Review: Perfect (Impulse, #2)

Title: Perfect (Impulse, #2)

Author: Ellen Hopkins

First published on: September 13th, 2011

Page total: 622

Genre(s): YA, Realistic Fiction

 

What can I say? If you're looking for encouragement to try this book, well, then you haven't read anything by Ellen Hopkins yet, I assume. And you should have at least read Impulse to consider this book. So go read. And come back.

Powerful, emotional, realistic. Hopkins' so right. This book is for everyone who has looked into the mirror (either literally or figuratively) and thought "I'm not good enough." Because, not good enough for who? Yourself? Why should you make yourself suffer? Living in a world where love is getting rare, you should have at least one person you can rely on: yourself. Love yourself. Be yourself.

I noticed that Hopkins has gotten more optimistic in the past few years when I look at the endings of her books. Clearly, Tricks, Fallout or even this one have more hopeful endings than her earlier works.
What bugged me a little in this book is that the attention was kind of focused on Cara. I mean, it has four protagonists, but at the end, she's the one who has taken the courage to be herself. And maybe Andre, but we never know what will become of him, or of Kendra or of this jerk Sean.

For those of us looking forward to Tony and Vanessa's cameo in this book (as I did), don't get your hopes up too high because their cameo is brief at the end of the book.

Bed of Roses

Title: Bed of Roses (Bride Quartet, #2)
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Piaktus, 2009
Pages: 335
Genre(s): Romance, Realistic Fiction

The second book of Bride Quartet is focused on Emmaline "Emma" Grant and the Quartet's good friend Jack Cooke.
A born romantist, Emma longs for real love with lots of candles, roses, and romance. Also a born exotic beauty, she's dated many men, but never found The One. When one day her secret crush on Jack (and his secret attraction to her) results in a hot, breath-taking kiss, the rocky relationship between the commitmentphobe Jack and looking-for-forever Emma starts...

Emma and Jack are my least favorite couple in the Quartet. I just didn't care for them. Emma's too much of a romantist for me to relate to her, and Jack... dunno. Yeah, yeah, he's handsome, smart and blah blah blah but I just simply didn't care what they did, which made it hard to read through the book. Bed of Roses is one of the Nora Roberts book you don't really look forward to re-reading.
I rated this book 3.5 Kisses only because I liked the secondary characters and their wedding business. Emma's job as florist was more interesting than the development of her relationship, in my opinion.

Book Review: The Awakening & The Struggle

Title: The Awakening & The Struggle (The Vampires Diaries #1-2)
Author: L. J. Smith
Publisher of this edition: Harper Teen, 2007 (both books first published in 1991)
First read: 2010
Page total: 492

September 4

Dear Diary,
Something awful is going to happen today.
I don't know why I wrote that. It's crazy. There's no reason for me to be upset [...]

The arrival of a handsome Italian stranger in Fell's Church is the trigger of rows of complications in Elena Gilbert's life. When Stefan Salvatore shows her cold shoulder, which Elena as the queen of her school is totally not used to, she's determined to have him.
But there's a barrier between him and the rest of the world Elena doesn't seem to be able to break. What she doesn't know is that Stefan is a vampire who's centuries old.
Shortly after Stefan's arrival, strange things happen in normally peaceful Fell's Church, and everything indicates that they are Stefan's doings... Things get even more complicated when Stefan's older brother and mortal (or immortal?) enemy Damon shows up.


How I came to pick up this book
It was in August 2010 when I was in Korea and bored out of mind without my library. It was raining that day - and having nothing to do, I turned on TV and saw reruns of The Vampire Diaries shows. At that point, I already have heard of the famous vampire series by L. J. Smith (I was also familiar with her Night World series). It was in the middle of the series so I had no idea what was going on but it sounded interesting. So I made a vow to check it out once I was in Germany.

the world of The Vampire Diaries
Considering The Awakening was published in 1991 -before I was even born- the classic vampires in this series make sense. Nowadays, there are all kinds of vampires - sparkling vampires, vampires with magical powers, with tatoos, with blue blood in their veins, mortal and immortal vampires, ... But it's all recent. And Vampire Diaries is 20 years old! So the pale vampires who have bloodlust and super strength and who must avoid the sun at all cost (with two exceptions) might be the vampires people at that time believed in.
Also, there is something typical Smith in Vampire Diaries: (I know this, having read her Night World series) the bond between the vampire and the human during the blood exchange and the Powers vampires possess - such as mind-reading and compelling.

character files
*/Elena Gilbert/*
Pale, blonde and slender, she's the most popular and most beautiful girl in Fell's Church. Also known as the "ice princess", Elena is fierce, determined, stubborn and she's convinced she can get everything she wants. Sometimes she's even child-like in that aspect.
I personally have never been that fond of queen bees, and Elena is no exception. I find it rather hard to relate to her. She's so full of herself and often it seems as if she doesn't care about other people, even her friends and family, as long as she gets what she wants. Also, she's so sickeningly sweetly in love with Stefan with feelings so deep and full of love it's unrealistic. She has the best best friends and doesn't know to value them. Oh, she's brave, I'll give her that. But her overpossessiveness and overprotectiveness annoy me.

*/Stefan Salvatore/*
Born in Renaissance Italy, Stefan is described as "stunningly handsome" and is equally fierce and protective of those he loves as Elena. Stefan is also struggling to fight his vampire nature and feeds off animals rather than humans.
It was interesting to read about his past and how he and Damon became vampires, but Stefan as person didn't fascinate me. He was just another character. I found him rather dull.

*/Damon Salvatore/*
Also born in Renaissance Italy and Stefan's brother, Damon is described as "too beautiful to be described as merely handsome". He's the opposite of Stefan: When he became a vampire, he embraced the night and has been hunting humans -and gaining Powers- since. He can be also ruthless, has a dark humor and is arrogant but he really cares about Elena. (I didn't find the last bit out until the third book, The Fury.)
Damon's more interesting than Stefan, and I liked it that he's not some mindless killer. We don't get to see the world from Damon's PoV but it's easy to see his constant jealousy and rivalry toward his brother and the challenge he sees in Elena.

*/Bonnie M./*
Bonnie is short, has curly hair and is also a psychic, a fact she's not even aware of at the beginning of the book. She's also cheery and lightens dark moods.
Now this is someone I like; Bonnie, one of Elena's loyal best friends, is easy to like. She brings some laughter and cheerfulness to Elena's ice-queen-ness. Her psychic abilities are equally interesting and I can't wait to see more of her!

*/Meredith/*
Tall, dark-haired and observant, Meredith is the silent and thoughtful type. She has also a rather dark sense of humor and is a loyal friend of Elena's.
Meredith is not bad either. She doesn't have the presence like Bonnie does, but she has a sharp mind and supports Elena in a way only a best friend can. Plus, she's reliable. You can count on Meredith, that's for sure.

*/Matt Honeycutt/*
Matt is all-American kind of guy with blonde hair and athletic build. He's good-natured and open-minded and has a good sense of right and wrong.
Poor Matt. I don't know what he sees in Elena, but he doesn't seem to be able to get over the break-up. Oh, he's not being a jerk about it. It's the opposite, he's quite gentleman-like. He supports Elena and is level-headed.

*/Caroline/*
Elena's former best friend, Caroline has auburn hair, is pretty and sneaky, and has a grudge against Elena the readers don't know of.
She's really petty and pathetic. I think the only reason Smith introduced her is because the story needed someone who is a pain in the ass.

the storyline
The Awakening is about Stefan and Elena, how he is new to the town and they fall for each other. The Struggle deals with Stefan-Elena-Damon and also Caroline's petty schemes to cause Elena trouble.
After all, the love triangle is the main theme of this book. Unfortunately, that's one of the elements in this book I don't get and can't relate to. No offense, but I just don't believe in love-in-first-sight, I'll-die-to-have-him kind of love. And I don't see what the vampire brothers see in Elena. She's beautiful, okay. She's strong, fine. But so what?? And the way Elena falls head over heels in Stefan and feel later attracted to Damon as well is just so unnatural.
All things considered, I should be just "meh" about this book, right? Wrong. I don't know why, but L. J. Smith has the talent of story telling. Vampire Diaries is the kind of book you read totally engrossed but after reading, you put down the book and think "Now, why exactly do I like this book?". Then you pick up the book again, and it all starts again.

Book Review: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1)

Title: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1)
Author: Lili St. Crow (pseudonym for Lilith Saintcrow)
Publisher: Razorbill (a division of Penguin Group USA), 2009
Date read: November 26th, 2010
Page total: 293 pages
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy; Young Adult
First Line of the book: I didn’t tell Dad about Grandma’s white owl. I know I should have.

Dad? Zombie. Mom? Long gone. Me? Well, that’s the scary part.
The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys. She’s armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it’s gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust…
[…]
Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back - and this time, Dru’s on their menu. Chances of survival? Slim to none. If she can’t last until sunup, it’s game over…
(From the back of the book)





Do you have a paperback copy of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead by some weird coincidence? There is a sneak peek of Strange Angles at the end of the book, unless you’ve got on old version of the book. That’s how I got to know this book - so this excerpt-from-another-book-at-the-end-of-a-famous-book-advertisement-strategy worked this time.
Back to the book. This book was… weird. Like, very strange. I know it’s not the best way to describe a book, not to mention the nicest, but I found it weirdly good in a weird-good way, mostly because I can’t decide whether I like this book or not.
The book is packed with action because Dru is a hunter who hunts all kind of creatures that are not supposed to exist, including werwulfen (=werewolves), upir (=suckers=vampires), zombies, poltergeist, ghost, well, you get the picture. (For some reasons, the author prefers other names for mythical creatures, probably to distinguish them from other urban fantasies.) As you can imagine, there are plenty of action scenes, most of them involving guns, body combat and some mean kicks. And although my head was reeling from all those action scenes, the actual plot was very slow. The whole book felt like a long, long prologue for the real story, as if the real plot would take off in the second book. It wasn’t exactly boring but if you take out the action scenes, all you have is Dru’s encounter with Graves and how his life gets complicated as he gets involved with Real World.
Another thing I’m not very happy with is that Dru doesn’t describe the Real World to the readers, it’s like as if she thinks we know about it already. It irritated me a lot, but real explanation comes later in the book with other crucial information, and it’s worth waiting.
All in all, it was a compelling, funny read, and I’ll most definitely read the second book, because the first one ends with a cliff hanger and most importantly, I’ve got the feeling, it’ll be much better than the first book.





Quotes:

"Most girls go through a gawky stage, but I’m beginning to think mine will be a lifelong thing. It doesn’t bother me too much. Better to be strong than pretty and useless. I’ll take a plain girl with her head screwed on right over a cheerleader any day."

"I've been bitten, beat up, tied to a bed, James Bonded out, and now you finish off by choking a goddamn teacher!"

"You're not dead. You're too goddamn annoying to be dead."

"I guess since the groin is the center of a guy's world, he rarely guesses it isn't the center of yours."

Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Book Review

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
(The First of the Classic Erotic Trilogy of Sleeping Beauty)
By: Anne Rice
Written As: A.N. Roquelaure
Publisher: Plume, 1983
Pages: 253, Paperback
Rating: 3.5
Book Cover Rating: 2 (simple is needed sometimes)
Read:
Genre: BDSM, Erotica

First Line: The prince had all his young life known the story of Sleeping Beauty, cursed to sleep for a hindered years, with her parents, The King and Queen, and all of the Court, after pricking her finger on a spindle.

*Warning. Warning. This book has very explicit sexual scences!*

This book is not for the faint of heart!
If you are not into or want to be into BDSM you will think this book is sick & replusive. Stop reading... I have book reviews for other genres.

Wow!!

Props for Anne Rice for breaking away from the vampires, in the most extreme way. Of course, because of her previous writings I was expecting something totally different from what I found on those pages. Once morehe'she has a page turner here. (I just finished watching Queen of the Damned... That will be my next Anne Rice read). She had said that erotica is not only for the males. Then she did a remake of Sleeping Beauty to prove her point.

Extremely Sexual and Erotic words are found in this remake fairy Tale, like it says right on the front cover. Sleeping Beauty, I was thinking a bit of erotica. I mean the story with Beauty basicially being raped (deflowered) then kissed to wake up. From there she becomes the Prince's sex slave. Her sexual subissive adventure continues from there. If you like to read your porn this is book for you. Pain and Passion! Passion and Pain! I was fanning myself chapter after chapter ;)

Beauty is the submissive in a dominant relationship. The extremes of the acts that Beauty must obey does make you shudder from within. Why would you want to ruin which beautiful skin? It is personally beyond me. However, I do understand that pain can being you onto a whole different sexual level.

This book has plenty of dominant commands. Phalluses, whips, nakedness, spankings & other acts of sexual experiences.

This book was not what I was expecting, not at all. The story was extreme and I never would of thought I would read something like this. I was intruiged (probably more then o should of been). I was on the edge throughout the book. Overall, I liked it enough to continue with the series. I have been unable to recommend this series. Many of my friends are not into bondage.


Rating: 3.5 Kisses



I will leave no quotes, most are rated R.

Guest Review - Angela

For today's guest reviewer, we have our friend Angela from our Goodreads.com group. She is fun and witty and of course like the rest of us, loves to read. Welcome Angela! Here is her review of Sex, Murder and a Double Latte.
-- Jen the Bibliophile

*************************

I recently read Sex, Murder, and a Double Latte by, Kyra Davis. I really enjoyed this book, it was funny and kept me interested from the beginning to the end. The main character, Sophie Katz, is a mystery writer that finds herself in the middle of her own mystery. It was a very interesting set up this I really enjoyed. I was shocked by who the killer was, I never would have expected it. I liked the supporting characters, Including Sophie's "love interest" Anatoly and Sophie's best friend who owns an adult toy store which leads to a few giggles it and of itself! Overall I thought this was a very good start to a series and I personally will be continuing with it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery with some humor mixed in. I would give it 3 and a half kisses!

Her Fearful Symmetry - Book Review

UK (cover-left) vs US (cover-right)

Book: Her Fearful Symmetry

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Publisher: Scribner

Pages: 401

Read: 4/30/2010

Genre: Adult Fiction, Ghosts, Paranormal, Mystery

Review By: Elyssa

First Line: Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small plastic cup.

I have not read the popular Time Travelers Wife by Niffenegger, I will not be comparing or contrasting between the two books.

While at the library I picked this book up off the rental shelf because I have seen posts about this book several times throughout the Goodreads.com site. I found this book to be interesting, odd, weird, and completely different then anything I have ever picked up before which made the read interesting. However, with that being said, I'm not sure if I liked the book but I also cannot say I hate the book either.

Storyline #1. An estranged aunt has passed away leaving a flat in London along with a small fortune to her twin nieces, Julia & Valentina. They are connected the most annoying way because they can't seem to do anything without each other. Shortly after they moved into the flat, their connection between each other was severed because their differences were coming to the surface. Julia is a strong person but seems to be ok with not doing much with her life. Meanwhile, shy Valentina wants to do something with her life and go to school.

Storyline #2. Then there was Martin. Oh, Martin was the best character. A bit sane but very OCD and never leaves his apartment. Yes, I mean sane! This man makes crossword puzzles for a living. How smart do you have to be to make those let alone manage to figure out 5 answers? He is smart, his OCD problem just debilitates him. Martin's love decided she could not handle his OCD behavior anymore. She moved away and not just down the street but over a few countries. He can see her again if he can manage to leave the apartment and show up at her door. Is is possible for this crazy man to get over all of his fears to find the women he loves? Maybe. Maybe not. Plot twist... Or does he go for the young beautiful Julia?

Storyline #3. Robert is Elspeth's lover who now lives in the same building as her nieces. (What kind of name is Elspeth? I couldn't get over that oddness.) He gives tours at the Highgate Cemetery which happens to being practically in their backyard. Robert then becomes Valentina's boyfriend which to me is just a wee bit odd. Yup, just a bit. Aunt, niece, aunt, niece? Well, since the aunt is dead and the niece looks like her, she will do.

Storyline #4. Julia and Valentina's mother, Edwina, is Elspeth's sister. They are estranged for a reason. The secret between those two come out after so much time has passed. Juicy Juicy gossip! You'll find out if you pick up this unique book.

Storyline #5. Elspeth is a ghost trapped in her apartment after her death. She does little tricks to get the twins to notice her. I think it is strange that they are not freaked out with some of the things that are going on. No one is calling the ghost busters! Nope, life is weird for the twins and once Elspeth in the picture life just gets that much weirder.

Storyline #6. This storyline mixes many of the characters together at the end. Valentina thinks her life with Julia is so bad yet she feels that she can't walk away from her. Elspeth and Valentina come up with a scheme that will make you shake your head and say, "What in the world." They drag Robert into this ridiculous scheme and he drags Martin into it as well. Needless to say, with all of the details that could go wrong it would not be surprising that something would go array. Highgate cemetery ends up with one less body in the end.

Personally, I was very disappointed in how the end of this book played out. I was also very disappointed in what Elsepth does to her kin. It is not right at all. Due to what Elspeth does, the ending will make you stop and think about some of the selfishness in this world. I would of liked more of a wrap up for the ending. It just did not hold the closure that I was looking for. There were a few ideas where loose ends could of been tied up.

Rating: 3.5 Kisses

Quotes:

"I'm bored with knitting. I've taken up arson."

"There was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy."

“Being in love is…anxious,” he said. “Wanting to please, worrying that she will see me as I really am. But wanting to be known. That is…you’re naked, moaning in the dark, no dignity at all…"