tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71723870961228393012024-03-13T14:34:33.555-06:00Megan Likes BooksMegan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.comBlogger513125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-72633409156288785672018-08-20T15:17:00.000-06:002018-08-20T15:17:16.870-06:00Review: The Rosie Project<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1371651741l/16181775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" height="400" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1371651741l/16181775.jpg" width="261" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> The Rosie Project</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Graeme Simsion</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Simon & Schuster</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> January 30, 2013</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> Purchased</span><br />
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An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.<br /><br />Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.<br /><br />Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.<br /><br /><i>The Rosie Project</i> is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.</div>
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<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">The Rosie Project is a fun, light read that had me flipping through the pages at a breakneck speed. I'm not a fan of the label "chick lit," as I think it's limiting the audience of a book at people of both genders can enjoy, but The Rosie Project does remind me of romantic comedies and Sophie Kinsella.<br /><br />Our main character is Don Tillman, a highly intelligent and highly rigid man, diagnosed but assuredly somewhere on the autism spectrum. On the other side we have Rosie, as different from Don you can imagine. In typical rom-com style, fate throws Don and Rosie together, opposites attract and hi-jinx ensure.<br /><br />I believe that Graeme Simsion did an excellent job making Don a very likable character (although perhaps one of those characters that you prefer to know in book form, rather than in real life). He did an excellent job making a characters who is likely very different from most readers, relatable. Rosie was a hot mess, yet inherently likable as well.<br /><br />Overall, a quick enjoyable read, perfect for a beach or vacation, but not something I can see sticking with me for ever and ever.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16181775-the-rosie-project" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Goodread</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Rosie-Project-Graeme-Simsion/dp/1443422665" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Rosie-Project-Graeme-Simsion/9781405912792" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-rosie-project/9781443422666-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">
<span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span></div>
<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview480688409"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1895943.Graeme_Simsion" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://graemesimsion.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/GraemeSimsion" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitter</a> </span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-1452982034795765302017-01-14T19:45:00.002-07:002017-01-14T19:45:43.627-07:00Review: Cradle and All<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472296111l/31688736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472296111l/31688736.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Cradle and All (Teen Edition)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> James Patterson</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Little, Brown and Company</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> September 12, 2016 (originally published 1980)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> eARC from publisher for review.</span><br />
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In Boston, a young woman finds herself pregnant--even though she is still a virgin.<div style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px;">
In Ireland, another young woman discovers she is in the same impossible condition.</div>
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And in cities all around the world, medical authorities are overwhelmed by epidemics, droughts, famines, floods, and worse. It all feels like a sign that something awful is coming.</div>
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Anne Fitzgerald, a former nun turned private investigator, is hired by the Archdiocese of Boston to investigate the immaculate conceptions. Even as she comes to care about and trust the young women, she realizes that both are in great danger. Terrifying forces of light and darkness are gathering. Stepping into uncharted territory where the unknown is just the beginning, Anne must discover the truth--to save the young women, to save herself, and to protect the future of all mankind.</div>
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This book is not my usual genre and I think it showed. I enjoy books that strike a perfect balance between character development and page-turning action. Unfortunately, this one was too much page-turner and not enough depth. I think this can often go with the genre of thriller, which is not a genre I pick up often.<br /><br />As I mentioned, this book was definitely what I would call a page-turner. The chapters are super short and the writing simple and direct and it was a quick read. There was enough suspense to keep me interesting and moving forward.<br /><br />However, I think the speed and suspense came at a cost for me. I felt no connection to any of the characters. I think Anne was supposed to be the main character, but I didn't feel any connection to her. Her relationship with Justin was really flat for me and needed major development. Kathleen and Colleen were pretty dull as well, despite their bizarre conditions. Nicholas was probably the most interesting character, but he still didn't leave too much of an impression.<br /><br />I think it's also important to note that I read an updated "teen" edition. I guess what made it a teen edition was the inclusion of more modern brands and items, like Frye boots and iPhones. I found these modern references a bit heavy-handed and obvious and I think I might have preferred the original edition.<br /><br />This was my first James Patterson book and I'm not sure if I would try another. Like I said, it's not my usual genre, but I might give one of his newer books a try.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Book:</span></div>
<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31688736-cradle-and-all" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodread</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Cradle-All-James-Patterson/dp/0316315265/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=1599906953" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Cradle-and-All-James-Patterson/9781784757199" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/cradle-and-all/9780316315265-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">
<span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span></div>
<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview480688409"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3780.James_Patterson" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.jamespatterson.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/JP_Books" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JamesPatterson" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></span></span></div>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-25369010489008141002017-01-14T18:41:00.001-07:002017-01-14T18:41:55.877-07:00Let's try this again...So I guess it's pretty obvious that I took a bit of an unplanned, unannounced hiatus from blogging. I was just feeling a bit burnt out pressured and I needed some time. The kind of ironic thing is that I ended up reading more than I did when I was blogging. So in the end, I guess it was a good thing.<br />
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So what does all this mean? To be completely honest, I don't know. What I do know is that I love reading and I missing chatting with other blogger about books. I also know that there are a bunch of review books that have been sitting on my shelf for months or years that exert a bit of guilt onto me when I look at them, not the mention the ones on Netgalley. But I also know that this is a hobby and I don't get paid, so I shouldn't feel obligated. That's why you won't find an apology in this post.<br />
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So basically, my goal is to review books on a semi-regular basis. I'll be posting books I got for review, as well as some other books I read along the way. I won't go back and review books I've read in the last few months and I won't review books where I haven't reviewed previous books in the series.<br />
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Alright, let's get back to reading!Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-23496135412627567362016-07-24T10:06:00.000-06:002016-07-24T10:07:23.986-06:00Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1468497023l/16096824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1468497023l/16096824.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> A Court of Thorns and Roses</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Sarah J Maas</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Series</b>: A Court of Thorns and Roses</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Bloomsbury USA Childrens</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> May 5 2015</span><br />
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<strong>A thrilling, seductive new series from <em>New York Times</em>bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending <em>Beauty and the Beast</em>with faerie lore.</strong><br />
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When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.<br />
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As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.<br />
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Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!</div>
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<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I'm realizing just how much I love Sarah J. Maas. I'm a bit late to the party, but I really have loved the 3 books I've read by her. Her characters are amazing: heroines that strike the perfect balance between badass and vulnerable. I want to be best friends with them<br /><br />Feyre is the only thing holding her family together. Really, her family sucks, but in a very human, true-to-life kind of way (as opposed to the flat, inexplicably evil families that drive me up the wall). But Feyre is the only thing keeping her family alive, something that is getting harder and harder to do. In the process of trying to keep her family alive, Feyre gets into unfortunate situation and ends up travelling to the Fae realm as a prisoner/guest. I loved the fae characters in this book as well, but I think my favourite was Lucien, although I can see the appeal of Tamlin.<br /><br />If this all sounds a bit familiar, this book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. But at the same time, it's also based on a somewhat lesser known story of Tam Lin, who was stolen away by the fairy queen.<br /><br />The world created by Maas is rich and deep and really well done. Honestly, I can't think of anything I would have changed about this book. It's that good.<br /><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Book:</span></div>
<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096824-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodread</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Court-Thorns-Roses-Sarah-Maas/dp/1619634449/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=1599906953" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Court-of-Thorns-and-Roses-Sarah-J-Maas/9781408857861?ref=grid-view" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/a-court-of-thorns-and/9781619635180-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">
<span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span></div>
<span id="freeText9363702538408197806" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview480688409"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3433047.Sarah_J_Maas" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://sarahjmaas.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/SJMaas" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-J-Maas/116910261657643" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-85507947179253470972016-06-08T22:10:00.000-06:002016-06-08T22:10:32.744-06:00Review: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389635408l/17453303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389635408l/17453303.jpg" width="257" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Glory O'Brien's History of the Future</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> A. S. King</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Little, Brown Books for Young Readers</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 14, 2014</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary ecopy in exchange for a honest review.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last--a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.<br />Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.</div>
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<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">While I enjoyed the creativity in this book, the writing style and characters didn't while do it for me.<br /><br />Glory is not a likable character. He best friend Ellie is not a likable character. Her father would almost be likeable if he had a life. Darla might have been likable if she was alive.<br /><br />What bothered me most able Glory was her apathy. I don't connect well with apathetic characters and Glory was no exception. She didn't have any goals, didn't have any relationships besides Ellie (who she doesn't even really like) and her father and didn't care about anything.<br /><br />I also didn't like the writing style. I know it was supposed to be Glory's thoughts, but she would tell the reader something in her head, then repeat it by saying it out loud. I didn't save any exact quotes, but it was kind of like this: "When I came home, my dad was watching tv. He doesn't usually watch tv. 'Why are you watching tv?' I asked." It kind of threw me off.<br /><br />With that said, I found this to be a really creative book. Glory's history of the past and future was really interesting and I found myself waiting for those chapters that were interspersed in the rest of the book, but I certainly preferred them. The whole thing with the bat was a bit too bizarre though in my option.<br /><br />There were some really interesting elements to this book, but it wasn't an overall success for me.<br /> <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tO_3z6Ng3xo/UU4rCn4xKoI/AAAAAAAAAQg/YH8XeiSZeeYOE7MbC6JI7P-4j9jpNqzAgCKgB/s1600/2%2Bhearts.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tO_3z6Ng3xo/UU4rCn4xKoI/AAAAAAAAAQg/YH8XeiSZeeYOE7MbC6JI7P-4j9jpNqzAgCKgB/s1600/2%2Bhearts.png" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Book:</span></span></span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17453303-glory-o-brien-s-history-of-the-future" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Glory-OBriens-History-Future-King/dp/0316222720/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=1402262272" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Glory-OBriens-History-of-the-Future--S-King/9780316222723" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/glory-obriens-history-of-the/9780316222730-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1651879.A_S_King" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.as-king.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/AS_King" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/as.king.author/?ref=ts" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook </a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-78858771545984938722016-05-24T20:30:00.000-06:002016-05-24T20:30:25.302-06:00Review: Stealing Parker<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334451985l/12551077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334451985l/12551077.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Stealing Parker</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Miranda Kenneally</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Sourcebooks Fire</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 1, 2012</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> Purchased</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.<br /><br />Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.<br /><br />Now Parker wants a new life.<br /><br />So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?<br /><br />But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />I'm the first to admit that contemporary romance books are not my thing. I'm much more of a fantasy/action/adventure kind of girl. But I heard so many great things about Miranda Kenneally's Hundred Oaks series that I have been giving it a try. I read Catching Jordan quite a while ago and honestly didn't enjoy it all that much, so I was pretty skeptical going into Stealing Parker.<br /><br />But I ended up really enjoying it! I connected way more with Parker than I did with Jordan. I really felt Parker's struggles and I was rooting for her the whole time (even as I screamed at her when she made decisions I disagreed with). I think they reason why this book worked better for me than Catching Jordan is because Stealing Parker is less of a romance-driven plot and more of a character-driver plot. Sure there are romantic aspects, but they all contribute to Parker's journey within the book.<br /><br />This book touched on a lot of issues: eating disorders, sexual identity, slut-shaming and inappropriate relationship. Despite the long list, I felt like each issue was handled well by the author.<br /><br />This book has brightened up my expectations of the Hundred Oaks series and I am looking forward to reading the next book.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Book:</span></span></span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12551077-stealing-parker" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Stealing-Parker-Miranda-Kenneally/dp/1402271875/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=1402262272" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Stealing-Parker/9781402271878" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/stealing-parker/9781402271878-item.html">Chapters</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><span id="freeText10398385719756746271"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4506073.Miranda_Kenneally" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://mirandakenneally.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/MirandaKennealy" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/miranda.kenneally?ref=name" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook </a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-56045711237106323462016-05-11T22:21:00.000-06:002016-05-11T22:21:55.475-06:00Review: Sweet Madness<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427109945l/23340891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427109945l/23340891.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Sweet Madness</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Trisha Leaver & Lindsay Currie</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Merit Press</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> September 15, 2015</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Seventeen-year-old Bridget Sullivan is alone in Fall River, a city that sees Irish immigrants as nothing more than a drunken drain on society. To make matters worse, she's taken employment with the city’s most peculiar and gossip-laden family—the Bordens. But Bridget can’t afford to be picky—the pay surpasses any other job Bridget could ever secure and she desperately needs the money to buy her little sister, Cara, passage to the states. It doesn’t hurt that the job location is also close to her beau, Liam. As she enters the disturbing inner workings of the Borden household, Bridget clings to these advantages.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">However, what seemed like a straightforward situation soon turns into one that is untenable. Of course Bridget has heard the gossip around town about the Bordens, but what she encounters is far more unsettling. The erratic, paranoid behavior of Mr. Borden, the fearful silence of his wife, and worse still…the nightly whisperings Bridget hears that seem to come from the walls themselves.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">The unexpected bright spot of the position is that Lizzie Borden is so friendly. At first, Bridget is surprised at how Lizzie seems to look out for her, how she takes a strong interest in Bridget’s life. Over time, a friendship grows between them. But when Mr. Borden’s behavior goes from paranoid to cruel, and the eerie occurrences in the house seem to be building momentum, Bridget makes the tough decision that she must leave the house—even if it means leaving behind Lizzie, her closest friend, alone with the madness. Something she swore she would not do.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">But when Bridget makes a horrifying discovery in the home, all that she thought she knew about the Bordens is called into question…including if Lizzie is dangerous. And the choice she must make about Lizzie’s character could mean Bridget’s life or death.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">SWEET MADNESS is a retelling of the infamous Borden murders from the point of view of Lizzie’s Irish maid, Bridget Sullivan.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
This was a book with a lot of potential. I like the premise and the story overall, but there were major pacing issues for me that dropped this one down to 3 stars.<br />
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I think the star of this book was the atmosphere that Leaver and Currie created. Everything felt creepy and there was a certain wrong-ness that came through all of Bridget's experiences in the Borden house. However, there was a case of too much of a good thing. The pacing in this book felt way too slow for me and that combined with the growing sense of dread, made the book a bit laborious in the middle. With that much stress on the reader for such an extended number of pages made the book a bit exhausting.<br />
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Bridget was a likable enough character, although I didn't always agree with her decisions. However, they weren't easy decisions to make, so I can't hold that against her. And I think Leaver and Currie did a good job of making Lizzy a sympathetic character at the same time as being a ticking time bomb.<br />
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This story and characters had a lot of potential, but the mix of a thick atmosphere with slow pacing kind of got the better of the book.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23340891" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Sweet-Madness-Trisha-Leaver/dp/1440588945/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Sweet-Madness-Trish-Leaver-Lindsay-Currie/9781440588945?ref=grid-view" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/sweet-madness/9781440588945-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7029937.Trisha_Leaver">Trisha's <span style="color: #6699cc;">Goodreads</span></a> | <a href="http://www.trishaleaver.com/">Trisha's <span style="color: #6699cc;">Web</span></a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/tleaver">Trisha's <span style="color: #6699cc;">Twitter</span></a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7029938.Lindsay_Currie">Lindsay's Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://lindsaycurrie.com/">Lindsay's Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/lindsayncurrie">Lindsay's Twitter</a></span></div>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-16329679258876039962016-05-09T23:04:00.001-06:002016-05-09T23:04:47.443-06:00Review: The Awakening<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> The Awakening</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Kelley Armstrong</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b>Series:</b> Darkest Powers #2</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Harper Collins</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> April 8, 2009</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source: </b>Gift</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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You don't have to be alive to be awakened.<br /><br />Chloe Saunders is a living science experiment—not only can she see ghosts, but she was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. She's a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control, which means she can raise the dead without even trying. Now Chloe's running for her life with three of her supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and they have to find someone who can help them before the Edison Group catches them.<br /><br /><em>Or die trying.</em></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />I'm not too sure why, but this series just isn't doing it for me. It's not bad, but there's just nothing striking me and special about it.<br /><br />Chloe is likable enough, but I don't love her. It almost feels like she's so likable that something is missing and she's a little boring. The more I think about it, the more I realize I'd probably prefer a book set in Victoria's POV. It would be more interesting.<br /><br />I think a love triangle is starting to brew, although it's very one-sided for me at this point. Simon and Chloe would be great together, since he's likable to the point of boring as well.<br /><br />This review may come across a bit negative, but there's really nothing particularly wrong with this book/series and I know a lot of people have enjoyed it, so I think this is just a 'It's not you, it's me' kind of situation.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6615018-the-awakening" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Awakening-Kelley-Armstrong/dp/0385667590" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Awakening-Kelley-Armstrong/9780061450556?ref=grid-view" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-awakening/9780385667593-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36.8px;">Find the Author:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7581.Kelley_Armstrong" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/kelleyarmstrong" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KelleyArmstrongAuthor" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></div>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-62572840226180598242016-05-02T15:18:00.000-06:002016-05-02T15:18:42.098-06:00Review: Jockey Girl<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1454883272l/25866557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1454883272l/25866557.jpg" width="250" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Jockey Girl</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Shelley Peterson</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Dundurn Press</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> February 6, 2016</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source: </b>Netgalley</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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A teen girl’s quest to find her mother leads her to the big city, and gives her the courage to fulfill her dream of becoming a jockey.<br />
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Estranged from her classmates and an outcast at home, Evangeline Gibb feels alone in the world except for the affection of a talented but misunderstood racehorse named No Justice.<br />
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All her life, Evie’s been told that her mother, Angela Parson, is dead. Then, on her sixteenth birthday, a card arrives from her great aunt Mary with the suggestion that Angela might still be alive — and Evie’s life is turned upside down.<br />
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In hopes of winning enough money to leave her hateful father and find her mother, Evie enters the Caledon Horse Race. But something she overhears her father saying changes everything, and Evie steals the racehorse in the night and runs away.<br />
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With a stray dog named Magpie at her side and help from Aunt Mary, Evie unearths long-hidden family secrets, observes the underground world of drug addiction, goes toe-to-toe with her father, finds unexpected love, and takes the racing world by storm with single-minded determination.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
I'm the kind of reader who loves horses, but often dislikes horse books. I find they tend to be sentimental and unrealistic. Jockey Girl came off unrealistic to me and also aimed toward a younger audience than I was expecting. With that said, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot when I was in elementary school. However, with that said, there is one aspect of the book that would require a bit more maturity as it deals with addiction.<br />
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The first thing that annoyed me was how terrible Evie's family was (expect for her little brother). Her father was basically pure evil and her step-mother was fairly useless and generally unkind. But it's a pet peeve of mine for the parents in a book to be that cruel and evil. I understand and appreciate that parents aren't perfect, but in the vast majority of cases, they do genuinely care about their children and have their best interests at heart.<br />
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The second thing that bothered me was that things all seemed to fall into place so nicely for Evie. Sure, she had a few obstacles, but I never true felt the stakes because I felt like the author wouldn't let anything truly bad happen.<br />
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I mentioned that the book felt like something from my childhood and part of that was that it really had a timeless feel to it and almost felt like it was set in the past because the characters hardly used computers or cell phones or even watched tv. Every once in a while something modern would pop up and it almost felt out of place in the story.<br />
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Overall, Jockey Girl was a bit to unrealistic, immature and predictable for me, but I think there are definitely readers out there who would really enjoy this one.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25866557-jockey-girl" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Jockey-Girl-Shelley-Peterson/dp/1459734343/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462223509&sr=1-1&keywords=jockey+girl" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Jockey-Girl/9781459734340" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/jockey-girl/9781459734340-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/369029.Shelley_Peterson" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.shelleypeterson.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Website</a></span></span></div>
Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-25847700037983694472016-03-21T16:56:00.000-06:002016-03-21T16:56:20.872-06:00Review: The Orenda<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394646175l/20662603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394646175l/20662603.jpg" width="262" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> The Orenda</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Joseph Boyden</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Penguin Canada</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> September 10, 2013</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source: </b>Borrowed</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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A visceral portrait of life at a crossroads, <em>The Orenda</em> opens with a brutal massacre and the kidnapping of the young Iroquois Snow Falls, a spirited girl with a special gift. Her captor, Bird, is an elder and one of the Huron Nation's great warriors and statesmen. It has been years since the murder of his family and yet they are never far from his mind. In Snow Falls, Bird recognizes the ghost of his lost daughter and sees the girl possesses powerful magic that will be useful to him on the troubled road ahead. Bird’s people have battled the Iroquois for as long as he can remember, but both tribes now face a new, more dangerous threat from afar.<br />
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Christophe, a charismatic Jesuit missionary, has found his calling amongst the Huron and devotes himself to learning and understanding their customs and language in order to lead them to Christ. An emissary from distant lands, he brings much more than his faith to the new world.<br />
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As these three souls dance each other through intricately woven acts of duplicity, small battles erupt into bigger wars and a nation emerges from worlds in flux.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
The Orenda pushed me out of my reading comfort zone, which I am actually very thankful for. This book is incredibly well researched and also very beautifully written. It is my first book by Joseph Boyden and I certainly plan to read more by him.<br />
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The Orenda gives a view into the history of the north-eastern part of North America (Great Lakes area). I appreciated that Boyden featured main characters from various backgrounds (European and First Nations, and to a point, different nations). I felt like the story was told fairly and without sugarcoating anything.<br />
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I enjoyed all three of the main characters: Bird, Christophe and Snow Falls, although I think Snow Falls was my favourite. They were all well-formed and flaw and intriguing.<br />
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One thing to note is that this book is on the violent side, featuring multiple scenes of war and tortured. Just be warned if you are sensitive to these things.<br />
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The only negative thing I was to say is that I was disappointed with the ending of Snow Falls' story. I felt like Boyden was building towards something, but nothing came of it, which was quite a let down for me as a reader.<br />
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Overall, this is a beautifully written book that I would suggest to anyone interesting in the history of North America or who enjoys skilled prose and intriguing characters.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20662603-the-orenda" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Orenda-Joseph-Boyden/dp/0143174169/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Entangled-Nikki-Jefford/9781477588383" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-orenda/9780143174165-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/88550.Joseph_Boyden" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Boyden/111650425517794" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/josephboyden" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.hamishhamilton.ca/authors/joseph-boyden.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Website</a></span></span></div>
Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-263705684777993032016-02-17T21:37:00.001-07:002016-02-17T21:37:56.432-07:00Review: Entangled<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329796344l/13494086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329796344l/13494086.jpg" width="265" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Entangled</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Nikki Jefford</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Series: </b>Spellbound #1</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Nikki Jefford</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> Feb 19, 2012</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source: </b>I received a free ecopy in exchange for a honest review (Netgalley)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">***Entangled is a young adult paranormal fantasy romance suitable for ages 15 and up.***</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Entangled was a fun YA paranormal read. I enjoy books about witches and wasn't disappointed. </span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Graylee and Charlene are twin witches. Graylee, our main character, is a nice, likable girl. Charlene, on the other hand, was a terrible person. She's a sort of 'mean girl,' but to the next level. The girls' mother seemed pretty decent, but I don't understand why she let Charlene act like that.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">There was a hint of a love triangle, but thankfully, it didn't last long. The love interest was a good-at-heart bad-boy who, while I wasn't in madly in love with him, was still likble once you get to know him.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">I feel like a bit more world-building could have been done so that the reader could have a better understanding of how magic works, since I felt most of that was glossed over.</span><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><br style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;" /><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Overall, Graylee was a relatable and likable main character who kept me invested in the story and enjoying the book. While this wasn't an amazing read, I still enjoyed it enough to keep my eye out for the sequel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13494086-entangled?from_search=true&search_version=service" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Entangled-Spellbound-Trilogy-1-ebook/dp/B007BCORJK" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Entangled-Nikki-Jefford/9781477588383">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/entangled-spellbound-1/9781476201597-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5424286.Nikki_Jefford" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://reviewsfromabookworm.blogspot.ca/2016/02/rise-of-reaper-by-lorna-reid-review.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/NikkiJefford" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.nikkijefford.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Website</a></span></span><br />
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-44672547332335764802016-02-14T09:57:00.000-07:002016-02-17T09:58:06.751-07:00Weekly Recap #5I'm running behind again, but better late than never!<br />
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<b>Last Week's Posts:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Review: <a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/02/review-a-circuit.html">The A Circuit by Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka</a><br />
<br />
<b>New Arrivals:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23384313-tides-of-honour?ac=1&from_search=1">Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham</a> - Thanks to Genevieve Graham and Ambur from <a href="http://burningximpossiblyxbright.blogspot.ca/">Burning Impossibly Bright</a> for the awesome giveaway!<br />
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<b>Pages Read:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
2/7 -<br />
2/8 - 72<br />
2/9 - 54<br />
2/10 - 133<br />
2/11 - 70<br />
2/12 - 9<br />
2/13 - 0<br />
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Average = 48 pages<br />
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So close! I think the font must be huge on the physical book version of ebook I was reading, but whatever, I'll take it!Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-18802486509811632972016-02-11T19:48:00.000-07:002016-02-11T19:48:02.951-07:00Review: The A Circuit<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388350069l/9583203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388350069l/9583203.jpg" width="258" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> The A Circuit</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Georgina Bloomberg & Catherine Hapka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Series: </b>The A Circuit #1</span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Bloombury USA Childrens</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> May 16, 2011</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> Purchased.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
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The A Circuit is the top of the top when it comes to horse shows. It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.</div>
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Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student-every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?</div>
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Readers who enjoy peeking into the elite world of <em>Gossip Girl</em> or<em>The A-List</em> will feel right at home in this new series with its friendships, drama, and privilege set against the backdrop of competitive horseback riding.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span id="freeTextreview284056360">I enjoyed this one, mostly because I'm a giant horse nerd. I think it's definitely possible that if this story had been set in any other sport or activity, I probably would not have liked it at all. But because it featured horses, it got heaps of bonus points.<br /><br />I think my favourite thing about this book is that Georgina Bloomberg knows her stuff. She competes at the top of the sport, so her descriptions of anything involves horses are authentic and spot on. I don't know how self-explanatory or confusing this would be for non-riders, since she doesn't overly explain everything, which was a big plus for me, since that would have been boring for someone who already knows.<br /><br />Besides the horses, which I obviously loved, the characters didn't wow me. Tommi and Kate weren't bad, but didn't jump off the page for me. Zara was super annoying. Occasionally in the second half of the book, I'd start to feel a bit bad for her, but then she'd go do something really stupid or mean and I'd go back to being annoyed at her. Fitz also pissed me off.<br /><br />Really, this book reminded me of Gossip Girl (the show, since I haven't read the books. Oh and I just realized GG is mentioned in the synopsis too). A bunch of insanely rich teenagers who tend to be spoilt and full of drama. Right down to the token "poor kid" (ie: middle class).<br /><br />I feel like this book is aimed at people who know a thing or two about horses, but also enjoy high school drama. And it's exactly that. So if that's you're thing, you'll enjoy it. If you're not interested in either horses or teenage drama, pass on this one.</span> </div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9583203-the-a-circuit" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Circuit-Catherine-Hapka/dp/1599906341" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-a-circuit/9781599906348-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4428306.Georgina_Bloomberg" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Georgina's Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13601.Catherine_Hapka">Catherine's Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/georginabloomberg/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Georgina's Facebook</a></span></span></div>
Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-2191826213579811272016-02-08T22:14:00.002-07:002016-02-08T22:14:31.480-07:00Weekly Recap #4Not too much to report in my life lately. Happy to see the end of January though!<br />
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<b>Last Week's Posts:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/02/review-yearbook.html">The Yearbook by Carol Masciola</a><br />
<br />
<b>New Arrivals:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Nothing to report. Not a bad thing though, as I was trying to read the books I already have.<br />
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<b>Pages Read:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1/31 - 59<br />
2/1 - 11<br />
2/2 - 7<br />
2/3 - 6<br />
2/4 - 75<br />
2/5 - 115<br />
2/6 - 0<br />
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Average = 39<br />
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I still didn't quite meet my goals, but it's better than last week, so that's good I guess. Still very inconsistent.Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-70746906962033230582016-02-04T22:27:00.000-07:002016-02-04T22:27:37.370-07:00Review: The Yearbook<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428002671l/24969517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428002671l/24969517.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> The Yearbook</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Carol Masciola</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Merit Press</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 2, 2015</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span id="freeText7117584134645342597" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Misfit teen Lola Lundy has every right to her anger and her misery. She’s failing in school, living in a group home, and social workers keep watching her like hawks, waiting for her to show signs of the horrible mental illness that cost Lola’s mother her life. Then, one night, she falls asleep in a storage room in her high school library, where she’s seen an old yearbook—from the days when the place was an upscale academy for young scholars instead of a dump. When Lola wakes, it’s to a scene that is nothing short of impossible.<br /><br />Lola quickly determines that she’s gone back to the past—<em>eighty years</em> in the past, to be exact. The Fall Frolic dance is going full blast in the gym, and there she makes an instant connection with the brainy and provocative Peter Hemmings, class of ’24. His face is familiar, because she’s seen his senior portrait in the yearbook. By night’s end, Lola thinks she sees hope for her disastrous present: She’ll make a new future for herself in the past. But is it real? Or has the major mental illness in Lola’s family background finally claimed her? Has she slipped through a crack in time, or into a romantic hallucination she created in her own mind, wishing on the ragged pages of a yearbook from a more graceful time long ago?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">I love a good time travel books and, while The Yearbook wasn't my favourite, it was an enjoyable ride.</span><br />
<span id="freeTextreview1458050462" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><br />Lola Lundy has a tough life. She's a orphan, in a group home, has a crappy job, no friends and not a great outlook for the future. Here's the thing about Lola: I only liked her half the time. When she was in the present, she frustrated me. She would keep making bad decisions that only made her situation worse. In the 1920's she became much more normal and level-headed and I enjoyed her character much more. Also, clearly the school system failed Lola (or Lola failed it) because there were a lot of things that seemed like common knowledge about the past that Lola was clueless about.<br /><br />I really enjoyed the parts of the story that were set in the 1920's. I find that to be such a fascinating time and I'm a sucker for anything vintage. However, I didn't find the time travel to be well-explained. So if you don't want to be bogged down by cumbersome technical explanations, you'll be fine, but if you're one of those readers who likes things like that built up and explained, be warned.<br /><br />One thing that did bother me was the romance. Unfortunately, this one fell prey to instalove. Seriously, these two had had probably 3 conversations (2 of which were pretty whack) and then all of a sudden they are in love? Nope, not buying it. Thankfully, the romance wasn't too prominent in the book, so it didn't spoil the whole thing.<br /><br />One thing I did like was the uncertainty in the last third of the book. As a reader, I really found myself doubting what was true and what wasn't, which is something I like in a book.<br /><br />Overall, I enjoyed The Yearbook, despite a few issues along the way. Definitely recommended for fans of the 1920's especially.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24969517-the-yearbook" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Circuit-Catherine-Hapka/dp/1599906341/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-a-circuit/9781599906348-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13524223.Carol_Masciola" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.theyearbooknovel.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13524223.Carol_Masciola" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CarolMasciolaAuthor?fref=ts" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></span>Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-41954627720620431822016-01-31T14:21:00.000-07:002016-01-31T14:21:09.251-07:00Weekly Recap #3So, I totally missed doing this last week. Oops.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Last (Two) Week's Posts</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Review: <a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/01/review-half-in-love-with-death.html">Half in Love with Death</a> by Emily Ross</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Review: <a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/01/reviewmodel-spy.html">Model Spy</a> by Shannon Greenland</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">New Arrivals</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25866557-jockey-girl?ac=1&from_search=1">Jockey Girl</a> by Shelley Peterson - Netgalley</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">I just can't resist horse books!</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Pages Read</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/17 - 32</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/18- 15</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/19 - 8</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/20 - 90</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/21 - 1</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/22 - 0</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/23 - 2</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/24 - 0</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/25 - 26</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/26 - 6</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/27 - 13</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/28 - 62</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/29 - 82</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">1/30 - 37</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Average = 26.7</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">Yikes! I'm only reading half of my goal on average. And so inconsistent! Seriously, how did I read 1 page on the 21st?!</span>Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-30992150272678626792016-01-27T23:02:00.001-07:002016-01-27T23:02:55.161-07:00Review:Model Spy<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388339968l/641549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388339968l/641549.jpg" width="272" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Model Spy</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Shannon Greenland</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b>Series: </b>The Specialists #1</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Speak</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> May 10, 2007</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Teen genius Kelly James is in a lot of hot water. A whiz with computers, she agreed to help her college RA, David, uncover some top-secret information. After all, she doesn't have many friends and David has always been nice to her. It doesn't hurt that he's supercute and irresistible, too. All she has to do is hack into the government's main computer system. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">But a few hours later, her whole life changes. She is caught and taken in for questioning, only this isn't your run-of-the-mill arrest. Rather than serve a juvenile detention sentence, she accepts the option to change her name and enlist in a secret government spy agency that trains teen agents to go undercover. As if that wasn't overwhelming enough, she discovers that David works for this agency as well!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">And before she even begins to understand what is going on, she's sent on her first mission as an undercover model. And who better to partner with than David himself!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Model Spy was the kind of book that falls fairly firmly in the category of "OK." I don't have a lot of things that I particularly liked or disliked about it, which makes it a bit hard to review, but I'll do my best.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">One thing I liked was the general idea of the book. A bunch of young adults with particular skills who end up in trouble, but then get recruited into a super secret government program to become spies. These kind of situations always lead to interesting missions.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">I can also think of a couple minor things that annoyed me. I think the first one is just a person pet peeve, but it really annoys me when people describe members of the opposite sex as "yummy." They are not a steak or a cupcake! Kelly describes a certain guy's butt as "yummy," which totally weirds me out, like she is going to eat it or something. Pretty sure that's just a random personal preference. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Also, the author tried to make Kelly a bit quirky by making her say things out of order when she is nervous. I get what the author was trying to do, but it didn't work for me and I just found it annoying. Again, super minor though.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Finally, I felt like the actual mission was too short. I enjoyed the build-up to it, so rather than remove anything, I just think the book should have been a bit longer and had a bit more depth in the mission.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">All of these things are super minor to me, yet I also can't think of any things I particularly liked about the book either, so I will just settle on a 3 star rating. If you enjoy books about teen spies, do pick this one up, but I don't think it will become a favourite.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/641549.Model_Spy" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Model-Spy-Specialists-Shannon-Greenland-ebook/dp/B002GUK7M8">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/model-spy/9781101118481-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: "freestyle script"; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/345637.Shannon_Greenland" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://shannongreenland.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/345637.Shannon_Greenland" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ShannonGreenlandAuthor" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-51128650343238825822016-01-19T22:04:00.000-07:002016-01-19T22:04:35.648-07:00Review: Half in Love with Death<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433629061l/25679292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433629061l/25679292.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Half in Love With Death</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Emily Ross</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Merit Press</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> December 16, 2015</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span id="freeText1906261917078607792" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">It's the era of peace and love in the 1960s, but nothing is peaceful in Caroline's life. Since her beautiful older sister disappeared, fifteen-year-old Caroline might as well have disappeared too. She's invisible to her parents, who can't stop blaming each other. The police keep following up on leads even Caroline knows are foolish. The only one who seems to care about her is Tony, her sister's older boyfriend, who soothes Caroline's desperate heart every time he turns his magical blue eyes on her.<br /><br />Tony is convinced that the answer to Jess's disappearance is in California, the land of endless summer, among the runaways and flower children. Come with me, Tony says to Caroline, and we'll find her together. Tony is so loving, and all he cares about is bringing Jess home. And so Caroline follows, and closes a door behind her that may never open again.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">I'm having bad luck so far in 2016. Here's another book that didn't work out for me. My problem with this book was Caroline, the main character. Man was she naive. To the point of being stupid.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">I felt like Caroline just kind of went with the flow and wasn't really actively choosing the direction of her life. She just did what others told her to, first her parents and later Tony. The author tried to show that she was smart with her grades at school and her apparent skill at poetry, but she took so long to figure out what was going on and made a lot of bad decisions.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Also, my feminism side a bit riled during this book. Caroline talked about how badly she wanted to go to California to find her sister. Yet she was constantly waiting on Tony's schedule. I think the book would have been way more interesting if Caroline hitchhiked to California to look for Jess herself. She should have taken control of things and gone to California on her schedule instead of always waiting on the man to take her there.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Ok, enough complaining about Caroline. I also disliked her entire family (besides Dicky, who basically didn't exist besides occasionally playing in the background). Caroline's dad was a bit of an alcoholic who generally wasn't that good at being a husband or a father. But he was nowhere near as bad as her mother, who took all of her stress about having a missing daughter on the rest of her family. I can only imagine how difficult that would be as a parent, but pushing away the rest of your family doesn't seem like a good solution. I feel like the author was going for the depressed housewife idea, but it didn't work for me. And Jess, who we barely see in the book, was made annoyed based on the other character's descriptions of her.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">I also wished the 1960's setting has been more apparent in the book. Basically the only hint I got that this was set in the 60's is one or two mentions of the fashions and a couple mentions of The Beatles.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Overall, I just couldn't get into Caroline's head and she ended up annoying me a lot with her naivety.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25679292-half-in-love-with-death" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Half-Love-Death-Emily-Ross/dp/1440589038" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Half-in-Love-with-Death/9781440589034" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/half-in-love-with-death/9781440589034-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/289337.Emily_Ross" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.emilyrosswrites.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyross816">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/authoremilyross">Facebook</a></span></span>Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-8825130895295173832016-01-17T21:41:00.000-07:002016-01-18T21:41:34.037-07:00Weekly Recap #2So I'm a day late on this one, so my apologizes. Also, I forgot my post-it with daily stats on my kindle, so I'll have to add that in later. For now we're just looking at physical books results.<br />
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<b>Last Week's Posts:</b><br />
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Review: <a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/01/review-borrowed-man.html">A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe</a> - 2 stars<br />
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<b>Pages Read:</b><br />
Guys! I lost my paper for this. I will update if I can find it later this week.<br />
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Wow, pretty lame week. But I did play all the video games on the weekend, so I'm happy.Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-24044206740040474802016-01-12T21:22:00.000-07:002016-01-12T21:22:24.212-07:00Review: A Borrowed Man<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432584642l/23848252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432584642l/23848252.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> A Borrowed Man</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Gene Wolfe</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Tor Books</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 20, 2015</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 23.1px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">In the twenty-second century, our civilization has retained many familiar characteristics, but the population is smaller. Technology has made significant advances, and there are more robots--and clones.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">One such is E.A. Smithe, a borrowed person, a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library. His personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is library property, not a legal human. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The father of Colette Coldbrook, a wealthy library patron, has disappeared and been proclaimed dead. She decides to check Smithe out of the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Murder on Mars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">. A physical copy of that book was the sole item in her father's safe, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. Her brother, Conrad, turned up dead in the family home shortly after giving the book to her. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Colette has reached the end of her options. She's afraid of the police, and there are others who might want the book's secret. Smithe is her last hope. Borrowing him might help her find the connection between the deaths and </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Murder on Mars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Together they find something far beyond their expectations--something almost anyone would kill for.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The premise of this book really intrigued me. Can you imagine being able to actually check out clones of your favourite authors from the library and take them home with you for a few days?! I haven't decided if that is really cool or completely terrifying or both. Anyway, this idea was the reason I wanted to read this book and I did end up enjoying that aspect of the book. The rest, however, didn't work out for me.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Let's start with the good things. The premise. As I mentioned before, the premise drew me to this book and that aspect did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the moral aspect it brings to the story. You see, our main character is Ern Smithe and he is not considered fully human by law. That's because he is a clone of a famous author and has been imprinted with the memories of his original self. Because he is a reclone, he is not considered fully human (although biologically he is) and is the property of the library. Because he is property, he can be bought and sold and even destroyed if not enough people check him out from the library (a constant fear among reclones like Ern). Obviously most readers would have a huge moral issue with this form of slavery (although, as Ern points out, slaves can be freed and he cannot), but the author just state this as fact and mores on without dwelling on it, which I enjoyed because it lets the reader get worked up about the injustice on their own, without the author dwelling on the issue.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a bit of a mess for me. I just didn't enjoy the storyline. I felt like the author kept having things happen and introducing characters, then taking them away, without any actually bearing on the plot. I felt like the plot was set up well initially, then most of the middle was Ern just wandering around doing stuff, then at the end the author rushed to tie the plot back together again.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Another thing that bothered me was inconsistent explanations of things. The initial world building was not bad, but then Ern makes a huge discovery, but there is absolutely no description about how that came about. It's just this fantasical thing plunked down in the middle of a vaguely sci-fi novel with no explanation whatsoever, which I found really annoying. Even if it's not super technical, I want a why!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">My third major complaint was the characters. I didn't like them. They all felt flat to me. Ern seemed very bland to me. Colette was kind of interesting because of what had happened to her family, but I certainly found her situation much more interesting than her character. Georges and Mahala were the most interesting character based on the bit of backstory we get, but they pretty much just show up, do whatever Ern tells them, then disappear. Arabella had potential I think, but her character was pretty much non-exiestent and I actually didn't think she contributed anything to the story at all. The bad guys had basically two or three chapters of page time and weren't fleshed out much at all.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">This book, despite it's amazing premise and moral issues, turned out to be a disappointment. The characters and plotline were both lacking, which dragged the book way down for me.</span><div>
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<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848252-a-borrowed-man?ac=1&from_search=1" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Borrowed-Man-Gene-Wolfe/dp/0765381141/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/A-Borrowed-Man/9780765381149" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/a-borrowed-man/9780765381149-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23069.Gene_Wolfe" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Wikipedia</a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-28299632050030453802016-01-10T22:53:00.002-07:002016-01-12T21:22:47.663-07:00Reading Resolution + First Week RecapSo I know I'm a little late posting this, but here's my New Year's reading resolution: Read 50 pages per day!<br />
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To some of you, this might sound minuscule, but most of last year I was reading no where near that amount, which makes maintaining a book blog a bit difficult. I think 50 pages is a realistic goal.<br />
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In order to keep myself on track, I'm going to start posting a weekly recap on Sundays. This will include: pages read, the previous weeks posts and any new additions, along with anything else I feel like adding. So here's my first recap! I've included the 1st and 2nd as well because the year started on a Friday.<br />
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<b>Last Week's Posts</b><br />
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Review: <a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/01/info-title-infinite-number-of-parallel.html">An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes by Randy Ribay</a><br />
<a href="http://megantalksbooks.blogspot.ca/2016/01/2016-reading-challenges.html">2016 Reading Challenges</a><br />
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<b>New Arrivals</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13332528-family-magic?ac=1&from_search=1">Family Magic by Patti Larsen</a> - free on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Family-Magic-Hayle-Coven-Novels-ebook/dp/B005W5R79A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452491337&sr=8-1&keywords=family+magic">Amazon</a><br />
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<b>Pages Read</b><br />
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1/1 - 50<br />
1/2 - 9<br />
1/3 - 20<br />
1/4 - 4<br />
1/5 - 18<br />
1/6 - 51<br />
1/7 - 122<br />
1/8 - 113<br />
1/9 - 0<br />
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Weekly (+2) Total = 387 pages<br />
Weekly (+2) Average = 43<br />
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As you can see, this week was wildly inconsistent, with pages ranging from 0 - 122. Next week I will try to read more steadily. But I wasn't too far from my goal (only 7 pages on average)<br />
<br />Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-60125303297741540462016-01-08T21:03:00.001-07:002016-01-08T21:06:01.086-07:002016 Reading ChallengesThe start of the new year is always exciting for me, because it's the time I get to sign up for all the book blog challenges! To be completely honest, I often don't finish them, but I love to try! Here's what I'm going to sign up for this year!<br />
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<a href="http://novelheartbeat.com/2016/01/2016-reading-bingo-challenge/">2016 Reading Bingo</a> - hosted by <a href="http://novelheartbeat.com/">Novel Heartbeat</a><br />
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<a href="http://novelheartbeat.com/2015/12/2016-prequel-sequel-challenge-sign-ups/">Prequel & Sequel Challenge</a> - hosted by <a href="http://novelheartbeat.com/">Novel Heartbeat</a> and <a href="http://writergrrlreads.blogspot.ca/">Writer Grrl Reads</a><br />
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Goal = 50 points (last year I got 67!)<br />
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<a href="http://evie-bookish.blogspot.ca/2015/12/2016-tbr-pile-reading-challenge.html">TBR Pile Challenge </a>- hosted by <a href="http://evie-bookish.blogspot.ca/">Bookish Lifestyle</a><br />
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I have a few (ok, like honestly over a hundred) books of on my book shelf that I haven't read yet. I'll be realistic and go with A First Kiss as a goal, but more would be better.<br />
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1-10 <i>A Firm Handshake</i></div>
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11-20 <i>A Friendly Hug</i></div>
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21-30 <i>First Kiss</i></div>
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31-40 <i>Sweet Summer Fling</i></div>
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41-50 <i>Could This Be Love?</i></div>
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50+ <i>Married with Children</i></div>
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So, that's my list of challenges for now. I may be adding a few more in the next few days as I stumble across them.<br />
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<br />Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-24288071811432011392016-01-05T22:31:00.003-07:002016-01-05T22:33:31.479-07:00Review: An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438005699l/24266809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438005699l/24266809.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Randy Ribay</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Merit Press</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 16, 2015</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br />
<span id="freeText6459059344977258275" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">As their senior year approaches, four diverse friends joined by their weekly Dungeons & Dragons game struggle to figure out real life. Archie's trying to cope with the lingering effects of his parents' divorce, Mari's considering an opportunity to contact her biological mother, Dante's working up the courage to come out to his friends, and Sam's clinging to a failing relationship. The four eventually embark on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to solve--or to avoid--their problems.<br /><br />Told in the narrative style of Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMAN, AN INFINITE NUMBER OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES is at turns geeky, funny, and lyrical as it tells a story about that time in life when friends need each other to become more than just people that hang out.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<table border="0" cellspacing="1" id="myReview" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><span id="freeTextreview1404636413">I was excited to read this one, as I'm an occasional D&D player and the synopsis mentions that the characters are in a playing group together. However, I found it to be disappointing.<br /><br />The D&D aspect was probably the thing I was most excited for. However, this turned out to be a bit misleading. They don't play any games at all until the final chapter.<br /><br />Instead, this book just got on my nerves. More specifically, the characters got on my nerves. They were so whiny! Seriously, these characters were the epitome of teenage angst, which is not really my thing. And I only liked one of the 4 main characters. Archie was acting like a spoiled little brat and I felt super bad for his dad. Mari was just an unlikable character for me because it felt like she had no interest in anything. She's a storyteller, but she had no enthusiasm for anything. Dante was the only character I was close to liking and even then I found his characterization weak. And don't even get me started on Sam. I just wanted to shake an enormous amount of sense into him. I have no idea why any of the other characters even bothered with him.<br /><br />Which brings me to my other major complaint. The whole premise of the road trip together was really weak in my opinion. Sam was obviously the instigator, but why Mari and Archie would ever agree to go is beyond me.</span></span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">I think it was perhaps a bit too much to have 4 major characters in a book that is under 250 pages. However, I'm not sure if more characterization would have helped my opinion of the book, since I disliked most of the characters based on what was written.</span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br />My dislike of three quarters of the main characters made it impossible to rate this book above 2 stars. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24266809-an-infinite-number-of-parallel-universes?ac=1&from_search=1" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Infinite-Number-Parallel-Universes/dp/1440588147/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/An-Infinite-Number-of-Parallel-Universes-Randy-Ribay/9781440588143" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/an-infinite-number-of-parallel/9781440588143-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8596967.Randy_Ribay" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://randyribay.wordpress.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randyribaywrites" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/randyribay" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-25512703002086260082015-12-23T21:51:00.000-07:002015-12-23T21:51:29.308-07:00Review: Winter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Winter</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Marissa Meyer</span><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Series:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> The Lunar Chronicles #4</span><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20.79px;" /></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Feiwel and Friends</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> November 10, 2015</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> Purchased</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<table border="0" cellspacing="1" id="myReview" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><span id="freeTextreview1446810393">This was one of those bittersweet books, because a series you loved is coming to close. While this wasn't my favourite book in the series, I still enjoyed it and thought it ended the series well.<br /><br />My favourite characters (Thorne and Iko) were back in action, although neither of them played as major of roles as some of the others. But they didn't do anything to diminish my love of them, so that's always good.<br /><br />This book focused on Winter, Levana's stepdaughter and Meyer's version of Snow White. I really enjoyed Winter's character. It was interesting to see a glimpse of her madness and see her struggle to differentiate reality and hallucination. Despite her difficulties, Winter is a kind and likable character. We also got a see a softer side of Jacin in this book and he *almost* became likable at times.<br /><br />The finale was filled with excitement and was not a disappointment, although I think it was always going to be a happy ending, even when it felt a touch unrealistic. I can't say too much without things getting a little spoiler-y.<br /><br />Overall, I enjoyed the conclusion to the series and can't wait to read whatever Meyer puts out next!</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Find the Book:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206900-winter?ac=1&from_search=1" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Winter-Marissa-Meyer/dp/0312642989/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450932314" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0312642962" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Winter-Mariss-Meyer/9780141340241" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/winter/9780312642983-item.html" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Chapters</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview743543620">Find the Author:</span></span> </span></span></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview743543620"><span style="font-family: 'Freestyle Script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></span><span class="readable reviewText" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span id="freeTextreview272685505"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4684322.Marissa_Meyer" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.marissameyer.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MarissaMeyerAuthor" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/marissa_meyer" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172387096122839301.post-20911768117784255712015-12-22T22:23:00.000-07:002015-12-22T22:23:59.018-07:00Review: Just Like Magic<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375178665l/18270489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375178665l/18270489.jpg" width="262" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Info: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Title:</b> Just Like Magic</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Author:</b> Elizabeth Townsend</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publisher: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">Self-published</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;">Publication Date:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"> October 21, 2012</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Source:</b> Amazon Freebie</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span style="font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Synopsis:</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;" /><span id="freeText5582656687719762218" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Miss Ella Merton had her life completely planned out: attend the finest finishing school, be presented at the palace, and marry well - in fact, why not a prince? But now her beloved father has died, her family is bankrupt, and she's being forced to work in the kitchen. Still, she's not willing to give up - if only her two stepsisters weren't so selfish, and that chore boy so familiar, and her godmother so unfashionable - not to mention that ridiculous dog. With no magic wand to wave, can she still make her dreams come true?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'freestyle script'; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px;">Review:</span><br />
<table border="0" cellspacing="1" id="myReview" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="1" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">I'm a big fan of fairy-tale retellings, but this one left something to be desired. It ws a pretty straightforward retelling, without much to make it unique. That, and Ella was a very unlikable character for the first half of the book.<br /><br />As mentioned, this retelling was pretty straightforward, other than the lack of magic. So instead of a fairy godmother, Ella's godmother is a dressmaker, which give a plausible way for the story to move forward without the use of magic wands. However, I wish there had been a bit more added in to the story to give a more unique spin to it.<br /><br />My major issue with this book was that I hated Ella for most of it. She is snooty and spoiled and proud and lacked backbone. When her stepfamily started treating her poorly she should have pushed back or at least allowed her friends to assist her. But no, she just complained about it and did a poor job and was rude to poor Henry. Eventually she came around, but it was too little too late for me.<br /><br />The other issues I had with the story are the issues I have with the fairy tale in general. By it's very nature, there was a unhealthy dose of instalove. Because talking to someone for a couple hours in the dark is enough to know they are marriage (and throne) material. Right?!<br /><br />Also, this book is pretty short, with didn't help my reception of it. Anyway, not a winner for me. But give it a try if you are a big fan of retellings and don't mind unlikable characters.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeText14767737901153102816" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18270489-just-like-magic" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Just-Like-Magic-Elizabeth-Townsend/dp/1477680691/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450847934&sr=8-1&keywords=just+like+magic+townsend" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-ca.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=meglikboo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=1423185072" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Just-Like-Magic-Elizabeth-Townsend/9781477680698" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">The Book Depository</a></span></div>
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<span id="freeText14767737901153102816" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.79px;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview683534715"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7200469.Elizabeth_Townsend" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://libbabray.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Web</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/libbabray" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibbaBrayAuthor/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span></span></span></div>
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Megan Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13947276957737165519noreply@blogger.com0