All the Books.

  "Mean Girls" meets "The Craft" only gory and gruesome and all of it justified in the name of the Lord. It was a pretty mindless read but entertaining for what it was." 2 Stars.  Pros:  The fact that we're not often entirely honest with people, even those we're closest to, was interesting/The end was a bit surprising.  Cons:  Big gaping plot holes, like how Riley got into Sofia's house in the middle of the night and how did they manage to kidnap Brooklyn/Sofia's shifting alliances, sometimes it was hard to tell whose side she was on but with everything that happens, you can't blame her too much.  Full Review:  Sofia is new to Friend, Mississippi. She meets lots of new people on her first day at school. A girl named Brooklyn, artsy, unique. A girl named Riley, the typical preppy, beautiful, can do no wrong popular girl. And to Sofia's surprise, Riley welcomes her into her circle of friends. But Sofia soon finds that Riley and her friends...

"An intricately detailed and beautiful story of how the smallest detail of our lives can have the most intense repercussions and how even in the darkest moments, there is light. We just can't always see it." 5 Stars Pros:  You feel for every almost every single character that appears/Doerr's prose is...so beautiful that words cannot do it justice/Once I started this book, I didn't want to stop.  Cons:  Some of the detailed explanations of the smaller parts of a radio and how they worked went over my head but in the overall grand scheme of the book, I barely noticed it.  Full Review:  D-Day is a success. The tide of the war is turning. But in one city in France, Saint Malo, there are still Germans holed up and fighting against the invaders. And in one house, is a young girl, Marie-Laure, scared, uncertain and alone and in her possession is a small gemstone that the Fuhrer and some of those in his employ, are desperately searching for. Blind since she was six, Mar...

"An acceptable conclusion to Duncan's "Something Dark and Holy" trilogy. It wasn't as fast paced, edge of your seat, tense as Wicked Saints  but not as scattered, ethereal and frankly, rather confusing as Ruthless Gods. Blessed Monsters  was a pretty good balance of both and I finished the series, satisfied." 3 Stars.  Pros:  I am a sucker for happy endings but ones that are still a little open ended so the reader can decide what happens/I appreciated that instead of constantly betraying one another, everyone decided that it was best to actually work together to try and fix everything they had broken.  Cons:  The constant repetition of words, "nothing, nothing, nothing," "gone, gone, gone", "blood, blood, blood", "yes, yes and no" got really old really fast/The constant dying and then coming back to life bit, I mean, no author actually wants to kill off a character but again, like "X-Men's" Phoenix, no on...

" Reminiscent of angst filled, flame text Harry Potter in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix where he is yelling at everyone all of the time, for every little thing, this addition to Duncan's series had so much angst it was like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Though there were a few fun revelations, for the most part, the hot and cold bickering and angst ridden emotions of the characters made this a drawn out addition to the series. It's a necessary addition but all of it could have been accomplished far quicker and with a lot less angst involved." 3 Stars.  Pros:  Though there a few new Gods/Creatures there aren't too many new characters, which is nice as it keeps things more or less organized.  Cons:  The constant back and forth with Nadya and Malachiasz and what's to happen to them (love/death, angst, angst, angst)  gets old super fast/I saw the love triangle coming from the beginning but still, it was disappointing that Duncan ev...

" Though it took sometime to hit its stride, once it got going, the narrative was witty, funny, tender and the end had me in tears. I think, what Backman wants the reader to take away from this novel is that the best thing we can do for ourselves and each other is to be kind and understand that we’re all doing the best we can getting through this web of insanity we call life." 4 Stars.  Pros:  In perfect Backman fashion, he finds a way to make the ending so perfect that you can't stop but get teary eyed.   Cons: I never quite know if people actually argue as much as Ro and Jules do, their relationship just seemed...complicated/It took awhile for the story to hit its stride.   Full Review:  This isn't how any of this was supposed to happen.  That's really how this book and also how life can be summarized.  We're all just trying our best, never knowing if we're doing any of it right and just trying to get through the days and in the end, it's a...

"Though the big reveal at the end was gut wrenching and horrifying, I felt it took far too long for the author to actually get to that big reveal and the lead up to it was a bit too long winded for my taste." 3 Stars.  Pros:  The twist at the end blew me away.  Cons:  The fact that the twist took so damned long to actually be brought to light was immensely frustrating/Ivy is a bit of a busy body and her constant questions get annoying.  Full Review:  After returning from a trip to visit family out of state, Ivy is met with pandemonium. Her best friend, Morgan, was the one to discover the body of Ethan Lavoie, a local boy who worked at Fabuland, who apparently fell off a bridge to his death while walking home late one night. Half of the teenage/young adult population of Danville, New Hampshire works at Fabuland and the death of Ethan, a much loved boy who had Down Syndrome, but that doesn't define him, has rocked the entire town.  Fabuland is a small ti...

"Sometimes a book comes along where you think you know what to expect and then the author up and pulls the world out from under your feet. An unflinching, powerful look at the struggles we all face, emotions, mental health, keeping up appearances, families trying to keep it together and most importantly, people being human, just trying to get by. This was a rough one but it was worth it." 4 Stars.  Pros:  Henderson tackles some seriously difficult issues but she handles it all with grace, poise, and a painfully human voice/The ending gave me goosebumps.  Cons:  The author trying to fit segregation in just seemed kind of forced, like it was an afterthought.  Full Review:  Tilly's husband is away on business and the apartment is still filled with boxes, they haven't even had time to plug in the phone. But when labor pains start and she's forced to call upon her estranged Father for help, Tilly's whisked away back to the year she was eight years old and her en...