Category Archives: My Book Reviews

Ready Player One

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A couple of days ago, one of my good friends sent me this list called 65 Books You Need To Read In Your 20′s. She had started reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. When I read the description, it didn’t sound like something she would read at all, but she claimed to absolutely love it so far, so I bought the Kindle sample and started reading too.

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The premise is based on the death of a multi-billionaire software developer who has recently died, but left clues inside of his simulation world (that the entire world is plugged into) so that someone can decode the clues and obtain control of the OASIS (the simulation) and the massive fortune that he left behind. It reminded me immediately of a Willy Wonka sort of competition, because you have to be clever enough to find and decode everything. It’s literally FILLED with 80′s references galore, some of which I got and some I didn’t, but I assume it’s even better if you know them all.

It’s also really cool that Ernest Cline literally put an “easter egg” of sorts into the print editions of the book for readers to find, and the winner won a Delorean that Cline had purchased for the competition. (You can check that out here.)

Overall, it reminded me somewhat of Ender’s Game, but then again not really. There’s not really anything that I could compare it to, so you’ll just have to read it and find out for yourself! It was definitely a change of pace to have a male protagonist instead of female, as are most books that I read these days. Cline definitely knows how to throw you for a loop, because I legitimately had no idea what was going to happen next, even though I thought I had it all figured out.

Also, there are a ton of different covers for this book, which are all really cool, and you understand once you’ve read it. Happy reading!

My Top Five Romantic Reads

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In honor of Valentine’s Day (which I actually, hate, by the way. Not because of anything romantic, but because it never fails that I’m sick on the actual day, which seems like some sort of weird plague) I decided to look through my kindle on my favorites shelf and post my top five favorite romantic books. That way, in case you’re sick like me, you can stay in bed and sip some hot chocolate and get wrapped up in someone else’s love story. I’ll actually be reading Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler and writing a paper on it, so I’m pretty jealous of anyone reading the following books today. I’ll link the titles to their Goodreads pages so you can decide for yourself which one you’d most like to check out!

5. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of anything with Harlequin anywhere in the name or on the cover. They’re just far too cheesy for me. I really liked this book because it’s a twist on Greek Mythology and involves two of my favorite Gods, Hades and Persephone. Greek Mythology and romance… does it get better? Because it’s Harlequin, it is a bit cheesy at times, but hey, it’s Valentine’s Day. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Sequels: Goddess Interrupted, Goddess Inheritance (and other half novellas)
Rating: 4/5
Other notes: If you like this one, also check out Destined by Jessie Harrell for a re-telling of Cupid and Psyche!
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4. Angelfall by Susan Ee
I wasn’t very into the whole “fallen angels” trend, and never thought I’d get on that boat until I read this book. It’s very dystopian meets fantasy, and I literally read it all in one sitting (and stayed up all night) because I couldn’t put it down. It’s hard for me to like a book when I really dislike the main character’s name, and Penryn had me concerned from the start, but by page six, it didn’t really matter anymore. There’s more of an undercurrent of romance in this book than outright and expressed, which I actually think works perfectly in the context because it continually leaves you wondering what’s going to happen next.
Sequels: Not published yet, but you can sign up for the release notification of Susan’s website.
Rating: 4/5
Other notes: Apparently a fan designed the cover for her, which is really cool!
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3. Slammed by Colleen Hoover
I have no words for this book. I read the description on Goodreads and Amazon, and read some reviews, and I just wasn’t sure how this book could be as great as everyone said it was. It was better. I read Slammed and Point of Retreat both in one day, which led to me sitting my room in silence for the entire day, barely coming out to eat, which caused my parents and friends to wonder whether I was alive or not. I had been looking for a book like this one for a LONG time, and I think the world has a great shortage of contemporary romance novels that are believable and real, and this one covers all the bases. I know that if I’m crying at the end of the book, it’s earned five stars from me. I also reviewed this book in more detail here.
Sequels: Point of Retreat
Rating: 5/5
Other notes: Will Cooper. Seriously. Be real.
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2. Significance by Shelly Crane
I’m obsessed with this book series. It was something I picked up in the kindle store off of a recommendation from another book I had recently read. It was 99 cents and sounded like a good concept from the description, so I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by trying it out. I would be missing out on so many things had I not clicked “Buy now” that day. The earliest versions for a little bit nitty gritty because Shelly is a self published author who decided to write because her stories are the sort of thing that she wanted to read, but couldn’t find. I am so, so beyond happy that she did. Significance recently got picked up to become a movie! I’m going to have the honor of being an extra in the movie and attending the premiere, and you can too! Read more about that here.
Sequels: Accordance, Defiance, Reverence, Independence 
Rating: 5/5
Other notes: My favorite cover models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz are on the cover! They are legitimately a romance novel all on their own.
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And finally… drum roll please…

1. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
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I hope that it’s clear that I’m obsessed with Colleen Hoover. She’s an indie author who has skyrocketed (kind of like Amanda Hocking) with Slammed, Hopeless, and some amazing luck and marketing strategies. She’s really someone that I look up to in the publishing/writing world. This book was the first that I read of hers, and because I loved it so much, I decided to read Slammed because I couldn’t get enough of her writing. When I read the description for Hopeless, my reaction was sort of “meh”. It doesn’t do the book justice AT ALL, and I’m glad that I took a chance on it, because it’s now one of my all time favorites. I’m always that person who can guess the ending of a movie or a book and everyone is like “JUST SHUT UP AND LET US FIGURE IT OUT”. On this one, I could NEVER have seen the twists, which made me love it even more.
Sequels: None that are published yet, but you can check Colleen’s website for updates! (And follow her, she has a WordPress! She’s just like us! Yay!)
Rating: 6/5 (I’m cheating, but I don’t care, it deserves it)
Other Notes: Colleen favorited my tweet. My life is complete.
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Well, that’s all I’ve got for this Valentine’s Day. I could go on and on, so here are some honorable mentions that you might want to check out if nothing above struck your fancy:

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski (4/5)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (4/5)
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (I’m probably a terrible person for not including a Nicholas Sparks book in my favorites, but you can go see the movie for this one because it came out TODAY) (4/5)
Up In Flames by Nicole Williams (4/5)

And if you’re looking for probably the best written romance not in a “romance” novel, try my favorite book of all time:
Sabriel by Garth Nix (10/5)

Happy Reading!

Review: Underworld by Meg Cabot

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  Let’s face it, I’m in love with Meg Cabot.

For as long as I can remember, she’s been my literary idol. I spent my early teenage years on her message boards, chatting with her other fans, waiting for new books, and trying to be just like Meg. I think I’ve had this post bookmarked for an obscene amount of time, because somehow I was convinced that reading it would automatically help me write a book.

I think I first found out about her because of the Princess Diaries movies. You know, the first one with Anne Hathaway and that guy from Rooney. (Except that no one knew he was from Rooney then, but that’s beside the point. He was also replaced with a hotter, less hipster version in the next movie, a.k.a. Chris “You Will Always Be Fine” Pine, but that’s also not the point…) Then I started reading the Mediator series, fell in love with my first fictional character, Jesse, and I was a goner.

So naturally, since I’ve been a Meg Cabot fan for oh… over 10 years, I was thrilled when the sequel to Abandon (Meg’s series inspired by Persephone and Hades), Underworld, came out May 8th. I finished my finals that day and had pre-purchased it on amazon to read on my kindle because I was so excited. (Except that I kind of forgot that I needed to move this week too, so that got delayed…) and I just finished it once I finally got the time to actually sit down and read it.

Here’s the kicker: I think I may have outgrown Meg.

It breaks my heart, it truly does.

But lately, I’ve been reading so many other books that are written so differently, including the Fifty Shades trilogy, so maybe my brain just isn’t in the right mode to be reading Meg Cabot books.

***(Spoilers about this book below, stop reading now if you don’t want to know! If you have read it, keep reading and please let me know if you agree/disagree, I’d love to hear your opinion!)***

Things I’m not sure I liked/Things I found questionable:

1. I found the characterization to be a little bit lacking. I think I’m used to more complex characters. Although John’s back story was elaborated upon more in this book, I still thought there was something wrong with it.

2. I’ve read a lot of books where the characters just “fall” for each other without a whole lot of reason. With this one, they also did that, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on what I didn’t like, but I think it had something to do with the fact that they didn’t really show any emotion towards each other when they weren’t full on macking on each other… which only happened like three times in the entire book, all un prompted. It was almost as if Meg had been like “oh whoops I need to make sure I have them be sort of intimate here” and put it in. I mean, the intent that they do love each other is clear and it’s nice that they’re not quite as creepy as say, Bella and Edward (gag me for even referencing them, I’m sorry, but it’s what first came to mind) but all the connection we get is like “John was protective of her” and “I wanted to stay with John despite the fact that I had an entire family not in the underworld… and my dad has set a million dollar reward for finding me but I don’t really care because I’m just so excited to hang out with John and his dead crew of miscreants… wait, Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?)

3. Meg’s signature wasn’t there. She always has such a biting wit that really gives her characters a kick, but for some reason, I found it a little bit dry in comparison with her previous work.

4. I was in shock that the characters had (non-explicit) sex. No, I am not twelve, but for some reason I feel like Meg has always skirted the topic SO much in books like this. Yes, the characters have chemistry. But all of the sudden we’re talking about demon baby possibilities and then having underworld sex after they basically miscommunicate the entire book? It was confusing. I literally had to read the passage and surrounding chapters twice to grasp that yes, the sex happened. (Update: Someone commented on my Amazon review of this book about this part, and how if I’ve read Fifty Shades, the sex wouldn’t be shocking. Let me re-state: these books are COMPLETELY different. It was the situation, the characters, and the author that shocked me. Not the sex.)

Things I did like:

1. The Setting: Isla de Huesos is based off of Key West, or so Meg said in an interview about the book. I really like the back story on how the island is “cursed” and “full of sin” so therefore John is needed to sort out the dead.

2. The Greek Mythology references. I’m a sucker for this. I mean, I’m a history major. Well, that’s one of my majors. I know that’s really more classics, but I’ve taken the Greek Mythology class. In college. I feel like that says something for my love of Greek Myths.

3. John. Who wouldn’t like John? He also sort of reminds me of my character, Olivia, but in male form because he’s so connected with death, and what comes after life.

4. Pierce. I loved and hated Pierce at the same time. I still can’t decide if I like her name, or if it irritates me. I think I like it? I’m not sure. Sometimes she has such strength that I really like in a lead female character, because I hate when they just whine and follow the guy around all day. Not interesting to read. The concept of her character is really intriguing I think. Also, I’d like to know who Meg based her father off of.

5. John and Pierce’s past. If their present relationship was anything like their past, it would be electrifying. WHY does it seem to not be continuing in the way that it was explained in Abandon!? I don’t understand. I just really hope it gets back to that in Awaken. Clearly, I’m a sucker for characters who have a past together. (CoughCharlieAndOliviaCough)

Despite my complaints, I did really like the book. It’s published, which is far more than anything I’ve ever achieved thus far, clearly, and it was written by Meg. So therefore, even though I was a little bit confused about why this wasn’t what I was expecting, it was still a very decent book, FAR better than tons of books on the market. It continued the story, and left me hanging and wanting to know what happened with John and Pierce. Even though I don’t think it was her absolute best, I will still be reading Awaken when it comes out. Happy reading!