Love at First Write

holy crap that was intense. I'd always wondered about Zuko's mom, but I never in a million years would have guessed that. Finding out that Zuko wasn't Ozai's son in Part 1 and then finding out that Zuko actually is Ozai's son and that the information was a lie seemed pretty pointless and was extremely suspenseful. Explains why Azula hated Zuko since she thinks it's true that he's not the heir to the throne. What was really depressing was the fact that their mom got rid of her memories of her palace life after she left. Like, with? She's supposed to be this strong, respectable character! I lost ALL respect for her when she did that. I mean, she eventually got them back and all, but what kind of person willingly forgets about the kids they love and starts a new life with a different husband and has kids with him instead? Here Zuko was worrying about his mom since she disappeared and she couldn't have cared less! Poor Zuzu ;(

It was a bit hard to get through with the style it was written, kind of reminded me of Mark Twain in that respect. The horizon symbolism, power of voice, and the pear tree was really interesting and made this more religious book more tolerable. Janie's development shown through her relationships wasn't so bad, this was a pretty good book considering it was for school.

At this point, I'm not even sure what to make of this book... Uriah was my favorite character and Veronica Roth just murdered him...... How can a person write a book, ruin all the character's lives, and live with themselves? I mean, Tris wasn't close to me as a reader, but she was close the Tobias and that's all I needed to care about her too. This whole book was tragedy after tragedy and I feel like that's starting to become a book trend. Happily-ever-afters were too commonplace so now we're getting all of these beautifully written tragic endings. Well I was suspicious from the beginning since it switched perspectives but I didn't think Roth would really do it... I'm glad Tobias went on the zipline in the end, but there were plenty of things I disliked about the book as well. Such as Caleb. I friction hate his guts as much as Katniss's mother and they're both alive at the end of Allegiant and Mockingjay! and Peter basically isn't Peter anymore... and of course I've already mentioned Uri, my poor baby, knocked into a coma by an explosion cause by Nita and that b*tch walks free? You've GOT to be joking. I did really love how Tobias and his mom started to patch up their relationship and how she chose to give up her power without him having to erase her memory. So sweet <3 and at least Zeke and Shauna got to be happy? because, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure they are the ONLY relationship still alive and happy at the end of this book.... So just my thoughts, not a formal review or anything and I'm not even sure what to rate this book >.<<br/>
*edit* I'm feeling a bit more collected so I'd just like to point out actual writing problems with the book. The alternating POV. It was ridiculous! I've said previously in other reviews that a way to pick out a good writer is who their characters come across. More specifically, the way the author can change perspectives and you know exactly which character is talking without any actual reference to who is who. This didn't occur in Allegiant. The only way I could tell who was talking was because the chapters were labeled. It got easier later on, but that was only because they were doing things without each other, so the other person definitely wouldn't be seeing certain things. However, when they were together you literally COULD NOT tell them apart, like I would be reading and it would say 'tris said this' or whatever and I'm like wait I thought you WERE Tris...'
The big issue with this for me is that it either shows really bad writing skills by not being able to make her character's distinct, OR Veronica Roth is emphasizing how similar Tris and Tobias are.... can't make up mind mind on which is the truth though >.<

Soooooo Cathy and Chris become a couple and raise Cathy's 2 kids. Then their mother moves in next door and has the boys come and visit her. John Amos starts teaching the youngest son, Bart about his grandfather and really messes the kid up. To the point where part starts degrading women too and almost kills his mother and grandmother. The truth of Cathy and Chris's relationship is revealed to the disgust of their kids who eventually forgive them, annnnd nothing really changes. Their mother dies, Cathy finally forgives the mother, and the sister and brother go back to their relationship. Super creepy.

Book two is even more sketchy and creepy than book 1!

Cathy starts having sex with Paul who is her GUARDIAN, who's last wife went insane, killed their son, and is in a mental institution. And then she marries that cocky dancer, Julian who abuses her and eventually commits suicide because he couldn't dance anymore. And after that she gets a 4th lover, her mother's HUSBAND. Who then dies because her mother burns the mansion down and gets sent to an insane asylum. So then Cathy goes back to the super old and creepy Paul and marries him, and then he dies, so she takes her two kids (one is the dancer's and one is her mother's husband's) and gets back together with her brother who has been waiting for her since the end of book 1. She then realizes that, as hard as she tries, incest is what is right for her.

This book is thoroughly screwed up. The father dies, the mom doesn't work, and so the family moves in with their grandparents. But if anyone finds out that the mother has four kids than she won't inherit her dying parents huge fortune. So the mother and the grandmother lock the 4 kids up in a room that connects up to the attic that they're never allowed to leave. The grandmother brings them food in the morning that consists of donuts with arsenic on them. the eldest daughter and son start a sexual relationship. Basically the entire book is "what the f*ck, did that seriously just happen?" and my poor innocent mind read this in 6th grade. and then continued on to book 2 and 3 which just went downhill and got even creepier.

The only reason I remembered reading tho series was because I went to the movies and saw a trailer for this book.... Idk of that's something I'm going to go see

I don't know why I only gave this 4 stars when I read it last year, but it definitely gets 5 stars this time through. Maybe because of Will? He is one of my favorite characters yet he's not in it much because he doesn't date Tris (like I was hoping for the first time I read it) and because of the ending. Uriah was my other favorite character. He's just adorable and I'm so glad he and Tris became friends <3 The character depth and relationship complexities were just great, except with Christina. I feel like there wasn't much to her. <br/>
The plot was well done though maybe a little rushed. I wish that Roth had explained the societies lifestyle and the different faction traditions instead of just forcing the reader I to a new world. Other than that, basically everything about this book was amazing!

I just want to start off profusely thanking Sara Larson and Scholastic for an ARC copy of Defy! I loved this book and it’s characters and have definitely become a fan :) I can’t wait until it comes out and I’ll have people to talk about it with haha. But for now I’ll have to settle for a review.

Defy is about Alexa Hollen, a girl disguised as a guy to serve in the king’s army. Her parents were killed when she and her twin brother, Marcel, were 14. Male orphans are forced into the army, and female orphans are forced into the breeding house where once they hit puberty they are raped to breed more men for the army. To save herself from that fate she and Marcel become twin ‘brothers’ and she now goes by the name Alex. She is pretty badass and unbeatable in a sword fight, which earns her a spot on the elite prince’s guard. How she manages to do all of that without revealing her secret, I have no idea. However, she’s no match for a sorcerer that abducts the prince, herself, and her fellow guard Rylan. Being in close quarters soon makes it obvious that she isn’t a guy, but fortunately for the reader, unfortunately for the characters, everyone has their share of secrets as tensions rise! Now Alex/a must trust the very people who might break her heart in order to stop a war and save the kingdom from an even deadlier enemy.

So as mentioned above, I LOOOOVVVVVED this book. I didn’t read it in one sitting (time not permitting), but I wished I had. I did, however, finish it in less than 24 hours since it showed up at my house though, so that must count for something. This book was so beautifully written that I found it hard to believe that Larson was a debut author! For me, the mark of a good author is A) me wanting to quote parts, scenes, or something a character says (Check!) and B) developing the characters to the point where the reader can just KNOW who is talking without it necessarily being specified (Check!). Alexa’s brother, Marcel was easily one of my favorite characters in the book. Even though he wasn’t in it long, he was so intellectual and caring, always protecting his sister even when she didn’t know it. This book’s Love Triangle consists of Rylan, her long-time friend and crush, the sweet, caring, concerned, brotherly type, and then there’s Damian, the lazy spoiled brat who isn’t all that he seems. In fact, it turns out that Damian is actually a great guy in his own right and god did I ship Damian and Alexa together <3<br/>
Most importantly, Alexa was a well-built character that is respectable and a great role model. Despite all she goes through, she learns about love and sacrifice, but most importantly she learns about how to be herself. With great side characters to back her up, she manages to make it through the intense plot twists in this splendid face-paced novel. Another enjoyable aspect of the novel was the setting in the rainforest. I found the concept and it’s affects on the characters intriguing and refreshing.

I just have a couple things I’d like to say about what I didn’t like about the book, because there was a couple. There were plenty of unexplained parts that would’ve really added to the book if they had been addressed/ addressed in detail. Such as how some people caught on to the fact that she was a girl. Never explained, they just know! Also, how the heck did she possibly keep her secret, especially whenever it was her time of the month…. I think that would make her gender quite obvious. How Hector became king in the first place, building up the land and countries’ history would’ve been nice too. I felt like the reader didn’t know anything at all until the end of the book, which doesn’t work with huge chunks of information. Lastly, I wish that the whole ‘sorcerer’ thing had been better clarified, especially since it seems to be more complex than other author’s versions of sorcery and magic. There are clearly different kinds of sorcerer’s and I feel like the reader should have been enlightened, especially considering the number of characters who are sorcerers. Actually, I lied; I have two more last things to nit pick about, though they have nothing to do with things not being explained. At the beginning of the book there were so many names all at once that it’s hard to keep track of who’s who in the palace. And also why was Tanoori added to the book? She didn’t detract from the book of course, but she didn’t seem to add anything to it either.

All in all, this book is completely worth reading, despite it’s little irks, and I can’t wait till book 2 (which will hopefully answer some of my questions). I think it will definitely get good reception and that fans of Graceling and Iron Fey would enjoy this novel. Either way I’m definitely looking forward to getting my hands on more of Sara B. Larson’s works in the future and watching her grow as an author :)

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The book is about Aiden Holmes and his father Don (letter is read about Don’s experience) and how they face this boogeyman named Brunderfold. Let me just say that Brunderfold was extremely creepy and scared the heck out of me in every scene he was in. He reminded me of Smeagle/Gollum except without the 'pity me/lovable' side. Brunderfold is basically a book monster that eats the imagination of children and the book titled 'Brunderfold' grows with each of his actions (self written). He also travels around by coming out of books. So Don trapped Brunderfold in locker 13 when he was a kid. Aiden opened that locker and accidentally released Brunderfold, which is our big dilemma.

Characters:
I really liked the characters in this book (aside from Brunderfold), which isn't always the case in books I read. The dad was lovable, Aiden was lovable, Ethan was ADORABLE, heck even Ronnie was likable. Chester was by far my favorite <3. One thing I disliked was that there didn't seem to be much character depth to Olivia. There was basically nothing to her and it felt like she was only there to cause tension between Ronnie and Aiden and to be the love interest. It didn't feel like there was any substance to her at all. Aside from that, I felt like all of the character's actions and background were believable (except the ending) <spoiler> You're telling me that this book has been around for who knows how long, and NO ONE thought of ripping up the book? NO ONE??? I also enjoyed the character growth and how the reader doesn’t know about the bad thing Aiden did until later in the story, it gives the reader a chance to like the main character without the bias, which is what all of the other high school kids in the book are going through. I’m a bit disappointed that Olivia ends up with Aiden… Aiden convinces Ronnie to help because Olivia is in danger. The bully puts aside his ego to help someone he cares about and she kisses the other guy!

Writing:
The detail in the book was great and really captured the characters thoughts, appearances, what was going on around them, etc. Burns told the book in new and interesting ways. This book had extremely creative description, while also not going over the top, which was something I LOVED. Brunderfold was well written, face paced, and unique. I hope to read more from Burns in the future, though maybe not a Brunderfold sequel…

Loose Ends:
I have a couple critical points I would like to, well, point out. This book ends up leaveing me with more questions than I started out with…. What happens to the other kids!? Carrie and Tricky Dan weren't dead... and how can Brunderfold just create a Volume two for himself? That completely defeats the whole purpose of Aiden and Don's story! Now there basically feels like there was no point to this book. It just starts all over again! Also, does Aiden ever read his dad’s letter? What’s up with that? Most importantly, where did Brunderfold even come from? Don found him in the library, so what was going on before that? Why does Brunderfold need imagination, and if he does so much then how come nothing happened why he was trapped for 30 years?? There were just a lot of loose ends for me and the book obviously didn't leave the reader with a ‘final’ feeling.

For the above reasons I can’t possibly give this book more than 4 stars but I’ve seen some of my concerns in other reviews as well so this will hopefully be avoided in future writing :D

probably should've read all of the Kan Chronicles before reading this.... but I needed more Percy Jackson so I just couldn't help it haha. Since Percy has a way of summoning Carter, I expect more in the future Rick! Contrasting their perceptions of the world was just great, loved it!

A copy of this book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Janus Rose is still up to no good in book two haha. She is now working on the side of good though. She is the newest member of the police department’s High Tech Crime Unit, where she’ll serve out her sentence of public service (from stealing data from old computers in book one). To evaluate Janus’s skills, she is given the laptop of a murderer and has to profile and expose the killer. On top of all that, her relationship with Jonny isn’t going so hot, Assured Destruction needs to hire a new employee that they don’t have the money to pay for, Peter is mysterious as ever, and Hannah is getting stalked by a creep. Can Janus possibly save everything?

Man this book was intense. Even after the scandal from book one, Janus keeps the Shadownet (deleting Jonny’s hard drive of course) and still tweets from all of her different personas. There is less mother-daughter action in Script Kiddie, simply because there is less ‘mother’. Janus is working with the police, getting driven around by Jonny, and spending extra time at school, on the internet, and manning the store. Her mom’s condition is getting worse and Peter is taking more control of things, much to Janus’s dislike, which I completely agree with. Peter gives me the heebie-jeebies and NOTHING is further explained about him! I’m awaiting a book 3 Michael!

While we wait I’ll highlight me likes and dislikes of Script Kiddie. The title of the name really bothered me at first. It seemed pretty ridiculous after a cool name like ‘Assured Destruction’, but after the name was explained in the book the title instantly fit. The transition from Book 1 to Book 2 shows how, in perspective, Janus really is the bottom of the hacker hierarchy. Nowhere near the big leagues. A Script Kiddie. One thing that I REALLY hated was how much Janus thought about other guys (Karl and Hannah’s brother) and how much she relied on physicalities to sustain her relationship with Jonny. If she cared about Jonny, she wouldn’t compare him with others or point out his flaws or resort to being physical all the time. One thing I really enjoyed was Constable Ethan Chow and seeing him from different points of view before realizing it’s him. So adorable <3 but Jonny is still my favorite guy character. As usual, I love the incorporation of modern technology and social media in this series and also the way it ended yet again in a satisfying plot, but not a ‘happily-ever-after’. Realistic. This book dealt with more real world problems such as carding, illness, Internet stalkers, and debt. The book always keeps a light, yet serious with a subtle tone of dark throughout the plot and, again, was a really enjoyable read!<br/>

I'm not entirely sure what to rate this book... Did I like it? no. Did I hate it? no. It leaves me with an overwhelming sense of 'meh' which not many books can do. It was just average high school drama. It was humorous sure, and that was enjoyable, and it's also not a book I don't think i'll forget any time soon (with two Will Grayson's and Tiny Cooper, how could one forget?) but nothing really happened. The only thing somewhatedly interesting was maura being isaac.

So the book was about 2 Will Graysons who don't know each other at the beginning and don't really know each other very well at the end either, but that's not the point. Their paths cross and stuff happens. Sooooo interesting. not. So Will 1, as I will address him since he was the first POV, is a straight guy, has a mom and dad, not liked at school because he wrote a letter supporting gay rights, and has a flamboyant, fabulous friend named Tiny Cooper. Tiny Cooper is the president of their school's GSA club and is writing a musical about love. Will 2 is gay, but not openly so, has a crappy 'friend' named maura, and lives with his mother (I have no clue what happened with the father and I wish their family's situation was explained).

Anyway, Will 2 was annoying and whiney, and so was Will 1. Will 1 has two rules. Shut up and Don't care. He was relatable. He was my favorite Will. I didn't like any of the other characters accept Jane, but only after she stopped being an idiot and opened the box. nobody really saw Will 1 for who he truly was, and no one appreciated him, just like no one appreciated Tiny.

I've noticed how some other readers here on Goodreads think the book revolved around Tiny, and I completely agree. Will Grayson, Will Grayson doesn't really fit the title of the book... Tiny is the huge presence of this book and Tiny's musical was basically the whole point of the book. Honestly, the book had potential, being about love, loving others, and above all, loving yourself. But at parts it was downright boring.

In the end, i think I'll give this book a 2. Maybe I'll read some of John Green or David Levithan's other books in the future... maybe not.. this book left me feeling very apathetic.

This review can also be found on my blog Love at First Write

A copy of this book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book really unique to read. The concept of a character having a something about them that they like/hate at the same time isn't new, but the way it was in this particular book was great. The book’s main character is Zip. She lives with her mom, her grandparents live next door, and her dad lives in Chicago. Her parents are divorced which obviously isn’t so abnormal nowadays. Her dad gave her the nickname ‘Zip’ years ago because she’s a fast runner. She plays basketball, loves to read, and what do you know, has new neighbors moving in next door.

Kieran and Kayla are the new kids to town. He has a sleeping disorder. He can't control when he sleeps and sometimes passes out at inconvenient times, such as during school. He also has dreams of the future that always come true. They are only small scenes that don't normally make sense until the event actually happens, but they're always accurate. This happens to him because his mother was taking a new drug while pregnant. Interesting stuff happened back in the day (no spoilers) and now the only person who might know the formula is his biological father. Their hope is that if the formula was revealed a cure could be developed to help Kieran. But does Kieran want to change? Obviously he wants to be in control of when he sleeps, but having those dreams is part of who he is. It's what he's grown up doing. Could he really give that up to be like a normal guy?

Zip just happens to be there when Kieran has his first episode in school and they end up becoming close friends, much to his sister Kayla’s dislike. The formation of their relationship was super cute <3<br/>
The main problem of the book was that Kieran's real dad is getting released from jail and might come to manipulate Kieran. His buddy Frank is already in this town and Zip thinks she might be getting the dreams too. Everything goes down on the most important night of the year: Prom. There were engaging twists and turns throughout. This book actually made me not want to read it. The file sat on my phone for like a week because I didn't want to find out what happened on Prom night. I didn't want to hear about anything bad happening. My curiosity won out. I'm glad it did because it was nowhere near as bad as I thought haha. The book was good, obviously, but it doesn't leave me dying to read book two. The book doesn't end in a cliffhanger and I honestly think it could have been a stand alone book. I have no clue what book two will be about, but I most certainly will read it, it's just not going to kill me to put it off a bit.

Typically I put constructive criticism in my reviews but there wasn't really anything that stood out to me. Which can be taken as a compliment and a criticism. I liked this book but there wasn't really anything about it to make it stand out from other books, aside from the fact that Kieran's condition came from his mom taking drugs during pregnancy. What I mean is, in the future I probably won't remember this book, it doesn't have that 'omg' quality that makes a book unforgettable. I’d recommend it if you want a short refreshing read, but I don’t think that the book is something that will stick with you.

This book was quite the quick read and REALLY enjoyable (which I needed after reading Nickel and Dimed haha). This was done in a couple of hours tops and I barely put it down to eat dinner! So fast that I didn't even get a chance to change my Goodreads status to 'currently-reading' before I had finished the book!

The main character of the book is Sara and she lives with her mother and stepfather in an Apartment. Which just so happens to be the same complex that the new boy at her Academy lives in. Dale Diamond looks just like her idol, Rockstar Tyler Vincent, and she's captivated at first sight. Sara's family is poor, she's not allowed to date, and quite obviously there's abuse going on in the way she calls her stepfather the 'stepbeast'. Fantasizing about meeting Tyler Vincent, becoming friends, and escaping her life has been her goal since 14. Her bedroom is completely covered in his pictures and she draws him all the time (she's an amazing artist) and he's really become her obsession.

Sara's best friend Aimee also has some very real problems. Aimee is anorexic and bulimic which I found a bit odd. She's been Sara's friend for years and Sara seems to go starving from lack of food at school a lot. Aimee knows that and eats in front of Sara only to puke it up again later. Though I suppose it stems from an insecurity issue. My point of view probably sounds really judgmental and naive, but I've never been in that situation and really can't decide what to make of it.

With issues of their own, Dale makes Sara happy and they help each other through a lot. Reading their relationship grow and have it's ups and downs was completely relatable and very well done. Especially all of the plot twists that I won't talk about because I don't want to spoil the book haha. But the truth just really brought everything down to earth and freed Sara. Her journal addressed to "Dear Rockstar" tied in nicely and the detail was great.

Though I will nit-pick here and say that in some circumstances the detail was a bit repetitive. As in, almost every time they had sex, Dale cumming inside of her was always a "white-hot burst". I mean, there are other was to say the same thing, vary it up?

That brings me to my next topic, sex. It wasn't super descriptive or anything, but it was a spotlight of the book multiple times, and (Game of Thrones aside) not something I typically read. I don't mind sex in books, I just don't think it should be in YA because while I personally don't mind, thinking about kids reading this sickens me. I WILL praise the fact that these characters were older (out of high school at least) and were prepared for consequences. So kudos to you, Emme, for making quite the interesting book. Actually, it DID remind me of Game of Thrones relationship-wise which I, again, won't talk about because it's quite the spoiler.

So, all in all, a 4 star book that I'll be sure to re-read!

I reeeeeeaaaaally like this manga so far! It's about this 19 year old girl who plays virtual reality game called Second Life. She makes a bet with her twin brother that she can make I through the game and all without people helping her (because she's a girl). So she becomes a masculine version if herself. Gender switching is actually banned, but the creators let her because she was the very first person to enter the game. so she became a (dazzlingly hot) male bishie. Now she has the obsessive girls to worry about though... But with game names know one knows who she really is, and she runs into her brother briefly at one point (he didn't recognize her). It's pretty humorous since only the reader goes about knowing that he (named Prince) is actually a girl.

Alright guys, Let's just get right down to it. This book was extremely disappointing. I've heard a lot of good things about it and know it's going to be turned into a movie so I picked up a copy from my local library. I enjoyed reading it I suppose, I never thought of abandoning it, but I was also never thinking 'oh, that was clever of the author' or anything along the lines of 'this is a fantastic book'. Actually, I spent a lot of this wondering how it was possible to turn this book into a movie. There just doesn't seem much to it. I was also having trouble with the characters. They didn't really stand out, pretty boring all together, and I had to keep reminding myself that they were NOT little kids. The main character, Thomas, was 16 and most of the kids were older... yet they acted like little immature kids. It was really annoying. The book talked about the Creators picking them for their above average intelligence, but honestly the kids weren't very bright and the writing style was about as mature as the kids. It's been said by others on Goodreads as well and I have to agree. This book is more of a 'tell' than a 'show' and it makes the kids less relatable because showing their emotions is so much more intimate than 'he was sad' 'he was scared' etc. BORING. This book got 3 stars because I did like the plot and thought, if written differently, this book could have been amazing. Having their names come from intelligent figures from history was really cool and I liked that there was a couple good action scenes (being stuck in the maze at night) and that the boys faced the Grievers realistically aka scared to death. Lastly, I enjoyed the friendship growth between Thomas and Chuck, and the fact that the book was mostly guys and that there was no romance (though the hints did not make me look forward to book two).Over all, it was an ok book. I just don't understand the hype. I might read book 2 if I'm bored and have nothing better to do.....