gwenythlove

Any book that combines my two favourite subjects, shifter wolves and native story telling, can't be bad!

A lot slower than the first one. Suffers from middle book syndrome. Jumps blocks of time quite a bit, could use some more editing, and not fond of where the end left us...but otherwise a fair edition to the Crossroads series and I look forward to reading the final installment.

Full review to be posted on my tour stop date - September 13th.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/138220761

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/138220761

I was completely underwhelmed and not overly impressed by this book...I need to take a break and process everything before writing my review...

Glitch is an intriguing introduction to what I hope will be a wonderful new series. It's an interesting look into a society where the government has decided the people are better off as unfeeling controllable drones than free-minded happy and social citizens.

I really enjoyed exploring the ideas of feelings and emotions through Zoel's newly opened eyes as she "glitches" and loses contact with the Link that usually blocks the population from feeling and building close relationships with others. It's almost funny when she experiences some sort of emotion and has no idea what is happening to her, and the resulting actions that come from that experience.

Emotion was exhausting. Life had been so much simpler without it.

I have seen some complaints regarding the "love triangle" that occurs in Glitch, and as a self-proclaimed hater of the love triangle arc myself, I was surprised that this one barely bothered me. I guess it's because it is almost always clear which two belong together. Zoel, even with her steep emotional learning curve can feel that one of the boys just isn't right for her while the other clearly makes her react differently.

There was something else I couldn't quite define--something that made me uneasy. We were a wrong fit, like unmatching puzzle pieces.

I thought about everything that had happened since I'd met him, how I'd instinctual trusted him from the start, how his touch calmed me and made me feel safe, even in the most tense situations.

The character of Maximin did bother me quite a bit though. I feel as though he could have been made the "wrong choice" in better ways than was actually used. He just came out way too creepy stalker and almost abusive and I physically shuddered any time I had to read an interaction between him and Zoel. I just didn't enjoy it at all.

I found the world building very intriguing and the whole idea behind the society of great interest as well. It's one of those things, like with The Giver, where you can see some of the reasoning behind the choices that were made, but wonder if perhaps (well yes) the government took things too far...especially when it comes out that the government themselves don't follow their own rules! But then again, do they ever?

As a Torontonian, I think the subway train scenes were always some of my favorite and made me feel at home. I wish ours were as orderly as The Community's though!

The subway train had stopped with a hiss of brakes, exchanging passengers promptly ever quarter hour. I breathed in and looked around me. It was overcrowded as always, but subjects entered and exited the train in evenly spaced, perfect lines. Order first, order always.

I wish!

But overall Glitch is a highly enjoyable read that I recommend to anyone who enjoys dystopian tales. I look forward to the release of Override, book 2 in the series.

Review to come.

Such a heart-breaking story... Full review to come.

This is going to be a tough review for me to write. I have been reading this series since the first book, Bitten, was published in 2001. I was immediately drawn in by Kelley Armstrong's strong writing and unique voice, specifically how it related to shifters and the whole shifting process. I have always been very fond of strong female writers in the horror industry, and specifically it they are Canadian. Kelley Armstrong not only fit this bill, but she also lived in Toronto, which was almost like being my neighbor at that time (I lived in Hamilton). I felt an immediate kindred with her before even reading her books, but her writing hooked me from the first page.

My skin stretches. The sensation deepens and I try to block the pain. Pain. What a trivial word - agony is better. One doesn't call the sensation of being flayed alive "painful".

...and that's just a taste of her descriptive and engaging writing style.

The physical appeal of this new release is amazing! The cover is a stunning black and red artistic offering with a vellum type dust jacket overlay that I couldn't keep myself from stoking continuously once it was finally in my eager hands.

I have to be honest, when I first started reading 13 I was highly disappointed...it was clear very early on (from comments direct from the author) that 13 would not be told from Elena's point of view. I was really hoping the story would return to Elena, obviously so were many others. I thought for sure I was going to hate this final book and that the whole series was going to be ruined for me. I am one of "those fans" who was annoyed early on by the swapping of character viewpoints in books 3 and 4 and so on. It took me a long time to get to know these new characters and enjoy their stories, but eventually I got used to the way it was going and I think in the future a re-read of the series will help me enjoy everything in a more fulfilling way.

But I digress...

Upon seeing Savannah was going to be the star narrator I almost didn't read the book. Of all the characters I have had a hard time getting to know Savannah. To be fair...I haven't read the last 2 books in the series because they were Savannah books. I am going to have to rectify that soon.

13 is a FABULOUS ending to this wonderful series that has been such a big part of my life for just over a decade. Even though Savannah was the main narrator in the book, almost every important character (in my opinion) made some kind of appearance, and it was more than enough to keep me happy. And I actually enjoyed reading from Savannah's perspective. It is abundantly clear that she has grown and matured and takes things much more seriously than she did when she first appeared on the scene. And in usual Kelley Armstrong fashion, this book is a complete treat to read as her writing style is just as descriptive (maybe too descriptive) and witty as ever.

It was a little overwhelming in spots, so much going on, so many characters, I sometimes felt a little lost...but i guess that is to be expected when you are trying to tie all things together.

It's been a while since I read some of Kelley's adult fiction, so I forgot how brutal and gory her scenes came sometimes be. It was shocking at first, but then I started to remember how it often goes, and as is common in final installments, blood has to be spilled, and people need to die. It's just how it goes.

If you haven't read Kelley's Women of the Otherworld books yet your are truly missing out. I suggest you dig in now, and if you do, let me know. I would love a re-reading buddy!

Posted on my blog at http://rantsnscribbles.blogspot.ca/2012/07/review-once-by-anna-carey-plus-giveaway.html.

Even though I wasn't the hugest fan of the first book in this series, Eve, I was curious about what had happened to some of the secondary characters I had grown attached to. I had been patiently (not really) waiting for many months when I saw this on Edelweiss and decided to take a chance at requesting it. I hadn't had much success with Edelweiss prior to this, so I wasn't holding my breath. But thankfully, HarperCollins was awesome enough to accept my request and be my first acceptance on Edelweiss. I realized there were only 5 days left before the title would be archived so I rushed to download and read it. I didn't make it all the way to the end before it expired, but that's OK. My loss is your gain, because I had to obviously go out and buy a copy so I could finish the story, and now I want to share that with you. At the end of my review I will have a Rafflecopter form where you can enter for a chance to win my hardcover finished copy of Once.

My main complaint with Eve was Eve herself. I thought her to be wimpy, wishy-washy, and just not a stand-up character at all. I much preferred Arden, who ended up disappearing towards the end of Eve, which really annoyed me. But I have to admit that in Once, Eve has obviously gone through a period of growth during her time in Califia. It's nice to see her sticking up for herself and standing up for what she believes in, even if others don't completely agree with her methods. Also, the amount of emotional stress that Eve endures throughout this book is a testament to her growth, and how much more she is obviously going to continue to grow in the final book in the trilogy, Rise.

I have to admit that the storyline I was expecting to come out of this book did not actually happen. It was completely twisted and was a surprisingly intriguing touch, and I quite enjoyed reading it. I can't wait to see how it evolves by the end of the series.

I also fell in love with many of the new characters. The King was quite the enigma. You want to hate him for all that he has done that has caused the suffering of these girls and boys and the less wealthy people of his "Kingdom", but when he speaks about his reasoning behind his actions you can almost understand why he did it, or at least understand why he thinks it is necessary and not malicious. There are so many other characters I want to rave about, Beatrice, Charles, and so many more...but to tell you much of anything about them would give too much away. The one things I can tell you is the depth that Carey gives to each and every one of her characters is amazing. People are not just good and/or evil, they have motives, they have emotions, they make bad decisions, and they question themselves along the way. They are not perfect, and they all have flaws. They are realistic.

I also loved the setting for Once. The City of Sand, which is now the name of former Las Vegas is an amazing place to set up a new city. The many hotel suites are renovated and refurbished as living quarters (which is ingenious), and the logistical reasoning of choosing this city also makes a great deal of sense. It was a great touch!

The only issues I had with Once were typical of a second-in-a-series book, and that is primarily pacing. Although I enjoyed the story and the characters quite a bit, I did find it to be quite slow and sluggish in many sections. Also, I really hate when a story throws in an animal of some sort just for the added emotional anguish of taking it away at some point. I often want to stop reading a book (or watching a movie) at that point. It's not really adding much, if anything, to the story. All it does is upsets me, and for no good reason. Just don't do it.

It was great seeing so many familiar faces, even if just for short glimpses throughout the story. Some closure was given, but by the end even more was left up in the air. What will happen next?

And OMG, the end? Damn you cliffhanger of DOOM! I am not amused...not amused at all...is it April 2013 yet? /sigh

This was a cute and quirky book about a grandmother who decides it's time for her grandchildren to explore Canada. They start at one end of Canada, and travel through each province and territory until they make it completely through the whole country.

I quite enjoyed reading this short book. It was an entertaining look at the country I live in, balanced well with facts, photographs, cartoon pictures and humor.


Some of the things I really liked about this book were the Hamster Update and Find It! features.


I had my son also read the book and we both agreed that we would like to see more actual photographs compared to the amount of cartoon drawings. My son also felt they book tried too hard to be funny and it didn't come across all the time. Also, I'm not sure if I missed it or not (I might have to do a re-read) but I don't believe it was ever clear where the grandmother and grandchildren lived themselves and where they were coming from when they arrived in Canada. That might have been fun to integrate into the story.

Overall I think it's a great book that children will enjoy that will help them learn more about Canada in a fun and interesting way. I suggest you pick it up for the child(ren) in your family to help them celebrate Canada Day this long weekend.


Author - Vivien Bowers
Website: http://www.vivienbowers.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/VivienBowers

Illustrator - Milan Pavlovic
Website: http://www.milanpavlovic.net/
Blog: http://mrstocca.blogspot.com/

I loved Henry's voice in this. I also thoroughly enjoyed Kate's increased maturity level but felt her directness might have been overdone after just joining the council.

Wow! So much better than I expected! Can't wait to continue the series.

Full review soon.

After having the chance to speak with Dan at BEA this year I have made the decision to add his book to my To-Read list and give the actual book a chance. He was very upfront and apologetic about what happened and seems to be sincere. Let's hope he learned from his mistake (hey we all make them) and see how it goes from there.

Update:
Oh...the intrigue...it's killing me!!! Must...have...book...two...now...!!!

Detailed review coming soon.

I can see where this is heading...

Awesome!