I'm "Truly, Madly" In Love with this Book

I finally found a murder/mystery with a splash of supernatural (aka a psychic-like power) that I enjoyed fully.

It's about damn time.

This book does have its faults, though. I mean, I'm not sure if there are any books that don't. Regardless, the ones I've found are minor at best, so they shouldn't deter you too much.

First off, pay attention, because there are a TON of characters in this thing. There was more than one occasion when I had to go back and figure out who was who. It's not too chaotic, but it can get confusing sometimes when you haven't seen the name in a while.

The second issue is the writing. It's not bad, but its not fantastic. Meaning: If you're looking for super descriptive sentences with complexity, you're in the wrong place. For the most part, it wasn't bad. There were just some times where Webber could have combined sentences to make the point more concise.

Like "The curtains were blue" and "The carpet was red". Just push those together and we're good to go. I was so hooked in the story, though, that it was just a minor issue.

Overall, I enjoyed this book the most out of the three I've read this week. It's not a literary masterpiece, but it's a damn good mystery/romance novel.

"Abby Cooper" Finds the Mystery, but Lacks the Romance

There are four things I look for in a romance/mystery novel: good writing, a suspenseful mystery, a likable main character, and a solid romance.

As I went through this book, I managed to check three of the four requirements off my list. Good writing? I couldn't complain. A suspenseful mystery? Hell yeah. A likable main character? Abby was awesome!

Solid romance? Eh...I didn't believe it.

I mean, Abby and her love interest, Dutch, met online and had a pretty good first date. It seemed a little off to me, but, whatever maybe I just was reading into it wrong.

But...I wasn't. The rest of the book is them having few moments where they have chemistry and more moments where you want them to never come in contact again.

Like, for example, when Dutch breaks off their "kind of" relationship because she mentioned she doesn't trust cops and he is, in fact, a cop. He also doesn't believe in psychics YET HE CONTINUES TO ASK HER FOR HELP.

Uh...ok?

He also comes over to tell Abby something and, while she's on the phone, Dutch takes ice cream out of her fridge and starts eating it.

AND SHE IS COOL WITH IT.

At this point, she has went on one date with him and he's questioned her ONCE. AKA THEY BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER. If a man ever tried this on me, you can bet your sweet ass that ice cream would be smacked out of his hands and he'd be on his way out the door, cop or no cop.

This is not the only example either. Dutch would also do some weird stuff like tousle Abby's hair or call her kiddo, even though they didn't have that wide of an age gap. I don't know, that just seemed weird and gross to me because I'm supposed to want them together and, instead, I'm sensing a more brotherly-sisterly bond.

So...I don't know. There were a few times where the relationship seemed realistic and I wanted them to get together, but there were multiple occasions that tainted those moments for me. Other than that, though, the book is pretty good, especially because of Abby's gift of being a psychic. It plays an interesting role in the mystery part of the book, which I really appreciated. I recommend this if you're more of a mystery person, but, if you're in it for the romance, I'd go ahead and pass on this one.

"Spying in Heels" Has a Decent Leg to Stand On

Well, it's no Heather Wells Mystery by Meg Cabot, but its a solid replacement in my book. I mean, I read most of the book in a day, so it must be fantastic, right?

Er...not exactly.

It's not a bad book; it really isn't. You know me, if it was terrible I would be going on a full out rant right about now. It just has some faults that took away from the story, which influenced my four star rating. 

The first thing that comes to mind is the overuse of description. Listen, being an English person, I know that is exactly what we're taught to do in school: use as many details as possible. But, good lord I do not need to know the exact details of what the character is eating or what freeways/roads she's driving on.

Like there were 4 paragraphs, I REPEAT 4 PARAGRAPHS, about the main character, Maddie, getting food at Starbucks. Is that information necessary? No, it's not.

The freeway thing was what irritated me to no end. Maddie would always be spouting off that she took the 405 to 10 to the blah blah, I don't care. I don't live in LA so constantly telling me these freeway names is not helping me at all. I'm just getting more confused. It's like me telling you to take 271 to 480 and get off on Brookpark Road. Do you know what I'm talking about? Not unless you're from Cleveland, you don't.

And even then you might have no idea what I'm talking about, since I just figured out the freeway names and I've been driving for 3 years now. 

So, whatever, it's a little thing that you can easily skirt around because, if she gets too descriptive, you can skim over it. It's a bit annoying, but the plot propels the book enough that it more than makes up for it.  

Honestly, that's what the book has going for it: the plot. There's also some underlying romance, which, of course, gives me strength. Maddie can get irksome, but she means well and she's not a professional spy so you have to cut her some slack when she does stupid stuff. Overall, Meg Cabot's Heather Wells series is still number one in my heart, but this series is a solid second. 

"Alice in Zombieland" is No Trip to Wonderland

Oh my. 

That's all I can think to say about this book. I was stuck in an airport for three hours with a dying cell phone and I managed to avoid this book like the plague, that's how unappealing it is to read. 

I mean, I still read like 60 pages, but it was a rough 60 pages.

*Sigh* I haven't touched it in three months and it still has the power to make me angry. Let's just get through this so I can be on my merry way.

First of all, Alice in Zombieland? More like there's a girl named Alice and there's some zombies where she lives. And she daydreams sometimes about making out with people (more on that below). It's not a play on Alice in Wonderland, its just some snazzy words that made sense with the premise. If you're looking for white rabbits and the Cheshire cat, you came to the WRONG place.

Basically what killed this was the insta-love. There's "Twilight" insta-love, which is annoying and unrealistic but manageable. And then there is Alice insta-love, which consists of both individuals seeing one another for the first time and transporting to another world where all they do is make-out. This occurs quite a bit in the middle of the hallway at school. 

Like...COME ON. I can't get a boy to flirt with me and you're making out with your crush in another dimension the first time you see him. Sure. That makes sense. 

AND THIS HAPPENS MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE FIRST 60 SOME PAGES. 

Alice also SUCKS as a character. I mean, she's witty, but internally she's a mess. Like, if you're going to make a sarcastic comment, at least be confident about it first. Don't make me read about how you're so unsure of what you're saying and then act like you're the head bitch in charge. No. I won't believe it and neither should everyone around you. 

The only redeeming quality of the book was the first chapter (even though it was more of a prologue?) because it was captivating and was a seemingly good origin story for an independent, female, kick ass zombie hunter. 

BUT THEN I GOT SMACKED IN THE FACE WITH INSTA-LOVE AND THAT WAS THAT. 

If you can make it farther, peace and blessings to you. I just want this as far away from me as possible.(less)

Well, "The Fault In Our Stars" Kind of Wrecked Me

DAMNNNN...that hurt my heart a little bit.

I mean, I didn't cry, which was EVERYONE said they did when they read this. Maybe it's because I prepared myself for the sadness that would ensue or maybe it was because I just don't cry when it comes to sickness and death. I don't know...but it still had an impact on me.

For one thing, it made me grateful to be a healthy person. The book puts life into perspective and makes you cherish things you overlook every single day. I remember multiple times where I superstitiously "knocked on wood" every time I realized how lucky I was to not be sick like Hazel.

Speaking of which, GOD BLESS HAZEL. She is probably one of my most favorite characters EVER. She is snarky, confident, and basically does not give a shit about anything. I LOVE IT. She doesn't let her illness define her and is, genuinely, a fun character to read about. John Green did good.

Overall, this book...I can't even describe it. There are twists, great quotes, lovable characters, and parts that move you. If this isn't a perfect book, then I don't know what is.

"House of Hades" is a Great Edition, Just Don't Read it on its Own

I've always been a fan of the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan. Actually, I'm not just a fan, I'm obsessed. I loved his original series and I've enjoyed making my way through this series.

Except for the first movie. That was a hot mess.

The thing about this Heroes of Olympus Series is that there is a LOT going on. There are a million character POVs and jumping from like 10 people throughout the entire book can get pretty exhausting. Not to mention the fact that you have to remember things that happened from the past books! This is not easy when you are trying to read the books as they come out, since you are going for months at a time without reading this stuff. To jump back in, you have to readjust and reach into your memory to remember what was established in the last book(s). It's hard to do, but that's the price of liking an ongoing series.

Other than that, though, this book is great: the characters develop, secrets are revealed, and there is action throughout. There's even a part where Riordan came out of left field  with some progressive stuff. It was unexpected, but I am so glad he decided to go that route with the story.

At the end of the day, though, I'm just here for Percy and Annabeth. And, well...whoever was in the first series. The other characters are okay, but I'm just invested in my original peeps. It's like if you read Harry Potter and Harry, Ron, and Hermoine shared time with new main characters. You'd like the newbies, but you would be more interested in reading about the old crew.

Overall, if you are a returning reader, like me, you know what to expect. This book is a great addition and answers all the questions that you had from the last book. However, I DO NOT RECOMMEND READING THIS OUT OF ORDER. You will be so confused and probably end up hating the series, which would be horrible for you BECAUSE IT IS SO GOOD AND SO WORTH IT. If anything, you HAVE to come into this series from the beginning (more preferably the Percy Jackson and the Olympian Series), because it eases you into Riordan's writing style. Once you do, I guarantee that you will be hooked.

"Vampire Academy" Proves That Vampire Books Can Be Good

I'll be totally honest with you: when I first saw this book, I was irritated. It was YET ANOTHER vampire book riding along the coattails of that one major hit...what was it?

Oh yeah, fucking Twilight. (Don't even get me started on that...)

So, imagine my surprise when I saw the TV spot for the movie and realized this series looked pretty kickass. Rose seemed like the most sarcastic and sassy person EVER, so I was instantly intrigued. Plus, everyone was on my ass to finish it since the movie came out last weekend and they seemed to genuinely enjoy this book. If they liked it, I probably would too.

And Rose. Rose made me want to read it just so I could see what she would say.

I wasn't disappointed either. The book sucks you in immediately and you feel an instant attraction to the characters. Rose is exactly what I looked for in a main character and was very refreshing to read from her perspective, since she is definitely NOT a weak or whiny person. They plot was great too. It kept you on your toes and would gradually feed you information so that you wouldn't guess the ending. I appreciated this, because nothing sucks more than guessing the ending five minutes into the book.

I, honestly, can't wait to see the movie this weekend and compare them. I noticed that some of the parts of the trailer are different from the book, but, as long as they make a good ADAPTATION of the book, I'll be satisfied. I also can't wait to get my hands on the next book in this series, because this book is just that good.

"Divergent": Not Bad, but not Great Either

Going into Divergent, I had some high hopes. A lot of people were raving about it and I've started to seen some previews for the movie online. As someone who likes to read the book before the movie comes out, I figured I'd jump right on this and get ahead.

I don't necessarily regret it, but I don't think it did me any favors.

I just feel like I am not a dystopian book lover. I honestly don't think this book was terrible, but I didn't feel connected to it at all. Instead of being sucked in, I just felt like an observer, watching the events of the story unfold before me. This shouldn't be surprising because I didn't care for the original Hunger Games book either, and, while they are two COMPLETELY different books, I feel like they had similar concepts going on.

And, for the record, I would reread Divergent before the Hunger Games. That first one I just did not like...

Back to Divergent, though. It had everything I like in a book: some badassery, a love interest, and a strong main character.  SO WHY DON'T YOU LIKE THIS BOOK KATIE?!

TRUST ME, I want to like this book more than I did. But I just feel like there wasn't a lot of setting change and the same things would keep happening. The end of the book felt rushed, but I was kind of glad because I just wanted to finish this book (it was due in 24 hours and I'm a college student. The struggle). They also didn't really go out of their way to show the importance of divergence, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE BOOK. Usually, when that is the case, the reveal leading up to it is full of suspense and guessing what its importance is. Roth doesn't build it up at all and, in the end, you know what it is but it's nothing extraordinary.

That might be the reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did. There was not a lot of buildup to suspense. There is some, but it's not enough to make your heart start to race and want to continue reading. I want that kind of suspense, because that's the whole reason why I read!

So, Divergent. It's not bad, but it's not great. If you like dystopian societies, you'll probably love it, but, for me, it was only eh.

KATIE'S LAST WORDS: I am looking forward to the movie, though. I mean, I didn't like the Hunger Games book, but I loved the movie. Hopefully, the same thing happens with Divergent.

"The Choice": Not My Best Pick For Reading Material

I already know what you're thinking, this is a Nicholas Sparks book you weenie, why are you reading this? For the record, I really do like Nicholas Sparks books, my favorite being Safe Haven (not the movie, mind you, because the trailer looked nothing like what the book was about). I remember the Last Song pretty well too and I didn't mind that, nor Dear John, even though that was probably my least favorite to date. This one? It was only eh.

First of all, it's short. According to my Nook, it's only 220 something pages. At first, I was psyched because I didn't have to read that much, but after finishing the book, I wish there was more relationship development. In the first half of the book, Sparks tried to do that; he introduces the main love interests and have them interact with each other. To me, though, this was the most unbelievable part of the entire book because they fell in love so fast. Like there was a few meetings where nothing happened romantically, although you were expecting it to lead there and then BAM INSTA-LOVE. I had to check and make sure I wasn't reading a YA novel or like Twilight because I did not think adult romance novels had this concept.

Apparently, as I learned from this book, they do.

The second half of the book I won't spoil for you, but, if you read the prologue and the title, you were probably expecting it by this point. While I liked the emotions surrounding the situation, I just wasn't into it. I felt like it was forced and it was just trying to make me feel for these characters that I barely knew anything about, since the "getting to know the characters" portion was breezed through so fast. Plus there was so much time missing from the first part to the second part that it left you with questions you will never get answered.

It also drove me up a wall that the speeches were so...perfect. Yes, this is a Nicholas Sparks novel; I should be expecting this. But, why NOT have more realistic situations? There is no way that these characters' lives were so happy and problem free. There is no way that these characters could say the perfect thing at the perfect time. It just seemed cheesy and awkward. I would read the passages with a character giving a love speech and I would laugh to myself since there is no way in hell that would happen in real life. I JUST WANT REALISTIC, NOT PERFECT.

The epilogue was predictable as well. If you saw what was coming in the second part, you saw what was coming in the epilogue. Am I mad about it? No. But I just wish that I could have been surprised.

"Gone Girl": It's Not Your Mama's Mystery Novel

I'm not normally an adult mystery novel kind of girl. Granted, I am eighteen, so I usually stick to what I know: Young Adult novels. They're not always good, but, it's my age group so, you know. This time, though, I decided to try something new.

And I'm so glad I did.

Gone Girl is a novel that will keep you on your toes every step of the way. Seriously. Just when you think you know what's going on, Gillian Flynn throws in another twist and it's back to the drawing board. It's wildly addicting and pretty messed up, just like a good mystery novel should be. And there were no sparkly vampires, which is always a plus.

There are also multiple perspectives in the novel, which is something I always find interesting. It was even better in this novel, since their POVs would always change your opinion of the other character. One minute you were pro-Nick and the next you were pro-Amy. This dynamic was cool, since it was realistic and kept you on your toes.

The only thing I didn't care for was the end. I really wanted the book to be resolved and not left where it was. The ending did stick with me for days (and is still shocking to me now), so Flynn did exactly what she was supposed to as an author. I highly recommend it and bet that you will not see the ending coming, not in a million years..

Elizabeth Norris Writes Another "Unbreakable" Novel

It's so hard to find a good YA novel nowadays. It's like every single one has the same whiny main character, the same forbidden romance aspect, and the same blah plot.

So, basically, Twilight wannabees.

When I picked up the first book in this series, Unraveling, I thought it would be just like the others: painful and a waste of my time. Surprisingly, it wasn't. It's main character was a strong and interesting individual, the romance did not take up the entire story, and I was entranced by the plot. It was such a refreshing change of pace that I could not wait for this book to come out.

Now that it's here (and I got the chance to read it), I have to say that Elizabeth Norris has done it again; this book is great.

First off, Janelle is fabulous. She's such a joy to read about because she's not one of those girls who obsess over the boy she cares about. Yes, it crosses her mind from time to time, but she knows that there are more pressing things to think about than what he's up to. She's also not blinded by her love. When she gets news about Ben having gone missing, she's upset, but she doesn't automatically go looking for him. She knows that she has people she cares about in San Diego and, only after a lot of persuading and weighing her options, does she finally decide to go after him.

Norris is also not afraid of killing. Many YA authors shy away from characters killing one another because it's morally wrong. But that's not realistic! If someone was attacking you, would you make sure you didn't hurt them or would you do whatever was needed to survive?

I would choose survive every day.

This is what makes Unbreakable such a great novel. It has the perfect amount of action, suspense, and realism. It doesn't smother you; instead, it brings all these elements together to make a great read.

Awakening the New Year: My Review of "Awaken" by Meg Cabot

Everyone knows that Meg Cabot is one of my favorite authors of all time. Everyone also knows that her Abandon Trilogy is my least favorite series of hers. The first book? Thoroughly loved. The second? Couldn't stand. So, going into Awaken, I had no idea what to expect. 

In the end, I got the best (and the worst) of both books. 

THE BAD:
John and Pierce- Their interactions drive me up a wall. It is like nothing can ever get accomplished with the two of them because they are too busy groping and flirting with each other. I didn't mind it so much at the end, but when they needed to make a vital decision, it was like the entire world stopped for them. It's like in a movie where the two main characters are having a moment and the bad guy waits for them to finish before enacting his evil plot. It's just tacky and, in their case, too lovey-dovey for me. 

The suspense- I figured everything out WAY before Pierce figured it out. There were a few times where it was painfully obvious what was going on and Pierce had no idea. I enjoy when I don't have a clue or figure it out right before it happens, but it becomes tiresome when you want to scream at the book because she's not getting it. 

Pierce crying- I CAN NOT STAND WEAK MAIN CHARACTERS. Whining, crying, the whole lot. It's why I did not enjoy the second book, Underworld, because that was all it entailed. While Pierce got better as the book progressed, the beginning had me thinking this was going to be the same exact thing. It was just constant "Pierce had tears in her eyes" and "Pierce let the tears fall". I literally just wanted to yell at her and tell her to grow some balls. Yes, you can cry a little bit, but don't make a huge production out of it. 

THE GOOD:
Pierce after she stopped crying- When Pierce FINALLY got to the point where she could be sarcastic and get things done, she was fantastic to read about. You just had to get through a lot of humps to get to this point, which kind of irritated me. If we had had this Pierce the entire book, it would have been a five star book for me, hands down. 

The end- What can I say, Meg Cabot ended this perfectly. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I am perfectly satisfied with how she wrote it. 

Overall, Awaken is not as good as the first but not as bad as the second. Even with the bad, Awaken manages to keep you interested and invested, with you not wanting to put the book down. I could have done without some parts, but the end of the book is worth it, so I recommend reading it.