Marked (House of Night #1) by P.C. Cast

"It's a whole bottle of After School Special mixed with Vampire Finishing School. The Cast, Mother/Daughter writing team managed to create an interesting concept. Unfortunately, the shallow characters and painfully contrived storyline made for a truly cringe-worthy read."

1 Star

Pros: Casts take on Vampirism is definitely unique, I'll give them that. Equating "the change" of becoming an adult Vampire to basically, puberty or menopause, well, it was definitely one way to rationalize it.

Cons: Teenage colloquialisms of "OMG, like, no way", "OMG, he's so hot and he so likes you" ad nauseum.

Full Review:

Zoey is your regular, unhappy, moody teenager, dissatisfied with her home and personal life. That all seems trivial though when one morning someone shows up at her locker at school, while her friend is babbling inanely, oblivious. The man looks at Zoey, mutters some canned, cryptic, ritualistic words and bam, Zoey is now a fledgling Vampire. Now she has to uproot her entire teenage life and move to the House of Night, which is essentially Vampire finishing school.

The concept was definitely unique. But Casts writing was melodramatic, overdone, sappy and frankly, childish. There was a strange imbalance with the Zoey character too. At times, seemingly well versed in very adult situations, she would then go onto use words such as poopie and boobies, more than once. The ending couldn't have been more overdone or predictable and honestly, I was glad to be done with it. I don't plan on continuing this series.

Comments

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

"High Fantasy with lots of interwoven threads of fate getting all knotted up together, as they do. Though Shannon's ambition is incredible and inspiring, in the end it all felt a bit off pace and quickly fell into "information overload." Pros: High fantasy, true and brilliant world building. You have different kingdoms with their own customs and beliefs, Shannon has truly created something incredible. But this is both a Pro and a Con . Cons : Too many characters to remember/Too many countries/histories/legendary figures to keep track of. Full Review: It all starts when Tane breaks her seclusion, wishing to swim in the sea one more time before choosing day. In the morning she'll see if she's earned the revered title of Dragon Rider. But just tonight, she wants to swim and feel free. She's horrified when she runs into a man named Sulyard, who begs for her help. She helps him asking a childhood friend Susa to take him away and she does, allowing Tane t

A Spark of White Fire (The Celestial Trilogy #1) by Sangu Mandanna

"Similar to "Game of Thrones" only in space, there was a lot going on with a lot of different people and they were all important and connected but my tired, overworked brain had trouble keeping up. " 2 Stars Pros: I liked Max as a character, I'm all for the tall, dark, mysterious supposed bad boy with a heart of gold cliche, but the kissing cousins thing just made it weird. Cons: It felt like Game of Thrones, only in space, so there was a bit of a kissing cousins vibe going and I wasn't feeling it/The book tried to have these big, shocking moments I was just non-plussed, unaffected./The presence of the Gods irked me as they did in The Illiad, it's all terribly convenient to have divine intervention for your MCs. I feel like it's the cheapest fake-out cheat of all time 👍🤣 Full Review: My co-worker, who has recommended some amazing reads such as, A Man Called Ove , The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse, and I'll Give You The Sun, r

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

"The classic tale of Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up and his adventures with his Lost Boys and the Darling Children, Wendy, John and Michael. At times fun and whimsical and other times surprisingly dark, it was an interesting read as an adult." 3 Stars Pros: There is something appealing about flying away to a mysterious island where you can play all day and never have to grow up. The thrall of Neverland is a constant for this dreamer. Cons: Peter Pan is truly the most arrogant little brat and very much in need of a mother/I was surprised at the bloodshed because I always thought this was a children's book, it was rather dark at times. Full Review Mr. and Mrs. Darling are the proud yet rather dismissive and negligent parents of three children. Wendy, John and Michael. All three have flights of fancy and dream of an island, with mermaids and pirates. Mrs. Darling dismisses these as the whimsy of childhood but she herself remembers when she too dreamt of the very

All the Books.

Search This Blog