Shame On Me =)

I have been a very bad girl for quite some time now. I have read about a bazillion and one books within the past year and have barely reviewed any of them =(

To make up for this I have been rereading them recently and have started to review them. Right now I am rereading The Secret Circle Trilogy by L. J. Smith and am reviewing the books as I finish them. There is a new book out about The Secret Circle, called The Divide, written by Aubrey Clark. It says that it is a continuation of the series written by L. J. Smith so I will be reading this book as well and writing up a review.

I will also be writing reviews for the last book in The Darkest Powers Trilogy, by Kelley Armstrong, as well as her next trilogy Darkness Rising: The Gathering and The Calling. I have also been reading some of her novellas and short stories and am considering writing some reviews up for those articles as well.

I'm taking the advice of my dear friend Annie and diving into something I love. I have dabbled into this blog before and loved every minute of it but I have not given my passion its full talent. Thank you Annie for giving me a mental kick in the butt and telling me to quit feeling sorry for myself and do what will make me happy. I can think of nothing that will make me happier. 

Also, if anyone has a good murder mystery novel they would like to introduce me to I would be all too willing to read said material. I haven't read one in quite some time that wasn't predictable and loathsome.

The Secret Cirlce: The Initiation

So, let me go on the record to say that this is the first time ever that I haven't liked the bitch. I always like the bitch/ villain of the story, just so happens I love the main character -- naive as she is.

The story by L. J. Smith begins with a girl, Cassie Blake, on vacation with her mother, Alexandra. She's bored out of her gourd as she sits next to a local Cape Cod girl, Portia Bainbridge, babbling on about everything that Cassie is not interested in. She just keeps reminding herself that she only has one week left on vacation and then it's back home to sunny California.

Then she meets a boy, a visitor to Cape Cod as well, and something strange happens. A strange connection. She feels as though she knows him, as if he is someone she is to protect and he is someone to keep her safe. This is tested when Portia's brothers and a few of their friends are chasing this poor boy and his dog. She helps him to hide and he repays her by giving her a stone of protection. She thinks it's a lovely gesture but doesn't believe in its hocus pocus. That being said, she still couldn't keep him out of her mind.

Even as her mother drops devastating news into her lap, news that will flip her life upside down, she still thinks that at least she might see him one last time. But this still does not change that she will never see California again as long as she is a minor because her estranged grandmother has taken a turn for the worst and needs the care of her family. So, Cassie and her mother move to New Salem in hopes of helping her grandmother all the while being scared to death of the fresh start she has been given.

She begins school and is accosted by the most beautiful and frightening girl in town. She is shunned and feels as thought she is an outcast. No one will talk to her, sit with her at lunch or in the classroom, won't even look at her. Her mother has taken ill and her grandmother is still on the mend, she is alone. Until she meets a girl named Diana, a kindred spirit, a confidant. She is the girl who makes the difference and accepts Cassie for who she is. In doing so Cassie is no longer shunned at school, but welcomed. This is where Cassie's new life beings.

She is thrown into a world of secrecy, witch craft, and lust.

This is the second time I have read this book. I give it two thumbs up and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast read and a good secret. I will be rereading the rest of the series because there is a new book out and I can't wait to get there. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do and if you are basing your opinion off of the television series, don't. They are nothing alike.

Darkest Powers Book Two: The Awakening

This book pretty much picks up right where the other book left off.  Chloe and Rae have been caught and shipped back to Dr. Davidoff, only this time it's not in a nice, cozy home like the Lyle House. It's in a hospital/prison setting. It's not looking good for Chloe and her friends.

Derek and Simon are still on the outside. They never made it to the rondevu point before Chloe and Rae decided it was time to seek help elsewhere. So, the beginning of this book basically tells how Chloe and her friend plan their escape and execute their plan. Derek and Simon don't enter the book until around page 130 but don't worry, Kelley never disappoints. There is a short story I will be reading in a bit and reviewing on here that gives a back story on the boys and then tells what happens to them during the first part of this book.

Back to the story =) Chloe has been betrayed by one of her friends, she's being haunted by a Demi-Demon who has been trapped at this institution she is locked up in.  She tries to do what is right and not accept any help from this Demi-Demon, but doesn't dismiss that she might actually need to use her for just that. HELP!

The best part of this book is the Chloe-Derek time =) And once Chloe and Tori, yeah I do mean Tori, get out of lock-up and meet back up with the boys there is oh so much Chloe-Derek time. I guess I just love that she is finally the one to break through his big, dumb, thick skull and teaches him how to be a human, not a wolf. So, the kids meet up and decide their best plan of action is to head to Simon's Dad's best friend Andrew's house. Tori and Simon make it there without a hitch, Chloe and Derek... not so much.

When the bus they are on stops for a rest and wash Derek feels the change coming on and goes to get off the bus. Chloe won't let him get off alone and decides she will go with him so he doesn't have to possibly complete the change alone. This lands them in a steaming pile of "shit out of luck" when it comes to getting to Andrew's house. But they eventually figure it out, well... kinda.

By the time they get there they realize there is a problem. They can't find Simon and Tori even though Derek can sniff out that they had been there. The front door to Andrew's house is open and it looks as though Andrew disappeared as well, since there is sludge in the coffee pot and uneaten food left out. 

So, before I give the entire book away... because I can do just that, lets just say THIS BOOK IS EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST. You learn the personalities of these characters in the first book. You learn their gifts and talents. But in this book you learn to love them as they learn to trust each other with their secrets, their hearts, and above all else... their respect for one another.

I have read this book 3 times now in the past 3 years. I'm sure I will continue to read it throughout the years. I love this series and I love this author! Way To Go Kelley Armstrong. You are an inspiration to myself as well as to many others. Two thumbs up =)

The Hunger Games

Many years into the future The United States has fallen. There are now 13 districts and a Capitol. The Capitol is the Law of the Land and you DO NOT cross the Capitol. Until District 13 tries to test this theory. Not very smart.

District 13 is obliterated. Wiped off of the map. Nothing more than a large pile of rock and dirt. Not only are they gone but they are the reason for the Hunger Games.

The Capitol figured it was a suiting punishment for District 13 and and fear tactic for districts 1 through 12, showing that the Capitol has their thumb over every last member of this society. But not only is it a fear tactic, it is entertainment for the citizens of the Capitol and the "government officials" as well.

Each year 2 tributes between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen from a fish bowl to be trained in survival combat training. 24 children will then enter an arena of the Capitol's choosing and fight to the death with only one left alive, the Victor.

This happens every year. Every year 23 children are killed for amusement. What makes it worse is these 24 children in the arena are turned into killers. Murdering their friends and potential allies.

The book begins with "the reaping" in District 12 (the main focus of the book are the characters from this district, more often than not the loosing district). The reaping is where a Capitol official comes to town and draws the name of the Tribute from the fish bowl. Primrose Everdeen, age 12, is chosen. Her sister Katniss goes ballistic! Sobbing and crying and screaming that she volunteers as Tribute. They allow this and Prim goes back to safety for yet another year.

The male Tribute is then picked, Peeta Mellark is then chosen -- with no one to volunteer on his behalf. This is when the book really picks up. The goodbyes are said and the Tributes are whisked away, packed on a train and heading for the Capitol to get bathed, beautified, and paraded around like barbie dolls for the entire world to see.

Once this is accomplished they all begin their training and prepare to enter the arena. From here on out the book is a mixture of events and emotions and complete and utter ciaos.

I would let you know more about the book but that would be giving away way to many details. All I can say is read the book and remember the pin. I loved this book, and it only gets better from here.

I won't post a review for Catching fire until everyone has had a chance to possibly read the book but definitely see the movie coming to theaters Friday March 23rd =) I CAN'T WAIT!

Darkest Powers: The Summoning

My opinion is probably completely bias for the simple fact that Kelley Armstrong is my FAVORITE author and her Darkest Powers Trilogy is my FAVORITE of any set of books I have read thus far. I would say one book is more so my favorite over another, except for the fact that they all rank the same in my mind. So lets gets started.

This book is based around a set of teenagers who are all told they have a mental illness. The main character and the person's point of view the book is told from is a girl named Chloe Saunders who just recently turned 15, started her period, and saw her first "ghost". All of which has turned her life upside down and landed her in a home for mentally ill teens named The Lyle House.

(Stepping back a few paces to explain what has happened) One day Chloe is a normal teenager. Chloe is having a very strange day at school. She starts her period for the first time and goes to the bathroom to clean up. While she is in there she decides to miss her next class and color her hair with red streaks. Upon finishing this task she begins to hear someone crying, but there is no proof anyone is in the bathroom with her. This is when she has her first encounter with a ghost. Obviously she freaks the freak out and goes postal, not understanding what has happened to her. Her teachers and principal think she has had a mental break down and strongly suggest she has a respite, preferably surrounded by doctors and psychiatrists.

Chloe had been having bad dreams the night before all of this, upon waking she was unable to remember said dreams. It has been something about monsters in the basement when she was a child. She had been afraid of monsters and darkness for as long as she could remember, always attributing that to the boogie man and such. At one point it was so awful that her mother bought her a necklace, beautiful gold chain with a teardrop ruby, to keep the monsters at bay. This had worked all fine and dandy until today.

Aunt Lauren had been waiting for her in the hospital, the only constant in her life after her mother died and her father turned to working his life away, was there to tell her she was being put away for her own good. Chloe had no idea she was sugar coating it when Aunt Lauren had told her she would be there for two weeks. She soon realized she would be in there until she was dead if she was not "rehabilitated" to the doctors desires. With the diagnosis of schizophrenia she would be highly medicated and would be given mandatory therapy.

Through all of this Chloe maintains a positive attitude and allows her fellow roommate to welcome her to the house. She instantly becomes friends with Liz and is then introduced to the rest of the gang. She comes to realize she really likes Liz, Rae, and Simon. She absolutely thinks Tori is a bitch and she is scared to death of Derek. He is a bit gruff and overbearing.

I really don't want to give too much of the book away. Lets just say that things are never what they seem. Mental illness? Talks to ghosts? Who knows. Read the book to find out if Chloe is a wack-job or someone who actually has super powers... you will be interested in knowing that she is not the only one who just happens to be able to do the unexplained. No one is the same and everyone is of the same community. Please read this book, and when you are done with it read the one after it and then the one after that. I promise you won't be disappointed... you will always be looking for more. And Kelley will not disappoint. There is more, with different characters.

Busy Busy Busy

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since I have posted a book review. I have been so busy with moving and children that I have gotten myself sidetracked. So I will begin working on some more reviews this evening after work. Hope everyone has been safe and happy.

Blessed Be

Forever

Okay, I'm just going to be honest. I did not like this book. Truth be told this book had a horrible ending, which is such a let down because the first two books were actually pretty wonderful. The series just didn't end. It was not wrapped up and kept you guessing and longing for the answers you were searching for the entire three book series.

So, Grace is a wolf. Sam is a boy. Cole can't stay a wolf. Isabel is a total bitch. Grace and Sam are a constant. Cole and Isabel, well they should be.

The entire book is based around trying to move the wolves to a safer area and to find a cure. Lets just say things don't go according to plan.

Grace keeps shifting back and forth from Human to Wolf. Sam keeps longing for his Grace to come back. Cole is searching for what Grace and Sam have, in Isabel while trying to find a cure to the wolf curse. Isabel is just trying to figure out who she is and if she will be better or worse if she allows herself to love another.

Nothing ends. The cure is believed to be found but is never tested. No one that should be together is together. I can't write anymore about this, it is really making me mad.

Lets just say this: I CAN'T BELIEVE I WASTED MY TIME READING ALL THREE OF THESE BOOKS JUST TO COME OUT WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF INFORMATION THAT I WENT INTO IT WITH. L.A.M.E.