2 dead guys, 1 goth girl, the story continues.

Kiss of Life: A Generation Dead Novel by: Daniel Waters

The second book of the Generation Dead series begins right where the first left off. With a surprise ending, I had to quickly find the second installment. I read it within a weekend and now I’m awaiting the 3rd book with baited breath (Passing Strange). Haha, ok, maybe not. But it was a really good book and I have added it to the list of books to come out in 2010. The third book comes out this summer, yet another entertainment avenue to look forward to (Eclipse in Theaters, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows installment #1, and some books to look for- Linger by Maggie Stiefvater and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins).

In the first book, I really appreciated the way the other had us reading from a few different people’s perspective. The second book caries on the way the first left off. We are not left in the dark about what the bad guys are thinking or who’s causing trouble, because we are in his mind and know what he’s doing and thinking.

Kiss of Life was a typical love triangle, one girl, and two guys battling for her affections. Usually during these love wars I can pick sides confidently, but in Kiss of Life I felt very fickle about which guy Phoebe should end up with. I changed my mind at least 3 times throughout the book, and at the end I still wasn’t sure even though Phoebe had made up her mind.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I did find a few typing errors in the book. Things like “The” instead of “They.” It’s something I could ignore, but if I wrote a book and my editor didn’t catch something like that I would be heartbroken.

I don’t have a lot to say about this book, my opinions from the first book stand true in the second. I think its well worth reading. It’s sort of sad at parts and exciting in others. Read it and let me know what you think. Are you excited about Passing Strange, installment number 3 coming out? Let me know, leave a comment!

wanna see a cool water trick?

Percy Jackson & The Olympians; The Lightning Thief by: Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson thought of himself a troubled adolescent. He was kicked out of every school he had ever attended, a trouble maker with ADHD and dyslexia. Everything changed in his life one day on a field trip to the museum, he vaporized his math teacher. From that day he realized that he was different and now all of the myths that he learned about from ancient Greece are alive and well and part of his world. All of a sudden he’s being blamed for steeling Zeus’s master lightning bolt and World War III is about to break loose on western society. Not only is all of this news to Percy, but he’s being sent on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt and get it back to Zeus within 10 days. Before the summer solstice he not only has to find the bolt, he also has to come to terms with his father’s abandonment, the oracle’s prophecy of a friend betraying him, and find away to free his mother from Hades’ clutches. It’s a big order for 10 days, even for a demigod.

What I liked: Good Character development. I liked Percy, he’s a good kid even though he’s fallen on some hard times in his short life, he’s a fun character to follow. Riordan did a great job of describing the relationship between Percy and his mom. I felt their bond between them. She is all he has family wise since his father left and you could tell that she loved him very much. It was dynamic. I also liked his friends Annabeth and Grover. The threesome stick together even though the road is hard, heck, they go to hell and back, literally. I enjoyed the exchanges between Annabeth and Percy. They act like brother and sister and it’s a fun relationship to watch grow.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the plot. It was well thought out and excellently executed. I could feel the danger that our heroes were in and knew that they were going to overcome their obstacles.

Last but not least there was a good pay off at the end of book one. It had the feeling of more to come, we know there is a bad guy out there and our heroes plan to stop them since the gods won’t, but there was a twist at the end of this book that I didn’t see coming. I won’t ruin it for you, but it’s not over until the last page is turned.

Things to change? Why so young? I haven’t continued to the next book, but I’m curious why the heroes are so young. I can’t see adults letting young pre-teens out on America to go talk to the god of the underworld that is across the nation. Oh well, it happened, just a little farfetched. The age might go perfect with the series, like in Harry Potter, we watch that kid grow up through the series and therefore it makes sense that he is 11 in the first book. I’m excited to see the outcome and follow Percy through the rest of his adventures. I know there is more to come, so stay tuned for another blog.

Here’s just a thought I’m having. This book is solidifying my theory that there are no new stories out there. Let me see if this sounds familiar. A trio of kids set on a mission, from the outside they look totally normal to the rest of the world, but in reality they are more different than anyone can guess. The set is made up of 2 guys and 1 girl. The girl is wise, a know it all, the side kick is the comic relief, and the hero is from a troubled family, before he finds who he really is, he’s always getting into trouble but isn’t a bad kid. The truth is revealed to him by a wizened teacher that leads him to his destiny, but doesn’t choose it for him. Stop me if you have heard this before… I’m not picking on Riordan, Percy Jackson book 1 was great. I enjoyed it and am here to say that I recommend it as a book worth reading. I’m just saying, the more I read, the more I see that there are no original ideas that we just steal little ideas from the ones that came and wrote before us (I only say us, because I really want to write some day, not today, but some day). Just a thought that I’m fleshing out. Don’t throw stones, not yet anyway.

Differences between the movie and the book, are they good or bad? Good! I hate it when Hollywood makes big changes to great books. All that to say, I’m not that upset about the changes that were made to The Lightning Thief they were good changes. I think it went to the big screen great and I was entertained throughout. It was almost a different story with the same character’s names. Did this upset me? No. I guess I just have to remember that sometimes books don’t go straight to film well they need a little help from the screen writers.

So, what did you think? Have you read book 1, the series, or watched the movie? What was your opinion? Let me know and leave a comment, it will make my day!

a gothic poem starts it all, how will it end?

Generation Dead by: Daniel Waters

A Phenomenon has swept across America, where teenagers are dying and aren’t staying dead. The “Living Impaired” or “Differently Biotic” kids are outcasts. They are loathed and feared all over the country. The Administration at Oakvale High are a little more open minded, therefore the Zombies are starting to come to the area. When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it. Adam, her neighbor and long time friend, realizes he has deeper feelings for her than friendship, but is he too late? Has she already fallen in too deep with Tommy? Adam will do anything for Phoebe, but what if the best thing for her is to stand by and watch the woman of his dreams with another guy, a dead guy?

Adam the best friend/neighbor of the story is the guy I was pulling for. This is uncharacteristic of me, usually I pick the main character to be with the girl in the end. Tommy is the Edward Cullen, the Peeta, the Romeo. Instead I liked Adam, and I wanted Phoebe to pick Adam too. My feelings have changed quickly with the ending of the book. I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the second book, since I’ve already read it. Anyway, back to Adam. He is the friend that is always there for her. That will listen to her and is her shoulder to be cry on, Adam is her rock. Tommy is the Zombie boyfriend that should be the one we are rooting for, but there is always the question of his motives. Phoebe is constantly wondering if he likes her for who she really is, or if he likes her because it is a good political move.

What I liked: Perfect timing. This author used such grace when he presented new information. He didn’t rush into every subject within the first few chapters. He let the story flow as needed. For example, I was about half way through the book when the audience was introduced to Phoebe’s parents. At first I thought that was weird, but for a Goth girl that has friends, why would she introduce her parents to us until it was absolutely the right time? I didn’t feel like information was shoved at me within the first few chapters, I felt like we got to know the characters slowly throughout the story. Excellent writing on Waters’ part.

What I didn’t like: If I had one complaint about the book it would have to be that it is a little preachy. The story line is that there are people that are different and like it or not, they are there. We either can embrace them for their differences or we can shun them and for that reason we are not good people. I felt like the entire book we are being forced to love the Zombies just because they are different. I can understand that they were humans and now, even though dead, they are still the same person, but don’t tell me that I have to accept a group of people just because you want me to. I didn’t know if it was a Race issue that Waters’ was trying to get across or if it was just a good story that he wrote. Was this a politically charged book, or just an idea that would help the world if we embraced it in our lives? Again, I didn’t necessarily disagree with him, I just was curious about his motives.

One thing I do know is that I enjoyed this book very much. I hope that you take the time to look it up and read it. I have already finished the second book and the blog is coming. Please leave a comment or don’t, it really doesn’t matter either way. If you read the book let me know what you thought. Did you think it was awesome, or did you think that it was crazy?

Fallen Hot Angels? Sign me up!

Hush, Hush by: Becca Fitzpatrick

Everything in Nora Grey’s life is pretty normal, just a plain day of school turns her world upside down as her Biology teacher switches her lab partner from her best friend Vee Sky, to the dark silent dangerous new guy, Patch. Not only does she have to work with Patch in Biology, but she has to write a paper about him, and really get to know him. As time passes and Patch shows up everywhere that Nora is, she starts to feel like she’s being followed. Not only is she getting paranoid about being followed, she starts to feel drawn to Patch, in an un-earthly way.

While reading Hush, Hush; I was instantly drawn to the character Patch and was hooked to know more about what was going on with him. I mainly wanted to know the mysteries behind him. But as I read on, I realized that this was just another book. Nothing special. Nothing to write home about. I was right, I usually am. Like I said, while I was reading this particular book, I was engrossed, and I wanted to keep reading it. Once I was done, I couldn’t remember Nora’s name without looking it up, I couldn’t remember exactly what happened throughout the story, because it was unmemorable.

What I liked: Patch. I really liked his character, the good guy brewing underneath the hard bad boy exterior. I loved the way Fitzpatrick described the lust that was growing between Nora and Patch. There were some steamy scenes that really drew the reader in.

What I did not like: I did not like the ending. It was no surprises, just a typical ending, I guessed what was going on quite quickly. Every new character that was introduced, you could see that they were not who they said they were. Another part I didn’t like was Nora would always seem to be doing something really stupid. You know when you are watching a horror movie and you are screaming at the characters to not go into the upstairs room where the mysterious noise has just come from, but they do anyway? That was what I kept thinking during Hush, Hush, “You are going to get yourself killed out of straight idiocy.” I also didn’t like that Nora was supposed to be Ivy League material and she was described as a pretty normal straight A student. To me, the character descriptions were lacking. Another thing that bothered me was the straight blasphemy that took place within the pages. For example, how can you have a book about angels and not say a word about God. I’m pretty sure that the Angels would have had something to say about their creator, good or bad. Also the concept that an Angel could have his wings stripped by other angels and then he can get them back just by saving one humans life seems a little ridiculous, even to me and I like to read the farfetched stuff!

Over all I do think it was an okay book, I would recommend that if you like to read and want something quick and easy, it’s a good one to pick up. But just know that I would rank it around 2.5 out of 5. What did you think? Lots of people said it was one of their favorites? Did you like the book if you read it? Do you want to prove me wrong? I gave it to a friend to read, we’ll see if she read it and what she thought. Leave a comment!

Winter Approaches...

Shiver by: Maggie Stiefvater

What does it take? What is the recipe to write an epic romantic novel? What does it take to delve into a story so rich that it changes your very state of being? Is it that the author has never been touched such a love, or is it that they have experienced the deepest love that a person has ever experienced and must share such experiences with the world?

Maggie Stiefvater has reached into the very heart of what is binding and undying for the reader. As an author she has reached down into her very soul and pulled out the purest form of love where nothing else matters, but the oneness of the characters. From the first moment that I opened the front cover I was swept away in the consciousnesses of Grace and Sam. The riveting characters draw the reader into their web from the first sentence. It is a story of love that is in reach but cannot be obtained. Shiver is a simple story with no twists or turns to speak of, but the reader follows the story as Stiefvater leads us down a path of no return.

Grace and Sam have never thought of love as something that they can grasp, Grace has her 2 best friends, her distant parents, and the wolves. Sam has his pack and the girl. When Grace was eleven years old, she was attacked by the wolf pack that lives in the woods behind her house, only to be saved. As she grows up and the wolves are always present in her life, she never realizes what the future will bring. Sam and Grace are meant to be together, but the end is coming. As they struggle to hold on to their love, the past, present and future are always questions in their minds.

The absolute most amazing part of the book was the author’s way of description. I could not believe how riveting the explanation of the smells and sounds and sights that the lovers had for one another and their surroundings. Examples being, “In an overstuffed closet that smelled of stale memories and mothballs, I found a puffy, bright blue jacked that made me looked like a blimp…” The amazing attention to detail had me locked into the story, so much so, that I finished the book within 24 hours.

Another aspect of Stiefvater’s writing that I enjoyed was her character development. It only took her a sentence or two at a time to tell us exactly what was going on with a character. It was great going back and forth between Grace and Sam’s mind, she did that very well.

I happened upon another reader’s blog after finishing the book and I had to strongly disagree with her opinion. The blogger said that she didn’t like the fact that Grace fell for Sam as a wolf before she knew that he could turn into a man. I think that it is the most beautiful aspect of the story that she could fall in love with him in wolf form. There was not a lot of description about how Sam looked, and I believe that it didn’t matter what he looked like to her because she loved his soul. I think that it made the story more beautiful because it was deeper than the physical appearance. I also think that she would have loved him all of her life even if he never turned into a man. It wouldn’t have turned into anything romantic of course, but I think that he would have protected her with his life if anything should have ever tried to harm her. He would be a great protector even if their relationship was nothing physical or human. I believe that it went so much deeper than that.

Plenty of bloggers have said this was one of their favorite books of 2009, what do you think? Do you want to read it? If you have read it, what did you think? Leave a comment below!

Dragons, Elves, Dwarfs, Strange creatures not of this world... What more could a girl ask for?

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Eldest, the second book for the Inheritance Cycle begins with tragedy and is continued throughout with hard times for Eragon. Since Saphira picked him to be her rider he has had many hard times along the way, and they do not diminish as he grows.

Eldest is viewed from 2 sides. One side is from Eragon’s point of view, and the other is from his cousin Roran’s. Roran has quite an adventure ahead of him as he realizes that the Empire wants him for some reason unknown to him, he quickly realizes that it has something to do with Eragon. As we journey with Roran, we learn more about his love, Katrina. We also watch a small village ban together to save Roran from the Ra’zac. As he travels he is more aware of the trouble he is truly in and he takes matters into his own hands as he becomes, Roran Stronghammer.

Eragon’s travels lead him on a different path, as a Rider, he is required to go to Ellesmera to train with the Elves. Alongside him is the Dwarf Orik and Arya. Eragon spends much time with the Elves, many great things take place, but I will not go into all of that, the most important part is that suddenly he realizes that the Varden is going to war against the empire and he leaves the elves before his training is completed with a promise to go back. There is a great battle at the end of the book that if I give any details about it, it will ruin the story for you, hence the vagueness.

My opinion about Eldest is that it was a good read. For some reason this book and it’s preceding book took me some time to get through. When the author wrote Eragon, he was a young child. The writing style is very simple and hard to read at some points, but I couldn’t expect any better. It is a great story and Paolini does a great job of introducing the characters and leading us through Eragon’s journey. As the books go on, the story becomes more alive and interesting. I found myself trying to guess what was going to happen next. This blog is a little short because I have read a few books since I read this particular episode and I can’t quite think of anything to write about. I do suggest this book, it is a good read and an interesting story. Is it the best book I’ve ever read before? No, not even close, but it was good and entertaining.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the series. Did you like it? What do you think is going to happen between Eragon and Arya? Any thoughts on the ending of Eldest? Were you surprised by the change in the story? Let me know!

The Inheritance Cycle Begins

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon reminds me of another of my favorite heroes in literature, Harry Potter. Neither character chose their path, but neither backed away from the destiny that was selected for them. Both of these characters are strong willed and have a great heroic personality. Eragon is one of those characters that you feel like you get to know them inside and out. He is adventurous, but he also wants to do the right thing. Some of his decisions are spontaneous and mislead by hatred or hurt, but as long as he has Saphira with him, she helps him with his decision making. Saphira is a great character as well. She is almost like a mother figure for Eragon, even though she is only months old, she has hundreds of years of wisdom to share with her young Rider.

I enjoyed this book. Even though it was written by a very young author, it was well done. He presented the story well and kept the plot stable. There are always things that I could point out that were not perfect, but I’m going to give Paolini a break since he was like 15 when he wrote Eragon. I’m leaving this blog sort of short, I have read a few books since I read this particular book and I can’t remember a lot of details to blog about. Below is a synopsis, although it is sloppily written I think you will get the point.

Synopsis:
Eragon is a fifteen-year-old farm boy, orphaned at birth, lives with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran in Carvahall, a small village in Alagaesia. His uncle raised him to live independently; he hunts and helps around his uncles small farm. Eragon grows up with his cousin Roran and they are very close, as close as brothers.

In the first chapter Eragon finds a small oval stone, mystified by the stone, he sees the value in it and tries to sell it for money for food, but is unable to get rid of it because he found it in the Spine. The Spine was thought of as a place that thought of to be haunted. Low and behold, the stone hatches a small blue dragon, she names herself Saphira. Eragon hides the dragon from his uncle and cousin and he thinks of no trouble until one day, two strangers go to Garrow’s house looking for the stone, they kill Garrow and destroy the farm. Saphira takes Eragon away in order to save his life, when they come back they find Garrow and the farm. Eragon must leave Carvahall immediately, Brom, an old story teller takes Eragon away and the true journey begins. Brom teaches him some of the ancient language/ magic, and also teaches him to fight with a sword. Brom presents Eragon with Zar’roc, which was the sword that belonged to Morzan, the Forsworn. Morzan is known as the Forsworn because he was one of the last Riders, he gave the turned Rider’s over to Galbatorix, and Galbatorix destroyed and killed all of the Riders and Dragons. All the while, he has a recurring dream of a girl that is in trouble.

The Ra’zac , creatures that work for the King that do his evil bidding, who we find out are the two strangers that killed Garrow, find Eragon and his traveling partners. They kill Brom and try to capture Eragon and Saphira to take them to King Galbatorix. Luckily, they are saved by Murtagh a young man probably a year older than Eragon. Murtagh joins Eragon in his quest but informs Eragon that he will not be joining the Varden if that is Eragon’s choice.

Murtagh and Eragon travel to Gil’ead a large city controlled by the empire, they sneak in and are able to save Arya the woman that Eragon has been having dreams about. He finds that she is an elf. Eragon is able to get into the mind of the elf and she tells him that she must stay unconscious because she has been given a poison and without the antidote she will die. She instructs him to go to find the Varden (an anti-Empire movement that lives with the Dwarves). Farthen Dur is where the Varden hide, some are excited that there is a new Rider, and others are quite upset. Orik, a dwarf and is the nephew of the King of the Dwarves, Hrothgar, becomes one of Eragon’s greatest companions. At the end of the first book, Farthen Dur is attacked by Urgals because of the Varden’s disloyalty to the Empire and because the King wants Eragon as his Rider. Eragon finds that a Shade (demon/evil worker for the King) is in control of the Urgals, Eragon destroys him with help from Saphira and Arya’s distraction. Eragon wakes up after destroying the Shade, the Shade struck him with his sword and scared him from his shoulder to his hip.

Please leave me a message and let me know what you think about this book. Have you read it? Do you plan on reading it? Give me your opinion. Thanks!