Mulling On Monday #13

2 Stars

I seem to have issues finding a newer novel by an author that I have not read before. The newest novel to fall short of my expectations is A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce. It was a novel that I had wanted to get my hands on for a while, but just did not have the time to do so. So I finally did, and I find myself disappointed.

What is going to be hard about this review is telling what I did and did not like without giving too much away.

It is supposed to be a re-telling of Rumpelstiltskin. While I was able to see why this would be, and how it would be, I had issues finding exactly where it was. If anything, then it could have been a novel that did not have to reflect a re-telling of any fairy tale, though, again, I can see where it comes into play.

I found the pacing to be off in this novel. In some parts, it was very, very skilled, and had excellent timing. In other parts, not so much. It could be choppy and hard to read.

And while I realize that the majority of it is supposed to have a fairy tale quality to it, I found parts to be unrealistic and not believable. This comes in many forms, whether the decisions made by the characters, to the strange occurrences and ideas. I mean, the author notes that this is supposed to take place just before/the very beginning of the industrial evolution, but it seemed to be more of a Lord of the Rings type era with the magic and curses and such. It was very frustrating for me.

I also did not like, of course, the ending. Abrupt, if not foreseen, not to mention that it left much to be desired. It was too open ended. It did have the closure needed to end a book; it is not like it just ended, but it still seemed abrupt for what I was expecting.

What I did like were the characters. The majority of the characters were deep, well rounded and for the most part kept you guessing. I say the majority because two stick out in my mind that I feel were not adequate. The first one is Jack Spinner. The second is the heroine herself.

Jack Spinner is a character that is, yes, very much essential to the novel, however, towards the end he became more shady and random. He was not the character that I wanted to see. He was choppy and very much random. I also did not like that he seemed to be a bit of a head case, which gets explained by the end, but it threw me a bit.

The heroine, Charlotte, by the end made me really angry. She is so inconsistent, one moment believing in the curse and all that it pertains, and the next denouncing it and calling it folly. Okay then. Her random decision at the fair also made me angry, because who does that? Unless she was drunk (and I checked; she was not, she was just out of character) it does not seem to make sense.

However, they do all end up rounding out nicely by the end.

What I also liked was the cover. The hands bound in gold thread is a very clever idea, kudos to whomever thought of that. The girl also just suits the book.

I also liked learning about the process of the mill…the little that was talked about. The descriptions were fabulous, and I highly enjoyed the strange superstitions that the ‘village people’ had.

Overall, a ‘meh’ book, that I do not think I will be adding to my personal collection anytime soon.

Charlotte Miller needs some serious help.

With a mill to run, a town to keep together and her father’s recent death, any surprised that could cripple the mill could spell disaster.

Too bad her father neglected to mention the enormous debt that he racked up for some unbeknownst cause leaving Charlotte Miller and her sister Rosie in a heap of trouble.

With the bank calling in the debt, they have a very limited time to save the town, their life, and the mill.

The fact that the mill is cursed is not too big of help either.

Any help is welcome. But could the help they get actually cause more heartache and pain? Or will they be able to save everything that they hold dear?

In Elizabeth C. Bunce’s debut novel, A Curse Dark as Gold is a retelling of a classic fairy-tale where so much went wrong, with too much to lose.

Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce

Published: March 1st 2008 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Page Count: 396

ISBN: 0439895766    (isbn13: 9780439895767)

Mulling on Monday #12

   3 Stars 

   So, here we are again, at another week. As of tomorrow, it will be three weeks until the official start of summer. The crowd cheers…yay. 

  Anyways, so for my ‘Monday Mulling’ moment, I have chosen to go a little outside of the box and go with a play, rather than an actual novel. Still. It is a classic, and is part of a few school English curriculum. 

  No, not Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (though that could be a valid option), rather, it is The Merchant of Venice. 

  A classic in any means, with a beautiful story line and marvelous speeches (The quality of mercy is not strain’d,/ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest…) that are inspiring, and, once you can get past the Shakespearian wording and phrasing, then it is quite the story. 

  What I like about it is the dramatics. My, oh, my, how they go on and on in the most entertaining way, the sighing and everything that you have come to expect from a classic Shakespearian piece. The characters are not necessarily relatable, but they do represent somewhat of the population in that era. 

  The commentary! The presentation! (See? Dramatic.)And Shakespeare’s nerve to publish such a work is great.   

  What I did not like about this work was the fact that none of the characters are the sharpest tool in thy tool shed. Not really like-able, and they have the tendency to actually make you really upset, like the girl in the horror film that you scream at to not open the door. But what does she do? Open the door. This can be increasingly frustrating, especially when you just know what is being door number one. 

  I know that I had little to no issues reading the regular script, but I do know that many people struggle with the dialogue and the hidden meanings. 

  I realize that this was written hundreds of years ago, when racist and sexist were not words, but I did struggle with the way some of the characters were treated. This is also part of why the characters were not likable. 

  I also did not like the ending. I wish that it could have been a little more twisted, a little more un-predictable. But no, I did not get what I wanted. 

  Overall, a good work, but lacking in some essential areas. 

A classic work from Shakespeare.   

This is the tale of what friends will do for friends, what enemies will do to their enemies, and what lovers will do to their heart’s desires.

This is the battle for love, for allies, for enemies. It tells us how bitterness will lead us nowhere but ruin, and love will bring a smile to one’s eyes.  

It was a simple deal that was supposed to result in love and happiness, but instead triggered a landslide of anguish and dashed hopes. A debt to be paid. A pound of flesh. The chain of events that lead up to the moment in court when the deal must be followed through, and a friend must save another.  

 

  

Author: William Shakespeare

Published: January 1st 2004 by Washington Square Press (first published 1600)

Page Count: 228

ISBN: 0743477561    (isbn13: 9780743477567)

Quick Series Review: Earth’s Children

4-5 Stars

Alright, so I have finished this series for the second time, and I have decided that this series is a keeper, and absolutely magical, even if it is really for adult only, due to the adult content.

It is the series that started in the 80′s, by Jean M. Auel, and continues through to now, with another book, possibly two, coming out soon.Thus far, the novels that have come out are

They are an epic series (yes,I used the word epic) of great magnitude full of beautiful landscapes, people and problems. It is a very unique series in the way that it is presented, even if the idea of cavemen and people in prehistoric time has been used before. However, the information is apparently very accurate, and these novels are considered to be very informative.

What I love about this series is that information. The way it is applied, and the way that when it is put together, it makes up for a great series that you can learn from.

But it is just not the information that makes it; it is the lovely descriptions that encapture you and you can almost see wherever they are around you, and you are in the story. It is beautiful, and I applaud any author that can accomplish this feat.

It is the characters that top this tall totem pole of compliments. They are the head of it, and they control the story with such command that it is hard to believe that they were not actually people, becuase they are so rounded out, so defined that they are a constant that makes the story flow with ease. They control the reader’s emotions without flaw.  Especially the two lead characters, that have the most control over a reader that I have trouble finding in other novels.

I also love how they can make emotions run so high, so quickly, and ultimately make you want to jump right in the story with them.

What I do not like about parts of this series is that it can lull a little in some parts, lagging and dragging, but this is not a huge issue, and other factors soon make up for this. I also do not like that sometimes I want to throw the book across the room when emotions run high and I hate what the characters are doing, but again, this is contradictory to what I have liked. The emotions are part of it, and it is a love/hate thing.

Overall, a very, very good series. However, this is not for anybody under sixteen I think, becuase it is a very mature series.

The Clan of the Cave Bear

Ayla is five when the devastating earthquake hits home and kills her family. Not that she remembers any of that. When the same earthquake hits the Clan, a different type of people, they have to find a new home, and they just happen to find Ayla.

She seems like a strange child, with noises coming out of her mouth, and she cannot ‘talk’ properly; that is, with her hands.

Ayla struggles to fit in with the Clan, but they have trouble accepting her and her powerful, male totem of the cave lion. But acceptation of her is almost all she asks.

Can Ayla survive the trials that are given to her, including the Clan accepting her tall frame and blonde hair? Or will she always be on the fringe?

Published: June 25th 2002 by Bantam (first published 1980)

Page Count: 480

ISBN: 0553381679    (isbn13: 9780553381672)

The Valley Or Horses

Ayla is alone, and desperate. With everything she knows gone, she struggles to move on, and survive, though the ways of the Clan still nip at her.

On her quest to find people like her, the ‘Others’, Ayla finds a valley of horses where she decides to winter. Using her skills and forbidden prowess of a hunter, Ayla is able to fend for herself. In doing that, she ends up living with a horse, and strangest of all, a cave lion.

But when a stranger man is injured Ayla has to overcome barriers…and the shock of meeting one of the ‘Others’.

Can Ayla break down the walls of language and differences?

Published: June 25th 2002 by Bantam (first published 1980)

Page Count: 512

ISBN: 0553381660    (isbn13: 9780553381665)

The Mammoth Hunters

Ayla has now completed her quest of finding one of the ‘Others’. But how will she cope will a whole cave of them? With new people, customs, and ways, the Mamutoi hold a whole new challenge in the way of meeting people like her.

Customs are not the only thing that Ayla has to struggle against. Between her worries once renewed about acceptance, and her strange ways that are hard to understand, Ayla is an outsider once more.

Will Ayla ever find a place to fit in? Or is she destined to always be on the fringe?

Published: June 25th 2002 by Bantam (first published 1985)

Page Count: 656

ISBN: 0553381644    (isbn13: 9780553381641)

The Plains of Passage

Ayla’s journey continues, and she has made her choice. Leaving the culture that she was beginning to understand behind, she travels into the unknown, and the unknown is starting to take it’s toll, as is the constant strain of travel.

Worn by the unforgiving journey, Ayla is beginning to question all that she knows, as well as the unknown.

Ayla soon learns that the vast and unknown world can be difficult and treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful and enlightening as well. The people she meets, both enemy and friend are different, but nothing has yet shown to be somewhere to stay forever.

The long journey for a home is a strain. Will Ayla ever find that place she can call her own? And will the man she loves ever settle?

Published: June 25th 2002 by Bantam (first published 1990)

Page Count: 768

ISBN: 0553381652    (isbn13: 9780553381658)

The Shelters of Stone

With a home in the horizon, the dangers of travel are also overlooked. But Ayla soon learns that perhaps the most frightening part of the end of the journey is just that…the end.

With a place to stay forever, and the chance to meet the man she loves parents, she is once again worried about acceptance and her strange ways.

With plenty of danger and thrill, any step towards home could soon be their last, with the dangers that llay between her and their final destination.

Will Ayla finally find a home and a place where she belongs?

Published: April 27th 2004 by Bantam (first published 2002)

Page Count: 789

ISBN: 0553382616    (isbn13: 9780553382617)

I highly recommend this book to people who love historical fiction, or any adult who has the time to sit down for lenghly periods of time to enjoy such an immense novel.

Alright, so that is it for that so called quick review. Enjoy.

Mulling on Monday #11

2 Stars

Late, I know, but here it is, another Monday.

And while I know that I banned myself from any Nicholas Sparks, this is from a while ago, and I just forgot to put it up. So there. Yet another reason as to why I should go on a Sparks boycott for the time being.

Alright, so I am back and have just finished yet another Nicolas Sparks novel, one that I was unsure if I wanted to read because of who it was half inspired by; yes that would be Miley Cyrus.
So this novel gave me mixed emotions. It was overall written well, as in the Nicholas Sparks brand, but it seemed to slug through certain parts, and yet in some chapters you were bewildered as to where the time went.

Then there was the story line itself.

I am not 100% sure of what story Sparks was trying to tell here. The different elements of the story could have been good plot lines themselves. However, they were all put together in a giant, emotional mixing bowl. It felt at times like you were reading three different stories, and you just happened to know the characters.

What was most disappointing for me was the fact that I was able to put down the novel after, and just read another book. It was a “yeah, okay, that books done.” moment, which is something no author should be looking for.

I also found it awfully predictable. I knew what was going to happen chapters in advance.
Overall, it was an okay novel, though I am glad that I only borrowed it and did not buy it as I had originally planned.

Ronnie’s life is a mess, and it just keeps getting worse.

A shop-lifter in New-York, with slipping grades and a blind hate towards her father, things cannot get any worse when she is condemned to spend the summer with him, in a small town. It’s her own personal hell, come to life.

Things don’t get better fast. That is, until she meets a guy. And from there, everything changes into a different angle.

From the award-winning author Nicholas Sparks, comes a novel that tell of the power of summer love.

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Published: September 8th 2009 by Grand Central Publishing

Page Count: 405

ISBN: 0446547565    (isbn13: 9780446547567)

Quick Series Review: Wildflowers

4 Stars

I admit, I am very hesitant to write a review on this series, as most days when I sit down to attempt a review of this novel, I can never really get anything concrete on the page. There is so much to say, and most of it seems contradictory to everything.

The Wildflowers series is by V.C Andrews. She is known to write novels that are a little…different. Because of this, perhaps even in spite of, here is the review.

I like this novel…when I am in a certain mood. The subject matter is a little iffy, so I am going to say that this is definitely an adult book. Then again, it’s hard to say, becuase I have read worse in the young adult section. It is just that it deals with big issues and realistic ones too, specifically dealing with teens. So while I say it is an adult novel, I am also going to say that it is suitable for high-school kids, or mature kids who can handle the subject matter and the graphic scenes, which occur every part.

What I like is the realism, and the way that Andrews gets her point across. Sure, it gets a little graphic for some scenes, but I have a feeling that people see worse on TV every night. It is just becuase it is very strong, I suppose, and that is what makes me wary to share this.

However, it is real in a good way. The characters are rounded out, and you really get into the story when you read it. It can hit close to home to those who have parents going through a divorce. It is also written so that you feel like you have stepped into the characters shoes. The descriptions and everything is well done.

What I could have done without was the graphic scenes. The stories are all quite short as well.

I have also heard that this does not seem as V.C Andrews’see as it was, becuase it was partially (?) written by a ghost writer. I have not had a chance to read any of her originals, as I have also heard that they can be pretty iffy, and a lot worse than this series. (Though I do admit, I also really enjoyed Ruby.)

Overall, good for those who like reading novels with grit in them. This is a good series, it is just different from what people might be used to.

Four girls. Four secrets. And all the worse.

Four girls are in therapy for their school when tragic accidents happen to them, causing concern – enough even to go to a ‘shrink’ where they tell their tales to other scared girls.

But they all bear scars that cut deep.

Misty’s mother does not care about her, only herself and her mission to look young. her father left her mother for a younger woman.

Star is a girl whose mother was an alcoholic and her father out of the picture when he walked out. She and her little brother Rodney now live at their grandmother’s.

Jade is a rich girl who has all she could want. Except her parents, who use her as a pawn in their messy divorce.

Cat has a mother who hates her, and a father who loves her a little too much.

All look normal on the outside. But it’s the inside that counts, and it’s where they harbor deep, dark secrets.

In a novel that has the ability to scar and make you question our society, The Wildflowers is sure to make a lasting impression.

Author: V.C Andrews

Published: May 22nd 2001 by Atria (first published 1999)

Page Count:592

ISBN: 0743437373    (isbn13: 9780743437370)

Mulling On Monday #9

2 ½ Stars. (Oooh, recently I just cannot get a simply fantastic novel to share with all of you!)

Oh, yet another Monday. A boring one at that, but hey, it could be worse.

This is number nine here! Almost double digits, exciting!

Today I had to really think about what novel to review.  I did not get much time to read over the weekend. Sad, I know. So. What novel does one mull over on such an important date? (Not really, but hey).

So, hello Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende.

It’s a novel that made Oprah’s book club, for any of you who really care. (I personally think that awards don’t really matter; sure they can cover the book with medals and quotes and stars, but it is what’s inside that counts.) The author has written plenty of novels, and has gotten plenty of awards and ‘read-it”s.

This is one novel that I was not impressed with.

I have read it before, actually. But what made me pick it up again (promptly forgetting my disgust with it the first go-round) was me trying to remember another book about a Chinese man and how he met an interesting Englishman while trying to make a living by using acupuncture. Then, bing. Hello. That would be this novel. So I picked it up, wanting to find a story I had loved that was really only two or three chapters in this novel. Oh. Well then.

Let me say that those two or three chapters is what I liked the most out of this novel. The rest seems mashed, mixed, and not well put together overall. The characters are a little hazy, and the story line not really there. Little makes sense in this novel between it jumping around different character that by the end have little to do with anything.

I don’t like it when authors lose their way in their own works, and just randomly wander off with the story until they can fill up a few pages to make themselves feel better. That is what this book seemed like. Just a filler with all the backstories and flashbacks.

What I did like. Well. It’s a love hate relationship, becuase some of the flashbacks/backstories were really good. I mean, some of them were even better than the wanderings of Eliza and the randomness of everything else.

Overall, perhaps a beach read, or even the dreaded ‘read on a airplane’ novel. Ouch.

Eliza is an orphan living in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile. Found in a box by Miss Rose Summers, Eliza is raised in a Victorian way, filled with music, parties and glamor that tries to live up to far away England. But there are secrets the family harbours, each more dangerous than the last.

And Eliza has a secret that could possibly destroy her family, if it does not kill her first.

At sixteen, Eliza is headstrong, stubborn, and in love with the wild Joaquín Andieta, a Chilean clerk who works for Jeremy. Soon she finds herself over her head when she is pregnant with his child, and her lover has caught a ship to California where gold fever is taking over all of the men’s heads. But when Eliza decides to follow him as a stowaway on a ship, leaving all she knows behind, everything is not as it seems.

In a novel that is proclaimed as Isabel Allende finest work, this will take you back to an era where love was inappropriate, England was master, and gold was the currency of America.

Author: Isabel Allende

Published: May 1st 2006 by Harper Perennial (first published 1999)

Page Count: 432

ISBN: 0061120251    (isbn13: 9780061120251)

Mission Re-Read The YA Book Shelf: Night World Series

Overall, 2 ½ – 3 Stars

Okay, so I was pretty much forced to read this by my friend, who thought I would enjoy it.  And it’s been a while since I have done a mission post. Oops. Note that this is not because I have been slacking on the mission, it is because I have been reading and not reviewing. Again, oops.

So. This series. I read it. It was okay. I know that there are plenty of people who fell in love with this series, and absolutely were enthralled with it, but I, for one, was not impressed. Maybe it is because I am half-sick of vampire are werewolves and crazy witches and strange forbidden/secret circles, but either way you put it, I was not happy with this series.

The writing was okay; mediocre, and so much like all the other YA novels I have read, that it was kind of like, yes, okay, I get it now.

What bugged me a little was the fact that you read one novel (they are all together, three to a volume, three volumes so far), you skipped right over to an entirely different story with different characters, different plot, but similarities like, oh! Boys. Typical ‘love is forever…and you are my soulmate and we will never be parted!’ It’s getting old real quick.

What really, really, irritated me was the strange similarities between Twilight and these novels. I had to flip to the original publishing date to see who was copying who. And, Stephenie? That would be you. Sorry.

I also, again found it hard to follow. The only thing that connected them was the whole ‘secret society’ and the ‘end of the world’. That kinda blew it for me. I knew it was an older series, but I had to laugh that here I am, ten years later. I seem pretty much alive at this point, so the apocalypse in 2000 is a little old. It’s 2012 now, just so you know.

What I did like about the novels were some of the characters. They seemed (for the majority of the stories) well rounded and realistic…other than the whole supernatural part. The stories (again, for the most part) well well written, even if I am weary of the supernatural teenager/vampire/witch/werewolf/whatever.

Overall, I think that this review may be a little biased due to my frustrations with the YA fad right now, but once I push all that away, this series is okay. Not fantastic, but okay.

Secret Vampire

Poppy is a popular, raven-haired girl who loves her summer fun. But that is all turned upside down when she suddenly gets sick, and it’s not what anybody could ever imagine; Poppy has terminal cancer. When she is visited by James, her best friend he reaches out to her; as a vampire. He can save her.

But it goes against everything the Nightworld laws lay out.

In the opening novel of the Nightworld series, it gives the rules that must never be broken; and what happens when you break them.

Published: June 1st 1996

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671551337    (isbn13: 9780671551339)

Daughters of Darkness

Mary-Lynette loves to watch the stars. She always has; they are an escape, and her telescope lets her see far off into other worlds. One day, she sees into a different world alright. She sees what she thinks is a murder.

However, it’s just three vampire sisters burying their mysteriously-killed aunt. The sisters, Rowan, Kestral, and Jade are just trying to live ‘normal’ teenage lives, but when their aunt dies, and Mary-Lynette sees, it just becomes that much more difficult. It gets harder when their brother is sent to bring them back, and he slowly starts to fall for the human.

In a world where falling for humans is against the law, and loving an immortal seems impossible, can the two forgive and be soulmates? Or will the laws make that impossible?

Published: August 1st 1996

Page Count: 224

ISBN: 0671551345    (isbn13: 9780671551346)

Spellbinder

Thea and Blaise are cousins that are closer than sisters. They have always been together. But they are different as day and night, especially in their circles. For the two girls are witches.

Thea belongs to Circle Twilight, for the Glinda-type witches and Blaise belongs to Circle Midnight, for the ones that want a little more darkness.

The two become strained when they both fall for the same boy, and black and white magic flies, and there can be only one winner.

Published: October 1st 1996

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671551353    (isbn13: 9780671551353)

Dark Angel

When Gillian is rescued from death by a guardian angel, all seems okay. And that much better when the angel says he can teach  the shy girl how to be noticed and become popular…which could capture David’s – the handsome boy she has had a crush on for ages – attention, making her a star.

But things get frightening when the angel grows dark and starts making demands that just might kill her.

Published: December 1st 1996

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671551361    (isbn13: 9780671551360)

The Chosen

Rachel is vampires worst fear; armed with her special wooden stake,extreme martial arts knowledge, and he ability to resist mind-control, she is something from hell for the vampire. Fueled with a vengeance to revenge her mother’s death, She tries to kill as many vampires as possible;it’s what she knows.

What she doesn’t know is that when love forms, it does not matter what form the other person takes. Your worst enemy just could be your soulmate.

Published: February 1st 1997

Page Count: 224

ISBN: 067155137X    (isbn13: 9780671551377)

Soulmate

Hannah Snow is put together. Pretty, good grades, good friends, dreams of a good career. She is ready and prepared for life.

She is not prepared for the handwritten notes warning her ‘dead before seventeen’…in her handwriting.

When she goes to a  psychologist, she assumes it will all stop, and not get worse. Instead, she gets visions, and memories of other lives; her lives. But in each one she sees a vampire who killed a village in his rage. Until, in the eyes of a dying human girl, he recognized his soulmate.

Now Theirry is back, ready to make amends and get Hannah.

When your destiny is death, repeated a hundred times over, can love save you?

Published: April 1st 1997

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671551388    (isbn13: 9780671551384)

Huntress

Jez Redfern is a vampire, through and through. The leader of a notorious vampire gang that hunts them, vermin, humans, she is comfortable with her brutality and strength.

Her world is turned upside down, however, when she finds out that although she is a vampire, she is only half of one. The other half is human. Vermin.

Her world blown out of the water, Jez leaves her gang to do what she thought she would never even think about -protect the humans. This means even hunting and killing what half of her self is.

But when Circle Daybreak sends her on a search for one of the legendary Wild Powers, Jez has to rejoin her old gang; and avoid her old ways. They welcome her back with open arms – especially her old second-in-command, Morgead. Desperate to stay faithful to the human she loves, she clings as hard as she can to humanity.

But when you find your soulmate, it’s hard to resist. Like the other part of herself she is resisting; the huntress who is thirsty for blood.

Published: September 1st 1997

Page Count: 224

ISBN: 0671014757    (isbn13: 9780671014759)

Black Dawn

When Maggie’s brother goes missing, something in his girlfriend’s story does not make sense. So when Maggie digs a little deeper, she captured, and told she is a slave.

She finds herself in a mountainous kingdom where humans are slaves to vampires, witches, and shape shifters.  The world that has no color. A world with danger.

Between escaping with her blind companion Aradia, Maiden of all the Witches, and discovering that she is the long-looked-for Deliverer, the prophesied liberator of the human slaves of this strange land, things just keep getting complicated.

It does not help when the young vampire prince Delos falls for her.

Determined to find out what happened to her brother, determined to escape, determined to resist Delos and his dark promises. She will do all she can, even if it destroys her.

Published: November 1st 1997

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671014765    (isbn13: 9780671014766)

Witchlight

Keller is a shape-shifter. Her ability to turn into a panther makes her strong, a fighter. One of the best in Circle Daybreak. That is why her and her team must find the last wild-power and lost witch child. That is why when they find Iliana Harman, who is supposed to be her, Keller is bemused. She is soft-hearted, sweet, and a little ditzy. Not exactly prime Nightworld material.

It makes the fact that Galen – Keller’s soulmate – has to marry this girl, as he is the prince of the Shapeshifters And as the Witch Child, she’s been prophesied to marry the him to cement an alliance between the witches and ‘shifters, a little hard to swallow.

Keller has to forget about that though, when they find out that they are not the only ones who are looking for Iliana; and that a dragon has been unleashed to find her.

A day in the life of the now-dangerous Nightworld.

Published: January 1st 1998

Page Count: 240

ISBN: 0671014773    (isbn13: 9780671014773)

Strange Fate

(Note – this novel is slated for release sometime this year, or next year.)

The long-awaited final novel in the Nightworld series.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Strange finds life a mass of contradictions.
She’s an ordinary-looking girl, and yet two of the most popular guys at school form her circle of friends.  Kierlan Drache and Mal Harman, who are as unalike as any two people can be.  That ought to make her happy, but recently she’s been having romantic feelings about each of them—and has seen two silver cords: one reaching from her to Kierlan, and one from her to Mal.  What’s going on?  In addition, every night she dreams of a future where dragons and vampires rule the world, and of a brave child called Crispy.  For a girl who hasn’t even heard of the Night World yet, Sarah has a lot to handle!  Even worse, the Apocalypse has finally come—and even the Wild Powers see only one way to stop it.  This is an epic volume, which stars all the most beloved Night Worlders from the other books. Be prepared, though, because seven go on a mission to save the world . . . and only two come back.

- From http://www.ljanesmith.net/booklist.php

Published: April 26th 2011

Page Count: 528

ISBN: 1416986774    (isbn13: 9781416986775)

Whew. That took some effort. Onto the next mission. Next series. Next adventure.

Quick Review: Dear John

  2 ½ Stars

So I sat down with this novel after being promised that it was an amazing novel and that the movie was superb and that it had everything Nicholas Sparks had offered before.

  I should not have been surprised that after reading The Last Song, that I would not enjoy it.

  Sparks has veered off into a different realm, it seems, than the great novels like A Walk to Remember, and The Notebook.  Those were heart-wrenching romances.

  This was just…dull.

  I admit, the first part of the novel was promising, if not familiar to The Last Song. It seemed like it could work up to a steady, heart-pounding climax.

  Dull.

  Also, the novel promises a ‘life-changing decision’. Okay. Waited for that, and it was not untill I passed a few pages that I had to flip back and realize ‘oh. That was it’. See? So well hidden I missed it.

  And the ending. That was awfully dull too. And so easily foreseen. I guess, though that it was realistic, and therefore, it made the ending a little more down-played than a big shablam ending, but, I wished for a twist. Some sad twist of fate. A long lost-something-or-other. No. Just what he had and what he did. The end.

  This novel really, really let me down. One of my first thoughts after finishing was ‘I’m done with Nicholas Sparks for a while’. Sadly, this remains true, and will for a while. Though I suppose I could visit his old stuff, when it was actually good. But for now, I am going on a Nicholas Sparks ban.

  I liked the characters though. thoughtfully developed, and rounded out by the end, but they can only do so much in a story such as this.

  I think that everything just needs to be re-worked. A bigger climax (eh-ehm.  How about a more noticable one?), and a story that is way more deep than this.

John Tyree is an angry rebel wanthing nothing to do with school, planning or his Dad. And he is half-sick to death with the only thing his father will share with him in his boring, everyday routine; coins.

 So when he gets out of high-school, out of the party zone and into the real world, surfing and drinking is about the most he can see himself doing in this life.

Until two marines jog by.

Without much of a thought, John enlists in the army, with very little regrets. He is fit, he has good buddies, and he gets to see the world.

 But when he returns home from Germany on leave, all that changes when a girl drops her purse in the ocean.

The two young people soon find themselves falling for each other, their lives tangling, and love forming. But that all changes when John’s leave is up, and it’s time to go back to to Germany.

 However, the two write letters back and forth, love sealed into each of them, scalding, hurting, and John and Savannah are counting down the days untill John comes home.

That changes on 9/11.

In a story that is truthful and realastic, Dear John is a novel that seems heart-felt.

 

 

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Published: October 30th 2006 by Warner Books (first published 2006)

Page Count: 276

ISBN: 0446528056    (isbn13: 9780446528054)

Mulling On Monday #6

2 Stars

  Alright. It’s been awhile since I have last written, but that was due to circumstances out of my controll, so, here I am now. Miss me?

  Just kidding.

  Alright, so for my sixth Monday Mulling Moment, I have chosen the book The Last Song. Yes, I know. Yet another Nicholas Sparks book? Yes. Another one. But this one I did not really enjoy.

  Why? Sparks seemed to have issues with choosing a topic and sticking to it. The story veered off in a dozen different directions that could have supplied three other books. Also, the summer in the novel seemed to fly by, by any standards, and by the end of the book, you were suprised that it could even spend that long. I also hated the fact that random things happened that had nothing to do with the story, and suddenly, they became full blown topics.

  What I did like. There was little that I did like, other than it was a quick read. And the fact that it was typical Sparks romance, with a tear-jerker moment thown in.

  Overall, quite frankly, the novel just made me roll my eyes untill I was unsure if I could roll them anymore. I had to slog through the summer flames and turtles and creepy dudes that threaten you, along with a chick who is so out of control and frames you. But whatever. Now I don’t have to see the movie.

  Ronnie is out of controll. A shoplifter with divorced parents living in New York, the ultimate hell would have to be being sent to see her father…who she has not talked to in years. He, after all, walked out on the family. But when her mother gives her the ultimate punishment, she is forced to see her father with her little brother in a dead-beat down where little happens.

That all changes when she  gets run into at a volleyball game. From there, the summer goes down as one of the most troubled and romantic of her life.

Yet another novel from the Award-Winning Nicholas Sparks, this is a light romance with every hint of truth.

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Published:

September 8th 2009 by Grand Central Publishing

Page Count: 390

ISBN: 0446547565    (isbn13: 9780446547567)

Book of the Week: Song of the Sparrow

4 Stars

Some people have asked me how I can call this book a novel. After all, it’s 380-some pages of poetry, is it not?

Well, um, no. While it may be in a poetic format, there are no rhymes, no set rhythm, just a story that you can read as easily as anything else.It is beautifully done, and I have to love the idea of it.

And the story is done so very well. The legend is taken on in such a way that it is absorbing from the very first page.  The poetry part at first is a tad daunting, if only becuase we are not used to reading a novel set in this way. But it was very well done, and I enjoy it very, very much.

What I liked so much was, yes, the format, but also the story line. It was different than all of the other King Aurthur novels that I tried to avoid for the reason of that they were usually really, really dumb (no offense meant).  I never have found a King Aurthur book I liked, but this was the exception.

What I did not like, was, yes, the format. Sometimes, it was hard to put down for a few minutes becuase you knew it would be hard to get back into it. I also did not like that it was a very quick read. I finished 50 pages in about 10 minutes. So it is a quick and light read.

Elaine has always been the only girl in a military camp of hundreds of men – which are now like brothers to her – ever since her mother was murdered. She admires the playful men who all treat her like a sister…and she especially admires Lancelot. But she cannot tell anybody this – especially when a beautiful maiden comes to the camp.

Filled with a strange sense of jealousy, bewilderment, and an odd sense of possessiveness, Elaine finds herself fighting her own battle. But it cannot go on any longer -or else.

A book that is different and completely well written, Song of the Sparrow is a novel that once read will be remembered.

Author: Lisa Ann Sandell

Published: December 20th 1987 by HarperTrophy (first published 1888)

Page Count: 245

ISBN:0064401871    (isbn13: 9780064401876)