All the Books.

"A genuine, heartfelt story of how a dog with a curious talent for finding physically disabled cats and caring for them, changed one mans life, for the better." 4 STARS Pros:  Amazing how much your life can change when you let yourself love and think of others instead of focusing solely on yourself.  Cons:  Not the best written book but it's heartfelt and genuine and you can tell Gonzalez writes the truth.  Full Review:  Philip Gonzalez was born and raised in New York. He spent his youth fighting in Vietnam, battling those inner demons from that terrible experience and spending most of his adulthood as a Construction Worker. He made good money and spent most of his time traveling, going out to clubs and generally having a good time. But when he's involved in a terrible accident at a job site that costs him the use of his right arm, he starts to realize some hard truths. Those he thought were his friends aren't around anymore, even his family stops visiting. And as

"The world has changed, so much so that women fall under the category of "seen and not heard. Every woman, regardless of age, is limited to 100 words a day. They cannot work, read, write or express themselves in anyway shape or form. Their only job is to stay at home and raise the children. But Jean McLellan, once a thriving Neurolinguist, is offered an opportunity to drastically change things when the President's brother suffers an accident and she may be the only person who can help." 3 Stars Pros:  This is a startlingly frightening possibility/I could see something like The Pure Movement happening at any time and it's horrifying.  Cons:  The ending was all rather convenient for everyone, I must say.  Full Review:  Jean McLellan, once a renowned Neurolinguist with a thriving career, promising research into Wernicke's Syndrome and the affects it has on language, and a future of possibly changing the world, watches as it all comes crashing down. It all starts

"A genuine and touching story about how the true power of friendship can change your life and yourself as a person overall." 3 Stars Pros:  Freak (Kevin) and Max make an endearing and heartwarming team/The novel strives to prove that everyone has a story worthy to tell.  Cons:  It was never really explained what Freak (Kevin's) condition was/The parts with Max's father seemed rushed.  Full Review:  Maxwell Kane, the son of a notorious murderer who has spent most of his childhood as either violent or mute, starts to learn about himself and about friendship when a small boy with a physical disability but an incredible brain moves in next door. Freak (Kevin) is astonishingly intelligent, while Max is gigantic and strong and together, they form a symbiotic friendship. As Max says, he didn't have a brain until Freak came around and let him borrow his for awhile.  It's a heart warming story about the power of true friendship but also with a darker side regarding Max

"Much in the way that Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace left me feeling at loose ends and confused, so did Tao Lin's novella. But perhaps that was the point. It was something fleeting, temporary, but thought provoking enough to make you stop and think and wonder about what you just read. I'm honestly not sure." 2 Stars Pros:  It definitely painted a pretty accurate picture of the younger generation of today, constantly on their phones/email/Disinterested, aloof.  Cons:  I couldn't tell if this was satire or not and it left me feeling a little lost. Much like Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Full Review:  This novel follows the life of a young, writer. He often feels lost, at loose ends and unsure as to what to do with himself. He chats with his friends on GMail Chat, goes from place to place and never seems to really set roots anywhere. The relationships he has are fleeting though he seems to genuinely like the people he chooses to sleep with. But after

"This is not John Green or Nicholas Sparks "boy and dying girl meet and fall in love" cookie cutter romance. It is a brutal, sometimes cruel, but honest look at that horrifically awkward phase of life, High School, and the connections we make that we're not even aware of." 3 Stars.  Pros:  Definitely not your average "fall in love with the sick girl YA Romance" but at the same time it was honest, heartfelt and deep in its own way.  Cons:  I understand it's from a teenagers POV and teenagers are just awkward in general but some of the terms are just...stupid.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert*** Greg Gaines has managed to make it through most of High School by existing on the periphery of all of the Social cliques. He doesn't really belong to any of them and yet he is not hated by any of them either. He exists solely on the outskirts, and he likes it that way. The one person who could possibly be considered a friend is Earl, a boy he makes horrifi

" It had potential to be good, introducing new characters/new powers/new situations but it all just fell flat in the end. A true disappointment to what could have been a very fun series." 2 STARS Pros:  It had the same fun, adventurous feeling of Caraval and Legendary but it wasn't enough to make this series great.  Cons:  They went to all that trouble to save their Mother and her storyline is short and pointless/Donatella's feelings and back and forth with Legend got so obnoxiously overdone and old that it ruined the book for me.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert (sort of) *** Scarlett and Donatella have risked life, limb and then some to escape the violent control of their Father and find their long lost Mother. And they have apparently succeeded by each winning the annual festival of Caraval in Caraval and Legendary.  And I feel that Finale could have been great. It had a lot of new characters with new powers to explore but instead Garber focused on Donatella and Le

"As the title says, Teagan Frost is the girl who can move sh*t with her mind and though her life is interesting enough, a situation unfolds that puts her and everyone around her in extreme danger and she has to move fast to try and clear her name." 3 Stars Pros:  Teagan was an honest and heartfelt narrator. Her growth as a character was well paced and the story evolved well.  Cons:  After awhile the slang of how everyone talked with "aight", "yo, we tight" etc, got tiresome. I know people do talk like that and Ford was just trying to make the characters more relatable but, it started grating on the nerves after awhile.  Full Review:  Teagan Frost, who was born Emily Jameson, to two geneticist parents, has been able to move things with her mind since birth. She had two older siblings, twins, Adam and Chloe, who were also gifted. Chloe could see on all levels of the spectrum and Adam did not need to sleep, though that would have disastrous consequences in th

"Shusterman is a master storyteller and once this book hit its stride, all you can do is hang on and enjoy the ride. Everything is brought together and tied up in a deep, meaningful, heartfelt way and though I'm sad to see the series end, I finish it with contentment and satisfaction." 5 Stars.  Pros:  Greyson Tolliver is an interesting character. He's spent his whole life wanting to serve the Thunderhead and now, he truly can. He's humble, down to earth and realistic in a world that's becoming increasingly terrifying.  Cons:  A little slow to start but once it hits its pace, in true Shusterman fashion, it never lets up/Citra always being right and always being able to find the answers to things is tiresome but it makes the plot move.  Full Review:  ***Spoiler Alert *** Greyson Tolliver is the one remaining link to the Thunderhead, since the omniscient AI classified all of humanity as unsavory and went silent. He had been hiding out in a Tonist monastery but o

"Starting right where Caraval left off, we are thrust back into the magical world of Master Legend as he brings his performers to the Elantine Empire's capital city of Elantine and holds another Caraval in honor of the Empress' 75th birthday. This time it's Donatella who plays the game and things seem much more serious/on the line than they did the first time around." 4 Stars Pros:  It had its good amount of twists and turns to keep the story going/Though the character of Jacks is evil, he was entertaining, as most villains are.  Cons:  Donatella, the girl who will never love, finds love, it was all rather saccharine, but this is YA fantasy so I'm taking it as it is.  Full Review:  Starting off right where Caraval left off, we're thrust back into the world of Caraval and the mysterious Master Legend. Donatella (Tella) and Scarlet (Scar) travel with the performers to the capital city of the Elantine Empire, Valenda. Legend has agreed to hold another Caraval

  "A book that defies description. Profound, beautiful, dark, depressing, fatalistic but at the same time filled with such kindness and joy, it's something that has to be experienced first hand and cannot properly be described, no matter how hard I try." 5 Stars Pros:  A truly unique narrator/A heartbreaking, gut wrenching, moving story that must be read to be truly understood.  Cons:  Some of Zusak's descriptions were hard to imagine but it wasn't a con per se, it was just difficult to picture it in your mind. It didn't take away from the book in any way shape or form though.  Full Review:  I don't feel it's an exaggeration to say that I cannot properly find the words to describe this book. It was beautifully written, Zusak's prose takes you exactly where he wants you to go. The characters are all so important, even the minor ones and they all have a role to play. And Liesel, the protagonist, is stuck in a world that she doesn't understand and