Graphic Novel Review: The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson & Dan Jolley

Title: The Girl Who Owned a City 
Authors: O.T. Nelson & Dan Jolley 
Illustrator: Joëlle Jones
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Pages: 125
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A DEADLY VIRUS KILLED EVERY ADULT ON EARTH, LEAVING ONLY US KIDS BEHIND.

My parents are gone, so I'm responsible for my little brother Todd. I have to make sure we stay alive. Many kids are sick or starving, and fierce gangs are stealing and destroying everything they find. Lots of people have given up, but here on Grand Avenue, some of us are surviving, because of me.

I figured out how to give the kids on Grand Avenue food, homes, and protection against the gangs. But Tom Logan and his army are determined to take away what we've built and rule the streets themselves. How long can we keep fighting them off? We need to find another place for us to live safely.

A strong place, a secret place.

In a world like this, someone has to take charge.

I found The Girl Who Owned a City while searching for one more book to complete this year's graphic novel challenge. I was looking for a dystopian story and this one grabbed my attention with its amazing cover! Unfortunately, what was inside wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

The Girl Who Owned a City takes place in a world that has recently lost all of its adults. The children are left behind to fend for themselves and Lisa is no different. She and her brothers are fighting to defend their home and supplies, but gangs are popping up all over and Lisa knows she has to do something to keep them safe.

Characters are really the most important part of a book for me. Although I like my books to be plot driven, the characters have to be sympathetic and relatable. Lisa is neither of those. For whatever reason she decides to take the formation of "her" city into her own hands, failing to accept input from her friends and ignoring them when they voice valid concerns. Even once she takes control of "her" city and proclaims its citizens are her responsibility, she continually throws herself into harm's way at the expense of her people. The villain of the story is also ridiculously simplistic and wishy washy.

This book is kind of a mess. I guess it's based on a 1975 young adult novel and maybe that's better, but I just could not get into the story. It's choppy and quick and nothing is explained. Lisa goes from trying to defend a street to running a city/fortress inside of a school. Things happen too quickly, which I guess may be due to the graphic novel format. Then again, I've read many graphic novels that were much better written than this.

I also hated that the epidemic itself, the one that wiped out everyone over a certain age (12, I think?) is never delved into. Why did the adults die? How did they die? Is this a worldwide epidemic or is it confined to Lisa's town/state/coast? What is even going on in this world?? As a lover of dystopian fiction, my favorite books are always the ones who build complex worlds that are at least somewhat believable as a potential future.

I didn't go into The Girl Who Owned a City with any expectations, but of course I did hope to enjoy it. Sadly, it was too rushed with characters and a world that were very much lacking in development. The art was pretty for sure, but that may be the only thing I liked about it.

ARC Review: Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Title: Furyborn (Empirium #1)
Author: Claire Legrand
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 512
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Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

If you had asked me at the beginning of 2018 what my most anticipated books were, Furyborn would've been in the top 5! I was lucky enough to end up with an ARC of this book pretty early and started reading it straight away... so why did it take until after the publication date to finish it? I don't think it's exaggerating to call this one of my biggest disappointments of the year.

Clocking in at over 500 pages and encompassing two different stories, 1000 years apart, Furyborn is just too much. It tries to be too much, while simultaneously not being enough. There are two protagonists in this story, as promised on the front cover - two queens will rise. Unfortunately, neither of these queens were written in a way that made me care much about them, a common theme throughout this book.

Rielle is the first queen, the one who lives in a medieval(ish) world where angels and magic, known as the Empirium, are reality. She has always known she could control all the elements and must prove that she has mastered them in order to be confirmed as the Sun Queen. She has a bit of a love triangle going on with the prince she grew up with (who happens to be betrothed) and another individual, who I can't say too much about. If I had to pick one of the main characters to care about, it would be Rielle, although I really don't know enough about her to have strong feelings either way, even after 500+ pages. It's a bit shocking to realize how little is really dished out over the course of such a massive book, to be honest.

The second queen is Eliana, an assassin who has some mysterious magical powers, but nothing near the level of Rielle, who is now just a story, along with angels and the Empirium. She runs into someone who she is unable to best, the Wolf, and is taken along with her brother to assist him in a mission. I didn't hate Eliana, but again, I didn't feel like I knew much about her. She also had some romance drama, although hers consisted of very quickly jumping from one love interest to another. At least there wasn't a love triangle, I guess?

The biggest issue with this book, as I've already mentioned, is that there isn't enough information, although how that's possible with a 500+ page book is beyond me. Furyborn jumps from action sequence to action sequence without giving the reader much actual information about the characters and the world, and the action itself quickly becomes repetitive. Rielle has to complete trials and we get a rinse and repeat of every single one. There are no stakes because we already know based on the prologue that she won't die. Although each trial attempts to make itself thrilling, and the first couple were, they quickly get old. Similarly, Eliana's chapters are a sequence of dumb decisions, fighting, and running.

This lack of information also applies to the world. Although the two worlds could be differentiated, they could really only be told apart by the fact that people believe in magic in one and don't in the other. There is no real description of the elemental magic, although the author did include a nifty chart in the back of the book, which feels a bit lazy. It would've added a lot more to the story if the elements Rielle was mastering had actually be explained instead of being plopped in a glossary. I also didn't feel like the difference between the different levels(???) of angels were explained well enough. Overall, there was just SO MUCH information that could've been given if this book had been written a bit differently.

Of course, when the characters and world aren't nearly well-defined enough, it isn't shocking that the plot also had its issues. By which I mean, what even was the plot? It seems that there's this grand thread tying both these girls stories together, but what is it? I get that both are supposed to be magical queens, but why are these stories told together? They don't flow together at all and each chapter took me completely out of the other character's story. There was once where the chapters got choppy as each character was going through a (particularly exciting?) action scene, but the two didn't have any cohesion whatsoever. It's just a very bizarre choice when two stories don't seem to have any overlap.

I'm no writer, and this isn't my story to tell, but as a reader, I think this story could've been saved had it been split into two books, with each one being better fleshed out. This really is two books spun together for a reason I can't fathom. Had book one been Rielle's story, with more world building and less repetitive action, and book two been focused on Eliana, I know I would have enjoyed it much more. I feel like there is a good story in this book somewhere, and I truly hope Claire Legrand is able to flesh it out more in book two of this trilogy, although I doubt I'll be reading it.

Audiobook Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Title: The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1)
Author: Rin Chupeco
Publication Date: March 7, 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 432
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In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles...and make a powerful choice. 

I've put off reading The Bone Witch despite having owned it for over a year because a friend told me I would hate it. However, after hearing how amazing it is for months, seeing the gorgeous cover for The Heart Forger, and being told by another friend that I absolutely SHOULD read it, I finally gave it a try!

Tea, not pronounced like the beverage, is the Bone Witch and she is special. She has rare, strong powers that she uses as a child with no training to bring her brother back to life. She is taken by an older bone witch to learn how to be an asha. Intertwined with Tea's narration is that of a bard who has come to find older, banished Tea and learn her story. I enjoyed the way the two storylines were told and anticipated them coming together at the end of the book. All of this sounds awesome, and the beginning had me hooked!

Unfortunately, The Bone Witch becomes incredibly boring and tedious after the first few chapters. There are countless descriptions with very little action throughout most of the story. Tea goes to class, Tea has dinner, Tea makes friends, Tea gets new clothes, Tea has a crush, and on and on and on. Buried within all this monotony is a good story, but it takes so long to get to it that I just couldn't force myself to stay interested.

I found the characters themselves to be just as boring. Honestly, I can't remember any of their names besides Tea and her brother, Fox, who was probably the most interesting character in the entire book. I wanted desperately to care about Tea, but she came off as a special snowflake (is there another word for this that we can use now?) who has amazing powers for... reasons... and she is more powerful than anyone around her for other reasons. She also knows how to use them without training, which is, of course, out of the usual. I really wish more had been explained about why Tea was so much more advanced than the other girls around her.

Something I did love about The Bone Witch was the world building. Since 92% of the book was spent on descriptions, I definitely had a good idea of the world and what it looked like. There was some interesting backstory to the magic and the city, and I thought some of the creatures and especially the daevas were really unique. But again, all this comes at the expense of a plot. There is none.

Finally, I despised the ending. In fact, I thought the audiobook hadn't downloaded the last part and double checked, then texted a friend asking if I'd missed something major. The two storylines I mentioned earlier never came together. What I'm guessing is the middle of the story is shown at the beginning of the book, then we work towards that point from Tea's perspective, but the book ends well before the two converge. It left it all feeling very unfinished.

I didn't completely despise this book, but I was left extremely underwhelmed. I prefer to read series and don't mind a cliffhanger at all, but I hated the way this one was written. I don't mind stories that aren't completely plot-driven either, but this one barely had a plot at all and the characters were forgettable. In the hands of another author, I think this is a story I really could have loved. I just don't think Rin Chupeco is the author for me.

Book Review: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 615
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken. 

So I have a lot of feelings about Obsidio. Just to recap, I loved Illuminae and thought Gemina was just okay. And now here we are with book three... I think my main takeaway from Obsidio is that this series has a very limited supply of tricks up its sleeve, which it used up in book one, leaving books two and three to pretty much be rehashes.

Obsidio, like Gemina, picks up with two new characters, Asha and Rhys. Honestly, it's been so long since I've read Illuminae that I can't remember how much I liked Kady and Ezra, but I can definitely say that I enjoyed Asha and Rhys more than Hanna and Nik. I actually wish MORE of the book had been devoted to them, because their story was infinitely more interesting than that of the older characters, in my opinion. I loved that they already had backstory, meaning no instalove! I found them both to be compelling characters with understandable motives and moral struggles. I enjoyed watching the people on Kerenza interact with each other and struggle through each day... and that's about where my enjoyment ends.

From here on out, this might be a little ranty and a lot spoilery. I am so upset with this book and the series as a whole! The rest of this review will outline my issues with Obsidio and will be in bullet points, which I know is different from the rest of my reviews, but it's the best way I can think of to do it without going off on twelve tangents. Shall we begin?

• One of my biggest problems with this series is with the humor. Specifically, every single character has the same sense of humor AND they all use their annoyingly similar sense of humor literally all the time. At the most unnecessary times. Literally a life or death situation and these morons are bantering back and forth making jokes. Sure, it's fun to read, but it's not at all realistic and it got old quickly after book one (for me). 
• Which brings me to my second problem: the way the military is portrayed. Let me get something out of the way - I am not a gung-ho patriotic person by any stretch of the imagination. I don't even own a flag. That being said, I did do four years in the Air Force, so I have military background. Yeah, there were times in those four years when I said or did unprofessional things around my supervisor or officers. But... you better believe I was reprimanded for it. Maybe so far in the future things will be super relaxed and people will be able to talk to their superiors with 100% sarcasm, cursing, and unprofessionalism. But unless something drastic happens between now and then, I can't imagine military personnel behaving the way they do in this series. Like I said, this isn't a "I love the military" thing, because I don't. It's just a "My god that's unrealistic" thing. 

**SPOILERS BEGIN**

• And continuing the unrealistic relationships train of thought, I cannot buy the Kady/AIDAN relationship. While I can accept that Kady does become attached to AIDAN, he is not a HE. He is an it, which they discuss a tiny bit in this book. But towards the end of the book I had a very hard time suspending disbelief any further. There's a point at the end when AIDAN inserts himself into an enemy ship and decides to sacrifice "himself" for the good of the fleet. AND KADY TRIES TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT! Instead, she wants to sacrifice herself and everyone else on her ship. Instead of AIDAN. Who is not a person. Who is a computer program. I'm sorry, what? This is where they lost me. 
• Venturing further into spoiler territory, let's talk about FAKE DEATHS. Remember when I mentioned that this series used all its tricks in the first book? This is what I'm talking about. There was a fake death in Illuminae and that one got me! I was totally taken off guard. But then the exact same thing happened in Gemina and I wasn't fooled. I felt nothing when the death happened because I was sure it wasn't going to stick. Then we have Obsidio... When I started, I even texted a friend and asked if there was a fake death. Well, let me tell you, friends! Obsidio has not one, not two, but THREE fake deaths! It's completely ridiculous. 
• Welcome to my next point in which I expand upon the ridiculousness of the fake deaths. My problem with them in Gemina and Obsidio? They're predictable. Just like every single other big twist in this book. When Asha was arrested by Rhys and Co. I knew it was going to be a big twist and that he hadn't actually betrayed her. I knew because this series is so freaking predictable that I. Can't. Even. 
• Which brings me to my last point: everything is so damn predictable that I was never for a single second worried about any of the main characters. At all. Because I knew they would all live. And guess who was right! Yep, all six of the main characters - all three of the main couples - lived. In this series about constant battle with literally thousands of deaths, the six main people who are at the center of every single major battle live. In fact, pretty much every single character that gets more than a few sentences of page time lives. Look guys, I don't need George R.R. Martin level killing sprees, but I do need some kind of realism in my books and this is just dumb. 

**SPOILERS END**

So here we are at the end of a series that started on a really high note. A series I was SO excited for, but that has been a massive disappointment. I'm not sure why it is that the authors decided to make each book so similar to the others and I have no idea why all the characters are almost carbon copies of each other. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but there were just very few redeeming qualities in Obsidio for me. 

ARC Review: Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones

Title: Shadowsong (Wintersong #2)
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 384
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Review for book 1

//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her.

When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

Wintersong was my one of my top two favorite books of 2017, so it should be obvious why Shadowsong was my most anticipated of this year. Wintersong was just the right amount of fantasy and darkness and romance and magic. I loved Liesl and I loved the Goblin King and I loved the relationship that grew between them. I loved the Underground and the music. Basically, I loved all the things that Shadowsong is missing.

Shadowsong picks up after Liesl's return to the world above, her Goblin King left in the Underground. She pines for him and fights with herself over whether she is happy back in her old life. In this book, Liesl is a much different character. The book begins with a note from the author, explaining that this is an Own Voices book, that the MC is bipolar, and that Shadowsong will embrace this more fully than Wintersong.

We got to know Liesl in Wintersong. A story unfolded, a relationship grew between two incredible characters. The world was rich and didn't lack anything, in my opinion. In Shadowsong, most of what was set up in Wintersong is left behind so that we can explore Liesl's personal struggles. I understand that this is the character and it's perhaps important to her growth, but this is the second book in a duology. I wanted to continue the story from the first book, learn more about Liesl and her relationship with the Goblin King, not spend the entire story wondering if things were actually real or imagined.

I fully understand the need for books that explore mental health and I get why S. Jae-Jones wanted to write an Own Voices book. I know that this is important, I just wish it had been done in a separate series. Instead, Shadowsong feels so far removed from the world of the first book that it might as well have been a different series anyway.

Where Wintersong was all about Liesl embracing her new role, her whole self, and the Underground, Shadowsong had her constantly questioning everything, running, and hiding. The entire story consisted of day to day activities between a few different locations, none of which involved the Goblin King. There was an interesting dynamic between Liesl and Josef, but even that became tedious and boring after awhile. Other characters were there for awhile and then forgotten, and if you're coming for the Goblin King, don't bother. There were glimpses of him here and there throughout the book, but I'd estimate that he got about 30 pages of this nearly 400 page book. There is no romance, no Underground, and very, very little music. What I'm trying to tell you is this book is NOTHING like Wintersong at all.

I believe Wintersong was originally a standalone novel that was later turned into a duology (correct me if I'm wrong). In my opinion, it should be read as a standalone. Shadowsong honestly reads like a second book in a trilogy. If it absolutely had to be a series and all the filler from this book absolutely had to be in the story, I strongly believe that the last 40 pages should've been left off and turned into a third book to end the series. As it stands, the last 40 pages could've been written as a novella and it would've made a better ending.

I know you're thinking I must hate this book, but I don't HATE it, I'm just extremely disappointed. I wanted more of the magic of Wintersong and what I got was... not that. The ending was satisfying and that's the only reason I'm not giving this one star. I honestly cannot recommend it though, especially to anyone who loved Wintersong for the romance or the Goblin King.

Graphic Novel Review: Fresh Romance, Vol. 1

Title: Fresh Romance, Vol. 1
Authors & Illustrators: Sarah Kuhn, Kate Leth, Sarah Vaughn, Marguerite Bennet, Kieron Gillen, Arielle Jovellanos, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sally Jane Thompson, Trungles, Christine Norrie
Publication Date: August 3, 2016
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 224
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The critically-acclaimed anthology FRESH ROMANCE is finally available in print! Have you been wondering what the fuss is all about? FRESH ROMANCE is an exciting collection of romance comics from some of comics most talented creators, including Kate Leth, Arielle Jovellanos, Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sarah Kuhn, Marguerite Bennett, and Trungles. From unhappy historical marriages to covert teenage romances, there's something for everyone in FRESH ROMANCE. 

I picked up Fresh Romance in early 2016 and had every intention of reading it. Instead it sat on my shelf for over a year and I am just now getting around to picking it up. I didn't realize when I brought this home that it was an anthology of short graphic novels ranging in genre from paranormal to historical fiction. My main takeaway from this anthology is that the stories are entirely too short. I was interested in most of them, but they were SO short that it was really hard to feel like I'd enjoyed them fully. Something I really did appreciate though was how diverse most of them were. Here are my thoughts on each of the four (five?) stories included:

SCHOOL SPIRIT
This story was cute once I got my bearings. I felt a bit thrown into things, but as I understood what was really going on I really enjoyed the romance and the paranormal elements I totally wasn't expecting. School Spirit is the most diverse out of all of these stories and, while it was hard reading about the reactions to Justine and Malie's relationship, I loved them together! Sadly, this story really had no resolution. School Spirit feels like there SHOULD be something more to it - more volumes - but I can't find them. Overall a sweet story but annoyingly unresolved. (3 stars)

RUINED
Completely switching gears, Ruined is about a woman named Catherine, her mysterious backstory with an unknown lover (I'm assuming this is where she was "ruined"? *cringes*), and her arranged marriage to a man named Andrew. I actually really enjoyed this story a lot, but I wish I could find the rest of it! Ruined ends with "to be continued..." and is titled "Volume One," but it seems like there haven't been any additional volumes published and the author has fallen off the map. (4 stars)

THE RUBY EQUATION
This story was a little too weird and fast for me. It's about a girl named Ruby who is from some other unspecified world and her mission is to make people fall in love in a coffee shop for reasons. This one just really wasn't for me. Ruby was okay, but the speed with which she changed her outlook and the lack of explanation given for anything really just didn't do it. (2 stars)

BEAUTIES
Beauties was another really, really weird story. It's apparently a Beauty and the Beast retelling in which Beauty's father is a prince with two other daughters. The Beast is made the family pet and Beauty falls in love with him for (again) reasons. This story was incredibly short and definitely could have stood to be a bit longer to fill in some (any) details. (2 stars)

FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS
Honestly, I don't even know what this is. I tried really hard to understand the point. I mean... at least the art was pretty. (1 star)

While I didn't love every story, this anthology had SO much potential! Unfortunately it seems like it has been abandoned and the one story that ended with "to be continued" will go unresolved. After reading I checked out the website advertised in the back of the book ("Can't wait for more Fresh Romance? Head over to rosypress.com...") only to find that there's absolutely nothing there except a link to an old Kickstarter. Keep in mind, this anthology was published in 2016. I feel fortunate to have gotten a copy for free. If I'd paid for it I would've been pretty irritated.

My rating for Fresh Romance was originally 2.5 stars, but I'm taking off a star because the story that ended on a cliffhanger (the only one I really, really enjoyed) has no next volume and the rest of the stories are so unresolved. I've read quite a few graphic novels over the years and I've never felt quite this irritated over the distinct lack of endings. I definitely can't recommend seeking this one out.

ARC Review: Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Title: Hunted
Author: Meagan Spooner
Publication Date: March 14, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 352
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast? 

Ever since I heard that Meagan Spooner was writing a retelling of my favorite fairy tale, Hunted has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2017! I loved her Starbound Trilogy and knew I would probably adore anything she wrote. Yes, it was incredibly hyped, but how could a Beauty and the Beast retelling not be amazing?

As it turns out, Hunted is a pretty straightforward Beauty and the Beast retelling with a few embellishments to the characters' stories. Yeva is literally called Beauty and the beast is literally called The Beast. He lives in a castle in an enchanted valley in a forest and Yeva stumbles upon it while looking for her father. She is taken prisoner and slowly realizes that there's more to Beast than she first realized. It's almost cut and paste, which I have absolutely no problem with because I love this story!

Although this book is extremely predictable if you are at all familiar with this fairytale, Meagan Spooner has taken it and tweaked it just enough to keep it interesting. I thought that both Yeva and Beast were incredibly interesting characters! I was invested in them and would honestly have loved a little more backstory to Beast.

Now that I've talked about what I enjoyed, let me jump right into my complaints. Hunted is a book in desperate need of a villain. Not only has the villain been removed from the story, but the urgency has too. Without a time limit on the beast's curse, there's not really anything at stake and the book is incredibly slow as a result. Not even Yeva was in any kind of hurry to break the spell and I was bored to tears. It took me WEEKS to get through Hunted, which is incredibly abnormal. The writing also becomes more flowery as the end approaches, making it even more difficult to slog through an already boring story.

The world building was also severely lacking. Beast's valley is enchanted, can only be found if he wants you to find it, and there's a castle at the center. Yeva lives in a village and then in a cabin in the woods. That is the extent of the world building. Someone just informed me that this book was set in Russia and I had absolutely no idea! After the incredible world building in the Starbound Trilogy, I expected way more.

My final huge problem with Hunted is how it takes the tale of Beauty and the Beast and makes it even more creepy than it already was. Sure, we all know that there's a little Stockholm Syndrome happening here and yeah, it's kind of weird for a woman to fall in love with a beast, but it is still a classic and many people find it terribly romantic. In Hunted, Meagan Spooner has likened the relationship to a physically abusive one and it made me feel really skeevy about enjoying the romance. Here's an example taken directly from the text:

Yeva listened in silence, her own thoughts troubled. She'd known other women who'd formed attachments to men who were cruel to them, though she'd never known any in such dire situations. She'd always thought them foolish, weak, lacking in the self-assurance to know they were better than the men whose backhanded compliments made them flush so. But perhaps they were simply in love. Perhaps their hearts had betrayed them, and not their courage.

- ARC pg. 289. 

This conversation goes on between Yeva's friend who is voicing her concerns about Yeva's time with the beast, and Yeva who tries to justify his treatment of her with internal dialogue like that quoted above. I mean... I don't know. I'll just let you judge that for yourself.

Hunted had the potential to be incredible - just look at the source material - but it fell way short for me. With the removal of all urgency the story dragged on forever and the romance creeped me out. I also found the ending to be pretty anti-climactic. The only thing I liked about this book was the characters and the parts that were pasted directly from the original. Sadly, this just wasn't for me.

Book Review: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

Title: The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3)
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages: 679
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2
Chelcie's Review

Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

The Beauty of Darkness is the long-awaited (okay, not that long, but it felt like forever) conclusion the The Remnant Chronicles, one of my favorite series of 2016 and easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year. But despite the fact that I preordered it and started it immediately, this book took me forever to read. Forever. In fact, I read half, put it down for months, and finally finished it via audiobook. You see, this book suffers from being twice as long as it needs to be, but more on that later.

This book picks up directly after the end of The Heart of Betrayal. Lia has escaped from Venda, barely, and must make her way home to Morrighan to warn them of Venda's plans. On the way, though, she finds herself disagreeing more and more with Rafe and eventually must decide which way to progress - in the direction her heart is leading her, or where Rafe wants her to go. It is during this never ending progression through the countryside that Lia and this book completely lost me.

I have so, so many problems with The Beauty of Darkness, not least of which is that Lia becomes a totally different person. She is incredibly rude and selfish and hurtful and has absolutely no concept of what it means to love another human. With one breath she insists that she loves Rafe and in the next she completely disregards him, his opinions, and his well-being. And while I understand that she is a "strong" woman who must do what she thinks is best, there are certain caveats that come with being in a committed relationship. You know, like not being a total bitch and taking your partner into consideration when making life-changing decisions. I absolutely could not stand Lia in this book and that is really unfortunate considering I loved her in the first two.

Kaden continued to be a decent character, at least. I thought his romantic arc, however forced, was cute enough and I kind of liked how it wrapped up. But Rafe... I think he's a good, strong character. I liked him. But I honestly could not understand why Rafe continued to care about Lia when it was obvious that he was not even on her priority list. Basically, the romance in this book was just extremely off and didn't live up to the rest of the series.

I've already mentioned that this book is slow, so let me expand upon that. This book is unbearably slow. I couldn't force myself to read it. A massive chunk of the almost 700 pages (seven hundred!!) is just Lia and Rafe or Lia and Kaden walking and talking and eating and sitting and literally nothing else. The entire trip could have been summed up in a chapter or two and The Beauty of Darkness would already have been so much better. I'm not sure what to say about the world building. This book explores the exact same locations as the first two, except you get to stay there for literally ever.

While I'm on the absolutely painful pacing of this book, I'd like to talk about the final battle. You know? The big one the entire series has been leading up to. Without getting too spoilery, it happens in the last 10% of the book and is over incredibly quickly thanks to some good 'ol deus ex machina. I have vowed not to ruin anything, but the way in which things resolve is so unbearably ridiculous I still am not over it.

Quite frankly, I'm mad. I will forever be bitter that I spent three books, close to 2,000 pages, on this series for it to end like this. The pacing was terrible, the romance was awful, and the magic did not even need to exist. So did I like anything about it? Well, the first few chapters were pretty good! They felt like the first two books in the series and made me excited to see what would happen. But all the issues I've already mentioned combined with a horribly open-ended conclusion throws The Remnant Chronicles right off my favorites list and into the trade pile.

Movie Review: Blair Witch

Title: Blair Witch
Release Date: September 16, 2016
Starring: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez
Director: Adam Wingard
Runtime: 1hr 29min
Rating: R
View on IMDB

A young man and his friends venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mystery surrounding his missing sister. Many believe her disappearance 20 years earlier is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when two locals act as guides through the dark and winding woods. As the night wears on, a visit from a menacing presence soon makes them realize that the legend is all too real, and more sinister than they could have ever imagined.

Blair Witch is the sequel to The Blair Witch Project, the 1999 horror film that fooled a hell of a lot of people into believing it was all real. Of course, there was already a sequel, Book of Shadows, released in 2000 (but we don't speak of that one). The Blair Witch Project easily makes one of my top 10 horror flicks of all time (I've talked about it here and here), so I was hesitantly excited when I heard of Blair Witch. Before I saw it, I heard that Blair Witch might as well be a remake instead of a sequel, but with modern technology. Still, I went into it open and hoping to at least enjoy it.

James is the main character of this story and I was surprised to find out that he was (apparently) the brother of Heather, the main character of The Blair Witch Project. It has been 20 years since she went missing in the woods and for some reason he has only now decided to go looking for her... because his sister might still be alive... in the woods... 20 years later. This was where my issues with Blair Witch began, only minutes in.

There are, of course, other characters. Lisa is the girl who James is kind of into, their friends Ashley and Peter, and the two locals, Lane and Talia, who agree to be their guides. Gone is the large camera from the original movie. Unfortunately, none of these characters have enough real screen time to become in any way memorable or sympathetic. Peter is the one who almost immediately freaks out and wants to go back, while Ashley gets injured right off the bat by walking through a river without shoes on. Lane and Talia prove themselves to be utterly useless and for some reason everyone sleeps in their own individual tents instead of sticking together in woods they know to be, you know, not right.

I should've listened to those who said this was basically a remake. This time around they have cameras that fit into their ears, drones, and other various cameras to record from every angle. Sadly, with this new technology, Blair Witch loses a lot of the mystery and suspense the original had. In The Blair Witch Project, the entire movie is filmed on a single camera, making it truly feel like real found footage. This one, however, is edited to show every conversation and trek from several different angles. It just lost all authenticity for me.

Speaking of the severe lack of suspense, Blair Witch relies far too much on jump scares. Where the original film showed a weird pile of rocks here, a stick figure there, or a character hearing strange voices, the sequel is 90% people running around and then bumping into each other and screaming. There was no real buildup and I felt very little actual fear. While there were a couple good scares during the hour and a half of runtime, it just was not enough to sell me.

All in all, this movie was just weird. The premise of Heather's brother looking for her 20 years after her disappearance alone is extremely questionable and the behavior of this group of people who have supposedly watched the original footage did not make any sense. Blair Witch did a lot of strange things with the mythology of the Witch - things that were totally unnecessary. I've also read that the directors backtracked from their original claims about the movie after it received (deserved) backlash from the public.

Though it was fun to return to the world of the Blair Witch in a way that was so similar to the original film, it just did not live up to my expectations at all. The premise was shaky, the scares were lazy, and the characters were really pretty dumb. At first I thought it might actually turn out okay, but the further it went on, the more I realized how much I disliked it.

Mini audiobook review: Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco

Title: Burnt Offerings
Author: Robert Marasco
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Publication Date: 1973
Publisher: Valancourt Books
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Ben and Marian Rolfe are desperate to escape a stifling summer in their tiny Brooklyn apartment, so when they get the chance to rent a mansion in upstate New York for the entire summer for only $900, it’s an offer that’s too good to refuse. There’s only one catch: behind a strange and intricately carved door in a distant wing of the house lives elderly Mrs. Allardyce, and the Rolfes will be responsible for preparing her meals.

But Mrs. Allardyce never seems to emerge from her room, and it soon becomes clear that something weird and terrifying is happening in the house. As the suspense builds towards a revelation of what really lies behind that locked door, the Rolfes will discover that their cheap vacation rental comes at a terrible cost . . .

The basis for a classic 1976 film adaptation and an acknowledged influence on Stephen King’s The Shining, Burnt Offerings is one of the most original and scariest haunted house novels ever written. This edition, the first in decades, features a new introduction by award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones.

Burnt Offerings was a book that had never crossed my path until very recently. When my Horror Reading Challenge group on Goodreads decided that this should be one of our group reads this month, I decided to take the plunge! It looks terrifying and it was an influence for The Shining! How could it not be fantastic? 

This book is, in a word, strange. I expected horror and what I got was just a super weird story without much resolution or explanation. The Rolfe family decides to go on a summer vacation and ends up taking up residence on an estate that seems way too good to be true. In exchange for super cheap rent for the summer, Marian takes on the responsibility of caring for the owners' elderly mother. What this actual translates to is that she has to leave a tray of food outside her door a few times per day. 

Ben and Marian are the main characters in Burnt Offerings and I really couldn't care less about either one of them. In the beginning of this novel, the two are supposed to be happily married and slowly their marriage changes because of the house, but I honestly couldn't tell a difference. Both characters were very flat from start to finish. The only person I was able to sympathize with at all was Aunt Elizabeth, and that was only when she wasn't complaining about something. 

Unfortunately, there's no real horror in this horror book. In place of scares, weird things happen. Ben acts a little out of character, Marian becomes obsessed with the house, and Ben's elderly aunt acts more elderly. Nothing terrifying ever happened, which was highly disappointing. There were some moments of unease and suspense, but ultimately I was left wanting a lot more. I never truly got the sense that the house was actually evil and I never quite understood what "really lied behind that locked door." 

It's possible that this book would have been much better received in the early 70s, but with so much fantastic horror out there now, this just doesn't hold up. Burnt Offerings suffers from boring characters and severe lack of thrills. This book was inspiration for The Shining? Seriously, just read The Shining. THAT book is terrifying!

Audiobook Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) 
Author: Beth Revis
Narrators: Lauren Ambrose & Carlos Santos
Publication Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
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A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Recently the topic of books read on a whim came up in a top ten post and this one really should have made the list. I've seen this book around a lot, but it really came onto the scene long before I started reading young adult fiction regularly. I decided to give it a try when I saw the audiobook at my library after quickly skimming the Goodreads reviews and finding that most people seem to love it! Unfortunately... I'm not among those who thought it was incredible so this review will be pretty short and to the point.

The premise of Across the Universe is really interesting! There's tons of potential here! Amy was frozen and taken as cargo on a spaceship in order to start a new civilization on a new planet in a few hundred years. But then she wakes up and nothing is as it should be. In fact, everything is so, so wrong that Amy has no idea how to handle it, but quickly learns that she has no other choice. Amy is an okay heroine. I didn't feel strongly about her either way, but I didn't hate her, so I guess that's good?

Elder is the love interest in this book, because obviously there had to be one. (At least there's no love triangle though, right?) I did not care for him at all. Elder was a selfish, rude, naive character with no redeeming qualities. The romance between Elder and Amy was totally unconvincing, especially after the "big reveal" at the end.

The world was really interesting, sure, even if it didn't make much sense. There were rolling hills and cities with farms and fake rain on the spaceship, for whatever reason. I love the idea of an entire society existing on a spaceship! I loved picturing the world, as weird as it was. And I even love the thought of this crazy, dysfunctional, dystopian society. Somehow it just didn't all fit together well for me.

My big issues with this book (somewhat spoilery?):

• If someone was cryogenically frozen, they would not be conscious. They would not be conscious for 300 years. Wtf. 
• How does someone disappear... to a prominent position... in a closed environment... never to be found? This makes no sense. 
• Why the heck would there need to be hormones added to the water to keep people from inbreeding? Have things changed so much in 300 years that people are into their siblings like that? 
• If a ship engine malfunctions in space, the ship does not slow down. I'm not even into science and I know this. 
• If someone is cloned, shouldn't they be able to figure out that they look like another person? How could it possibly be a huge revelation that you look just like someone else?? How could a character live their entire life without realizing they look just like other people??? 

When you put all these things together, my main issue is actually this: everything in Across the Universe is done for shock value. Everything. And I hate that. Sure, I love a good twist as good as the next person. But I like it to be relevant. I like big, shocking moments to have a point. Rape, for example. If there's no point to it, it does not need to exist.

As you can see, I didn't like this book much at all, although I didn't hate it. It was a really interesting concept, it was just badly executed. I kind of wish someone could redo this book, actually, with less shock value and better characters. I honestly cannot recommend this book unless maybe you're a fan of science fiction with the ability to overlook bad science and needless shock value.

Book Review: The Siren by Kiera Cass

Title: The Siren
Author: Kiera Cass
Publication Date: January 26, 2016 (July 1, 2009)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 327
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From Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series, comes a sweeping stand-alone fantasy romance.

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude...until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

I have a love/hate relationship with Kiera Cass. I loved her initial Selection trilogy, but I hated The Heir and never quite understood why there was ever a need for it to exist. I added The Siren to my TBR list way back before I ever read The Heir, when I was still excited about Kiera's books. Back when it looked like that. →

Even after really not liking The Heir, when I saw that The Siren was being re-released with an edit and a new cover, I decided to give it a try. Although I didn't go in with high expectations, I did expect to enjoy it since it was a departure from The Selection series.

The Siren begins with Kahlen's story before she became a siren. It's brief and doesn't give a huge amount of detail, although it's enough to explain how she became a mythical creature. Very quickly, we skip ahead 80 years and Kahlen is still a teenager in every way, which seems a little weird. It seems to me that if a person lives for almost 100 years, they should have a different level of maturity than your standard teenager, but okay... I don't really have much to say about Kahlen because, despite reading over 300 pages of her story, I don't feel like I learned anything about her. The entire story is literally about Kahlen moping and being depressed over the tragedy that is her life and her lost "soulmate," which brings me to Akinli.

Again, I don't feel like I learned enough about Akinli to make any kind of statement about his character. Kahlen repeatedly tells the reader what an incredible, perfect person he is, but how do I know this? All I came away from The Siren knowing about this character is that he's from Maine, likes cake, and knows how to dance. I don't feel like I have any reason to dislike Akinli, but I certainly don't know enough about him to say that I like him.

Let's jump right into the "romance" shall we? Allow me break this relationship down for you. Kahlen and Akinli meet twice, have one date, don't see each other for several months, spend less than 24 hours together, and are apparently soulmates.

Kahlen spends the entire book pining over a guy she has seen for less than 48 hours total. Less than 48 hours of 100 years, and that is completely ridiculous and unforgivable. Not only was there some pretty intense insta-love between the two love interests, but Akinli's entire family apparently instantly loves Kahlen too because... I have no idea why.

If I could sum up The Siren in one word it would be "incomplete." Reading this book, it is totally obvious that it was her first and that it needed a lot more work. Better yet, it should have been left alone. Nothing in The Siren seemed completely fleshed out. There was literally no history given on the sirens or how they came to be. The Ocean was vague and I didn't quite understand why She needed human sacrifices. The bit about the memories disappearing when a girl became a siren didn't make much sense because it only seemed to happen part of the time and the Ocean's rules seemed pointless since it seemed to be so easy to get around them.

In case I haven't made it clear, this book is NOT a book about sirens. The siren angle was secondary to the "romance" between Kahlen and Akinli. The fact that Kahlen was a siren only served as a way to keep the two apart so that they could pine over each other and almost die of heartbreak. (Excuse me while I go throw up.)

I didn't completely hate The Siren. There were a couple things I actually enjoyed, mainly Kahlen's sisters, but overall I was so disappointed by The Siren. I was really looking forward to another non-Selection book by Kiera Cass and truly hoped that I she would redeem herself in my eyes, but I have to report that was, sadly, not the case.

Mini Book Reviews: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld & Hell House by Richard Matheson

Title: Uglies (Uglies #1)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication Date: February 8, 2005
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 425
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Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever...

Uglies is a book that I've had my eye on for years, but just never got around to read it, despite the fact that it's one of my brother's absolute favorites. When it came up as the Dystopia Challenge group read for February, I knew it was time to take the plunge!

This is a story set at some point in the future when age (quite literally) comes with beauty. As children, everyone is an ugly, also known as normal. Everyone has nicknames based on their "ugly" qualities, but no one cares because they all know it's only a matter of time before they're made pretty with a complex medical procedure and moved to the pretty side of town.

Tally is very close to the day of her procedure when this book begins, before she makes friends with Shay and her whole world is turned upside down. Tally is also one of my issues with Uglies because I just really didn't like her very much. I tried to cut her a little slack, knowing that she had been brainwashed from birth, but I had a very hard time liking her. Her loyalties were disturbing and her insistence on becoming pretty even after she'd started to learn the truth made her difficult to sympathize with.

The story itself was definitely unique and had the potential to be great. The technology was cool and I found the ruins themselves fascinating! I thought the idea of this kind of "pretty" conformity was an interesting one and I wish it had been better fleshed out. Instead, I had problems with the world building and the writing, finding it slow even when it was supposed to be exciting. I really wanted to know more about the why and how of the current state of the world. Maybe that's something that will be further explored in the remaining books.

I really expected more from Uglies than what I got. I think part of the problem might be that I waited too long to read it. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more ten years ago? The concept was interesting and there were certainly some bits that were enjoyable, but I probably won't continue with the series.

---

Title: Hell House
Author: Richard Matheson
Narrator: Ray Porter
Publication Date: June 28, 1971
Publisher: Viking Books
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Rolf Rudolph Deutsch is going die. But when Deutsch, a wealthy magazine and newpaper publisher, starts thinking seriously about his impending death, he offers to pay a physicist and two mediums, one physical and one mental, $100,000 each to establish the facts of life after death.

Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist, accompanied by the mediums, travel to the Belasco House in Maine, which has been abandoned and sealed since 1949 after a decade of drug addiction, alcoholism, and debauchery. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townfolks refer to it as the Hell House.

So here's the thing... When Stephen King raves about a book that's topic is the "Mount Everest of haunted houses," I expect a REALLY scary book. Hell House has even been called a horror classic! So what the heck did I just read?? It couldn't have been the book all these people, including Stephen King, have raved about! I hate to contradict the Master, but Hell House was just... not scary.

There were several problems I had with this book, one being that I really didn't like most of the characters. They all came off as either really arrogant, annoying, helpless, or a combination of those. The only character I somewhat enjoyed was Fischer, and I honestly had to just go hunt down his name because I'd forgotten it less than an hour after finishing the book, if that's any indication. Even more than that, these characters are really, really stupid. There were so many moments where I wanted to just ask them if they were serious. I cannot actually believe that anyone with a brain would do most of the things these characters did.

Another major problem I had with Hell House was the horror. Where was it? What I learned from this book is that horror = sex. (Cover your eyes, kids.) I don't even mean violence! I just mean... sex. Even between a woman and her husband. The sexy horror ranged from Edith attempting to come on to her husband, ghosty sex, lady sex, basically all the sex. was. horror. I wish I was joking. Maybe sex was terrifying in the 70s? I honestly don't know how this was considered scary. There were a few possessions (and a few had to do with sex) but they were more amusing than scary. There was a teensy bit of tension here and there, but it quickly dissipated each time.

The ending of Hell House was also a huge let down. Huge. I didn't -totally- HATE Hell House. Hate is such a strong word. I did think that Dr. Barrett's idea for conquering the house was an interesting one and I did like Fischer enough, although even he was forgettable. Ultimately, I would not recommend this book.

Book Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 306
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Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Confess is my second Colleen Hoover attempt and probably my last. After quite the fantasy binge, I decided to read something a little more contemporary. Since I'm not a fan of YA contemporary, I went with a NA read. Considering Confess won a Goodreads award last year, I thought maybe it would be the book to win me over. Nope.

Confess is a story of secrets. It's the story of Auburn and Owen and the secrets and romance between them. To be completely honest, the first 30 or so percent of this book had me smiling non-stop. Then it didn't anymore because then the drama was out of control and that makes me really sad.

**From here on out there are going to be some spoilers, so read further at your own risk.**

Auburn, from the beginning of this book, seems like a pretty likable protagonist. The backstory was cute. I enjoyed getting to know her. I liked following her around Dallas and through her first meeting with Owen (except for this one really dumb comment she made about how she was a whore for letting him inside her apartment to use her bathroom). But then the truth came out.

Now, I want to preface this by telling you I have absolutely no issues with teen moms, single moms, moms in general, etc. However, if I'm going to be reading a book about a single/former-teen mom attempting to get custody of her son, THAT is something I'd like to know from the get go, because that is not the kind of book I usually (ever) read. So strike one: the cute, light NA read I was expecting is now primarily about custody battles.

Which brings me to the romance in general. Oh, did I say romance? I meant insta-love. Complete, 100% insta-love. The characters even mention how they've only seen each other for two days and they're both completely obsessed over each other and having affairs and making life decisions and being generally completely INSANE for people who have known each other for five minutes.

But really, there was just So.Much.Drama. Cancer, teen pregnancy, psycho uncles-who-want-to-be-daddies, near-rape, custody battles, drug-addictions-that-aren't-really-drug-addictions, POS fathers, drunk drivers, blackmail. It's just out of control. If I wanted this kind of drama... Never mind, I wouldn't.

I wanted to like Confess so much! I had heard such great things and the art was so pretty and... it was just a huge let down. I really feel like if this story had left out about half the drama and, honestly, the whole custody thing, it could have been a lot better. Maybe I'm just going to the wrong author for good NA reads though. This has been my second two star Colleen Hoover book and I don't think I'll be giving her third try.

Audiobook Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Narrator: Claire Danes
Publication Date: January 1, 1985
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
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Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

I have heard about this book for years, but never actually felt compelled to read it. When I found an audiobook and discovered that it was narrated by Claire Danes, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge! I had no real idea of what to expect, only that it was supposed to be pretty shocking. I came away extremely confused.

This is probably the hardest book ever to review and rate because it seems like everyone loves it. I didn't. Maybe because it's 2015 and it takes a lot to shock me? I don't know. This book was just a big confusing mess that was honestly kind of painful to get through. There were times when I had no idea what was going on, when the narrator would jump back and forth in time or go off on some random tangent. It was difficult to keep up and, honestly, really hard to believe. I know this is fiction and I know there has to be a level of suspension of disbelief, but this book asked for more than I could give.

Since everything that could possibly be said about this book is already out there, I'm just going to focus on a couple things. My biggest issue with The Handmaid's Tale is the idea that this society even exists. I think the biggest strike against this book is that Margaret Atwood set it in a recognizable time and place. If this had been a dystopian novel set in the distant future, it would have been a lot easier to accept. But asking me to believe that Offred lived in both "normal" America and in this completely insane dystopian society? I just can't.

Could something like this ever happen? I really doubt it. But IF it did, it would not happen in a matter of five years or so. People would never accept it. Husbands would not just roll over and allow their wives to be taken and used. And even more obviously, women would NOT allow themselves to be used in this way. I've read other dystopian fiction where children were raised in a cult-like setting and grew to accept completely insane lifestyles. But society as a whole could not be taken from modern America and thrown into this. The Handmaid's Tale doesn't do nearly enough to justify these circumstances. The fact is, society is not nearly as terrible as the author seems to imply. We are actually living in the most peaceful times in history. Certainly, we will not end up like this, at least in the very near future.

I wanted to love this book so much! Most of you probably know that I'm a huge fan of dystopian fiction. But The Handmaid's Tale was just ridiculous. Maybe in the 80s people were shocked by this. And if Margaret Atwood was aiming solely for shock value, perhaps she hit her mark. But as a cautionary tale, this really fell short for me. I'm not down with books that only exist to scare people, and I feel like that was this one's main goal.

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°o°  Notes on the Audiobook  °o°

It's Claire Danes. Does anything else really need to be said? Claire Danes is a fantastic actor and she's a great voice actor as well! I'd love to listen to anything else that she narrates!