Throwback Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

By Markus Zusak

Read: Nov 10, 2012

 “It's probably fair to say that in all the years of Hitler's reign, no person was able to serve the Führer as loyally as me. A human doesn't have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.”

Another book club read. And it was great.

I love that the book was written in deaths perspective. It gave another view into the Holocaust that I haven’t read before. His descriptions of his ‘job’, of the skies, of human nature are superb.

"So many humans. So many colours. They keep triggering inside me. They harass my memory. I see them tall in their heaps, all mounted on top of each other. There is air like plastic, a horizon like setting glue. There are skies manufactured by people, punctured and leaking, and there are soft, coal-coloured clouds, beating, like black hearts. “

It follows Liesel, a 9 year old German girl, on her journey of stealing books from Nazi Germany book burnings and even the mayor’s wife.   She learnt how to read by her father and shares her gift by reading to people in the bomb shelters, and even to the Jewish man hidden in their basement. Her stealing isn’t crazy though. They are methodical and she cherishes every single book she takes.

The mom, Rosa is painted as a hard ass who swears a lot. Being German I can definitely identify with the type of woman Zusak was portraying. Although she is hard on Liesel, you can tell she loves her as her own. The father, Hans, the calmer one of the two, is one of my favorite characters of this book.   He is patient, understanding of having a foster child, and is shown as a man of his words when the son of one of his friends shows up at his door and he takes him in. The man at the door is Jewish.  Which, given the time was not exactly a person you want hiding in your basement.  
Max and Liesel become good friends, he even writes a book for her. It was a beautiful story about his life and to add some more descriptive magic it was written on the back of Mein Kampf.   After many scares, eventually Max has to leave the confines of the basement.*Spoliers*It was heartbreaking to read the part where Liesel sees that Max has been captured by The Nazis and is being forced to walk to one of the concentration camps, tears almost formed (who am I kidding, they did). 

Zuzask wrote with such great descriptions of every character, main or not, that you believe the importance of why they were mentioned in the first place.  And I wish my review of it was written as well as he did for being a first time author.

I recommend this book to anyone. Don’t let the setting of the Holocaust scare you away. 4.5 stars.

“Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear.”

BOOK REVIEW: I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. 

Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world. -goodreads

4 stars

This book turned out to be pretty good.  I was worried at first and was about to call it quits,  but after reading some reviews and a lot of people feeling the same way I decided to keep going. And I am glad I did. 

I'll Give You The Sun is divided into two parts/perspectives, Noah - the past  (13 year old) and Jude - the present (when they are 16) . I like how this was done as it gives you a deeper understanding of the characters and the dynamics of their twin bonds. Both are very talented artists and are trying to cope with growing up. Noah, the drawer is very withdrawn - mainly because he has a secret crush on a guy. Jude on the other hand is very popular, trying to fit in. In the present, the roles have reversed - Noah being popular and Jude becoming shy.  And I am glad I kept reading to find out why this switch of personalities happened.  The dynamics between the characters are written wonderfully, the only part that got on my nerve a little bit in the beginning was the mumbo jumbo (not a wonderful word I use) with all the ghost grandma talk - it was a little bit annoying to me. But other than that well done.

I give it 4 stars as I wish my like for it started right at the beginning.   So if you are reading this and are contemplating about quitting,  keep going. 

“We were all heading for each other on a collision course, no matter what. Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story.”



Next up on the 2016 reading challenge - A Book recommend by a friend - Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

Throwback Post- Book Review of The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

In the sake of laziness (my baby slept for 11 hours straight last night and I being the crazy momma, could not sleep at all.... the unfainress/irony) I decided to do a throwback post today instead. And as a lot of you guys have New Years Resoltuions to read mroe, I decided to use a book review. The Book of Negroes is one of my new favorite books, so I highly recommend it.

Read: Nov. 28^th 2012

(or Someone Knows My Name if you are form the states)

There are so many great Canadian authors out there, and Lawrence Hill is one of them.  I always had this on my to-read list and finally picked it up to read because it was on my book club list and I am so glad it was. What a fantastic story. It is hard for a man to write through a women’s eye and Hill did it fantastically.  At points this book was hard to read because of the nature of the story. We as human beings are disgusting. How could we ever treat someone else like the way slaves were treated is truly something I can never understand.

This book is about Aminata Diallo’s amazing story of her life.  In 1802 she is brought before the British abolitionists to relay her story and the realists of slavery.  Like most Africans who were made into slaves, she was kidnapped from her village and forced to walk 3 months to the coast- sometime with chains around their necks.   From here she ended up in South Carolina where she is eventually sold again.  From here she began her journey to ‘freedom’ to Canada and then to London.

For me reading the part of the slave forts along the coast of Western Africa was the hardest. I’ve been to Elmina Castle in Ghana and toured around it. And seeing it first hand and seeing exactly what the ‘living’ quarters were compared to where the white man sat. Horrible. You can’t put in words the feeling you feel when standing at the point of last return (what they called the room that led them to the ship). From this point on they did not know if they would ever survive or ever return to their homeland.

I loved Hills’ description of the ship. How hundreds of slaves were forced below deck. And I loved how Aminata was a very smart and tenacious 11 year old. She somehow managed to charm the owner’s which I think helped make her stronger in order to survive the rest of her ordeal. She was a very smart women, picked up on languages quickly, and used the knowledge her mother passed on to her with being a midwife. All which helped her in her survival.

“We, the survivors of the crossing, clung to the beast that had stolen us away. Not a soul among us had wanted to board that ship, but once out on open waters, we held on for dear life. The ship became an extension of our own rotting bodies. Those who were cut from the heaving animal sank quick to their deaths, and we who remained attached wilted more slow as poison festered in our bellies and bowels. We stayed with the beast until new lands met our feet, and we stumbled down the long plants just before the poison became fatal. Perhaps here in this new land, we would keep living.”

I won’t go into detail about what happens during her life in South Carolina, you just have to pick up the book and read it. Many hardships were faced, but also happiness as she found Chekura whom she ended up marrying.   The side battles of the States, in both South Carolina and New York were beautifully written. 

The Book of Negroes,- in which the book gets its title from- is a book where when Britain surrendered the slaves who were able to prove they were working alongside the British could sign their names and thus be given a passage to a British colony. In this case the British colony was Nova Scotia.  Prior to reading this I didn't realize Canada's place in the whole slavery scheme so I douind it englighting.  Aminata was actually the person who wrote the names and description of the hopefuls. Once in Nova Scotia, there was a whole other world of fear, prejudice. While they weren’t ‘slaves’ they defiantly weren’t ‘free’.

“I concluded that no place in the world was entirely safe for an African, and that for many of us, survival depended on perpetual migration.”

Since she was kidnapped she always wanted to go back to her village in Africa and eventually her strong will leads her there. Her trip back to her village was interesting. From when they asked her exactly where it was and made her point to it on a map, and she couldn’t.   She didn’t understand the English’s way of thinking of Africa, with all its exotic animals always being placed on the maps. She did make her way at least to the slave port she left from. And in order to continue on, to live in her village she had to make a deal with the devil. She had an awakening. She remembers thinking when she was being forced to walk in a coffle (a chain of slaves) how come nobody came out to help and here she was seeing the same thing.  You ignore it because you don’t want it to happen to you.

All in all, it is a very honest written book. You don’t feel a white vs black person battle. Hill paints a very accurate description of slavery.  And you could tell that he researched the topic very carefully.  While reading it you can picture it wonderfully.  Please go read this, I highly recommend it.

5 stars.

Book Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut. - goodreads

 I was super excited to read this. It sounded very interesting. Then I started it. And about 50 pages in I was CONFUSED. And I only kept getting more and more confused. There are A LOT of characters in this book, so it was very hard to follow along and know whose who, who is important to keep track of, who I didn't have to care about. (I was usually wrong).  Then all the mystic/clairvoyance jargon comes in. 

I don't really remember how it ended, and I wrote this review a day after that. So that has to explain something.  I know a lot of people really really loved this book. I just couldn't get into the whole clairvoyant mindset, so I will not be giving the rest of the series a chance. Maybe the fantasy genre is just not for me anymore. 

That being said, props to Samantha Shannon for being imaginative and coming up with this stuff, especially for her first novel. 

Book Review: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

''Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.''

For Marie-Laure, blind since the age of six, the world is full of mazes. The miniature of a Paris neighbourhood, made by her father to teach her the way home. The microscopic layers within the invaluable diamond that her father guards in the Museum of Natural History. The walled city by the sea, where father and daughter take refuge when the Nazis invade Paris. And a future which draws her ever closer to Werner, a German orphan, destined to labour in the mines until a broken radio fills his life with possibility and brings him to the notice of the Hitler Youth

- goodreads

I really didn’t know what this book was about when  I bought it.  I know I saw it on a lot of blogs (mind you I never actually did read the reviews….please read mine), and I just kind of skimmed the back before I got into it. I kinda wish I did. 

Don’t get me wrong. It was beautifully written and you felt a connection to every character. It just didn’t grab me. A way I tell if a book deserves more than 3 stars is if I can’t wait to read and finish it. This was not the case for this book. 

So what is this book about?

First, it  is split into two parts, going back and forth. Only a few times this was confusing. 

It is set in WW2, but it really doesn’t focus to much on the usual Nazi/Holocaust theme. Which was actually kind of nice.  It focuses mainly on the occupation of France, more specifically D-Day. 

Part 1: Werner, a German orphan who gets into a Nazi training school. At first this seems like such an honour, but he does question things - as he isn’t necessarily the best, he ins’t the worst either. Just going through the motions. The one thing that Werner excels at is fixing radios. This of course doesn’t go unnoticed and his ‘career’ as a soldier who deals with transmittance begins.  His story shows that Germans were also treated unfairly in the war as well. 

The 2nd part, and the part that I enjoyed reading more was about Marie Laure. A blind girl in Paris. Her dad, a museum worker, makes sure that her blindness isn’t  a disadvantage, so much that he makes a replica of the town they are living in so she can go and wander about on by her self.  Underlying this story is this ‘magical’ and highly precious blue stone that harbours a myth with it. Her dad may be one of the few people who might have the real one. Which of course is hidden so that it doesn’t get in the wrong hands (i.e- the Nazi)

Werner and Marie Laure eventually meet and the stories interlock.

Again, this wasn’t a bad book by any means. I see where it gets the praise. It just never grabbed me in the way other books have. 

Book Review: The Girl in 6E by A.R Torre

I haven't touched a human in three years. That seems like it would be a difficult task, but it's not. Not anymore, thanks to the internet.

I am, quite possibly, the most popular recluse ever. Not many shut-ins have a 200-member fan club, a bank account in the seven-figure range, and hundreds of men lining up to pay for undivided attention.

They get satisfaction, I get a distraction. Their secret desires are nothing compared to why I hide... my lust for blood, my love of death.

Taking their money is easy. Keeping all these secrets... one is bound to escape.

What if you hid yourself away because all you could think of was killing? And what if one girl's life depending on you venturing into society?

Enter a world of lies, thrills, fears, and all desires, in this original thriller from A. R. Torre. - goodreads


Well, this was a weird book. But I did enjoy it. 

Deanna or "Jessica Riley" has locked herself in her apartment and thanks to the wonders for the internet and online shopping, she never has to leave. 

Why does she live this way?

Simple, she has homicidal thoughts and do not want all the thoughts to get out of hand and end up killing someone.

And how does she afford to live this way?

She is a cyber sex queen. And apparently there are a lot of people who are willing to pay 6.99/min to have cyber sex with her.  BE warned there are some erotic type scenes because of this.

See, weird premise. 

But it was written so well. It flowed nicely and the twists and turns were unpredictable.  I definitely recommend it. 


4 stars!

Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day- goodreads
 

This book had an interesting concept for sure.  Every Day this "thing" takes over a body, like a parasite almost, and it can access information. I wish we find out why it really happens, but the book doesn't go into that detail. Not even really what this is.

At first I thought it was "love", like this thing helped the individual fall in love. I was wrong with this as it quickly came to view.

Anyways, this thing enters a host of a teenage boy, and it falls in love with the hosts girlfriend.  Eventually it tells Rhiannon about what he/she actually is, and of course its hard to believe. 

I did enjoy this book, each chapter went by fairly quickly ensuring a quick read. My one downside is that each chapter also started getting boring . Same plot every chapter - new day, new body, new challenge  (being fat, gay, depressed, superficial, popular). But this also helped keep my interest going though... 
4 stars. 

Book Review: Hello Love by Karen McQuestion

 Synopsis:A year after the death of his wife, Christine, Dan is barely holding on. But one thing gets him through the long, lonely nights and that is his cherished dog, Anni. When she is stolen from his front yard, Dan and his daughter, Lindsay, are devastated. Meanwhile in another part of town, Andrea Keller is recovering from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. After she rescues a defenseless dog from an abusive tenant, her life changes in ways she never could have anticipated.

Dan and Andrea cross paths again and again, only to keep missing each other and the opportunity of a lifetime. As Anni works to find her way home, can she bring together these two lost souls desperately in need of a second chance at happiness?

Just Add Champagne gives it 3 stars.

Look at that little duffer! 

and...

If someone stole my dog, man I would be pissed (well depends on if that day they didn't decide to eat carpet or bread) 

So, someone steals this poor little doggie from Dan and his daughter. 

Turns out the guys who steals the dog is a scumbag (no shit)  and Andrea rescues the duffer. (yay! hero). Anyways, Dan and Andrea keep meeting up, and then they start dating.  With one thing in common - there love of dogs. They eventually realize that this dog is the same one.  I won't go into details as they contain spoilers, but I liked how it turned into a steady romance, and not just bam I love you.  Dan and Andrea are both recovering from past losses; so it takes some time for them to open up.

This book was a quick read and I enjoyed it.  #3 stars. 

1 dog. 2 Families. Joined? Will they let the dog choose?

Book Review: Snowblind by Christopher Golden

 The small New England town of Coventry had weathered a thousand blizzards...but never one like this. Icy figures danced in the wind and gazed through children's windows with soul-chilling eyes. People wandered into the whiteout and were never seen again. Families were torn apart, and the town would never be the same.

Now, as a new storm approaches twelve years later, the folks of Coventry are haunted by the memories of that dreadful blizzard and those who were lost in the snow. Photographer Jake Schapiro mourns his little brother, Isaac, even as---tonight---another little boy is missing. Mechanic and part-time thief Doug Manning's life has been forever scarred by the mysterious death of his wife, Cherie, and now he’s starting over with another woman and more ambitious crimes. Police detective Joe Keenan has never been the same since that night, when he failed to save the life of a young boy . . . and the boy’s father vanished in the storm only feet away. And all the way on the other side of the country, Miri Ristani receives a phone call . . . from a man who died twelve years ago.

As old ghosts trickle back, this new storm will prove to be even more terrifying than the last. - goodreads
Perfect book to read while its a little snowy.  I mean, just imagine that you are out building a snowman, perhaps tobogganing and some fog comes up, and bam your dead.

What?!

Yup, thats the premise of it. Snow Zombies.

Every big ass snowstorm these 'snow zombies' (they aren't actually called that in the book, but I just felt like they explain the things the best) come back and try and get more victims. But this time the snow zombies try and warn the town and all the people who lost someone in the first freak snowstorm.

Such a weird idea but it worked.

3.5-4 stars.

Book Review: Eight Days A Week by Amber L. Johnson

Gwen Stone has secrets she’s not ready to reveal. After a recent promotion at work, she needs a caretaker for her children. She’s frenzied and in a lurch and pretty much ready to hire the first person who comes along. So she does.

Andrew Lyons needs to get out of his sister’s apartment, and a Craigslist posting may be the answer to his prayers. But what he thought was an ad for a room rental turns into a job offer he can’t refuse. Accepting the nanny position could change his life, if only he had a clue how to be a grownup.

A working mother, a shirtless manny who looks good in a towel, two children who need more than than a babysitter, and hours of kids’ TV can only spell disaster for everyone involved.

Because a manny should always mind his own business.

And he definitely shouldn’t fall in love with his boss.  - goodreads

-3 stars-

This book was cute. And different. Not many stories focus on a male nanny, which was a nice change of pace to show that boys can in fact raise children (and do it well). Although, many stories focus on falling in love with your boss.

Andrew (Drew) is 25 years old, and is expected to settle down. So he answers a Craigslist ad for an apartment, however this apartment deal is also a nanny job.  He takes it on, because well, the girl is hot. Turns out Drew is actually really good at being a nanny. And the girl, well she is still hot.

One pet peeve with the book, and its not even with the book, its with people's views in general. Why is it always a bad thing if someone wants to travel, jump around from job to job before settling down? Let them get it out of their system. Or understand that not everyone wants or can succeed at a 9-5 job.  Rant Over.

And as you read in my prior paragraph, the girl was hot. With a hot male lead. You can guess what was going to eventually happen. The sex scenes in this book were unexpected. This isn't to say that they were bad. I just wasn't expecting them in this book, and they were pretty steamy. Which made the romance side of the book believable.

I really enjoyed the "Manny Tips" that were interspersed throughout the book such as "note to self: kids burn to crisp and cry when left in the sun for hours. SPF is required".  It was a bit of a comic relief. Also, the whole thing being in a males perspective was also a nice change of pace from the books I've been reading lately.

I only gave it 3 stars however because it was fairly predictable (expect of course for the "big" twist). However, I did enjoy reading it as it kept me intrigued and wanting to see just how Andrew's life turned out.

”Love doesn’t have an end, or a time frame. It’s not nine to five – not just a few days a week. Love works overtime. Every day. Even on weekends. And one extra day to prove it’s real.” 

Book Review: The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings

In the idyllic ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado, Sarah St. John is reeling. Three months ago, her twenty-two-year-old son, Cully, died in an avalanche. Though single, Sarah is hardly alone in her grief. Her father, a retiree, tries to distract her with gadgets from the QVC home shopping channel. Sarah's best friend offers life advice by venting details of her own messy divorce. Even Cully's father reemerges, stirring more emotions and confusion than Sarah needs. Still, Sarah feels she is facing the stages of grief -- the anger, the sadness, the letting go -- alone.

Barely ready to face the fact she will never again hear the swoosh of her son's ski pants, or watch him skateboard past her window, Sarah is surprised when a strange girl arrives on her doorstep. Unexpected and unexplained, she bears a secret from Cully that could change all of their lives forever.

(received via net galley for an honest review)

 I really liked The Descendants, and was kind of hoping this would be the same. It wasn't. It was slow and it took me a long time to read. 

Sarah's son Cully died in a freak avalanche.  And she is trying to deal and cope with this. Of course its hard, especially to pack up his things and finding out things about him. I couldn't even imagine. Then meeting his friends, his "girlfriend', finding ut he had a life separate to what he had with you.

This may be a bit of a spoiler, but, it was kind of predictable. I mean, why else would your dead son's girlfriend (who you had no idea about) show up out of the blue? But really?

(SPOILERS)

You are pregnant with your dead boyfriends child, and you want to give it to the mother?!!

and 
the mother is actually considering it?!

Are you frekaing kidding me?

I just can't even out into words how I feel about this!

(end SPOILER)

My favourite part of this novel was Sarah's father. His humour was such dad-like humour; and I'm a sucker for that.

I wish I liked this more than I did. 

Book Review: So Much A Part of You by Polly Dugan

Two young women who've dated the same man navigate love, destiny, loss, and choice in this powerful debut.

Anna Riley and Anne Cavanaugh have had a lover in common, but it's not until a pivotal moment in one of their lives that their paths unforgettably converge. "Beautiful and connected in unexpected ways...." (Jodi Angel), the linked stories in So Much a Part of You "read like whispered secrets." (Scott Nadelson)

Peter Herring was the center of Anne's universe in college, and now, a few years later, he's become the center of Anna's, and merely a minor player in his ex-girlfriend's world. That is, until Peter and Anna are invited into Anne's parents' home to visit with her dying mother, and he finds himself drawn back into her orbit. Years later, when her own mother is dying, Anna will find herself yearning to reach out to Anne, with whom she had shared such a brief but intimate bond, and find solace in that moment from long ago.

Perspective evolves with time, and so with time, what Peter means to each woman-as lover, as friend, as connection to the past-also evolves. Through exploring Anne's and Anna's ties to Peter and unfolding the narratives of the people who weave meaningfully in and out of their lives, Polly Dugan reveals the power of family secrets, the ripple effects of her characters' emotional choices, and how poignantly their intertwined relationships shape who they are and how they love. 

Sometimes when I read a book it is a reminder to READ THE SYNOPSIS before you start reading. I admit, the cover drew me in. 

At about 30% I was ready to call it quits, but then I kept going. And for about 30 percent more I was intrigued. Glad I kept writing. Then At about 80%, I was like... really? why did I keep reading?

Probably what most of you are thinking right now. 

I didn't realize that it was 6 stories that tie into 'one' story. Usually I am a fan of these stories, seeing how everyone is interconnected. However, I found some (alright more than half) of the stories a waste.  I liked the Peter/Anne/Anna story, but the rest (especially the animal shelter one) didn't really flow... That they were just there because one name was in common, but really they had nothing to offer.

And because of such short stories; I felt no connection to any of the characters. Again, the most I felt was with Peter/Anne/Anna, because the story was the longest.

I kind of wish I trusted my instinct and stopped at 30%. 

Book Review: Scratch by Rhonda Helms

In her DJ booth at a Cleveland dance club, Casey feels a sense of connection that's the closest she ever gets to normal. On her college campus, she's reserved, practical-all too aware of the disaster that can result when you trust the wrong person. But inexplicably, Daniel refuses to pay attention to the walls she's put up. Like Casey, he's a senior. In every other way, he's her opposite. 

Sexy, open, effortlessly charming, Daniel is willing to take chances and show his feelings. For some reason Casey can't fathom, he's intent on drawing her out of her bubble and back into a world that's messy and unpredictable. He doesn't know about the deep scars that pucker her stomach - or the deeper secret behind them. Since the violent night when everything changed, Casey has never let anyone get close enough to hurt her again. Now, she might be tempted to try.

(Received via netgalley for an honest review)

This was a very quick read. Which was exactly what I was looking for on snowy day.

Casey has a dark past, something she has to live with every day. This prevents her from becoming to emotionally close to anybody, and as a results lives a pretty secluded life.  This  isn't to say Casey was boring. She went to university, has weekly meals with her grandparents (not painting a pretty good picture of her boring life), and she DJs.

However, as there is always one person for everyone, Daniel is hers. She pushes him away, but he keeps coming back. Eventually they find common ground and trust.  

EVENTUALLY, she tells her story. Which is another way to keep people reading till the end. You know something bad happens, but you only get little snippets at a time.

Man, did I just want to shake her and tell her to grow up and to let people in.  By allowing herself to open up, it wold allow her to heal. To accept that she had a shitty, unforgettable, and horrific experience (that no one should have to go through). 

While I only gave this 3.5 stars, it is because I wanted more. I felt like there could have been more depth in growing the characters. 

I am not going to go out and say that I would recommend you to run out and buy it, but if it happens to be laying around and you want something to pass the time, why not read it.The one thing I enjoyed was at the end of the book, Rhonda provided a playlist for Spotify - which I thought was pretty cool. 

Book Review: Now I See You by Nicole C. Kear

At nineteen years old, Nicole C. Kear's biggest concern is choosing a major--until she walks into a doctor’s office in midtown Manhattan and gets a life-changing diagnosis. She is going blind, courtesy of an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, and has only a decade or so before Lights Out. Instead of making preparations as the doctor suggests, Kear decides to carpe diem and make the most of the vision she has left. She joins circus school, tears through boyfriends, travels the world, and through all these hi-jinks, she keeps her vision loss a secret.

When Kear becomes a mother, just a few years shy of her vision’s expiration date, she amends her carpe diem strategy, giving up recklessness in order to relish every moment with her kids. Her secret, though, is harder to surrender - and as her vision deteriorates, harder to keep hidden. As her world grows blurred, one thing becomes clear: no matter how hard she fights, she won’t win the battle against blindness. But if she comes clean with her secret, and comes to terms with the loss, she can still win her happy ending. 

Received via net galley for free in exchange for an honest review.

Another memoir about someone I don't know. I really need to stop being nosey.  Some guilty pleasure of mine for sure.  Even when I googled her name, nothing came up that was like "ding ding ding thats her"

The topic intrigued me though. I mean, what if you were just going in for your regular eye check up and BAM you're going blind. And this type of blind isn't going to happen overnight, its going to gradually happen. I think maybe sometimes it might have been better if it just happened. That way you have to accept it. Not push it to the side for the pity party to be 5 years in the making.

I wish she would have asked for help. To tell people what was happening. Although that being said, I don't think I would have been upfront about it either. Because thats all you will be to people.  A blind chick.

I also really liked the crass language. No fucks given.

So yes I do recommend it, you don't have to know who she is to enjoy it.

BOOK Review Compilation : Noise, The Obsession, The Murder Farm

I'm lacking a bit with the book reviews, my apologies. So to speed things up I am going to do 3 in one. That's right. Three. The only thing they have in common are they all received 2.5 stars. And all were given to me for free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The three books are:

Noise by Brett Garcia Rose
The Obsession by Liliana Lee
The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel




The world is an ugly place, and I can tell you now, I fit in just fine. 

Lily is the only person Leon ever loved. When she left a suicide note and disappeared into a murky lake ten years ago, she left him alone, drifting through a silent landscape. 

Or did she? 

A postcard in her handwriting pulls Leon to the winter-cold concrete heart of New York City. 

What he discovers unleashes a deadly rage that has no sound. 

A grisly trail of clues leads to The Bear, the sadistic Russian crime lord who traffics in human flesh. The police—some corrupt, some merely compromised—are of little help. They don’t like Leon’s methods, or the mess he leaves in his wake. 

Leon is deaf, but no sane person would ever call him disabled. He survived as a child on the merciless streets of Nigeria. He misses nothing. He feels no remorse. The only direction he’s ever known is forward. 

He will not stop until he knows. Where is Lily? -goodreads

First, I picked this book to review on the cover art. I found it so invigorating. Maybe that's the wrong word. But it drew me in. And that's about the only thing this book has going for it. 

It had potential. The synopsis was very intriguing. But, all through reading this I was like, hmm he's a very angry individual who needs to get some help. And help that doesn't include punching and/or killing a guy

It was cool that they used a deaf guy as the main character, but I just couldn't help wonder...why? It made no difference. Maybe that's why though. And also he kept saying that he was the way he was because he was from Africa. I'm not from Africa, but that kind of seems like a vast generalization. 

She thinks she's in control...but he's about to prove to the haughty princess that she is the plaything.

Princess Shanyin has a harem of male concubines to serve her every sexual fantasy, but from the moment she sees the handsome Chu Yuan, she has to have him. At her request, the Emperor gives the aristocrat over to Shanyin for her pleasure, setting off a power play of sensual torment and dominance between them. Trapped in Shanyin’s harem for ten days, will the proud Yuan surrender to his own dark desires, or will he turn the tables on the wicked and depraved princess? - goodreads

Alright. The Obsession. Well for one the Princess is obsessed with the sex. I mean, she felt that because her brother had concubines, she should too. Enter 30 sex slaves. This is a small number compared to her brothers 120 though. So don't think she is a complete slut.  She just likes loves it.  

Anyways, there is this one soldier who caught her eye, and he said no to her. Well this just doesn't sit well with her. She orders him to be hers for 10 days. He isn't one of the slaves, so he actually doesn't have to do anything, but he 'agrees' too.  It's the classic case of you want what you can't have. He is very adamant about not having sex with her, everything else is fair game though, or so it seems. 

I did enjoy that it had some back story though, and you kind of got to see into the trouble mindset of the Emperor being drunk with power. I can't pinpoint exactly what I didn't like about the book. Nothing really stood out and it isn't very memorable to me.  I read it just to finish it, and while it left a bit of a cliffhanger, I don't think I will be reading the next installment.

 

"The Murder Farm" begins with a shock: a whole family has been murdered with a pickaxe. They were old Danner the farmer, an overbearing patriarch; his put-upon devoutly religious wife; and their daughter Barbara Spangler, whose husband Vincenz left her after fathering her daughter little Marianne. She also had a son, two-year-old Josef, the result of her affair with local farmer Georg Hauer after his wife's death from cancer. Hauer himself claimed paternity. Also murdered was the Danners' maidservant, Marie. 

An unconventional detective story, "The Murder Farm" is an exciting blend of eyewitness account, third-person narrative, pious diatribes, and incomplete case file that will keep readers guessing. When we leave the narrator, not even he knows the truth, and only the reader is able to reach the shattering conclusion -goodreads

This book had potential. Although everything in the synopsis is what happened. 

I enjoyed the way this book was written through the various people who were part of the case. It was definitely different that way.

 

It was an okay short and quick read. I just feel like it could have been a bit more in the way of character development. I would have liked it to be longer if we got to know the Danner family more than what was written. I didn't care that they all got butchered.  Although it sounded like Mr. Danner deserved it.