Review of Linked by Lisa Alden

Finally! I know...I took forever to review this book. BUT I have an excuse! I really am swamped with work and my laptop decided to present me a virus. Not a nice one either. One of those nasty little things that can't be found by any of the anti-virus. I've already tried. It's making it very hard to work...slows everything down to a crawl! Anyway my work computer also had a virus and it's being repaired. So I can't take this one to the repairshop until the other one comes back! Yeah I'm pissed but I'm also missing my main point: the review! So here it goes:
 
Summary:

In Linked, Fourteen-year-old Andra Quincy’s summer in Marina, the fog pit of Monterey County, isn’t exactly off to a great start. It’s her birthday, and her best friend has ditched her for a boy. Her parents are cruising the Caribbean while she’s at home rubbing her goose-bumpy arms and dreaming of sunshine and adventure, and being baby-sat by her flaky uncle, Ryan. But when Andra puts on her only birthday gift, a silver charm bracelet from Ryan, it plunges her into a magical alternate reality for each seven-o’clock hour.

Andra discovers that a local six-year-old, Morgan Baxter, thought to have been kidnapped, has actually disappeared into the Seven, a place that few have entered and most never escape. Determined to rescue Morgan from the Seven even though the kid is trying to kill her, Andra enlists the help of a dorky classmate she's only known as Golf Ball Head, who turns out to be much more than she imagined, and Joel Westin, a trigger-happy boy from 1874, who both terrifies and charms her. Andra must figure out who to trust and how to get Morgan and herself out of the Seven before it’s too late and they become a part of it forever.

My review:

Both worlds, Andra's reality and the Seven, are very interesting and funny. The story flows amazingly. Keeps you very anxious to find out more and more.

Andra is a well thought out character. She starts as this shy girl who is really sad and bummed because she's stuck with her uncle in her 14th birthday. You can see her growing up along the book. She becomes more sure of herself and her ideals.

I initially thought I wasn't going to like it very much but this book was a pleasant surprise and I'm really excited about a sequel. Hope we get one!

My photos

What can I say? Everyone always thinks they're good photographers...I know I do!
Anyway...I took these last summer.

Thought I'd share them with you...Hope you like them! XoXo

From LibraryThing

There's currently three books for me to read before the end of January and one I've already read but haven't done the review here yet:

To Review:
Linked by Lisa Alden

To Read:
Dangerous - by Alycia Linwood
Agathon's Daughter by Suzanne Tyrpak
When Copper Suns Fall by KaSonndra Leigh

I've been so busy at work this month...I'm not even reading newspapers or magazines. Just paperwork. Anyway just wanted to stop by and let y'all know what's next. I'll come back when I write the review on Linked or when I finish reading one of the others! Whichever comes first. See you then.

LibraryThing

I read a lot. You've already noticed that by now. So I heard someone (don't know who) talking about a site, LibraryThing, where you can find books for free. Yes. For FREE. Without illegal downloads! So how does that work?
LibraryThing works with several publishers to provide advance copies of books in exchange for reviews on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and etc. You get the book, you read it and review it. A couple of words giving your opinion about a book and it's done.
Not all the books are available for everyone and of course there are a limited amount of copies. You need to request it first and you'll later receive a message saying whether you were selected or not. Most of the times it's luck or timing that decides it.
If you like to read and can't exactly afford to buy every single book you wish...go take a look and see what you can find.

Review of the Strange Angels Series by Lili St. Crow

Reckoning by Lili St. Crow is a wonderful book packed with enough action to take your breath away and leave you with your head spinning. Just like the previous books from this saga Strange Angels. Your heart races and you just can't get enough! One of the most awesome series I've read. Fast-paced, light yet complex and beautifully written.
Now with the bad side. I've noticed some slips...Dru, the main character, saying something in one book and contradicting herself in the next...nothing terribly wrong or impossible to ignore. I also noticed how the author says "things that go bump in the night" every couple chapters. Just little things you'd hardly notice unless you'd been reading them all, one after the other. Which I have.
I guess that's also the reason why I'm so pissed off by the end. No. Not really pissed off. At least not anymore. More like terribly disappointed. And wondering why I wasted some of my sleeping time reading such a heartbreaking end to these amazing novels.
As an author I truly understand it. I don't like it though. Nope. Not one bit. But as a reader I honestly find myself feeling a little empty. With a huge hole where it was supposed to be that satisfaction of having read such thrilling series. Just like when you see a wonderful movie where everything fits perfectly and then...the end is just so disappointing you can't even correctly appreciate that previous perfection.
That's how I feel today. That's how I woke up today after being awaken 'till almost 4 am and rising at 8 am to go to work. Sad and profoundly heartbroken. But this is my opinion now. I may change my mind in a couple days...I may not. But like I said in the beggining of this post: It's an amazing series. It was worth reading.

Book Recommendation: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Finished reading it last night and was pleasantly surprised. It's a very well written story with an amazing lead character.
Do you wanna know the good news? It's out since December 27th so no time waiting! Go get your copy and enjoy! Find more here.

Summary:

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between...She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive...and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Review of the Thrall Trilogy

Thought about reviewing one book at a time but I've read them all already and makes no sense doing it separately.
I liked the series in general. Definitely a new light between all the vampire books currently being published and by new I'm not saying it's a new release 'cause it's not. It is, however, from a very different perspective.
Unlike current novels about vampires, these are not lovely immortal beings in love with some common but cute mortal human. In Touch of Evil, vampires appear as blood drinking parasites, who live by taking over human bodies and work together as a mind hive, in a human world that doesn't actually believe they exist in the 1st place. There are no cute sparkly vamps. And humans are amazingly ignorant.
By the 2nd book, Touch of Madness, this unbelievable sense of super dumb humans fades and is replaced by the huge sense of helplessness. It's actually amazing how people do not believe their own eyes and ears sometimes. You may think I'm just dissing the book or the author. I'm not. Seriously.
I can actually see this happening in our world! The denial, the helplessness and the religion fervor.
So yeah, it totally pissed me off in the books! No doubt about that! But it's so effing true! The author reveals such an insight...it's amazing even if also a little terrifying to see our faults so blatant.
In Touch of Darkness, the bad guys totally creeped me out by that werewolf hybrid. Again it's a different kind of hybrid from previous authors. You can actually see wolfs with fangs! How cool is that?
Anyway, I kind of saw the Dylan Shea thing coming...Still exciting nevertheless. Liked the ending. Tom was awesome and at least it's something Katie doesn't need to feel guilty about. She has a lot of that going...I'm not a religious person but my parents are catholics so I do understand. I also identified with the idea of consequences. All acts lead to them and most authors tend to forget that or simply ignore it. I loved that aspect of the books combined with the accurate picture of mankind.
Bottom line is: Read them! They are perfect to readers who like their vampire novels to have evil vampires. But be prepared for a complex and extensive story. You were warned! You can find more here.