The Bloody Scorch "Burnt to a Crisp" Trials!!!

Judging from the title, you can already guess what book I am going to talk to you about this time. That's right! I'm going to talk to you about the awesomeness that is James Dashner's The Scorch Trials. Shall we begin? Yes, we shall~

Dashner is a bloody genius! I LOVE this trilogy! As soon as I saw this book at the library, I had to put aside my book limit (I have a limit because I usually take out twenty books at a time and, trying to finally get to the ones I have home, I decided to go with only five books... thanks to this book... yeah... totally got six. XP) and check this book out right away! As soon as I got home, I began to read it and I am loving it to pieces! The plot is just as engaging as The Maze Runner, the characters are still epic (minus one which I will tell you more in a bit), and the writing is just as intense! Dude, Dashner really knows how to write suspense into his stories! Do you know how many times I was at the edge of my seat, yelling at the book to tell me what's to happen next? I lost count.

I'm loving this plot. Want to know why? Because I cannot predict a single things that's going to happen next! Everything is just so out there that I feel like my head's going to explode! AND IT'S SO GOOD!!! I can't tell you how good it is. However, it's confusing as hell. I'm about 93% done with the book... and I still have no clue as to what's going on! I'm guessing I will find out at the end of the book but still! I want to know! I hate being in the dark! Wah! Dashner! Quit holding out on me! DX There is one thing I was able to predict in the book which regarded the relationship between two characters but that's nothing too big. Dashner kept leaving bread crumbs for the reader so you kinda expected it. Still, considering I'm not too fond of one of the characters, it's just making me want to smack someone. -_-"

Let me talk about the characters a bit. Thomas, still our main protagonist, is awesome as ever. Seriously, he is such a good main character... and not stupid at all! Most of the time, main characters are stupid as hell, but not Thomas! He actually takes the time out to think things through. He doesn't waste time on trivial matters, ever though he goes through quite a bit of them in this book. I mean, he thinks about them but only when he has down time and not when he's about to get his head chopped off. Minho is here, too, and I love him! You should see how badass he is. There are times when he's about to get his head chopped off (and a few other things) but I'm glad to say he's a fighter through and through. God, I love him. He's a character that showed tremendous growth since the first book. (I actually hated him at first but now? LOVE!) Newt! Oh my love, Newt! He is my favorite character and I must say I am SOOOOOOOOOOO happy he hasn't changed a bit. My only disappointment is that he is not in this book nearly enough as he was in the last book. T_T

There are a few new characters, as well. There's Jorge, a Crank (I'm not even going to bother with the explanation... it'll take too long. XP), and he's a bit... annoying. He's not too bad but there are times when he just... I don't know. I suck at explaining things. He's okay. I guess the way he speaks annoys me. *Shrugs* Brenda is another "love interest." As if we needed another one of those. Although, I do like her a lot. She's kickass but has a sort of elegance about her. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to take it. She kind of goes through a change in the novel but only because she's a Crank and the Flare is taking over her brain. (Curious to know what I'm talking about? Read the book!) She comes through for Thomas a few times and has really taken a liking to him~ *Smirks* Speaking of "love interests," Teresa. *Sighs* I really liked her in the first book... but that's probably because she was hardly in it. In fact, she doesn't show up in this book until about 100 pages in. However, the way she was acting in this book really pissed me off. She's selfish, manipulative, and even bitchy. I don't know... I'm just not liking her character now that she's appearing more often. I'm hoping that now, since things are getting to a certain climax, she'll get better again and she's not as annoying in the last book.

To sum up, READ THIS TRILOGY!!! Okay, I know the third is not out yet but considering how awesome the first two are, I can say honestly that the last one will also be great! I am really looking forward to reading it! Well, that's it for this "What I'm Currently Reading" rendition. I'm not sure what I'll be reading next but I'll let you know once I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to finish this book and post the full review on GoodReads. I am excited to see what's going to happen in the end! *Flails* It's so exciting!!!

Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society

Again, this post is coming to you late. But this time I have a good excuse! I DID, in fact, remember I had to write this whilst I was reading the book... however, I was running out of time. I only had a few hours left with the book before I had to return it to the library so all I had time for was to read it and then leave. See? I didn't forget this time! It's all the library's fault!!! ... *Coughs* Okay, so it was a pathetic excuse... DON'T JUDGE ME! *Ahem* Anyway, without further ado, on to the review-ish thing.

So this next book I am coming to you today with is called Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah. Let's see... I enjoyed the book. I thought it was a unique mixture of the tale of Cinderella with events that happened in WWII. Mah's writing style is a bit simple but considering the massive amounts of historical facts displayed throughout the entire book, I don't fault her. I love this book for showing me the Chinese side to the war. When I was in school, I only used to learn what happened on the American side or the Japanese but never the Chinese. It was a very educational to see how they suffered during that time period. In short, as an educational tool, this book was phenomenal. However, when it came to the fantasy-based storyline and the characters, the story fell a little flat. I suppose the main purpose of this book was to talk about WWII and the Chinese's involvement in it but if that was all it was supposed to do, I don't see why Mah had to try to weave in some fantasy elements which was only two scenes to be perfectly honest with you.


The characters all felt the same. There was no personality distinctions besides one being a great martial artist, one being really smart, and another being brave. The main character, Ye Xian (or CC), was really nothing special. All she did was cry or run away from home and ask stupid questions. Yeah... she annoyed me a little. The other characters all spoke in the same "voice" so there was no way to tell them apart unless the book stated so. I did like Marat because he knew a lot of languages and we all know how much I love that! Anyway, besides Marat (and that's because I'm jealous of his abilities), all the characters were bland, dull, and just plain... boring. Nothing made me connect with them. In fact, whenever the novel didn't inform the reader about what happened during WWII, I was really bored with the story.

Like I said, it was a good book. However, halfway through, you just wish it was over already. I'm not saying it was a bad book or anything, I just expected a little more. And since this was supposed to have some fantasy elements, I was really hoping for some intense magic. All I got was a book scene that shows the past... yay. All-in-all, if you want to learn more about WWII and the involvement of the Chinese then check this book out. If not then... well, that's up to you.


Once again, want to see a more detailed review? Go to my GoodReads account. The link should be somewhere in the sidebar. The next book I talk about is going to be a good one. Want to know how I know that already? Because it's going to be a sequel to a book I already read and let me tell you, the first book was AMAZING!!! I cannot wait to get started on that one! So look forward to it!


Till next entry! See ya!

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Yup! More dystopian novels being read by yours truly~ I can't help it. It's one of my favorite genres and I've been meaning to read more of them as of late. So when I heard about The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and how amazing the premise was, I just had to go to my library and read it for myself. However, I am a little disappointed with what's happening within the novel. It's not as epic as I thought it was going to be. The story, dude, is great. I am really into the history of New World and its inhabitants. The plot is not the problem. Neither is the writing, although I do have my complaints about that (more on that later). My main problem are the characters.

Whenever I read a book,  I must have my characters being amazing otherwise, I won't enjoy the story no matter how good the plot is. Todd, the male lead, started off as really immature and just plain stupid. A lot of the problems that he encounters happen because of the foolish decisions he makes. There are times when he overreacted to a situation. Like that battle between him and a Spackle, an alien species that are natives in New World, which he had no reason to go apeshit on the poor creature. I'll admit, I'm towards the end of the book right now and he has shown improvement. He's grown, but he did so many stupid things throughout the book that I can't seem to bring myself to like him at all. He's the blame for something really bad that happens... I won't say for spoiler's sake... but know that I am pretty pissed off at him for it. *Twitch*

Another character that got on my nerves: Viola. She starts off not saying a word to anyone. I thought she was a mute which I found to be intriguing. She was mysterious and cool, I thought. Then we got to know her... and my God, did I want to slap her! She was pathetic. Okay, I know she's in a new place and she's scared out of her mind. But when your life is in danger and there are people chasing after you to kill you, you don't just sit around, rocking back and forth, waiting for them to come chop your head off! A lot of the time both Todd, Manchee (more on him in a bit), and Viola nearly died because of how stupid she was acting. However, unlike Todd, she really shows character development. I really hated her at the beginning but now, that I'm almost done reading the book, I can actually say I like her. She made the decision to buckle down, keep her head held high, and try to survive this hell she was tossed in. She's surprising me with how brave she truly is. She's the perfect example of a character that, even if they are scared out of their mind, if they try hard enough, they can face any danger. Plus, she's was awesome when it came to Manchee.

Manchee is my favorite character in the entire book. He's Todd's loyal dog, a dog that comes through for him time and time again. My God! I cannot even begin to tell you how many times he's saved Todd's ass. He is such a good dog. I love him to bits. Words cannot express how truly wonderful he is. Plus, he's an endless amount of entertain throughout the entire book. His simple vocabulary and his honest feelings being expressed throughout the novel shows his genuine love for Todd. I'm really taken with him and it was for him that I was able to continue reading the book. Because, even though I love the story and the mystery hiding behind the villagers of Prentisstown, I couldn't really stand the main characters. It's a good thing they are getting slightly more bearable, though!

Patrick Ness's writing style is... unique. He purposefully write grammatically incorrect to show Todd's lack of education. Now, I'll admit... it's a bit hard to get used to at first. I'm still not quite used to it yet but... I'm able to handle it. What I don't like about his writing style is the need to keep going without pause. He's a genius when it comes to run-on sentences. I know this is what he was aiming for but... I'm not a fan of it. I'm just not. I can handle not using proper grammar and his need to repeat things three times to shown emphasis but when it comes to going on and on and on about something without the use of periods... it irritates me... quite a bit. Just my opinion, of course. Even though I'm not too big on his writing style, I love his ability to tell a story. Such a fantastic story as well! It's well-thought out and it keeps you in suspense. I will say this though... the story seems to drag out slightly. Most of what the characters do in the later half of the book is running away from the army. It is exciting but at the same time... you feel like, "Uh... didn't I read this already?" I love the story but it could have been cut shorter to save from being redundant.

All-in-all, it's a good book. A decent read. I wouldn't say it was the greatest but it's doable. I was expecting a lot more so I am disappointed... especially since it's such an amazing story! *Shrugs* I don't know. You should pick it up and judge for yourselves. It's definitely not a horrible book but I've seen better. Anyway, that's all for now. For a more detailed review, don't forget to read my GoodReads! I will talk more about the problems I've had with the book once it is finished.

Just a quick reminder that the main purpose of this blog is to mark what I am currently reading and what I think about it so far. All proper reviews are done in GoodReads so if you really want to see what I thought about the whole book after I finish reading it, then go there! As for the rest of this series... still not sure if I'm going to read it. It's good... but... considering what happens in the book and how the content hits home for me... I'm thinking I might just skip the rest of the series.

Till next entry! See ya!

Like Water for Caca!

Oh... my word people. Just a few days ago, I just finished reading this book... and it made my brain bleed. Yeah, I know I'm a bit late with this... I... uh... kinda forgot to write this post whilst I was reading it... *Sweat drop* Well, I'll give you some general opinions about said book that I had whilst reading it. And, as always, you can check out my full review on my GoodReads page! I go into a lot more detail there than I do here. Trust me. *Smirks*

Okay! So we have Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and it's not what everyone makes it out to be. When I first heard about this book years back now, people used to tell me all the time about what a wonderful novel it was. Then, when I was in high school, my friend told me she had to read it for her English class... and told me how much it sucked. Now, I trust my friend's opinion on literature a lot more than I do with random strangers because she has a lot of the same tastes in books as I do. However, I was still curious to see whether my friend was right or not. Off to the library I went!

...why did I ever take out this book? Seriously, people! It was a disgusting, pathetic, brain killing read. The main character, Tita, upsets me so much! I wanted to beat her to a bloody pulp. Everything she decided to do was based on a man. A MAN! She's so bloody weak she can't live without being with Pedro, her love interest. To tell you the truth, I don't even know WHY she wants to be with him. He dumped her, married her sister, got her sister pregnant, treated her like crap, and was over-jealous when Tita found Dr. John Brown, a kind and gentle man who she SHOULD have ended up with, which he had no right to show her! All that crap about him always being in love with her and how he did the things he did was to be closer to her was just that: CRAP! God, I hate this book.

As if that wasn't enough, the entire book centered around food, which I find to be revolting in and of itself, and most of the main talk was disgusting. Mentioning vomit, shit, gas, burps, bugs for food... ugh! It was vile and I do not like reading about such disgusting topics! Not to mention that I don't believe a single thing was written in a love's point of view. It was lust and we all know it! Love!? BAH! No such thing in this book! (Feel free to disagree but that's what I believe to be true.)

The only two things I love about this book was Dr. John Brown and Gertrudis. They were both kickass characters! XD Gertrudis was a tough cookie! She didn't give two shits whether she was supposed to act a certain way to appease her surrounding folk. She did what she liked and I admire her for that. (That horse scene wasn't so bad either! X3) And John was just so sweet. Too sweet for words! I can't express how much I love his character. It amazes me that Tita can be so bloody stupid as to not choose him for her husband! He obviously cared about her a lot more than that no good Pedro. But, alas, women are stupid. It makes me sad to be one. *Sighs*

All-in-all, I don't recommend the book. Only if you have to read it for school, should you. If not then stay away! Oh, but if you're curious, you can always give it a go. See what you might think of it. I warn you now, most of the book is BLAH! You might like John though! I know I did. In fact, I plan to marry him because he was just too awesome to not love completely. ^_^

Anyway, I am now reading a dystopian novel. I love my dystopian~ It never lets me down. I will tell you more about it when I write my next update on what I am reading. Stay tuned because this one is going to be a good one! I can already feel it. >:3

Till next entry! See ya!

Been A While, Ne? And news about a Breathless Giveaway!

I know, I know... I suck... I've be a terrible blogger as of late... I don't know... I just haven't really been inspired to update this thing. Not because I hate blogging or talking about books... just because I really haven't had the motivation to tell you about the new books I have been reading. I have been visiting the library a lot which has lead me to reading a lot of the "now" books. And I must say... they aren't that great... I just recently went to the library and took out quite a few new ones so here's to hoping I have some good ones... even if I don't blog about them. However, I do have a GoodReads account and I notice that I update that more than I do this thing. I should probablly work on that... anyway! Here's the link: GoodReads Account


There... and with that said, I have AWESOME NEWS! Beth Revis, the amazing author of the book Across the Universe, is having a givaway of all five books that was featured in the Breathless Tour. There's a Facebook Page, you can Tweet about it if you are into that sort of thing, and you can see the original blog post on Beth Revis' blog. (You can find the link down below.)


If you want more details, plese clink on the banner that will lead you to the official contest rules. I really recommend you checking it out. These authors are amazing and the books are completely awesome! Do it! It will make you a happy camper!

Book Haul 11/14/2010

Hello! I have a book haul for all of you. Excuse my apperance in this video... I didn't feel like getting dress... and the choppy editing... I went over the time limit. XD Anywho, enjoy!



 Wal-Mart Books:
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


eBay Books:
Vows And Honor Book I: The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey
Vows And Honor Book II: Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey
Oathblood by Mercedes Lackey
Learn Japanese New College Text Volume I, II, and III
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days Official Strategy Guide
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Official Strategy Guide


Barnes & Noble Books:
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
Rurouni Kenshin Volume 7-10 by Nobuhiro Watsuki


Library Books:
Blue Moon by Alyson Noël
Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Book Haul 10/22/2010

Well, I might as well post up the video that I did for my book haul. I thought that is would be easier for you guys to watch it on here than to go searching for it on YouTube. See? Aren't I a nice girl? XD Well, anyway, here it is for all its glory!



Library Books:
Kiss & Blog by Alyson Noël
Blue Moon by Alyson Noël
The Pact of the Wolves by Nina Blazon
Wolf-Woman by Sherryl Jordan
The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Ink Exhange bt Melissa Marr
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Wal-Mart Books:
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Ultimate Guide by Mary-Jane Knight
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Barnes & Noble Book:
Fallen by Lauren Kate

There it is! I hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned for my first review! See ya!