Book Reviews: Mash Up #5

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Finished on 20/7/2013
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Action
Goodreads page

Motivation to Read It: So this is actually my second time finishing this book. I listened to it at the end of 2011, but that was in the middle of the blog's drought, so you, my lovely readers, never got a review I read it this time for a challenge and so I can continue the series.

Review: I had forgotten how funny this book was! It had me laughing, probably, even when things weren't supposed to be funny lol.

Alexia was quite the character. I'm really glad that she was the main character because that meant we spent lots of time with her; and let me tell you, it was a pure joy! Lord Maccon was my other favorite charrie because he was one of the few people that could battle against Alexia's professional-like wit. They were definitely a perfect match of people :).

As far as the plot goes, it was pretty good. Nothing extremely wonderful actually happened but it was paced nicely, and for the characters it was written for, the plot fit well and kept them on their toes. Of course, we must remember that this is my second time reading Soulless, so I kind of already knew what was going to happen.

This is a wonderful start to a promising series. I have Changeless on audiobook, so my next goal is to get to it ASAP!

Shelf-Worthy

________________________________________

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings (Real Mermaids, #1) by Helene Boudreau
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Finished on 21/7/2013
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Adventure
Goodreads page

Motivation to Read It: I saw this book a couple years ago on Goodreads, and because of a challenge group I'm in, I finally had a reason to hunt down a copy.

Review: I really enjoyed this book! I think the main reason for that is because the subject was mermaids, which I don't read a lot of.

I enjoyed the parts of the plot where Jade was a mermaid most I think. It was surreal for both me and Jade. We pretty much got to go through the experience together, which definitely helped to make me feel closer connected to her.

Overall, this was a wonderful novel! I'm interested in the second novel for sure :D.

Satisfying eBook

Book Tour Review: Forbidden Angel by Megan D. Martin

Forbidden Angel by Megan D. Martin
79 pages, PDF file
Finished on 31/3/2013
Genres: Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance
Goodreads page

Motivation to Read It: I'm not even going to lie. I saw "Nazi" and "concentration camp" in the synopsis and automatically signed up for the tour. I love me some WWII.

Review: Forbidden Angel was a great short story. It was appealing to see what happened at the concentration camp when Sarah and her family arrived. Even though I've read Holocaust books before, this one really caught me with the suspect personality the person added, along with the romance factor.

The characters, and especially their personalities, were really engaging. For starters, Sarah always had the priority of protecting her mother and sister before even her own health. Although he was the antagonist, Ivo's personality was interesting, too. He was quite the determined fellow, wanting to get his hands on Sarah so badly that he goes to the extreme of hurting her family. The determination was impressive, I think.

The plot started off great (not that it got worse or anything). The women were all scared to death in the railcar. They were desperate for fresh air but terrified of what they would fine when they got it. Ivo's character added a nice little scary factor to the plot, especially because he kept popping up unwanted. One thing I liked about the plot is that it kept me guessing. Every time I though one event was going to take place -- poof. Sarah went and did the total opposite. It's not everyday that I get books like this so I'm glad that Forbidden Angel had that aspect.

On the whole, I really liked this narrative! It was to the point and yet detailed. Another that I shall have to add to my list of "Wonderful World War II's."

Satisfying eBook

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millenium, #1)

By Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2008

644 pages, paperback

Date Finished: 23/9/2011

Genres: Adult, Some Action, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Mystery

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "It happened every year, was almost a ritual."
~Last Line: "She tossed Elvis into a dumpster."

Review: I started reading this book last August, but forgot all about it and never finished it. This year, thanks to a BuddyRead, I started it again and am happy to say that the novel was amazing! The first 200 pages were really slow, but I'm glad that I kept reading! :D

Mikael "Kalle" Blomkvist is a financial journalist who has just been sentenced to serving 3 months of gaol (Swedish for jail). Our second main character (or secondary, she can be both) is Lisbeth Salander. She works a security agency; besides her tattoos and piercings, which she has a lot of, she definitely isn't very social.

Mikael is hired by Henrik Vanger, a legend of the Vanger Cooperation, to solve the mystery of his niece that's been missing for over 30 years. Eventually, Mikael learns of Lisbeth and they end up solving the mystery together.

The characters in Dragon Tattoo were really awesome, too. I loved Lisbeth's the best, though; Blomkvist definitely came very close behind her. Lisbeth's character was so . . . wow. I honestly can't think of a word to describe her. She's spunky and cool, but not afraid to give you a hard time if she (a) doesn't know you, or (b) doesn't trust you.

The plot of the novel was superb! It definitely wasn't like anything I've ever read before. I looved the "solve the mystery" stuff. The only thing that's kind of close to this that I've read is Angels and Demons (and all other Dan Brown books). But even still, Larsson just had an element that made this book so much different. Truly amazing.

I can't say too much more about this book without spoiling it. Just go buy a copy and read it. Then we can all celebrate by going to see the American movie version next year in theaters. An ahmazing novel indeed!

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)

Quotes from the book:

" 'Martin was dafter than a syphilitic polecat -- where do I get these metaphors from?' "

"This was how much time she had needed in the darkness of the building's stairwell to run through her plan one last time, consider alternatives, steel herself, and mobilise the courage she would need."

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook

By Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Warner Books, 1996

213 pages, Library book (hardcover)

Date Finished: 3/9/2011

Genres: Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, thirty-one, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories. . . until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Allie Nelson, twenty-nine, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. With her impending marriage only weeks away, Allie is forced to confront her hopes and dreams for the future, a future that only she can shape. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments, and fundamental changes that affect us all. Shining with a beauty that is rarely found in current literature, The Notebook establishes Nicholas Sparks as a classic storyteller with a unique insight into the only emotion that really matters.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "Who am I?"
~Last Line: "For at that moment, the world is full of wonder as I feel her fingers reach for the buttons on my shirt and slowly, ever so slowly, she begins to undo them one by one."

Review: Sadly, I've never seen this movie before. I know: Tragic (notice the capital t). But I really do hope I see it sometime soon; it was an amazing novel. Sparks just keeps making a great impression on my with his work.

The main characters, Nick and Allie, meet each other one summer and are just love struck. I loved both of their characters. They would do anything for each other, and I liked that.

The whole plot of the book was just marvelous. As usual, Sparks' prologue pulled me in automatically. The old man's story stopped abruptly, and it all ended with him looking at his poor wife everyday and thinking about the beautiful life they'd had together. Too gorgeous.

The characters were well-defined. There were some points where I could actually guess hat the charries were thinking or what they were going to do. Bit that part wasn't too bad. I loved how years later after their first summer, Allie and Nick reunite. It was just so cute and romantic to me.

I'm not sure which was more of my favorite character, Nick or Allie. Ther were both so amazing that I just really can't pick. Their love for each other was so out there; they're tied I suppose.

The Notebook, overall, was a really good book. Now I just need to see the film. You know what other movie I still need to see? The Last Song. Sad, I know, lol :).

Plot Rating: 4.5
Character Rating: 4.5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and a half :)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help

By Kathryn Stockett

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books, 2009

443 pages, Kindle Edition

Date Finished: 30/8/2011

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult, Romance

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960."
~Last Line: "Cause just last night I thought I was finished with everything new."

Review: I first hear that this book was really good from my teachers last year. Then I heard about the movie, which I still haven't been to see :(. But anyway, I'm glad I finally read it!

We have three main characters: Minny and Aibileen, who are African American maids, and Skeeter, an aspiring writer. I'm really not sure which one is my favorite charrie. They're all so well written. Every time I finsihed a chapter, I felt like I just lived through everything the characters did.

The plot of this book was really good, too. I loved how Aibileen expressed her love fror Mae Mobley (her employer's daughter). She was always trying to teach her the right things, and not to judge anyone on how they look or the colour of their skin. I wished that there were more of her in the book.

Minny, oh, Minny. I loved her character so so much. She didn't take crao from anybody. Well, except her husband sometimes, I think. But that would've been the only time. Sad to say, the only way Leroy would stop beating on her was if she was pregnant. But anyhoo, she doesn't let people into her life very often, so when she does, you should consider yourself very privileged to be one of her most trustworthy friends.

Miss Skeeter was kind of simple to me, but in a good way. She was a simple girl who wanted to be educated and do something big. I think she accomplished her goal. Skeeter doesn't like the way the maids are being treated by their employers, two of which being her best friends. But what can she say? They don't work for her, and people would talk if they knew she was taking their side. And that could be dangerous.

So in the end, she writes a book with 12 maids that live in JAckson, Mississippi. In secret, of course. But soon everyone was saying the book was amazing and funny, and it was even on their local talk show. I really would've liked to be able to read Skeeter's book. Especially the story about Hilly :).

Overall, The Help is a great book. I'm super-anxious for the movie to come out on DVD so that I can indulge myself in it!

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)

Paradise 21 by Aubrie Dionne

Paradise 21 (New Dawn, #1)

By Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Entangled, 2011

228 pages, eARC (PDF file)

Date Finished: 26/8/2011

Genres: Adult, Action, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Futuristic

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind's last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew-a planet that won't be reached in Aries' lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.
But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates-humans who escaped Earth before its demise-are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet's native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "Aries sped through space in her escape pod as if she fled the event horizon of a dying star."
~Last Line: "She had never felt more loved or more free."

Review: This book was first introduced to me when I was asked to participate in a tour for it. I must say that even though this review is very late, it wasn't a waste of time!

The main character, Aries, is part of the ship colony New Daqwn. They've been traveling since Earth was destroyed by radiation, among other things. Their mission is to get  to Paradise 21, a planet that would be able to sustain life for quite a while. Back to Aries: she hates the way the people o the New Dawn decide her whole life for her, so she escapes and runs away.

She meets Striker, an exile, on a desert-like planet. Together, they find the missing piece to an alien ship that can take them to a different planet, and, of course, they fall in love along the way.

The plot for this book was really good, but it was kind of familiar: the female lives in a utopian future and doesn't like her future being chosen for her. It was kind of sad that I could guess that part of the plot, but it was overrided by the fact that it wasn't really close to anything else that I'd read. I love how there's supposed to be this ultimate planet that they have to get to. There was just so much other stuff in the book that I loved that I'm not even about to try to start a whole list :)

The characters were pretty cool. I liked Striker the best. He was trying to take care of Aries from the beginning, even before he could see her. His going back to save her (twice at that) was really an act of caring and nice-ness (and later love). But you get the point, right? :D

LOL. Loved this book! End of story. Just go buy it already:)

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)