Brother and Sister vs. The One Who is the One on The New World Order

Witch and Wizard by: James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Whitford and Wisteria Allgood, commonly looking kids. Whit is the allstar quarterback and Wisty is his always finds trouble little sister. Everything changes the night the New Order takes over. With Whit and Wisty taken from their home and placed in prison, what’s the charge? They are charged with being a Witch and a Wizard. Even during that first raid strange things happen with Wisty, she disappears, and then catches on fire. As they journey, they are utterly alone, they are moved to another prison because they are regarded as highly dangerous. Whit is scheduled to be executed on his 18th birthday which is less than 4 months away. They are starved and it doesn’t look like it can get any worse. They have no idea where their parents are or even if they are still alive. They didn’t know there was anything extraordinary about them until they were arrested for being different. As they learn about what the world is now about, they also learn that they will play a very special part of a prophesy that doesn’t look good for the Allgoods, but what if it’s better for all mankind?

Witch and Wizard was a good read. If it was a school report, I would give Patterson a B. It held my attention and was a fast read. The only problem is that I read it and then immediately started reading other books, so I can’t really remember all of the details of the story. Before the second installment comes out I’ll have to re-read it.

I do remember that I enjoyed Wisty’s character. Her sarcastic attitude was fun to read. She kept saying “I’m a scary witch,” which was a funny additive since she said it before she even believed it. The journey for the Allgoods to discover who they were was an exciting trip filled with laughs, scary moments, and sad times.

I also liked the dual point of view between Wisty and Whit. They had a special relationship that makes you think back to the days when you and your bother were kidnapped and imprisoned for just being yourself, oh wait, that didn’t happen.

Well this is a short blog, but I hope you give the book a chance, it was a quick read from an interesting view point.

As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater


Grace and Sam can finally be together without the fear of Sam leaving forever. It’s March, still winter, Sam doesn’t always believe in his cure, but as the story progresses, he wants to for Grace. Grace is happy, not just happy, she’s thrilled to have her winter wolf by her side. Now that she knows that Sam will be with her forever, she starts to have an even less certain picture of what her own future looks like. Cole, the rock star turned werewolf, wants the escape, but he’s phased early and can’t figure out why he can’t just stay a wolf always. Isabel is still messed up over the loss of her brother. She blames herself and can’t shake the feeling that she killed him.

If you read Shiver, you know that it had a dual point of view, Linger has 4 different points of view. I have read that some find it distracting and not as good of a read because of so many characters being intimately involved in the main story line. I disagree, I enjoyed the multiple view points. I liked getting to know Cole and Isabel more intimately, know what they are thinking in the different situations. Isabel is a character that you love to hate and hate to love. I like the character because Grace does. She’s different and doesn’t quite belong to the group. Then here comes Cole, and they have an incredible first encounter, and then it seems they always have unforgettable meetings. Most of them include Cole being naked, not like that of course, because he’s a wolf and the wolves don’t wear clothes. It was nice to know what was going on, the chemistry between the characters from all of the perspectives.

One idea that I find confusing and it runs through both books is whether the wolves have their human brains or not. All of the characters do not remember most things when they are in their wolf form, but there is a string of things that take place that makes me think that before all of this is over, there is going to be some huge revelation about how the brains of the wolfs work. My two examples are, first Jack, Isabel’s brother, knew that Grace knew that he was a wolf. At that time the only confrontation between the characters was while Jack was a wolf, but he told Isabel that Grace knew his secret and where he had been disappearing to. In this book, Isabel confesses something to Cole and he doesn’t think it’s the first time she had told him that bit of information, and he’s right, she told him while he was in wolf form. So, just an interesting thought that may or may not turn into something later as the series progresses.

The last concept that I want to throw out there is the emotions that this book takes you through. I laughed, I wept, cried out in disbelief, I love Maggie Stiefvater! She is an incredible writer. She has a way with words that most authors don’t. She gives me inspiration to write. The emotional journey that she takes the reader on is incredible. First in Shiver, I remember laying the book down on my chest and balling, and again with Linger, I could not stop crying. I couldn’t believe how much power her words had over me. While nearing the end I was very thankful that I’m not one of THOSE people that read the ending of the book first. I had no idea what was going to happen and there were so few pages left. I kept turning and the resolution wasn’t coming… well you’ll just have to read it to find out what happens.

I can’t wait for the next installment! Any thoughts? Have you read this series? Do you want to? Leave me a comment!

I hope that burger was worth it Bree...

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by: Stephenie Meyer

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is an Eclipse Novella. It is a short view of the enemy vampires through the eyes of Bree. Bree is a new born, around 3 months old, she is hungry and doesn’t know any of the rules about her new life as a vampire. Riley was not her creator, but he was her keeper, it was his job to not only make sure that he got numbers, but also to keep them hidden and safe. Bree had figured out that Riley had lied to them all, but was unsure if he was being lied to or if he was making up the lies. Well, any twi-hard can tell you what’s going to happen in the end. Meyer doesn’t change it because we got to know the character, but in her introduction she speaks of wishing the ending was different.

I enjoyed this novella, very much. It made me want to read the entire series again. I know it made me want to watch Eclipse in the theater again. No matter how I try, there seems to be no escape from the Twilight world. I do have to admit that I love the story and the magic of this world that Meyer has created. But, thankfully I do realize that it’s not real and I’m not a collector or anything.

The best part of the book was Bree and Diego’s relationship, it helped Bree reach out of her self-absorbed life and open up to the possibilities of a new life without the other new born vampires that she had lived with for her entire second life. Diego was a little older, and therefore a little wiser. As the reader, you hope for the best for their relationship, but know what the ending is going to be.

The one thought that I would have changed, was the fact that there was one vampire that came and attacked at the end, you know the one that crushed Jacob. Who was that? I assumed that it was Diego. But, Bree was so sure of him being killed the night he stayed and talked with Riley and their creator. So, that leaves the question, who was that last vampire that came out alone to continue the battle with the Cullen family?

So, what did you think? Agree or Disagree, did you like the Novella? Leave a comment and let me know.