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Showing posts from March, 2022

Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1) by Christina Henry

"A severely dark and twisted take on Lewis Carroll's classic, with Alice, and other characters from Wonderland, such as Cheshire, The Walrus, the Carpenter, the Caterpillar and of course, the White Rabbit. It was a unique and definitely a twisted and sadistic take on Carroll's story but it was enjoyable for what it was."  2 Stars Pros:  It was interesting how Henry used various characters from Carroll's classic tale, such as the Walrus, the Carpenter and the Caterpillar as various Crime Lords interspersed throughout Old City/Cheshire was fun, chaotic neutral if you will, he's a hard character to read and you're not sure if you should like him or hate him but he does make things more exciting.  Cons:  Alice's constant questions of Hatcher and the dialogue between them was just...odd. It didn't have a good flow and felt awkward and was tedious after awhile.  Full Review:  Alice has only vague, broken memories of her time with the Rabbit. And what she

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander.

"I doubt Shackleton ever realized how appropriately his ship was named. What he and his men endured is unimaginable and yet, he faces it with an unflappable, determined, rigid determination and loyalty to his crew. It is an amazing story of strength, survival and what people are capable of when their lives depend on one another." 4 Stars Pros:  An incredible story of survival and literally, endurance. It was an aptly named ship for everything that occurred/The photographs were hauntingly beautiful  Cons:  There were a lot of people on the ship who the author wanted to remember but in the end, they all ended up kind of blurring together.  Full Review:  Sir Ernest Shackleton had already cemented his fame as a polar explorer. But he wanted more. So he managed to cobble together a team and get a ship, aptly named the Endurance and set sail to do what no man had yet done. He wanted to sail to Antarctica and more or less, map the continent. Considering the ship sailed in 1914 and t

Parkinson's Disease: A Complete Guide for Patients and Families by William J. Weiner, et al.

  "A detailed, informative and educational read that covers almost any aspect you could possibly think of in terms of managing the disease and attempting to maintain quality of life." 4 Stars Pros:  Intricate, detailed, covering basically anything question you or a loved one might possibly have, this was an informative and educational read.  Cons:  At times the medical terminology and explanation of what was happening in the brain was hard to comprehend/Though very detailed and covering basically anything you might possibly have a question about, it could, at times, be tedious to read/The fact that Parkinson's is extremely difficult to diagnose and does not have any known cure can be disheartening.  Full Review:  The prospect of any sort of neurodegenerative disease where areas of your brain slowly and surely die, is horrifying. I feel that there are two schools of thought when it comes to diseases like Parkinson's. People either want to know everything they can and w

The Death of Superman by Dan Jurgens et al

"The title gives it away, of course, and though it's a classic of the Comic Book genre, I was left trying to piece the facts together since I hadn't read any previous issues and was coming into all of this in the middle of everything. Also Superman's constant declarations that he's the only one strong enough to stop him, etc, etc, etc, got really old, really fast. " 2 Stars.  Pros:  It is a classic of Comic Books, so I'm glad I at least read it, even if I didn't really enjoy it all that much/Seeing random members of the Justice League make appearances was entertaining.  Cons:  I've never actually read a Superman comic and his constant witticisms/dialogue of "I'm the only one who can stop him/Your path of rampage ends here" got really old, really fast/Doomsday, as far as we know, wasn't made from Kryptonite, so why was he able to kill Superman?  Full Review:  Without reason or explanation, we're suddenly aware that Doomsday, a

The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) by R.F. Kuang

"A dark and intricate look into the repercussions of war, death and how the choices we make affect not just us, but everyone around us. This was a rough read at parts but it was all the more powerful for its ruthlessness. I'm eager to see how the rest of the series progresses." 4 Stars Pros:  Jiang's eccentricity is amusing/Just when you think the book can't get any darker, it does, Kuang didn't pull any punches.  Cons:  The members of the Cike were all different but sometimes when there's too many characters, it's tough to differentiate/Rin's choice at the end and everyone's reaction to it is understandable, but her reaction to all of them being horrified is kind of whiney. If you're going to choose what Rin did, I mean, you have to accept the consequences.  Full Review:  Rin, a war orphan, is determined to do anything to escape an arranged marriage to wealthy merchant that her foster parents set up. So she studies, memorizes and manages t

Recursion by Blake Crouch.

"An exhilarating, mind bending, heart wrenching ride and a book that makes you stop and think that if you were given the chance to go back to an exact moment in your life and fix one mistake, or do something you should have done but didn't, would you? This was an awesome read." 5 Stars Pros:  The idea that we are just a massive deposit of our memories, the small and big moments that make u our lives is intriguing/It really makes you think, that if you had the chance to go back and fix one mistake in your life, would you do it? Or would you think about the possible consequences?  Cons:  It was definitely trippy and hard to comprehend at times/The third part, though necessary, got a bit repetitive at times, but it led into an ending that was both perfect and open ended.  Full Review:  When I first read Crouch's Dark Matter, I was hooked. He has an easy prose, compelling characters and his plot seems to unravel in ways that are always easy to understand. So when I picked

The Empress (The Diabolic #2) by S.J. Kincaid

"It did have moments of honest surprise, a few good twists and turns and it did indeed, further the series but at the same time, the ending was reminiscent of Jackson's "LOTR: Return of the King", where it could have ended and ended acceptably about 100 pages before it actually did. It was disappointing and this addition did not live up to the first book." 2 STARS Pros:  Not too man new characters introduced, which is always nice, keeps things easy/There were definitely a few twists and turns and I was surprised but by the end it just seemed like one hug reveal after another, it gold old.  Cons:  The dialogue between Tyrus and Nemesis, the entire writing style just seems different, like Kincaid's trying too hard to sound sophisticated/The ending was predictable but I have a feeling the third book will be full to bursting with sap and just...I don't think I can read it.  Full Review:  All is well for the new Emperor, Tyrus Domitrian and his Empress to be,

City Of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

"YA Fantasy where loner girl who hasn't found her place in the world is thrust into a world of danger, magic, darkness, all that jazz. It was full of unrequited love, teenage angst and overwrought, contrite, absolutely painfully oblivious characters and by the end, I was just glad to be done with it." 2 STARS Pros:  The one pro was the mention of the Nephillim but why would the offspring of mortal women and angels be, essentially, demon hunters? Aren't they themselves "half breeds" thus their hunting "downworlders" seems rather hypocritical since they're not pure blood either.  Cons:  Full to bursting with unrequited love triangles, contrite and ridiculous/Clary is the most absolutely oblivious and idiotic female protagonist I've run into in awhile.  Full Review:  Clary (Clarissa) Fray is your ordinary teenager, going to clubs with her best friend Simon etc. But when she sees two boys and a girl murder, what she thinks is a regular boy, but