Solstice by Jane Redd

Solstice by Jane Redd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Summary:

Four ways to get Banished from the last surviving city on earth are: 1. Cut out your emotion tracker, 2. Join a religious cult, 3. Create a rebellion against the Legislature, 4. Fall in love.

Jezebel James does all four.

Jez is on the fast-track to becoming a brilliant scientist, with one goal—to save her city from total extinction. Her caretakers have entrusted her with a secret plan to stop the rain from flooding the rest of the earth and start civilization anew. But the more Jez learns about the price of a fresh beginning, the more she realizes that carrying out the plan will lead to few survivors, and among the dead will be those she cares about the most.

I was given this book to read for an honest review and to be honest, I had a hard time finishing it. It was difficult to get into it and I couldn't really understand what was going on and not sure I really do now. I would put it down, taking a break from it for a while, and when I picked it up again it seemed to make a little more sense but I think I just got too impatient. I felt like I really wanted it to end so I could end my confusion, but it ended as a big cliffhanger!! UGH!

The writing was great, I liked the characters but it just didn't click for me. I was really frustrated with not being able to keep up with Jez (the main character) and her feelings. Reuben was my favorite person in the whole book and wished he was in the story more.

Taking everything into consideration, the most I could give this was 3 stars. I hope the next book will have at least some of the answers to most of the questions I have because this just seemed way too confusing! Do you get the idea that I was a little confused?

Excerpt:

Jezebel, you must not laugh. 
My caretaker had warned me about this day. Of course, I didn't believe her at the time.

Jezebel, don't let them see your tears.
I hadn't cried for years, and even when I was a child, it was in the dark haven of my bedroom.  My heart beat harder with each second that passed while I waited for Sol to some into the classroom.  The other student were already scrolling through the previous day's assignments on their desk consoles, oblivious to the warmth that had spread to my cheeks as I waited.  Their pale faces, dull eyes, and blue and gray clothing matched the endless rain outside.


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Learning to Spy (Behind the Stars) #2 by Leigh Talbert Moore

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Learning to Spy by Leigh Talbert Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Summary: Book #2 in a new mini-series by Amazon Bestselling Author Leigh Talbert Moore.

Alone in her mission, Prentiss has to figure out a new approach if she plans to escape the prison camp alive. She does not expect to find an ally among her captors.

Strategies change and secrets are revealed in "Learning to Spy," Book #2 in the Behind the Stars series.

Red Dawn meets LOST in this New Adult action-adventure romance.   

Now I am getting the hang of the whole mini-series thing! It didn't hurt either that I was able to read "Captive" first, then jump right into "Learning to Spy". And I mean it flowed right into each other as if it were the ending of an episode from a t.v. show into the next weeks episode, without missing a beat.

As for the memories Prentiss keeps having, I'm beginning to see what kind of world she lived in before her kidnapping and what the social ladder was like. She is also establishing the relationships she has with others who are in the camp with her but also with others who are not there but yet an important part of the story. I do feel like this slows down the flow, but being a mini-series, it allows more time to be spent there.

I saw more predictability in this installment, but I was not disappointed in the way things went for Prentiss. There were some twists and turns that caught me off guard, but not as intense as the first installment. Overall I am enjoying this new way of reading, and with each part I am drawn further and further into this world and wanting more and more of Prentiss and her life.

Thanks to E-books for Review by Inspired Kathy for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review!



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Captive (Behind the Stars) #1 by Leigh Talbert Moore

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Captive by Leigh Talbert Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary:

Prentiss Puckett is certain of three things:

-Graduation is two weeks away.
-Summer only gets hotter in south Mississippi.
-She’s getting a job with air-conditioning.

She did not expect to be kidnapped walking to work.
And she never expected to become a hero.

Red Dawn meets L O S T in this new action-adventure romance from Amazon bestselling author Leigh Talbert Moore.

The cover was what talked me into reading this. To be honest, the description or summary I was given was so vague, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I just figured it would be a great thriller/mystery so I was in!

Captive.. was nothing like I thought it would be. At first I was confused about what exactly was going on. I knew she was kidnapped, but I had a hard time deciphering which was dreaming or which was real until I caught on. It took me a while to really get into it because of the memories she kept having. I struggled at first because I just wanted on with the story (I am not the most patient person) but after a few chapters I realized how important these memories were in the larger picture.

This is my first mini-series so I didn't know what to expect. I read it all in one sitting only because it was a short quick read, which was good because I was able to jump right into the next part of the series.

Like a few of Moore's other books I have read, Captive's characters were memorable and kept me curious to each of their fates. As this first part in this new mini-series ends, I ended up with so many questions! I look forward to the next installment to fill my need to know the answers and to see what will happen to these characters I have grown found of.

Thanks to E-Books for Review by Inspired Kathy for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review!

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Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram

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Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:  It’s been almost a year since eighteen-year-old Ella Rodriguez was in a car accident that left her crippled, scarred, and without a mother. After a very difficult recovery, she’s been uprooted across the country and forced into the custody of a father that abandoned her when she was a young child. If Ella wants to escape her father’s home and her awful new stepfamily, she must convince her doctors that she’s capable, both physically and emotionally, of living on her own. The problem is, she’s not ready yet. The only way she can think of to start healing is by reconnecting with the one person left in the world who’s ever meant anything to her—her anonymous Internet best friend, Cinder.
…
Hollywood sensation Brian Oliver has a reputation for being trouble. There’s major buzz around his performance in his upcoming film The Druid Prince, but his management team says he won’t make the transition from teen heartthrob to serious A-list actor unless he can prove he’s left his wild days behind and become a mature adult. In order to douse the flames on Brian’s bad-boy reputation, his management stages a fake engagement for him to his co-star Kaylee. Brian isn’t thrilled with the arrangement—or his fake fiancée—but decides he’ll suffer through it if it means he’ll get an Oscar nomination. Then a surprise email from an old Internet friend changes everything.

It starts out like this: 

"The Problem with Fairy tales is that most of them begin with a tragedy. I understand the reasoning behind it. No one likes a pampered heroine."

It is 3:00 in the morning and I just finished reading Cinder & Ella. I just had to come post my review before I exploded with no one else to tell about this book! I have to admit this is my first Kelly Oram book and I was a little skeptical about it at first. But I was offered the chance to read it for review so I jumped on it!

This is NOTHING I thought it would be... Not even close. I kinda thought it would be a cheesy adaptation of Cinderella. But I was completely wrong! Sure the story of Cinderella was mentioned, but believe me, this was far more than a fairytale.

I fell in love with the Characters immediately with Cinder as my favorite (of course). A part of me is fascinated with young Hollywood and the lives they must lead, so Cinder was intriguing and his personality fit so perfectly with someone who was Hollywood. I'm not sure what kind of research Oram must have done on burn victims, but she did a great job bringing in Ella's life. Ella was a very believable character, with what life had thrown at her, she was all too human. That is a very important element for me in my reading. I need Characters who I can relate to and bring in not only emotions, but realistic elements to the story. The other, secondary characters, were fantastic! They all left enough of an impression that I will be thinking of them long from now as well as Cinder and Ella.

Of course I am a sucker for "fairytale endings" so this one worked out wonderfully. I didn't know how it would get to that point, but I knew there had to be that ending which I loved and wished for more!

Thanks to E-books for Review for the opportunity to get read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was a clean read and I recommend to anyone over 14.


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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Summary:  

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

I had heard so many things praising this book before it was even published. I am now beginning to rethink the general public's view of what is good. Is it the ending? The middle? Or is it how traumatic we can feel about a book?

As for this one, I would tell you that I enjoyed the writing. It was beautifully put together with words, but I also felt something very "off" about the story from the beginning. Things just didn't feel O.K. and as I went on through the book, I ended up putting it down and waiting a few days to keep reading because of those feelings that would come from my gut. I could never put my finger on it, or figure out what was really going on. So the breaks gave my brain time to recover and try to figure out what was so eery about it.

The ending was a gobsmack across the face! I wanted to throw it across the room and maybe even burn it. I am sure that is what the writer was looking for, but not me! I don't like books that leave me feeling kicked in the stomach or thrown off a bridge. Maybe it's just where I am in my life, but gut-wrenching trauma is not what I want to escape to. I have lived enough of that in my personal life, I would rather read something less emotional. So, if you enjoy the kind of book that throws you completely over an emotional cliff.... this one is for you!!!

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The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Summary: 

"Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She'd believed in it once, too, back when she was eighteen."


In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew -- about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear -- was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

I keep thinking that I will like something else from Nicholas Sparks. But this is NOT it. I guess I am just not the "martyr" type. All his books involves death, illness (usually cancer) and a sad ending. I guess I am just tired of his typical endings. I appreciated the first book of his that I read, Dear John, mainly because life doesn't always work out the way we plan. But for Sparks to keep focusing on this... ugh! .... Plus, I am very sensitive to the cancer subject, especially Pediatric Brain Cancer which this really didn't do anything but use it as another part of a "sad sob story". I found myself rolling my eyes and wondering why people keep buying into this kind of self-sacrificing, self-pittying, Lets-see-what-else-I-can-add-to-make-more-money.... OH lets add Childhood cancer as well!!! I'm sorry this is a pretty nasty review, but I just can't help it. Cancer is real and I am tired of people making money off of "romanticizing" it. Can an Author like this change up his writing? I guess if people are buying it and it sells.... then keep on writing!

Enough said.

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Trailer for Black Ice from Becca Fitzpatrick.

This looks spectacular!! I can't wait to get my hands... (or ears) on it!  If you have read it, I would love to hear what you have to say!!



Look for a review!!! I WILL READ THIS!!

Ever had a "Book Hangover"?

Right after I finished reading the whole Twilight series, I had all these strange feelings:   A huge let-down, a void, depression (well not quite), just missing something in my world.  So, what did I do?  I read them again!  As many of you know, I am not your typical reader type.  I wasn't born with a book in hand, quite the contrary actually.  I was a child born pre-ADHD.  Meaning, I lived a life thinking I was dumb, slow, different, because ADHD wasn't even known back then.  And I was definitely someone who HATED reading!  I couldn't keep my focus and I could never remember what I read.  People made fun of me, teachers/parents lost patience with me, I felt like I was UNTEACHABLE!  When a teacher of mine (who will remain anonymous) told me I should go to beauty school because I would never make it in college,  I believed it! So I never... EVER tried reading for fun. Besides, what genre would I read?  I don't know what I liked.  So when a few friends mentioned reading Twilight... VAMPIRES!! pftt... I just about didn't do it.  But when we took our son on his Make-A-Wish trip to Hawaii, I figured I could read it on the plane and the beach, right?  Little did I know what a comfort and distraction this book would be while we had to deal with a recurrence of his brain tumor while there.  I grabbed on to EVERY feeling I could get from that book.  It was like my minds vacation.  It kept me feeling something other than anxiety, pain, and heartache for just a few minutes a day.  It became an addiction!!!  So for me the word "Hangover" would be more like a "Withdraw"!

I have a confession to make... There are some books that I just haven't been able to read because they are the last book of the series.  Namely... Allegiant by Veronica Roth.  I heard a spoiler about it and I just can't bring myself to read it.  I know everyone has told me it is really good besides that one part... BUT... I just don't want it to be over or to end that way.  So MAYBE I will get the courage to read it and put it behind me?