Tag: Book Review

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Dorothy Must Die (May contain Spoilers)

Posted on by Little Bee

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Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Goodreads rating 3 stars

Actual Rating 3.5 stars

I read this book as a buddy read on Goodreads, it is also a book to tick off of my read list for the Retellings Challenge I am currently participating in.

I want to start off by saying, I had a lot of hopes for this book. It felt new, different, and edgy. Yes, it is different, and it is very edgy/dark, which is good. I feel that it some how fell short in multiple places.

First. On the back of the book, it states: Remove the Tin Woodman’s Heart, Steal the Scarecrow’s Brain, Take the Lion’s Courage, and then Dorothy Must Die. Here is where I have issues with this. I was waiting for this information the ENTIRE book, and where did it end? At the end of the book. The majority of this book was Amy being trained by the Wicked witches to kill Dorothy. Amy has her chance, and of course, she isn’t able to. It is then, that she is informed by the Wizard himself that she has to do these other tasks first BEFORE she can kill Dorothy. Lame. To be honest, I am actually convinced that Dorothy may not die at all in this series..that somehow she will be given retribution for her evilness she brought with her to Oz when she returned.

Next. Nox. I can’t place it yet, but he is NOT to be trusted. I can sense betrayal coming a mile away. I also want to put out, whatever Amy is feeling for him, will get her into trouble. We know how she feltish about Pete, and look what happens there! (Which I saw coming a mile away, to be honest).

Finally, this book is written in such a way you question EVERYTHING. I get it, truly, Amy is not supposed to trust anyone but herself right now, but, the two people that I felt could be trusted, get killed off rather quickly. Also, just so it is made known, this is not your mother’s Wizard of Oz. This book is dark, edgy, violent, and will crush your soul. I want to also take a moment to point out, that for as thick as this book is, and for what all happened, it did not feel like much happened at all.

I will continue on with the story, I am intrigued on how this will play out. I can only hope more happens in the next book, however, it is half the size of Dorothy Must Die, so I think it probably will not answer much either.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Hunger

Posted on by Little Bee

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Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

 

I discovered this book in a random search of recommended books on Goodreads. From then, I actively sought out this book, but could not find in the bookstores. So I ordered it on Amazon. It took approximately 4 days to read, shorter if I had more time to donate to it.

This story has a powerful message, and I admit, there were times I felt it was TOO much. But overall, I am glad it was TOO much at times, because in real life, outside of the stories, it can be MUCH worse for REAL people. Lisa is anorexic. She tries to kill herself, however, Death comes and announces she is the new Famine. Yes, one of the Four Horsemen. This story goes through the emotions and motions with Lisa. Addressing not only how there are people all over the world starving everyday, but also addressing how Lisa views herself. Once Lisa had her “ah-ha!” moment, I found myself to be emotionally involved. It was nice watching Lisa grow and recognize she had a problem. I also liked that Kessler did not just fully force change onto Lisa. It has to be natural, and it is often a slow process.

I think at some point in our lives, we all come across someone with an eating disorder. We may not understand, we may not be able to help. Even trying to help, it may prove to be an uphill battle. Kessler wrote this for the Lisas in our lives.

I won’t give any spoilers. I liked the ending and disliked it at the same time. I wished there was a little more to the book. There is a lot of inner dialogue, which there needs to be, but I wish there were more opportunities to be Famine than what was in the book.

Overall, it is a great read and I highly recommend it.

Posted in Middle Grade

Loki’s Wolves

Posted on by Little Bee

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Goodreads Rating: 3 stars

Actual Rating: 2.8 stars

Rating Breakdown:

  • Originality: 2.5
  • Writing style: 2.5
  • Character Development: 3
  • Plot: 3

Genre based ratings:

  • Middle Grade: 3

 

I had some trouble with this book. As many may know, I am a HUGE fan of Rick Riordan. I have read the Percy Jackson Series (Greek), The Heroes of Olympus series (Greek/Roman), The Kane Chronicles (Egyptian), and have read the first book of Magnus Chase, Riordan’s new Norse Mythology series. I am anxiously waiting for book 2 and the start of his new series, Trials of Apollo. Having said that, lining up Loki’s Wolves with Magnus Chase, I have to admit, Riordan did it better. I think the concept of the Blackwell Pages series is a good one, however, the delivery is where it truly fell short for me. When reading, I could definitely tell it was a Melissa Marr book, and some of her works are hit and miss with me. She has a very distinct writing style that is different and like coffee, an acquired taste. I am hoping as the series continues, that it will pick up and will fall more into place. Also, the Blackwell Pages join the ranks of with killing of likeable characters (but let’s face it, we all saw that coming, it was Balder). I have been meaning to wipe this off of my TBR list for a while, and with the Mount TBR challenge, I finally dove in.

How does this book compare to likes of Riordan’s? It starts with 3 kids, going off to find other kids to join their little group, all champions of certain gods, in order to prevent Ragnarock from happening. By the end of the story, there are about 6 of them” Frey, Freya, Loki (2), Thor, and Balder (ish) and a witch sent by Odin. Cameo appearances from the Norns, Valkyries, and Odin. There are also trolls, wulfenkind, and maras (nightmares). The setting takes place in South Dakota. Throughout the story, I kept comparing it to Magnus Chase, which to be fair, I shouldn’t have. But I also compared it to Riordan in general and his master storytelling. There were some instances in the story that felt forced. A push to make the characters interact or respond a certain way that just did not make sense. Some instances in which it made the main character, Matt, Thor’s champion, seem too trusting and too innocent. Also, there were many instances in which the lack of confidence was TOO much. The inner dialogue lost it’s touch by the middle of the book. Desperate almost. Matt is supposed to beat the Serpent. As a 13 year old kid facing the challenge of saving the world, it is acceptable to feel overwhelmed and nervous. Totally acceptable. I am 30 and I do not think I could handle that kind of responsibility. At some point, you have to put your big kid pants on and get going, not going back and forth with yourself about if your lack of confidence is showing.

Of all the characters in the book, I believe Fen, Loki’s Champion, had the most character growth, even though he still struggles. Fen was on his own for so long, that he finally accepted his little rag tag group was his pack and he belonged. He was a member of the team. And no one judged him from his upbringing. Fen is wulfenkind. Laurie, also a descendant of Loki, is still learning her powers, but is a homing beacon of other descendants. Ray and Reyna (which I have a problem with Reyna being the name of descendant of Freya…seriously…Heroes of Olympus anyone?), Each character had some sort of growth, but Fen had the most. I am hoping desperately that Matt has some growth in later books. He needs it the most.

A major positive with Loki’s Wolves is that it hits the ground running. There was never really a lull in the story. It just started and kept going. I like that there was not a cliffhanger. This is a trilogy, of which all books have been completed. I like not having to wait for books. The overall premise is that this group of 13 years olds are tasked to save the world. Each one a champion of the god they are descendant from. Matt, Fen, and Laurie are tasked to go find the others in order to band together in order to save the world. There were attacks by trolls, attacks by Raiders (group of Viking like wulfenkind), and even maras causing confusion and fear. And of course, there was betrayal and death. Couldn’t have a Norse mythology book that did not involve betrayal and death. I have to admit, I enjoyed the book more towards the end, and my heart was broken for Baldwin (Balder) and Fen. 

 

 

Posted in Children Books

Cupcakes vs Brownies

Posted on by Little Bee

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Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

Audible Rating:

  • Overall 4 stars
  • Performance 4 stars
  • Story 4 stars

Narrator Rating: 4 stars

 

I was given a copy of this book for free through Audiobookblast.com in exchange for my honest review. I have not been paid for my review. These opinions are my own. 

This book is a Middle Grade adventure of Karim, a young boy, who finds a Djinn’s lamp (the Djinn’s name is Zimmah). Karim wishes for the world to be a happier place, and WHAM! Everything is dessert. EVERYTHING. #Candypunk Though this world should be a happy place, there is a war going on between the Cupcake King and the Brownie Queen. Rewinding a bit, prior to finding the lamp, Karim overheard an argument between his mom and dad. Karim has gluten allergies. His father was supposed to pick up vegan gluten free brownies for his birthday his mom had special ordered, he forgot. So Father went to a different bakery, believed to be gluten free and brought cupcakes, which after mom swatted them out of his hands, engaged in a verbal altercation. Results? Dad asked for a divorce.

The Cupcake King is Karim’s father, but the King does not know Karim in the new setting. The Brownie Queen is Karim’s mother, and again, does not know Karim. Karim races through the story with his dog (turned into a Lion) trying to get Zimmah to turn the world back to normal, and that a world made of treats was not what he meant by Happy World.

Karim learns that his parents will always argue. Always. He learns through this adventure that he can be happy even if they are not together. There are a lot of lessons that Middle Grade kids can learn and take away. The lessons are presented in a fashion that are enjoyable and not in your face about what the issues are.

My only qualm with this story is that the story ended, the lamp was tossed in concrete to be buried, but there is a second book. It is not a traditional cliffhanger, just confusing. I do look forward to reading the next book though!

Posted in YA Book Reviews

A Thousand Nights

Posted on by Little Bee

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Goodreads Rating: 3 stars

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

 

I had high hopes when I checked out A Thousand Nights from the library. I selected this book as one of the books for the Retellings Challenge I am participating in. This story is a retelling of Arabian Nights. Where the book did well in challenging gender, power, and love/sacrifice, it failed for me in the overall final product.

The leading lady in this story is nameless, she is referred to more or less as sister, and once in the castle, Lady-Bless. I find that intriguing, since this nameless female sets off to become one of the most powerful and revered female in the land. She saves the lives of many, after 300 females died before her, she manages to keep Lo-Melkhiin’s interest to keep living another day.

Where this story failed for me, the book descriptions talk about the stories that the main character weaves keeping the interest of Lo-Melkhiin. There were not many stories told by the main character, and the ones that were told, did not last long. Lo-Melkhiin, or the being inside of Lo-Melkhiin, was fascinated by the power that Lady-Bless some how had.

This story seemed to take forever, the best part was the final event at Lady-Bless’ sister’s wedding. I felt that it took me longer to read this book than it should have. It was slow, and many parts were boring or unnecessary. The writing style flowed smoothly. I feel, overall, though the concept is intriguing, it failed to deliver. You will have to read it for yourself to see what you think. I think with other stories coming out retelling Arabian Nights, this one is not up to snuff.

 

Posted in Book Reviews

The Wave

Posted on by Little Bee

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The Wave by Todd Strasser

Goodreads Rating: 3 stars

 

This book is boringly written, but has a great message. It is about a high school social studies teacher that, in order to get his students to understand the Nazi party and Holocaust, creates a social experiment called The Wave. A motto is created, rules are created, members are identified as “monitors” so that enforcement of The Wave’s ideals are upheld, and even a salute is created.

The Wave takes off like wildfire with the Seniors in the class, and they begin telling others about it. Then over 200 hundred students in the school become involved. People who resist, well, let’s just say, some members strongly discourage. One Jewish student got beaten up by members, friendships were destroyed, and those on the outside and saw The Wave for what it was, they became fearful to speak out or move against The Wave.

The movement moved as one pack. A few students broke free and saw what it was doing. One student even attempted to push through and show others in the movement what was really happening.

The Wave moved towards equality. Finally, everyone felt equal to each other. The cliques disappeared. Those who lived in shadows or constantly teased, were a part of a group.

I think, experiments like The Wave and the Stanford Prison Experiment, are beneficial to society. It shows how impressionable humans are in their adaptability to something bigger than themselves. Some individuals, not because they are weak minded, need to answer to something greater to themselves. You find this in religion, in politics, in group/clique settings. We are pack animals. We need to belong. Do I agree with this structure? No. I am appalled that the Holocaust even occurred. Do I believe I would have stood out? I would like to say yes, because I always stand against what I believe is harmful, but you never know. There were some stronger characters in this book, but only some learned AFTER they hurt someone they cared about.

This is a book I think my high school should have read at some point. I am not sure why it didn’t. I still feel kind of weird about what I read, and how to process these feelings. I wish the writing wasn’t so dry and that I could have been sucked into it, but I felt myself forcing through, just trying to get to how the experiment ended. I think the ending was too abrupt as a reader, and I am not sure if that would really work to end this kind of experiment. I may need to do some research on what happened to the kids AFTER the fact. Those who participated in the Stanford Prison Experiment were never the same, they were all effected by the roles that they were given and getting into those roles.

Posted in Book Reviews

The Devil’s Rose- Mount TBR Challenge

Posted on by Little Bee

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The Devil’s Rose by Brom

Goodreads: 5 stars

 

As I was finally finishing this story, I showed my boyfriend some of the pictures and told him what this story was about. He asked me who it was by and I said Brom. He asked, “that’s his name?”…Yes. Brom is amazing enough to just go by 1 name. He does not need a full name.

Is there an author that no matter what they publish, you will grab a copy and read it? Brom is one of those authors for me. I managed to snag a copy of this book, this is his second illustrated novel, on Amazon. They seem to be really hard to come by. I love Brom, my favorite is The Child Thief, a Gothic, dark retelling of Peter Pan. He has another novel coming out this year, which I am extremely excited about.

The Devil’s Rose is a “short” story, only roughly 128 pages but jam packed with a beginning, middle, and end. The gorgeous Gothic art makes it that much more enjoyable. I always try to get people to read Brom, I share his posts on Facebook, if his books are on sale for Kindle (Though I suggest getting the actual hard copy).

This story is a western Hell story, so if you have delicate sensibilities or do not want to read “Devil” stories, then this book is not for you. It mixes Western with Underworld. Cole is sent by a Fire Demon to catch Rath and several souls that managed to escape Hell to bring them back. Cole is a soul catcher, and when he does the Devil’s bidding, it is considered time served and eventually he hopes to be able to find the soul of his beloved in the afterlife.

Here are some images from the book which I have collected from Brom’s website (Here)

 

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Cole, the Soul Catcher, former Texas Ranger who was shot down by deputy during a tirade at the Church when his beloved Rose killed herself. He collects souls that have escaped Hell.

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Rath. The god that escaped Hell with a few other souls at the beginning of the story.

“‘I burned their churches, crucified their priest, raped their women, and fed their children to our beasts.’ He said this as though describing nothing more than a holiday table setting.”

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One of the guardian demons in Hell.

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Escaped demons that took over the flesh of some living humans that were camping.

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….