Review-Warm Bodies

I first read about this book years ago on Maggie Stiefvater's blog.  She was talking about how much she loved it, so I picked it up one day when I was at Barnes and Noble and it just got filed away on a shelf somewhere.  Recently I watched the trailer for it and I thought "wow, that looks REALLY funny" but I decided that before I watched the movie I HAD to read the book.  Now, we just started book groups in my creative writing class, and my group picked this one (actually, I have until some time in January to finish it...oops).  Anyway, I found that the book was quite a few things.  It was different in terms of plot and characters.  Told from the point of view of a zombie in a world where they have mostly taken over the world, but they can still THINK somewhat.  It's an adult book, which I usually don't read so it was crude in some places.  There were moments where I was thinking "I really hope no one looks at what I'm reading cause I'm sure they would think I'm REALLY weird."  The thing that surprised me  most about the book was how...insightful it was.  Sure it's about a future where zombies have pretty much taken over the planet, but there are some parts in it that really speak to the way the world is now, and the way that the world has always been.  And of course because I'm a sucker for romance I did enjoy those parts as well (don't worry, nothing gross happens, she doesn't sleep the with the zombie! Get your mind out of the gutters people!).  I enjoyed this book a lot, although I'm not sure I want to see a new trend in paranormal romance for ANY age group with zombies as a love interest (I do prefer them to be scary and...well, flesh eating...in my books. If it happened in real life I wouldn't mind these zombies.) but it was really great to see someone try something different and new.  Now I can watch the movie when it comes out next year (and the author, who lives in my city, said he was going to write a second book to this one) so I won't be so behind the times.

4.5/5 dust spirits

Review-Days of Blood and Starlight

Last year I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone and was just blown away, so when Days of Blood and Starlight came out I pounced on it.  Unfortunately I was sick and didn't feel like reading, and then when I did I was either in school (yes, I read during class) or I was squashed under a pile of homework (makeup and otherwise).  Now, to start off let me say I'm not sure if I love or hate this book. (Wait, BEFORE you freak out I don't mean hate as it "it was terrible" but as in "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO MY HEART!?" hate).  There are few books that manage to give me shivers, not because of what happens in them, but because of the way the words are strung together.  This is one of those few books, just like it's predecessor was.  I can honestly say if I ever got a tattoo I would definitely consider getting a quote from this book tattooed on my body.  Yes, it's a YA novel and it's paranormal romance, but there are SO many things in it that ring true to real life.  It's like the whole book is one big poem that just breaks your heart and, at the same time, sticks it back together again (if not in a different shape).  There was so much packed into this novel, and I loved it all so much.  All of the different points of view were so great, and there were twists and turns that I didn't see coming (so extra points to Laini).  I am both happy and sad at the same time that I have finished this novel, and that the last book will be coming out (if it stays according to schedule, it might not) next year.  If you haven't read the first book it's out in paperback now so you really have no excuse, and if you have read the first book and you haven't gotten to this one get on it! (I also have an extra copy, so stay tuned for a giveaway).  The story is so deep and thought out, the characters have so many levels to them (and I just LOVE how Karou stands on her own. She is really such a fierce heroin), and the world-building. GOD the world-building!  Laini is another author's head I would love to live in, the beauty of her writing is something not found often in today (in YA or adult books alike) and I have no doubt this will become a best seller just like the first book, and now more than ever I need to read her short stories and the books she wrote before these.

5+/5

Review-Finale

I read Hush, Hush when I first started blogging and I just fell in love with it. At the time I had read no books about fallen angels, and unlike real life I do so love a bad boy on the page.   When the second and third books came out I had to have them right away, and the same went for the fourth and final book.  Now, before I continue the review I have to say I think  I've become pickier and somewhat harsher on books.  Now, I didn't notice it in the books before but in this book there were some times when Nora drove me CRAZY!  Thankfully the twists and turns, the romance, and in the end Nora herself overshadowed those chapters that made me want to shake her senseless and glued the book back together for me.  Now let's take those things in turn, the twists were really great in this book, and although there were some I saw coming the moment they're first mentioned there are others that had me going "oh, THAT wasn't what I was expecting at all."  The romance was also really great too.  Being one of those girls who wants to believe there's someone out there for everyone it's great to see that Patch would do anything for Nora, and it speaks at forgiveness as well, I think the whole series does in a way.  I have to admit, I'm glad that the final book wasn't one big lead up to nothing like the last Twilight book, but things were tied up with a nice little bow which I felt was a little too good to be true, but maybe that's what I love so much about books.  Overall I was really pleased with the book and the series as a whole, and if you liked the first three books you should at least check out the last one to see how it all ends. Thanks, Becca, for a great series, and I look forward to reading your next book.

4.5/5 dust spirits