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Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking #3) by Patrick Ness.

"The final installment in what has been an incredible series but this book, sadly, was a bit of a disappointment. It had its entertaining moments and its fair share of twists and turns but once it all came down to the end, it was a little too perfect and it went on for far too long."  3 Stars Pros:  The same cast of characters except for the addition of Simone and Bradley, two scouts from Viola's convoy/The story did keep me on my toes and there were definitely a few times where I was floored with how things turned out. Cons:  The ending was just a little too rote and perfect, "skipping off into the sunset" for me. I liked it since it wrapped up the series but it all just seemed a little too perfect. Full Review:  ***Disclaimer*** - If you haven't read The Ask and the Answer,  please do so and then come back and read this at your leisure. That way you'll know what I'm talking about. Starting off right where The Ask and the Answer  left off, t...
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Kissing the Sky by Lisa Patton

"A coming-of-age story where Suzanna runs off to Woodstock with her best friend, Livy and learns about life, love and the Lord. The big reveals hit hard but they all happened very late into the story. Suzannah's shock at the freedom of Woodstock started to get old and she and Livy's constant cattiness was ridiculous. This one was almost a DNF."  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: It had its moments where Suzannah really came into her own/The research into Woodstock was impressive, though became tedious in the end/The reveals all packed quite a punch.  Cons: It's only explained very far into the book as to how Suzannah manages to run off with Lily to Woodstock when her Father watches her every move/Both Livy and Suzannah could be annoying, petty, childish, selfish and immature/It went on for far longer than necessary.  Full Review:  Suzannah Withers is attending the 50th year anniversary of Woodstock with her grand-daugther. Who's just at the cusp of college and all that life has to...

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

​“Raya and Q are two souls who have lost their purpose in life and are simply getting by, adrift. Lucky for them, The Elsewhere Express sweeps them up and brings them into a magical, immense, imaginative world that's built from all the thoughts, dreams, desires of every person ever. They've been brought on board to find thier purpose. Q is ready and willing to accept all that the Elsewhere Express has to offer but Raya isn't convinced. It had potential but quickly dissolved into aggravation and confusion thanks to Raya's constant questioning and the books' aimless meandering from one train car to the next.” ⭐⭐ Pros: It was a very unique idea/I liked the character of Q, he was a good balance for Raya.  Cons: Raya's constant questioning of whether the Elsewhere Express was good or bad and how she always managed to do the exact wrong thing, all the time, made this book extremely tedious/Though the places they visited were beautiful, there were far too many and it...

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

"Natalie Heller Mills is #blessed. Her Instagram account, Yesteryear Ranch, paints an idyllic picture of life on the farm with her family, full of photos and videos of home cooked meals, a loving husband and kind, calm, obedient children. Through the filtered lens of Instagram, she seems perfect, so of course, whenNatalie awakes one morning to find herself in the same house but everything is off.  The children are not her children, the house is older, dirtier and there's no modern amenities, such as electricity or running water. And her husband Caleb is now a gruff, stern, serious man.  It would appear that she's been swept back in time to the original Yesteryear ranch, to try her hand at living the traditional life she's always posting about. This book had all the hype but honestly, to me, it did not deliver."  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: The story did catch me and kept me intrigued enough to finish the book because I needed to find out what on Earth was going on.  Cons: Natalie...

A House Between Sea and Sky by Beth Cato

“Sentient houses, a magical sourdough starter and a unique friendship between two people who are trying to navigate the pressures of 1920s Hollywood, this book had a bit of everything. It was entertaining until the end when the fantastical elements took a literal turn and things fell into somewhat hilarious absurdity.”  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: It was definitely an interesting premise/The chapters told from the House's point of view were odd but enlightening/ I liked the book more for the friendship of Rex/Fayette and the realities of life in Hollywood in the 1920s.  Cons: Since this was set in the 1920s, some of the jargon was hilariously old-fashioned/The generation gap could be a little jarring/The ending with the house battle went a little too far with the fantasy until it bordered on silly. Full Review:  Fayette Wynne is still trying to process her mother’s death. She's rented a cottage on the Carmel coast for a few weeks to catch up on the work that's piled up. She's determine...

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

"When a virus makes all animal meat deadly to humans the world quickly changes and Cannibalism is legalized. This story follows Marcos, a man who works at a processing plan, where humans, who are now bred as livestock, are slaughtered. It was a quick but rough and deeply unsettling read." ⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Though the ending was insane it was definitely a shocker.  Cons: The subject matter was rough and some of the scenes were gruesomely visceral.  Full Review:  When a virus makes it so all animal meat is deadly to humans, the world quickly changes and soon Cannibalism is legalized. People need meat, the scientists claim and most people take to eating their fellow humans more easily than one would think.  Marco works at a processing plan, where humans, who are now bred as livestock are slaughtered. He also gets special requests from a game reserve, where people can pay to hunt and slaughter humans and a labortaory that runs experiments on humans to better improve the world....

Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin

"A continuation of the events of Serpent & Dove , following our band of star crossed heroes in their desperate attempt to escape the various parties pursuing them and to stop Morgane from basically destroying the world. At times it fell into the "second novel" trap, where the personality traits of the characters became a bit cumbersome but for the most part, it was a good addition and I'm excited to see how the series ends." 4 Stars Pros:  It flows well from the first book/The various epiphanies that the characters had were slow in coming but made sense/Claud Deveraux is an interesting characters indeed/Beau is also a likable if flawed character and one that I think will get more time in the spotlight. Cons:  The various personality traits of the various characters can at times, be a trifle tiring/Lou's hotheadedness/Reid's stubbornness etc/I had to read what happened at the end twice to fully understand it, it was a little complex.  Full Review: ***...