Runes by Ednah Walters

                Hello everyone!  I have another book review for you, an ARC from NetGalley, of course, and Firetrail Publishing, Runes by Ednah Walters.  This books comes out May 20th, so read on for an early look at this book.

                This is going to be Book 1 in a series so as usual once I got to the end I was upset that I have to wait but what can you say.  The cover for this book is simple, but intriguing with the lines of light on the handsome guys face, who also seems to have a disdain for a shirt, all on a pretty blue backdrop. 

                Rain Cooper is your average 17 year old girl with 2 best friends, a loving yet eccentric mother, star of the swim team, and a huge crush on her best guy friend, Eirik.  She has it all even a missing and presumed dead father, to everyone but her mother that is, and a new neighbor moving in.  Pretty much your typical normal life.  Until she meets her new neighbor and the new exchange students and sexy neighbor Torin saves her life with magical runes on his skin.  Oh yeah not so normal now.

                Even from her first meeting with Torin, Raine is drawn to him, in a way she can't fully explain even when he does nothing but annoy the crap out of her.  She knows he's different right away, but after the whole saving her life thing she dedicates her time to finding out just what he is and what he and his friends interest in the swim team is all about.  Oh and her connection to him, while trying to make the most of finally getting the guy she's been liked for so long.  Who is Torin, and what is he?  hat he is goes back to ancient mythology that she is part of, but can she stop what is coming and save those she loves?

                I really enjoyed this book and will give it 5 Runes right now.  I liked the plot, a mix of paranormal romance, Norse mythology and a good learning to find oneself story.  It made for a fun combination to read.  Once I got started and became invested I couldn’t put it down until the last click of my kindle page where I was left saying "WTF that's it, now what am I supposed to do?"  Yep it will keep you reading and leaving you wanting more, it did for me.

                Now I've never read anything from Ednah Walters before but now that I have I'm intrigued and will have to check out their other books.  Walters made good characters, I liked how Raine was confused and undecided, she is constantly adapting and changing to new information being thrown at her and doing her best to deal.  And her relationship with Cora reminded me of my best girlfriends and our crazy behind  conversations.  Torin is dark and mysterious but also seems tormented, which yes is done many times but clearly it's a winner if done right and I wanted to make him feel better and take away his pain.   Basically I liked the characters and if you have read any of my previous reviews you know how important that is for me.  Good character or its blah and this one had good ones.

                The book moved along quickly and I finished it at work.  I liked being along for the confusion.  When you have wanted someone for so long, then finally get what you have wanted for years only to find yourself thinking of someone else despite your head telling you no.  Maybe its timing or fate, either way I had a great time reading. 

                Runes has many twists and turns and yes even got me a with one or two.  It comes out May 20th so give it a click and check it out.  Share your thoughts below please I love feedback and I want to know what you think!

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

                Zenn Scarlett is another ARC I received from NetGalley and the publishers Angry Robot.  This book came out Tuesday, May 7th, I'm a bit behind because of my lack of ability to sit down for more than 30 minutes to type.  But here goes, my thoughts on this sci-fi book.

                The story is about Zenn Scarlett, a 17 year old working to make it through her novice year to become an exovet.  What is this you ask?  Well as they live on Mars (way in the future, terra-forming sections and all way cool), she is learning to be a vet…for alien creatures.  Neat and interesting concept right there, can't think of anything else like it which is always a surprise.  Well things aren't that easy for Zenn with her absent father, helping out at the clinic where she lives with her Uncle Ortha, studying while trying to pass her 3 end of year tests that determine if she will move on to her next year in training to do this one thing she's dreamed about. 

                As if all that isn't enough she also has to combat with a series of inexplicable mishaps on the Cloister grounds that threaten their place uncertain.  Towner, Liam, starts to take an interest in the animals and acting extra friendly towards her, despite everyone else in the Cloister thinking they are all disease carrying, man eating monsters.  Then there is the little part where she might be sharing thoughts with the patients.  Talk about stress!  She must figure out if she is going crazy, pass her tests, and figure out what is happening around the Cloister with the help of Liam and Hamish, the Clinic sexton and huge insectoid who is also in training.

                I really enjoyed this book, I liked getting to know Zenn and all the different creatures, especially Katie.   She hasn't had many friends growing up and has spent her life with the animals and cares for each of them and as an animal lover (all be it more the cute fluffy types) I completely understood her.  Her uncertainty at new situations, her concern she is losing her mind, her fears for her future and everything else.  I also enjoyed Hamish and the way he was written, from a planet a society, where he must ask permission to do anything. 

                The book does start just a tad bit slowly but I enjoyed getting a feel for the new world and understanding Zenn so for me the pace worked for this tale.  It has plenty going on to keep you entertained while you zoon right through it, and if like me get your imagination wandering.  I can't wait to pick up the 2nd book and see where Schoon take it from there.  Again Zenn Scarlett came out Tuesday May 7th, I give it 4 Cute Rikkasets, check it out.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

My first real decorating job!
Pretty proud of it.

I got my signed copy of The Raven Boys for Christmas from a wonderful friend, and sadly I only just finished it (more like last week but I had a family event and a Bachelorette party to bake for).  Though part of the delay for reading was purposeful, me trying to hold off and have less time to wait for Book 2.  I made it what 4 months, that's it, but hey that's 4 less months to wait.

I'm a big fan of Maggie's other works so I was of course ready to check this one out, on past history alone but seeing the beautiful cover and the summary sealed the deal. 

"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said.  "Either you're his true love…or you killed him."

Interested yet?  Well this is made even more interesting because for as long as Blue can remember she has been warned that when she kisses her true love she will cause his death.  Talk about killer cooties!  Still when Blue meets Gansy and his crew of 3, Adam, Ronan, and Noah all four of them, Blue and the Raven Boys, so called because they are students at the school for the local boys private school Aglionby.  This also makes them off limits, not just because of her rule, no boys, but especially no Raven Boys.  But meeting him, after she saw him on the Corpse road, she is drawn to him.

Despite her rule, Blue joins the boys in their quest to uncover something of myth and legend.  A non-seer in a family full of them, she feels left out but strangely perfectly at home with the boys on this adventure. 

                One of my favorite parts of this book as with all of Stiefvater's books, are the complex characters.  Each one has a different personality and motivation for everything not just moving the store along, you feel like they are doing things for a deep purpose.  Gansy, the leader of the pack, beyond rich, privileged, good looking, devoted friends, he has the perfect life yet he is restless always seeking something that to most is impossible.  Then you have Adam, a poor kid from town attending on scholarship working his behind off both in school and work and trying to help in the search, even as he struggles with a rough life and some resentment issues of those with money.  Ronan, is also a rich kid who goes back and forth from anger to despair who has dealt with more than his fair share of darkness.  Last but not least, it Noah, the quite one who doesn't say as much but somehow sees more than anyone else and holds them all together and so much more.

The book centers around their search for the sleeping King and what finding him would mean for each of them.  I don't want to give anything away, but this book is full of mystery, adventure, suspense, magic, and just the right amount of creep thrown in with amazingly complex characters and plotline.  Pick it up and check it out, though be warned you must wait till September for book 2!  I give this book 5 Ravens!

Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather Reid

                It seems like forever since I got to review an ARC which makes this even more exciting for me.  Plus I have some thrilling stuff in store for my blog but more on that once I get it settled.  In the mean time back to that ARC I mentioned.  Thanks to NetGalley and the published Month9Books I got to read Pretty Dark Nothing a debut novel by Heather Reid.

                It's been 3 days since Quinn has slept for more than a few minutes here and there because demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her and whispering about her death.  Lack of sleep and fear are ruining her life.  When Quinn doses off in the hallway at school, Aaron an amnesiac with a  psychic ability and a major crush on her enters her dream and feels something unknown and familiar at the same time.  The demons are set on destroying her life in every way, to take away everything she wants most.  Does the past he can't remember hold the key to Quinn's demons and can they both figure it out before the demons do more than tease of her death?

                The premises sounded interesting, sort of like Freddy Krueger with dreams/sleep but with a YA twist.  The story is told from both Quinn and Aarons prospective which helps  round out the book.  It also can be horribly frustrating at times if you get invested in the characters like I do, then you obviously know more than each character does so when they do something that clearly goes against what you know you think, 'No no no, come on….'.  Then again that is what makes reading so much fun, when you feel personally responsible for the characters you read about and that was difficult in this book because I was conflicted about Quinn.  Inside her head I understood why she did the things she did and how she thought, fear, uncertainty, and love, but when you see the effect from the outside that her actions have on others I wanted to strangle her.  I like hoe the main female character is screwed up, royally, she has issues she screws things up and even when it made me yell at my kindle I still liked that.  The same thing goes for Aaron, he's brave and stoic and harboring a major crush always wanting to save her but at the same time he is a guy and he has mixed feelings and he doesn't know what to do with them. 

                The creep factor was also turned up to a 9 (in a good spooky way) with the demons slipping from just her dreams to her reality.  Talk about a living nightmare.  Demons voices telling you all your painful and horrid fears are true while slowly torturing you is enough to make anyone question their sanity.  Add to that high school drama and a not so perfect family life.  I can imagine the shrinks face to meet someone like Quinn. 

                I won't give anymore away just that if any of this caught your attention you should check it out of course.  I give it 4 Energy Drinks.  Pretty Dark Nothing comes out tomorrow April 23rd.  As usual leave any comments, thoughts, concerns below.

Coming Soon:  The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Host: The Movie

            

    I saw this at 9pm Thursday night and was so excited for it.  I waited patiently all day for this movie and when it finally started I was bursting with energy and eager to see this book turned into a movie.  I had such high hopes and let me just say I was no disappointed in the least.  The movie was AMAZING. 

                I was excited and leery worried they would change too much from the book, but I still went in with an open mind because I loved the book and the trailer looked fantastic.  I admit there are some differences, which I expected.  Time wise, it is just over 2 hours, and the book is HUGE (619 pages according to goodreads).  So as an adaptation it was pretty awesome and short of making it 4 hours they put pretty much everything in there.  Now they could have explained a few things a little more fully, as one of the girls I saw it with the second time didn't quite get some of the things like how did they get here and end up taking over kind of thing but as the story takes place after it has happened it's not a major point, it's done and move on.

                The cast was great.  I knew most of the main cast already and was excited to see them.  We have Saoirse Ronan, who I knew from Hanna and The Lovely Bones,  as our double lead playing Wanderer and Melanie, two different characters in one body.  She did an amazing job, she is an amazing actress and I couldn’t have pictured a better actress to play the part and give it the depth it needed.  To be completely at opposite ends and to have such compassion even in the face of what others would turn to violence for.  And as this is a love story as well she has great chemistry with her male leads and little Jamie, you could really see them as siblings.  Then you have Max Irons, from Red Riding Hood, playing our hansom, strong, confused, and emotionally tortured Jared who is desperately in love with Melanie but isn't happy with her body's return as Wanderer.  He played that conflict very convincingly I felt.  Next is Jake Abel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and I am Number Four, playing Ian the other part of the love box.  He starts off like the others not trusting 'it' but then as he sees how Wanda acts he starts to see her as Wanda and not an 'it'.  He goes from enemy to protector.  Caring for the soul inside another's body…very complex.  Then I have to give special mention to William Hurt who gave Uncle Jeb amazing life.  It takes a special kind of person to play someone with such a mix of crazy and genies with the ability to add levity to a situation.   Even Diane Kruger, from National Treasure and Troy, did a good job as the films main villain, even though technically anyone possessed as a soul is seen as one, she is the one going after Wanderer with a determination unlike the others.  She has little things about her, little things that bring the character to life in a real way. 

                The setting and visuals were great.  The Seekers are all in white and metallic vehicles, which is different from the book but it fits them better I think.  Clean and perfect.  The desert.  Natural and dry but stunningly beautiful to look at, from the comfort of an air conditioning for me.  Pure untouched nature.  The cave.  Grand and amazing, I know it was a set but still there really are places like this out there, Google it, nature is an amazing thing.  Finding a place, a safe haven, and making it work for you.  Now the first thing you see it's the cover of the book, the eyes.  The way you can tell human or soul.  I love the eyes, I'm sure those contacts would be a pain to wear but they are beautiful.  I also wondered how they would make the 'souls' look in their true state, would they be slimy worms or centipedes?  Much more beautiful, better than I expected, I wanted to reach out and hold one.   Visually the whole movie was dazzling. 

                The story is the book so of course it was fascinating.  Seeing a sci-fi world where aliens have taken over but everything is peaceful and happy, but still not human.  Fighting for love, for choice, for survival.  Never stand down.  The movie brought all of that out and then some.  Living on your own terms and not as a shell.  There was a bit more action in the movie than the book, but that is because we got to see more than just Wanderers POV, we got to see others as well.  They also sped things along, there were some things in the book that worked really well on page but to put that in a movie with that much…it would drag it down.  They hit all the major scenes and the little things they changed I was honestly okay with. 

                So if you liked the book, you must go see this movie.  I don't think you will be disappointed.  If you haven't read the book and you thought the trailer or the premise sounded interested then see it and give it a fair shot.  It is from the author of Twilight and that is great for some but don't let that be your deciding factor.  I saw it twice in 24 hours and honestly cannot wait to see it again, if that is any indication.   Now I want to know, have you already seen it?  Plan to see it?  Questions, comments leave them below.

Rating: 5 Glow Worms  

The Host: The Book

                For those of you still with me, first, thank you so much.  Now the movie comes out this Friday and I was going to wait to post my overall review but I thought since I just re-read the book for the movie, and had never reviewed this before, I would do the book then on Friday post about the movie.  The movie comes out Thursday night where I am and I have the day off of work to go see it.

                The Host by Stephenie Meyer is a sci-fi book about an alien invasion where pretty much all humanity  is gone.  The world is perfect.  Humans no longer run things, Souls do by living inside our human bodies.  They bring peace to the worlds they inhabit, minus the whole wiping out the current population that is.  However, there are still those few who fight to keep themselves. 

              

  This sci-fi book is also at its core a love story.  I think that it is a very human romance in a very alien world makes it all the more powerful.  Seize each day.  Don't let love slip away when you have it. Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away after being captured and having a Wanderer, the invading 'soul' inserted into her body.  Wanderer didn’t expect to find the body's former tenant still there refusing to relinquish her hold.  As Melanie fills Wanderer's head, her head, with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for him.  Feelings, the souls find, are very powerful on this planet.  Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love and finding something so much greater. 

                I liked this book because it really made you wonder.  Are the souls evil, yes they are aliens who took over your species but they didn’t do it in malice they did it to help make things better.  Are the humans who resist vicious animals because of their hardened outlook on life?  When neither side is truly evil there is a lot of gray area to play with.  Then there is the whole, two completely different characters, enemies and then allies, all in one head.  They have many things in common, but they also have very different ideals and wants.  Then there is the love cube.  Yep, not a triangle, that would be to simple, this is a complex cube that doesn't get stuck in a bunch of the love triangle stuff in other books I've read.  I also like the tale of living under the radar, surviving off the grid.

                I found this book originally after first reading Twilight a few years back (I can't believe it's so long ago).  If you liked them, you'll enjoy the relationships and characters in this.  If they weren't your cup of tea but you like alien invasions or sci-fi with complex characters, give it a try.  It's a tale of love, alien invasion, freedom, but most of all it's a story of survival.  Now the movie does come out everywhere Friday.  I will be seeing it tomorrow at 9pm and will write my movie review post haste, and hope to have it up Friday or at the very latest Saturday.  Check back with me for that and check this book out!

A rounded out Movie Marathon!

                As promised and getting back on track we have my latest movie marathon.  It's from Valentine's Day but still.  That's right I treated myself and was my own Valentine at the movies for A Good Day to Die Hard, Identify Theft, and Safe Haven.  Yep we have John McClane, whom I adore, a comedy, and a total V-day chick flick to cover, something for everyone.

                First and most importantly for me, A Good Day to Die Hard.  I've seen all the John McClane movies and frankly he is no questions about it awesome.  I love each one.  I just found out though before this one was released that the original Die Hard was released the same year I was born…I have not been watching that long for obvious reasons but have spend at least a decade enjoying and that is love.  So as you can imagine I had high hopes.

                There isn't too much to say about the movie really, it was Die Hard.  There was haha funnies, action, McClane being McClane, explosions and the like.  This time though he was out of the country though as he goes to check on his son and in typical John fashion finds himself in the center of chaos.  He really does have atrocious timing if you think about it.  Now there was more chasing and guns and less hand to hand combat but I didn’t mind.  I always roll my eyes when they set the guns down to fight in movies then the bad guy cheats somehow and I think, 'if you had just shot them' so I didn’t have to do that at all.   Overall and to the point its Die Hard so if you've watched the others you must see this if you haven't…where have you been?

5 Stars…because it's McClane.

                After some fun loveable action I decided to go for a full fledged comedy with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  First this movie is not a family comedy if you somehow thought otherwise think again.  Small children be warned.

                Identity Theft, is the hilarious comedy about a woman who steals others identities and her latest victim is Sandy, a nice guy who doesn't hurt anyone and is more of a pushover.  That is until this incident comes close to costing him his new job, then Sandy decides to go get her and bring her homes to clear his good name and his record.  Anything you can think of to go wrong does with this duo and their road trip.  Bounty Hunters, angry gang members, and their fighting against one another leaves no room for anything but craziness, with a few life lessons in there along the way.

                Predictable yes.  Though it is a good laugh.  Plus it does shed light on how easy someone can fall prey to identity theft and how the all mighty authorities have their hands tied when it comes to helping you.

4 Credit Cards

                Now for Valentine's Day I decided to go ahead and see the girlie movie Safe Haven as well to round off my night.  I admit with sadness that this movie was almost full, much more so than Die Hard, which I'm attributing to the show time being later in the evening.  I like girl movies, and to my knowledge have watched all the Nicholas Sparks movies, I dig them. I like pretty much any kind of movie really.  So I never understood the reason why some people shunned 'chick flicks'.  Well I think this movie was the first I'd come to understanding.  This is the first one I'd seen in a packed theatre (minus my Twilight movies), or surrounded by females I didn’t know.

                The movie itself is about a girl who runs from her life, literally, and tries to get away.  She gets out and she finds her safe haven in a small town.  She finds herself drown to a widower and it forces her to confront her dark and haunting past. 

                Don't get me wrong I liked the movie.  I did it was cute and fluffy and I enjoyed the performances by Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, and David Lyons.  What I did find slightly detracted from my enjoyment was my viewing companions as every single time something happened about 80% of the audience would 'awe' at anything remotely cute or sweet  or 'gasp' or 'shriek' out of shock or horror.  I don’t mean to be rude about it but after 20 minutes and 15 minutes of it had an added soundtrack around me it did get annoying. 

               

                So I do suggest that if you see it in a smaller grouping to fully enjoy the movie itself I still recommend seeing it.  I give it:

4 Bicycles

I just finished rereading The Host for the movie and am debating if I want to review the book now or wait for the movie.  Thoughts on that as well as the above movies put them below.