PennyG

Violence, morbid humor, disgusting descriptions... Yeah, this book has all of that and more, which is why I enjoyed it so very much. 4 stars.

(An honest to goodness review to be posted soon.)

This book is awesome for three reasons: 1) a zombie apocalypse, and 2) a very murdery vampire who doesn't sparkle in the sun, and, lastly, 3) it was written by Chuck Wendig, my new favorite author–even if his stories tend to be more disgusting than others.

4 stars.

I'm with Tatiana on this one. This book is pretty friggin' disgusting. I'm super glad I read Mockingbirds, the second book in the Miriam Black series, first as it has much more going for it. I will continue on with this series.

Not as likable as the first book, Double Dead, but good enough that I will continue on with this series. 3 stars.

To be released in 2014??? I love you Rachel, but you need to write faster (but nothing must be lost in the quality of your writing).

Barely 4 stars.

When I started this book I was thinking it wasn't for me, that I wouldn't finish it let alone give it five stars. How wrong I was. This is a five star book.

Full review to be posted at a later date.

Barely 3 stars.

I am so glad I gave this series a second look! This series is actually a lot smarter than I remember it being. Although, yeah, it's this book, Fragments, that really brings something new to the Oh-noes-we-can't-make-babiez-cuz-there-is-a-cray-cray-disease-and-now-civilization-rests-on-the-shoulders-of-a-group-of-scrappy-teenagers-with-a-can-do-attitude table.

There are a lot of dystopian books about the subject of forced procreation, and I could never force myself to read any of them. But the premise of Partials, book #1, is just different enough, smart enough, that it caught my attention. I remember that while it wasn't my favorite, not even close, I did seem to like it well enough that I planned on reading the next book in the series.

Fast-forward to this past week: I was in the middle of forcing myself to finish reading Fused (Pure, book #2), thinking that YA dystopia/post-apacalyptic books are probably the soul-sucking worst. I needed something else to read so I switched to reading...another post-apocalyptic book: Fragments. Don't get me wrong, I was mentally kicking myself, thinking Dan Wells probably was going to take the few truly likable and original aspects in the first book and ruin them, because that's what writers of this genre tend to do.

All that said, I have to admit Dan Wells proved me wrong.

Not only did he keep all the good bits from the first book but he somehow improved them.

The characters? I liked them so much more this time around. The premise? So much more believable and interesting. And I absolutely love how Wells poses some very interesting, not necessarily easy to answer questions. I love when authors challenge their readers to think in-depth about important subjects.

And sure, I've got a few issues with Fragments, like the story is suddenly being told by multiple points of view instead of just the one, as it is in the first book. Though, admittedly, all of my gripes are so minor that I really cannot remember any of them now, except for the POV thing and the overuse of the word 'kudzu'.

Overall Fragments is a very satisfying read. Highly recommend. 4-stars.

Cancer books. Man, they are all over the place these days, aren't they. It seems as though you can't peruse any shelf of any book store without finding at bunch of cancer books. YA is littered with cancer books. Now don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily mind, it's just that a lot of these books are about the exact same thing: dying kid dealing with Feelings. There are few variations in these stories.

Okay, I'm coming across as insensitive. I'm not trying to, it's just that when you read as much as I do it's difficult to not get bored when fictional characters die of cancer, especially when very few authors try to bring something new to the this particular table. I feel as though many authors who write about this subject are hardly trying anymore. Cancer, death, that's the stuff that rips out your guts and reduces you to a pathetic heap on the floor—who wouldnt cry, amirite? So, yeah, I often avoid these books because I know it's going to be so Tragic, rife with emotional porn, and it's like I've already read each YA cancer book—many a time—I've already cried for each poor kid that didn't get to grow up. So, yeah, even though it's sad it also is boring. And manipulative.

All that said, Somebody Up there Hates You is a breath of fresh air. Sure, Richie, our unfortunate protagonist is dying of cancer, in a hospice no less, but he doesn't spend a lot of time feeling sorry for himself. It seems as though, even though Richie doesn't say as much—quite the opposite actually—that he's at peace with his much-too-early demise. like he's just waiting for his time to come, raising a little hell in the meantime. He plays an inappropriate prank, swears at people, sneaks out of hospice, gets drunk, gets a little high, hooks up, hooks up again (with someone else), gets punched (a lot), and maybe even discovers he has a heart (I'm not telling).

And sure, Richie makes a bunch of mistakes, causes quite a bit of trouble, but you know what else he does? He spends a lot of time worrying about others, not himself. He worries about his mother, about how she's dealing with everything, about her health. He starts to understand how everyone has some sort of tragedy to deal with in their lives—not just kids dying of cancer but everyone. He does a whole lot of growing up during his last few weeks in hospice.

No, this book didn't make me cry, didn't even get teary-eyed, but perhaps that is what I love most about it. This book doesn't force you to that breaking point where all you want to do is donate all your money to Saint Jude's and all your hair to Locks of Love while you bawl your eyes out. Rather, SUTHY paints a picture and invites you to to gaze upon it, to think about it and to come to your own conclusions. And not once have I felt like a soulless baby-eating monster for not crying over this book.

Sure, I've got a few minor bones to pick with SUTHY—it was sort of difficult to get into at first—but I appreciate it nonetheless. 4 stars.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars, I guess, though it feels an awful like the author of this book saw 28 Days Later and decided to base the zombies the zombies in the book on the zombies from that movie. Throwing up black goo? Really. Come on!

That said I do like how the zombie apocalypse, although horrible on so many levels, has a bit of a silver lining because it forces people to see things as they really are.

When I was nearly three-quarters of the way through Iced I was fairly certain I would never read another of Moning's books ever again. This book got my skin crawling and my stomach weak and just pissed me off far too often. Like all the reviewers who don't quite love this book, I'd have to say my main complaint is the vile old men chasing after the 14-year-old jailbait that is Dani O'Malley. And no matter what she's capable of doing, or what world she lives in, or that she's getting some curves, Dani is still very much a girl. I wouldn't even say she's close to being a woman, because she's such a kid it's ridiculous. Dani might have hips and breasts but she's not ready for any sort of adult relationship. This girl has never even had a boyfriend, and the last two guys she's had a crush on were Barrons and Vlaine.

So, yeah, she's not ready for the sort of adult attention she's getting from two grown men, nor do I imagine she will be for at least 4-5 years. The fact that it's happening within the pages of this book creeps me the hell out.

That said, I'm starting to get the feeling one of the adult men giving her way too much attention starts to become more of a mentor or possibly even a father-figure in Dani's mind, which set me at ease quite a bit. I totally don't mind that sort of relationship between the two of them so long as it doesn't develop into a sexual relationship down the road, because EW! I'm never going to be into the whole adult male grooming his future lover thing. Too gross for words.

I have so much to say here but I'll have to finish it up later (and I fully intend to do so because I have so much to say about this book).

Love this book but not as much as I love Daughter of Smoke and Bone. That said it is very well crafted and some of the more 2-dimensional characters from the previous book were developed within the pages of Days of Blood and Starlight. Not sure if I care any more for the romance than I did before I read this book, but I can assure others that they will--romance really isn't my thing, especially when it comes to this series; there's so much more going on here than a romance that I just don't really care what happens with it. The secondary love story between two of the supporting characters is actually quite adorable and way more enjoyable because there is no angst involved.

I love Laini Taylor, how she writes. If I could, I'd disappear within the pages of her books every single day. I highly recommend Days of Blood and Starlight, the second book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. 4.5 stars.

Love this book but not as much as I love Sacrificial Magic, book 4 in the Downside Ghosts series. Great writing. Four stars. Review to come...?

(I'm insanely busy these days, and honestly all the haters have pretty much killed any joy I had in reviewing books altogether and, lets face it, I was never consistent in writing reviews, even back in the good old days. So, yeah, screw all you Goodreaders and/or authors who can't accept the fact that not every person is going to love every book. The only reason I will most likely review this book is because Stacia Kane is one of the few authors who defended the Goodreaders/book bloggers who feel that honesty is the best policy when it comes to reviewing books. An author with that opinion deserves to be reviewed.)

This book wasn't bad, exactly, it was just not the sort of thing I tend to enjoy. The Casual Vacancy is more of a character study than anything else. Is it worthy? I guess, if character studies are your bag, which I've already mentioned I'm not a fan. I mean, this story meandered all over the place, plots developed that weren't particularly interesting or important to the overall storyline. As far as I'm concerned, if it has nothing to do with the story, edit that crap out. But J.K. Rowling wanted to look all smart so she left the pointless stuff in. It didn't work.

Also? It kills me to say this but this book, the story it told, the way in which it was delivered tells me Rowling probably shouldn't write Adult Fiction. Ever again. I love her Potter series, I love how meticulously planned out the whole thing is. She's brilliant at writing YA Fiction, clearly, and perhaps she should stick to it. That said, I will read everything this woman writes. No matter what.

2 stars. I recommend this book to no one.

Way to go, Libba! Great book. 4 stars.