Friday, January 18, 2013

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Or, the Modern Prometheus: With ConnectionsShelley's classic hints in part at the possible dangers inherent in the pursuit of pure science; it also portrays the injustice of a society which persecutes outcasts such as the "Monster." Disturbing and profoundly moving, Frankenstein has become part of our own mythology.
I had the pleasure of reading this inspiring classic in my Brit. Lit. class this year. I enjoyed it, to an extent. I saw profound character development and I even felt sorry for both of the main characters at times, but sadly, I read this book for school and with that comes some form of a headache. I'm not sure if I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would because of the notes and such that I had to take for class, or because some of the insane attention to detail just annoyed the crap out of me. I had that same problem with Kagawa's Iron Fae series, so maybe it was just the detail. Either way, I liked and somewhat enjoyed this book. Shelley was definitely ahead of her time, and Tesla would definitely be proud of her book. (If you understood that reference, thank you.) Overall, I'd give this book a 3/5, and I will say that I believe that everyone has to read this book at least once, because the movies have it wrong. Blasted Hollywood.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Triangles - Ellen Hopkins


TrianglesTHREE FEMALE FRIENDS FACE MIDLIFE CRISES IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED EXPLORATION OF SEX, MARRIAGE, AND THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE.

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-athome mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?

Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?

Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles. 

As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.


I love reading Ellen Hopkins' work. I adore her  writing style and each time she writes something I am awestruck by her ability to sucker punch people using only her words. This is her first adult novel (At least, I think it is...Right?) and I was once again amazed by it.

I was a little cautious at first, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to completely understand the demographic (I am not a mom, or a wife) so I didn't know if I'd be able to completely relate to the characters. I first picked this book up because I knew I wanted to read her YA companion to this book Tilt, and I figured that I'd read the first book first, because unless you're reading The Mortal Instruments series, or something, that's how these things usually work.

Once again I was amazed at Ellen Hopkins' briliance, and I admired many characteristicts and characters in this book, while simultaniously wanting to slap the crap out of others. I didn't completely connect with this book, because I am not the audience that it was intended for, but invisible rules are made to be broken, right?

Anywho, I enjoyed reading about these characters. They were all lovely in their own way, and I can't wait to read Tilt and figure out just what the heck these kids were thinking, because they were just... ugh!
4/5 stars.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Going Bovine - Libba Bray

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

I know I've been gone for a long, long, Long-with-a-capital-L time. I am very, very sorry about that. Between work and school and life, I just haven't had much time for blogging. And, at the moment, I'm thinking about redoing my YouTube channel because, to be honest, I don't like it much. It could be SO much better. I'm too lazy to change it now, and it's almost my bed time, so I must get on with this review and stop talking about things you guys don't care about.

This, my dears, was my first Bray. I probably should have read this book when I first saw it, I was younger then and probably would have liked it more than I do today. At any rate, let's get on with the review!

It took me about a week (give or take a few days) to finish this story. Between work and school and life, I just don't think I can handle much reading at this time. Anyway, I thought that this story was fantasticly creative, and that it was new and fresh and something that I just haven't read about before. It was nice to read something different for a change. While this book did have it's magical influences, there were no vampires or werewolves or fae, (Shadowhunters would have been cool, but that's another story all together.) This story was strictly what it was, and I am okay with that. The characters were loveable (Especially the Little ones! They're my personal favorites) and they were very believeable, the setting was great, I almost felt like I was road-tripping with the gang, and the story was as believeable as it possiblly could have been, give in the nature of the story. Libba Bray's writing style is much like the way I think, and I found myself relating some of her words to my life as it was as I was reading. (If you didn't understand that, don't worry, it's not important. Just know that Bray's writing was fantastically enthralling and sarcastic and wonderous

There was just one thing that made this book somewhat annoying: The middle lasted FOREVER. There are only so many ways that you can go on adventures and end up in (pretty much) the same situation!

The ending of this story was fantastic, I loved every bit of the ending and I wish that the "villian" had more face time. He's an ominous presence for the most part and he had so much potential.

3/5

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

True Blood, Vol. 1: All Together Now (True Blood #1)

Blood and sex mix on a hot rainy night at Merlotte's, when Sookie and her friends are trapped by a vengeful spirit who feeds on shame. People die and dirty secrets are revealed as Sookie, Bill, Eric, Sam, Tara, Jason, and Lafayette and are all coerced to dig deep and tell painful memories from their past....those things we all have locked within us that we never tell another living soul Bon Temps, Louisiana has never been stranger, or more twisted, in a story co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, with a script by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner, and lush art by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown).

I had just finished watching Season 1 of True Blood (Yes, I know I'm a tad behind, but I don't get HBO) and I needed a fix when all of the sudden this fantastically amazing Graphic Novel poped out at me while I was perusing through my local library. I was so excited to read it that I went straighht home, shut my door, and read until I finished it (This was the day after Thanksgiving and the left over turkey was calling my name, so this took a bit of effort on my part.) Anyway, I'm happy to say that I've finished this first novel and OH MY GOODNESS. I absolutely ADORED it.

Some things in this novel didn't really make sense to me , but I chalked that up to me not watching Season 2 of True Blood before I started reading. I loved learning some of the backstories of my favorite side characters, although I think the Vampires should have opened up a bit more... Maybe it's just my wild imagination, but I think they have a lot more skeletons in their closet...

Either way, this was an extremely entertaining read and I can't wait to pick up the second book!
4.5/5 stars.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year Y'all!

Happy new year everyone! i am pleased to inform you that I didn't die in the apocalypse, and you didn't either, I'm guessing. :) New year, new start, more books! I can't wait to share with the books that I've gotten throughout the time I was gone. Now, this year, I'm going to make a few New Year's Resolutions:
  • Read More
I know I've been an extremely bad blogger through out the past few months, and I am incredibly sorry for that. There were multiple family emergencies and I hadn't been able to keep up with reading and blogging, let alone vlogging. I plan to work on that this year, and schedule my posts so that there will always be something posted.
  • Blog More
I also know that I've been a bad vlogger, and this is because I just haven't had either the time or the energy to vlog about books. I also plan to change this. And get editing software because sometimes I tend to ramble....a lot. Which I'm going to stop doing now.
  • Read outside of my comfort zone
I feel like I get bored while reading, not because the stories that I read aren't great (most of the time they're wonderful), but because I think I need more variety when I read. I did read outside of my comfort zone last year by picking up a few Graphic Novels, which I actually liked. Maybe this year I'll try and read at least 3 biographies, because they're not my favorite material ever.
  • Read more book-to-movie adaptations

The last three resolutions are there just because I've started to really become intrigued by movies--good movies, anyway--and I know that good movies usually stem from good books, so, I've decided to read a few books that have or will become movies, and then see how the story comes to life. To date, I haven't read/watched that many book/movie adaptations, so this year, I've decided to give it a try.
  • Read a few classics
I think that this particular bullet is on my Resolutions list every single year. I don't know why I don't read many classics, but just don't. So, I've decided to fix that this year and read some classics. :)


I'm not sure what the posting schedule is going to be, mainly because I'm working and I'm going to take a few AP tests in May and then I graduate.... I GRADUATE. Holy crap. No. Not gonna think about it. No. I'm going to try and post at least twice a month.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for being fantastic reading individuals and fantastic individuals in general. :)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...