sorry, but I'm not sorry

just going though a massive reading slump.


Cuckoo's calling hangover? 

re·view : The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)  by Robert Galbraith.

5 Stars.

syn·op·sis 

A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

re·view 

As Stephen J. Cannell points out in "A Deadly Game" "there's only three reasons to commit murder - love, money, or to cover up a crime." 

Even if the author goes around a bit, it always comes back to one of the tree. I have to say that I saw who did it coming, but I really did not expect the why.

The first thing that comes to mind about this book is that the writing is just so beautiful. It is everything I would expect from Jo Rowling.

I also have to say that I love mystery novels, it is probably my favorite genera, but I don't think this is just a mystery. To be honest, the mystery part is good, it is no Agatha Christie though. I also hate to break it to you, but it is not her first, The Chamber of Secrets is my favorite Potter book, and it is also a mystery.

The characters and their relationships is where it shines. In HP, I always loved the world and the magic, but there is plenty of that in the fantasy world. The characters kept me coming back, they grounded the novels in a way that it feels real.

And she hits the jackpot again on this one, Strike and Robin feel like people you might know, I just want to go to London and work for them. Strike is almost a blending of Sherlock and Watson, brilliant and tortured. Robin is just pure wit, the way I would expect Jo to be in real life. 

I love that their relationship is a friendship, yet there is always a door half open for something more. 

Also, it would probably make an excellent TV show. BBC? You there?

The special mention goes to the way she built the plot. She manages to leave clues, always pointing the other way. The way she wovens the little bits throughout the novel, creates such an intricate pattern. In a reread, you find everything right there, under your nose, and yet, you can't see.

re·view : Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Mistwood (Mistwood #1) by Leah Cypess
2.5 Stars.

syn·op·sis 

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwod.

But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.

re·view 

Well, I don't have a lot to say about this one, witch is rare..
The book is fine. I liked the premise and was very exited to read it.

However, I don't like that the reader doesn't know anything about nothing, though. When I read fantasy, I need some sort of information and background to understand the world, on this one, the reader is just tossed in the water and expected to know how to swim.

The writing isn't my cup of tea either, the way she(and everybody) keeps referring to herself as the almighty shifter was just annoying. I understand where the author wanted to go with it, I just didn't like it.

Finally, the characters. I just could not get myself to care about it..

For those reasons, I don't think I will be picking up any more of Cypress's books.

re·view : The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived  (The Archived, #1) by Victoria Schwab
4 Stars.

syn·op·sis 

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

- Goodreads

re·view 

I only hear two things about this novel, is either that the book is amazing or that it is slow paced. I will say it is a little bit of both.

The writing is beautiful and the writing alone is what made me go though the first half of the novel, because the story is just boring. The good thing is that after the first half, the story completely comes together. After that, I was hooked, immersed on the story.

When the pacing picks up, also does the story line and I started to realize just how well plotted it actually is. I love the premise, and how creepy it felt at times.

I'm ok with the love interests, I mean, I could see the villain coming for miles, but is understandable. We can see why Mac does what she does and everything.
It is still not the best love plot line I ever saw. I like that all of it happened as a side plot, so if you dislike books with love interests, this one won't bother you too much.

I really like the character, but I gotta say the best part were the parents. Am I the only one who loves when these characters have actual living, breathing parents who actually have a say in their lives? Just yes.

Now to what I didn't like, the first thing was the back and forth. Sometimes is better to show how things happened, and we learn a lot during does, but I think it could be balanced a better. If Mac just told some of the story and then the other part came from the flashbacks, the rhythm of the book could be a little better.

Second thing was the villain, could see it coming, but i still like how things turned out.

What really surprised me were the revelations about the Library. I new something was wrong, it just felt off, but I never saw that coming.

news : Dimitri's POV by Richelle Mead

She promised and here it is :

The Meeting

A scene from the first book of the Vampire Academy series, as told from Dimitri's point of view

“Dimitri!”

I turned instantly at the sound of my name, shooting a glare at the guardian approaching in the darkness.  What was he thinking?  Everyone out here tonight knew how essential secrecy was.  It didn’t matter that he was young and simply excited about his first big mission.  We had no room for errors, not when this was the only break we’d had in over a year. Realizing his mistake, he grew apologetic, though not nearly enough.

“Sorry.” He dropped his voice to a stage whisper and tapped his ear.  “Headset’s not working.  We checked the house, and they’re already gone.  They must have had warning, maybe a perimeter of spies on the streets.”  As his excitement returned, the young guardian—Laurence—began speaking rapidly.  “I was thinking about it.  They probably have a whole network of people working with them!  It makes sense, right?  How else have they managed to stay ahead of us for so long? There’s no telling how deep this conspiracy goes!  We might be facing an army tonight!”

Read the rest HERE

review : Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1)by Richelle Mead

4.5 Stars.

Featured in Alyssa's blog : AC Reads.

syn·op·sis 




In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of Xseries, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.





re·view 

I have a confession: Mead can do no wrong. At least in my opinion. I went in to it knowing nothing but the title and author, and since I have all the trust in the world in the author, it was the absolutely write thing for me to do.

This one has everything I love about her books, the snarky humor, sexyness and amazing characters.

It is very ambitious though, the world building is mind-boggling. She thought of everything from religion to education, technology.. (told yah, mind-boggling) Sometimes is a little too much, it is so detailed that the reader forgets that the plot line is around a murder and not just following characters around to see what they will do next.

The characters are amazing, character faults and all. March is the drunk, womanizer, genius guy that I would probably hate in real life, but because is a book, we get to understand and love him, see what he thinks and understand how his mind works. Mae is shown as this perfect porcelain doll, but soon enough, there are cracks everywhere. The side characters are amazing, I just loved Tessa!

“I can understand bitchiness in any language.” 

Yes, Tessa! YES!

The character development is just so well done, the reader really does get to see where they are coming from and why they make certain decisions, without being to much. I say that because as much as Mead gave the reader a deep understanding of her characters, she never made them predictable. Their interaction was also a thing of beauty! And the dialog is better than ever.

The plot and pacing is where it gets tricky to talk about. I love the way Mead writes, showing rather than telling, but this book just has a lot of information and a lot of character development, so I would say that the reader needs patience. The pacing is not as fast as I would like, but still there are no snails involved.

The plot is definitely back sit on this one, and sometimes it gets forgotten in the middle of all the other things. It is almost like the author just needed an excuse to group this characters together and really build the story from there. This is not to say the story lacks structure, because it really does not. 

As for the romance, I would't say is really a romance yet. There is definitely sexual tension lacing all of it, there was also a lot of steamy moments. They both look like they want to be together, but you know, feelings and reasons. Won't say any more about it.

What I would say if you asked me if you should read this?

If you never read anything from Richelle Mead, try Vampire Academy or Georgina Kinkaid, if you liked that you will probably like this.

Already a Succubus fan? Have a little patience and an open mind, chances are you are going to fall in love with this new set of characters.

Favorite quote:

“The truth is, when you banish the gods from the world, they eventually come back - with a vengeance. Humans can’t stay away from gods, and gods can’t stay away from humans. It’s the natural order of things.”

—	Richelle Mead, Gameboard of the Gods

news : San Diego Comic Con - Veronica Mars footage and Catching Fire new trailer

Veronica MARS! 

WHATCH IT NOW! DO IT!

(sobbing)

Catching Fire new trailer was fine, I don't particularly like having a bunch of trailers before the movies comes out. Half the time it just ruins the movie for me.
But I can't say I didn't like this one.