Book Blog: Alanna: The First Adventure

Yup! I finally got to reading this book. For those of you who don't know, it's by the same author of Beka Cooper. I thought that I'd read the book that started it all. It's funny cause I kept thinking "Hey, that's  like Beka Cooper's story!" Only to realize that it would actually be the other way around. But that's what I get for reading the books out of order.

The cover first, of course. Kinda creepy in my opinion. I don't like her eyes. She's staring at me. Always. Gives me shivers at night.

The book itself is pretty good. I'm keeping this review short since the book is short (lame excuse, I know). But there were only a few things that I DIDN'T like, and I'm a hater. There's barely anything for me to hate one!

One, the evil ghost stuff. They kept mentioning that and I'm all like "AHHHHHHHHHH!" I'm a stickler for that stuff. Gave me shivers. And the demons at the end. They're suppose to be some big and mighty opponent, but they seemed so wimpy! I would have liked the big enemy at the end to have been something more...scary.

This read seemed to be...easier than the Beka Cooper books. Not that I'm complaining or anything; I got through the book faster than Terrier or Bloodhound. But that might have been because it looked less intimidating.

The book's too short. I could have read it in a day. But a good book.

Rating: 4 Stars

Book Blog: The Book Thief

Rating:5 Stars

Oh dear. What a scary cover.

That's what my friend thought, at least. And I think I'm going to have to agree with her. The letters in the title ARE pretty weird. And small. Why must the title be so small?!

I hate historical fiction, or even anything historical in fact. I find it very bland and by the time I found out this was placed in World War 2, it was too late.

The beginning was a little hard for me to understand at first (and very discouraging). I had to look up the narrator because I thought that he was the colors (I misread the first page), but then realized it was death. Lame, I know, but I get it now!

But, holy crap. This has to be the best historical fiction I have ever read. It read well and had plenty of wit and even humor in it (which is surprising because all of the World War 2 books I've read in my life were very depressing. I guess it's because this book was about the Germans and not so much about the Jewish). Another part of the book that I liked was the bits of German that was slipped into the story. I learned some German without even knowing it! And the little illustrations that showed up every once in a while we're cute too. Don't worry for those of you who haven't read the book yet; it's not like the "little kids" books. It's part of the story.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Now, prior to reading, I had read a different review that said that the book didn't have a happy ending. And it didn't. But I was kind of expecting an ending that made me cry puddles on the floor, which I guess I would have if it was for one thing.

The author spoiled the ending.

Or perhaps it's death that spoiled it? Either way, the creator of the story spoils the ending of the book through the story to supposedly lessen the pain/shock when you read about the bombing and the deaths of Papa, Mamma, and Rudy (not to mention the numerous other characters). That's great and all, but I would have liked it a lot more if those parts were taken out. It's been a long time since I've cried over a book and I was really hoping for a real tear-jerker from this one.

But the epilogue...wasn't all that great. I usually consider the epilogue to be the true ending of the book because its (usually) the last thing the reader reads before the book is tossed aside for another to take its place. I'm glad for the bit explaining about what happens to Max and everyone else, but the last sentence was weak. Looking back on it, I wish that the author just left the whole epilogue out to leave the read wondering. Sometimes those are the best kind of books. Like in The Fault in Our Stars's Imperial Affliction and its incomplete ending. It left the characters hanging which led to the whole trip to.....I can't even remember which country they traveled to. But it's not important. What's important is that books like THAT are great because of the love/hate relationship the reader feels with the book. If a book can make you feel that way, then it must be a fantastic book.

But I guess we can't have it all, can we?

---

I'd read it again. AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT AT LEAST ONCE!!!

Book Blog: Beautiful Creatures/Beautiful Darkness

Rating: 4 Stars/2 Stars
Yeah, this is a little awkward. I started writing this post a while ago, but never finished it. And then, when I remembered to come back, I had already finished reading Beautiful Creatures, some other books unrelated to the series, and have started Beautiful Darkness.

So here I am with an unfinished blog post and a book that just happens to be the sequal to it. What do I do? I decide to do a combined book blog post for the two books! Lets start out with Beautiful Creatures, shall we?

2/15/13

That's right! I'm reading Beautiful Creatures, the book that had a movie made out of it. The cover on the right it the one that I have, unfortunately. I would have liked the original cover better, but this was all that was available. But that's not important.

I just started reading this yesterday, the day that the movie came out. What I have problems with is when I watch movies that are made out of books that I've read. The movies are always at least slightly different from the book. But it always irritates me a little because the book (or even the movie) is always better than the other.

I know that some changes are necessary. Otherwise, the movie might be five hours long! But when the whole plot is twisted and turned until it is unrecognizable, that's when I really dislike the movie. But, more often than not, that is not the case. And I'm really hoping that Beautiful Creatures isn't going to be like that. But if I were to watch the movie right at this moment, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Y'know, since I haven't even read the first one-hundred pages. That's the thing about the book; the first, I don't know, forty-five pages are all development. There really isn't anything going on.

2/16/13

Disregard what I previously said about the book. There's quiet a bit going on now. If you haven't read up to the first 150 pages, stop reading now.

I'm so proud of Ethan! I love how he doesn't care about what other people think, and he asks Lena out to the movies!!!!!!! Ethan keeps saying that they're not dating, but I think they will. I really hope so...because that would be super cute! But Ethan should get his own car first. The whole borrowing-Link's-car isn't going to work out if Ethan has to keep driving places, especially with Lena. Because, let's face it, although Link might be supportive for Ethan and his decisions, his other "friends" (aka, the people that make him "popular") probably won't.

What I really want to know is what's up with the locket. Ethan and Lena keep on having this vision things, but I really don't see the point in it. Yeah, they're getting a very interesting history lesson, but how is that going to impact them? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

3/5/13

So, obviously I've finished Beautiful Creatures AND watched the movie at this point. Let me just say that the movie was COMPLETELY different from the book's storyline. Not that that's bad or anything; I watched the movie when I was halfway done with the book, so I still enjoyed the movie ending.

But now I'd like to talk a little bit about Beautiful Darkness. Right now, I'm at about page  200, and let me be one of the first to say that.....it's not all that great. DON'T HURT ME!!! The beginning seemed to be very similar to the first book, not so much what is happening in the story, but what ISN'T happening. Half of the time, I'm reading and I'm asking myself, "What's the point in all this? Why does Ethan keep chasing Lena? Why is Lena hanging out with SPOILER ALERT! Riley when she knows that Riley is bad? WHY DOESN'T ETHAN JUST BREAK UP WITH LENA SO HE CAN LIVE A NORMAL LIFE AND NOT DEAL WITH LENA'S MESS-UPS?!" I blame love. If there wasn't love, then these characters would be making better decisions. I get that Lena's super depressed about Macon's death, but that doesn't mean that she's got to go all crazy and treat her boyfriend like crap.
I guess Lena feels that Macon's death was her fault. But let's face it; Lena should become a Light Caster. I'm sure that's what she wanted (originally at least. Now I don't even know what she wants to be). And if she "claimed herself" as a light caster, then all the dark relatives would die, right? So that means Macon would have died anyway! And she would have "killed" him anyway!!! SO SHE SHOULD JUST GET OVER HERSELF!!!
...I'm not finished with the book (or this blog post) yet, but I'm going to publish it anyway and edit it later. What do you guys think about Beautiful Creatures/Darkness?
3/6/13
I just don't think that I can feel anything from Lena and Ethan's relationship anymore. Ethan is chasing a girl that doesn't want to be chased or found. I can feel the bond between John and Ethan to be stronger, so maybe it would be best if Ethan and Lena broke it off and Lena gets together with John. And then Ethan can get together with Liv! I want to hurry up an finish this. I think the books stupid (sorry Beautiful Creatures lovers!) But that might just be because I tend not to like sequels.