Books you get lost in

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

 in Book Reviews / Books / Books-to-Movie by

Summary

“In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut–young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book was, just wow. Nothing like I thought it was going to be. I had had this book sitting on my shelf for quite some time now but when I got it, the reading level was way beyond me and I didn’t understand the book. It starts as if it is part of a series and that is what threw me off to start with. But now that I found out that there was a movie being made of it, I decided to do a little looking around and found out that it indeed was the first one of the series (only just found out that there is more than 1 book in the series.) So I started reading it.

This book is definitely off the wall. The writing style is very strange and sometimes quite confusing but you just have to push through it because eventually it all starts to make sense. This is not a book that you can just sit down and read. You really have to give yourself a little time to actually sit and think about it. Some books you can just pick up and read about 3 pages of and then come back some time later and continue reading. This you cannot. You have to really read a good bunch of pages or finish a chapter before you can put it down because otherwise when you come back it will not make any sense at all. But I have to say that it was extremely well written. It kept you thinking, wondering what would happen, and it kept surprising you with different things that happened. The characters were developed quite well as you got to understand Ender and how he acted and how he felt in different situations. You really got close to him and felt bad for him during many situations.

Honestly, there is not a whole lot you can say about this book without giving anything away as there were many details that can ruin the book for you.

I am also going to tell you that nothing it what it seems and that the end is going to be shocking and leave you sitting there with your mouth open (metaphorically – except in my case where it actually was).

But I am going to tell you this…please read this book before you see the movie because I have a feeling that the movie is going to be different. I am also going to say that you have to get into the book before it starts the flow. The beginning feels a little rough, but it will all start to make sense later on. Just dive in and get going.

Good luck, enjoy the book, and let me know what you think.

Update: There is a movie for this book out and I saw it and thought it was fabulous. It wasn’t exactly like the book…but I still defiantly recommend that you watch it. But read the book first, because after the movie, reading the book will be really difficult.

Angels’ Blood (Guilt Hunter) by Nalini Singh

 in Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Series by

Summary

“Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

OH! MY! GOD! I thought that Archangel’s Blade was amazing, this was just WOWOWOWOWOWOW! No lie, this book was 339 pages long and I read it in less than a day. And 339 pages of small print and PURE AWESOMENESS! I am totally fangirling about this book right now. Book 2 has already been ordered from my library, as well as book 3.

I mean I love stories about Angel’s, but a lot of stories have the angels being teenagers and stuff, this was not like that at all. The Archangel in this, Raphael (I don’t think it was like the real Archangel Raphael from the Bible), was tall, dark hair, muscly with gold and white wings and totally amazing. And then there was Elena, the main female character.

I really loved Elena because she was such a  strong character. The women in the two novels by Nalini Singh that I have read, were such strong characters and I really love them. Instead of the woman pining after the man, that man has to do everything he can to get the girl. And the women in these novels are *says dramatically* kick ass! In this novel she was a Vampire Hunter, and in the other novel the female character was just a regular type of Hunter. I love it!

The best part is, is that there is such a story to it as well. It is definitely not just about romance at all! There is a deep story behind it as well.

This book is definitely for mature readers. There wasn’t a whole lot of sex in it (not much at all surprisingly) but there was quite a lot of graphic violence including bodies and blood, but it went with what the story was about.

I am totally in love with this series and cannot wait for the next book to arrive for me to read…….ugh, it’s going to kill me. I really suggest checking this book out and letting me know if you love it as much as I do! Now excuse me while I go and scream into my pillow as I am so EXCITED!

*Turns her head and screams as loudly as she can into her pillow*

Until next time my lovelies. Keep reading and keep literature alive!

Archangel’s Blade (Guild Hunter) by Nalini Singh

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

Summary

“Trying to discover the identity of a murder victim brings together the vampire Dmitri and a hunter for the Guild, Honor. And as the gruesome murders continue, a lethal sensuality explodes between them.”

– From Amazon.com

Review

This is not the type of book that I would usually read but I am glad that I read this one. Yes, it is part of a series and this is not the first book, as I wasn’t aware that it was a series when I started it, but you didn’t need to read the other ones to understand it. I am waiting for the first book to arrive at my library so you can be expecting a review of the ENTIRE series sometime soon.

This book was incredible. It was romance, but that wasn’t the entire premises of the story. Most romance novels don’t have a story except the exploding relationship between a man and a woman. This had SO much more. There was a story behind it, lots of characters,  LOTS of character development, and just so much happening overall.

This story kept me turning pages and wanting to read more because of what was happening. Dimitri was such an incredible character. He was charming, sexy, but deadly underneath. Kinda like an immortal bad-boy XD . I did sometimes want to smack him because he was hard-headed but he was also quite persistent. He was also quite arrogant. But that is kinda understandable considering he was a 1,000 year old vampire. Then there was the main girl character, Honor.

She was such a strong character and I loved that about her. Often these types of novels write the main character as wimpy and weak and submits to the man, but Honor did not do that at all. She stood up to Dimitri and wouldn’t fall to his special ‘powers’. She constantly tried to kick his ass and used words to keep him in check. She did a pretty good job at it and that intrigued him because no one had ever said no to him before.

But besides there being just vampires there were angels and they were pretty cool as well. This book didn’t focus on them even though the first book does, so I can’t comment on them too much, but I will talk about them later in the other reviews

But the vampires in this novel were quite interesting. As most of the times that vampires are portrayed (except in Twilight), they had a thirst for blood and sex. But then there was Dimitri. He had been like that until he met Honor and everything changed. She reminded him of his wife who had died when he was still a human (I believe), about 1,000 years ago or so.

So the entire story was about their relationship and them dancing around each other, testing the waters and such. And then the ending was like a brick wall to the face. I WASN’T EXPECTING IT! I was shocked to a whole new level.

But wow! It was incredible. This book is definitely mature YA, about 17/18 or older because of some of the sexual themes and some of the violence which got pretty graphic a few times.

I recommend that you read it but probably start with the first one of the series Angel’s Blood. But if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world. I do recommend that you read this but it is for MATURE READERS ONLY!

Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fun / Humorous / Older Readers / Young Adult by

Summary

Don’t call me a deamon. I prefer the term Fallen Angel.

Everybody deserves a vacation, right? Especially if you have a pointless job like tormenting the damned. So who could blame me for blowing off my duties and taking a small, unauthorized break? Besides, I’ve always wnted to see what physical existence is like. That’s why I “borrowed” the slightly used body of a slacker teen. Believe me, he wasn’t going to be using it anymore anyway. I have never understood why humans do the things they do. Like sin – if it’s so terrible, why do they keep doing it?

I’m going to have a lot of fun finding out.

-From Inside Flap

Review

This is the next book for my book club and I really don’t think I would have picked it out if it had not been the next book. But I have to say, it was extremely entertaining and a very good read. The cover was cute and child-like which defiantly peaked my interest. Then there was the summary of the book and that made me want to give this book a try even more. It was quirky.

This book was about this, this, well I don’t know exactly what he was…A Fallen Angel I guess I’ll call him. He was bored in Hell and decided to experience life and so he repossessed this body. Notice that it is repossessed and not posses because the boy who’s body he took, was about to die. Then it followed him and how he wanted to try sinning but at the same time he actually dealt with a few issues like became closer with the boys brother, talking to a girl, telling the school bully a few things, and setting a few other issues straight. He was only in the body for about 4 days but in those 4 days he accomplished quite a few things.

The book was quite short, only about 224 pages, and it kept the reader really entertained. It had humor, and most of all it had some life lessons. I am not going to state what the lessons are but this book did have an underlying message in it.

I would have to say that it was for older teens though as there was some sexual talk, so I would recommend this book for 15 year olds, definitely no one younger than that.

I hope that you enjoy the book and tell me what you thought of it. Hope to hear from you.

Happy Reading!