Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me just begin by saying that I am not a young adult and I don't have kids but this book is great! I only recently heard about it from an article on Yahoo (or maybe aol). Once I looked up Katy Towell and saw the drawings and animations (which are great fun) I decided to download a sample of the book. I read straight through the sample and had to download to keep going! The story is quirky, spooky, sad, and funny and I found it really engaging. The drawings are totally cool and don't overwhelm the story. I read until 4 a.m. and had to stop only because I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. It is totally set to be a series and I can't wait to read more! (I also really want a print of her adorable little gorgon with the stone kitty from her website!) I know that I would have totally dug this book at 12 years old and I am no where near that age now - except, perhaps young at heart. A great read.

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Twelve years ago, for 12 days straight, the town of Widowsbury suffered a terrible storm, which tore open a gate through which escaped all sorts of foul, rotten things. Strange things and strange people were no longer welcomed in Widowsbury, for one could never be sure of what secrets waited under the surface . . . Adelaide Foss, Maggie Borland, and Beatrice Alfred are known by their classmates at Widowsbury's Madame Gertrude's School for Girls as "scary children." Unfairly targeted because of their peculiarities—Adelaide has an uncanny resemblance to a werewolf, Maggie is abnormally strong, and Beatrice claims to be able to see ghosts—the girls spend a good deal of time isolated in the school's inhospitable library facing detention. But when a number of people mysteriously begin to disappear in Widowsbury, the girls work together, along with Steffen Weller, son of the cook at Rudyard School for Boys, to find out who is behind the abductions. Will they be able to save Widowsbury from a 12-year-old curse?

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Ruby Red (Ruby Red - Trilogy) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ruby Red is the first in a trilogy that was originally released in Germany. It's beautifully written, hilarious at times, and contains the following: time-travel, mistaken identity, and ghosts who don't know they're ghosts and who therefore think that Gwen and her best friend are really very improper. Which they are, but really, that's not the point.
The point is that time travel is possible. People in Gwen's family have been doing it for centuries. Not with a time machine, but with a gene. That means that not everyone can do it. Not everyone has the gene. Gwen doesn't, so other than telling her it's possible, the whole time-travel thing is very hush-hush. On the other hand, Gwen's cousin has the gene, and she's been preparing for her first trip through time for as long as Gwen can remember.
Except...someone made a mistake, and it's Gwen, not her cousin, that begins bouncing through the past.
I found Gwen endearing. She's so sweet and such a typical teenager compared to her stuck-up cousin and relatives, though it was a little aggravating to see her just let others get away with not believing her. Not about the time travel or about the ghosts. I kept wanting to shake the other characters who couldn't be bothered with her and yell at them "JUST LISTEN TO HER! SHE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!"
It's not often that I want to throttle characters on the main character's behalf. That just goes to show how much I liked Gwen.
This was a really cute read, and I can see why it's a hit in its original German.
And oh? That tapping you hear? It's me tapping my foot as I wait for book two to be translated. Because I need it.
Yesterday.
Happy Reading!
-geekgirl


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Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

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Portal Review

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(More customer reviews)PORTAL is a sci-fi romance with well-fleshed characters and an intriguing plot. Normally, a novel in the romance genre would be of no interest to me at all (being a guy and all!) but PORTAL managed to keep my interest throughout thanks to its main character, Arizona, and its fascinating sci-fi plot involving time travel and alternative dimensions. There's such a careful balance of sci-fi versus romance that both genre readers will enjoy it equally. I'd be hard pushed to say which genre comes through the strongest, and in this regard it reminds me slightly of The Time Traveler's Wife, another story that's hard to pigeonhole and one that wouldn't work if either the sci-fi or the romance was taken away.
There's a lot to think about after the book ends. All the complexities of the "experiment" are finally laid out for the readers (and poor Arizona) to see, and yet you come away with your head spinning -- in a good way. The best kinds of movies and novels are those that leave you with something to ponder, and PORTAL certainly does that. And the fact that there's a forthcoming sequel, EQUILIBRIUM, due in Summer 2010, is something of a no-brainer -- there's plenty more story waiting to be explored yet!
Not wanting to give away spoilers, I was happy with Arizona's decision at the end and think it would have been unrealistic for her to choose otherwise. Still, part of me wanted her to "take the plunge" and choose the other option, because what a great story that would make! Maybe that's what we have to look forward to in EQUILIBRIUM... or maybe the author will take us in a new direction altogether. There are so many possibilities, especially after the Epilogue, which almost came out of left field and really throws a sinister spanner in the works. Roll on Book II!

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Come Find Me Two Years Ago... Six words that propelled ice hockey playing tomboy, Arizona, into an alternate dimension. She suddenly found herself in the past. In one moment she went from being an ice hockey playing teenager in New Jersey to a glamorous cheerleader in California. She found herself transported from a happy life with her dad, Dillard, to a new, strange one living with her mother whom she hates. Apparently it's a life she's always lived in. Everyone knows her as Arizona Darley, but she isn't. She is Arizona Stevens. As she struggles to find answers she is certain of one thing- that her mother Olivia, a brilliant physicist, is somehow responsible. . PORTAL is the story of the repercussions of Olivia Darley's attempt at creating a perfect world for herself and her children. Arizona's quest for answers threatens to undermine the seemingly perfect world that her mother has so carefully constructed. PORTAL is the first book of the Portal Chronicles. Fans of time travel, romance, and the supernatural will enjoy Arizona's quest for answers.

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Ghost Country Review

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(More customer reviews)Warning: Ghost country is among a handful of the most addictive, page-turning thrillers I've ever encountered. If you have any plans for the next day or so, you should seriously reconsider whether you want to lift the cover of this thing.
Patrick Lee hooks you from the get-go with a gut-wrenching action sequence in which a motorcade exiting Washington, D.C. is ambushed with deadly force for the purpose of seizing a mysterious artifact that had just been demonstrated to the U.S President. For those of you who (unlike me) have read Patrick Lee's first novel, The Breach, you will soon be re-introduced to the artifact's guardian, Paige Campbell, and realize that it's one of many mind-blowingly high-tech objects called entities that a highly-classified organization known as Tangent has recovered from the Breach -- a mysterious portal to another time or world. But even if you are coming into Ghost Country cold, you'll quickly get the gist of the dilemma Paige faces as her assailants close in on her and the entity: How, in a one minute phone message, can she leave instructions to someone whom she can trust to locate a companion copy of the entity, figure out how to use it, and save Paige and the world from the doomsday scenario that the sitting U.S. President and other high ranking officials are trying to perpetrate?
Enter Travis Chase, Paige's former lover who has renounced his affiliation with Tangent and Paige for a life of quiet obscurity. After locating the companion copy of the entity and figuring out that it has the power to punch open a window 73 years into the future, Travis sets off to rescue Paige and thwart the Government's frightening plot to create a future of unimaginable horror.
As I flew through this novel, I felt the same rush I get from a well-made blockbuster movie. Scenes leap off the page, cat-and-mouse action sequences propel the plot forward with urgency, and the stakes for Travis and Paige become every bit as dire as those for our civilization at large. And somehow, Lee manages all this without resorting to cardboard characters, unrealistic plot turns, or implausibility not otherwise explained by the high technology and time travel at work. Even the villains are portrayed as complex individuals who believe they are acting in humankind's best interests, all the while plotting the destruction of civilization as we know it.
After finally catching my breath from the final sequence, I was curious what sort of author could have pulled together the best elements of sci-fi classics like the Terminator and the X-Files, with the insider knowledge of Washington, D.C. you expect to see in a David Baldacci novel. According to Patrick Lee's Website, he began his writing career as a Hollywood screenwriter. If making action movies is still his dream, Ghost Country may be his ticket.
-Kevin Joseph, author of The Champion Maker


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Hourglass Review

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(More customer reviews)At thirteen, Emerson "Em" Cole began seeing ghosts. Or, at least, she *thought* those people she saw were ghosts. Shortly after, her parents died in a tragic accident.
Four years later, while living with her older brother Thomas and his wife Dru, Em is introduced to Michael Weaver, who Em believes is just another con artist hired by her brother to help her with her visions. But, it turns out that Michael understands Em, and her "gift", better than she ever expected.
This is one of those stories which could easily be spoiled with too much information, so I'll only mention that there's more sci-fi than supernatural--a nice break from the genre--and it had a definite X-Men vibe. In fact, I truly loved the premise; it was dripping with potential, but beleaguered by unnecessary melodrama and uneven pacing.
Em, who narrates, would be easy to empathize with because of her lot in life: deceased parents, feeling like a burden in her brother's and sister-in-law's lives, and on top of that, seeing things which aren't there to the point of needing heavy medication. However, she spends a good chunk of the book painting herself as a gritty badass, but not actually supporting it. Her character felt forced and other characters, with the exceptions of Lily and Kaleb, felt one-dimensional with little subtlety or nuance.
Also, every single woman had 10-mile-long legs and was gorgeous compared to Em's tiny stature (of which she reminded us constantly), and every single man was traffic-stopping in his hotness. As icing on the cake, all of these men shirked the tall beauties to fawn over Em, much to her surprise. Unfortunately, the instalove romance and weak love-triangle steals some oomph from the amazing premise.
Where this book shines is in the plotting and intrigue. The plot had a few unexpected twists, some working more than others, and the book did an excellent job piquing curiosity about Em's visions and each of the characters' abilities and the Hourglass society, not to mention setting the scene for future installments, and rather than leave you hanging, there is a resolution to the story, with the hint of another story to come.

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One hour to rewrite the past . . .For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance,Hourglassmerges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

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A Knight in Shining Armor Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay, I'll say it. This is the first time I've read Jude Deveraux and I can't believe I haven't read her before! A Knight in Shining Armor is a wonderful, funny and touching book.
In 1988 Douglass Montgomery is on holiday with her live-in boyfriend in England. After a huge fight with him and his daughter Douglass is left behind with no money or passport. In grief she goes to the nearby church and cries out that she wishes she had a knight in shining armor. Low and behold Nicholas Stafford, the earl of Thornwyck appears out of sixteenth century England. At first Douglass doesn't believe him that he's from the sixteenth century. She finds his way of dress strange, his talk ridiculous and the fact that he doesn't know what a car is or how to use the bathroom is outrageous! Well, eventually Nicholas wins over Douglass and the two are set to finding out who tried to set Nicholas up for treason in Elizabethian times.
After finding no answers, Nicholas finally resigns himself that he will stay in the 20th century and that Douglass is the love of his life. As soon as the two fall in love, poof! Nicholas is gone back in time. Douglass is at a loss, especially since history has altered and Nicholas was beheaded for crimes he did not commit. She is determined to find the answers to clear his name. But as soon as she finds her answers she is wisked back in time to 1560 and finds herself at Nicholas's home, before he was an earl and everybody was happy, although Nicholas does not remember her.
Douglass must win over Nicholas's trust to change history again, knowing that once it is changed she will be dragged back to the twentieth century.
This story was wonderful! I highly recommend it to anyone, especially time travel lovers. I loved the way that Nicholas was so excited over little things we all take forgranted, such as can openers and vacuum machines. I also loved the interesting information that the readers learns of Elizabethian times. If you haven't read A Knight in Shining Armor, you must do so now!

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The End of Everything: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Lizzie was the last person to see her best friend, Evie Verver. For thirteen years the two had been inseparable, but now Evie was gone. The only clue was the maroon car Lizzie had seen right before she left Evie to go shopping with her mom. When the police were not able to locate her, Lizzie began her own search to find out where Evie may have been taken. However, as Lizzie dug deeper, she began to realize the friend she thought she knew was someone quite different. In a dark and rather disturbing novel, The End of Everything is brilliantly written, but difficult to read.
Had I realized what this book was going to be about and how it was written, I would not have picked it up. It's a good book, but right now I just want to read something light and fluffy to wipe away the images that were left behind by this story. It's sad, disturbing, and not at all what I was expecting. Instead of a novel that revolves around solving a crime, it's told by thirteen year old Lizzie and is very much a loss of innocence book. I was not prepared to dive into a world of romanticized pedophilia or teenage sexuality. It's not that these issues were glorified, but they're there none the less and not something I was expecting or prepared to read.
This is an exceptionally well written book. Abbott has a great ability to create vivid images and evoke strong emotions. She does a nice job of setting the atmosphere and capturing the mind of a child who knows much, but really doesn't know anything. However, it's her writing talents that are also a detriment. It's hard to read a story where the thirteen year old narrator was seeing the kidnapper as possessing a great love for the child he's taken. Nor was it comfortable to read many of Lizzie's recollections with Evie, as many of them had sexual overtones. There was a strong realistic element to this story, but it wasn't something I wanted to read.
Even though I would have liked for Abbott to have left some innocence in the story, I am glad that she allowed the reader to be disgusted by the characters and their warped relationships. It would have been easy to tell the reader what they should think, but instead she lets them take the events and feel the sickness of these characters for themselves. I don't need a happily ever after ending, but there is a part of me that wishes there was a glimmer of hope in this story.
I feel much the same way about The End Of Everything as I do Lord Of The Flies. There is a terrible sadness for children when they lose their innocence; when the world and life they know is suddenly shattered and they realize things will never return to where they were before. While I think this is a brilliantly written book, I wish I hadn't read it. This is not a book for everyone.
Review title provided courtesy of Little, Brown, & Company.

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Waterfall: A Novel (River of Time Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)The book begins in the present day as two sisters wander, bored, around an archeological dig their mother is working on in Italy. Gabi, the eldest sister, is annoyed to be spending yet another summer at an Italian dig site, and is eager for a normal teenage experience. When she and her sister, Lia, discover a set of ancient handprints in an old tomb that are the exact dimensions of their own hands, however, the two are sucked into a time-warp adventure that is anything but normal.
Gabi and Lia are separated during the shocking jerk back through time, and Gabi emerges from the tomb into the middle of a fierce battle between two Italian houses, the Castellos Forelli and Paratore, in medieval Italy. When the Castello Forelli takes her under their protection, she not only meets the handsome--and spoken for--Marcello Forelli, she also becomes the main target of the dangerous Castello Paratore.
Gabi's shock at finding herself in another era must be pushed aside quickly in order to ensure her survival; and she soon finds herself giving medical advice to save a Lord's son, sword fighting, and actively participating in war schemes (all while wishing she had access to Wikipedia or Google to get some answers to her historical questions). When it is discovered that the cruel Lord Paratore is holding Lia captive, however, Gabi's somewhat good-natured romp through medieval Italy suddenly becomes a nightmare.
When I first picked up Waterfall, I was a bit skeptical. Unfortunately, a lot of Christian fiction for teens is--in my opinion--poorly written, too preachy, or heavily coated in sugar. I was dubious that Waterfall, a book that fell into my lap unexpectedly, would be any different.
Thankfully, however, Waterfall not only exceeded my expectations, it actually sucked me into the adventure to the point where I couldn't put it down. I was thrilled to discover realistic, three-dimensional characters in this story, and thoroughly enjoyed the tension of the romantic thread. Bergren takes the reader on an adventure that is not sparing in the harsh realities of the time, and yet the author skillfully keeps the story from becoming overtly graphic or inappropriate. I appreciated the characters' honest struggles throughout the novel, from the moral vs. survival issues of war and torture, to the yearning to experience life fully, and the deep uncertainty that so often plagues our faith. Bergren's work is honest without being overly preachy or despairing, and allows the reader to engage fully in a story that is both wonderfully exciting and thoroughly relatable.
Waterfall is an excellent read for teens and adults alike. I am eager for the rest of the series!


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Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one.

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Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)Karen Moning with Beyond the Highland Mist brings a romance novel back to Romance. I loved this book. The kind of novel romance readers thrive on. A book to curl up with and takes you away from the everyday. The characters were well developed, the struggle between the hero and heroine compelling and the added touch of fantasy makes Beyond the Highland Mist a story you can dream on. I found BTHM witty, funny and touching. Hawk is an example of the true alpha-male, so handsome, strong and masculine in every way, but with a past that makes him vulnerable. Adrienne is not only beautiful but strong and independent. Badly hurt in the present she finds it hard to trust in the past. The catalyst for conflict is an amazing character called Adam Black, beautiful but sinister. This book has it all. Fantasy, fun and drama. Karen Moning has created with words a mind painting of romance of old. This is her first book and I for one am eagerly looking forward to her next book. I read approximately 300 romances a year and this one is a keeper.

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He would sell his warrior soul to possess her. . . . An alluring laird...He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland. Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresistible challenge to the sixteenth-century rogue. Coerced into a marriage with Hawk, Adrienne vowed to keep him at arm's length—but his sweet seduction played havoc with her resolve.A prisoner in time...She had a perfect "no" on her perfect lips for the notorious laird, but Hawk swore she would whisper his name with desire, begging for the passion he longed to ignite within her. Not even the barriers of time and space would keep him from winning her love. Despite her uncertainty about following the promptings of her own passionate heart, Adrienne's reservations were no match for Hawk's determination to keep her by his side. . . .

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Review

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(More customer reviews)To be honest, when I first started reading "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" I expected a haunting thriller, full of horror and danger. That is not what this book is. Instead, this book is fantasy/adventure combined with a very unique style of photography, which made the book better than I ever thought it would be.
Story - Jacob Portman desires an adventurous life, much like the life his grandfather describes to him in various stories. However, when Jacob realizes that he can never have an adventurous life, he just tries to be normal and fit in. He's not popular or extremely smart, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about him at all; but when his grandfather dies and leaves Jacob a cryptic message, Jacob is sent on a hunt to find his grandfather's past and ends up traveling all the way to Wales. Once there, Jacob discovers much more than he ever could have imagined about his grandfather and is thrown into the midst of a very peculiar situation.
Writing Style - If I had to compare Ransom Riggs to any other author, I would have to compare him to Lemony Snicket. In fact, this entire book reminded me very much of Mr. Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. Don't get me wrong, Riggs did not steal Lemony Snicket's writing style at all, but Riggs just simply reminded me of him, which is a positive since I pretty much love anything that Snicket touches.
Something else that I feel Riggs did superbly was explain the detail of everything in the story. Even without the occasional photographs of people and things in the story, I was able to visualize the locations and details because of the fantastic descriptions.
Now, as for the photographs, they added a whole new dimension to the story. They didn't turn the novel into a picture book or something else that we normally associate with children; rather, they added a new level of immersion to the story, with the reader being almost able to see exactly what Jacob is seeing as he looks at the many photographs scattered throughout.
The book is truly addicting, but it isn't perfect; there are a few kinks that I feel needed to be worked out. The major kink being the fact that the attitude of some of the characters just doesn't seem to match the story! The abundance of cursing and crude humor just doesn't make sense with some of the characters or the plot of the story. Also, there were a few things that weren't developed as much as possible and could have been explained more and built upon.
Warnings - Language, Mild Violence, Mild Peril
Overall - In all fairness, my last complaint was very nitpicky and small, and I don't want to give anyone the impression that this is not a good book. For a first novel, it is fantastic! There are a few things to improve on, but I think Mr. Riggs is off to an amazing start! I immensely look forward to his second novel, which I assume is in the works based on the cliffhanger at this end of the story. I would say that, most likely, teens will enjoy the book more than adults, but it really does have a very interesting plot that many will love.

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