The Rise of Nine Book Review

Hi Guys,
I'm sorry I'm a couple days late on the review, I've been a little busy this week. But, I didn't forget, so here is the review for The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore, the third book in the I am Number Four series. This was another amazing installment in this book, and I can't wait to review it. Here is the synopsis from the Goodreads:

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive. Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . . I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others--including John. But so are they. They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They caught me in New York--but I escaped. I am Number Six. They want to finish what they started.
But they'll have to fight us first.

My first impression of this book was that it didn't really look like the other covers, I liked the first two, but this one kind of fell flat to me. When I bought the book, I noticed that the cover felt strange too, I didn't like that either... I'm also confused as to whether the book cover is a rock, or sand. I thought it was sand at first, but I've heard people say it was a rock, so I don't know. Besides the cover, I was hoping this would be a good book, I loved the I am Number Four, but The Power of Six was below average for me. I started reading this in August of 2012, but I just finished this past Saturday. I wasn't reading it the whole time, I set it down to read some other books, and I just got back around to it. It was an easy read for the last 150 pages or so. Although, it was a little boring in parts in the middle. The plot wasn't very interesting, the only new thing was the vision of Setrakus Raa (#Spellcheck) by each member of the Garde. There were also some "surprise" plot twists (I guess that by the quotation marks, you guys understand that they weren't very surprising). I loved the additional new characters, Nine has instantly become one of my favorite fictional characters ever, and Eight was likable enough, but I felt something that made him seem like the "Judas" of the story, but I don't know how it'll turn out. The action of this book was amazing, and the suspense left me on the edge of my seat. I'm really looking forward to what happens in the future books, I want for Five to be introduced, and I WANT TO KNOW WHERE/HOW SAM IS!!! Sam is one of my favorite characters of this series, and I need to read about him some more, I miss his hilarious wit. I also liked some of the new legacies introduced in the book. I give this book 4/5 stars. It was better than the Power of Six, but nowhere close to I am Number Four. The reason I gave it four stars, is because of the boring parts, and that's about it. I can't wait for the next novel, and I hope it's the best one yet! Check this book series out, if you haven't already, It's AMAZING!!!

The Queen's Army Short Story Review

Hi Guys,
This week was another "chill" week for me, I only had to go to school Monday-Wednesday because of teacher workdays, and this coming Monday I don't have to go because of Martin Luther King Jr. day. I love long weekends, and this is one of the longest. So far this break I haven't really read a whole lot, I've been doing the last little bit of homework I had, and watching the first 18 episodes of Supernatural on Netflix. I hope to get some reading done guys, I promise. I'm about 50 pages into The Hunt, about 50 pages into The Immortal Rules, 240 pages into The Rise of Nine, and 11 pages into Game of Thrones. So maybe I'll finish 1 or 2 of these books this week. But I don't know, Supernatural is getting really interesting... sorry I'm a little late on that band-wagon... 8 seasons late I think. Anyway, This week's review is on The Queen's Army, another short-story by Marissa Meyer, and this is based in the same world as her novel Cinder, and her other short story, Glitches. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

It is time. The boy must leave his family to serve in the Queen’s army. To be chosen is an honor. To decline is impossible. The boy is modified. He is trained for several years, and learns to fight to the death. He proves to the Queen -- and to himself -- that he is capable of evil. He is just the kind of soldier the Queen wants: the alpha of his pack.

My first impression was good, since I already read Glitches and pretty much liked it, I thought I would like this as well... but I didn't. I LOVED IT! This was so good, it was fast-paced, it had enough of a story-line to keep you interested, and had some of the best characters I've read about. Meyer has the ability to captivate you with a character, I wanted to know everything about the main character, whose name I've forgotten. He was very interesting, and I loved learning about the wolves as well. I loved how his brother was brought into everything, I loved the ending... I LITERALLY LOVED EVERYTHING!!! I can't think of anything I didn't like about this story. I give this book, if you haven't guessed already, 5/5 stars, because, in my eyes, it was perfect. I can't wait to read Cinder and Scarlet if this is what one of Meyer's short stories is like. I understand that Scarlet isn't in the POV of this character, but I think I'll still enjoy at least reading about him again. I'm so ready to start this series! You guys should definitely check this out, it has tons of action, plot-twists, character development, humor, anything you would want in a story... except for romance. So go read it NOW! It's only like a dollar on amazon. NOW!!!

Glitches Short Story Review

Hi Guys,
This week has gone pretty smoothly for me, thank you God! With exams, and the alternative scheduling of my classes, I've had no homework, and very little classwork. So I have no altercation with posting this week's review... this week. This is going to be the first Short Story review on my blog, and I'm quite excited about it. I really liked this short story, and I look forward to reading the novel that follows this story. I read this short story on my kindle for free a few weeks ago, the name of it is Glitches, and it was written by Marissa Meyer. It is book 0.5 in the Lunar Chronicles series, the first book being Cinder by Meyer, which was released around mid-2012. Here's the synopsis of this short story from Goodreads:

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In “Glitches,” a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch...

My first impression of this story was that I really didn't know what to expect... I mean I've wanted to read Cinder since it's release, but I've yet to read it. I got this all because of the fact that it was free on my kindle, I didn't know if it would be fine for me to read this before Cinder, but I did anyway. Don't worry guys, it's perfectly fine to read this without reading Cinder... it just basically gives her back-story.  When I started reading this story, I was enveloped in the character of Cinder. I wanted to know EVERYTHING about her immediately. Once she arrived in Japan, however, I got a little bored. The only thing I was really interested in was the friendship between Cinder and her new step-sister. This went on for a few pages, before it started to pick up again. When Cinder started to mend the broken android, I was captivated yet again, and not long after that scene, her step-father became very ill, making it very interesting to me once more. I wanted to know what disease he had, and what some of the symptoms/treatments were. Thankfully it gave you a brief bit of information on the sickness right before the story ended. I give this story 4/5 stars for the lack of interest I had during the middle. Overall, however, it was a good read, it had great characters, a wonderful scenery, and a very original re-telling idea. I enjoyed it, and I believe you guys would too, so check this story out. You will still be able to read this story if you haven't read Cinder, so this is for ANYONE to read! The next review will also be on a short story by Marissa Meyer, The Queen's Army (book 1.5 of the Lunar Chronicles).

Lockdown Book Review

Hi Guys,
I'm trying my best to keep up with doing at least one post a week for the new year. I don't know how it'll work out, but so far, it's working. I know I said I was going to do a review of Glitches next, but I decided to do a book I finished a few days ago instead.This is the first book I finished in 2013, and for those of you are follow me on Goodreads might have seen this on my 2013 Challenge. For those of you who haven't seen it the name of the book is Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith, and it's the first novel in the Escape from Furnace series. I've heard several people talk about this book, and I've heard mixed reviews... but the good reviews, plus the strangely awesome cover, led to me picking this book up. This is also the third book I read on my kindle paperwhite (I'm still loving it guys!). Here's the synopsis of Lockdown from Goodreads:

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison. Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

My first impression of this book was that it looked scary... and that's not a bad thing, but I just don't really read a lot of horror fiction, not that I don't want to, it's just that there are very few horror books I'm interested in.  Once I read the synopsis, I realized that it seemed like a book I might like, so I kept it in the back of my mind. Then I saw CassJayTuck do a review of the first three books in the series, and she seems to like some of the same books I like, so I put it a little higher on my TBR list, but still wasn't in a real hurry to read it. But once I got my paperwhite, one of the books I saw recommended for me in the kindle shop was this, and I figured, "Why not?", so I bought it right then. So when I started to read it, I found that I didn't want to put it down. Before too long, I'd finished and LOVED it. This is one of my favorite books now, and I can't believe I waited so long to read it. The characters, the plot, the setting, the action, and the writing of this novel left me breathless, and I can't wait to read the next book. My favorite character was Donovan, he seemed like a very sensible guy, and I like how he helped Alex as much as he could, even if he didn't want to half the time. I'm a little shocked about what happened to him at the end of the book, but it just makes me want to read the next book more to find out what happened to him. I give this book 5/5 stars, I didn't see anything wrong with it at all... I mean, it got a little gory at times, but I'm a guy, so I liked it. Like I said before, I can't wait to read the next couple books in the series, and I was left on a cliff-hanger at the end of this book, and I need to know what happens next! I wish the next book were free so I could already read it and review it, but I'll just have to wait until I feel like I want to buy another kindle book (since I got so many for Christmas). I just can't wait to read Solitary!!! I NEED IT!!! Anyway, hopefully next week I will have another review for you guys, and it probably will be Glitches this time, but "the world may never know." Until next time guys, keep reading, and PICK UP THIS NOVEL!!!