Apocalypse

Apocalypse by Kyle West
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm a huge fan of 'end of the world' type of movies, love dystopia, yet I don't really read 'end of the world' books. So I was thrilled to snag this book for free from amazon and began reading it immediately.

It's a fast, quick read - fairly short - and took me about 90 minutes to read.

There's some grammatical errors and the book is in need of a better editor. Large portions of the book just seemed written by an amateur, and the premise is lacking. The author, West, does a lot of "telling" in the book instead of "showing", and leaves a lot open to the imagination instead of really setting the scene for us.

There's a fair mix of genres in the book - end of the world, zombies, meteors, bad guys, action, etc. There's not really any new ideas or themes, but all in all, it's not a bad read (especially for free).

I won't be buying the rest of the series, but would probably read the next one if I could pick it up for free again.

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Planet Urth

Planet Urth by Jennifer Martucci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've been really big into dystopian/end of the world type of books & movies lately, so I was thrilled to grab this book on amazon, which I read in one afternoon.

There's some minor & major plot holes (for example, killing a large, 300 pound animal by jumping out of a tree, and mentioning technology that the characters would have absolutely no idea about), but all in all, the book is a good read. There's no new concepts here, but if you are looking for a quick, sci-fi romp, this will fit the bill.

The biggest drawback is the book doesn't end, so much as just ... well, stops. I understand it's part of a series, but it seems like more and more indie authors are creating series because the book just got too long, instead of a well written story that has a beginning, middle, climax, and ending (like Harry Potter, where every book has a conclusion, yet leaves you desperately wanting more).

I picked this book up for free on amazon.

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Dead Dreams by Emma Right
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dead Dreams is about two young girls, Brie, who wants to become independent and is living on her own for the first time, and Sarah, an independently wealthy secretive know-it-all.

The book is supposed to be a psychological thriller for YA, but reads more like chick-lit with the light, casual, conversational feel of the book, with some mystery thrown in. There's lots of twists and turns that will keep you reading - the part that I enjoyed, along with the good writing.

But Brie is so, so stupid and unbelievably immature. She's always whining about her mother, who is just there to watch over her & to protect her and to make sure she's safe. And clearly Brie needs watching over, because she starts off by making a bad decision and just keeps on making bigger and badder mistakes. She knows she's making bad decisions and just goes ahead and makes them anyway - trying to prove her independence and maturity, perhaps? But all she's doing is proving what a sniveling child she really is. Can you tell I'm NOT a Brie fan?

So, if I dislike Brie so much, why am I rating this book 4 stars? Well, because of the character of Sarah. She's so secretive and mysterious and sure, is beyond manipulative, but that's exactly why I like her - it's like hate watching certain tv shows. You know it's awful, but you can't help watching and yelling at the TV screen anyway. That's exactly how I felt about Sarah.

The book ends with another twist, and leaves you feeling very confused - so confused in fact, I honestly wanted to give the book 3 stars for this reason. Yes, you want a cliffhanger at the end of any book in a series, but this feels like Right ended the book literally in the middle of the book, not written in such a way that opens up the next part to the story.

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Allison Hewitt Is Trapped by Madeleine Roux

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped by Madeleine Roux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm very divided about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed it - it was a very "read that it and don't stop until you are done" kind of book - it's been a while for me since I read one of the books. On the other hand, there is just so, so much you have to just accept in the book - most of all, the fact that not only can Allison find internet (fairly easily), but that there's a great big military wi-fi signal that doesn't require a log-in or a password (yeah, right) AND the fact that she can hold onto her laptop while fighting zombies and killing people.

I also got a little frustrated at how perfect Allison is. She obsesses about finding her mom (naturally enough) but that's the only remotely negative thing about her. She's writing blog entries at a run, but yet she uses complete grammar, perfect spelling, and she's never frantic or even really scared.... Okay, that's really believable... (insert sarcasm).

Yes, she was a grad student majoring in lit, but please, you are running for your life! She of course is so brave and strong, she can use an AXE for crying out loud, perfectly, the first time she goes to swing through a zombie's head ? Isn't cutting through bone a little hard? Shouldn't she have missed at least the first time with something as ackward as an AXE?

And of course she finds love almost right away - and that relationship is less than perfect (without giving anything away) but of course she handles it so so well with barely a blimp on her radar ....

All in all, yes, it's a great read, but take it with a grain of salt.

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Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I've been long told to read this series, so I finally got around to it. I was pretty disappointed.

I did finish it, but I struggled to finish it & just couldn't get into the characters, the storyline, or the VA universe. It's well written, I just couldn't get into it. I'm not sure it's Mead's fault; just there was so much hype about how good this series was supposed to be, that it was never going to live up to its reputation.

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Fire and Ice

Fire & Ice by Michele Barrow-Belisle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The premise behind this book is my perfect mix - a nice blend of magic, mystery, drama, and all in a YA book.

The book starts off with a bit of world and character building, but a lot of stuff is thrown around - details - that aren't really explained. I like knowing the back story behind things, I kept feeling like I was missing a lot of information as the story unfolded slowly.

Unfortunately, the story continued to unfold slowly. Page after page after page of examining every thought that came Lorelei's way, before a few - all too brief pages - of action.

There's a lot of angst and will she or won't she when it comes to the romance story line- all too typical in a YA book - with some lies thrown in for good reason. I kept hoping the pace would pick up and that the story would start to progress, but the pacing just seemed too slow for my liking.

Why am I rating 4 stars? I really liked Lorelei and I really liked her healing abilities and the herbal remedies, and I really felt for her throughout the book. The book was well written, and there's a lot of nice description in the pages, so you can really see what's going on. I also really liked the fact that she was a healer who passed out at the sight - and smell - of blood - a little fact in a novel that just made Lorelei seem a little more real.

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I received an e-book as part of the blog tour, in exchange for participating in the tour & for my honest review. I was not paid for my review.

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from a coworker, who loves this series and was excited about the movie coming out.

I did like the book - loved Lena, loved the ending - but found the book difficult to get into, and I didn't particular like the pacing in the first half of the novel.

I did watch the movie - hated it - and I'm still undecided about reading the rest of the books in the series.

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Martyr's Fire

Martyr's Fire by Sigmund Brouwer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having not read the 2nd book in the series, I did feel as if I was missing part of the story, something I hate when reading. but I knew that coming into the book.

Thomas, the main character, is now a wanted man, and is struggling finding out who he can trust and believe in. The book is well written and well paced. There's a lot of good verses evil in the book, but can be read more as an adventure novel then necessarily as a Christian book.

I did like this one more than the first book in the series.



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Red Rising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have such mixed feelings about this book.

I love the mix/blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and dystopia. I love the world and character building. But the character I fell in love with right away dies, leaving me wishing things were different, each and every page.

Darrow, the main character, is such a great mix of good and bad, hard and soft, you can't help rooting for him even as horror, carnage, pain, suffering, friendship, etc. all surround him.

I loved the first 20% or so of the book, which I read in about an instant because I was so engrossed in it.

That was all the good stuff - now the reason for the mixed feelings.

I just couldn't get into the book after that first 20% or so. I loved, loved, loved the setting and the characters and the events that all happened in that first part of the book, and the rest of it - eh. Not so much. I just couldn't bring myself to care about everything that happened to Darrow for the rest of the book.

There's sections where the action happens fast and furious and I think to myself that I'm finally really enjoying the book again, and then the pace changes and I was, just, quite simply, bored.

The ending however, is simply fabulous. Even though half the book I really didn't enjoy, the ending had a couple of twists and it makes me want to read the rest of the series.

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book received from netgalley in exchange for my honest review

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the Clearing

The Clearing by Shalini Boland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 2.

This is another book with alternating characters and storylines - not my favorite plot device, until the two threads merge.

The book starts shortly after the second one - this series is definitely one in which you need to read all of the books, or you'll really be lost. The beginning starts with a great scene that sets the tone for the rest of the book.

There's an underlining theme of brainwashing and cults, something I have a hard time stomaching. The book is written better than the first one, I think, but I had a hard time with the themes in this book.

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Outside

Outside by Shalini Boland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am more and more getting into dystopian novels so I was thrilled to join in this tour. I love books that are in series, too so I was doubly excited.

That being said, I was very confused reading the first half of the book. It goes back and forth between two characters, the past and the present, and I wasn't picking up on that at all. I was also disappointed that the editing wasn't better, something that really bugs me. I'm by no means a writer and by no means do I know or follow all the grammatical rules out there, but I kept seeing little things pop up that slowed down the story line for me because I was distracted by the errors.

Another thing that kept bugging me was Riley kept acting way too mature for her 16 year old age, from the very beginning. Her friend tells her that her sister was murdered, and she thanks him, telling him how hard that must have been for him to tell her the truth. Come on, seriously? Your sister was just killed and you are telling your friend how hard it must be for HIM? Do you know any adults that would have the presence of mind to say such a thing in that situation, let alone a teenager?

All in all though, the story is a good one, has lots of twists and turns to keep things interesting, but the story is really only good the last 1/3.

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I got this book & the rest of the books in the series as part of the Perimeter blog tour in exchange for my honest reviews.

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The Last Bastion of the Living by Rhiannon Frater

The Last Bastion of the Living by Rhiannon Frater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely LOVED this book!

I was first introduced to this book as part of a book tour & was asked to review. I almost passed, because I don't really read Zombie books. I've gotten into Walking Dead, however, and LOVED the cover of this book so much I couldn't resist getting a copy to read.

And I was immediately hooked, from the very first page.

I haven't loved a book this much in a long time.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within an area called the Bastion. She's a soldier and has battled the zombies that surround their area before. The story revolves around Maria, her friend Lindsey who also is a veteran of zombie battles, and her boyfriend and an officer in the Constabulary, Dwayne Reichardt. Their relationship is kept a secret because of his marriage and family, but in the end, Maria's relationship with Lindsey & Dwayne is what keeps her alive.

Frater does a wonderful job of creating a whole world with rich, multi-faceted characters, and kept twisting the plot so you had to keep reading. The last half of the book I couldn't even read at night because it would keep me up at night wondering what was going to happen next! She wrote this as a stand-alone book, but I'd really love to see where Maria and Dwayne are in ten years.


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Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan

Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a kindle book I picked up for free earlier this year. It was a quick read, only took a few hours to read. It starts off real enough, & then rather abrumptly shows its fantasy side, & that's when the story really starts to take off.

As with most first books in a series, there's a certain amount of world & character building, which I did enjoy. There are lots of hints of action, but other than the climax at the end of the story, nothing really happens in the story, & all the hints of future development do not come to pass. Of course, this is so the reader just HAS to buy the next book to see what happens, but I just didn't get invested in the book enough to really need the next part.

I give it 4 stars, however, as it was an enjoyable read up until the end - I just wish things had been settled a bit more. It felt too much like an advertisement for the rest of the series instead of a stand alone book, but that's just my two cents.

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Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer

Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, the disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read & review on my kindle, but did not receive any compensation for the review.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book. I have never read a Kreitzer book before, though I have heard great things about her other books. I won't get into the plot of PU as there are already a ton of reviews out there for this book, with a lot of detail.

Summer is a very likeable character, as is the entire supporting cast. You hate the bad guys just enough. One thing that drove me nuts, throughout the book, is the repeated talk of all of the trauma, anguish, and torture Summer went through as a slave, and it's very true that she did go through a lot, including an attempted rape, but I really never understood exactly why she stopped talking. I mean, I understand what Kreitzer wrote - every time Summer talked or cried or yelled, she got whipped. But, there have been slaves for hundreds of years, who went through a hell of a lot more than Summer went through; or people today (non-slaves) who have gone through worse abuse at the hands of their own parents or family members, and they didn't stop talking. To me, if she was that badly abused that she'd stop talking, she wouldn't be mouthing words. I can sort of see the accidental giggling -- and definitely the flinching -- but I don't know, that whole thing just really bugged me throughout. And, as always with this type of book, the fact that she just magically met a wonderful guy who starts to fall in love with her, and would do anything for her, and she trusts him with no reason to... another little thing that drove me nuts.


I really wish a little bit more time was spent talking about the pirate ship. I realize this has nothing really to do with the series other than to help you know who Summer is as a character, but that part really interested me. Same with the future world - I wish we had gotten to know that world more, other than just a lot of action that took place in that world.

All of those things aside, however, I am still giving the book 5 stars. My personal rule of thumb is that I only give out "5 star reviews" to books where I really fall in love with one or more characters, and I really loved some of the minor characters in the book, and I really did like Summer & felt for her throughout.

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