Tag Archive | Random House

REVIEW: Spare by Prince Harry

Feb28
Spare Book Cover Spare
Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
Memoir
Random House
January 10, 2023
Audiobook
410
Public Library
February 2-22, 2023

It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight. At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love. Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . . For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

Review

I was so excited to read Prince Harry’s book, Spare. And better yet, to listen to him narrate it. (Memoir’s are always so much better when read by the author!) But I’ve got to be honest… this book was excessively long and much of that was snooze-worthy.

I absolutely felt for Harry. He’s certainly the black sheep of his family and I realize there are two sides to every story, but he certainly made me feel for him.

Harry is a man still haunted by the death of his mother. Haunted by a family legacy of never displaying emotion. Haunted by the press.

Unless you’ve been living alone on a deserted island the past few years, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the headlines about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, but his battle with the press goes so much further back. He’s never liked them, but after the role they played in his mothers death, he will never forgive them. 

Reading his story really did make me realize how awful the press treat those who are famous. Unlike actors and musicians though, Harry never chose that life. He was born into it. He can’t escape it. And while some may find that he spends the whole book “whining” about his lot in life, I disagree. Harry hates the system and wants to change it, and I respect that. 

What really slowed the book down for me though was his talk about life in the military. I get it, that was a big part of his life. It’s where he felt most himself and accepted. But I hate war and fighting and the fact that militaries have to exist, so that section really dragged for me. 

If you’ve seen the Netflix special or any of the interviews with Harry and Meghan, that section of the book will hold no surprises for you. It was very repetitive of has already been said by the couple time and time again.

I suppose I would recommend this book to anyone who is a die-hard fan of the royal family or…. no, that’s probably it. It’s not a bad book, it was just… a lot. And didn’t hold my interest as I anticipated it would. And was a reminder that some people are fortunate to be able to drop everything and spend months at a time in Africa doing charitable work, or hop on a plane and cross the globe without a worry about the financial hit that plane ticket will cost. 

I suppose what I’m saying is, I just couldn’t relate to Prince Harry. And why should I, he’s a prince and I’m just a random woman from America.

REVIEW: The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates

Jun6






The Memory of Fire Book Cover




The Memory of Fire




The Waking Land #2





Callie Bates




YA Fantasy




Del Rey / Random House




June 5, 2018




Digital ARC




464




NetGalley




March 12 - 14, 2018



The land has awoken, and news of magic's rebirth has traveled across the sea. Jahan, a daring noble who has been concealing his powers, is finally ready to stop hiding. Now he returns to the imperial capital, where the use of magic carries a death sentence. There, he must face his dark past, learn to embrace his gifts, and prevent an all-out war across the kingdoms.

My Review

Last year I read and fell in love with The Waking Lands. When I learned there was a sequel coming (and a third book next year! SCORE!) I HAD to get my hands on it.

The Waking Lands was told from El’s POV and we were introduced to Jahan, who I quickly fell in love with. (He has a bit of an Adrian Ivashkov thing going on, if you’ve read the Vampire Academy and/or Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead you know what I’m talking about. Totally swoon-worth!)

So quick recap – this is a fantasy series in which magic is a crime and anyone caught practicing is sentenced to a fate worse than death. The magic of the land was awakened in the first book (get it? The Waking Land?). That’s basically what you need to know.

The Memory of Fire is Jahan’s story and picks up after the events of The Waking Lands. We learn so much about his past, especially his childhood. His memories were tampered with by the witch who trained him (against his will) and all he knows is that he has to get his brothers away from her. But when he returns to his adopted homeland in an attempt to act as emissary or ambassador on behalf of El’s land, nothing goes as he expects it to. Due to his alliance with El, he is no longer welcome in his former home. Now he must try to make peace between the two countries and keep himself alive.

I absolutely loved the characters and the entire storyline in this series. I plan to get a copy of the books in print for a permanent home on my shelf. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy! (Bonus: This series has GORGEOUS covers!)

Quotes

“It’s too dangerous. If you stay here, we can fight together.”
“But if I go to Paladis, I can fight for you.”

My secrets are as comfortable to me as a second skin. But that’s not the way it is for Elanna, who holds up truth like a banner.

When she kisses me gently, lightly, I think I can taste the bittersweet tang of tears on her lips. Or maybe the tears are my own.

It seems as if no matter how hard I try to help my brothers, I can never save them.

I came here to win peace for Elanna. I didn’t come here to lead a revolt—not one doomed to failure.

It takes all of my power not to lunge onto the carpet and seize her. But what would I do? I can’t sweep her away like a prince in a fairy tale. Not in front of the entire imperial court. Not with all the witch stones and bells.

Perhaps this is why I was never able to give El the commitment she wants, the honesty she deserves. Because I am not a whole person, and I will never be. Madiya took that from me, but somehow I can’t shake the feeling that it’s my fault. That I did something to deserve it.

My (Writing) Life

Oh boy, it’s been a helluva month! I spent much of May with an awful flu bug. I missed five days of work and spent a week sleeping on the couch so that maybe The Husband could get some peace. It was awful, I thought I was going to die, and nothing could be worse. (I’m a bit melodramatic…. writer ya know?)

I’m finally over that, but barely a week later and I injured my back. Not sure how, but I did it. It was starting to feel better, then like an idiot, I tried to lift a too-heavy bag of potting soil from a shopping cart and – POP! CRACK! – there went my back. Way worse than before. I spent the entire weekend in bed, unable to move, crawling from my bed to the bathroom and kitchen. At my dads recommendation, I saw his chiropractor on Monday and she aligned my hips. My lower back muscles are a solid knot though, and I’m on a steady diet of ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer at night. I’m doing a few stretches she prescribed as well. I’m hoping she can do a little more tomorrow at my next appointment.

So, because of all that, I hope you can forgive me for staying away so long! Even now, sitting at the computer is uncomfortable, but I’m woefully behind on my reviews and I need to get them posted.

I have decided to make a change as far as the blog goes. From now on I only plan to post YA reviews. I know I don’t post a lot of non-YA reviews, but now it’ll just be YA. I figure, I write YA, reading YA is my passion, it just makes sense.

In my writing world…. I didn’t do any while I had that flu. I was miserable and binged TV shows on the ABC Freefom app (all of Siren, Shadowhunters seasons 2-3, and Famous in Love season 2). The back injury has been good for writing though. My goal for JuNoWriMo isn’t 50k words, but rather finding time to write every day. I’ve missed two days, but I’m still improving from where I’ve been before. My YA contemporary romance (code name SIGA) is coming along nicely. I’m getting really close to the end of the first draft. I already have a lot of things I need to add/change/expand upon when I start working on the second draft though, but I’m actually mostly excited for that.

If you were looking for either of my novella’s at other retailers, I’m happy to say that Peace in Flames is available everywhere now! Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, and I’m working on getting it into OverDrive, Scribd, and a couple other vendors. I’ve also got it available to buy in PRINT at Amazon, B&N, and Lulu. For the time being, Summer of Peace is still in Kindle Unlimited, but on July 28 will be available everywhere.

That’s about it for now. Hoping to get some more reviews posted soon. But we’ll see. You know me, always busy busy!

REVIEW: Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown

Aug19






Watch Me Disappear Book Cover




Watch Me Disappear





Janelle Brown




Mystery




Spiegel & Grau




July 11, 2017




E-ARC




368




NetGalley




July 3-10, 2017



It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan—a beautiful, charismatic Berkeley mom with an enviable life—went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. No body—only a hiking boot—has ever been found. Billie’s husband and teenage daughter cope with her death the best they can: Jonathan drinks, Olive grows remote.

But then Olive starts having waking dreams—or are they hallucinations?—that her mother is still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability, until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he knew about his wife. Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth—about Billie, their family, and the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love.

My Review

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I started this book I thought I would hate it. I didn’t care for the narration style. But as I continued to read I found myself growing more and more invested in the mystery. Was Olive really psychic and seeing real visions of her mother? Did Billie fake her death? Was she kidnapped? Murdered? Did she really just fall into a ravine or something equally as tragic and awful while off hiking alone in the woods?

The theories were circling through my head the entire time I read this story. By the time I got to the epilogue, I had to pull my jaw off the ground. Janelle Brown really hit the nail on the head with this amazing ending.

The real central theme of this book is, can you really know someone? Really truly know the real them, not just the mask they wear for the people around them? As Jonathan and Olive dig into Billie’s life and her past, that question begins to really take over Jonathan’s thought process. As he attempts to write the love story he shared with his wife, before her death a year earlier. As he attempts to have her officially, legally, declared dead so he and his daughter can move on. As he begins to dig up more and more of Billie’s secrets…

I really don’t even know what to say in this review because everything I want to gush about will ruin everything for anyone who hasn’t read this book.

I haven’t read a lot of mysteries, but this is one of the better ones I have read and I’d rank Watch Me Disappear one almost as high as Gone Girl.

Should you read it? If you like book that keeps you guessing until the last page, THIS is the book for you!!!

Quotes

You don’t realize how much you’ll miss the asphyxiating intimacy of early parenthood until you can finally breathe again.

 

“Stop it, Olive. This isn’t healthy. Your mother is gone. Dead,” he snaps before he can stop himself. Immediately, he is stricken with remorse.

 

He used to feel like there was something of the sea hidden inside her; something wild and unfathomable.

 

She would soak up her mother’s stories about her own Lost Years—the decade during which Billie, a teenage runaway, had roamed around the Pacific Northwest and then travelled the world, hanging out with artists and activists and drug dealers—and would sense that she was failing her mother in some way. “Anyway, you didn’t want to do what I did,” Billie would say, abruptly cutting herself off, but somehow Olive knew she meant the exact opposite.

 

…the world is so vast and so beautiful and so forever—and then she remembers that she is supposed to be sad, too. How can she feel both of these things at once? The loveliness of being alive and the knowledge that it can never last?

 

There’s no rational explanation for his wife being alive that doesn’t point to her being some kind of monster. And he’s not ready to change the point of view of his entire life’s story.

 

And yet how can you ever really know the truth about another person? We all write our own narratives about the people we know and love, he realizes. We choose the story that is easiest to tell, the one that best fits our own vision for our lives. We define them in the way that’s most convenient for our own sense of self-aggrandizement. Glossing over anything that doesn’t fit into the neat little narrative because we don’t want the whole fiction to fall apart.

 

Only someone fearful of his own ordinariness would buy, so unquestioningly, someone else’s extraordinariness.

 

If I dig back far enough in Billie’s history, will I finally find someone who knows what was really going on inside her?

 

You believe what you think you believe, until suddenly, you realize that you don’t anymore. Or maybe you do believe, but it’s no longer convenient to do so, so you decide to forget. You decide to find other beliefs, ones that more comfortably fit the constant evolving puzzle of your life.

REVIEW: The Waking Land by Callie Bates

Jun28

The Waking Land by Callie Bates

Read: June 25-27, 2017

Format: ARC Ebook

My Book Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Random House, Del Rey Books

Release Date: June 27, 2017

Genre: YA / NA Fantasy

Pages: 400

Reading Challenge(s): Flights of Fantasy

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the lush and magical tradition of Naomi Novik’s award-winning Uprooted comes this riveting debut from brilliant young writer Callie Bates—whose boundless imagination places her among the finest authors of fantasy fiction, including Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder—and must flee for her life.

Returning to the homeland of magical legends she has forsaken, Elanna is forced to reckon with her despised, estranged father, branded a traitor long ago. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the forces she has always denied or disdained as superstition—powers that suddenly stir within her.

But an all-too-human threat is drawing near, determined to exact vengeance. Now Elanna has no choice but to lead a rebellion against the kingdom to which she once gave her allegiance. Trapped between divided loyalties, she must summon the courage to confront a destiny that could tear her apart.

REVIEW

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

First of all, can we look at this cover? How cool is this cover! And it’s entirely appropriate for this book. Like, I can’t think of any cooler cover for this book. It perfectly sums up the story and the character Elanna.

So, as far as I can tell this is a stand alone fantasy novel. It’s billed as YA, but it’s really more upper YA into NA due to one steamy scene. I hope this becomes a series though, because I was blown away. I’m just not sure what is left of the story to tell… but I’d still read it!

This world and magic system is so cool. Basically, El lives in a country where magic is outlawed. If someone is suspected of magic, the Witch Hunters are called, and it’s a death sentence. So El doesn’t tell anyone that plants come alive around her – one touch of her finger and she can make them grow. She has big plans of going off for further training to be a botanist. Of course, the king might have other plans, like an arranged marriage.

No worries about that whole arranged marriage by the king thing though, because the king is murdered. Oh, and El is one of the prime suspects. And aside from taking her away from her parents and homeland at five years old to become a political prisoner—due to her father leading a rebellion, she actually kind of liked the guy. So begins her tale. She goes through a lot of changes of heart in this book, starting with not wanting anything to do with her parents. Not wanting to accept her magic. Wanting things to stay the same for her in King Antoine’s court.

El’s journey is a long one. Like, this book could have been broken into like, at least a trilogy, but it wasn’t, and I’m glad the author chose to keep it as one book. It meant no wait time to finish this journey!

The magic in this book is so cool. The land is literally alive and that power lives inside Elanna. There’s a lot of talk of the ancestors and ancient magics and so on. I loved it.

The romance? I don’t know if I was just in the mood for this kind of romance or what, but I immediately fell under Jahan’s charms. His personality was just so… charming! And he’s got secrets of his own. He was very easy going and had a nice sense of humor.

This review does this book no justice. Seriously, none. I can’t even describe all the feels. I can say this though, I did not want to put this book down. Most times I have my specific reading times and I stick to them. With this book? That went out the window. I read and read, and then I read some more. Until I’d devoured this entire thing in 3 days time—which is pretty quick for me for a book this long.

So, long story short: fans of YA fantasy tales with really cool and unique magic systems and a swoon worthy love interest will enjoy this story.

Get the Book here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks

~ Add to Goodreads ~

QUOTES

 

It’s been fourteen years, last night. Fourteen year since King Antoine took me hostage; fourteen years since I’ve seen or heard from my parents.

 

I’m supposed to be safe here, safe to taunt myself with a magic I am not supposed to possess. A magic I still don’t understand.

 

I have no power but the king’s mercurial affection, which would vanish as soon as anyone named me a witch.

 

For a moment, I forget to be afraid. I just want to listen. I want to understand what the plants are saying.

 

“Jahan what?” I demand. “And I’ll thank you to state your intentions as well!”

A snort escapes him: He’s definitely trying not to laugh. “Jahan Korakides, at your service, demoiselle. I swear to you, my intentions are nothing but honorable.”

“Indeed?” I say. “A man takes a woman—by magic—and knocks her senseless, and she comes to on a horse in the middle of the night, and she’s supposed to assume his intentions are honorable?”

 

But I won’t use my magic to help them. It’s too dangerous, and it gives others ideas. It makes them think I might be what they want me to be.

 

“But you never came for me,” I say. “You left me there. You left me—”

“No,” she says fiercely. “I was always with you. Every day. Every moment. I am your mother, and I was with you.”

 

There’s a story in which Wildegarde makes an entire forest grow overnight; the next morning, the trees rip their roots from the ground and walk.

 

“…The Ereni had to fight their way through shifting forests and hills; they drowned in streams that appeared out of nowhere and valleys that seemed never to end. So by the time they reached Barrony, they wanted more than conquest. They were half mad. They wanted blood.”

 

The earth knew what I wanted. It did as I asked.

 

“So you trust me now?” His breath touches my face; his fingertips linger on my neck.

“Maybe,” I say with a laugh that catches in my throat.

 

REVIEW: 10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac

May30

10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac

Read: March 4-22 , 2017

Format: Paperback ARC

My Book Rating: 2 Stars

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House)

Release Date: February 28, 2017

Genre: Contemporary YA / GLBT / Mental Health

Pages: 320

Reading Challenge(s): 2017 YA, 2017 LGBTQIA

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Perfect for fans of Finding Audrey and Everything, Everything, this is the poignant and uplifting story of Maeve, who is dealing with anxiety while falling in love with a girl who is not afraid of anything.


Think positive.

Don’t worry; be happy.

Keep calm and carry on.

Maeve has heard it all before. She’s been struggling with severe anxiety for a long time, and as much as she wishes it was something she could just talk herself out of, it’s not. She constantly imagines the worst, composes obituaries in her head, and is always ready for things to fall apart. To add to her troubles, her mom—the only one who really gets what Maeve goes through—is leaving for six months, so Maeve will be sent to live with her dad in Vancouver.

Vancouver brings a slew of new worries, but Maeve finds brief moments of calm (as well as even more worries) with Salix, a local girl who doesn’t seem to worry about anything. Between her dad’s wavering sobriety, her very pregnant stepmom insisting on a home birth, and her bumbling courtship with Salix, this summer brings more catastrophes than even Maeve could have foreseen. Will she be able to navigate through all the chaos to be there for the people she loves?

REVIEW

I was really excited to start this book, and actually it jumped ahead of a LOT of other books in my pile. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

The thing about Maeve is that she’s a really annoying and boring narrator. I understand WHY the story was told as it was, but I just didn’t really like her or care about her for a good half of the story. I know that anxiety is a real and often crippling thing for someone to go through, but for my personality type, this book was too much for me. I actually found humor in a lot of Maeve’s thoughts, but they were very repetitive and didn’t move the story forward.

I hated the adults in this book. Her dad was a joke of a father, and her mom was… well, not there. Which I get. But she made questionable decisions (such as not allowing her daughter to take medication to help her through her anxiety.) The only adult who seemed to really look out for Maeve and want to help her was her stepmom, Claire, who is a fun and slightly kooky character herself.

I liked that there was a f/f romance, but I didn’t buy it. I’m not really sure what Salix sees in Maeve. It was a little too “insta-love” for my liking. Salix was actually the best thing about the book, though.

By the time I reached the halfway point, the book actually seemed to be developing a plot versus the endless pages of Maeve freaking out about everything. Salix really helped with that. The ending was really good too.


So do I recommend this book? It had it’s good parts, but on a whole it was mostly just boring with not much happening plot wise. Ultimately for me this just wasn’t a very memorable book.

 

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads in the hope of an honest review.

Get the Book here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks

~ Add to Goodreads ~

QUOTES

(Taken from an advanced release copy. There’s a chance the following passages may vary from the final copy)

There were no laws against crossing the border with a hunting knife. Or a box cutter. Or a blowtorch. Or a hammer. A person could do a lot of damage with a hammer. There have been an inordinate number of murders involving hammers.


But my parents actually agreed on a lot of things, and one of them was that they wouldn’t let me take prescription drugs for my anxiety until I was an adult. Your brain is still developing, Maeve. You might grow out of it. It’s too soon, they said. I disagreed. My brain was hardwired differently. What was the point of trying to put out a wildfire by pissing on it?


A cute girl playing the violin for me at a sidewalk café? I wouldn’t have been surprised if a Tyrannosaurus rex lurched down the street and swallowed her whole. It was about a as likely.


I blinked. “I love that you know that.”
“Thanks.” Salix lifted her sunglasses and grinned at me. “I love that you don’t think that knowing that is completely dorky.”

 

REVIEW: Dead Letters by Caite Donlan-Leach

Feb26

Dead Letters by Caite Donlan-Leach

Read: December 27, 2016 – January 10, 2017

Format: Paperback ARC / NetGalley

My Book Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Random house

Release Date: February 21, 2017

Genre: Literary Mystery

Pages: 352

Challenges: none

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this sharp and clever debut novel of suspense, a young woman—presumed dead—leaves a series of clues for her twin sister, which leads her on a scavenger-hunt-like quest to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Ava Antipova has her reasons for running away: a failing family vineyard, a romantic betrayal, a mercurial sister, an absent father, a mother slipping into dementia. In Paris, Ava acquires a French boyfriend and a taste for much better wine, and erases her past. But two years later, she must return to upstate New York. Her twin sister, Zelda, is dead.

Even in a family of alcoholics, Zelda Antipova was the wild one, notorious for her mind games and destructive behavior. Stuck tending the vineyard and the girls’ increasingly unstable mother, Zelda is allegedly burned alive when she passes out in the barn with a cigarette. But Ava finds the official explanation a little too neat. A little too Zelda. Then she receives a cryptic message—from her sister. Just as Ava suspected, Zelda’s playing one of her games. In fact, she’s outdone herself, leaving a series of clues to her disappearance. Ava follows the trail laid just for her, thinking like her sister, keeping her secrets, immersing herself in Zelda’s drama. Along the way, Zelda forces Ava to confront their twisted history and the boy who broke her heart. But why? Is Zelda trying to punish Ava for leaving? To teach her a lesson? Or is she simply trying to write her own ending?

Caite Dolan-Leach’s debut suspense takes readers on a literary scavenger hunt for clues concealed throughout the seemingly idyllic wine country, hidden in plain sight on social media, and buried at the heart of one tremendously dysfunctional, utterly unforgettable family.

REVIEW

Caution: There may be mild spoilers, but I promise, NOTHING will ruin the ending.

 

Literary fiction isn’t my GO TO genre. In fact, I tend to avoid it. For the most part I don’t like that style of writing. Going into Dead Letters I knew it was a more literary book than I gravitate toward and honestly, up until about 15-20% I seriously considered quitting. By the time I reached THE END (sobbing like a baby) I was so glad I didn’t quit this one.

As the blurb indicates, Ava’s from a family of alcoholics. They’re all pretty terrible people, making all kinds of terrible life choices. It was hard to relate to them because I’m the opposite, I just don’t see the point in alcohol so I usually abstain. It actually bothered me a lot more up until the point when Ava says out loud that she knows she has a problem. Once the cards were on the table, I could respect her more.

One of the problems I have with literary fiction is that they tend to linger on seemingly random tangents. That was very much the case with this book, as present day Ava reminisced about something that happened years ago, usually involving Zelda. And much of the time they seemed unimportant to the story, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of a flashback that didn’t pertain to the clues/ending.

The clues laid out by Zelda were very clever. I found myself wondering how she was doing it. What was going on. Just when I thought I figured it out, I got a slap in the face. My theory was 100% incorrect, and though it would have been cool, this ending was so much butter. (If anyone wants to know my theory, feel free to private message me! I don’t want to spoil the journey for other readers by posting it here!)

Seriously, I can’t express my feelings for this book without spoiling it!

I’ll sum it up this way – for 95% of the book I could have cared less what happened, I just wanted to FINISH. Then the ending happened. And suddenly I was completely and totally invested in the story. Days later and I’m still thinking about it. The book shot from like, a 2.5-3 star book to a 3.75/4 star book.

So should you read the book?

If you’re into literary books – YES.

If you’re not so much into literary but you like a book with a mind lowing ending that leaves you thinking – YES.

 

 I received an advanced release copy of this book from Goodreads First to Read and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Random House and the Author.


Get the Book here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

~ Add to Goodreads ~

QUOTES

I’m an idiot and accidentally deleted all of my quotes from my phone! Yikes!

 

REVIEW: The Martian by Andy Weir

Dec26

 

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m finding it hard to believe 2017 is less than a week away!
How the hell did that happen???

I’m a couple books behind on my Goodreads reading challenge. That’s not to say I didn’t read enough books, I just haven’t written the reviews for them yet! It’s going to be a scramble these last few days getting these posted!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas (or, if you don’t celebrate – a fabulous weekend!) I know I did. I spent plenty of time with family. The kids had a blast opening gifts and playing with cousins. Food was bountiful and delicious. And I got a new Kindle Fire HD 8! Woohoo! The screen on my 2012 Kindle Fire HD was starting to fade at the edges and was quite sluggish. I’m so stoked for my new beauty. I’ve just ordered a case and can’t wait until it arrives!

By new years, watch for my BEST OF 2016 post! I’ve got a list going of my favorite reads for the year. I can’t wait to share them with you all!

The Martian by Andy Weir

Read: December 17 – 25, 2016

Format: Paperback

My Book Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: February 11, 2014

Genre: Sci-Fi

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A mission to Mars.
A freak accident.
One man’s struggle to survive.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars’ surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive. And even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, Mark won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark’s not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills—and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength–he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.

As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive.

But Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

REVIEW

I’m late to the game on this one. I heard about this book when I heard about the movie. I have yet to see the movie, but I’m glad I waited until I read the book first. (Fun fact – I found the book in my neighborhood Free Little Library! Now that I’m done it’s making the rounds to my dad next.)

You wouldn’t think a book about a man stranded alone on Mars would be funny, but this book is HILARIOUS. The hero, Mark, is probably the best person to be placed in this situation because he’s got the personality and humor to see the bright side. He’s also a mechanical engineer / botanist. Strange combo, but it worked out well for him!

Though this book is full of techno mumbo-jumbo, Mark’s humor makes it easy to follow what’s going on, even when the details went over my head. It was just the details that made it feel real, and because I’m not a science nerd*, I’ll have to just believe the author knew what he was talking about. Even if it’s all BS, I’d never know.

Despite being an absolute page turner, I can’t give 5 stars to this book. The dialogue was downright comical in it’s ridiculousness. It read like bad fan fiction. I would rather the book have remained 100% Mark’s log of his time on Mars. But, because I was engaged in the rest of the story, it still gets a solid 4.5 stars from me.

I can’t wait to see the movie next. I’m trying to imagine how they pulled this off.

(*NOTE: I wish I was a science nerd.)


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QUOTES

 

Log Entry: Sol 6
I’m pretty much fucked.
That’s my considered opinion.
Fucked.

 

Remember those old math questions you had in algebra class? Where water is entering a container at a certain rate and leaving at a different rate and you need to figure out when it’ll be empty? Well, that concept is critical to the “Mark Watney doesn’t die” project I’m working on.

 

Godspeed, little taters. My life depends on you.

 

In high school, I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. (You may not have guessed this botanist/mechanical engineer was a bit of a nerd in high school, but indeed I was.)

 

If ruining the only religious icon I have leaves me vulnerable to Martian vampires, I’ll have to risk it.

 

I’ the first person to be alone on an entire planet.

 

Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.”

 

I don’t want to come off as arrogant here, but I’m the best botanist on the planet.

 

I can’t wait to have grandchildren. “When I was younger, I had to walk to