review: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #1) by Joseph Delaney

Book: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #1
Author: Joseph Delaney
Release date: Aug 1st, 2006

Excerpt:
"I was going to learn how to protect farms and villages from things that go bump in the night. Dealing with ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties would be all in a day's work. That's what the Spook did, and I was going to be his apprentice." Twelve-year-old Thomas Ward, as the seventh son of a seventh son, has no inheritance and is bored with farm work, and even though his new job will mean the superstitious villagers will forever shun him, he is eager to go off to adventure with the tall, hooded man he calls the Spook. His mother, a magical person herself, approves, and the Spook's teaching is strict but kind. But when Tom has only learned enough to be able to control their house-boggart, he is tricked by Alice, the young daughter of a witch family, into inadvertently releasing and then killing Mother Malkin, a witch the Spook has imprisoned in a pit. This is no polite wicca-type witch, but a snuffling, slime-trailing, cannibalistic creature reminiscent of Tolkien's nasgils. The story of Tom's escape from the reincarnated witch's hideous revenge is full of horrible details, as Alice helps, and then once again betrays him. This well-crafted novel marks an auspicious start for an exciting and fast series for young teens.

Review:
Wow.. just.. WOW... I picked this book up at Borders last weekend and started reading it almost immediately. Now at first it took me awhile to get into it, but when it did... It was brilliant. I have to say quite refreshing to see all the things that go bumping through the night in their original forms. Our current literary culture has sort of white washed all things paranormal so that they're aren't scary anymore. That is not the case with this series. This book was written for mid-teens and here i am almost 25 and i got scared.

The setting it what i would say 17th century Europe. Young Tom is the seventh son of the seventh son and it is his mother's wish that he become a "Spook". Spooks are people who deal with all things evil, paranormal, or just not right. People need them, but they don't want to be around them. Needless to say Tom isn't looking forward to the job. It doesn't help matters that barely two weeks into his apprenticeship he meets Alice. A girl with pointy shoes. Someone the spook said he should avoid at all cost. That mistake basically sets forth the whole series and book.

It's after this point that Mr. Delaney starts to weave a suspenseful tail. Just like Tom you're not sure whom to trust and or what to do. All you know is that you have to keep on reading. Needless to say i've already ordered the next two books from amazon. ^^

Rating: 5 Bunnies. Brilliant and original.

 

Review: Soon I will be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Book: Soon I will be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Release Date:  June 5th 2007

 

Except:
Doctor Impossible—evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator—languishes in a federal detention facility. He's lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress.

Over the years he's tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind control. He's traveled backwards in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He's commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Of rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it’s going to be different...

Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world's most famous superteam. She's a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, we watch as Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.

Soon I Will Be Invincible is a thrilling first novel; a fantastical adventure that gives new meaning to the notions of power, glory, responsibility, and (of course) good and evil



Review:
First thing first i wasn't sure what to think coming into this book. I got this book from bookswamp on a whim and have had it sitting on my shelf for awhile. The other day i decided i wanted to read something different and grabbed it. I'm so very glad i did. 

First props to Austin Grossman for staring out with Doctor Impossible's POV. If it was Fatale's POV first i'm not sure i would have been as hooked as i was. Mainly because Doctor Impossible was the star of the book for me. I loved him and would have been just as happy reading only from his POV. Being that this book is a satire of the superhero genre i would have to say he was a mix of Magneto and Lex Luthor. Though in my mind since i read DC Comics and Dark Horse he was more of a parody of Lex Luthor mixed with some Riddler, Toyman, and the Penguin. I don't really read any Marvel. That being said of course CoreFire was a direct parody of Superman/Spiderman if i ever saw one. Away from that, most Superhero books rarely ever go into the minds of a villain. If they do it's often one dimensional. The same cannot be said for Doctor Impossible. You really got to see him dive into his psyche and see's what drives him. And the thing about it as a reader i could associate myself with him more than any of the Superhero's. Whom among us who were picked on or ignored at school would love just to be a super villain and rub it into those people's faces. Course the sane ones of us don't. One thing i really loved about Doctor Impossible is that he's not insane. He just knows he's better and smarter than everyone-else and why not flaunt it. Therefore when he breaks out of prison why not take over the world. He's obviously the right person to run it. At least in his head.

Now onto the Superhero crowd. First things first, i didn't like Fatale or any of the superheroes much. They pretty much all annoyed me. I found Fatale to be a bit to whiny and the other hero's dull. I will admit i share Fatale's wish to hurt Elphin and kinda of wanted to see Rainbow Triumph die. They were all such one deminsion. The only one of interest was Regina. Whose story was a direct rip of Narnia. Still she was the most interesting for some reason. 

Plot wise sometimes "Soon I will Be Invincible" lagged. As in speed it up. The beginning went quite fast and the end was very much a page turner. Especially the twist with Lily. That was something i never saw coming. You hear about two separate people the whole book and not once do you put them together. Till you read it and it all makes since. What type of superhero book would be without a Joker like beginning.

All in all, i'm looking forward to the next in the series. ^^
Final rating:
4 Bunnies. Interesting plot and characters that left me wanting to read more. Does have some corny bits to it though. 

Review: A Werewolf in Manhattan (Wild About You #1) by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Book: A Werewolf in Manhattan (Wild About You #1) by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Release Date:  01/04/2011

Excerpt:

 Emma Gavin writes about werewolves, but that doesn't mean she believes in them-not until a pack of real-life New York weres decide to investigate the striking accuracy of her "fiction".

When Aiden Wallace, son and heir of the pack leader, tries to sniff out Emma's potential informant, he discovers something even more dangerous- an undeniable attraction to her.

Review: 

I was very excited about this book. I love Vicki Lewis Thompson since i read "Babe on a Broomstick" and couldn't wait to start this one. If only i had the same enthusiasm to finish it. To put it blankly i know Vicki tends to walk a fine line between sex and erotic sex. The thing is that in the books i've read is that the sex was secondary to the bigger storyline. A storyline that is often so witty and funny i can't put it down. This book seemed to have the word "sex,good looking", or similar adverbs/adjectives every other page. I get it. Both Emma and Aiden just seem very very oversexed. I felt the need to yell at them to go get a room and get it over with so i can get back with the story. Needless to say i never finish the book. I just couldn't take it anymore. So i'm putting it on my bookshelf to try it perhaps some other time.  

Final Say: This was a great disappointment. I'm almost glad it's going to be about a year before the next one comes out. It'll give me time to decide if i want to read it or not.

Want it now" The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan

from amazon:In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them. 


OMG!!! Can't wait for this to come out. I jadored the first one and really really really want this one out now. I can't wait till May 3rd.  

Change

                                     "Change isn't good or bad. It just is"-- Don Draper "Mad Men".

I'm never around here anymore I know. Mostly because i've been feeling like this:

because of work. Earlier this year i decided to change my hair color when i was unhappy. I'm doing something just as dramatic now..... I'm changing jobs. Not job descriptions though. Working at CVS has been entirely and utterly stressful. Add a co-worker who seems determined to treat me like the dirt under her feet i usually come home in one of these moods.

As you can see very little happy face. Mostly i come home exhausted and burnt out. Now I like all but the one co-worker, but the fact of the matter is that i feel like i get no respect, underpaid at that, and i'm one of the eldest people in the pharmacy yet get treated like i'm one of the youngest. So around Christmastime i started debating on looking at other jobs. On a whim two weeks ago i asked the pharmacist at our local Target if they were hiring. I've always heard great things about Target. I found out they were hiring and Janelle told me to go home right then and fill out the application. (I did sort off. I had to first stop and look for medicine for Rachel bunny. Rachel was sick for the past month, but she's all better now. Now Mary is sick with some tummy issue). I got the interview on the 10th and i found out i got the job on the 13th. ^^ So now i'm going to be a pharmacy technician at  Target pharmacy. It would be full time hours (32-40h), M-F, and i'll get a pay raise (from $8 to $10.75) to start. When i pass the national exam i'll get a raise as well. Also the job is only 3 minutes away from my house instead of 30. So less travel time. I start on February the 1st.

Now admittedly i'm going to miss a lot of my co-workers and pharmacist. Besides the one they've always been very kind. I've had a lot of laughs and some good times. The thing is that i feel that i got to do this. I'm not entirely all that happy and i wish to be. I also want to have more energy to do the things i love like read or walk the dogs. Instead of just flopping in bed exhausted.  Too tired to read or even get on the computer. With this new job i might even give online dating a try (if i can find a good site. I'm going to be 25 in two months i'm getting pretty pathetic to say i've never had a boyfriend). I have no idea why i'm writing this here... I sort of feel like i owe an explanation why i've been MIA..... So as Don Draper says "Change is neither good nor bad. It just is".... So here's to the new change in my life.

A Countess by Christmas (Harlequin Historical) by Annie Burrows

Book: A Countess by Christmas (Harlequin Historical) by Annie Burrows
Release date: 12/1/2010

Excerpt:
The Earl of Bridgemere is happy to encourage his reputation as a curmudgeonly recluse if it repels the grasping females who usually attend his lavish Christmas parties.

Helen Forrest is like a breath of fresh air, uninterested in his wealth and not cowed by his temper.

Bridgemere's seasonal duty suddenly becomes a pleasure as he sets about making Helen his countess—by Christmas!

Review:
It's a review! Miraculous lately i know. I just been busy at work since half of the staff was gone for the holidays.

Anyways this is a little late for Christmas, but i've had it finished for a few days. I just haven't been able to sit down and type up the review. Anyways first thing first I was really really excited about the book. The blup on the back made the Earl of Bridgemere sounds like my type of tortured hero. May this be a lesson not to trust all of Harlequin's blurp. The earl was a cookie cut out tortured hero. Complete with dead wife dying with another man's baby. (I really wish i could type the earl's name here, but i can't remember it. He's that unrememberable. Plus looking through the book i can't even find it). Helen, the heroine, is not one to caw about either. If the earl was the cookie cutter than she was the cookie. Poor orphan girl was raised by woman distantly related to her and later has to take a future job as a governess because they lose all their money. She was in the words of Snoopy "Blahhhh". The ending was unremarkable and the the actually pacing of the story was confusing at times. The author would just suddenly change POV in the middle of a paragraph/chapter without any bridge between the pov changes. I sometimes wondered whose thoughts i was reading.

Anyways i got bored with this one and am feeling generous by giving it three bunnies here.

2011 Retold Fairy Tales and Enchanted Cousins Reading Challenge

2011 Retold Fairy Tales and Enchanted Cousins Reading Challenge




Challenge Objective:
To read stories that have taken classic fairy tales that we all know and love, and have woven them into a new alternative tale that mirrors the original.

Challenge Guidelines:

Challenge runs from January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011.

You can join along in the fun at anytime during the year.

Create a post with the graphic that links back to this post! Sign up using Mr. Linky.

You do not need to select your books ahead of time. Just make sure that you have a list of them at the end of the challenge.

You can review on your own blog, or have a little fun and compare and contrast the book you read with a classic fairy tale!

**However, Reviews are NOT necessary!!**

Cross-overs with other challenges are welcome.
Retold fairy tales can span across any genre and sub-genre -- including YA (there's some great ones out there!) -- can be any length, and in any format.
The book MUST be fiction, and be a retold fairy tale.
You can change your challenge level at any time.

Can Non-Bloggers Join Along?:
Absolutely!! Just leave a comment with your book information and what you thought about it!

What's An Enchanted Cousin?
Because there is a lot of debate amongst what constitutes as a fairy tale (especially between countries), the challenge will also include any "cousins" of fairy tales, but MUST include fairy tale elements that traditionally represent a fairy tale notion.
Could you imagine the literary debates we could get in to over this?!? Therefore, I am not policing this, just use your best judgment! And have FUN!!!! :)That's what this is all about!

Sign up here at among the muses


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