Review for Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

gaaaaah I loved it, I loved it, I loved it sooo much.

Okay, so Dashti is a lady's maid and is trapped in a tower with her lady for the period of seven years (they do manage to escape before that time is up). Dashti has a book with her, in which she details the days she has spent in the tower and otherwise. This may seem to be slow, after all, how many big/important things can happen while two girls are trapped in a tower and can't even see the sunlight properly?

You maybe right, but honestly, I didn't even notice it, if it was so. In addition, it wasn't as if there were mindless arbitrary actions depicted in detail . Miss Hale's writing through Dashti's voice really brings you into the story and you lose yourself in it. And I also think the pacing felt right.

Dashti is a brave character, an optimist (I really believe it was that facet to her personality that made her not give up, so I guess tenacious is another one) and loyal to a fault, and I mean really to a fault because there were times when I got frustrated with her, because of what she would do for Lady Saren (I'm coming to her later). She does change with regards to that later on, not that she still isn't loyal, because she is, but she is able to have a backbone as to how the gentry should be treated.

Lady Saren, I wavered between being sorry for her, frustrated at her and disliking her. In the end though, her character also found growth, and managed to find her inner strength, and at the end of the book I felt proud of her as did Dashti. She really came through.

All in all, if you read this book it will leave you with warm and fluffy feelings. It happened to me ^_^ and hey, I'm still grinning as I write this review.

Review for A Thief of Nightshade by J.S. Chancellor

A Thief of Nightshade by J.S. Chancellor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ack This book killed me (-- and now I have to rewrite my review and gah! that just sucks --)

So the story starts out with Aubrey attending her husband's funeral (for whom no body has been recovered) and after which she ends up in Avalar, a world her husband wrote about in one of his books. It is in Avalar that she finds out that her husband is in the custody of the Dark Fae Queen and any memory of his life prior to his return to Avalar has been forgotten and such Aubrey takes on a mission to save her husband.

Ah Aubrey, she is such a strong character in the sense that she had to undergo a lot of battles within her own self, but she came out on top at the end of it all. And that's one of the main points that this novel brings about. That little light at the end of the tunnel? It isn't just mere hallucination, it's real, and if you persevere, if you don't shatter (a little cracking is okay, we're just humans after all) you'll make it. That's really what I loved about this book, because Aubrey really had some issues (with due reason) that she had to work out, however and this is what I really liked about the book, was that even though she had her own self doubts, even though there were times when she feared her efforts wouldn't been enough, she still persevered. She still fought to free her husband with everything she had.

Another character in the book that I think really bears mentioning is Given, and that's because she feels, and she shows her emotions. After all it's not weak to cry. It's human, it's how we know we feel, because there are times when things become overwhelming, so you end up having to let it out. There's nothing wrong with that. It's what you do afterwards that counts, and Given is another fighter --both literally and figuratively. And that's great.

And now onto what I absolutely love, love, loved about this book.

The romance.

Sure, for majority of the book the hero and heroine are separated from each other, but this is what I think made this book so great. You could still feel this romance and this love between the two characters and it was so beautiful and sweet. We see the story of Aubrey and Julian unfold through a series of flashbacks, in which we see how they first met, etc. There were also little moments that as the flashbacks ran parallel to the ongoing adventure, we see how Julian was showing his love for Aubrey in his own little way, and man if that didn't hit me. Also this book doesn't need the love scenes to show how the characters feel about each other. The most we've seen of them is a kiss, and even then it's touched upon lightly, but the feelings, the feelings are there for us the reader to see and feel and you're right there with Aubrey hoping that against all odds, they will be reunited, and darn if that isn't amazing right there.

p.s. Lipsey (a.k.a Lips) the flying squirrel is so cute and sweet, where can I get me one XD.

Also, I think the cover art is absolutely beautiful, especially the close up of Aubrey, it really does capture her emotions at the masquerade ball.

Hello World #2

Hey all you people ^_^

It's been a while hasn't it? I know, I know my laziness is kicking. But I said I will do this blog, and so I will follow it through..To make sure my postings aren't so sporadic and dependent on only reviews. I'm thinking of say, taking two days out of the week to create a post on a specific topic...Unfortunately right now I'm not sure what to post on. But don't worry I will figure it out.

In other news, I have started learning to drive. o.O *le gasp*  And I find myself not know what on earth I'm doing. lol, but in any case, driving is a practical thing, and with practice and time, I should get the hang of it.

Review for Discount Armageddon (InCryptid #1) by Seanan Mcguire

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

this was a fun and action packed read.

[brief background]
Verity is a cryptozoologist (but she's really a dancer at heart..or maybe both), and a Price. Her family broke away from the Covenant some generations ago. The covenant is basically a genocidal group that thinks that every other race except for the humans are dangerous, possibly evil, and a threat to all of humanity.

Verity is a quirky, sometimes snarky character, maybe slightly crazy. Then again, all of the characters have tilted a bit on the crazy side, except for Dominic, he's just misled/brainwashed and learning to deal with the crazy world that is Discount Armageddon.

Like I said before this book is crazy fun (be sure to check out the crazy partying/religious mice -> Yes do you not see by my overuse of the word crazy that this book is crazy)

Will be looking forward to the next book ^_^

Review for Black Heart (Curse Workers #3) by Holly Black

Black Heart by Holly Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

[more a review of the series than anything else]

WHat can I say? I really loved this series. Like it caught me right there in the heart.

Cassel is a person who from the first book to the last has been struggling with doing what's right from what's wrong. As I said before he is a grey character and not only that he's many different shades of grey. He's met with decisions to make that can be wrong or wrong, because when we look at it in black or white, you really can't say. In the end though he pulls through although there are some decisions I'm not sure how to feel about them *cough*Barron*cough* I won't say anything more on that hand, when you read the book you may know what I'm talking about.

Another thing I loved about this book, is the plot or the fact that Cassel is who he is. A con-artist, (I have a weak spot for those books) and we hear Cassels voice clearly when he's talking about how a scam works, and you (the reader) are right there with him as he makes the scam. You're following him step-by-step and hoping it works out alright.

Cassel also has his friends to support him, and I love their dynamic together. Sam's a good person and so is Daneca, and I think if it weren't for those two, Cassel would've tipped over that very very very thin line his walking.

I'm also glad the Lila-Cassel relationship was resolved. I think how it worked out was pretty fitting too.

Agh Barron what to say about him? I think he's the most confusing character (i don't mean it in a bad way) that I've met, in that I cannot get a grip on who he is. I think a part of that is because Cassel in his own way, although he loves his family, doesn't know either. But there's a part of you, or me at least, when you see glimpses of him being human, that you just can't help but hope that everything works out alright for him in the end.

Well if you're reading this review and contemplating whether or not you should read this, I say go for it. It's a wonderful and entertaining read.

Review for White Cat by Holly Black (Curse Workers #1)

White Cat by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure what genre it falls under, which is why I have both the paranormal and urban fantasy genre.

Now onto the review XD...I have been waiting to read this book from the moment it came out, although I have read, or at least started Tithe by the same author, but I just couldn't get into the book and dropped it. Fortunately this was not the case this book ^_^

And I must say I am a sucker for the con-artist type books.

Plot-wise this book was pretty good, it kept twisting and turning so the reader is in for some surprises, and even if they guessed them, the book is written in a way that you'll still enjoy the reveal.

Cassel's family is...wow, well let's just say they have some things they need to work out, and though Cassel himself is a grey character, you'll still want to root for him, because I think where it counts he's not so bad. (love the grandpa) and well that ending was a whopper...not a cliff hanger per se...but still a whopper

Review for A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Khemri is a prince of the Empire and as such believes that ultimately he will become prince. This is understandable, due to the factt that when he was a toddler he was isolated, and basically taught to believe he would be Emperor. Unfortunately for Khem, as the book progresses, he begins to realise this is not necessarily so, and also, some truths about the Empire.

Oh man, I really wanted to like this book, the cover was pretty and the summary sounded intriguing, and I guess in a way it was, but the book from the beginning confused me. I guess it's because this is, the first really detailed sci-fi book I've read. My only other sci-fi encounters (that I can recall) have been watching Star Wars (the six movies) and reading Academy 7.

Even afterwards though, when I got a somewhat loose hold on the world, the pacing was so slow. Usually I wouldn't mind that, (Some may say Starcrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce was a bit slow to start, but I loved it regardless), but with A Confusion of Princes, I had to pause it and start up another book.

This only really started to pick up by Chapter 15/16, which is more than halfway into the book.

That said, I did enjoy the latter part (which saved it from a 2.5 star rating), and it didn't feel as tedious to read through. And although, I couldn't understand fully most of it, you can tell that planning went into the world-building of this book.

Extra Points for being a stand-alone too. (^_^)