Mini Book Reviews: Recursion, Fake Blood...

More mini book reviews! Yay! I've read a lot this summer. Go me!

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Published February 5th, 2019 by MacMillan Audio

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Format: Audio Book, 8 hours and 43 minutes, Library

Rating: 3 stars

My Thoughts:

It's a page-turner, or for me, an ear burner? It's quick and dirty and a fun twist. I didn't get it totally figured out but I guessed some of it so I can now pat myself on the back! Ha. Some of the character development was a little flat but overall it was a great summer "beach" read!

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Published June 11th, 2019 by MacMillan Audio

Genre: Sci-fi, Thriller

Format: Hardcover, 329 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

This was a fun one! Crouch knows how to make very smart sci-fi thrillers. It got a little bogged down toward the end but overall it came together nicely. Another fun summer "beach" read. This would make a great movie and then a spin-off TV series. Seriously.

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner

Published September 4th, 2018 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Graphic Novel, Paranormal, Humor

Format: Paperback, 336 Pages, Library

Rating: 3.5 stars

My Thoughts:

This was a cute coming-of-age story about a kid who fakes being a vampire in order to impress a girl in his class who is obsessed with vampires. The illustrations were great too. Enjoyed this one.

Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu

Published July 19th, 2016 by Image Comics

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy

Format: Paperback, 235 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

It's gorgeously illustrated. The plot was a little hard to follow but there are talking magical cats in this one. So bonus. It's a thrilling fantasy with a complicated protagonist. I'm looking forward to the next volume.

The Time Museum by Matthew Loux

Published February 21st, 2017 by First Second

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Graphic Novel, Fantasy

Format: Paperback, 250 Pages, Library

Rating: 3.5 stars

My Thoughts:

It's a fun sci-fi/fantasy graphic novel for middle schoolers. Plot is a bit convoluted toward the end. But it shows some promise. I'll probably pick up the next in the series. G also really enjoyed it.

Jukebox Joyride by Jacob Stein

Published June 6th, 2019 by First Second

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy

Format: Audible, 3 hours and 31 minutes, Own

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

Another listen in our long drive to and from Washington! A music box transports two siblings back in time to help save their uncle and restore order. It wasn't fantastic but it was cute and exciting and it kept G entertained. So an extra star just for that!

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Goodreads Summary

Certain Dark Things combines elements of Latin American mythology with a literary voice that leads readers on an exhilarating and fast-paced journey.

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Here in the city, heavily policed to keep the creatures of the night at bay, Domingo is another trash-picking street kid, just hoping to make enough to survive. Then he meets Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers. Domingo is smitten. He clings to her like a barnacle until Atl relents and decides to let him stick around.

But Atl's problems, Nick and Rodrigo, have come to find her. When they start to raise the body count in the city, it attracts the attention of police officers, local crime bosses, and the vampire community. Atl has to get out before Mexico City is upended, and her with it.

What I liked:

Moreno-Garcia sets up a fascinating world where vampires exist as other evolved hominids. It's truly fascinating.

What I didn't like:

I felt like this was a very short introduction into her vampire-filled world. The first half of the book was really slow. And it's a very short book.

Terrible things happen to our characters without a lot of time to process it. We care but she won't let us care too much.

Her two protagonists had zero chemistry. That's weird, right? She made them both up. But I didn't feel it; it felt very forced.

I liked it but I wanted to love it. I hope she delves back into this strange world with a better plot and character development.

R.I.P. XI: Book Review: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The book was so much creepier than the movie. But the movie kept the same feel of the book, which was nice. Overall, it's a coming of age story for both Eli, the vampire, and Oskar, the boy she lives next door to.

Oskar's parents are divorced. He lives alone with his mom. He's picked on brutally at school by three bullies. He wants a new life. Then he meets Eli, the girl next door. She's not like other girls. She stinks, for one, but she's really smart at the Rubik's cube. Plus she never judges him. Ever. They even start using Morse Code to talk to each other through the walls.

But then a boy is murdered in the woods. It looks like a ritual killing. More murders and more questions. Is Eli involved and her caretaker?

The pace is surprisingly quick. The author introduces all the characters that become entangled in Eli's web. We start to empathize and we're not quite sure who to root for....

I loved it. I loved the dark and cold feel of the book with a hint of warmth in how he writes both Eli and Oskar. Everyone seems human, even the monsters. It's a classic. I will read again.

There are two adaptations of this book. The original Swedish and the American one "Let Me In" with Chloe Grace Moretz. I saw the Swedish version a few years ago and plan on rewatching it soon and I just picked up the American version from the library so I'm excited to compare and contrast all three.

I read this for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.

1/4 read

The Historian By Elizabeth Kostova Read-a-long Review and Wrap-up!

I finished! This was a really thick book but it didn't seem that long and it moved along pretty fast. Thanks to Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings for the R.I.P. VIII challenge and The Estella Society for hosting this fabulous readalong!

Publisher's Summary:

For centuries, the story of Dracula has captured the imagination of readers and storytellers alike. Kostova's breathtaking first novel, ten years in the writing, is an accomplished retelling of this ancient tale. "The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper.. As an historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it." With these words, a nameless narrator unfolds a story that began 30 years earlier. 
Late one night in 1972, as a 16-year-old girl, she discovers a mysterious book and a sheaf of letters in her father's library -- a discovery that will have dreadful and far-reaching consequences, and will send her on a journey of mind-boggling danger. While seeking clues to the secrets of her father's past and her mother's puzzling disappearance, she follows a trail from London to Istanbul to Budapest and beyond, and learns that the letters in her possession provide a link to one of the world's darkest and most intoxicating figures. Generation after generation, the legend of Dracula has enticed and eluded both historians and opportunists alike. Now a young girl undertakes the same search that ended in the death and defilement of so many others -- in an attempt to save her father from an unspeakable fate.

Image Source

My Summary:

Kostova really knows how to weave stories and characters and times and places. I felt transported to the lands and times she wrote about. I could taste the food and feel the cool mountains.

There are only short bouts of real time when the author (the daughter of the main characters) writes about her real-time journey. The rest is told through very long letters. And some are told letters within letters or a story within a story. It gets pretty layered quickly and sometimes I had a hard time remembering whose story was who's. But it worked for the story she needed to tell and so I just went with it.

She paints quite the trail for Drakula. His story is creepy and his minions are always around the corner. I liked how she drew the myth of Dracula into a modern-day legend, tying him in quite nicely.

The ending was a bit anti-climatic but still satisfying! I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy and beautifully written book!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: vampire, historical
FTC Disclosure: bought used on Goodreads Swap
Published: 2010
Pages: 336
Content: PG-13 for vampire violence.

In a Line: A fun and fast look at Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter.

I really enjoyed Grahame-Smith's first novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. So I was hoping for same sort of style with this novel. I was not disappointed! I expected to just like it, but I really enjoyed this one.

Grahame-Smith starts the novel with himself...receiving a bunch of old diaries from someone named Henry...ta dah, all about Abe Lincoln's life as a vampire hunter and the real truth behind the Civil War. This plot device is cheesy, but it drew me in even more. Let's blame everything on imaginary creatures, those darn vampires! HA, love it!

We follow Abe through his life from the loss of his mother to the discovery of vampires and his desire to see them all sent to Hell! To his political career to end slavery, since that is how the vampires feed so well in America.

It definitely makes me want to read an actual biography Abe Lincoln. There are also fun doctored photos of Abe killing vamps and such. It's fun and campy and I really enjoyed it. The only thing that bothered me was the literal demonization of certain key historical figures...but then I just thought to myself that it is fiction and to turn the brain off and just enjoy it!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Genre: Young adult, vampire, romance
FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2010
Pages: 339
Content: PG-13 for violence and mayhem!
Reading Challenges: 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

This was another great sequel in the Evernight series! And another horrifying cliffhanger!

Bianca and Lucas are on the run after the ransacking and burning of the Evernight Academy. They are stuck with Lucas's Black Cross gang. How do they hide who Bianca really is and what Lucas may be turning into?

Then there is the ever present wraiths trying to reclaim Bianca and Balthazar's insane sister Charity causing mayhem as well!

It's fast-paced with the story moving along smoothly and plenty of fighting and loving in between and a crazy cliffhanger to boot.

I really like this vampire series. I feel it's a cut above the rest and really enjoy Bianca and Lucas's relationship. The author portrays them on more equal footing and relationship that took it's time to grow instead of crazy and debilitating lust that people think is love...no reference to other vampire novels...

Can't wait for the next one!

Rating: 4/5

Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

Genre: austen-inspired, romance, vampire
FTC Disclosure: bought from Walmart
Published: 2009
Pages: 299
Content: PG for adult vampire themes


One Line Summary: Bad form with Charlotte Bronte, grrrr!

Another book in the austen-inspired fiction world I absolutely wanted to love...but didn't. Don't get me wrong it was on the witty side, but I hated the way the author portrayed Austen. Yes, she's a vampire and has been for a couple hundred years, but in all that time she's done nothing with herself except pine away after Lord Byron and open a book shop and has learned nothing about herself or the world so she has to rely on Byron to teach her and thus abuse her and manipulate her and so on. She's much too timid and not the way I would ever imagine Jane Austen. But the thing that really clenched it for me was the author throwing in Charlotte Bronte into the mix! She's also a vampire and now is a crazy lunatic that hates Austen and wants to destroy her! I love my Charlotte as well as I love my Austen so to make them both to unlike what they really were is just abhorrent to me.

Rating: 2.5/5

TV Thursday

My weekly meme all about TV!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Can I just say that show rocked! I finally purchased the final season a month or so ago and am having so much going through them again. What makes Buffy such a wonderful character? Well, first off she's tough. She can take care of herself physically, yeah! Second, she's not perfect. She's still a teenage girl trying to fit in and make sense of everything, so she needs people emotionally to be there for her and that's where her awesome friends come in. I love how, even though the show is fantasy (with vampires and all), there still is realism thrown in. Not everyone in Sunnydale looks like they're models heading to high school every morning/photo shoots...this is the big problem I have with the new Vampire Diaries TV show on right now. Willow's a nerd, too skinny, average-looking girl. Xander is a hottie who doesn't know it, but he's still average guy in high school. Yeah, the ones not as great-looking are of course the Not main character like Buffy, but hey, it's progress!

My favorite episodes that stand out are the ones where everyone loses the ability to speak and these creepy monster guys go around eating children or something...that one was hilarious and scary all at the same time. Then we have the musical episode in the sixth season! I think Giles was the only one who could actually sing really great...but it was just brilliant and fun at the same time.

What's your favorite vampire show and/or movie? I'd love to hear it!

Stargazer by Claudia Gray

I'm so glad I found this series!

One Line Review: Stargazing while sucking blood and yet choosing sides!

Summary: Bianca has returned to Evernight, but without her love Lucas. They must keep their love secret for they are from two separate worlds. She soon learns that Evernight is haunted and that they are coming for her and she must choose sides in order to survive.

Review: Claudia Gray wraps my finger around all of these characters. Even the ones we're not supposed to care about we end up doing just that. Lucas and Bianca are star-crossed lovers but not in a creepy I'm going-to-stalk-you sort of way (like Edward anyone?). And like I said in my review of the first novel in the series, I just really love Claudia Gray's new take on the vampire lore! Enjoy!

Book Review: Evernight by Claudia Gray

Evernight, published June 8, 2008

Summary: Bianca's parents are moving out to Evernight, a boarding school, to teach. But Bianca is comfortable where she is and has no desire to change schools so the night before school starts she decides to runaway that is until she meets Lucas, a handsome fellow classmate. And soon their secrets are set to tear their love asunder.

Review: I just loved this book. I really thought the story was going to go one way and then it went another! I was really surprised and I loved that about this book. I also really enjoyed her twist on vampires...you'll have to read to find out! I also found her writing style fabulous...showed us what was going on instead of coming out and blatantly saying it; she just let it flow like the reader was already supposed to know what was going on! It was fast-paced and fun!

I just received the second book in the series Stargazer and am so excited!

Here are some quotes I found exceptional:

"The silence between us stretched out, but it wasn't awkward. Sometimes there are people you can be quiet with, and you never feel the need to fill the gap with meaningless chit-chat. I'd only become that close to a couple people in my hometown, and I'd always thought it took years. Lucas and I were already there. "

"You're alive, Bianca. You still can't appreciate what it means, to be alive. It's better than being a vampire - better than anything else in the world. I remember a little of what being alive was like, and if I could touch that again, even for a day, it would be worth anything in the world. Even dying again, forever. All the centuries I've known and all the marvels I've seen don't compare to being alive."

"Thunder rumbled. My heart beat faster. I turned away from Evernight for the last time and looked back at the flower as it trembled upon its branch. A single petal was torn away by the wind. Pushing my hands through the thorns, I felt lashes of pain across my skin, but I kept going determined. But when my fingertip touched the flower, it instantly darkened, withering and drying as each petal turned black. "

Part of the Helluva Halloween and R.I.P. Challenges

Book Review: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange (Aug. 1, 2009)

Summary:

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.

Review:

This was a light and fun adaptation of what happens after Pride and Prejudice. Why is Darcy so brooding and miserable all the time? Well, now we know...he's a vampire! Well, there's not a lot of vampire action, and she didn't quite portray Lizzy the way I imagined her in the original Pride and Prejudice, but it was still a fun twist and well worth at least one read.

Part of the Everything Austen Challenge, Helluva Halloween and R.I.P. Challenges.

Book Review: Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn (1995)

Summary from back cover:

In a remote Maine inn, where Cynda is supposed to be reconnecting with her father and his new family, she is also falling in love for the first time. But this isn't a typical teenage romance. The object of her affection, Vincent Morthanos, is older and worldly, with pale, aristocratic good looks. And he has a secret—a secret that could destroy Cynda's family, unless she can free herself from love's deadly embrace.

My Review: I've been on a YA fiction kick and especially paranormal with Halloween around the corner along with a few related challenges, so when I saw this at the library it looked really fun and interesting, so seductive. It really wasn't.

Cynda comes to live with her dad, stepmom, and half-brother up in cold Maine and the inn that her father and stepmother own and run. But it's haunted! Maybe I'm too used to vampires trying to be good like Angel from Buffy, Edward from Twilight, and now we have the Vampire Diaries. But when the mysterious stranger shows up, I as the reader, knew he was evil! Why couldn't Cynda? Or the rest of the family? The little boy knew, the cat, and even the next-door neighbor! So I'm reading about all her goo-ga's over Vincent and it's pretty sickening. I knew what was coming and I couldn't stop it. I really wanted to be bamboozled like Cynda and her parents, and be shocked at the end that he was bad to the bone! But it wasn't to be...

It was a really fast read, but predictable and the characters were just a bit too annoying for my taste.

This read goes toward my R.I.P. Challenge and Helluva Halloween Challenge.

Vampirates!

Vampirates by Justin Somper: Amazon.com:

Twins, Connor and Grace, never dreamed that there was any truth to the Vampirate shanty their father sang to them before he died, but that was before the two were shipwrecked and separated from each other. For Connor, who is taken aboard a pirate ship, there's the chance to learn to swordfight, but for Grace, aboard a mysterious ship of vampire pirates, the danger is great. What will it take for them to find each other?

I've heard about zombies and pirates! But now we have vampires and pirates! What a fun combo! I'm definitely putting this on my TBR list. This is a children's book series so it probably doesn't get too bloody! So I wonder whose blood they suck when they're out at sea? Maybe they are more "humane" vampires and only eat the blood of fish? Or do they ravage ships and ports alike? Maybe if this were a more adult series they'd be doing more ravaging! But in any case, it looks fun!

Buffy Vs Edward!

For everyone who wants a showdown between Buffy and Edward here it is! Especially in the movie I found Edward a bit too stalker-boy...so here's a take on what Buffy would've done had Edward stalked her!