The Butterfly Garden starts off with a young girl in a cold interrogation
room and the FBI agents, Special Agent Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison
who are assigned to this case are just agents to think she may have had a hand
in this sick and twisted crime. Maya slowly opens up about what happened in the Garden and eventually how she got
there in the first place. It is soon discovered that Maya’s name is actually
Inara. She has had a rough upbringing that may have been one of the many
reasons she seems so calm and collected after witnessing such horrors from the
Gardener. Throughout the novel, many gruesome events are revealed and enough
twists and turns to give you whiplash. What else happened in the Garden and can
any of the surviving young girls really be saved?
This novel is one of the best crime pieces I have read in a very long time and kept me interested throughout.
I grew to love each and every one of the characters and felt absolutely devastated
when more information came to light. I recommend this book to anyone who
loves in depth crime books with plenty of mystery. 10/10
The next novel I will be reviewing is The Butterfly Garden, written by Dot Hutchison. The review on this 288 page book will be up June 24th. Hope all of ya'll are enjoying your summer!
Life First takes place one hundred years into a post apocalyptic
nation. After the pandemics wiped out eighty percent of the world’s population,
the new government made a law, Life First. If an individual needed an organ or
blood, it was to be given to them. A married pregnant woman is held in the
highest regard because she is the giver of life. Children are told through statistics
when they should or shouldn’t sacrifice to save others. The citizens have to
give blood every two years to maintain a steady blood supply as well as have
their blood type logged into a data base if someone was ill or in need of a
donation. Kelsey Reed, a woman in her early 20s is marked for a kidney
extraction surgery for a man who is in need of one and she seems to be the only
match. In the days leading up to the surgery, she stays with her Father, a lead
gubernatorial candidate and sitting state senator. The night before the
appointment, she makes an attempt to flee with the help of her boyfriend Luke and
the man who witnessed her pregnant mother’s death, Dr. Grant. The attempt fails
and Kelsey is sent to a holding facility until her trail. There it is revealed
she is pregnant and wouldn’t have been able to have the surgery done if she had
gone to the appointment. If she is found guilty, not only will her baby will be
stripped from her and given to another family but she will also be sentenced to
death through donation. Her uterus will be removed and she will be sent to a
long term holding until she is matched with someone who is in need of any kind
of vital organ. With the help of her father, Luke, Dr. Grand and her Uncle Albert,
Kelsey hopes to avoid a guilty verdict.
If not, they will have to put their risky escape plan in motion.
Life First is a different outlook on the future of a society
after an apocalypse claims billions of lives. Rather than focus on the first
year or so after the outbreak, RJ Crayton takes the story a century into the
future. The prospect of the government taking on a law like Life First after
the pandemic is very believable. The author did a fantastic job of making this
novel as realistic as possible, that is, until the tail end. I try not to give
parts of the ending away but this is a scene that I have to address. If you
plan on reading Life First for yourself, stop reading this now. In the last
handful of chapters, Kelsey and Luke make a daring escape from the short-term
holding facility. They make their way to Kelsey’s apartment. There, Luke
invited their small group of family and friends to witness a small wedding
ceremony. Kelsey and Luke apparently had enough time to change into a Tux as
well as a white dress. This scene seemed so unrealistic and the whole time I’m
thinking, “Shouldn’t they be on the run to Peoria?” Good thing this was not the
very ending to the book or else that would have ruined it for me. Overall Life
First is well written and for the most part, very convincing that something
like what happened to Kelsey could very well happen to any one of us.
Up next for a review is Life First by RJ Crayton. This book is the first of the Dystopian series and contains 262 pages of content. This novel is about a young woman living in a world where the apocalypse happened over a century ago and eighty percent of the population had perished. A new law was formed, Life First. This law stated that if one person is in need of an organ, the match for that donation would have no choice but to give it. Now, whether it was a vital organ or not, that depended on if you were being held in a long term holding facility. Death by donation instead of death by lethal injection. Kelsey Reed gets word she is to donate one of her kidneys and she decides to run. The punishment for denying a donation? Being brought to a short-term unit where it'll be decided if she'll be placed in long-term or set free. The review will be up on Tumblr as well as Blogger on April 22nd.
The Happening retells the unbelievable tragedy that struck
an Amish community on the morning of October 2nd, 2006 and the
overwhelming forgiveness from the victim’s families as well as the outpouring
of love from around the world. That morning was just another ordinary,
beautiful morning in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania as families were readying
themselves for the day. The main character, Rebecca Sue is an embodiment of the
group of young girls that had survived the Happening as well as changing the
names used in the book is a way of preserving the privacy the Amish community
wanted. That morning at 10:25 Mr. Roberts rode in a borrowed truck to the small
white school house where class was in session. The children ranged from first
grade to eighth, twenty-six in total. Mr. Roberts came into the school house
with one thing on his mind, to get revenge on God for taking his daughter away
from him. An hour later, eleven young girls where shot. Only five survived.
Soon an out pour of love and support came rushing to the families of the
victims. What was even more astonishing was the forgiveness of the Amish
community. Mrs. Roberts and her children reached out to each of the victims’
families, visiting their homes, being greeted with open arms. This tragic event
was handled with so much grace and understanding from the community. The people
of Nickel Mines had forgiven Roberts but the absence of their loved ones cannot
be replaced.
The author of this novel, Harvey Yoder, did an amazing job
of retelling not only of that fateful morning but the love and forgiveness in
the aftermath. I’ve read books that share a version of terrible events and the
authors would focus the majority of the story about every detail of what had
happened. This was a different perspective and included different focal points
that I enjoyed. Not only was the event described through a young girl’s eyes
but shows an example of tremendous strength within a community. Their faith was
unshakable though this time and in doing so, inspiring millions.
For the next review I will be reading The Happening: Nickel Mines School Tragedy, written by Harvey Yoder. This book is based on a true even that struck the heart of the community in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Mr. Yoder tells a story of an Amish school shooting on the morning of October 2nd, 2006. The review will be posted on the 25th of this month.
Until Next Time...
~Fiction-Book-Reviewer
Check out Books on Screen and New York Bestsellers on eCampus Here!
The Rexwood Murders novel by Barron Jones is about a group
of teenagers being thrown in the middle of fifteen year old vendetta that is
finally making itself known. The first opening chapter takes the reader back to
October 31st, 1998 where this close knit community in southern
Georgia is about to be put though a horrific tragedy. A home in the neighborhood of Meadow-Way is
hosting a Halloween party. Inside there
is a fight that breaks out between two men, Kirk Jones and Ronald
Rosenberg. A fire starts claiming the
home after Kirk’s failed attempted at throwing his drink at Ronald. The home
explodes not long after Ronald goes back into the home to try and rescue his
family. Years later, this group of teenagers on Halloween night spend a
terrifying night in the Rosenberg mansion, chased thorough hallways and
discovered tucked away secrets. After some of the characters make it out alive and
into their homes, the dark hooded figure’s presence didn’t diminish. Through notes and text messages, the group is
threatened of their secrets coming to light. The teenagers think they know
exactly who is harassing them and who attacked them that Halloween night but
when they drive by the Rosenberg Mansion, it’s littered with police. One body
bag is being wheeled away. In the distance, the black hooded figure is
watching. They were wrong.
The Rexwood Murders novel was different in terms of the
writing style. This example will be
taken from the book itself;
“They are reaching a door and Austin starts to place his
hand on the door knob.”
In a usual fiction piece that
sentence would be written like this, “They reach a door and Austin begins to
place his hand on the handle.” I haven’t read a novel written like this before
and I honestly didn’t enjoy this style. There were points where I would catch
word or phrase repetition within the same two or three sentences. These two
sentences are an example.
“…reach
the lunchroom before the lines get full, the three finally reach the lunchroom.
Entering the lunchroom…”
The plot is
very good although towards the end it seemed to resemble a popular television
series called Pretty Little Liars. This novel started off very strong and
original until it was reaching its last couple chapters. I hope there is a
slight change in the way this plot seems to be developing if there happens to
be a sequel in the future.
Goodmorning! I wanted to let you know that I am posting my book reviews, sidebar, and updates to my Blogger page as well as my Tumblr page. Please feel free to check it out! http://fiction-book-reviewer.tumblr.com/
Thicker Than Water takes place in Sydney, Australia where the journey of a Templar, a Witch, and an old soul start to form. Julien and Isolde first meet when Isolde jumps after a man who had just dived off of a bridge. Julien rushes to the underpass below and is shocked when he realizes he can only see the woman because witches, like him, can see through illusions. Isolde is able to heal the suicidal man as well as herself fairly quickly. Julian and Isolde became fast friends from that day on. Not long after, Isolde is on her way back to her apartment after handing out food to a group of homeless individuals in an alley in Blackwattle when she is attacked by demons. A Templar trained in killing witches and Demons, named Delilah, comes to her rescue. The three of them set out to find who are letting demons pass through from hell and soon come across a demon who possessed the body of someone Isolde use to know. After Delilah and Julien try to kill the demon, Isolde steps in, in hopes of healing him. Instead she somehow binds the demon to the body, making him human. Delilah lies to the demon, convincing him that he cannot harm Isolde without harming himself. They name the demon, Damon, who becomes part of their group and comes to be protective over Isolde. Throughout the novel, the histories of Julien, Delilah and Isolde are revealed. It becomes clear the tragic secrets they hold from each other are far more intertwined than they could ever know.
Thicker than Water is one of those books that keep you at the edge of your seat from beginning to jaw dropping end. I’ve read many books that incorporated the classic supernatural; ghosts, witches, demons, nephilim and vampires. This book has a different twist in this regard by placing the demons to the forefront along with the witches as well as a whole new race, Templars. E.L. Rummery did a great job making the characters as well rounded and real as possible. The twists and turns throughout the novel left no holes and always leading to something bigger. I loved how the back story of Delilah and Julien came together to create an ending that leaves you dumbstruck. I look forward to reading the second installment of The Shadow Acts series. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a different twist on paranormal, mystery books and would like a fresh, dangerous world to step into.
Being a book reviewer does have its perks, I get to do what I love which is to read and share with you my thoughts on the piece. There are times between book reviews that I get to pick that one book that I’ve been eye balling for some time and I look forward to those “free time” periods. I’ve always loved having an actual book in my hands, something that i didn’t have to worry about the batteries dying before I would finish the chapter. I’ve been faithfully buying books from amazon because nine times out of ten they have the best prices. Sometimes Amazon falls short, especially for college students who needs a novel for that English class. Recently I came across a website that is my plan B. eCampus has everything from Textbooks to New Yourk Times Bestsellers and you can even sell them your used books if you’re wanting to make room on your shelf.
The story of The Witch of Blackbird Pond revolves around a young girl named Katherine Tyler, or Kit as she prefers to be called. Kit’s parents met on the Island of Barbados and not long after Kit’s birth, she was orphaned due to a tragic boating accident. From then on she was raised by her loving, wealthy uncle until he too had passed when she is just 16. Since the book takes place in the late 1600s, it is inappropriate for young unmarried girls to believing on their own. Kit purchased passage on The Dolphin set for the Connecticut colony in America where her Aunt is living. While on the voyage, she meets the son of the Captain, Nat, who unbeknownst to her, has stolen her heart. She also meets Jon Holbrook who is traveling to the same colony as Kit, in hopes of being mentored in medicine by the towns’ doctor. She arrives at her Aunts home, where she meets her distant family for the first time. Her cousins, Judith and Mercy Wood greet her with open arms as does her Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel’s Husband, Matthew on the other hand is stoic and hesitant towards the surprise visitor. Kit slowly becomes integrated into the family and has a hard time getting use to doing work inside as well as outside the house. It’s not long until Kit is courted by a young man from the small town and starts to learn the hard way on how exactly a woman should behave. Kit meets an older woman who lives by Blackbird Pond who has been branded a witch and soon the two become close friends. The young girl has to hide these visits to the pond and through the shared secrets as well as the similar moral standing; Kit and Mercy grow a unique bond throughout the progression of the novel. Kit also goes through a period of extreme home sickness. She even considers marring into a wealthy family as soon as possible in hopes of receiving a better life then she has now. Kit experiences her first snow fall as well as her first Sunday church service (services were usually held twice a day, not just once), and thrown into the middle of the infamous witch trials. By the end of the book, you can only hope Katharine Tyler gets a happy ending.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond was a rollercoaster I will never forget. The book was originally published in 1958 and was awarded unanimously, the Newbery Medal in 1959. The forward written by Karen Cushman made an excellent point. This book was written when female characters like “the perky, fearless Nancy Drew or the wholesome, do-gooding Nan Bobbsey, or pretty and popular Sue Barton, student nurse.” were very popular and some girls found it difficult to feel as if they could relate to these characters easily. “…Kit Tyler was like me, an ordinary girl, scared and lonely, stubborn and independent and a bit rebellious, trying to figure out a new world and make a place for herself in it. Yes, that was me.” Elizabeth Speare did a fantastic job with making each character in the novel well rounded and human. I found myself consistently on my toes and wanting more as I continued reading. I was impressed that the ending did not leave me wanting and although I wished the book hadn’t ended, the conclusion was tied into a neat little bow. I would recommend this novel to a reader who would like to see a strong female role in the forefront of an entire storyline. This book really does take you back in time so if you are a reader who loves to read a novel that integrates key history events; this is diffidently a book you want to add to your shelf.
Until Next Time…
~Fiction-Book-Reviewer
Thursday, January 21, 2016
The review for The Witch of Blackbird Pond is going up tomorrow!
Happy Sunday:) Over the holidays I’ve been reading this novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I’m enjoying it so much that I’ve wanted to write a review on it even though it is a book I am just reading to pass the time in the afternoons. I have about fifteen chapters left and I will have the review up by next Friday. Hope you are having a wonderful start to 2016 thus far.
I’ve finished reading Fated and I haven’t gotten lost in a book like this since The Mortal Instruments series. I will be writing up the review tomorrow which will be up by Friday morning. Happy Holidays!
“That old saying- ignorance is bliss-finally makes sense.
The ignorant are definitely the lucky ones here.
Though unfortunately for me, I’m no longer part of that group. I’ve split from their ranks.”
-Fated (Chapter 12, Page 96)
The next book I will be doing a review on will be Fated by Alyson Noel. This book is the first of The Soul Seekers Series. I will be reading this on my dinosaur of a nook will have the full review out on December 11th.
Many new chapters are opening up in my life at the moment. I just got married last month and will be moving over 1,200 miles away to the new husband’s army base after Christmas. I will still be doing reviews during the move as well as settling in. Right now I’m deciding on what to read next and will let you guys know by Friday. Have a great week and Happy (early) Thanksgiving!
Until Next Time…
