{2015 TBR Pile Challenge Review} THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman

Lupe's Review:

Neil Gaiman does it again, but this time in a graveyard. He begins his tale in a house with a man coming up the stairs with a bloody knife and so you think this is going to become a horror story. But when you find the baby, whose family has been killed by the man with the knife, going to the graveyard and becoming Nobody Owens, you realize this is going to be so much more than that.

Nobody Owens grows up in the graveyard being "raised" as it were, by Mr. and Mrs. Owens as his parents and Silas, as his Guardian. Oh, and did I mention: they are all ghosts. As he gets older, and begins to crave more of the world, he has "teachers" (ghost of former teachers, poets and travelers) and teacher (but they don't know about him). Bod begins to grow and Silas, his guardian, begins to tell him about the dangers of the outside world, and Jack, the man sent to kill him. Bod meets Scarlett, and his whole world changes...

I think the most beautiful thing about this whole book was the living and growing with Bod and seeing the world as a child would again. The ghost in the graveyard could just as easily be imaginary friends, and yet they are family to Bod. I think that the friendships and relationships that he made with both his parents and his guardian are tools that he will take with him throughout life and that it was almost a resemblance to taking the stories and imaginations from our childhoods and shaping them into our adult lives, sometimes without even realizing it. Again, Gaiman outdoes his creativity and imagination, and brings to life a world that we would not have dreamed of.

"I know my name. I am Nobody Owens. That is who I am."

{Blog Hop} First Line Friday #8

First lines of novels can capture your attention, give you a clue to the character's past or present, set the stage for the entire novel, or more. First lines are extremely important and have a great responsibility. With that in mind, we'd like to welcome you to First Line Friday.

Please use the Linky List below to link your First Line Friday post so others can check out your blog.

Lupe's Read

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

Mandy's Read

Miss Pettigrew pushed open the door of the employment agency and went in as the clock struck a quarter past nine.

{Review} AWOKEN (The Lucidites, Book #1) by Sarah Noffke

ASIN #: B00PXKROK6

File Size: 631 KB

Page Count: 314

Copyright: November 20, 2014

Publisher: One-Twenty-Six Press

Book Summary:

(Taken from Goodreads)

Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.

In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.

And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.

Meet Roya Stark. She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s ridicule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent. And now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?

Kathy's Review:

My one and only complaint about this book is that it took me a while to get into it. But once I did, I was there. It seemed to me like there was a book before this one that I hadn’t read and therefore was missing some of the backstory. Roya lived with Bob and Steve for a time before coming to the Institute. But who are Bob and Steve? And what’s the deal with her family? Perhaps the author will explore this in a “prequel” of sorts somewhere down the line. I would have also liked a little more backstory on Zhuang and what has made him such a bad guy.

Other than that, this book was well-crafted and very engaging. I loved going along for the ride with Roya, through the tests and the training, and the love triangle she found herself in. I loved the objects and how she came to choose her bracelet. I loved the incorporation of the concept of a spirit animal. Not to mention the concept around which the story centers – the ability to dream travel.

And the writing was solid. Not your usual teen blather you’d find in an unknown YA series. In this series, you’ll find depth, you’ll find descriptive imagery, drama, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, etc.

To say I liked it would be an understatement; I can’t wait to read the next two and I might just start on them tonight!


*An ecopy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.


Side Note: The Kindle version of AWOKEN is now only $0.99 on Amazon until Friday, January 9th.

{Review} P.A.W.S. by Debbie Manber Kupfer

ASIN #: B00DNJP4UG

File Size: 380 KB

Page Count: 304

Copyright: June 25, 2013

Publisher: Rocking Horse Publishing

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

When Miri’s grandmother dies, she takes with her the family secret. Miri finds herself alone and abandoned in a St. Louis boarding school. But she is about to discover the secret isn’t dead.

Taunted by bullies, Miri is shocked to learn she possesses a secret power. It can save her… but can it save those she loves? After she is befriended by others with the same strange, magical powers, her history comes alive. And with it, Miri’s fate becomes more dangerous.

Join Miri on a mysterious and supernatural journey with her new friends, members of an underground St. Louis society called the Partnership for Animagi, Werewolves, and Shapeshifters, better known as P.A.W.S.

Mandy's Review:

The premise for this book, while somewhat familiar, was interesting enough to catch my attention and warrant an opportunity to be read and reviewed. We have a girl, Miri, who lives with her maternal grandparents in New York City because her mother dropped her off there as an infant and her father is unknown. Her grandparents die of natural causes, there wasn't any hokey pokey in their deaths. Miri's grandmother wakes Miri up in the middle of the night and gives her a necklace with a charm that has been passed down from one generation to the next (always mother to daughter or, in this special case, grandmother to granddaughter). When Miri wakes the next morning, her birthday, she finds her grandmother has died during the night. An aunt Miri never knew she had arrives and takes Miri back to St. Louis to live with her and Miri's uncle.

Miri's aunt and uncle are well-to-do and do not want any children getting in the way of their lifestyle. So, next thing you know, Miri is being shipped off to a boarding school in St. Louis. Her uncle donates enough money to the school that Miri stays there during the summer months as well. The only time she goes back to see her aunt and uncle is at Thanksgiving.

After Miri has been at boarding school for several years, and after she runs to escape a group of mean girls, she finally realizes she has the potential to shapeshift into a cat. From that point on, Miri's life becomes infinitely more interesting ... and dangerous.

I had a few issues with this novel. The first being that it was highly predictable. From almost the beginning I could tell you who Miri's father was going to be. It just seemed inevitable because he was the only logical person in the story.

My second issue is the integration of Mandy (a character in the book, I promise) into the P.A.W.S. family. She could've been a spy, but it was just readily accepted that she was in the P.A.W.S. territory as an innocent. If I had been the one to find her, I would've asked her how she came to be there, what happened to her, etc. Nobody asked her one single question. That just seemed unbelievable to me, especially when the P.A.W.S. crew is on high alert for an evil werewolf who has been trying to gain access to their group in order to wage war on them.

Finally, my third issue with this novel sort of encompasses the other two. The writing seemed amateurish. It was a lot of the author telling was what was going on or what was happening. I didn't get to dive into the story and lose myself in it. I always felt that I was just skimming the surface. While we know quite a bit about Miri, I still don't feel as if I know her personally. I don't feel a connection with her. I wasn't able to emotionally invest into this story, which is sad because it has great potential.

If you want a quick read that involves werewolves, shapeshifters, magic, and all that jazz then I'd recommend you pick this up and give it a go. If you're looking for the next great magical novel, I'm sorry to say you won't find it here.


*An ecopy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

{Review} UNDERTOW by Kelly Cozy

ISBN #: 978-0991044511

Page Count: 270

Copyright: November 12, 2014

Publisher: Smite Publications

Description:

(Taken from back cover)

Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn't shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew's career and innocents' lives.

Drew's eager to make amends and he's got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he'll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger.

Charlene's Review:

Drew is settled in as a copy chief at the Weekly, a local newspaper, after fleeing a job and his past. He has a steady girlfriend and a comfortable life, even as he realizes his past is always right behind me. When a story comes up regarding the Lieutenant Governor wanting to commute death row sentences, Drew is called upon to look into a local murderer. Jones Cavanaugh was the Coach for a local womens basketball team. He allegedly had an affair with, and ultimately murdered, one of the players. What Drew doesn’t know is that Jones Cavanaugh is proclaiming his innocence, and as Drew follows the leads to the past, his past comes back to haunt him and change his life forever.

What starts out as a typical murder mystery focusing on a crime of passion soon becomes so much more. Ms. Cozy introduces us to the very psyche of her characters, their superficial and subconscious thoughts. As Drew cycles deeper and deeper into his research, and deeper and deeper into his addictions, the weight of the book changes and becomes almost nightmarish in its qualities. As a reader, I could feel his emotions as he struggled for the truth, and never more intimately as in the finale, which was not at all expected, and even more dramatic than I could have imagined. I actually exclaimed out loud at the turn of events.

I have reviewed a few of Ms Cozy’s books now, and this one far surpassed my high expectations. She has a wonderful grasp of character building and eliciting emotional response from the reader. Taking it one step farther in this novel with shock value, she has made me a devoted fan. If you are looking for suspense, this is the book for you.

5 out of 5 stars!


*A physical copy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.