Continuing "The Thirteenth Tale"

Things are really getting interesting in The Thirteenth Tale. This book almost gives me a feeling similar to the book Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It's got a similar feeling of unknowing and eeriness of what might actually have happened or what is happening. And I love Turn of the Screw so it makes me like this book even more. This is kind of a difficult book to review/give up dates on while I read because I don't want to give anything away and I'm not sure if what I know now will really affect the ending or not and I don't want to ruin it at all. So my updates are probably going to be pretty short. But things are really starting to get a little eerie and confusing at the same time. I'm sure it'll come together at the end or at least start making more sense later. I can't wait to finish this book. Happy reading everyone :)

Started "The Thirteenth Tale"

I started The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and it was not what I was expecting. The writing in this book is amazing. I love the words she uses and the flow of the story. I was hooked at page one and its difficult to put down. I absolutely love it so far and I've only read the first 80 pages so far.

So far the book is about a young woman who is mysteriously requested by an old woman who is a famous author who wants to have her biography written. The young woman doesn't understand why but she decides to go and get this author's life story. The author is an interesting woman who seems to have a knack for pin pointing peoples reactions and thoughts. People like that always gave me the creeps, and this character does as well. But I won't say much more because like I said I'm only 80 pages in. But it is a very interesting story so far and the writing is just flawless. I love this author's writing. I can't wait to read more! Happy reading everyone :)

"Dept. of Reproductive Management" by Kelly A. Wilson, my final thoughts

I have finished Dept. of Reproductive Management by Kelly A. Wilson and it was a good read. It was a very quick read and easy. Chapters are fairly short. The book is only a little over 300 pages so it's not very long. I just took my time with it so it took a little longer that it probably should have. A
quick reader could probably finish this book in nearly one sitting.

Anyways, to the basic summary. In this distopia, reproduction is heavily regulated. You have to go through a selection process and if you are approved you are able to have children. But those who don't get approved have their children taken away and are put to jail. The illegal children are sent to re-education centers, which are like orphanages, but way more strict and when they turn eighteen they either go off to college or are sent to become Remos, who are the officers who enforce this reproduction law. The story follows a 16 year old girl named Maggie and her brother Ryker and a young man who helps them get what they are looking for named Wick (love his name btw). And the story is about their journey getting past Remos and getting a woman's DNA that they need to try and bring down the system of the DRM.

Like I said, I did enjoy this book. It was a fun, fast read. I didn't like the ending though. I felt the book could have gone for another 50 pages to wrap things up and it would have been perfect. Unless the author is planning on a sequel, then it's not as bad of an ending. But if there isn't going to be a sequel the ending was totally lame and needed to be extended even maybe by one or two chapters. But my opinion depends if there will be a sequel or not and I haven't really looked into it quite yet.

One small thing that kind of bothered me was that there were several spelling mistakes. Early in the book it wasn't too bad; they were fairly sparse. But the last third of the novel I started noticing them more frequently and they were ones that should have been caught. I can deal with a few missed, but there seemed to be quite a few near the end and it kind of bothered me.

What i loved about this book was that this kind of thing is not that crazy of an idea. Honestly, I could see some country try to do this to regulate the population or to try and prevent child abuse and starvation, which are the reasons why this program started in the first place but then things started getting out of hand. I think that is why I loved it so much, because it's not a completely foreign idea. It's something that could really happen, and it's kind of scarey, but those also make the best books. Because they are right on the line of impossible and possible, and I think Kelly A. Wilson did a good job of portraying that in this novel.

I am going to rate this novel a 4/5 on goodreads.com and I would like to thank the author for sending me the book from a giveaway for an honest review. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 is because of the spelling mistakes and my thoughts about the ending. Otherwise it would have been a 5.

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The next book I am going to be reading is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I've had this on my shelf for awhile so it's time to finally read it. Happy reading everyone :)

Continuing "Dept. of Reproductive Managment"

Hello everyone. I have read another 50 pages or so of Dept. of Reproductive Management and things are starting to get really interesting. Ryker and Maggie are fugitives from the cinter for illegal children where they have lived basically their whole lives. They have figured out who their parents are and that they really aren't blood related but Ryker insists that Maggie will always be his sister and that they will always be there for each other, no matter what. And now Ryker, Maggie, and a helpful person named Wick are going to find Maggie's uncle to try and get some more answers about her parents and why Maggie ended up in the center for illegals rather than be adopted like her father had thought had happened. I can't wait to see how things unfold. I'm enjoying this book much more than I thought I would. Happy reading everyone :)

Started "Dept. of Reproductive Management"

Read the first 50 pages of Kelly A. Wilson's Dept. of Reproductive Management. It was a very intense first 50 pages. We learn a lot about the world that Maggie, an illegally born child who is now 16, and what happens to children who are illegally born. But Maggie is unique, she was brought to the governments "orphanage" like place that they keep these children when she was only a baby. Babies never go to the center; they usually arrive as small children about 4 years old or so. The idea is strange and yet believable in this odd dystopian world.

The government decided that they needed to regulate who could and could not have children because so many children were being neglected by parents. So now those who want to be parents need to go through a process to see if they can be accepted. And those who have children without clearance have their child taken away and sent to these government centers to raise them and either ready them for adulthood or train them to be enforcers of the DRM (Dept. of Reproductive Management.) I really like the concept of this book so far and I hope it continues to intrigue me as I continue, but I probably won't get much reading done this weekend. Happy reading everyone :)

"Chase the Dark" by Annette Marie, my final thoughts

Finished Chase the Dark by Annette Marie and it was an interesting ending, I'll say the least. Not what I expected, but it's a decent set up for the second book which I hope to get sometime soon. But I do have a bunch of books I still need to get to. But anyways, I'll start off by saying I just love the cover. The colors and the whispyness of the design makes it look mysterious and entices curiosity. The cover is what drew me to the book in the first place. I just wanted to say that I loved the cover.

Now to the actual story. I know I kind of said a summary earlier but I'll write another one since this is my final review. This story is written in third person following a girl named Piper. But even though it's in third person, we occasionally get internal thoughts of Piper, which I thought was a little strange at first, but it kind of worked, and it wasn't too often so it wasn't distracting. But after the first 2 times I started to pick up on it a little more. But it did not hinder my reading experience. Ok, sorry I got off track. Now, Piper ends up becoming a fugitive with two men, Ash and Lyre. Ash is a daemon who is feared by like everyone and Lyre is an incubus who tries to seduce Piper even though he knows she'll reject him. It's in his nature even though he's only teasing her most of the time. But while they are trying to clear their names and no longer be fugitives, Piper becomes conflicted about her feelings towards Ash. Ash ends up saving her life several times and she can't understand why but she's thankful that he has but she also knows that she cannot trust him and that he is very dangerous. I'm pretty sure some of this will be explained more in the second book even though as the reader I can see that Ash has feelings for her but she just can't see it right now. At least that is what I'm guessing, I could be wrong.

The world building was great, but I loved her characters even better. The author did a wonderful job describing the characters and making them all unique and believable. I really enjoyed this book and  I can't wait to get the next book, and the third book comes out in March which is exciting. I'm going to rate this book 4.5/5 on goodreads.com. I hope you pick this book up if you are thinking about it. It's a great fast read.

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The next book I am going to be reading is Dept. of Reproductive Management by Kelly A. Wilson. I won this book in a goodreads.com giveaway a few weeks ago and I'm just now getting to it. Oh, and just a heads up, I am having a friend visiting this weekend so I probably won't get much reading done. So I probably won't be posting much until Monday perhaps. Happy reading everyone :)

Read 2 Chapters

Read 2 chapters of Chase the Dark today. These two chapters were fairly long so that is why I only read 2 of them. But they were really good. Piper was set up into a fighting ring with daemons in order to get information from Ash's informant. But her last fight was to be against Ash. I really liked these chapters because there was a lot of action and we get to see Piper in action like we did in the beginning of the book. She doesn't really see how good she is with physical combat, even though she doesn't have magic. She can put up one hell of a fight with out it. I can only imagine how powerful she would be with magic. But I have a small feeling that she will be able to use magic at some point, if not this book I can see it coming in the next book. That's just my thought.

But these two chapters I read were also an insight into Ash slightly as well. He really cares about Piper, but it's difficult to figure out why, which is Piper's problem as well. I'm curious to see where this began and where it will go. But the fight scene with the two of them was a pretty big deal for Ash I think. I can't wait to find out more about this guy. But I definitely foresee Piper and Ash getting together. But these chapters were big, and I liked them. I stopped where they lost the ring that her father left her and is the whole reason they are fugitives in the first place. Now they have to try and get it back and continue to clear their name. Happy reading everyone :)

Half way through

I'm about half way through Chase the Dark by Annette Marie. Things are really getting interesting now. Piper is starting to become attracted to Ash, a daemon that is probably one of the most dangerous daemons alive. And an incubus, who's name I can't remember at the moment, whom she's known for awhile but she knows what she feels for him is not real because of his attraction powers. But right now the three of them are under cover in a night club trying to get information from a woman Ash knows that runs the club. That's about as far as I am right now. The chapter ended where they were just about to speak with her. I'm excited to read the second half of this book. It's not what I expected but I like it. Happy reading everyone :)

Started "Chase the Dark"

Started Annette Marie's first book of the Steel and Stone series Chase the Dark. I am really happy with this book so far. The story follows a girl named Piper, who wants to be a Counselor between humans and daemons. She is half human half daemon herself, but she does not posses the magic of a daemon, making things more difficult for her. And did I mention her father is the head Counselor, so he's a pretty big deal.

But Piper finds herself a fugitive with two other men; Ash, who is a daemon who strikes fear into anyone just by being present, and an Incubus who has know her for some time now. I don't want to go into too much more because I'm only about 100 pages into the book but it's a good book so far. I'm enjoying it. I honestly wasn't quite sure what to expect when I got this book, but I am liking it so far and I love the cover. It caught my eye right away and I'm glad it did. Happy reading everyone :)

"The Griever's Mark" my final thoughts

I have finished The Griever's Mark by Katherine Hurley. And I must say I absolutely loved it! I can't wait for the second book to come out this spring! It won't be soon enough!

But I'll give you a brief overview first. The book is in the perspective of a woman named Astarti, which I think is a pretty cool name, who has been Leashed to Belos, a man seeking power and revenge. Leashing is a little hard to describe, the author does a good job with it though, so if you get the book, I'll let you figure it out. But essentially it's like a devise the enslaves people, and Belos has done it to a lot of people, willing or not willing. But Astarti was different; she encountered Belos when she was a young girl and didn't really have any other choice because she didn't know anyone else to tell her not to. She felt he was her only option at survival. But she didn't let Belos break her spirit or her morals when she had the option. Many times she would defy him for what she felt was right. During her first "mission" in the book that Belos sends her on, Astarti encounters a Warden, named Logan. And of course, you can see there is a love interest there, but I won't spoil anything.

I loved this book. I think it may be one of my new favorites. The world building was amazing. I have seen a few reviews where they thought there was too much world building, but I disagree with that. I felt it was necessary for the book and it was written well that I did not see the world building to be too much. All of the characters where portrayed well as well. All where unique, and Astarti's observation skills are awesome and tell the story well. There is a lot of action and suspense in this novel and it was very difficult for me to put this book down. It is an easy read, and not terribly long, just over 300 pages. I would recommend this book to anyone and I'm going to buy the sequel as soon as I get the chance. I am going to rate this novel 5/5 on goodreads.com.

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My next book I am going to be reading is called Chase the Dark (Steel and Stone Book 1) by Annette Marie. Happy reading everyone :)

Conintuing "The Griever's Mark"

I am about 3/4 of the way through The Griever's Mark by Katherine Hurley. And I must say, this book is very difficult to put down. The action rarely stops and we learn something new almost every chapter. And where I stopped today a huge twist was revealed and I had a very hard time putting down the book but I needed a break. My opinion hasn't changed yet, if you are thinking about getting this book, you better get it. I don't regret it for a second. Hurley has a wonderful world building language and the characters are wonderfully structured and different. I can't wait to finish the book. I would say I will probably have it done on Tuesday. But I won't say much more. I'll leave the rest for my final review. Happy reading everyone :)

Started "The Griever's Mark" by Katherine Hurley

I was going to post yesterday but my brother stopped by and I got distracted and forgot to post. So that's why it's been a few days. But I have started The Griever's Mark and I am LOVING it! It starts right in the action and there is lots of action following. I'm just past the 100 page mark. It's a fast read with lots of stuff going on and I absolutely love it. The author's world making is wonderful as well. Her descriptions of the characters and the world around them is great, and the different "abilities" that different people can use is unique as well. I was slightly nervous about buying this book at first, but now I am so glad I did, and I'm only through the first 100 pages! I love when a book gets me into it like this.

This story is about a young woman who is about 17, who has been leashed to a terrible leader. She is forced to do what he asks and she cannot flee him. But during an argument with her leasher, she finds herself slipping into an unknown part of the drift called "the current" and a man named Logan finds her. After than their lives are entangled and I can't wait to find out what happens. Logan has helped her escape the reach of her leasher and is trying to find a way to help her because he knows she is unique and doesn't want her harmed in any way. Because, obviously, he has feelings towards her, and she towards him. I can't wait to see how things go between then and what happens next. So much happened in 100 pages and I am super excited to read the next 200 pages! If you even considering picking up this book, I would recommend it right now. I love it so far. Happy reading everyone :)

Finished "Requiem's Prayer"

I finally finished the trilogy! Requiem's Prayer was pretty good. It was written much like the first
two. There wasn't much of a change between books with the writing style. All three books were fairly graphic. If you are faint of heart, I would not recommend this book to you because there are really gross demons and lots of abuse.

I did enjoy Requiem's Prayer. It was a good ending to the series. The only thing that bothered me was that it was a lot slower than the other books. I felt that there were scenes that could have been cut, but then the book would have probably been really short. But there were a lot of things repeated in this book, and I feel that the author did that to draw the book out to make it longer a little. I'm probably wrong, but that's what it felt like. It's hard to explain if you haven't read the book, but there are a lot of phrases repeated because the different characters feel the same way. And since the author changes POV's a lot, he ends up repeating several phrases. Maybe I just didn't notice it so much in the first book, but I noticed it a lot in this book.

Other than that though, the book was written wonderfully. I really enjoyed the final battle scene, even though I feel it could have been a little longer, it was still a pretty epic battle. I enjoyed it. And the ending had a nice little "epilogue" like chapter at the end that was a nice wrap up to the trilogy. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes reading dragon books, but like I said, if you don't like gore and abuse, I probably wouldn't recommend this series to you. I'm going to rate this book a 4/5 on goodreads.com

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The next book I am going to be reading is called The Griever's Mark by Katherine Hurley. I'm excited to read it and I love the cover. Happy reading everyone :)

Making my way through "Requiem's Prayer"

I've gotten a good chunk of the way through Requiem's Prayer in the last 2 days. I've only got about 100 pages left to go. Things are getting interesting. I feel this one is going slower than the other two books, however. Which I think isn't that great because when you get to the third book of a series I think there should be a lot more going on. Yes, there are some good parts in this book, but its at a slow pace and I honestly don't know what to expect in the last 100 pages. I'm a little worried that the final battle is going to be short and anti-climactic, but who knows. I suppose a lot can happen in 100 pages. But I know there will be a last battle, at least I really hope so otherwise I will be really disappointed. But things is Issari have gotten really interesting, but I don't want to spoil it, but I'll just say I didn't see it coming and I really did feel bad for her. Over all so far I am enjoying this last book, I'm just sad that it isn't as fast paced, it seems to be slow and there isn't much action. Hopefully the last 100 pages picks it up a notch.

I'm hoping to have the book finished by Saturday if I get a chance to read on Saturday. I find myself not reading much on the weekends, but otherwise I'll have it finished Monday for sure.
Happy reading everyone :)

Locke & Key Book 6, my final thoughts

I finally finished the series and it was absolutely amazing! I loved how this book/series ended. I felt it was a very fitting ending and it made sense. It wasn't a forced ending or a unrealistic ending. It was the perfect ending to a great series. I would recommend this series to anyone. It's fun and unique and has a great storyline to it. I don't want to spoil too much from this book, but this one was a little longer than the others to fit everything in. This book has the big finale of Dodge and his plans for the shadows and the door. Like I said I don't want to spoil much since it's the last book of the series, but if you are debating whether or not to start this series, I would tell you yes without hesitation. It's a great series!

And don't worry. I haven't forgotten about Requiem's Prayer. I have started it and I will continue it tomorrow. I just really wanted to finish the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill. I'll be back on track tomorrow with Requiem's Prayer. Happy reading everyone :)

Continueing my graphic novel series I need to finish

Today I finally read the 5th book of the series Locke & Key by Joe Hill. I absolutely love it.I started this series about a year ago but I haven't gotten the last 2 until this weekend. I read the 5th one today and it was amazing. It really went into a lot of the back story for the keys and how things started and why things happened. I'm really excited to finally finish the series tomorrow. And then I will get back to Requiem's Prayer. But I wanted to finish this series so badly I couldn't wait. The art was spectacular as the other books of the series. I know I'm not doing a review of the earlier book of the series, so I don't want to go too in depth with this review because I really don't want to spoil anything, but this book focuses around a time traveling key. The kids are able to observe the past from 1999 - the late 1700s, it does not go any further than that. And things are really starting to fall together with the keys and how things got to be the way they are. I absolutely love this series and can't wait to finally finish it! Happy reading everyone :)
(and sorry for the short review)

"Saga Volume Four," My final thoughts

It finally came in the mail today! And I read it instantly! Saga Volume Four by Brian K. Vaughan is amazing! I absolutely loved it and was so happy that it finally came in the mail today.

Like the first 3 volumes, it has some graphic images. Hell, the very first page is of the princess giving birth! And there are sex scenes and lots of cursing. But it just makes the story all the more real. It doesn't shy away from what life is and the way people talk. Even though many of the people in this graphic novel are not normal humans, they have habits like humans and speak like humans as well. And the art is fabulous like the other volumes. I really like this artists work, very creative and the scenes chosen to show are brilliant. Sometimes I get caught up in looking at the artwork. But I'll get a little into the book now while trying not to spoil anything.

Hazel is now a young toddler starting to learn to speak and what-not. Marko and Alana are having troubles between them. Alana is working in entertainment as kind of an actress, but not really. I don't know how to describe it but actress is the best description. Marko stays in the ship and takes care of Hazel, but when he takes her to the park he meets a woman and starts to have feelings for her. And then there are several people still looking for their family because they shouldn't even be possible.

I must say, this book was way too short. I don't mean that it's shorter than the other books. It's actually about the same length, but I wanted more immediately! And now I have to wait for volume 5 to come out and I don't know when that will be but I sure hope it's soon. I absolutely love this series and can't wait to continue it!! I'm rating it 5/5! Happy reading everyone :)

"Requiem's Hope," My final thoughts

I have finished Requiem's Hope by Daniel Arenson. Book 2 of his Dawn of Dragons trilogy. It was a fairly fast read, just like the first book. They writing style was the same, multiple points of view and lots of gore.

Requiems' Hope was more based around preparing for fighting King Raem and the demons who are about to fight the dragons and their new kingdom they are trying to create for themselves so that they can live in peace. But King Raem does not want a single dragon to live, even though he is a dragon himself. So half of this book was preparing for the battle, which was alright. Some of it was interesting, but I felt some parts of this were slightly repetitive and it didn't need to be so long. I think the author could have cut down on all the preparations that happened for the battle. One thing that bothered me was that the two sisters, Laira and Issari ended up doing the same thing to help bring more numbers to their side of the battle. I won't say what it was, but they were on separate parts of the world and they both ended up essentially doing the same thing to get another kingdom to help them in their war. I don't exactly why I didn't like that; I'm not sure if I feel that the author was being lazy or if it was just way too similar to each other that it made it feel kind of like lazy writing. And I hate to say that because I know writing is difficult because I'm not great at it either, but the two instances were way too similar for me.

The actual battle that took place was written pretty well. I kind of wish there was more action scenes written here, but the author continued to use this as a way to describe the horrific looking demons. Since this was supposed to be a huge battle, and it was, I was hoping for a bit more action details and a little less physical descriptions of the demons. But it was still over all a well written battle and the end of it was unexpected. I won't spoil anything though.

I really enjoyed Requiem's Hope, not quite as much as I did the first book, but it was a good sequel and I can't wait to see how things turn out in the third book, which I will be reading next, Requiem's Prayer. Happy reading everyone :)

Nearly finished "Requiem's Hope"

I'm almost done with Requiem's Hope. I'm sure I'll have it finished tomorrow. The big battle between the demons and the dragons has finally started and Raem's oldest daughter is about to fight him. But the battle was interesting so far. I'm interested to see what happens to Raem and the demons at the end of this book. But now the spawns of the demons have been born, they are half demon half human, and they will be taking over soon because they do not have to listen to any king like the full demons do. I'm sure that will be the conflict in the third book. I won't say too much more. I want to have enough to write a full review tomorrow.

I'm also hoping that one of my graphic novels I ordered gets here today. It was supposed to be here Monday but it's still not here. :( So if I get that today I'll probably read it and have a review up for that. I can't wait to read it. I've been waiting for it for a while now. Happy reading everyone :) If you're in the mid-west like me, STAY WARM!

Continueing "Requiem's Hope"

I'd say I'm a little over 100 paged into the book now and things are coming along nicely. The group of dragons has split up to try and find reinforcements to help fight against the demons. One group seeks a village in the north, another is going to the west to find more dragons, and two others are going back to Ethreel to try and take the thrown away from Raem so that they can order the demons back to the underworld and bring peace to the world once again. One group seems to be having some success in its quest. Where I stopped is where the group going to the west was having some difficulties and may be imprisoned because they are dragons and like almost everyone in this world, they hate dragons and find them an absolute evil and will do anything to get rid of them. I kind of wish there was one city or village that accepted dragons and wasn't concerned with killing them.

But it seems everyone in the world hates dragons. It just gets really depressing after a while. But maybe they will find one eventually, other than Requiem where they are trying to build a city for dragons to live in peace. I don't know, there is just so much hate towards the people who can turn into dragons, and I get it, it's conflict that is needed to keep the story going and to give the dragons a purpose to their new beginning that they are trying to make. But it would be nice if there was one place that at least tolerated dragons and didn't kill them, even if they didn't like them. If that makes sense.

So far the book has been gearing up for the big battle against Raem and the demons so that the dragons can at least be free from that threat. I'm sure the battle will be coming up soon, or at least somewhat soon. It'll be interesting to see how the battle goes. These demons the author created are really gross and disgusting and hard to kill. So it'll be a tough battle. The writing style is the same as the first book so far, but the abuse is much less now that the main character is freed from the tribe she was a slave in. There is still some brutal scenes, but not nearly as many as the first book, which is a bit of a relief. There is only so much dark a reader can take, I think. I think in this book the author is trying to throw in a bit of comic relief and it is helping a little and it doesn't feel forced. I can't wait to get the big battle.

Just a heads up, I have ordered a few new graphic novels that I need to finish the series for, so I may have a few random reviews thrown in while reading this book as well because the graphic novels shouldn't take me long to read at all. I'm just happy to finally be able to order them! Happy reading everyone :)

Started "Requiem's Hope"

Sorry I haven't been updating the last few days. I've been busy/distracted with other things. But today I finally started Requiem's Hope. It starts a few days after the first book. I only read the first 40 pages or so, so things are still setting up and meeting new characters already. But it's a good start. I'm hoping to get a good chunk read Monday. Tomorrow I will be busy once again so I probably won't be able to read tomorrow. But the start of Requiem's Hope is good, a new group of dragons have group up at the dragon sanctuary and they are preparing to fight the demons that Raem has sent to hunt and kill every dragon. It'll be interesting to see where things go. Sorry this is such a short post, but like I said, I've been busy and only read a small portion of the beginning. I should have a longer post Monday. Happy reading everyone :)