April RAK Wrap-Up

As I'm sure you know, Random Acts of Kindness is hosted  by Book Soulmates. RAK is a where you, out of the goodness of your heart, send someone a book from their wishlist.

This month I finally got the money/courage to send someone a book. I sent Doodle from Doodle's Book Blog, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins.

And funny enough she picked me too! After I sent her the email asking for her information I saw that she sent me an email asking for mine. How many times has that happened? Anyway she sent me Croak by Gina Damico. I really liked it. After reading some disappointing books I finally read one I liked! Thanks Doodle!

In My Mailbox 4/29

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. This will more than likely be my last IMM. But I haven't found a meme to replace it that fits my needs yet. There are a few I have my eye on but I'm not sure which I'll do yet.

I went to the library and got:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner.


And Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

What did you get this week? Oh and if you're not doing IMM's either, what replacement have you used?


Update: I have decided to continue with IMM for now. What she did was wrong. But her meme is the best fit for me. I can post it whenever I want as opposed to Mailbox Monday, or the other various "Sunday Something" memes that have been created. Plus I personally feel that since her issue is with plagiarism, it feels wrong to do another meme that is just like hers. That said, I completely understand why others would choose not to participate in it anymore. A book haul is a book haul no matter who hosts it so leave your in the comments!!

Top Ten on Tuesday: Favorite Characters

Ton Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top 10 favorite characters. These aren't in any particular order.


1. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird- He has to be my favorite male book character. I adore him, what he stands for, his morality, the type of father he it, the great man he is, and I think I could go on forever.
 
2. Scout Finch from  To Kill a Mockingbird - I love her too. She's so funny, and innocent, and strong for such a small child.
  
3. Two-Bit Matthews from The Outsiders- Two-Bit's a great friend and makes me laugh. I would marry him in a heartbeat.

4. Zach from The Gallagher Girls series- He's so good to Cammie, and he's smart, and he's a freaking spy/assassin.

5. Cammie Morgan  from The Gallagher Girls series - She kicks major ass!
 
6.Fred and George from the Harry Potter series- Funny, adorable, good brothers, what else could I want?

7. Snape from the Harry Potter series - I loved him as a villian. Then I got smacked in the face with more love when I found out what he did for Harry.

8. Lex from Croak - She's funny, works hard, and also struggles with doing what's right. Plus she doesn't give a shit. The exact attitude I have.

9. Ponyboy Curtis  from The Outsiders - Oh Ponyboy. How do I explain my love for you? 

10. Rashel from the second story in Night World Number 2- Ok so the other stories are kind of stupid. But I loved her. She is so brave and strong. And she has a great sense of morality. She risked her life so she could save those girls.
 

In My Mailbox 4/15

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.
Yesterday I went to the library and got 2 books.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.


Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter.

Book Review: Possessions by Nancy Holder

Overall:1.5
Pages: 320
Spoilers: Medium
Summary from Goodreads:

The It Girl meets The Exorcist in this chilling, haunted boarding school tale.

New-girl Lindsay discovers all is not right at the prestigious Marlwood Academy for Girls. Ethereal, popular Mandy and her clique are plotting something dangerous. Lindsay overhears them performing strange rituals, and sees their eyes turn black. It doesn't help that the school itself is totally eerie, with ancient, dilapidated buildings tucked into the Northern California woods, a thick white fog swirling through campus. There are hidden passageways, odd reflections in the windows at night, and scariest of all is the vast lake rumored to have captured the ghost of a girl who drowned many years ago. 


What Lindsay doesn't yet realize is that Mandy and her cohorts are becoming possessed by spirits who have haunted the school for two hundred years. Spirits who want someone dead... And that someone is Lindsay.

My Review:


The writng:

The writing is fine. Nothing bad to say about it.

The Plot:


I really wanted to like this book. I have read her Wicked series and didn't like it. But after I purchased this without realizing who the author was I decided to go in with an open mind and hope it was as good as it's AMAZING cover. However it wasn't. It was not original or very interesting. Lindsay goes to a boarding school after a breakdown (that is never fully explained or explored) to start over new. As it turns out her new school is haunted and used to be an asylum for girls in the late 1800s. One super vengeful ghost possesses the most popular girl in school, Mandy. On top of being possessed Mandy has to also find other girls that can be possessed so the other ghosts can have bodies and get their revenge on who killed them, all this in exchange for helping Mandy's brother. Help him do what exactly? I have no idea, it has something to do with getting his crazy ass out of "rehab." (Plus he and Mandy are apparently having an incestuous relationship.This doesn't bother me. I am a fan of Supernatural after all.) However none of this comes to light until the last little bit. The bulk of the book is spent on parties with Mandy, pranks, wondering why the hell Mandy is so weird, and having feelings for Mandy's mega hot boyfriend, Troy.

The story trudges on with Lindsay being confused and ignoring a ghost face that she sees everywhere, a voice inside of her telling her what to do, and the weird shit that keeps happening. I am sorry but if a ghost face kept popping up everywhere and I saw unlikely companions of Mandy's acting strange with black eyes and speaking in different accents, I would book it the hell out of there. But not Lindsay. No she has to stay to help Julie, her roommate, for some ungodly reason. Excuse me but you do not know her, and she keeps acting like a bitch. You do not have to save her stupid ass because you've known her a month and she's your "best friend."  Then we find out that, surprise surprise, Lindsay is being possessed by the ghost the bitch ghosts want revenge on. So what does Lindsay's stupid ass do? Follows the bitch ghosts into the woods. You are a dumb ass and deserve to be lit on fire by those bitch ghosts, which is how Lindsay's ghost apparently killed the bitch ghosts.  And all of this could have been avoided if she had a sassy gay friend.



Anyway it ends on a cliff hanger so you'll want to pick up the next book and see what happens. Only problem is I have no inclination of picking up the next book. Lindsay is aggravating, this plot is thin, the pacing is slow, and I don't want to read another horror book about whiny bitch ghosts.

Positive:

Parts of it were a bit creepy. I was reading about the face in the reflection and looked up and thought I saw a ghost face in my tv. Turns out that it was just my sock. And Rose was hilarious. There was no insta-love. Insta-lust? Yes. But not "I've just seen you now I want to marry you and have your babies."


Overall:

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

This week I bought 5 books!

First I got Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter. As soon as I got it out of the packaging I DEVOURED it! 


Soul Thief  by Jana Oliver. I must say that I like these first two covers better than the others.


  Forbidden by Jana Oliver.


And the first two Hex Hall books by Rachel Hawkins.
Hex Hall


And Demonglass.


Plus I got a RAK from  Doodle over at Doodle's Book Blog. She got me Croak by Gina Damico. I can't wait to read it. Thank you!


What did you get this week?

Top Ten on Tuesday: Top 10 Books to Read in a Day

I thought I'd spice up the blog with this meme. It's hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is books you've read (or could) read in a day.

1. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton- It's pretty short and very good. I've read it in a day multiple times.


2. The Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter- These are such great books. I love Cammie and all the things that happens in the books. How could you not want to read them so quickly? It's a girls boarding school of spies!


3. Heist Society by Ally Carter- Another book by Ally Carter. This book is similar to The Gallagher Girls books in that they it's fast paced, great plot, fun, and her writing is really good. READ HER!


4. The first few Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling.

5. Past Perfect by Leila Sales- I read this one in a day. I actually blew off studying for a test so I could read it. *Shrug

6.  Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya- It's a manga so it's really easy to read; they are funny and totally adorable. You could read multiples of these in one day. 

7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney- It's cartoon book. You can read the whole series in a day. Greg and his family are so funny!

8. To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker- This is a cliche romance book about pirates. Sounds hideous! But I couldn't help but love it. And finish it within a day. 

9. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins- Her books seem long but are written in short verse. Each page only has a few lines. I didn't read this one in a day. But school hadn't got in the way I could have. It's a bit dark, but it's very good. 

10. The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver- I actually regret reading this one in a day. It was not face paced and drug on through most of the book. But I loved the character Beck, he kept me reading, and reading, and reading. 

What are your picks?

Written Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Overall: 3.5
Spoiler Alert: Heavy
Summary from Goodreads :   

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear…

  
My Review
This could have been the perfect romantic fantasy book. And until about the end I did absolutely love it. I had planned on giving it a 4.5 or 5 rating and adding it to my favorites. But things really started to bug me in the end. It just didn't feel the same as the rest of the novel. The tone and story was perfect until the end.  I guess, rushed, is the best way to describe it.


I'll start with the writing. The writing style reminds me a bit of J.K. Rowling's style. This can be good or bad depending on if you like that style. I however do not. The flowery and overworded detail about the stupidest shit really gets to you after a while. Much like with the some of the Harry Potter books, I found myself skimming parts and skipping paragraphs at a time. But unlike JKR, Snyder skips over important parts of the story that should be detailed. Spoiler (Two examples come to mind: Rand's death and when Yelena told Valek what Reyad did to her. Rand's death was over so quickly and then Yelana just forgets about him. The curtains and hallway can get a page but Rand dying gets a few short paragraphs. What? And then when Yelena can finally tell Valek what happened to her, it's over in half a paragraph. We don't get to see what exactly she said either, it goes something like this "then I told Valek about my past.") Really bitch, really? That's all I get? Thank you for all that suspense. 
 
Spoiler (Another thing that bugged me was how the Commander was actually born in a woman's body. It reads like it was just an after thought.) Maybe with the other books it develops more in the other books and has a greater purpose. But for this book it just didn't seem to belong.


Next the story was great. But Yelena is such a Mary Sue, except she kills people (they do deserve it though). Spoilers ahead. Spoiler (In one part the more expericed magician couldn't help the Commander out of a mind controlled state. But somehow Yelena could, "Oh I've never used purposely used magic before let me do it better than you woman who has done it her whole life." And EVERYTHING just comes so easily for her. The ghost of Reyad haunts her and she can't get rid of him. Until she literally says "Be gone" at the end of the story.) You have to be shitting me! But I do like her. She's very strong willed, a survivor, and totally kicks ass. 


Besides that stuff, I still enjoyed it and still really like it. I give it a 4 because it is totally buy worthy. There is no love triangle or a insta-love aspect. The relationship between Valek and develops more slowly. We see them meet, flirt, simmer down, heat up, fight, and watch as they fall for each other. And Yelena struggles with her feelings for him. After all the man she was previously "with" was a total sadistic dick wad. Oh and Valek. Swoon. He's strong, smart, silent, and carves beautiful little statues. 


I liked the adventure and action in this fantasy world. (Although it is a bit repetitive.) There was always something going on. Whether it was the multiple assignation attempts on her life, the fugitive exercise, the many training meetings, or the plans and attacks of General Brazell attempted take over. 


Finally I liked how the author showed us flashbacks of Yelena's past. It wasn't too much or too gruesome. She allowed your mind to decipher exactly what happened to Yelena without giving too much or too little. 



But after reading the reviews of the rest of the series I think I'm going to skip the other two. I like the way this ended. There's no huge cliffhanger and I can accept this a stand alone book. Previously I have ignored advice to drop a series and have regretted it. This time I'm going to save myself the disappointment and finish it with Yelena in Valek's arms. *Happy love sigh.

TL;DR
I would totally recommend this first novel. It's a great read. The writing is wordy and the book needs a little polishing. And it had a great plot and characters. I was hooked right away. And until the not as spectacular ending, I adored it.