anything big, is really uncovered in this book.

I'm not going to say anything else, though, you should check this one out for yourself. Unless you don't like horror or Stephen King, then this one probably isn't for you.

(The funny thing is that this cover, the crow, reminds me of The Stand. I guess 'funny' isn't the right word, but maybe it is).

Book Review: Good Omens

Book: Good Omens: The Nice & Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Author(s): Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy, SciFi, Humor (Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Comedy)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 384 (Paperback)
Favorite Character: Oh god. Mmmh. I'm going to go with two and them being Crowley and Aziraphale. Adored them and their odd friendship.

Plot: (from Goodreads)
From two delightful imaginations comes a comic masterpiece in which the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, the hound of the devil chases sticks, and the end of the world is subject to Murphys Law.

Review:
This is an amazing book and I really could not tell what part was written by which author (some parts, however, I could guess whose idea they were. And was normally right. Example, the maggots were Neil's idea). Anyway, though, this book is fantastic, I really do not think it could of been any better. It has an amazing cast of characters and an epic plot if ever I've read one. Between the Them and the Horsemen on motocycles, it was amazing.

Some of the scenes had be laughing, other biting my nails (not quite literally on the latter), and it was just amazing. If you haven't read this one, yet, I'd recommend doing so as soon as you can. I waited to write this review until a while after I had read it and yet I still am fangirling over it whenever I think about, it just perfection in book form. Satanic nuns, the horsemen I mentioned, the Crowley/Aziraphale bromance (I really don't like that word, but it describes these two well), and the prophecies, and just everything in this book is amazing.

Before, I fangirl too much more, I'm just going to say that I'm sure that you know at least of these two authors. I haven't, yet, read any of Terry Pratchett's other work, but I hope to very soon. I've read a lot of Neil's, though, and everything I've read has been amazing.

And there's a Foreword and them on each other and those were even more hilarious and made me worry about my copy. Apparently, they have signed books that have been extremely damaged and been told that friends kept stealing their copy. My copy will be kept safe... hopefully.

Book Review: Storm Front

Title: Storm Front (Dresden Files #1)
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy
Page Count: 352 (Mass Market Paperback)
Favorite Character: I just really like Dresden, normally I try to not pick the main character but I like his snarky sarcasm and his gentlemanlyness.

Plot: (From Goodreads)

The novels of the Dresden Files have become synonymous with action-packed urban fantasy and non-stop fun. Storm Front is Jim Butcher's first novel and introduces his most famous and popular character-Harry Dresden, wizard for hire.

For his first case, Harry is called in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with the blackest of magic. At first, the less-than-solvent Harry's eyes light up with dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage. Now, that black mage knows Harry's name. And things are about to get very...interesting.


Review:
This is a very well written magic book, I've read some where the magic just isn't right, mostly where it's not explained well enough for it to be believable. That is definitely not a problem in Storm Front. The magic is described wonderfully and makes it seem real and true. And the characters are all just amazing, really. Dresden and Murphy and Bob are probably my favorite.

And the plot is just so intricate and it keeps you guessing, which is hard to do with me, books don't surprise me too often. The point is, is that this book is really good and if you like a SciFi/Fantasy book with wizards and some other paranormal creatures involved, then you should pick this one up.

This whole series is, apparently, really good. I read the first two years ago and am reading them now because I didn't remember a thing that had happened, just that I'd liked it. They don't disappoint.

Book Review: American Gods

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: SciFi, Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 592 (Mass Market Paperback)
Favorite Character: Um, gods is that hard. (Gods, get it?) But I think it would have to be one of the gods, I mean I liked Shadow, but he didn't have that zing, you know? I really enjoyed Easter, she might of been one of my favorites.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace... Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman's epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.

Review:
I read the 10th Anniversay Edition and it, apparently, had 12k more words in it then the normal edition, but I can't imagine what the other one doesn't have. While I was reading this book I couldn't even think of reading another book, which I don't think had ever happened to me before. Normally I read too many books at a time to count. I start one, put a bookmark in it, and sometimes forget about it for a while. (On Goodreads it says I'm currently-reading 12 books, which is on the lower side for me.)

Anyway, about the book. This book was something else. I don't even know if I could tell you exactly what I loved about it so much. I definitely loved the characters, the gods and the mortals. This book was weird and strange and just a bit odd, really odd in some places, but it was amazing. I loved it. The characters were lovable and, maybe not relatable, but you almost still could relate to them, anyway.

And, of course, the writing was just amazing. And some of the sentences had me giggling at the randomest times. Like, at the end, there's a sentence that goes like this:

"The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies."

I don't know why, but that sentence struck me as hilarious.

Moving on, though, besides the sometimes hilarious random sentences and the amazing characters and writing, there was the plot. The plot wasn't something that I was expecting, I mean, I knew this book was about gods, but I didn't quite know where it would go with that. And the plot, which I'm not going to tell you a thing about, was done really well, perfectly even.

I'm going to stop raving about this book and just tell you to go and read it. And I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did, even though it's strange and odd and weird, it's also wonderful and brilliant. (Also, I kind of want to go visit these tourist traps that are mentioned just to see them. I should mention that this is not a Young Adult book by any standards, so be aware of that when you pick it up, but do pick it up).

Book Review: Oppression

Book: Oppression
Author: Jessica Therrien
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Romance (YA)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 346 (Paperback)
Favorite Character: Probably Elyse, I try to stay away from picking the main character, but I really loved her.

Plot: (From Goodreads)

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

Review:


I wasn't expecting this book to have as much depth as it did, I even enjoyed how it ended, no crazy cliffhangers. I liked the characters, all of them really, and I had fun guessing who was descended from who before it was revealed. (I was right a good number of the time, I have a love for Greek Mythology). Anyway, though, this book is pretty short, at least on my Nook it was only about 200 pages, but there is a lot of story in those pages. But it wasn't overwhelming, which is what I was hoping for.

I love a good, well written, book based on Greek Mythology. And this is definitely one of those, but I'll stop raving about it now. I'd recommend it to people who like Greek Mythology or people with "superpowers" or hilarious/lovable characters.

Book Review: The Time Machine

Book: The Time Machine
Author: H.G. Wells
Genre: Scifi/Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 118 (Paperback, pubbed by Signet classics)
Favorite character: The Time Traveler, as he really is the one that you're with for most of the book.


Plot: (From Goodreads)
“I’ve had a most amazing time....”   So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him the reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth.  There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.  Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come.


Review:

This book was amazing, I don't know what I expected but it wasn't what I got. And I was definitely thankful for that. My favorite part of this book was the world building. I'd suggest anyone to read it. I found myself really enjoying Wells' writing. And I really liked the characters, the young man, the time traveler, the other ones, too, even though none of them had names it was still interesting to read about.

I don't want to give anything away for this book, so this is going to be a very, very short review. You should go give this one a go, though, it's a classic for a reason.