Short and Sweet Reviews

I have a review list a mile long (aka 10 books and growing) and while I'm dying to give them all a fill review and spill all my thoughts to you guys, I will burnout if I try to do that much, so I am going to do a few of them as Short and Sweet reviews. 

Many thanks to Liberty Bay Books for the ARC copies of these books. 

Forevermore

by Cindy Miles

So it was kind of cheesy and a little bit predictable at times, but it was still good! It was fun and a quick read. Everything about it was super cute and surprisingly creepy. It felt a little bit like it would have been a better fit for someone a bit younger (11 or 12ish?), but I still had a blast reading it and I really liked the characters.

2.5 or 3 out of 5 stars

Dark Metropolis

by Jaclyn Dolamore

This one took a sharp turn into crazy town, but I still loved it. I was not prepared for where it went and I didn't really know what it was going to be like so it was a bit shocking and the concept is really weird. It is still a very cute story with strong themes and pretty fun characters. I had quite a few minor issues with it, but they weren't things that stuck or bothered me when I was reading, so I didn't feel like they really mattered. 

2.5 or 3 out of 5 stars.

Suspicion

by Alexandra Monir

Expected Publication: December 9th 2014

I haven't read Rebecca which this is supposedly based off of, so I don't have much to say on that front. I never really, really, connected with any of the characters and the plot was a bit wild and unwieldy at times, but it was really entertaining and intriguing. It was something unlike what I've read before with different mythology. There were almost two different plots going, the paranormal one and the regular life one, so that made it really interesting and thankfully I was never confused. 

3 stars out of 5.

Short and Sweet Reviews

Two words, "those prose." Oh my goodness the writing was amazing. Don't get me wrong, it's not for everyone or any piece of writing, but I really loved it. It was touching, emotional, and did a great job of gently advocating and bringing attention to the lack of acceptance and the cruelty that part of our community experiences, without being in your face about why the book is right and you are wrong. It doesn't preach. It just is. 

Add it on Goodreads and buy it through Liberty Bay Books.

Man, if you are looking for spunky and slightly off kilter characters and a unique tale Six Feet Under is Six Feet Under is exactly what you need. Surprisingly heartwarming, funny and emotionally gripping. With its ridiculously odd yet utterly lovable characters and it's surprising relatability it is a highly entertaining read, although it doesn't stick out to me in any other way or as an all time favorite.

Add it on Goodreads and buy it through Liberty Bay Books.

Short and Sweet Reviews

I have two Short and Sweet style reviews for you guys today! Enjoy!

Uncaged

It took me a while to get into it and connect with the characters. After a while I grew annoyed and bored with the non Shay chapters, although I knew they were necessary to understand the story but they just weren't as much fun. I eventually fell in love with Shay and all of her friends from Twist's hotel and Twist himself. I thought their relationships seemed unlikely, because of the personalities and they way it all started. I don't know how to explain it but when you first met the characters it seemed like that kind of relationship just wouldn't be something they'd allow or want but then it just happened like right away, insta-trust, insta-friendship, and insta- favoritism. However the characters were so great together I could only be slightly bothered. Other than that it was decent and a good mystery. I give it three out of five stars.

Goodreads or Liberty Bay Books.

The Bodies We Wear

This one was definitely emotional and worked with a lot of psychology and human nature stuff. The theme was a good one but at times it felt like it was kind of shouted at you at times. The characters were so hardened and distant it was hard to connect with them. I understand that that was how they were supposed to be, but they did't have enough depth and dimension for readers to really connect with them like they should, and want to. That was disappointing. The plot was ok, one of the big twists I knew and the other half of it was kind of wild, random, and ridiculous, not really working with the rest of the story. I didn't really like how it all ended either. It was not bad at all but it wasn't really a favorite. Two and a half stars to three stars.

Goodreads or Liberty Bay Books.

Short and Sweet

There are a few books that I never did a full review for, so I'm going to do some more Short and Sweet Reviews! Enjoy!

Dorothy Must Die

by Danielle Paige

This morbid tale of what happened after Dorothy followed that famous yellow brick road is entertaining and
is over flowing with strong characters that at times seem a bit too similar, but are lovable none the less. The plot got a bit messy and irritating towards the end. The ending itself  was a bit odd leaving everything unsolved, but overall the book was fun to read and the writing was good. I give it two and a half or three stars out of five.
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Nearly Gone

by Elle Cosimano

This is a great mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. Sweet romance is woven in and the characters are realistic and fun. The plot was great and the writing solid. It was very entertaining. Three stars out of five.

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Control

by Lydia Kang

This book is a fun thrill ride. The characters are a blast and it is packed with emotion, high stakes, betrayal,
love, and so much more. It is highly entertaining and the end is shocking! It sort of reminded me of Hank from the X-men...I recommend it and give it three or three and a half stars.

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Grim

by Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, and Jon Skrovon

This collection of stories was a very fun read. Each story was interesting and I didn't really dislike any of them although I did like some better than others. I was expecting them to be creepier or darker than most of them actually were but I loved the book as a whole all the same. My favorites were: Beauty and The Chad, A Real Boy, Beast/Beast, The Raven Princes , Better, and Figment. Over all I give it three stars, and I definitely recommend it for something fun and different! 

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Another Round of Short and Sweet Reviews

Ok guys so I cranked out three posts yesterday, two reviews and a stacking the shelves post and today I am determined to get at least one if not two posts done. I had big plans to not only do a few posts, but finish up all the reviews I haven't done yet, get all caught up, ya know? Well, once I wrote out the list of books I needed to review, my plans changed. I am pretty overwhelmed by my list of 8 books to do full length reviews for. That's just not happening folks, sorry. I love y'all, but not quite that much.  So, I'm going to do some Short and Sweets.

Heart Beat

This is not usually my kind of book, but I liked it well enough. It was emotional and raw, and truthful/realistic. The characters were pretty good, the plot wasn't too exciting but I mean it worked. It was a bit predictable, but it was ok. The writing was just kind of there, not anything too special, elaborate, or crazy, but like the plot, it worked.
It was decent...

Buy it through Liberty Bay Books here.

Defy
It's been a while since I've read a good adventure book, so I was excited to read it. It turned out to be a bit more of a romance. Or at least equal parts adventure and romance. There is a love triangle. It isn't great. It isn't bad. It's just there and slightly irritating. It really bothered me that Alexa had been pretending to be a guy all this time, and should pretty much be immune to her peers now, after years of being around them and knowing that that is not going to happen, because as far as they are concerned she's a man, and she needs to keep it that way. However, every time a guy was involved she talked about his attractive features and was crushing on like everyone. I mean really?! The plot was pretty good and same with the writing. The characters were fine. Overall it was still a really fun read and I'd recommend it.

Buy it through Liberty Bay Books here.

Proxy
Ok this book was a wild card for me, but it was pretty cool. It was realistic and worked with some moral issues and themes found in society and humanity. The plot was pretty good, although I kind of saw the end coming. (Just a little bit) The writing was pretty good too. I really liked the main characters, all of the characters really. The relationships were interesting, but I felt like most of them never really fully developed and were just kind of sitting there on the side lines "half-cooked." It was a pretty cool book and the whole premise was pretty interesting. I would recommend it. 

Buy it from Liberty Bay Books here.

Uninvited 

Uninvited has a really cool story line and the book approaches a lot of moral issues or themes, but I was a bit frustrated because it seemed to run from them once they were established. I thought they were going to tackle it with the ending and the end was going to be this epic and inspiring throw down, and then nothing related to the theme I had seen beginning to appear in the start of the book happened. It actually almost ended up running full speed ahead in the opposite direction. It wasn't ruin the whole book or anything, but it was a bit bothersome. I loved Sean. I liked a lot of the characters other than him but I didn't feel like I got to know many of them very well or deeply, except Davvy, and even with her I didn't feel like I got to know her that well, just better than the other characters. The writing and plot were fine, and again, it was a fun read and I'd recommend it for a quick, good read.

Buy it from Liberty Bay Books here.

End Times
Ah End Times, this is an interesting read. I didn't realize it was going to be some religious "End of All Days," "Rapture," "The Final Judgment is Upon Us" type thing with prophesies, powers, prophets, cults and such. (Yes I do realize it says End Times and The Prophet Emerges on the front cover. It just didn't click for me for some reason I was too distracted by the oil or something or maybe my brain was eating itself at the time, I don't know just don't judge me ok? Ok. The characters were pretty cool and the whole thing was pretty intense. I don't really know how I feel about it. I am kind of on the fence about it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't AMAZING, it was just good.

Buy it from Liberty Bay Books here.

Short and Sweet Reviews

Wow guys, I really am sorry that it has been so long I really thought I'd get back sooner. Also, I haven't posted Short and Sweet Reviews in forever. So here I am writing a Short and Sweet Review.

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 White Space
I was curious about this one mostly because of all the mixed feelings I had seen and heard about. Some people loved it, while even more hated it with a passion. I was open minded when I began but I was a little concerned that I'd hate it because it was so extremely large I was worried it would be extremely boring and overly descriptive. Thankfully ,I was wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by the book over all. It was chilling and gory and sparked my imagination keeping my on edge and perfectly disgusted and thoroughly freaked out. The plot was actually well paced, and delightfully twisty, and mind bending. Overall it was pretty darn good and one of the creepiest, crawliest, and fairly confusing books I ever read. I'd certainly recommend it to those of you who likes these sorts of books, 4 out of 5 stars!

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 These Broken Stars
I had heard so much hype about this one and I was so excited to read it! Sadly, I was very disappointed. I didn't get into it ever. I never felt the need to read the rest, I never hungered for more. In fact, 99% of the time I was completely indifferent to the entire scenario and book. I'm not entirely sure why. I had one huge issue with the book, but that was personal taste, and I'm planning to indulge and rant about that in a post soon. (I apologize in advance. This is my therapy. I have to get it out.) Anyways, it wasn't awful but it wasn't anything special either. I was left wanting a lot more and the ending was killer, then all of the sudden quickly resolved into happily ever after the end, all tied up in a neat little bow. I didn't know what to think of that. Overall I probably wouldn't recommend it necessarily but I wouldn't discourage people from reading it either. I give it a generous 3 out of 5 stars.  

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Pushed 
After loving the first book in the Sense Thieves series, I simply couldn't wait  to get my hands on the second one, Pushed. I had great expectations for this one. I wasn't too disappointed, but it wasn't quite as great as Touched. It was still quite worth it, and Corrine managed to work in some important themes and messages. Overall, I liked it quite a bit. It was a solid read and gets 3 out of 5 stars from me.

The Goddess Inheritance

I was excited to finally read the third Goddess Test book! This one threw me off a bit because the time frame was really super short and kind of strange. The book pretty much just focused on one problem and because of this and the time frame the plot was pretty simple. It was enjoyable but nothing too especially special. I'd give it 2.5-3 stars out of 5. It is a pretty fun series.    

A Quick Update

Sigh, oh where to begin? It has been far too long and I have missed you all dearly! Since I was thrown into the mess of a thing we here in the United States call High School I have pretty much had no life. Well, ok, so I have had a life, but it has pretty much consisted of homework and sleep. So I haven't had much time for all this blogging stuff. So I'm sorry for the long absence and I'm going to go ahead and warn you all that, sadly, I will not be posting nearly as frequently now as I was over the summer. Anyways, I didn't start writing this just to rant to y'all I actually have a reason to post I promise! I have a few more "Short and Sweet Reviews!" So here they are! (I left out The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau because I felt I had already expressed my opinions about it plenty in my earlier post.)
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A Spark Unseen

by Sharon Cameron

Coming September 24, 2013

When Katherine Tulman wakes in the middle of the night and accidentally foils a kidnap attempt on her uncle, she realizes Stranwyne Keep is no longer safe for Uncle Tully and his genius inventions. She flees to Paris, where she hopes to remain undetected and also find the mysterious and handsome Lane, who is suspected to be dead. 

But the search for Lane is not easy, and Katherine soon funds herself embroiled in a labyrinth of political intrigue. And with unexpected enemies and allies at every turn, Katherine will have to figure out whom she can trust--if anyone--to protect her uncle from danger once and for all. 

      Buy through Liberty Bay Books : A Spark Unseen

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The Ocean At The End of The Lane

by Neil Gaiman

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home ot attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that sh'e claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at

this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkens was unleashed, something scary                                     and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. Lettie--magical, comforting, wise beyond her years--promised to protect him, no matter what. 

Buy through Liberty Bay Books: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

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The Elite

by Kiera Cass

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the selecito. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn't sure where her heart lies. When she's with Maxon, she's swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can't dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over--and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she's made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she's struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending. 

Buy through Liberty Bay Books: The Elite

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Briana