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! :]

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!

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

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf***

Who wants another book review? I do, I do!

I just finished this book, like, 5 mins ago, & I can't wait to review it!

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Publisher: Mira

Release Date: Jan 31, 2011

Pages: 337 in the U.S. Paperback Edition

Ages: 18+

Genre: Mystery

Series: none

Allison Glenn tried to hide what happened that night... and failed. The consequence? A prison sentence. Now she's free. But secrets have a way of keeping you locked up.

When teenager Allison Glenn is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult in her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces whispered rumors everyday in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn-shy, quiet Brynn-who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her.

But then Allison is released to a halfway house, and is more determined then ever to speak with her estranger sister.

Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.

This book was really great. I thought that it was well-written and the character development is amazing!

My favorite character is Claire, who is the owner of the bookstore where Allison gets a job while she's in the halfway house. The number one reason I love Claire is because of the fact that she owns her own small bookstore because, c'mon, who doesn't love small, independant bookstores? I also love the way that she is with her son, Joshua and her husband Jonathan. They just have such a cute perfect family that I just loved reading about. And she was just such a damaged character that still tried to keep a positive outlook on life.

My second favorite character was Allison, even though at first, I wasn't a huge fan. But that's what makes this book so great, it has the ability to change your opinion. When I first started reading about her character, I thought she was a little selfish and stuck up, so I didn't really care for her as a character, but throughout the book, you really see her develop as a woman and she really grows up.

The plot of this story was very original and well-written. It really drew me in from page 1. Right before I started These Things Hidden, I was reading Eden Close by Anita Shreve, and I found it to be a little boring, but as soon as I picked up this paperback, I could NOT put it down.

So, overall, I definetly recommend this to anyone over 18.

Needful Things by Stephen King***

Book review time!!!!

I read this book last year sometime so I'm not too sure about all the tiny details but I'll do my best.

Needful Things by Stephen King

Publisher: Signet

Release Date: July 8, 1992

Pages: 690 in the U.S. Hardcover Edition

Ages: 18+

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Series: none

Leland Gaunt is a stranger-and he calls his shop Needful Things. Eleven-year-old Brian Rusk is his first customer, and Brian finds just what he wants most in all the world: a Sandy Koufax baseball card. By the end of the week, Mr. Gaunt's business is fairly booming, and why not? At Needful Things, there's something for everyone.

And, of course, there is always a price. For Leland Gaunt, the pleasure of doing business lies chiefly in seeing how much people will pay for their most secret dreams and desires. And as Leland Gaunt always points out, at Needful Things, the prices are high indeed. Does that stop people from buying? Has ever?

For Allan and Polly, this one week in autumn will be an awful test-a test of will , desire and pain. Above all, it will be a test of their ability to grasp the true nature of their enemy. They may have a chance...but maybe not, because, as Mr. Gaunt knows, almost everything is for sale: love, hope, even the human soul.

Such a long synopsis! Well I definetly loved this book. I had never heard of it before, even though I've heard of most of King's books, so it caught my interest, because, well, it IS Mr. King, and I LOVE pretty much everything I've read from him, besides Cell.

Hmm, where to start? If you've ever read anything by King, you'll find this is a pretty typical King novel. It has the creepiness element like always, not too much gore, which is great because I don't really like gory type novels. The characters were very well written as well. My favorite was Sheriff Pangborn, although, I can't really say why since I don't wanna give any spoilers. My least favorite were definetly Ace Merrill and Leland Gaunt himself.

I'm not really sure if there was anything in this book I didn't enjoy. I mean it wasn't one of my all-time favorites or anything, but it's definetly one of my favorite by Stephen King.

Overall, I recommend this for anyone over 18. Happy Reading!

This or That book tag

This is a book tag started on youtube, I'll be doing a vlog on my youtube account sometime later, but I wanted to do it on here as well.

This Or That?
1. Audio or Book in Hand?
I've only listened to one audio book & that was Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, so I'd definetly choose book in hand.

2. Soft Cover or Hardback?
I'm not really sure. I know I usually pick up paperback because it's so much cheaper, but as far as a collection, I definetly want hardcover.

3. Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Fiction for sure. I love getting lost in a good story.

4. Fantasy World or Real Life Issues?
It really depends. I really like paranormal, but I don't like Star Wars or Star Trek type fantasy.

5. Harry Potter or Twilight?
I haven't really read Harry Potter, so I'm not sure.

6. Kindle, iPad, or Other?
I love my Kindle!

7. Borrow or Buy?
I love going to the library, but I prefer buying when I have the money, just so that there's no time limit & I can display it on my shelf.

8. Bookstore or Online?
I usually get books online because there's really good deals, but I love bookstores.

9. Tell Me One Time or Total Trilogy?
Trilogy.

10. Monster Read or Short and Sweet?
Depends on the story.

11. Starry-Eyed Romance or Full of Action?
Both?
12. Curl Up in Your Snuggie or Bathe in the Sun?
Snuggie! I love love love the cold.

13. Hot Chocolate or Latte?
Cocoa!

14. Read the Review or Decide for Yourself?
Decide for myself.