Monday, October 12, 2015

Read This! Round Up (#54)

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Welcome to Read This, a collection of book reviews and giveaways that were posted in the past week or so from around the web. This is a collection of book reviews & contests from real reviewers. If you want to be included in the next edition start with the guidelines, then use the submission form.
Want to read more reviews? Check out Read This for a list of the latest reviews and stellar reviewers. You can also follow on twitter for the latest round ups. Read This is now accepting photo submissions for each edition.

NON FICTION

-ADULT COLORING BOOK

FICTION

-HISTORICAL FICTION

CHILDREN’S

YOUNG ADULT

-PARANORMAL

-FANTASY

-MYSTERY

-DYSTOPIAN

-SCIENCE FICTION

NEW ADULT

ROMANCE

-LGBT

EROTICA

FANTASY

-MAGICAL REALISM

GRAPHIC NOVEL

SCIENCE FICTION

PARANORMAL

HORROR

THRILLER

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Thursday, October 8, 2015

The New Hunger by Isaac Marion


Title: The New Hunger
Author: Isaac Marion
Series: Warm Bodies #1.5
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Source: Netgalley

Though it is listed as being book 1.5 in the Warm Bodies series, you can easily read this one first.  There aren't really any spoilers in it.  If your copy contains an excerpt from book two though, I would skip reading that until you finish book 1.

This novella is about Julie, Nora, and R before Warm Bodies happens.  It introduces you to them and where they come from.  You get to see Julie travelling across the country with her mom and dad in a vehicle.  Nora trekking it across country on foot.  And R, you see him come back to "life."

Unlike in Warm Bodies, The New Hunger isn't told from R's perspective.  It is actually told from a not quite identified narrator.  I was kind of bummed out about that at first.  I would have at least liked R's perspective told in his voice.  I really enjoyed reading a book from the perspective of a zombie, it is very unique and quite creative.  Or at least I think so.  However, in the end, I am okay with not getting to see inside his mind.  It really wouldn't have worked out and the feel of the story wouldn't have come across correctly.

The horror of this story actually grows kind of slowly.  I was a bit disappointed in it for awhile.  However, my impatient patience was rewarded eventually.  There is definitely a good creepy factor in The New Hunger.

I tend to pass over novellas a lot of the time, though when I have chosen to read them I find myself very rewarded.  That is also true in this instance.  Maybe I should start reading more of them.

I did have one side effect from this that I wasn't expecting.  I found myself wanting to reread Warm Bodies.  I haven't read it since before it came out (I was lucky enough to get an ARC of it back then, but sadly I don't have it anymore).  So be warned, if it has been awhile since you read Warm Bodies you may end up wanting to do a reread.  If nothing else, it will get you excited for the new one coming out  - The Living.  I know I am!

My Rating
5 Stars


This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book by Daria Song


Title: The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book
Author: Daria Song
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Watson-Guptill; Clr edition
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
Source: Blogging for Books


Adult coloring books.  One of my newest addictions.  I am very happy to get to add this one to my collection.

The Time Garden by Daria Song is a little different than most other coloring books that are out there right now.  It is not only just a coloring book, it is also a story.  There are some words to the story, but the pictures that you get to color are what really tell the story.  It is a beautiful journey to get to take.

In regards to the coloring pages themselves, they are on really nice paper.  They are, however, double sided.  You may be able to color them with marker if you desire, but I am too hesitant to try this out myself.  I do not want to accidentally ruin the other side of the page.  This is also unfortunate in that you can't really pull out a page that you absolutely love to frame.  Well you can, if you don't mind taking a page out of the story!

The pictures on the pages are actually quite detailed.  Though they do range in the amount of detail they each contain.  You are sure to find hours of coloring within this one coloring book alone, making it well worth the money you spend on this coloring book.

My Rating
5 Stars!


This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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Users by Andrea M. Alexander


Title: Users
Author: Andrea M. Alexander
Series: Users #1
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: August 11, 2015
Source: Author

Before I start I just want to say that I don't think enough people, readers included, give self published authors enough credit.  Yes, there are a few out there that should really be attacked by a red pen, but there are a lot of them that are really quite good.  Users is one that I would place in the good category.

Users takes place in the Unite States.  However, the world is in complete disarray.  Everyone is going crazy.  They are attacking each other and stealing from one another.  Stores are being looted and ransacked.  No place is truly safe.

Cael leaves New York with his best friend Cody to meet his parents at the farm of his aunt and uncle.  The farm isn't really so much a farm as it is a bunker.  They have been stocking up on food and weapons for a long time.  He hadn't been to the farm since he was about 13, but it was the safest place his family could think of to go.

When he gets there, he discovers that his parents haven't gotten there yet.  His cousin Iggy (who isn't blood related) is there and is completely different than what he remembered.  Iggy's best friend Wesley is more than a little hostile to him.

While they are there, a few surprise visitors come by.  First there is the next door neighbor who is anything but a savory character.  Second is some people from the CDC.  Interested specifically in Iggy and Wesley.

After a few days at the farm, Cael begins to worry.  His parents haven't shown up and after some looking around, Iggy's father learns that the car they were traveling in has been found but they are no where to be found.  Cael takes it upon himself to go find his parents car to see if he can determine what has happened to them.  Cody, Wesley, and Iggy all decide to go with him (even though Iggy's parents are very against the idea).

So begins their journey.  They learn a lot about each other on the way.  Iggy and Wesley end up having a bounty on their head.  And it turns out that those two are anything but ordinary.

As far as dystopians go this was a pretty good one.  However, I am still kind of unclear on what exactly it was that set the United States (and perhaps the rest of the world) to collapse to the state that it is in in this story.

For the most part I liked the characters.  Though I do think there were some issues with character development.  This was more of a problem for me towards the beginning of the story, but it did alleviate a bit as the story continued.  However, I never really felt a connection to Cody.  To me he was very much in the background and was just the stoner guy who happened to be there.  I didn't feel his friendship, which was supposed to be more like being a brother, between him and Cael.

This story is actually told from two different perspectives: Cael and Iggy.  However, you don't see Iggy as the narrator until past the 50% mark.  I thought this was kind of unfortunate.  I really liked seeing her side of things and I would really have liked to see more of it.

I personally liked the 2nd half of the story more than the 1st.  It really picked up.  To me, it almost felt as though that was where the original idea of the story is and the rest was built around it.

Also, just a note.  This is a young adult book, but it is probably more appropriate for the older half/more mature side of the intended audience.  There is some profanity and some sexual relations.

I am really looking forward to the next book.  I absolutely NEED to know what happens next!

My Rating
4 Stars


This review is based on a copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
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Monday, October 5, 2015

Read This! Round Up (#53)

20150919_234451_resizedPhoto courtesy of KissinBlueKaren
Welcome to Read This, a collection of book reviews and giveaways that were posted in the past week or so from around the web. This is a collection of book reviews & contests from real reviewers. If you want to be included in the next edition start with the guidelines, then use the submission form.
Want to read more reviews? Check out Read This for a list of the latest reviews and stellar reviewers. You can also follow on twitter for the latest round ups. Read This is now accepting photo submissions for each edition.

CONTESTS

NON FICTION

FICTION

YOUNG ADULT

-FANTASY

-DYSTOPIAN

ROMANCE

FANTASY

-MYTHOLOGY

GRAPHIC NOVEL

PARANORMAL

HORROR

THRILLER

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Blitz Alert! Fandemonium by Rick Schindler


Book Title: Fandemonium
Author: Rick Schindler
Book Genre: Adult fiction, fantasy, satire
Publisher: Wattle Publishing




Ray Sirico used to have it all. Once, he was the brilliant and outrageous Clown Prince of Comics, who reinvented the venerable superhero Skylord, and ranted and rollicked everywhere from TV talk shows to Hollywood premieres. But that was in the ’70s and ’80s. Now it’s 1993, and Sirico is a drunken has-been. His wife has left him, his movie flopped, and his comics’ publisher is doing so poorly that its new corporate parent has come up with a radical marketing stunt: the Death of Skylord. Still, Sirico has one last chance to recapture the limelight: Fandemonium, the nation’s biggest fantasy convention. But others are coming to the con too: Harmony Storm, the sex-crazed actress who broke up Ray’s marriage; his former collaborator Tad Carlyle, who now has his own company, and a troubled relationship; Fred D’Auria, a fanboy fleeing adolescent traumas, and corporate conspirators who are plotting to sacrifice Sirico’s greatest creation for motives deeper than even his fevered imagination could conceive. Together, antihero Sirico and his superhero Skylord stand at the crossroads of comics and commerce, where quirky creators, fervent fans, conniving businessmen and preening celebrities converge. Deal-making, drug-dealing, lovemaking and truth-telling all collide at the riotous climax of a fateful weekend that leaves no one unchanged.
Fandemonium uses the colourful world of comics and fantasy as a microcosm and metaphor for media consolidation and the excesses of global mass culture. It is at once a hilarious satire of business and society, a portrait of an artist no longer young, and a sometimes poignant look at a universal challenge: to grow up, face the world, and put away childish things.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | iBooks | Kobo
Paperback Purchase Links
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Wordery | Wattle Publishing

 Rick Schindler is an award-winning journalist and a lifelong comics fan and collector. He is an editor, writer and producer for NBC News Digital. He lives in White Plains, N.Y. Fandemonium is his first novel.


Wattle Publishing
Wattle Publishing is an independent publisher. We publish fiction, non-fiction and poetry. www.wattlepublishing.com

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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Red August by H.L. Brooks


Title: Red August
Author: H. L. Brooks
Series: Red August #1
Publisher: Weatherhill
Publication Date: August 19, 2015
Source: Author

As I have stated before, I love reading retellings of fairytales.  However, some fairytales get retold more often than others.  Some over done.  So I was really excited to find one that is a retelling of the Little Red Ridinghood story.  I personally haven't come across too many of them, so I was ready to jump right in!

This is the story about August and her journey of discovery.  Throughout the course of the story she realizes that she really doesn't know much about herself or her family.

This story starts off with August and her mom packing up all of their belongings to move into August's grandmothers house.  August's father recently passed away and they had decided it would be a good idea to go live near her grandmother, where her father grew up, for awhile.

August has to start a new school.  She is a couple years more advanced, so she is the younger in her class and has never quite fit in.  It is no different at her new school.  Actually, it is even worse.  One of the most popular boys starts picking on her for no apparent reason and the situation escalates really quickly.

Eventually August meets her mysterious neighbor Faolan.  She is drawn to this super sexy stranger and cannot help but find herself thinking about him.  However, he is very hesitant to get close to her.  If only August knew what can of worms she was opening when she decided to pursue friendship (and hopefully more) with this man.

 In the beginning August is pretty much just an extremely horny 16 year old.  She has a few erotic dreams about a wolf man and needs to pleasure herself a little too often.  Now, I am not against steamy sexy scenes at all, but I do think there is a time and place for them in the story.  In the beginning I think a lot of this could have been left out.  I don't really think it helped with character or story development.  A good bit of it felt misplaced and/or unneeded.  This is especially the case when it would be mentioned that August would pleasure herself to sleep.

Thankfully, that all ended up calming down at a point and it became more about the story and not just some girls erotic dreams and unquenchable need for an intimate touch.  I really loved the story.  Though I thought the beginning was a bit rocky, at some point the story really smoothed out and found its groove.  I found myself really enjoying the characters.  I had no problem imagining a different voice for each of them in my head as I read along.  

As far as character development went, I thought it went about very nicely in the long run.  At first I was really annoyed with the character of August.  I thought she was a horn down who needed to have a man in her life and that she needed a lot of positive attention.  She was very insecure, always wondering if men found her attractive etc.  I was happy to see this start to ebb away.  It gives me a lot of hope for her in the future.

I also cannot wait to delve further into the other characters.  Each one of them has a pretty mysterious backstory that we only begin to touch upon in this story.  I am also looking forward to relationships growing and changing.

This is definitely a series that I will be impatiently waiting for the next book to come out. 

My Rating
4 of 5 stars!



This review is based on a copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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