Book Reviews

Between Us And The Moon by Rebecca Maizel

 in Book Reviews / Books / Young Adult by
Book cover Between Us And The Moon by Rebecca Maizel

Between Us And The Moon

Summary

“A luminous YA love story that evokes Judy Blume’s Forever for a new generation.

Sarah—Bean to her friends and family—is an aspiring astronomer and champion mathlete. She lives behind her beloved telescope, with her head in the stars and her feet planted firmly on the ground. For as long as she can remember, she’s also lived in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, Scarlett.

But after a traumatic end to the school year, Sarah goes to Cape Cod for the summer with her family, determined to grow up. It’s there that she meets gorgeous, older college boy Andrew. He sees her as the girl she wants to be. A girl like Scarlett. He thinks she’s older, too—and she doesn’t correct him.

For Sarah, it’s a summer of firsts. Before she knows what’s happened, one little lie has transformed into something real. And by the end of August, she might have to choose between falling in love, and finding herself.

Fans of Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins are destined to fall for this romantic and heartfelt coming-of-age novel about how life and love are impossible to predict.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Well this was definitely a different book than most that I’ve read. But it was really interesting! It was a teen romance book and definitely was quite teen oriented, though there was talk about sex, but in the aspect of teens and stuff like that, though it wasn’t really a romance book per se, more like coming of age and stuff like that.

The writing was simple in nature, definitely for YA, probably 16 years or so, and followed teenage problems. The main character, Sarah, didn’t really fit into society very easily because she was interested in the stars and kind of didn’t mold into the societal ‘teenage girl’ perception. It followed her transformation from a younger girl into her wanting to be different and learn how to be beautiful and have a boyfriend.

Now, one thing which I really didn’t like about the book was the fact that Sarah lied. She lied about her age and where she was going to school and while that was what the book was about, it kind of annoyed me. In the modern day and age, people lie about so many things and this just seemed to reiterate it. Yes, it did make it clear that lying was wrong and shouldn’t be done, it took the entire book for her to get to the point where she was able to come clean and I really didn’t like that. But, that was the point of the book. My disliking of it is a personal opinion. And I don’t mean the fact that it was written, but I honestly hate people who lie so it hit a chord in me.

There was also the aspect of how she was treated in the book. All teenagers have communication issues with their parents. Their parents won’t listen to them and we have arguments with them. So this showed her relationship with her parents and her Aunt, Aunt Nancy, who wanted to mold her into the perfect lady and was pushing her too fast to become that. It showed their arguments and conflicts and how it was sorted out towards the end.

Sarah did also have a sister, Scarlett, and it was a good touch to show their love/hate relationship. Many kids have siblings and seeing how they argued and either resolved it or mended over the area/hurt was interesting. It wasn’t a perfect relationship nor a destroyed one as it had its ups and downs.

One point that I would like to make is the fact that the sex in the book was against everything which teens are taught. It was not safe sex. While in most books that isn’t an issue, especially in adult romance books, in books for YA’s, it is wrong in my personal opinion. They will read that sex is okay and happening and they didn’t use protection and no consequences will occur. Sure, romance in adult books is just for the fix, which is fine, but for kids, the sex in this book was just to round out the teen experience, and it makes sex seem like something so simple and something with no consequences, when it does – especially with teen pregnancy on the rise. Might make the sex seem more awkward to add a sentence about condoms or something, but that is how it is and it should be explained as such to get it into teens head.

Overall this was a typical teen romance book with summer romance. The ending was, while deserved, highly un-fulfilling and made me wanting answers and to see something else, but, can’t really complain. This was honestly a great YA book and I really do suggest reading it as it was very well written and can teach some valuable lessons.

Lesson number one, and the main one to take away from this book ~ Don’t lie. Ever~

Enjoy and happy reading!

The Ledge by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books by

Book cover The Ledge by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan“An adventure story of friendship and survival on Mount Rainier”

Summary

“In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood atop Washington’s Mount Rainier, celebrating what they hoped would be the first of many milestones in their lives as passionate mountaineers. Then their triumph turned tragic when a cave-in plunged them deep inside a glacial crevasse—the pitch-black, ice-walled hell of every climber’s nightmares.

An avid adventurer since youth, Davidson was a seasoned climber at the time of the Rainier ascent. But the harrowing free fall left him challenged by nature’s grandeur at its most unforgiving. Trapped on a narrow frozen shelf, deep below daylight, he desperately battled crumbling ice, snow that threatened to bury him alive, and crippling fear of the inescapable chasm below—all the while struggling to save his fatally injured friend. Finally, alone, with little equipment and rapidly dwindling hope, he confronted a fateful choice: the certainty of a slow, lonely death or the near impossibility of an agonizing climb for life. A story of heart-stopping adventure, heartfelt friendship, fleeting mortality, and implacable nature, The Ledge chronicles the elation and grief, dizzying heights and punishing depths, of a journey to hard-won wisdom.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

In all honesty, this book stressed the hell out of me. It was just things went from good to bad to worse. And I had to read this book over a few days to be able to make it. It’s not a long book at all, only about 253 pages or so and I’m used to reading that and way more in a shorter period of time, but with this book, I just couldn’t do it because of the content.

It is a true story and I would never have read this book if it hadn’t been the college wide book for next year but in all honesty, it was a really, really good book and had some fabulous lessons in it.

The main one that was said in the ending was, while the author literally fell into a trench while coming down from the mountain, life can make you fall into trenches, like a turn of your health for the worst or financial problems, and you cannot give up, even if you are left alone and it seems like you have no where else to turn to. You have to at least try because you never know, you just may come out of it alive and survive as a stronger person.

Essentially this book was just about this man who was hiking with his friend and there are trenches and if you fall into them, they are usually only about 30 feet deep so your partner can save you, but this one was way worse, about 100+ feet deep and he was dragged in along with his partner and it was about the story of how Jim was trying to get out.

I’m not a huge fan of the cold, nor confined spaces, and this mixed all of those ‘I do not likes’ together into one book and I had to take it bit by bit because of how it was written. Because it was in first person, you felt like you were with Jim during the entire experience and I just found it really quite stressful and upsetting.

But, while it is all that, it was a fabulous book because of the lessons you can learn in it. The perseverance was fantastic and it was incredible that he was able to do as well as he did.

I highly recommend this book! It’s not a hard read at all, as some non-fictions are. And it’s not boring. It’s sometimes a little monotonous with the talking about the climbing gear and such since I don’t really have any knowledge of those kinds of things, but even if you don’t know about it, it really doesn’t make that much of a difference and you can read it perfectly fine.

Please do check this book out. But I tell you now, prepare for an emotional rollercoaster.

Let me know what you think and happy reading!

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

 in Adult / Book Reviews / Books / Series by

Psy/Changling Series
Book 1

Summary

“Dive into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind—and none of the heart…

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was….

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…”

-From NaliniSingh.com

Review

Oh my god. So I’ve read all the Guild Hunter series books so now it’s time to start her other series, the Psy/Changling series. And OH MY GOD I’M SO IN LOVE.

Like, I have so many more books to read and I’m so excited and I can’t wait! Like wowowowowowowowowowowwow! So many characters (as seen here), so many packs, so much going on. This book didn’t have any sexual content until later on. Sure there was the intent and the idea there from sometime earlier in the book, but it wasn’t the main theme. There was SO much more going on.

I mean, this series is so creative with the NetMind and like this entire network of minds that work together in a kind of database. Think like the cloud or something like that, but this is ALL IN YOUR MIND! I mean how cool and scary is that? You don’t really get to keep your thoughts to yourself at all, and I really wouldn’t want to be part of this world, but I mean, it still is pretty darn cool, right? The idea behind it.

Then you have the changelings. They are, essentially, shapeshifters. In the first book you are introduced to cats and wolves which are the two types of shapeshifters in the book, as far as I know. They are just, overall, extremely badass. I mean, they kick butt, they have a feral side to them, they’re protective, especially the males, they’re adorable (the children). I mean, it’s great.

And you get introduced into the world in an interesting way.

I mean overall, there is just so much going on. I mean, the character development in this is fanatastic. There is SO much of it. Yes, sometimes it is kind of fast, but since each book in this series concentrates on a different character (as there are so many), the books do have to move along. You can’t really read each book as a stand alone because there are ties to things that happened in the other books, so you should read it in order.

I have the first 6 books at home at the moment and am working through them, but this is her larger series, so it will take time for me to read.

But, so far, I’m absolutely in love! Definitely do check it out.

The sex in the book isn’t terribly graphic, but there are moments where it’s definitely inappropriate for younger readers. So, like all Nalini Singh books, it is for older readers, 18 and up.

But, happy reading!

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

 in Book Reviews / Books / Series by

Royal House of Shadows
Book 1

Summary

“Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out….

Nicolai the Vampire was renowned for his virility, but in a twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” had become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remained was a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who could help him.

In her dreams, a wanton vampire called to Jane Parker, drawing her to his dark sexuality and his magical realm. But for a human, all was not a fairy tale in Delfina. Jane was the key to Nicolai’s memory…but exploiting her meant dooming the only mortal he craved.”

-From Back Cover

Review

Alright, so I’m reading the entire series because I read the last book and want to see what happened in the rest of the books, but so far I’m not terribly impressed.

First off, each book is written by a different author, so each book has a slightly different writing style. While this doesn’t bother me usually when they are part of a genre like the Nocture series from Harlequin, when it is part of a sub-series, like this is, it just gets a little annoying.

This series does follow the traditional smut kind of books. No real character development. Just a lot of guy wanting woman, woman wanting guy, passionate looks, then lots and lots of sex. It honestly gets monotonous after a while.

For a traditional romance series kind of book, it fits the bill perfectly and I know a lot of people would like it because it is a quick fix, but personally, I don’t like that so much.

If you’re looking for a supernatural romance with quite a lot of smut, then this is a great book for you, but if you’re looking for more, then I’d give this a miss.

I would flag this book kind of as red, or highly mature, because there was a section about rape in the book. Nothing happened, but a LOT of people hate such topics being put into books as it makes them uncomfortable so I am warning you now, stuff nearly does happen.

Overall, it’s a classic romance book. Honestly, nothing too special in my opinion.

But, others may feel differently, so if this is your kind of book, let me know what you thought about it and how it holds up against other books.

Enjoy!

Archangel’s Shadows by Nalini Singh

 in Book Reviews / Books / Older Readers by

Summary

Return to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s sensual and painfully beautiful Guild Hunter world in her new novel of sacrifice, loyalty, and the choices of love that can shatter the heart.

In the wake of a brutal war, the archangel Raphael and his hunter consort, Elena, are dealing with the treacherously shifting tides of archangelic politics and the people of a battered but not broken city. The last thing their city needs is more death, especially a death that bears the eerie signature of an insane enemy archangel who cannot—should not—be walking the streets.

This hunt must be undertaken with stealth and without alerting their people. It must be handled by those who can become shadows themselves…

Ash is a gifted tracker and a woman cursed with the ability to sense the secrets of anyone she touches. But there’s one man she knows all too well without a single instant of skin contact: Janvier, the dangerously sexy Cajun vampire who has fascinated and infuriated her for years. Now, as they track down a merciless killer, their cat-and-mouse game of flirtation and provocation has turned into a profound one of the heart. And this time, it is Ash’s secret, dark and terrible, that threatens to destroy them both.

-From Nalini Singh’s Website

Review

So this is the 7th book in the series and oh my god I’m still so in love with it. The character development so is there and there are so many characters that you just can never get bored. With 7 books you would think that the series would get old, but since there are so many characters and some books concentrate on other characters, you just can’t stop reading. I mean, I just found this list of Guild Hunter characters and to say I’m impressed is an understatement.

This one was about Ash and Janvier, who you hadn’t really met before now. They had appeared in passing, well Ash had, but otherwise you didn’t really know who the two of them were, so you got this whole other side going on. I really liked this book too because you got to see another side of Naasir, who is the feline like vampire, who I always thought was cool (the next book coming out is, Archangel’s Enigma, is about him). Ash, Janvier and Naasir were like a team so you started to see the other side of some of the characters, especially when they went to all hang out at the small party in the book.

It was definitely a lighter book that the other ones and there was less sex and more just dancing around each other, which was definitely different, but in a good way. I figured that the reason for this was that the main characters name was Ashwini and it was dedicated to one of her real life friends who goes by that name (or so I assume as she is Nalini’s assistant) so of course that can sometimes be kinda awkward to write. But, not every romance book in a romance series has to have a lot of steamy moments. It honestly gets boring, very fast. Well, some people really like it because that’s what they read the book for, but as a reader and a blogger, I look for more in a book, and series, so I was happy that this changed it up a little bit.

I mean, I could gush for hours and hours about this book and series because I’ve read each book in the series about 3-4 times, with Archangel’s Blade being read like 6 times. It’s sad, but I just can’t get enough of it. It’s such a good series to read because since there are so many locations visited, so many characters, and so much going on, each time you read it you can find something new and exciting in the book that you might not have noticed the last…erm…4 times you read it.

Also the cover of this book was so different.The colors from the rich orange and the warmth radiated from that color, to the dark and cold area where Janvier resided to show his life style kinda: the heat of the female and the coolness of the cold and calculated vampire who is a killer. And I mean how can you not love a badass woman with a badass men behind her. Hot hot hot xD

But please, READ THIS SERIES! Like you don’t understand. I. Am. Obsessed.

Okay, well you might understand it. But like, please. Read it.

And enjoy it. And contact me and talk to me about this book, because….I need someone who understands my love.

Anyone? Please?