100 BOOKS

I did it. I have met my quota for the year. I have read over 100 books since my last post. Now I did cheat a little. I changed my goal from 150 to 100. I couldn't quite get to those high numbers. But I think I'll stay at 100 from now on. It's a more realistic and easily achievable number.

How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
Adult (young adult?) fiction
3 STAR RATING

I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The cover, the title, the bad ass protagonist. It had me very eager to read it and my expectations were very high. Unfortunately, I was left feeling a bit disappointed. 

Lucia doesn't have the greatest of lives but she has enough. She has a roof (of a garage) over her head, an elderly aunt who loves and cares for her, and is borderline genius. But the high school arson club sparks something in her that she didn't even know was there. See how that description sounds awesome? It doesn't get very exciting until more than halfway through the novel. The layout for the chapters are interesting but I found Lucia's voice lacking in passion. Despite the sometimes weird and stimulating situations she finds herself in, I was bored reading about them. I kept waiting for something to happen. And technically, nothing really did SPOILER since the last chapter was a prediction and we never find out if she started her big fire or not. SPOILER

But I still very much enjoyed Lucia and her antics. Shout out goes to her friend, Lana. She's a great side character and I wish she was featured more in the book. I have a hard time seeing this novel as a young adult book, even though the main character is a teenager. This is definitely for a more mature audience, which probably explains why my local library has it categorized as adult fiction.

Spider-Man/Deadpool Vol 0: Don't Call it a Team-up by Rob Liefield

A comic book mash up

4 STAR RATING

So this was awesome. I've never read anything about Spider-Man or Deadpool. But when I saw the cover, I couldn't pass up reading this collection of comics. 

So it appears that both characters jump in and out of each other's individual comics. This book puts them together in a somewhat cohesive storyline. Each chapter gives a little background story, which I found extremely helpful. What took me by surprise the most is how annoying Spider-Man can be. I know he's a teen, and then at one point was actually Doctor Ock, but I didn't really like him like I thought I would. Deadpool was what I expected though. But now I automatically hear Ryan Reynolds voice when I read about Deadpool. If another volume is released, I'll more than likely read it. Mostly for more Deadpool.

Little Robot by Ben Hatke

A children's graphic novel

4 STAR RATING

There are not many words in this graphic novel but that's what makes it so amazing to me. The amount of emotion and meaning that came through the artwork spoke volumes. This is a great book for visual readers, meaning they prefer pictures over words. 

I'd recommend this book to younger readers, probably 2nd graders. It's a cute story with very detailed art that will quickly be read in less than 20 minutes.

The Wicked by L.A. Banks

8th book of the Vampire Huntress Legend series

BOOK CLUB READ

5 STAR RATING

Banks had really outdone herself with this book. It's just all around amazing. The big baddie, the fight scenes, the ending. I literally cried during some scenes. And I have never cried while reading this series. I kinda almost wish the story ended here, on such a high note.

Damali and Carlos have their work cut out for them when Cain decides to leave the Land of Nod and go for his father's throne in Hell. All the stops have to be pulled to overcome his literal reign of terror. The council of kings, council of queens, other squads, and angels are brought in for the final battle. It was gut wretching. Some of the deaths scenes had me hollering. I had to put the book down in several occasions. 

Everything was just awesome, all of the elements came together for an amazing story. I wasn't even mad at the over detailed writing style or how long the book was. From the first page, I was hooked. The pacing finally felt natural. I now have high hopes for the rest of the series. My standards are at an all time high right now.

And I Darken by Kiersten White

The first novel of the Conquerors Saga

5 STAR RATING

NEW FAVORITE

Holy shit, this book was fantastic. The writing was lyrical. The characters were complex. The ending made me squeal. I am in desperate need of the second book to this series. 

The book follows the lives of Lada and Radu, the children of ruler Vlad Dracul. With that name, I was expecting a fantasy novel but this is just historical fiction. I can only imagine the amount of research and planning that went into this book. It's very detailed and everything means something. I probably missed out on some information with how fast I read it. But I couldn't help myself. 

I don't wanna write a long review, because I could go on and on with every little thing I loved about this book. I will say that Lada is a heroine to behold. She's not entirely likable but you can't help but root for her. Her brother is equally important but Lada stole my heart.