Fevre Dream by George R.R Martin

Genre: Vampire Horror 

Format: Paperback

Pages:360

Published September 1st 1982

Date Finished 12/05/2020

Rated: 4 Stars

" How could it end any other way? The beast was greater than they were, a force of nature. The beast was like the river, eternal. It had no doubts, no thoughts, no dreams or plans"

This is a horror novel that takes place in 1850's. It is about vampires and steamboats. Abner Marsh makes business with a man named Joshua York. York wants to make a huge steamboat and tells Marsh that he can't bother him. York begins acting suspicious. York begins to be awake during the night. The passengers aboard suspect that York is a vampire. I liked this book. It reminded me of Dracula. There is a lot of lore about vampires in this novel. This book is a very slow read. The writing was very good. I loved the antagonist Julian. He was very evil and I liked that he didn't really care about anyonr. I didn't really like the ending. It was open ended and we don't really find out if the character survived.

Night Music by Jenn Marie Thorne

Genre: Music Contempory romance

Format: Audiobook

pages:400

Published March 19th 2019

Date Finished: 12/08/2020

Rated: 3.3 Stars

"How about, Mozart nails what I want falling in love to feel like."

This book is about a girl named Ruby, who is a pianist and she is trying to find out who she is. Then in comes Oscar Bell, a youtube star. Oscar is spending the summer studing music with Ruby's father. I really liked Ruby and Oscar's relationship. I really didn't like Oscar, he was kinda a jerk. He wanted Ruby to be like him. I loved the family relationships in the book. Ruby's dad has a heart to heart conversation with Ruby. Ruby's family loves her. Ruby and Oscar sometimes acted childish and immature.I really liked the talk of different music, like Mozart. I listened to this on audio and there were songs included in the book. I wish the songs were sung in the audiobook. Overall this is a cute romance and summer read. 

First Impressions by Nora Roberts

Genre: Christmas Romance

Format: Paperback

Pages: 235

Published April 1984

Date Finished: 01/02/2021

Rating: 3.6 Stars

"Their hands sought to touch, their mouthes hurried to taste--everywhere."

This book is about a girl named Shane, who is opening up a antique shop/ museum and a man named Vance, who is a carpenter that is out of work. They meet and Shane hires him to fix up the shop. This is the story about how they fall in love. This book started off ok, while I didn't really like the romance. There was a first kiss in the first chapter and the romance was insta- love which, isn't my cup of tea. But as I was reading more, I feel in love with Shane and Vance. I love how Shane is outspoken and speaks her mind freely. I also loved the banter between Vance and Shane. The thing that put me off of this book was the sex scenes. They are laughable and not romantic at all! I mean they have sex under a Christmas tree. How are they doing that I am not sure. I can't fit under a Christmas Tree. The Christmas Tree was also in the shop. Other than that, the book reminded me of a cute Hallmark movie. This book is also set in the fall and is perfect to read during the holiday season.

The Haunted (The Haunted,1) by Danielle Vega

Genre: YA Horror

Format: Hardback

Pages: 252

Published June 4th 2019

Date Finished: 1/15/2021

Rating: 2.6 Stars

"She looked away from the tub for a fraction of a second, and when she looked back, there was a boy standing in the tub, watching her with wide black eyes, her razor clutched in one hand. He tilted his head, his upper lip twitching."

This is about a girl named Hendricks, who moves to a small town of Drearfield and her house is haunted. Henricks has a secret. I didn't really like this book. I loved Vega's Merciless series and I thought I would love this. I was highly disappointed. I didn't like the clicue's in this novel. One of Hendricks friend was trying to put Henrick in a box. It was very annoying! I am not a teenager anymore and I hate when people try to label you. This book has romance! Are you surprised? I didn't like the romance. It was a love triangle. Hendricks had a boyfriend before she moved there and she is not over him. Even though he is borderline abusive. She develop a crush on the frat boy and the stereotype bad boy. I also didn't like the writing and the plot was predictable. There are plot holes in this book. The book had more questions then answers. The parents need to play an essential plot to the story. I am not going to give away spoilers but, if you've read this book then you know what I am talking about. I did like the horror scenes. I recommend this book for non horror readers.

 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Genre: Famly Drama, Generations Contempory

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 377

Published November 23rd 2010

Date Finished: 2/8/2021

Rating:3.3 Stars

"The Challenges in this place are real and sometimes very difficult, but I've learned to slow down and look for beauty in my days, for the mysteries and blessings woven into everything, into the very words we speak."

This is about a girl named Lucy. She is dealing with grief. Lucy's father died and she thinks it is her fault. One day Lucy's mother gets in a car accident and Lucy decides to visit and help her mom with recovery. While at her mother's house, Lucy finds an embroidered blanket in the wall and here is the start of a journey of self discovery. 

This book was ok. I enjoyed the mystery and I loved reading the letters of the past. I also loved the flowery writing style. It was almost like poetry. I didn't like the romance. Lucy cheats on her boyfriend, who is in Japan. I hated this! Lucy was trying to relive the past. It is unexeptable! This book was not what I was expecting! I wanted a historical fiction with real facts or people. This didn't have real people. The story was more of a contempory then historical.

The Six wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 643

Published in 1992

Date Finished: 2/17/2021

Rating: 4.3 Stars

"Men, however, were encourged to sow their wild oats,but a woman who did so became a social outcast and ruined her chances of making a good marriage."

This is a nonfiction about the six wives of Henry VIII. This book talks about the history of each of Henry's wives. It has information about each wives and indept history about Henry VIII and his life. 

I really loved this book! Weir is an excellent writer. I loved the narrator of the audiobook. I knew a lot of infomation that was already in this book. This book was an introduction to the wives of Henry VIII. I really liked how they included some infomation about what happened to the surviving wives after Henry's death. This book is slow but, it is a good biography. I recommend this for adults that are new to European History

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Format: Hardback

Pages:342

Published September 1st, 2020

Date Finished:3/6/2021

Rating:2.6 Stars

"But belonging meant denying who he was. Living as something he wasn't had nearly torn him apart from the inside out. But he also loved his family, and his community. It was bad enough being an outsider. What would happen if they just couldn't or wouldn't accept him for who he was?"

This is about Yadriel. He is transgender. He was to be a Brujo, which is a witch. At the beginning of the story Miguel dies and the Brujos are trying to find out where his body is. Yadriel tries to help and he accidently summons Juilian. I didn't really like this story. The plot went everywhere! There was a mystery that didn't leave clues. It was trying to be a fantasy but it had no world building. There was romance that didn't feel like romance. They were friends! Yadriel and Juilian didn't even kiss until the end. The characters were one dementional and they didn't have personality. I felt like Yadriel complaned too much! I also didn't like the action scenes. They were too fast and It felt like the end to a Stephen King book. It wrapped up to fast and It was easy to defeat the ghost/ bad guys. They ending was lazy and I wanted someone to die. But in the end nobody died. The threats were not that high. The writing was also child- like and felt young. 

Overall: This just was not for me! I did like the diversity and that Thomas made the character to be transgender.

 

Revived Book trailer

Revived by Cat Patrick

Genre: Contemporary Science Fiction

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 352

Published May 8th, 2012

Date Finished: 3/11/2021

Rating:3 Stars

"I've been stung by bees before, but it's never been this bad. It's like having PMS bloat throughout my whole body instead of just my midsection."

This is about a girl named Daisy, who was killed in a school bus crash a long with all the other children on the bus. She and all the children on the bus was tested by a drug called " Revive" Daisy moves around because she has died five times. She doesn't have any friends and doesn't tell anyone about the Revived program. Until she moves to Omaha, Nabraska and befriends a girl named Audrey and Matt, (Audrey's brother). They become friends fast. I felt like the beginning of the book was slow. I was also excepting a Science fiction novel and instead I got a Contemporary with a science fiction flavoring. This book theme is about death. Daisy deals with the death of her friend and has to learn to cope with it. There was a romance with Matt that I felt was awkward about. She was dating Matt and best friend was Audrey. It rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted to know more about the program Revived. The organization is ruled by a man named "God". This really upset me! I could see it offending religious people. "God" ends up being a bad guy. This also had a mystery that was built up but never really resolved. I did like the writing. It was very easy to read. I also like the relationship between her "fake" father and the backstory of her dad was touching to learn about.

Overall: I recommend this book to people who want a contemporary with a dab of Science ficton.

Tik-Tok of Oz (Oz,8) by L. Frank Baum

Genre: Fantasy Adventure story

Format: E-Book

Pages: 272

Published January 1,1914

Date Finished: 3/16/2021

Rating: 4.3 stars

"One can be ugly in looks, but lovely in disposition."

This is a story about a new character named Betsy Bobbin. She meets the shaggy man who, is searching for his brother. Betsy and Hank ,her donkey meet a Rose princess in the rose garden.  These band of characters go on a adventure! They go to china and meet a dragon. They go to the nome king kingdom again. This story is very predictable. I loved the writing and witty humor used in this book. The story is fun and has very lovable and strange characters. My favorite character is the nome king because he is so dumb. I didn't really like the ending. I felt like it was rushed. I recommend this book to kids or as a read aloud. 

 

Silver (The Silver Series,1) by Cheree Alsop

Genre: Paranormal werewolf adventure

Format: E-book

Pages: 228

Published December 16, 2011

Date Finished:3/30/2021

Rating: 3.5 Stars

"Saint Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of the animals," she petted one of the carved birds lightly. "It was said that he saved a town from a wolf by making them friends instead of enemies."

This is a Paranormal Werewolf story. We follow a boy named Jaze, who moves to a big city and is dealing with his father's death. There is a person/creature that is killing elder Alphas of packs. Jaze tries to find out who is behind the killings. This book was ok. The mystery element was not done well. I wasn't trying to guess who the killer was. Cheree end up telling us and we are excepted to eat it up. This book also didn't have any Werewolf mythology. Werewolfs that are in a pack have one Alpha not two. Jaze is a lone wolf. I was wondering where his pack was or if he got kicked out. I got two sentences explaining that. They were with the bad guy or murdered. WHAT? I did like that Alsop included Werewolf hunters. There was a slow build romance. The writing was easy to read but, the transitions between scenes needed work. This book also needed to be edited more.  

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Genre: Contemporary

Format: Audiobook

pages: 304

Published July 10th 2018

Date Finished 4/13/2021

Rating: 2 Stars

"Oh, sleep. Nothing else could ever bring me such pleasure, such freedom, the power to feel and move and think and imagine, safe from the miseries of my waking consciousness."

This is about an unknown young woman, who is depressed and she tries to take a year off of life. She has a theripist, who prescribes her drugs that make her sleep. She also has a best friend named Rita, who has problems of her own. I didn't really like this book. I didn't like the characters. I couldn't relate to any of them. The main character was negative all the time. I listened to this book on audiobook and the narrator sounded middle aged so, I thought the character was in her 30's or 40's. This book has important topics like depression, drug abuse, suicide thoughts and the book deals with grief.

Seven Sorcerers (Seven Sorcerers,1) by Caro King

Genre: Middle grade dark fantasy

Format: Hardback

Pages:324

Published January 1st 2009

Date Finished: 5/4/2021

Rating: 4.3 Stars

"Nin had never liked Wednesday. She woke up to find that it was pouring rain and that her little brother, Toby, had ceased to exist."

This is about a girl named "Nin" Ninevah Redfern and on wednesday her brother ceased to exist. I loved this book! This book has great humor and is very witty. My favorite trope is in this book, which is a fantasy world is within the real world. The characters are loveable and have flaws. We have Nin, Jones, and Nik, who is a mudman. This ragtag team must work together to get to the House of Strood and rescue Toby. This book has boogymen and Sorcerers, magic and danger. I loved that we got the perspective of the boogyman Skerridge. I also loved the bad guy, Mr. Strood and his backstory is very very tragic. The only thing I didn't like was the accents in this book. I had to read them over and over to understand what was said. Overall: This book was a good book and I recommend it to 12 years old and older.