"The Impossible Fortress" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★★ 5 Stars      

Let me just start by saying I LOVED THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE.

This was such a cute, coming-of-age, refreshing and stunningly written love story that I had the pleasure and honor of reading. 

Billy Marvin loves computers more than anything in the world, that is until he meets Mary Zelinsky who equally (if not more) shares a love of computers in this 1987 coming-of-age beauty. 

Billy and his friends are shocked and intrigued when Playboy releases their latest issue featuring the beautiful Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune. The boys are eager to feast their eyes upon her pictures but to do so they conjure up a risky plan to secretly get their hands on a copy for each. Everyone gets to play a part in the heist (which isn't stealing) - Billy's task is to seduce Mary Zelinsky, the daughter of the store's owner and to get access to the security code. 
What starts off as the Vanna White mission turns into so much more for young Billy Marvin. 

I loved how well written the book was. Yes, there were a few errors here and there but overall the writing style was so clear with strong, vivid descriptions. The main characters felt well-rounded even though we didn't have a whopping history on them. 

This was an adventure-filled, fun read that I absolutely adore.

A digital copy was received via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.                                        

"Mostly Human" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

Mostly Human follows the lives of Alex Harris and family while they navigate through their new reality of having a family member who is a werewolf. 
While on a family vacation in Canada, Alex, in his attempts to help an injured wolf, gets bitten. His life, as well as his family’s is forever changed in that moment. 
The characters experience heartbreak, grief, secrets, love and so much more on their journey to normalcy.

I liked the way the book began – the interview. The dialogue seemed so natural, the writing style kept me hooked and I had a feeling that I would love this book; however, the feeling did not last. Once the timeline switched and went back in time to 10 year old Alex, my connection to the story was broken. I think this happened because I got into the story with certain expectations. I was expecting to read about a rock star and his life as a werewolf with only glimpses into his past. I didn’t expect to follow an in depth story of his younger years, and that was solely my fault. I should have read the summary and not concentrate only on the “rock star” bit.
Nevertheless, it was a good story. 

The Good: 

• His family was very supportive and caring, patient and willing to alter their lives to accommodate his new situation. He had a family who loved him beyond words. 
• Usually siblings don’t get along so well but in this book they were so protective of each other. I thought it to be a great relationship and a big step away from the cliché sibling relationship of always wanting to bite each other’s head off. 
• It was a full length book which had the opportunity to really explore his life, from a young age to adult. With that being said, his character development was not rushed, it was slowly yet strategically progressed. 
• My favorite parts were his teenage years and adult life which I found to be most interesting since Alex’s was the main POV at time. 

The Not-So-Good:

• There were a lot of POV's to keep up with which made it a tad bit difficult to truly connect with a character and to really feel the gut-wrenching emotions they were experiencing. I read about loss and anger but I didn’t quite feel the pain nor did the anger resonate in me. I wanted to experience their emotions because I could see that it was a roller-coaster being that there were a lot of themes present. 
• At times I thought the characters were overly emotional/melodramatic – mostly Debra and sometimes Alex’s sister. It could be because I did not connect with the characters and thus could not feel their emotions.
• Organized crime was mentioned in the summary; however it was not fully embedded into the story nor did it feel necessary. It was quite rushed in the last few pages and simply did not help in any way to push the story forward (in my humble opinion, but I may be wrong and failed to see the value of this bit in relation to the progression of the story).
Overall, it was a good story, I like werewolves. More time could have been spent on certain parts while others could have been briefly mentioned; however, I see the necessity of the in-depth look into his life growing up especially if there is a book 2. To truly understand a character and their motivations you would need to know their history.

Digital Copy provided by the author

"The Ghost Files (The Ghost FIles #1)" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

What a pleasant surprise!

I’ve had this book sitting in my kindle library for the past year collecting cyber dust.

I loved(ish) the tone of the narrator.

The plot was even better – a girl seeing dead people and is helping to solve a string of deaths of which her foster sister is a victim.

I really liked the book! I only knocked off 1 star because of the relationship between the main character and a certain secondary character of the law.

I won’t go into details here. No sirree. Find out for yourself J  

"How to Make Out" Book Review

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars

An awesome premise with a less than awesome delivery.

Initially I was drawn to this book because of its title “How to make out”. I was instantly intrigued and wanted to know what this book could possibly be about. At first I had no intention of reading it; I simply wanted to get an idea of the plot, but after reading the summary, it sounded like a fun and witty, quick-read. I love the idea of neighbours falling for each other – 'Drive me Crazy' featuring Melissa Joan Hart, 'Its a Boy Girl Thing', Love and Basketball etc. and I wanted to love this one.

I didn’t expect a deep plot with riveting characters and profound, complex emotional connections but I did expect an entertaining delivery. What I got was a shallow, petulant character – Renley – who is pretty much useless in all aspects of life except in long division and ogling the few male “friends” she has in her life.

Her relationships are quite superficial, which is a sad thing for a teenage girl growing up. The only consolation I found in this was that this was purely a work of fiction, and this Renley and her situation does not exist in real life.

Her relationship with her father is pretty non-existent, almost as much as her relationship with her mother. Her father is simply a person in her life who provides her with food and shelter – basic necessities of life, and in return she is insolent.

Her mother, living in New York with her new family, does not have the audacity to contact her daughter, to make sure she is okay or to find out if this easily-influenced teenage girl is growing up into a respectable woman. Not once in the book did she reach out to ask her if she needs a mother figure to give advice on the many social issues that teenagers face these days. I was very disappointment in that aspect of the book -a mother who abandons her daughter and ignores said daughter even though she constantly reaches out to her to just hear her voice or to simply receive a message in return.

Her relationship with April, her best friend, felt like a filler. From my perspective, her role in the story was to fill the time when Renley was not thinking/being with Drew or Seth. Not once did their relationship feel real, and this was further proven when later on in the book Renley forgave Drew much quicker and easily for doing something far more hurtful to her than April did.

Her relationship with Drew was the highlight of the book. He was supportive and was a shoulder to cry on but he was a bit too persistent in his attempts at getting Renley and as a result it came off as annoying. Renley, however, loved the attention she got from Drew.

Her relationship with Seth? Purely lust. Nothing more, nothing less.

I think this book is best suited for the younger audiences, not adults who like reading YA now and then.

"Cured (Stung #2)" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

I was hoping this one would be better, and in a way it was. I kinda wish I knew beforehand that I'd be reading from Jacqui's POV. I was really confused when reading the first few pages, trying to figure out who these characters were. As for the plot itself, it was fairly simply, everything worked out happily ever after. Why is Jonah being treated like a Hodor? Like he's the muscles behind the whole operation with no feelings? He got hurt a lot in this book, more than I dare to count, and it's being justified by the fact that he heals quickly. I hated this. Do the women in this book not use their brain and try to see who is there before attacking? Book 1: Fiona shot Bowen before making sure who was approaching. Book 2: Jack stabs Kevin before using her head and seeing who is there. Yes, I get that he practically jumped on her in the dark so she had no idea that he wasn't a real threat at first, but my God! Stop and think before attacking. Same happened in the prison, she attacks Jonah before seeing who is really there. And I think she almost attacked Kevin a second time Oh well. I'm happy this doesn't have a third part. It felt like a very shallow book which had potential but didn't deliver. I still did not get to see what living on the inside of the wall is like, what their rebuilding looks like. So much potential.

"Stung (Stung #1)" Book Review

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars

I can't figure out why exactly I disliked this book. I'm a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre but this one just didn't do it for me. 

The main character - Fiona - was a bit weak. Not knowing what was going on with the world she woke up to was understandable. 

I guess I wanted to see her on her own for a while, surviving and toughening up, but this book did not deliver that. I didn't even get a glimpse of life inside the wall, to see how they're rebuilding society.

From the moment she woke up there were other humans around. She was "rescued" by an infected, then shortly after taken into a camp where she was protected by a guard who happens to have been her neighbor before the world went to shit. For the remainder of the book is she always being rescued and not fending for herself (which is what I really enjoy in a post apocalyptic book. I like reading about their survival skills, how they strategize on supply runs, how they out maneuver the enemy etc.). I'll read the second book only because I want to see where the love interest takes us and what life inside the wall is like.

UPDATE: 
On second thought I'm not that interested in Book 2. Won't be reading it.

Ugh fine. I'll read it just so I won't feel guilty.

"The Devil's Prayer" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 stars

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like my torture books with enough torture and gore to make me cringe. This book, to a certain extent and in certain areas throughout made me very happy; however, it is not solely torture, as you can see from the premise given. The Devil’s Prayer presented us with a rollercoaster of themes – history, romance, horror/gore, violence and abuse among others.

Following the death of her mother Denise Russo, who abandoned her two children a few years ago with no warning, Siobhan Russo travels across the world to the convent where her mother lived. In search of answers, she is given a book with her mother’s confessions. There, Siobhan learns of the horrors her mother went through and her subsequent deal with the devil in order to take revenge on those who wronged her.  

For the historical aspect, this book was very well-researched. I like when authors take the time to research before writing a book. It gives me the sense that they are truly committed to the success of their book and will work hard to produce it rather than give a lackadaisical attempt.

However, toward the end, the history became a bit overwhelming and took away from the plot. I found myself simply reading the words just so I could move forward to read the actual plot. Lots of history in there that I didn’t much care for, but I do understand why it was filled with this much information. The author wanted to present us with all this history to make the story more believable and to leave us wondering where history ends and fiction begins. The history was a fundamental part of the story, but I disliked history class, always have and always will.

The other parts were really well done and I was hooked. I won’t give details, it’s better to find out on your own.