Thursday, May 30, 2013

Long time no see?

Oh wow. It's been FOREVER since I've written on here. Last time was almost 2 years ago. Gah, crazy. Anyways, I've moved from CT all the way across the country to WA. So that obviously put a chink in my blogging/reading then I just stopped reading for awhile and now I'm back at it. I'll be starting a new blog once I have my hubby help me start it up. So for now I'll try to keep this updated even though no one reads it, it's nice to have somewhere to put all my thoughts. :]

Monday, November 7, 2011

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry***

Hey guys, about an hour ago, I finished Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry. Here's my review. Enjoy!

**THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR ROT & RUIN, BUT NOT FOR DUST & DECAY**

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: August 30, 2011
Pages: 519 in the U.S. Hardcover Edition
Ages: 12+
Genre: Young Adult, Zombie Apocalypse, Dystopian
Series: The Benny Imura Series
Preceeded by: Rot & Ruin

Benny Imura & Nix Riley can't forget the jet they saw fly over the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin.

The jet meant leaving, something that Nix and Benny were going to do. Now-after months of rigorous training with Tom-Benny's zombie-hunter brother- Benny, Nix, Lilah the Lost Girl, & Chong are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future.


But from the start, everything goes wrong. They are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, and insane murderers, and are faced with the horrors of a rebuilt Gameland, where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits, Worst of all... could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?


This book was really great! I liked it sooo much better then the first in the series & I really hope Jonathan Maberry writes plenty more of these books.

The reason I liked this book so much more was because the author definetly took some time to add alot of depth to the characters as opposed to the first book. Maybe because the first one was more of an intro and this is more the "meat" of the series, but either way, this one had my heart racing more then a few times.
My favorite part of the book was probably the pages that had come out of Nix's journal. Every so often, after a chapter, not every chapter, the author as thrown in an entry from Nix's journal. It isn't anything long, just a page, maybe 3, of random things she has written about the different tools that Tom uses or what she knows about zombies so far. I really liked that the author has added that aspect to it. It definetly added a little something extra to the story. I felt closer to Nix after reading some of those.

The characters I didn't too much were the surfer bounty hunters and some of the other bounty hunters. I just felt like they weren't well researched and they didn't really add much to the story... they were just kind of... there.

But overallm I felt like the book had ALOT of depth to it and I highly recommend it to anyone really. I believe it's aimed more for middle graders, but I think anyone can read it if they like.

Update:
I'm currently reading Cosmic Forces by Gregory Lamberson, the third book in The Jake Helman Files. I should have a review up shortly. :}

Happy Reading!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Super sorry/October reads

I have been tooooootally M.I.A. for quite awhile now, and I wanna start updating alot more. I do update my Goodreads page ALOT so check that out if you're interested.

www.goodreads.com/minitiger031010

I also have a Youtube channel where I post book reviews & hauls & all that jazz.

www.youtube.com/bookreviewsbykandes

So, for an update, I'm gonna post the books I read for the month of October & put what I rated them & just a brief lil review. Enjoy!

Forest of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan***
I absolutely ADORED this book! I know alot of people hated it, and I guess I can see why, but I really really liked it. The main reason is because it completely changed my opinion on zombies. Before reading this book, I never was too interested in zombie type novels, but now (as you will see) I am OBSESSED with zombies! Not as much as I am with vampires, they'll always be my fave, but I just thought it was great that it can change my opinion about that. Definetly give it a shot & let me know what you think. :]

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan***
This one I rated more as 2 1/2 stars, just because it wasn't super amazing like the first one. Also, this one is more of a companion then a direct sequel to FOH&T. I wish that Ms. Ryan would've continued on with the story she created in the first one, which she sort of does, but not completely. Other then that, it was alright.

Zombie, Ohio: A Tale Of The Undead by Scott Kenemore**
See? This was the beginning of my zombie hysteria. It's about this college professor who, at the very beginning of the book, wakes up after a car accident & has no recollection of who he is & where he's from. He ends up finding out that he has turned into some of super zombie. (Not a spoiler, this info is in the synopsis) I say "super zombie" because he is a flesh-eating zombie, BUT he can think & speak like a regular human. It was pretty interesting I guess. Check it out if you're a huge zombie cuz there were LOTS of zombie action scenes, but other than that, I'd just borrow it from the library.

Personal Demons***
This isn't a zombie novel, but it's definetly a great Halloween read. It's about a NYPD Special Elite Task Force Agent Jake Helman who is battling a cocaine addiction. After a shootout at his local hangout, he is required to take a drug test, purely regulations, but right before the shootout started, he had just snorted some cocaine, so he decides to resign from the Task Force. After that, this huge Donald Trump-esque corporation hires him for a head of security job. He soon finds out that they are doing some super creepy experiments that involve some alien fish type things. I highly suggest it for those of you that are looking for a book that will make you have a "WTF?????" moment. (I seriously had a moment where I was sitting on my couch & I screamed out "what the fuuuuu?")

Desperate Souls***
This is #2 in the Jake Helman Files, a direct sequel to Personal Demons. This opens up as Jake Helman is now a private investigator & takes a job helping an older woman find out if her dead grandson is dealing a deadly new drug called "Black Magic". He ends up being thrown headfirst into a full on drug war going on with the local drug lords, who just happen to be uncle & nephew. This does involve zombies, but I don't really recommend it for people who are on the look out for zombie books just because it isn't really focused on the zombies so much as the drug war. But I do suggest checking it out if you liked the first one, or if you're looking for a murder mystery type book mixed with a lil bit of sci-fi.

The Radleys by Matt Haig**
Wanna know what it would be like if the girls of the hit show "Desperate Housewives" were actually vampires? Then this book is definetly for you. It starts off with a family in Suburbia, mother, father, daughter, son, and, on the outside, they seem like the typical "all american family". But when you look a little deeper, you'll find that they are actually a family of vampires, only the kids don't know, they just think they're "freaks", until one classmate decided to mess with the wrong girl, and things go horribly wrong. I liked this book for the vampires... and that's about it. It wasn't too unique in the plot and the story just didn't really stick with me. Check it out if you're a vampire fan, but if not, then I wouldn't suggest it.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry**
This is where my zombie obsession kicks up again. This story is about a 15 year old boy named Benny Imura who lives in Mountainside, a town in post-apocalyptic America. In this town, they are surrounded by "The Rot & Ruin" which is where the zombies live. In Mountainside, food is rationed, and once you turn 15, if you don't have a job by the end of summer, they take your food rations away. Benny decides to start working with his older brother who he believes is a bounty hunter who goes in the woods and kills all the zombies he can find. Little does he know, he's in for a rude awakening. This book wasn't too amazing. I thought it was a young adult novel, but, in my opnion, it's more middle grade, which I don't normally read. But reading it as a middle grade book, I thought it was alright. It was interesting enough to make me want to read the sequel which is titled Dust & Decay. I'm currently reading that, & I really like it so far. I'm about 70% done. Once I finish, I'll have a review up. :]

So I hope you enjoyed my lil update/Halloween reads. For the month of November, I'm going back to reading whatever sounds interesting to me, but when December rolls around, I'll definetly be reading some Christmas themed books, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Happy Reading. :}

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Update: I'm sorry!

Wow, I just realized I haven't updated this page since October 3rd! Jeeeez. Well I've been kind of busy with reading and my hubby just recently got word that we will be moving from Connecticut to Washington at the end of November, so we've been busy with making plans for all that and everything, but I do apologize for being M.I.A.

During my break I've only read 2 books which is horrible, usually in a 15 day time span I would've read alot more, but I've been in a bit of a slump. Anyways, after this post, I'll be posting reviews on The Dead-Tossed Waves (companion to The Forest Of Hands & Teeth) by Carrie Ryan and Zombie, Ohio: A Tale Of The Undead by Scott Kenemore.

For the month of October, I've decided to read a bunch of zombie books and some other creepy crawly scary books to celebrate the awesome holiday of Halloween! So stay tuned for those and Happy Reading! :]

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan***

This is another book review from me. Hope you enjoy!

The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 10, 2009
Pages: 308 in the U.K. paperback edition
Ages: 14+
Genre: Young Adult, Zombie Apocalypse, Dystopian
Series: The Forest Of Hands & Teeth series
Followed by: The Dead-Tossed Waves
                   The Dark & Hollow Places

In Mary's world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect & serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence the surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest Of Hands And Teeth. 

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhod and it's secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future-between the one she loves and the one who loves her.

And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands & Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

This book was... amazing! I would definetly give it 3 out of 3 stars. It was really well written and really drew me in.

At first, I wasn't too sure if I was going to like it because I don't normally read apocalyptic novels, especially not ones about zombies. But after reading maybe 60 pages, I got hooked! I think that's when you know a book is great, when it can make you interested in things you've never had an interest in before. I've never really read a zombie book before, so I'm not saying this is the greatest one ever, but it was really great. It had everything I like in a book, mystery, romance, some violence and gory parts (great for Halloween coming up), and it was just written in a way to make you wanna know what's gonna happen next.

My favorite character in the book was definetly Mary, the main character and the narrator throughout the story. She was just very nieve and had such big dreams for trying to survive this world that they've lived in their whole lives. She did get a little annoying, she wasn't perfect, but overall I just felt like we all can relate to her. We all have dreams of surviving parts of our lives, and we all have had issues with figuring what we want and who we wanna spend our time with.

My least favorite character was Sister Tabitha, the "leader" of The Sisterhood. She reminded me of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. She was just very mean and hard on Mary and threatened her more then a few times to keep some of the secrets that Mary happened upon. She also forced Mary into an unhappy marriage just to keep the village the way it's always been. I really could not stand her character at all.

Some of of the other things I didn't like in the book was the way that the author had one obstacle after another and another, which I know is the point of the story, but I just don't see why there couldn't have been at least some happy parts. And I also didn't like the fact that there was hardly any dialogue between the two love interests. It just seemed like they were in love, but yet they never conversed at all really.  

But overall, I do highly recommend this to anyone looking for a scary read for Halloween. It wasn't too overly gruesome for those of you who don't enjoy gore in every single scene like me, but it did have enough for those horror lovers. There also wasn't ANY sex scenes which I liked. There was one or two scenes where there was kissing, but that's it.

Happy Reading!


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard***

**Review**

Pretty Little Liars
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 31, 2007-December 6, 2011
Pages: each book is about 250-300 pages roughly
Ages: 16+
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Drama, Romance
Series: Pretty Little Liars
Flawless
Perfect
Unbelievable
                                     Wicked
                                    Kiler
                                    Heartless
                                    Wanted
                                    Twisted
                                    Ruthless (to be released 12/06/11)

Everyone has something to hide-especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, And Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished. How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling.

So I definetly give these books 3 out of 3 stars. They were really great light easy fun reads. I went through them really fast.

My favorite character out of all of them was definetly Aria because of how original she is and how she isn't afraid to be different, even in a city where people revolve their whole life around fashion. It was also interesting to read about her relationship with her teacher because I have never read another book about that & I have never been exposed to that in real life. She was just a fun relateable character.

Hanna would probably be my second favorite for the sheer fact that she isn't afraid to speak her mind, and for that she is considered a "bitch". She is definetly the most outspoken one in the group. I also really enjoyed getting inside her head to learn more about her because on the outside she is just the typically bitchy stuck up fashion obsessed teen living in an "OC" type environment, but on the inside she is so much more and the author writes her character in a way that makes you really fall in love with her. You also feel yourself relating to her even though at first you really don't expect to.

Emily would be my third favorite because she is the most emotional in the group. I loved getting inside her head to see how she dealt with learning she has feelings for another girl and how that would hurt her social status and how upset her parents and friends would be. At first, it doesn't sound very hard to deal with, but once you get inside her head and you kind of put yourself in her shoes, you realize how hard that must be.

Spencer was definetly my least favorite because she sort of got on my nerves because she was driven to succeed, which is fine, but she was also whiny and never stood up for herself, especially when it came to her older sister. I just got really irritated when it came to her and her sister and how competitive they got, even for the smallest tiniest little things.

Overall, I really enjoyed this series and I can't wait for books 10-12 to come out! I highly recommend picking up this series. It's such a great look at what teens nowadays go through and how they find different ways to cope with the cards they are dealt. My favorite thing about it was that I have never gone through any of the big issues in this book, so I loved seeing how these girls dealt with it and what consequences came with it as well. I think it's great to read if you haven't had any experience with these issues, or even if you have, you can compare how you dealt with it, and the different ways that others handle it. Hope you enjoyed this review, Happy Reading!

Update!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry that I haven't written in soooo long! For the past 2 or 3 weeks, I've been reading the Pretty Little Liars series & I just finished. As I was reading, I did put up reviews on each book, but they weren't very well written so I deleted them & decided to go ahead and just do a review on the series as a whole. Also, I have a youtube channel up & I've been doing some reviews on there as well so feel free to check that out. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/user/BookReviewsByKandes?feature=mhee

So, in the coming weeks, I will be doing reviews on some creepy, Halloween type books in honor of the month of October and the upcoming holiday. As of right now, this is the list of books I plan on reading:
The Forest Of Hands & Teeth (currently reading)-Carrie Ryan
The Dead-Tossed Waves-Carrie Ryan
A Brief Lunacy-Cynthia Thayer
The Body Finder- Kimberly Derting
Desires of The Dead-Kimberly Derting
The Graveyard Book-Neil Gaiman
Tales of Terror-Edgar Allan Poe
In The Shadow Of The Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
Creepers-David Morrell
In The Night Room-Peter Straub
The Day of Small Things-Vicki Lane


So, that's my TBR pile for the month of October. I might not read all of them since there are alot. If there's any books you would like a review on, please let me know.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy Reading!
~Kandes