Author: Little Bee

Come join the fun! I review books :D
Posted in Children Books

A Tale Dark and Grimm-Retellings Challenge

Posted on by Little Bee

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A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Goodreads Rating: 3 stars

 

I may need some time to process this story. It took me approximately 16 days to get through it. It normally does not take me 2 weeks to read a book. This book was roughly 260 pages. I can generally read that in one sitting.

This book is basically about Hansel and Gretel and them going through multiple stories of the Grimm fairy tales. This book was gruesome in parts, over the top in parts, and wildly entertaining in others. Is it my favorite retelling I have ever read? No. Will I continue on with the series? Eventually. I am not in any rush. I think this book would probably be great as an Audiobook. There is some extra outside dialogue in the pages that is very entertaining and I think a narrator would have been perfect! Specifically I think Nick Podehl would have been great! (He narrates the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness).

I do think the mashup is pretty nice and different. I like how two children from one tale made their way through a chunk of their life and intermingled with other tales. Even though it took me some time, it was a nice, easy, read. I don’t really know what took so long, especially since I was reading and completing other books. I think, mainly, I had to read it in parts to maintain my interest. Hansel could be a bit much from time to time, but so could Gretel, and I would find it annoying. That is where I leave it, great writing, just okay characters, and gruesome (sometimes hard to believe it is a children’s book).

Posted in Book Reviews

Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors- Mount TBR Challenge

Posted on by Little Bee

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Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper, Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

 

The final installment of the Jane Jameson series. It has come at last.  My mother has been urging me to finish out the series since I got her hooked on the first book. It took me a year to finish out the series. A year. And now, I find myself sad.

I think this series closed in the best way it could have. It ended like it should have. Sure, there are some things I am still curious about, and I think there needs to be SOMETHING to update later on how this raucous bunch of supernatural beings are doing.

I am not really sure where to begin with this review. This book made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me happy, and ultimately it has made me sad. I do wish a bit more was indulged with the whole Ray incident. And I think how Jamie became a vampire was a bit downplayed or could have been written better. It felt like it was almost just kind of thrown in at the end to give it a little punch but there was no substance in the punch and it kind of leaves you hanging.

Overall, I highly suggest giving this series a listen. It has everything you want in a supernatural romance book but not the hot, steamy, smut. Jane is almost a prude when it comes to sex, so the scenes are pretty calm (and less frequent) compared to what I normally read or listen to in the romance genre.

Posted in Book Reviews

Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever- Mount TBR Challenge

Posted on by Little Bee

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Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever by Molly Harper, Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

Narrator Rating:  5 stars

 

Another series I have been trying to finish out, but never seeming to make time for it….

The Third installment to the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. One of my mother’s favorite authors.

This installment had to be my favorite out of the 3 so far. In this particular story, Jane, again, finds herself in some of the most bizarrely interesting situation. She becomes this psycho girlfriend thinking that Gabriel is cheating on her with another vampire. The other vampire uses insight to make Jane believe that he is actually cheating on her, and Gabriel does not, again, delve into what he is doing or why.

Again, Jane finds herself in a predicament that is life or death. And again, Jane prevails…but why wouldn’t she?

I love Jane’s quirkiness. I love the live Ronconi brings to each character. Harper creates each character that makes me want them to be my BFFs. This ragtag bunch of friends are truly amazing! And of course, I was a little sad yet happy with Andrea’s part in this story. I won’t give any spoilers 🙂

I am sad to know, that the conclusion of this series comes with the 4th installment. There is SO much that still needs to happen for any kind of closure.

Posted in Romance

The Alion King- Mount TBR Challenge

Posted on by Little Bee

 

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The Alion King by Milly Taiden, Narrated by Lauren Sweet

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

I had listened to previous books in this series a while ago with my mother, however, I stopped and the series kept piling up. My mom went nutso and BOUGHT all of Milly Taiden’s books on Audible, which is actually MY audible. My mom has taken over my account it seems sometimes, I can never find books I put in the wishlist, they are always hers. So, part of my TBR challenge will be to clear out what I can of the Audible books my player seems to have gained from my mother’s shenanigans, which, she has good taste, so it is not that big of a chore!

This is the 6th installment of the Paranormal Dating Agency series by Milly Taiden. It is a BBW paranormal romance/erotica book. Now, the sex scenes are steamy, however, in each story, there is a lot of jam packed action happening.

In this installment, Geri and her new assistant go to the planet Nova Aurora to help the Lion King (yes…you read that correctly) find his mate. His mate turns out to be Geri’s assistant. Instead of introducing himself as the king, he makes her believe he is someone else, so that she can get to know the real him. (Obviously this is going to piss her off eventually…) Ultimately, two alpha wolfs from the Ice Mountains decide to kidnap her because she is the matchmaker’s assistant and they hope that kidnapping her will make the matchmaker stay longer in order to find them their shared mate for their alpha triad. All in all, we know how it ends because Milly Taiden’s endings are always what you want in a sappy, sexy, sometimes smutty, romance, so I will not divulge any of those details.

Was this my favorite in the series? No. Was it still immensely enjoyable? Yes. Do I recommend this series? Yes. Am I glad I checked this off my list? Yes!!! Bring on the next….

Posted in Children Books

The Truth About Cinderella

Posted on by Little Bee

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The Truth About Cinderella, by Steven Goodwin, Narrated by Ian Barker

Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

Narrated Rating: 5 stars

 

I received this Audiobook in exchange from Audiobook Blast Dot Com by the author/publisher/narrator in exchange for my honest review.

The book lasts about 12 minutes. It is about Ella and her trickery.  No one was safe from Ella’s antics, including her sisters, the Prince, and Paul (another boy she fancied).  The sisters were trying to get even with Ella for all the problems she causes for them, but then they messed up and decided they really couldn’t kill their sister. In this story, the sisters are good and Ella is bad.

It was wonderfully narrated, and the rhyming was really fun. It was a very short book/quick listen.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

North Pole High: A Rebel Without a Claus

Posted on by Little Bee

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North Pole High: A Rebel Without a Claus by Candace Jane Kringle (aka Candycane Claus)

This story follows along Candycane Claus’ Junior year at North Pole High. Candy is one of the popular kids, dating the cutest guy, having the most powerful father, and being the one teen who is expected to have the utmost amount of Christmas cheer at ALL times.

But Candy is 16. She is going through changes. Her father, the head honcho, Santa Claus himself, should be able to handle his baby girl growing up right? Only those of us who live in the “inbetween” of the poles experience fathers who can’t accept their only baby girl dating boys right? Only the inbetweener fathers can be blinded by rage and misplaced judgment right? Nope!! Candycane Claus goes head to head with her father in this story of love, betrayal, and growing up.

Sometimes, the words that are used in the book to describe things are a bit much. Though, I do like the phrase “he is so hot chocolate” when describing the looks of the boys in the school. Other than that, it can sometimes be a little much.

I did enjoy this book, and I got a little teary at the end when Santa realized he was a jerk and almost ruined Christmas for EVERYONE in the world!

I don’t think I will give any more than that. If you decide to give it a look, be mindful that it is written from a “16 year old boy crazy” girl’s perspective and you have to place yourself in that mindset. It was the perfect Christmas love story for the holidays!

Posted in Book Reviews

The Girl On the Train

Posted on by Little Bee

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The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

Goodreads Rating: 3 stars 

 

Even though I have given this book a rating of 3 stars, for me, it is more of a 2.5.

I have been wanting to read this book for a while, however, I felt myself having to push through it. I almost quit reading it. The writing style is not my type. I couldn’t get into Gone Girl for very similar reasons.

I figured out who the killer was, even though the author tries to throw you off. I figured out what ailed Morgan to end up getting her killed. It was, to me, predictable…which is a big reason I stopped reading mysteries.

This book was very slow and very hard to get into. I know a lot of people have given it rave reviews, and maybe my review will get tossed to the side and ignored. However, I read this with a few friends and we all felt the same way.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but this is a story about a drunk who rides a train to a job she no longer has so her roommate doesn’t start to worry about rent. The train stops outside houses where drunk used to live. Every day said drunk sees one couple at their home (sometimes just the woman). Every day train goes by, and drunk creates a life for the people she sees at that happy home. Then one day, drunk sees something else. At first, I the reader, thought maybe she witnessed the attack, but no, that is not it. The drunk also has many black out episodes, and she struggles hard with sobriety trying to figure out what exactly she saw during her last blackout. Did the drunk see something on the day that Morgan went missing and was killed? Will people believe her? Who do you think did it? The husband? An ex? The therapist? Some other random person in her life? Can you figure out who it was?

My least favorite character was Anna, the new wife of the ex-husband of the drunk. Rachel (the drunk) and Anna were at odds. The man in question, Tom, cheated on Rachel with Anna during the marriage and then Anna got pregnant, Tom divorced Rachel, and moved Anna in and got married rather quickly. Rachel tried stealing their baby once. She will call in her blackout states, email, etc. Struggling to hold on, struggling to let it go. Anna and Tom live on the same block as Megan, the girl who ultimately goes missing.

You will have to give it a try for yourself to see if it is enjoyable. If this is your kind of writing style, then there should be no problem. But if you need some excitement, through the whole story, and not just the last 50ish pages, then this book may miss it’s mark completely.

Posted in Middle Grade

The Shrunken Head

Posted on by Little Bee

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The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver, a Curiosity House Novel

  • Overall Rating:  3.91 Stars
  • Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars

 

Rating Breakdown:

  • Originality: 5
  • Character Development: 4
  • Plot: 4

Genre based ratings:

  • Middle Grade: 3
  • Fantasy: 3.5
  • Mystery: 4

 

The Curiosity House is a new series created by Lauren Oliver. It is set as a middle grade adventure, however, with the amount of death in the book, I am not sure middle grade is appropriate. It was still a good book.

The first installment of this series is surrounding a Shrunken Head, in which on the first night of the Curiosity’s show the Head was shown to the public, someone in the audience died later that evening. The Curse of The Shrunken Head spread in the news like wildfire shortly after. Suddenly, there are a multitude of mysterious deaths, which all get linked to the Head.

The police catch wind of the deaths rather quickly and are convinced it is murder, and attempt to figure out who the murderer is. The police are quick to accuse of Mr. Dumfrey of murder since he was the original owner of the Head and it went missing.

I believe, that though the 4 main characters were interesting, I felt that more could have been explained on who they are. You find out towards the end how they each ended up at the Curiosity House as a “sideshow” (pretty much). The story is told from each of the kids’ perspectives, however, you don’t always know who’s perspective you are reading right away

During the story, some of the characters had growth: Sam and Thomas mainly. Phillipa seemed more sure of herself at the beginning, but regressed through the book. Max remained the same “hardened” child through the whole story. I am hoping she starts to “break” in the next installment.

For originality, I gave this book a 5. I have not read many books that are based in Curiosity Houses (freak shows so to speak), so this was a good start. The story keeps you captivated, and can easily be read in 1 day. The fluidity of the story is so smooth, as a reader, it is easy to get through the story fast.
As previously mentioned, as a middle grade, there is a lot of death, but nothing too scary or inappropriate. The book had more mystery than fantasy as there was only 1 or 2 scenes for the Side Show, and the story as a whole is mainly surrounded by the children trying to solve the murders and save their Mr. Dumfrey. The children have a lot of adversaries, but tend to excel in whatever is thrown their way.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Winter

Posted on by Little Bee

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Winter by Marissa Meyer, Narrated by Rebecca Soler

Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

Narrator: 5 stars

 

I will keep this review short and sweet, primarily because it was so long of a book and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who has not finished the series or even begun.

So here we are, to the very end of the series. It has been a great journey, and I have truly enjoyed everything about this series.

In this installment, the main characters are mainly apart doing their own things for the greater good of the overall mission, reinstating Cinder as the rightful queen of Luna.

My only qualm with Winter is that it was longer than necessary. There were parts you would think would be the climax, but then it would just keep on going. The audiobook was 23 hours long. The book itself well over 800 pages. I believe, overall, the series ended exactly the way that it needed to, I just felt there was a lot of extra going on that could either have made another book or not been in the story in the first place.

The narrator, Rebecca Soler, is amazing. She is so good, sometimes it sounds like there is a different person narrating each character. I really like that about a narrator which is why she received 5 stars. Cinder was among the first Audiobooks I ever listened to, and Soler made it truly wonderful and elevated the overall story to a higher level.

Posted in Book Reviews

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men

Posted on by Little Bee

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Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men written by Molly Harper, Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Goodreads Rating: 3 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

 

This is book 2 in the Jane Jameson series. I read the first one in 2014, and enjoyed it immensely. I got my mom hooked on this series and pretty much every series written by Molly Harper and she has listened to every single audiobook out there in existence of Molly Harper’s.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I felt there was so much action and drama to get through, this book just kind of fell flat for me. I felt there was too much back and forth drama between Jane and Gabriel that was annoying and I would have given up on a LONG time ago. I felt what was going on with Zeb could have had a bigger impact or plot thickener than what it was.

I was also a bit turned off by Jane’s family and am HOPING this changes. I also felt it was unjust that the Grandma felt the way she did about Jane…but in light of the discoveries Jane made…Grandma wasn’t upset or dissuaded with her own life possibly on the fringe of ending. For most of the story being based on Jolene, I felt like there is still more to know about the family and I wished it would have gotten into it on a deeper level.

Amanda Ronconi is a great narrator and delivered again in the sequel to Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs. I am looking forward to making my way through the rest of this series and I hope that the unanswered questions left dangling in this book, will be answered soon!