Title: Stranger Things Have Happened Author: Jeff Strand Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Publication Date: April 4th 2017 Genre: Humor, Teens & YA Format: Ebook My Rating: 2/5 stars Links: GoodReads . Amazon Blurb: Jeff Strand pulls another winner out of his hat with this hilarious tale of illusions and self-discovery At 15, Marcus Millian III, the great-grandson of the famous Zachary the Stupendous, is already a talented illusionist. But when Marcus chokes during a card trick and leaves the audience unimpressed, prideful Zachary promises that he and Marcus are working on an illusion that will shock, stun, and astonish. That night, Zachary dies in his sleep. To uphold the honor of Marcus's beloved great-grandfather, the show must go on, and Marcus will need to make a shark disappear in front of everybody. It would take a sorcerer to pull this off, but, hey, Marcus is the next best thing…right? My Review: I recieved an eARC of Stranger Things Have Happened from the publisher via netgalley, in exchange with an honest review. I was really excited to read a book that revovles around the art of magic and the concept of illusions. The story itself was okay. I was kind of hoping to see more of the "science* behind complicated magic tricks, but I enjoyed the ones present in this book. Usually, I would have loved the kind of humor that is present in this book, which involves Tangent conversations. However, the way it was done in this book was the reason why I lowered my rating from a 3, to a 2. The thing is, such methods of speaking is a unique characterization for a character, but this isn't the case. Almost every single character in this book had multiple ( going off a tangent) speeches, which in my opinion, is such a drawback. The characters were even in different age groups, yet they all acted like children. Also, such conversations would go on & on for so long, constituting almost 50% of the written story. This probably wasn't my cup of tea, so I want to try to read something else by Jeff Strand. I give it 2/5 stars. About the Author: Author of a bunch of demented books, including PRESSURE, DWELLER, A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO, WOLF HUNT, SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, FANGBOY, THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, and lots of others. Three-time Bram Stoker Award finalist. Three-time Bram Stoker Award loser. Four-time Bram Stoker Award Master of Ceremonies.
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Title: Hydro ( Aurelia #1) Author: A.C Waltower Publisher: Self Published Publication Date: December 2014 Genre: YA, Sci-Fi Format: e Arc Rating: 2 stars ( D-) Blurb: The year is 2091. 75 years ago, a nuclear war desolated Earth. The top 2% of the world fled to Hydro, a compound on the Moon. The rest of the population were left trying to survive on a barren Earth. Seventeen-year-old Blake lives on Earth with his dad and little brother. When Blake’s father is given the grave sentence of terminal cancer, Blake decides to save his dad by sneaking onto Hydro and making a deal with Hydro’s council. In exchange for them saving his dad, he will give them the answer to everyone’s problem; the location of a new habitable planet. The unexpected and unannounced arrival of Blake leaves many citizens with mixed feelings, none more confusing than those of sixteen-year-old Ziva. The more she learns about Blake and where he comes from, the more she learns that not everything she is being told about the situation on Earth in true, including those told by her beloved grandfather. Why has he been lying to her? And more importantly what is he hiding from her? My Review: I received an e ARC of Hydro in exchange with an honest review. I would like to praise the author for coming up with such fresh, post apocalyptic story. The plot itself has lots of potential, but the writing got in the way. I had huge problem with Blake's dialogues, he seems to only "order people around". It just makes the the character look a jerk and sound boring if after everything he says, the phrase he ordered follows. Not exactly everything, but a lot ! I found the element of conflicted feelings out of place because no one should convinced that easily over an important matter in only a few lines. If a person is conflicted, that person would stay in doubt for a very long time and would simply change allies that quickly. Not mention a couple of plot holes in novel. I think the book was published way too early. It definitely needed 3-4 more rounds of editing to serve the plot some justice. I am probably not going to stick around for the rest of the series, but I hope that the next book is well edited because it would be such a shame to have such a great idea left unread I give this book 2/5 stars and a D- according to my own rating scale. Title: Tin Lily Author: Joann Swanson Publisher: Cranky Owl Books Publication Date: July 6th 2014 Genre: YA, Psychological,Thriller Format: eARC My Rating : 2/5 stars ( D+) Blurb: Just because you survive doesn’t mean you’re alive. One moment fifteen-year-old Lily Berkenshire is sitting in her bedroom, favorite song blaring through her earbuds, history book open on her lap. The next, her alcoholic father is shooting and killing her mother. Then he’s pointing the gun at Lily and pulling the trigger. Click. He’s out of bullets. My Review: A story packed with emotions , psychological events, and lots of fine description that; however, was not able to influence me or touch me deep inside. I think that author is really good with describing and painting a beautiful portrait of events. However, our main character, Lily was supposed to be hollow in the beginning, just like a tin. She is a person who has no room for fear or love, so how can such a person notice and embrace such descriptions. The thing that I really liked in this book was lily's cat, Binka. The way the author gave her human traits was interesting and surprisingly true. Cats actually do that in reality . I think the concept of this story is really good, but for some reason I was not able to connect with it. I think it was a bit bland for such a topic and I was definitely expecting it to affect me deeply. There was a bit of humor every here now and then, which helped me get through the book. I really loved this quote though : "If we forget, we might do the same thing. If we remember, we can work hard to be something different." _Lily I liked how the book recommend other book titles, I love it when authors do that. I give this book 2/5 stars and a D+ according to my own rating scale. Author: David Lapham Tt h Title: Murder Me Dead Publisher: Captin Publication Date: January 30th, 2002 Genre: Graphic Novel, Comics, Mystery My Rating: 2/5 stars ( D+) Blurb: Hanging from the ceiling fan in their lavish Hollywood home. That's where Steven Russell finds his estranged wife, a tear-stained note in her pocket pouring out years of pain and regret. Is it suicide? My Review: This comic is influenced by the old times and the old movies. It focuses on human traits such as being naive, curious, abusive, abused, in love, selfish,and much more. In my opinion, the author has failed to show these characteristic in a proper way.Most of the reactions to certain events were unrealistic.Even the most naive person would wake up after being showered with lies for like a zillion times. I did not like the characters. They seemed to show how second chances should be a really REALLY fresh start. You can't go from not caring to absolutely loving in one day and continue to be that through out the long run. Change is supposed to come over time accompanied with a some screw ups! And then the mystery of a murder that no one seems to actually investigate. One group thinks that only one person did it, the others think that it was a suicide. I did not see any investigations happening or suspects being questioned . Is not this supposed to be a murder mystery. Then comes the big ending; I honestly have no idea what that was supposed to mean.I did not understand what the ending was supposed to explain. If someone did, please help me understand the ending. Now, speaking of the illustration, I think it was good. I like the drawings and scene building. However, there were sometimes conversations that were not very clear. I am not sure if it was done on purpose or just a mistake. I gave this book 2/5 stars and a D + according to my rating scale. |
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