Book Review: Station Eleven

This is one of those books that I have been dying to get my grubby paws on. I have seen countless positive reviews of this novel and the synopsis peaked my interest, but I have to admit that the cover pulled me in the most. I know it is a reader's SIN to judge a book by it's cover, but the tents surrounded by a starry night sky looked so peaceful! Peaceful is not a word I would use to describe this book now that I have read it, but the cover did not lead me astray nevertheless. 

Book Review: Killer of Enemies

I’d been eyeing Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac for quite a while. A story of a badass Native American girl in a post-apocalyptic America? Yeah, I could get behind that. Now that I’ve finally read it, my only regret is that I waited so long. This story has all the trappings of a dystopian novel—a vaguely familiar futuristic landscape, regressed technology, an oppressed society cowering under the gaze of a totalitarian government, and unflinching brutality—presented in a fresh light and with a solid helping of scary creatures, gritty fights, and humor.

Book Review: The Mad Scientist's Daughter

They say never judge a book by its cover, and I don't (well... sometimes), but I'll admit, when I glimpsed The Mad Scientist's Daughter in the book store one day I was instantly intrigued. I really had nothing to go on but the cover art and the title. I didn't even read the summary (I often don't, I like going into books with absolutely no expectations). I was expecting the story to feature a mad scientist of the Dr. Frankenstein variety and the trials of being the daughter of a villain. That would probably make a great story, actually... but no, The Mad Scientist's Daughter was much different, and perhaps more somber than I imagined.

Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Movie aside, this is a fantastic novel.

On October 26, 1991, twenty-year-old Claire Abshire enters the Newport Library in Chicago looking for a book on the Kelmscott Press Chaucer. She’s doing some research for a paper when she promptly comes face to face with a young, handsome Henry DeTamble, the man she’s been in love with for arguably her whole life. He’s younger than she’s ever seen him, and she knows this is his first time meeting her.

Though this is the beginning of the novel, it’s not exactly the beginning of the story. Time travel is hard to do right. There are so many possibilities, and I think Niffenegger does a service to this particular story by limiting those possibilities, focusing instead on the characters (who just so happen to deal with a bit of time travel).

Though the nature of the genre already suggests an unorthodox narrative, I promise that this book is unlike any other time travel book you have read. Here’s why:

Book Review: Damocles

I have a confession to make... I am suspicious of bargain books. Boo all you want you bargain book bin divers, but I've been a firm believer in the idea that it's on sale for a reason. So when Amazon emailed me and said, "Yo! You bought a book! That's awesome! Because you bought one, here's some books you can get for 99 cents!" *not an actual Amazon quote* I was skeptical. I thought, "Amazon can't be practically giving away good books, can they?" Despite my apprehension I picked out Damocles by R.G. Redling and downloaded it to my Kindle. After waiting a few days, I picked it up and began to read.

I will never doubt a bargain book again.

Book Review: Degrees of Wrong

2013 has been a year of trying new things for me, so it stands to reason that I close out the year on the same note. Thus I decided to give the romance genre a try; sci-fi romance, more specifically!  Just looking at the cover of Degrees of Wrong by Anna Scarlett had me intrigued and ready to dive in.

Movie Review: Ender's Game

If you read my review of the Ender's Game Saga, you probably got the impression that I loved the books. And I do, so when I sat down in the theater this weekend to see the adaptation of the first book in the series, I was very nervous. Ender's Game is a complex story filled with science fiction and raw human emotions. I enjoyed reading it so much, I didn't want the movie to ruin it.  My verdict: it was surprisingly better than I thought but not as good as I had hoped.

And before you continue, know that there will be spoilers, and you should probably only read the post if you've read the book and/or seen the movie.

Allegiant: YA's Biggest Controversy

Last week I read and posted a review of Veronica Roth's Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy. I talked about a major spoiler in the book, but I didn't discuss the biggest spoiler of them all: the ending. Even though I debated doing it, I decided to leave some mystery and surprise for everyone who hadn't read it yet. 

But after seeing the internet's response to Roth's unexpected ending, as well as receiving a rather nasty comment from someone who I can only assume is a grieving fan, I decided to revisit the review and talk about how I felt about that big, gigantic, shocking ending that has taken YA by storm.

This will be a complete and total SPOILER post. Don't continue if you don't want to know.

Book Review: Allegiant

As some of you know, a little while ago I reviewed Divergent and Insurgent the first two books in Veronica Roth's trilogy. And as some of you also know, I didn't like them very much. But because I'm neurotic and have to finish what I started or whatever, I preordered the third and final book in the series, Allegiant. It was oh-so-conveniently delivered to my kindle this past Tuesday morning, and I set out to finish the journey Roth had started.

Now, this book has a lot of the same problems as the first, but I am pleased to say that it is by far the best out of the three, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Book Review: The Ender's Game Saga

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie trailers and posters for the upcoming holiday movie Ender's Game. Based on the best selling book by Orson Scott Card, this adaptation is most likely going to take the holiday box office by storm. 

If you're wondering whether you should try and squeeze in a quick read before the release, I'd say definitely. And don't stop there. Even people who have read Ender's Game don't realize that the book is just the beginning of an epic saga. But you better believe that I have (almost) read the entire thing and am going to try my hardest to convince you to as well.

Book Reviews: Divergent and Insurgent

If you watched the VMAs this past weekend, you may have noticed a Miley Cyrus slut train wreck. But you also might have caught the premiere of the trailer for what could be the new Young Adult movie hit, Divergent. And if you didn't know, this movie is based on the first installment of Veronica Roth's Divergent book trilogy.

Divergent and Insurgent are the first two books in this trilogy. The third in the series, Allegiant, is due to be released in October of this year and is available for pre-order now.

So if you're wondering whether to jump on the newest Y.A. bandwagon, I'd pass. And if you haven't already read the first and second installments, I wouldn't start now. Although the books are occasionally insightful, they don't offer enough originality to make them worth reading. So why is it on the verge of being the next tween sensation?

Book Review: Ready Player One

I read this book in one day. If I could have, it would have been one continuous sitting, but I have to work along with other responsible adult things, so I did have to take breaks. But I was still able to finish it in under 24 hours.

From the very first page you are hooked. The author, Ernest Cline, just does a spectacular job of reaching out and grabbing your attention. 

If you like video games, you're going to love this book. If you don't like video games, you're going to love this book.