Blog Tour: Book Review: Vampire World by Rich Douglas

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Blog Tour for Vampire World by Rich Douglas

Blurb/Synopsis

A popular teen is bitten by a vampire during a steamy night of making out with her boyfriend. After the bite, she wakes up in a cruel orphanage in Vampire World, with no memory of her past. She’s left with very little; only fangs, pale skin and a keen desire for blood. Marissa, who’s named Janice in Vampire World, escapes the ghastly orphanage thanks to Mr. John FreeCut, an old, benevolent vampire who adopts Janice because he wants to foster children he could never have. He says her parents died in a crash. Beautiful, innocent and thrust into an enigmatic world she has no memory of, Janice must face many challenges. The grueling blood hostess job. The multiple stalkers and creepers who are hungry for her and her blood. The dizzying fireball competition. And most challenging, the fact that she doesn’t look or act like a vampire. Janice is emotionally overwhelmed. Thankfully she makes some friends, including Brett BloodCut. Brett and Janice are immersed in a passionate romance, and Brett helps Janice adjust to her new world by giving her the love, confidence and knowledge she needs to survive as a vampire. Janice finds a way to succeed in such a problematic world. Things go well for Janice, though not for long. A stranger knows the truth about her past. Slowly but surely Janice discovers the truth that she is being lied to by the ones she loves. She must learn the secret behind TriFang, and ultimately accept the stinging reality that things are not always what they seem. Could the truth ever be so bloody?

 

My Review:

Format: earc

Published: 1st June 2013

Pages: 378

Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance

Main Characters: Janice/Marissa

Date Read: 8th October - 16th October 2013

Rating Given:

 

I was invited to join a blog tour for this book and it sounded like it would be my kind of thing. However I was very disappointed in it as it just didn't do anything for me.

 

I am a little undecided on the cover as I kind of like it but then there are times when I don't like it. I do like the blood on the girl's arm although at first I thought it was a glove. I love the posture now that I have read the book as I get why she is doing what she is doing.

 

When I first started this book I thought it might be good once I got further into it but that just never happened. I do think it had a huge potential to be really good as all the ingrediants where there but it just came out a bit burnt. I felt like the vampire side of the story was very cheesy and also predictable. The romance wasn't believeable as it was an instant love, and although I do like this sometimes in this case it just didn't feel right. They kept secrets from each other and they both forgave very easily especially considering how mad they where. I felt everything was too rushed and not given a chance to understand what is happening but I do think that maybe if the book was longer or split into another book then this could have been a brilliant book. I felt like for the most part it was a rather shallow book as everything came down to looks and money. There was times when there was a little bit of depth but then it just got lost. I did like the bit of action that was in there but again I just felt it wasn't given enough room to breathe.

 

I didn't like any of he characters as like I said in the last paragraph they where really shallow especially the main character. I really didn't like Janice/Marissa as not only was she shallow but she was very selfish as well. Brett was an ok character but he was annoying. I think that my favourite character would have to be Mr.FreeCut but even he had some secrets!

 

Overall I actually wouldn't have finished the book if it wasn't for taking part in the Blog Tour as it just wasn't what I was expecting and not in a good way.

 

 

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback

 

Author Bio

I am from New Orleans, Lousiana and I write young adult novels, fantasy and science fiction.  My new novel, Vampire World, is now available. If you enjoy reading paranormal YA fiction, please check this out now. The Magical Tale of Eliza Felding, Book 1 of a trilogy, takes place in New Orleans one year after Hurricane Katrina. It involves teens, romance and tons of magic.  The Secret of the Dogs is a children's book about four very different dogs (a Basenji, a Greyhound, a Pomeranian and an Airdale Terrier) who go on a quest to rescue a young boy that is being abused by his father. I love writing, teaching, storm chasing, traveling and drinking orange soda.

Author Links: Goodreads

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Book Review: The Stone Girl

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Format: e-arc
Publisher: Knopf Books
Published: 28th August 2012
Pages: 224
Main Characters: Sethie
Date Started: 6th September 2012
Date Finished: 13th September 2012
Rating Given: *

Blurb from Netgalley:

She feels like a creature out of a fairy tale; a girl who discovers that her bones are really made out of stone, that her skin is really as thin as glass, that her hair is brittle as straw, that her tears have dried up so that she cries only salt. Maybe that's why it doesn't hurt when she presses hard enough to begin bleeding: it doesn't hurt, because she's not real anymore.

     High school senior Sarah Beth (Sethie) Weiss is disciplined. She has never cut a class in her life, has never had a grade below a B+, and has always been a favorite among her teachers. Her college applications are finished and she only ate six Ritz crackers today. But even on days when Sethie needs to eat more, there's always the toilet to make up for her mistakes. Sethie manages to get down to 104, and maybe if she works just a little bit harder, becomes a little more disciplined, she can get below 100. Truth be told, Sethie has more to worry about than her relationship with her body; but the deeper she descends into her disorder, the smaller her world gets and the harder it is to see her way out.

I first knew about this book from Netgalley and I thought it sounded interesting and different to the books I normally read so I gave it a try. I must admit I'm not quite sure what to think about this book.

The cover intrigued me but I didn't notice the bones on the girl as she blended in to the background which I think should have been a shade darker so that you can see her figure. I do think that the cover is this way because when someone has an eating order they are good at concealing themselves just like the cover.

At first I thought I didn't like it and would cringe at the thought of having to start reading it again, but when I started reading it (after I had put it down the day before) I didn't what to put it down which kept happening every day I read it. I liked that Alyssa has touched on such a powerful subject but I felt because I was seeing everything from Sethie's point of view I didn't notice any of the side effects that we all know comes with eating disorder's. Maybe it would have been better if some of the book was done in someone else's point of view so we could tell that there was side effects. As well as an eating disorder she was also using drugs but that side of the story was only touched upon. I just didn't think it was believable and at times I thought it was glamorised. I found that the ending was a bit rushed and would have loved to have seen more into her future I think this would have been a better book if there was another book to it so that we could be on that journey of recovery or lack of recovery it would have made it more believable. I also felt like there was a few unanswered questions.

Sethie was a very vulnerable character as she was very naive and very self conscious. There was times when she had a stronger personality but I felt that it just wasn't enough. She was in a way very smart but that was only in her education but as I said before not believable as how can someone be smart who is using drugs I thought they was supposed to mess with your head and also she wouldn't have had any energy to even do her exams. Shaw, Sethie's 'boyfriend' was just plain awful I couldn't stand the way he was with Sethie he just used her. Janey I didn't really like to start with as I thought she was just going to use Sethie as well but she seemed a good enough friend as she was there when it mattered. Ben I loved I just wish he was in it more.

Overall, I think if this book was more believable it would have been rated higher but this could just be me being naive. It made me feel disgusted with myself which is not what I want to feel like when reading a book. I hate rating books one star but this just wasn't my kind of book in any shape or form.
Don't let me put you off reading this book just because I don't like it doesn't mean you won't.

Book Review: Uglies (Uglies #1)

Uglies (Uglies #1) by Scott Westerfeld

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 1st January 2006
Pages: 425
Main Characters: Tally, David and Shay
Date Started: 17th September 2011
Date Finished: 29th September 2011
Rating Given: *

Goodreads:
Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

I wanted to read this series a few years ago although am not sure why as that was when I would only read fantasy books (I have broadened my horisons now) but I never got around to actually buying the book so I just left it at that for a few years. That changed when someone wanted to swap one of my books on Goodreads and this book was there so I thought I would give it a go I wish I never bothered...
There are three parts to this story and the first part I thought I was going to quit it but as usual I kept going hoping that it would get better.
This story is about children being Ugly until they reach the age of 16 and then they have an operation to make them pretty which I thought was a bit shallow but I thought that maybe there would be some depth into it but there really wasn't especially in the first part.
Tally dreamed about becoming pretty and would do anything to have this dream become reality even if it meant betraying a friend, which I thought was terrible usually the main characters that you rout for are the good guys and wouldn't even think about betraying a friend. She made excuses to why she was going to do this but I still thought it was a horrible thing to do and nothing she did made me symathise with her character. Her friend Shay however seemed like the person you would want the story to be about as she did have depth she seemed a lot more relatable than Tally.
By the end of part one I couldn't stand Tally and didn't think that could change that bit I was wrong about. Tally seemed to be a completely different character she seemed more strong which I like in a female character. Shay was the same she changed but she changed in a bad way as she became more annoying. We met a new character in this part called David, he was what this story was missing in the beginning. He was kind, strong, independant and had a lot of depth to his character, this character I was routing for.
There was more action in the second part well the beginning of the second part anyway. There was more going on and I was starting to think it was improving but once the action stopped so did the flow of the story.
The third part again started off with action which I liked and I was really starting to like Tally and hate Shay as there characters just flipped from what they started off like. I really felt sorry for David by the end of this book and wanted to strangle both Shay and Tally as they both just seemed to forget their values and just ended up being shallow.
I won't continue with this story as it was far too shallow for me and it was too slow in most places I just know that if I got the next book I wouldn't look forward to reading it so there is no point in even trying. Such a disappointing book that took me ages to read longer than I have ever taken to read a book that wasn't over 500 pages this book just wasn't for me.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Quirk Classics
Published: 4th April 2009
Pages: 317
Main Characters: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy
Date Started: 26th July 2011
Date Finished: 1st August 2011
Rating Given: *

Goodreads:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.

Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice well in the film/TV as I haven't actually read the book as I had tried on of Jane Austen's other books but I couldn't understand the language so I didn't want to be put off. I am also a huge fan of anything Paranormal especially with romance involved so it was obvious to me to give this book a try and I was very much looking forward to reading it. I am feeling after reading it that I should never have gone anywhere near this book it was such a disappointment. The only reason why it got one star was because I love Pride and Prejudice so much and it most part that was what it was and if it didn't have Zombies in the title it would have gotten the full five stars. With Zombies in the title I was expecting blood, guts and gore but it wasn't that and when there was Zombies it just felt like it was glazed over. It was like the author decided to say oops forgot to put in the zombies best put some in here it just didn't sit right with me. It made it a dull story and that is definitely not what Pride and Prejudice is with me.
The characters wasn't right especially Lydia's character. Lydia starts of as a strong independent woman like her older sister Elizabeth but the way she ended up just didn't go with her character I can't imagine Lydia's character to stay at home and look after her husband she would want the best in life. If your going to change a character from the original book you should keep her that way not change them completely it just doesn't make sense.
I did love the illustrations in this book they where more dramatic than the actual story.
I have learned my mistake the hard way I should stay away from a remaking if I love the original as I will only be disappointed. Although some fairytales' have gone through a revamp and I love them so maybe I won't give up and just make sure I will like them.

Book Review: Ballad: A Gathering Faerie (Books of Faerie #2)

Ballad: A Gathering Faerie (Books of Faerie #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 5th May 2011
Pages: 336
Main Characters: James and Nuala
Date Started: 5th September 2011
Date Finished: 11th September 2011
Rating Given: *

Goodreads:

In this mesmerizing sequel to "Lament", music prodigy James Morgan has joined his best friend, Deirdre, at a private conservatory for musicians. James' almost unearthly gift for music has attracted the dangerous attentions of Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together leads James and Nuala down an unexpected road of mutual admiration ...and love. Haunted by a vision of raging fire and death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soulscorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

After reading the Shiver series I was excited to read what Maggie Stiefvater could offer me. I read the first one in this series Lament and thought it was good not as good as Shiver but still not bad but then I read this book...
The reason for giving this book only one star was because I really didn't like it at all from start to finish. When I first started it I knew I wasn't going to like it and usually I am proven wrong but in this case I was proved right. I couldn't stand the main characters James and Nuala. James I found was just plain annoying and arrogant and I just didn't understand why anyone would fall in love with this guy, I never warmed to him which I usually do so I was very surprised that I actually hated him. As for Nuala I just didn't get who she was about until right at the end and I still didn't like her. In this book Deidre was a side character (who was the main character in the first book Lament) and she was just as annoying as the main characters I liked her in Linger but in this one I just didn't care what was going to happen to her. There was some other side characters which I actually liked and wished there was more about them especially Paul and Sullivan.
I loved the way it was about the music as it was very intriguing just like the first one and it was written beautifully and I would have probably liked this book more if the characters was more lovable.
I hated the ending as well as I was just starting to get into it and then it was ended in that way which left more answers than questions and there doesn't seem to another book in this series that I can tell I hope there is just for the readers who love this book so that they can get the ending that they deserve but I don't think I would read it as I wasn't a huge lover of the first one and then not to like this one I would just think reading another would be a waste of my time.