Book: Her Dark Curiosity

After finishing The Madman's Daughter I could not wait to get my hands on this book.  Also with such a beautiful cover this book was kinda hard to say no to.

When I first started reading the book I was totally in love with how with it. I liked where the story picked up and what had happened. And as the murders started I got even more into it. 

Sadly as the story started to reach the turning point ( somewhere around the point when Juliet went to Lucy's party) the book lost me. 

Everything I had loved about the first book was gone.  I found that this book was pretty much just Juliet torn between two guys. yes it was like that a little in The Madman's Daughter, but that book had so much else going on and going for it. 

However I kept reading hoping that it would get better. It sadly did not.  What really has me let down about all of this is I know that the author has the power to do something wonderful. She can weave such great stories. Set up great characters, plant little clues and twist and turn it all about until you have a can't miss book. 

This book did none of that.  I found that were in the first book that I liked  Juliet, while in this book she rather got on my nerves at times. 

The two characters I liked most in this book was of course Elizabeth and Lucy. I felt that they made the most sense and did their part to balance the story while adding a little life to it all. 

 Over all the book was good but it was still a let down something I am still trying to get over. 

I'm praying as hard as I can that the next book will be more like The Madman's Daughter and therefore can not wait to get my hands on it. 

( YA- 15 and up)

Stars: * * * 3.4                                 LEVEL:HATBOX 

Book: Divergent

I have heard so many wonderful things about this and read so many great reviews about it. But I never felt like it was my kind of book. I thought that like the hunger games I would find it to violent to like it or enjoy it. But when I saw the the movie trailer I knew that I had to read the book.

Reading the book I found myself torn right down the middle. As a reader thought I found it violent and hard to read I still fell in love with the book. As a reviewer I had a hard time looking past how violent the story was. I know that I should not be both reader and reviewer but I feel as a reviewer I can not look past the way that the book seems to justify violence. As a reviewer I always think about how I like the book and how others will like the book. And in doing that I always find myself thinking about how it will affect other people and their lives. A great book should make you want to do good and make you think about something you never have before. 

Where as a reader I'm not thinking about anyone else but myself.  I might think of a friend who would love the book but that's it. I never stop to think if it will change someone for the worsted. 

But as both reader and reviewer I really loved the setting and the world building of the story. I was able to get lost in it fully without every questioning things that the author did ( I only questioned the normal things is what I'm trying to say here).

Tris.I found that I really liked Tris. She was strong but not because she could fight but she was strong because she was willing to give to others. And when she would break she always got right back up again. For me that is what a strong character does. Tris is in many ways the ideal YA main character - female or otherwise. As for the other characters they were all good and added to the story nicely.  But the one character  I did not care for was Jeanine.  There was nothing that made her stand out and I felt like we were never told anything about her. It made a lot of scenes about her and with her fall flat.  

Again as both reader and reviewer I also would have liked the love story to either be cut out or had the timing on it be better. The one of the most important part of the book is happening and all Tris can think about is how hot this one character is! I was like are you joking? If I or anyone I knows was there we would be way to busy thinking about anything but how hot that guy is. It drove me crazy. 

Another think that bothered me as a person was the almost rape/murder scene. Without going in to detail about it pissed me off.  What really got to me was how little was said about it. It was like it was no big deal. No matter if they were only going to kill her. It felt like there was going to happen to her first. This is a really big problem in YA for me. Everyone wants to do a rap scene but they never want to really deal with the problem. People just get over the rap or almost rap the next day like nothing happened.Whatever it is that writer is trying to do is not helping the reader understand what a terrible thing rap really is.   Sorry for the rant there but I feel like this is something that needs to be addressed. 

Over all I really did like the book. It was hard to put down. I got lost in easily, and fell in love with many points to it. I felt like the flaws with this book are never talked about. I know that this review seems like I did not but I wanted to point out the flaws in the book. Because I did feel that those things stopped me from giving it a higher review and from wanting to tell some of friends to read it. 

( YA - 14 and up - for violence) 

Book: * * * 3.8           Level: Read With A Thoughtful Mind

Book: Find Me

This book had a wonderful start giving me much hope that it would be something wonderful and memorable.  The writing drew me in right away. I have never read anything else by  Ms Bernard but her writing was very strong. In moments of action she really pulled you in and knew the timing and pacing of it very well.  It was her story telling that needed work. There is so much to the story that was just... off. Nothing about the story seemed to be coming from the heart.  The forced love story drove me mad! Most people think that you have to have a love story to get YA readers or else your story will be totally unsellable. But in the case of this book I feel that if the love story was cut out all together you would have a much better chance at getting readers.
Also if the book had know felt like a rip off of all the other poplar YA books out there I would have liked it.  If you are going to rip off other poplar books that pretty much everyone has read then you need to at the very least do it with a good character leading the story. I did like somethings about Wicked but the fact that she did not go and get help at some points in this book drove me crazy. And the fact that she stayed pretty much the same person from start to finish. Also though I did love the hacking part of the story it felt pretty weak at times. and I found it hard to believe that Wicked was this great hacker. A lot of what she did seemed to be on the more basic side of hacking.
But what I did like about Wicked was how she was a nice mix of being that strong- kick-butt main character and the softer sweeter main character. In that sense she felt real. And since so many YA authors seem to miss that when writing a main character it was really nice to see that Ms. Bernard got that right.
 But there are many things I did like in the book. Like some of the twist even if I did kinda see them coming. Or Lily. I really liked her.  And the mystery part of the story was great.  The way the diary was worked into the story was awesome.
Over all I think fans of Mysteries or readers who need a break from the fluffy reads ( but who don't want to jump in to really hard heavy stuff ) will like this. Is this book flawed yes - but the flaws do not take away from the points of the book.

( YA - 14 and Up)


Stars: * * *  3.0                            Level: Read At Your Own Risk

I was given a copy of the book by the publisher. This did not in anyway effect my review or thoughts on the book

Book: Sweetest Dark

I read this book a while back and never posted a review. But with the next book coming out soon I thought that a late review is better than no review.
This book was both wonderful and a little bit of a let down at the same time for me. First off there are many things about it that are wonderful and it made me think the Gemma Doyle series. Which is one of my favorite series of books ( though I have not read the last one).  This was a lot like those books both in writing and time. But I feel that this might have had less action than those books. Some how Libba turns every little thing in to a huge deal.
First off I love the time in which this is set mostly because of Downton Abbey.  But something that I love is how they deal with the how hard life was back then. And in a lot of ways I felt like the book should have been a little longer. I liked the book and I was never bored reading it but the story did not really seem to go anywhere very fast. and even looking back on it there was no huge change in the book. Yet , none of it bothered me which normally it does. I think it was because of the honesty of the characters. Which I loved them all by the way and would have liked to learn more about any and all of them. I loved the story and its twist and turns.
For me the only down side of this book was that the love story was to rushed. it  was to fast. And I would have really love to see them fall in love slowly over time because I think that the character had so much to give us the reader.

( YA - 13 and up )

Stars: * * * 3.4

Webshow :House of Cards

I first became very interested in the show because its netflicks first show.The very first thing that they have done on their own. and I feel that is have changed the game. no matter how I feel about the show which we will get into soon. I think that had this aired on HBO it would be a huge hit. People everywhere would be only talking about this. It would also be up for a lot of Awards.Which in away its a shame its a webshow because the people who made the show now miss the chance to get the awards. But on the brightside for them they did a great job and have shown us that Netflix might be the new place for the shows that HBO does not pick up. and I think that its a good thing. Many more people will be signing up for netflix now. You get not only tons of hit and indie films alike but you also get a show that is up there with the top TV shows out there. and the best part you get to watch it all at once if you want or you can slowly watch it when you have time. either way its " a win, win".
Now on the review. the show is not going to be one that many people like. Its starts off very rough. and many might not want to watch the first one.
But something that blows me away is this the fact that Underwood is not a nice guy yet once you start watching the show you can't stop.
Robin Wright is very good. She does not have an easy time.At many times it feels like she is trying to do the right thing in a town were people only do the wrong thing.
Kate Mara is just as talented as her sister and could be a big start if she keeps up the good work. She stands out in this show which is a hard job.
I would also like to talk about the writing which is the hardest part. and they do a great job. I do not like many points of the story. I think that any show that has you watching it even though you hate them. and not the  kind you like to hate. the ones you out and out hate. And I think that this show will be one people are going to talk about for a long time. This show will also be a big helping hand to netflix and other webshows. And this also means not only do we get a great show now but that netflix will be hopefuly more great shows in the future.

( TV-MA )
Stars: * * * 3.7