Book Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

 A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.
Book Summary: The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

Liana's Summary: Conor has been having the same nightmare, of the same monster, for such a long time now. But it stops temporarily. Because another monster has come to haunt his dreams. And it wants something even more terrifying than death. It wants the truth.

Rate(1-10): 10

Okay, if I didn't like this book then I would have accused the author of not really being Patrick Ness. After reading his Chaos Walking trilogy, he raised so much expectations. And this book met it. I loved loved loved it so much. (But I love Chaos Walking more. Who doesn't. DOESN'T COUNT IF YOU DIDN'T READ IT)

When I first saw this book, I was like, ARE YOU SERIOUS. IS IT THAT THIN? I'M ONLY GONNA ENJOY THE BOOK FOR 200 SOMETHING PAGES? WHAT. NOOOO. And when I got to the last page I was so freaking sad and oh my goodness. That ending is perfect but, it's just so tragic I wanted to burst into loud sobs right in the library. (Why can't I anyways. Someone farted super loud and it was really disturbing.)

Anyways, the main character. His name is Conor. And he's an introverted, grouchy, depressed, and reckless little git. I don't like him. He has a really bad life. I understand that. He gets bullied at school and pitied and mainly, he's just invisible. His family has a lot of complications. But sometimes I think, if he tried to be happy, he could have been. But the point is, he didn't. This whole book was so depressing yet amazing.

I wouldn't say that there was any character development in Conor. I just think that from the beginning to the end Conor opened up more and finally relented his stubborn self and let everything out. His emotion. His emotion is a big aspect actually because all he did in the beginning was have on a poker face and he wasn't even afraid of dying. He was calm in the situations in which a normal person would be screaming and crying and it really creeped me out. He's scary.

Patrick Ness is just so amazing, period.

I enjoyed this book a lot. And the pictures are gorgeous and expressive even if I don't usually like pictures at all.

Quotes~

"He'd turned thirteen just last month."
Being thirteen doesn't stop you from believing in monsters.. like Justin Bieber said: BELIEVE!

"He'll have to get his baldy mother to kiss it better for him!"

Out of all the verbal bullying I've read about, this is the worst. His mom is horribly sick and all the kids at school can do about it is bully him with it?

"No, Miss, it's not true,"

SOMEONE SLAP THIS KID

"A great arm swung down and snatched Conor up in it, lifting him high in the air, the wind whirling around them,.."


He ain't even scared. But I am.

"You look like a tree,"

"I'm not sorry,"

Wow.

"The sitting room was one of those sitting rooms where no one ever actually sat."

That should be a tongue twister. :D

"Grandma's house is an old lady's house,"


"..there is nothing I can do to help you."

"What did you do?"

Oh Conor. What have YOU done?

"He wants you to kick his arse."

That's something new.

"You lied,"

I'm just wondering how he can say that. He's a afkdjfakldasjklsjalk;j git
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And that's it! What did you think of this review? (:

Blog Tour: Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich.

YA Fantasy

Date Published:11/19/12

Evolved Publishing presents a wild journey to a sister planet of Earth, in "The Silver Sphere" by Michael Dadich. [YA Fantasy/Sci- Fi] Shelby Pardow never imagined she could kill someone. All she wants to do is hide from her troubled father... when she is teleported to awaiting soldiers on the planet Azimuth. Here she is not a child, but Kin to one of the six Aulic Assembly members whom Malefic Cacoethes has drugged and imprisoned. He seeks to become dictator of this world (and then Earth by proxy). His father, Biskara, is an evil celestial entity, tracked by the Assembly with an armillary device, The Silver Sphere. With the Assembly now deposed, Biskara directs Malefic and the Nightlanders to their strategic targets. Unless.... Can Shelby find the other Kin, and develop courage and combat skills? Can the Kin reassemble in time to release or replace the Assembly, overthrowing Malefic and restraining Biskara?

Links to Buy

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I’ve been writing since first setting pencil to steno pad at age 8. A year later, I began developing the world of my current series-in-progress, and even created its title, The Silver Sphere. Now, with the support of years of experience, those early maps and back stories have progressed into what I hope is a fresh and entertaining take on the classic young adult fantasy adventure.

Despite my frequent escapes into parallel worlds, I root myself firmly in my very real family and community. When not pacing the yard maniacally after every few pages of writing, I spend as much time as possible hanging out with my studly 9-year-old son, and my inspirational wife Jenna. I also coach several local youth sports teams in Beverly Hills, and alternate between yelling at my two crazy Corgis and hiking with my trained German Shepherd.

For more, join me in my favorite fantasy worlds, from Lord of the Rings to the creations of C.S. Lewis, Anne McCaffrey and Terry Brooks. Even more importantly, stop by and say hello on my Facebook page at AuthorMichaelDadich, tweet me at @MichaelDadich, and stalk my website athttp:// www.thesilversphere.org.

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Book Review: Skinny by Donna Cooner.

 Skinny by Donna Cooner.
Book Summary: Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies's head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark, unwhispered thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds and that she'll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.
But there is another voice: Ever's singing voice, which is beautiful and strong but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical-- and partly to try and save her own life-- Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.
With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the long uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.

Liana's Summary: Ever Davies is a 302 pound 15 year old. And no one talks to her because she's fat. At least, that's what Skinny, the voice inside her head, says. Ever believes Skinny. If her mom hadn't died, she wouldn't be in this situation right here. She would have so much friends. She could wear whatever she wanted to wear. Skinny jeans. Tank tops. Booty shorts. So she decides to go through surgery. The surgery that'll change her life, forever. The surgery that will make her skinny.

Rate(1-10): 9

This book is actually pretty good.
Let me take a moment to thank my book buddy, Cindy, for letting me have the opportunity to buy this. (High school sucks. No book orders!)
When I first saw this book in person, I was like, IS IT SERIOUSLY THAT THIN. Wow. And since I don't really like thin books, to be honest, I was really discouraged to read it for a long while. But yesterday, I just needed a quick short read and SKINNY, with 260 pages, was the perfect book to read at that time. So I picked it up.
The cover is actually pretty interesting and the main thing that made me want to read it in the first place. It has a lot of SKINNY on it, doesn't it? It kinda represents a lot.
I judged this cover and title by thinking about someone being too skinny for their own good. Idk. The cover doesn't have an overly obese girl on it. But oh-ho. I was so wrong, because this book was about a fat girl that gained weight because of depression. She was introverted, depressed, and always mad at everyone. I never liked her and still I don't like her that much. But she changed from the beginning to the end, for the better. Ever. What an interesting name, right?

So the title is actually named after Ever's own conscience. We all know that there ain't no voices in our head all the time except for our own. Skinny was a kafjslka;jskldjfaklsj and that's just the reflection of Ever. Skinny was the actual antagonist. But the thing was? The whole thing was just an internal conflict.

Let me discuss the romance. I don't think it's really romance romance because they're only 15 and saying "I love you" is really awkward. I think it would go better with "I've liked you since.." But it's still super cute and Ever was seriously BLIND. Ugh.

So Rat reminds me a lot of Simon Lewis from The Mortal Instruments. Then again, a lot of nerdy hot guys remind me of Simon. But SIMON WILL ALWAYS BE HOTTEST AHAHAHA--

This story actually teaches quite a lot.
-About the weight-loss surgery.
-Insecurity.
-Overcoming your fears. Facing them instead of cowering away.
-That the stepsisters in Cinderella aren't that evil after all.

I kind of like to consider this a fairy-tale retelling. It's a lot like Cinderella. With quite a lot of twists. (; It's a very interesting read and I swear I didn't really smile until the end because it's some depressing book. Until the end. LOL.

The author wrote with quite an authentic voice: it was really good. I think her experiences on gastric-bypass surgery allowed her to write fluently about it in her book.

Anyways, quotes!

"You're really, really fat,"


Oh, little kids. They just know what to say.

"He's a geek jock. Perfect."


omg. A girl's fav.

"I'm proud of you, Ever."


What the hell is this? Her own father doesn't like her because she's FAT. What kind of dad is that? This just makes me really mad and like ugh UGH UGH JUST UGH he's proud of her for losing weight! LF:JDKLFJDSF

"3.95 GPA average.."




I bet she has a C average. Ew.

"But you never asked me."


UGH CAN I JUST SLAP HER
SHE'S TOO INFATUATED WITH THE WRONG GUY

"I miss you and me."



"I couldn't have done any of it without you."


Never.

"Then he kisses me,.."

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And that's it! What did you think of this review? (;

Book Review: Angelfire by Hanna Peach.

 Angelfire by Hanna Peach.
Book Summary: An army of angels walk among us. They have kept us safe and ignorant, so far.
Earthbound for centuries and ruled by the Elders, they have established hidden cities, a society and The Code: obey your Elders, kill all demons, eliminate Rogue-angels, protect the mortals, remain hidden. Their warriors are the ungifted earthborn angels armed with blades and the ‘borrowed magics’ of distilled angel-blood tattoos.
Alyxandria is a young warrior with a fondness for customized knives and illegal night-races. If only she could overcome the taint of her parents who abandoned her to become Rogues.
When Alyx saves Israel, a gifted mortal with a past, she is forbidden to see him again. But she can’t help herself, drawn to him through their Guardian-bond, an ancient and long-forgotten bond; if he dies, she dies.
An encounter with a handsome Rogue leaves Alyx questioning all she has been taught to believe. Alyx begins to dig into the Elders’ secrets. Two thousand years of secrets that begin with the death of the Archangel Raphael. She is not prepared when she uncovers an Elder’s dark plan.
Somewhere on earth is a key to unlock hell. Somewhere on earth are pieces of an amulet that controls Lucifer and his army. Somehow Israel is the link and now both sides are after him. Who can Alyx trust when Good and Evil is no longer clear?
The war for earth begins.

Liana's Summary: What they tell her isn't going to stop her from finding out the truth. Alyx knows she's been lied to. Even her most trusted friends have been lying to her, to keep her ignorant. There are too much things going on. When she meets Israel, she realizes that they're drawn together in this Guardian-bond. She has to keep him safe. And, maybe even fall in love with him? At the same time, there are evil plans made by the Elders. What is she going to do about it?

Rate(1-10): 8

First of all, I would like the author for personally taking the time to email me and introduce me to her book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Anyways, let's dive right in.

I felt like Hanna Peach was trying to mash a lot of concepts together all at once, and I sort of felt confused in the beginning, since it started out literally, from the middle of somewhere. I didn't understand it immediately. However, the good thing is, the author actually explained some things at the end of each chapter, like from a textbook. 

So, the characters. They're supposed to be angels, which just reminds me of The Mortal Instruments all over again, but, this book just made the angels seem like faeries instead. I mean, angels are supposed to be all angel-y. I don't know how to explain, but yeah. I think they work better off as faeries because everything they do seem so Pixie-Hollow ish I can't help but think of Tinker Bell. They're also categorized by talent. See, they do work off better as faeries.

Now, let's concentrate on one specific character. The main character. Alyxandria. Alyx. 

She seemed so ignorant at times I just wanted to reach into the book and slap some sense into her. But then she's really tough and relentless and she's always like, 'damn everything, I'm gonna get what I want' and she reminds me of Isabelle Lightwood from Cassie Clare's Mortal Instruments series. 

The author herself said that this book has a lot of similarities with the Mortal Instruments, and yeah, I think I can make a legit analogy:

Nephilim is to TMI as Seraphim is to Angelfire.

Yep.

So, the romance. The romance isn't even that great but I was glad it was there because I LOVE ROMANCE. And it was really good. But it didn't help that the guy had another girl on his mind and they did some really dirty things together and at the end he chooses-- I WAS SO FLABBERGASTED I SWEAR

And there's the ending. That ending is so freaking awesome. It totally makes people want to read it!

That's all I have to say. Definitely check this out.

Quotes! There are quite a few good ones.

"I need to win," he says.

SOMEONE SLAP THIS IDIOT

".. I will stop racing for you."

Aw snap, what now.

"Let's do it now."

This sounds really awkward. Just saying. Especially since the person saying it is really fail at seducing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

It seems this is an ideal line to those who are lying.

"Too familiar."


"Relax beautiful, lest your frown wrinkles your perfect face."



"Even your tummy rumbles are cute. Hungry?"


"It's part of the street pirates code, lovey."

EW DON'T CALL HER LOVEY

"Let her go," Israel is yelling. "If you hurt her I'll kill you."

I love how some characters, such as Israel, think saying this is gonna be effective towards the antagonist somehow. LOL.

"Bitch,"

Feisty.

"You're right,"









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That's it! What did you think of this review? (;