Book Reviews

The Young Elites (A Young Elites Novel) by Marie Lu

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Older Readers / Young Adult by

The Young Elites book cover Summary

“From the New York Times bestselling author of the Legend series 

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.”

-Qtd. from the Amazon.com

Review

So I’m back for Thanksgiving break and get a little bit of down time. Well…down time between writing research papers, studying and other bits and pieces, but I’ve found time to read! And it’s beautiful. I stopped by my local library, of course, and went to the recommended reading section as I just wanted something that looked good and was recommended and while I was going through the shelf, I picked this book up and my YA librarians voice carried over to me. “I just finished that one and it’s really good!” I didn’t need any more motivation to give it a book. If it’s on the recommended reading shelf and my librarian suggests it, I’m totally down to read it, and boy am I glad that I did. It’s exactly what I wanted!

So this book follows the protagonist and she essentially doesn’t fit into the society because of what she is, a malfetto. Malfettos are creatures that essentially had a sickness when they are younger and now have magical abilities and are marked. The people of the world view them more demonic because they get their abilities, in a way, from the gods. So of course they are naturally terrified of them and the governing people want them gone, but for other reasons. A small group of malfettos, known as The Young Elites want to overthrow the government due to the fact that they are surpassed. They also constantly look out for others who have abilities that are as powerful as theirs and such. That is where the protagonist comes in. She catches the eye of them and is brought in to use her abilities, though they are not exactly what they were expecting. Instead of just being abilities, they draw on emotions that are way stronger than expected, such as hate and fear with a mixture of passion, and some view that as an explosive mixture. Thus, she is unstable and it follows her journey of her time with the group and is, of course, a cliff hanger to lead into the second book, The Rose Society (which I still have to read).

Overall I thought this book was fantastic! It was a fantasy book, more medieval in nature, and that is why I loved it so much. I have always enjoyed books with the supernatural/fantasy element to them and this was perfect because it brought in YA protagonists. I will say that there are some more mature themes in this, such as brothels and hints towards gay relations, so I do recommend it for older YA readers, but other than that it was fantastic.

It was nice how the main characters developed and it kept you on your toes. Not everyone was who you thought they were and you weren’t always able to figure that out, which is nice. Sometimes in books you can see certain things coming and other times not, and this was definitely a ‘you-cannot-totally-see-it-coming’ book. But that was why I loved it! It kept you guessing as to what was going to happen and who was going to try to kill who.

There was also a little bit of romance in the book but nothing that it distracted you from everything going on. It was a nice little side thing going on but it wasn’t to the point that this could be called a romance book by any means thought it was also there enough to keep you interested and wondering what may happen as well.

It wasn’t a huge book, only about 344 pages which is average for a YA book and I read it in a few hours, which is just me. But it is also quite a simple read which is nice as well. The sentence structure wasn’t difficult to follow and it fit perfectly in the modern YA genre.

And that ending! Ugh. Don’t even get me started. I need the next one like ASAP!!!

Honestly, I thought this was a fantastic book and I can’t wait to read the next one! It just came out in October so it’s definitely hot off the press. I’m also excited to read her other series, The Legend Trilogy, the first book which I already have and am ready to start-up as soon as possible!

Happy reading!

Ford Small Block Engine Parts Interchange (Performance How-To) by George Reid

 in Book Reviews / Books by

So I got another one of these ‘How-To’ books for cars and even though I know a bit about them, I have nowhere near enough knowledge, and time, to deeply read this book and try to figure out what is being said, so I decided that this time, instead of writing about the book and how pretty it looked, I figured I’d make a small video and share how it looked as it probably would be more beneficial anyway.

I can say, based on what I saw in the book, it does look really good as it provides excellent step-by-step instructions, clear images, and great charts as well.

But take a look and decide for yourself.

BOOK REVIEW: Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer

 in Book Reviews / Books / Series by

Based on this really well written review of Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer, I’m curious about the book, but I’ll need to do a little more reading to decide if I’m curious enough to pick up another one of her books. There is only so much time that you can waste on non-decent literature and I’m not sure if I’m willing to waste my precious hours on another one of her books. Thoughts?

Japanese for Healthcare Professionals by Shigeru Osuka

 in Book Reviews / Books by
Book cover Japanese for Healthcare Professionals by Shigeru Osuka

Japanese for Healthcare Professionals by Shigeru Osuka

Summary

“The only book of its kind in English, Japanese for Healthcare Professionals is a proficiency-based conversation textbook offering a complete Japanese language course that teaches Japanese grammar along with the vocabulary of medical care.

With nearly three million Japanese tourists visiting the United States last year, and another five hundred thousand expatriates residing in the US and other English-speaking countries, it is inevitable that many Japanese speakers find themselves in need of healthcare but unable to communicate. Important highlights of this book are:

  • Contains accompanying MP3 Audio Disc.
  • No prior knowledge of Japanese necessary.
  • For all professionals seeking to communicate in healthcare situations.
  • Includes an English–Japanese dictionary of medical terms, a glossary of common complaints, and a sample bilingual medical questionnaire.

Japanese for Healthcare Professionals offers a complete language course—for classroom study or independent learners that teaches Japanese grammar along with the medical Japanese vocabulary. The chapters cover every step of a patient’s interaction with care providers, from appointments and admissions to the physical examination, symptoms and illnesses, diagnosis, treatment, instructions to the patient, discharge, and follow–up. Chapters are devoted to the major branches of medicine as well as dentistry and to the corresponding bodily systems. There are also chapters on anatomy, infection and disease, and visits to the pharmacy. Each Chapter follows a natural progression designed to help the learner comprehend the new material and acquire the language as effortlessly as possible. Each includes: basic Japanese vocabulary, a situational dialogue, Japanese grammar points and key Japanese language and culture notes, exercises and practice drills, and a quiz to sharpen comprehension. The culture and language notes seek to help the provider understand better a Japanese patient’s cultural framework and patterns of belief, as well as the “ultraslatable” meaning conveyed by certain idioms.

The accompanying MP3 audio disc tries ties in core parts of each chapter, allowing learners to practice their spoken language skills outside a classroom setting. The book also includes thirty illustrations to help with vocabulary acquisition, a pronunciation guide, an English–Japanese dictionary of medical terms, a glossary of Japanese expressions for common complaints, a sample bilingual medical questionnaire, and answers to the quizzes.

Emphasizing the learner’s practical use of the Japanese language for healthcare settings is the importance of culture in understanding, Japanese for Healthcare Professionals reflects the national standards in foreign–language education set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages (ACTFL).”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book is absolutely fantastic! So I am taking Japanese this year in University and this was the required book for the Japanese class and to say I was confused was an understatement. I mean, I am taking introduction to Japanese and I was getting a healthcare book. And my major has nothing to do with healthcare. Upon receiving the book I was quite impressed with how it was set out. It is simple to read but it has enough information each chapter to make you work. But I was still confused as to why I had to have this book. That was until I went to my Japanese language lab and met my professor.

It turns out that my professor is Doctor Osuka! I mean how awesome is that! The author of the book that I am using to learn one of my favorite languages is one of my professors!

So going into the class I was quite unsure about the book still. Very unclear as to why I was using a medical book. And that was destroyed the moment my professor explained the reason behind it. Apparently a lot of Japanese tourists come to America and not many people speak Japanese because they can all speak English. But they learn English to be able to survive, like we learn a language. So when they come here for an extended period of time and they get sick, they have serious issues communicating with the residents of America. So Dr. Osuka wrote this book to help Americans, and those who spoke English and wanted to communicate with the Japanese, to be able to help them in situations when they were sick or in danger because not many are able to communicate with them. It was a fun fact!

But this book does teach you the information you need to survive as well with basic phrases, grammar and cultural notes. The majority of the book is written in romanji but there is hiragana, katakana and kanji characters throughout the book so that native speakers who want to work on such things can work at it and so that one is able to learn the characters as well as learning how to speak the language.

Overall I find this book absolutely fantastic and it was worth the $30 that I paid for it as I will be learning it through my learning of the Japanese language.

Lover Awakened: The Third Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward

 in Adult / Book Reviews / Books / Series by
Book cover Lover Awakened by J R Ward

Lover Awakened by J R Ward

Summary

“A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion and terror his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past and find a future with her….”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Once again…it’s another fangirl moment. I absolutely loved the book it was SOOOOO good. But you have no idea how many times I just wanted to smack Zsadist because he was sometimes so stupid! I mean it was obvious that Bella loved him through the entire book and you know about it from the book before; it was no surprise. But Z seemed to be completely oblivious and wanted to completely block her out.

This is one of the moment you just wanted to reach into the book and smack the character; yet if you smacked Z it wouldn’t end well. Most likely you’d be beaten within an inch of your life.

There was some serious character development in this book and one huge punch to the gut later on which I cannot say…but I’m still reeling from it. I had to read it a few times to make sure that I had read what happened correctly and then wanted to throw the book across the room….

Yes, it was one of those moments.

Once again, I read this book in a few days. It only took longer because I’ve finally started school and have something called school work…that foreign stuff which takes up all your spare minutes.

J.R. Ward is really good at describing her characters by not necessarily stating exactly what they look like but by the type of personality they have and she lets your mind do the rest. She says what they ware, maybe some characteristics, such as Z’s scar, and then their size, but then just says how they carry themselves. Wrath has this air or authority and terror about him while Z is just soul-less. Then your mind just gets to go off and make up who it wants which is nice.

Overall I just really recommend this series. I’m totally in love but I’m going to have to wait a little while to get the next one as I need to concentrate on school books and ‘substantial classic literature’. Time to bring out a little Socrates for now xD

So let me know what you think of this series and until next time, Happy Reading!