The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix

Hmmm. Summer summer summer = reading reading reading. So be prepared! It's just a warning. >:] This is the series that I stopped reading because I liked 'Marked' better, but that actually wasn't the case by the end of this book. OH and lucky for you guys, this book had three volumes in it, so now you actually do get more than just the first part. How nice.

Tal has always lived in a world of darkness, and it has never been any different for him. He goes to the Lectorium like all the other good little boys and he learns the ways of the Chosen and how to pay proper respect. But when his father goes missing and his mother gets sick, Tal makes a decision that will test both his beliefs and knowledge. He climbs one of his towers to get a powerful Sunstone to save him and his family, but he is cornered by a dangerous guard, and falls off the tower - outside of the castle, and into a strange icy world.
With no food, water, or strength. Tal has to figure out a way to get back into the castle, and save his family from the destiny that they face.

I’m going to tell you this right off the bat – this series starts extremely slow. Because this is a whole new world, that is really hard to understand, there is a lot of explaining things and learning how the characters live and thing and what they believe. I was so confused during most of the first volume that I had to take a break before starting again. Another things that made the whole book a bit hard to read was the amount of creatures or monsters that the main characters encountered. The author made very detailed descriptions and it was hard to follow along, because while reading you’re trying to relate to the animals that we have in out world. It throws you off.

The writing style wasn’t outstanding, but it was pretty good. I don’t think that Garth Nix is the kind of author that focuses on his style of writing, he just tries to get the point across and that’s obviously one of the important things too.

Okay, now for the praise. The world that the author imagined and wrote about is amazing. I absolutely am in love with the way the people there live, and how two types of people see each other because of their ancestors stories. When you read this, you will definitely wonder about how it would feel to be there, living how they lived and seeing what they see. Throughout the first three volumes, things start to connect and you learn more and more until the point of excitement! I’m jealous that he created this world…..and that I didn’t.

This book was pretty darn good, and I actually am going to go out and look for the next three volumes. (Once I finish the other twenty or so book sitting on my shelf.) I’m really serious about a lot of reading this summer!!!

I will give this a 3.5 (It would have been higher but the first part was bleeeh.)

http://www.garthnix.com/ Check out this guys website….it has writing advice and a list of his books and stuff. PRETTY cool. Oh, and before I go, I have one questions. Does my usual, ‘Chow for now’ annoy you? Because when I read it I get really irritated.

Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

Marked by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

WOWSA. I got more books from my friends, and this was the first out of three. I just started reading the first chapter because I was bored, but then I loved it so much that I had to keep going! I even kept reading it while I was still halfway through a different book! (That was a first) I think there is about 6 in the series now, I can hardly believe it. Mwaahahahahahaaaaaaaa. Yeah. This is one of those books that is about vampires….that all of the Twilight fan girls read just to see if there is anybody in this book like Edward Cullen. For future notice, THERE IS NOT. So, let’s begin.

Zoey has always known about the existence of vampires – just like everybody. But she also had always been just another human, trying to live her life and hoping that she wouldn’t be tracked and marked. But, a tracker does mark her and she learns to leave her old life behind and except her fate – as a vampire fledging at the House Of Night.

Little does she know, she is more powerful than any other normal fledging seen before, and she must use her power and the knowledge that her Grandmother gave to her, to figure out an unsolved mystery lying deep within the school walls.

Let me tell you something….I could barely put this book down, and thinking back – I don’t even get why, The story was very gradual and it wasn’t intense at all, but the combined writing style of mother and daughter authors is really great! Not only do you get the experienced writing of an older person, but then you also get the perspective of somebody younger, which is important in a book that is for teenagers. I actually loved the writing style, it was so great. They inserted things in brackets after the main character thought of something funny or immature, like this. (hee hee) It was just FUN!

The novel didn’t focus on much character development or anything like that, but this is only the first book out of a long series, so I can understand if there wasn’t much character development. Zoey didn’t seem like a super realistic character, but I think that might be because compared to her friends in the House Of Night, – which were all very cliché – she was very average, with not much stereo typical categories, etc etc.

To be honest, i think that they could have spent more time on the cover. Again, I know it’s only the first book but COME ON. The image is blurry and kind of ugly, and I don’t even get what is going on with her shoulder or back or whatever the thing is beneath her head. Just go to chapters and look at the book, and you can see the blur and how bad the fade is on the girl in the front. I wouldn’t be so mean if I didn’t know that they spent way more time on the other covers in the rest of the series.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was the rituals they did. I like rituals in books, they really add on to the effect of the story and of course, they are always important and essential – but I hate it when they are really long. It’s super easy to get bored when they are doing rituals in this book, because there are two that are extremely  long and you don’t even want to read it… so subconsciously you aren’t even digesting the information. You know what I mean, right?

Anywho, I give this book a 4 out of 5, I really liked it. 

 

Here is the official site. (Well, it looks pretty official.) http://www.houseofnightseries.com/

There yah go! I’m definitely DONE. This one was pretty long, which makes me happy. >:]

Chow for now,

MRR

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Hello kiddies.

Oh boy that was kind of creepy. Well, on the topic of my normally weird opening sentences, I would like to say that I enjoyed this book, and I also have some trivia on it because I know that I can get somewhat boring sometimes. I am sure that most of you know, there is a TV show that is being aired in about 6 days, (which is exciting) but the idea of this book was actually supposed to be a TV show at first, but then they got Sara Shepard to write it in a book series. Interesting right? It was supposed to be a sort of ‘Desperate Housewives’ but instead with teenagers. Huh. Anywho, I shall get on with this ‘report’ and at my nice little picture, okay?

 Spencer, Emily, Aria, and Hanna all have secrets, all of which they have trusted in their closest friend Alison. When Ali suddenly goes missing, the girls can’t help but feel a bit relieved – at least their secrets were safe. But years later, when their lives are different and they are separated, the girls receive taunting messages signed by a mysterious ‘A’.

Was it another practical joke, or is Alison still alive? And worse – was she going to tell their deepest secrets, to everybody they were trying to hide them from?

The voice the author had in this book was very fun, and made the book a delight to read. This novel isn’t different from any other mystery with creepy notes and emails being sent to teenage girls, but some how that makes it much easier to read, and a little more fun. This was only the first book in the series, and I was already trying to guess who ‘A’ was, even though I know the ‘A’ will probably change throughout the series, just to make everything more confusing you know?

As a teenager myself, I could relate to most of the problems that the girls were facing, because this book doesn’t only talk about the disappearance of Alison, but also about what teenage girls go through, with their families, friends, and partners. I think that any teenage girl could relate to one quality from one of the girls, and it’s sort of comforting when you know that they go through the same sort of things too, no matter how much more extreme things are.

I don’t usually like books where all the characters are doing different things, and each chapter was about a different one of them, but I thought that the way that things were written really helped, and the way that they were previously friends contributed too.

I will give this book, a 4. 

Alright, I’m already on my next book, so a new review should be coming sometime soon, (hopefully). After that, it’s mostly second books in series, so yeah – too bad for you. >:]

Chow for now,

MRR

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatric

Helloooo! I know that it has been a while, but I have been reading many books that are third and fourth in series, except –of course – until this very moment! WAHOO. I really liked this book……it was a romance/mystery/idon’tevenknow sort of book, (if you know what I mean.)

Nora had never paid much attention to the mysterious new student that sat at the back of the room but when the seating plan is changed, and she must complete paper about him, she finds herself drawn to him.

Patch is strange, and weird things start happening when he is around, can he be trusted? What does he really want from Nora? And what happened in his past that made him so twisted and seemingly suspicious?

Nora struggles not to loose faith in Patch, because her feelings for him are growing stronger and stronger, but she knows that he is hiding something, something that she might now want to find out.

This book was enjoyable, and it had a very interesting idea, but it was sort of cliché in terms of the mysterious boys with suspicious pasts and behavior. I mean, the part about fallen angels is cool, and the plot is well put together, and not the mention the cover is pretty damn cool. ;) But in a way it’s like every other novel…..with the normal girl who falls in love with the mysterious boy who is scared of his past and doesn’t want to reveal it to her blah blah blah.

There isn’t anything that I really love about this book, it was fairly well written and it did keep me interested. There was nothing that I really hated either, which is odd because something usually bothers me about a book. Hmmm, now that I think about it, the writing style was to my liking…..I liked the way the author described things. It was clear and easy to understand, and not once did I get confused with what she was trying convey.

So, pretty much, a pretty good book. :]

I apologize for having such short stuff lately, I just haven’t had time, and there wasn’t much to say about this one anyways. I give it a 3.5.

Hmm. What do you think of the piano?

Chow for now,

MRR

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

Ahhhh, how I love James Patterson. I suggest that you all go and read one of his books..RIGHT NOW. He really is an amazing writer, and he writes for all different age groups. Anyways, I really liked this book, even though it was quite short. But that’s okay because I’m sure there is at least seven other books that come after this one.

 Daniel’s parents were brutally murdered when he was three by a cruel alien, end ever since he has vowed to hunt it down and kill it – along with many other aliens on his parents list.

When he meets up with Number 6, an alien named Ergent Seth, Daniel underestimates the alien’s powers and get’s kidnapped and taken away from the beloved planet earth – back to a mysterious planet that that used to beautiful but that was now almost destroyed.

After learning that this planet was where he was born, and the people that were being attacked could be his cousins and aunties, Daniel has to figure out away to defeat the dreadful Seth, and preserve this strange planet, as well as planet Earth.

This is another book that was a really made for a younger age group, even if the main character is 15, the thoughts of him are very….childish. And it was very quick paced, and didn’t dwell any concepts that you may consider vital in the story….but that is just the authors style and I think that it suited this novel.

It wasn’t that this book wasn’t interesting, because it was an interesting plot line and a fine idea. I don’t know how many other book are in this series, but I hope that they maybe he puts a little more effort into his this story, It just seems poorly thought out and sort of rushed, but again, I don’t know what point in his career he wrote this….just saying though.

It might be hard for people to relate the the main character, because he doesn’t show his feelings very well, even though it’s in first person…..and most people’s parents haven’t died. (But I guess that’s not a valid point.)

I don’t really know what else to day about this book, it’s another one that I could read pretty easily but I have neutral feelings for it. Sooooo, 3 ….hmmmm not 2.5. NO 3. :D

That is all!

Chow for now,

MRR

Soulless – Christopher Golden

Aye Aye Aye. Just to let all of you guys now….I’m watching CSI New York right now, and it’s getting preeeeeetty intense – ope, here comes the touching part. Awwwww, how sad. :}    If you’re wondering why I’m going on and on about something random like CSI New York…. well, it’s because this book WAS TERRIBLE. (Sorry to flame and cause havoc) But I couldn’t even get halfway through the book – it was that boring.

Okay, I know it’s summery time….but I just can’t. There are too many characters that all live in different cities – and most don’t even know the other characters or have any relationships with others. Of course – I didn’t finish the whole book, so I don’t know if everything is tied together at the end, but WOW.

Okay, that didn’t really explain the book/. XD       But, it is about zombies. Zombies that are being driven by dead people’s spirits…..but not their souls – thus the title Soulless. It starts out with a major séance that makes all dead rise (especially in the New York area) and basically go nuts at people because they are ‘empty’ ; lacking souls.

I don’t even know what else to say…… the writing style is just bleh, and overall, I just found it extremely boring. I guess if your a total zombie supporter, you won’t find it that bad. (I did borrow this book from my zombie loving friend) Kind of the opposite of most books….which sometimes start out slow and get better – this one seems to be more interesting at the beginning, because your not used to it…..and then it just get’s worse and worse and I just started looking at it on my shelf and feeling this dread.

WARNING, if you ever feel that dread after reading half of a book; then don’t bother reading the rest, just move on to the next book. I apologize for the shortness of this review, but I am sorta busy lately…..and I just wanted to get this book up here before I returned it my friend.

I give it a 1 out of 5…. (for the…idea?)

La la la. Chow for Now,

MRR

Bliss by Lauren Myracle

How was everybody’s Easter? Mine was okay. :D But, because my spring break is the on the same week, I got lots of time off to read books and write book reviews. The new Vampire Diaries book is out….AND I AM SO EXCITED! I can’t wait to read. But, unluckily for you guys, I only do book reports on the first book of the series (if there is a series) and I read the first one to long ago, so no book review for you! But, I very muchly recommend it. ;)

Anyways, about this author. The only other books that I have read by her is that horrid series about theses three teenagers and their life. I think there are three books right now and they are called TTYL, TTFN, and something else that i don’t remember. It was in the format of IM messages and it was really boring. I hated that series, BUT I decided to give her another try and I liked this one a lot, it was a really interesting horror.

 Bliss grew up on a commune with both of her parents, she never expected much, and she never got much, but when she goes to live with her high society grandmother, her life as a ‘hippie’ is falls behind her.

Standing out in a Christian school and trying hard to beware of the vision her old friend Flying V told her about, Bliss learns what it’s like to be pampered and groomed, with her every possible need and want fulfilled. But Bliss has a sort of sixth sense, and it’s telling her that something very terrible has happened in the school, and something terrible was going to happen again.

 

This book is set around 1960’s with hippies and with some people still secretly racist. This book didn’t start out slow at all, it got right into the school, and right into how different Bliss’ childhood was compared to all of the people attending the preppy Christian school. I don’t think the writing style was unique, but that’s okay because it made it easier to read and understand.

I don’t know what to make of this book. It says that it’s a horror, and there are definitely scary parts in it, including stuff about blood magic, sacrifices, and chilling murder. You kind of don’t know where it’s heading, and the ending is pretty bad….well really bad. At first, there is nothing horror-like about the story, but then it starts to get weird. with the voices that Bliss hears when she goes into different parts of the school. Then it goes back to normal –about Bliss and her friends and the things they do as teenage girls- and then it goes into racism and the horror near the end.

I found that I actually liked all that kind of jumpiness. It really kept you on your toes, you know, kept things interesting, and say if you were the type of reader that got bored of one subject easily, then it was nice how it changed around all the time.

The character development in this book is extraordinary. Honestly, Bliss is such a realistic character, and this book really captures how much a person can change because of their environment. Lauren Myracle gets five stars for her character Bliss, I am truly blown away, (and very jealous) of her skills in this category.Bliss’ thought process changes drastically from the beginning of the book to the end, her whole personality –everything- it all changes, and this is one of the main points in the story.

Wow, I’m surprised, there is not too much bad stuff I could get from this book, and usually I have tons of criticism…..((that means it’s a good novel)) just to let you know.

But, because of the ending, I’m going to have to give this a 4.5

“Classic horror conventions…suspenseful thriller…a troubling mystery surrounding a student’s death many years prior.” – Kirkus Reviews

'” Sure to cause goose bumps all the way to the dramatic and surprising end.” – School Library Journal

Go read this book! That is an order by the way. I may not have a book review for a while, school and stuff. You know how it is….or not.

If you want to visit Lauren Myracle’s site, for upcoming books and contest, go here.

Chow for now.

MRR

Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I read this in one night, it was obviously written for grade 5’s and 6’s, but I really liked Margret Peterson Haddix, so I just had to read this when I found it on my friends bookshelf. I don’t know if you have read any of her other more well known books, but she wrote The Shadow Children Series, and also one of my personal favorites, Running Out of Time.

Anyways, on with the description.

Bethany has always been her parents little treasure. So when they start acting strange and Bethany finds her at an Aunt’s house that she didn’t even know, suspicion sets in easily. Nobody will tell her what is going on, her parents have fled and refuse to talk to her, and her ‘Aunt’ keeps calling her Elizabeth – another mystery which Bethany doesn’t understand.

Trying to understand who she is, and what exactly her parent’s have neglected to tell her, Bethany pries and pries, and she finds out that what she is told, isn’t what she wanted to hear at all. 

I was very impressed and frustrated with this book. I don’t know what genre it was supposed be, because I don’t think mystery or suspense would do it justice. This is kind of weird book….I don’t know if it’s just Margret Peterson Haddix’s style of writing, (because I haven’t read her novels for quite some time) but I had a kind of neutral opinion on this book, and a neutral reaction. While I was reading it, I wasn’t really enjoying it….but I didn’t think it was bad either. I think it might be the writing combined with the boring plotline, but I don’t know.

The ending and beginning were both kind of crappy, I wasn’t happily reading either of them. The middle chunk line is the interesting part, so if your planning to read it then be prepared for a random beginning and a purse-da-lips- ending. And that kind of sucks because those are the most important parts! If you have a good beginner and ender then you can just do random stuff and fill in the space between. Nonononooo, don’t ever do that. ALWAYS have your climax. :D

The main character was a twelve or thirteen year old girl who did not think like a girl that age. I guess the author made it so Bethany was intelligent, but you didn’t get enough into her mind, or her behavior for the story to be good in first person. I couldn’t like or dislike Bethany as a character because it never focused on what she was really like, or her behavior (besides the fact that she was sort of spoiled because of her parents). Anyways, I think it would have been better in third person, to say the least.

There were many things left un-explained by the ending. Like why her mother was  calling her Elizabeth on the phone, – which would have fit fine in the story, except for the fact that at the end her mother is just fine, not crying and calling her by her real name. I mean, this is the type of story that you don’t know what the hell is going on until the middle or the end of the story, and by then it has revealed enough things that the reader can just piece everything together. But this story leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and a lot of mysteries unsolved, which is also frustrating.

There isn’t a certain point in the book that is really hard to read through, it at least keeps you turning the pages, but I suggest taking at least a couple breaks, because you might get bored of it, I kept on going downstairs to bring back up cookies while I was reading it….. but you know, that’s probably just me.

On a good note, the idea was interesting, and things were plotted out pretty well, I really liked the Aunt’s daughter, she was a likeable character that seemed more realistic than Bethany herself. Again, this was probably written for a younger age group…..(12 year olds) I’m going to give you a break Margaret and blame the simplicity on that. XD

“A suspenseful page-turner.” – Publishers Weekly

“Gripping and Compelling.” – Kirkus Reviews

“A twisting plot and spine-tingling creepiness.” - VOYA

I will give this book a plain 3. because I do believe that it’s balanced and neutral.

 

You can visit Margret Peterson Haddix’s site here.

Sorry for the delay on this one, but I will have another on up as soon as two or three days, because I am a magician, thanks for asking. *wink*

Chow for now,

MRR