Shon Reviews School Spirits

Title / Author: School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Year Published: May 2013

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance

Source: Bought

Rating: 4/5 stars


Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.


Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.


Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?


Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as the New York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!




My Review

This was a fun read. School Spirits is a spin off of the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins. I have not read the Hex Hall series yet!


School Spirits is about Izzy (supernatural hunters), who goes on her first solo mission. Stop a ghost from haunting a high school. A simple job, all she has to do is to find out who the ghost is and pour some salt over the grave at the end of the month.


There is just one problem, Izzy have never be to school before. This is where all the fun start. Watching Izzy negative thru high school and learning how to make friends is funny.


One thing I love about School Spirits, Izzy had no clue about high school. She kept comparing her interactions to moments from a high school drama she watched, that her mom bought her so she could see how kids in a high school act.


School Spirits is a good book, full of lively characters.

Top Ten Tuesday #13: Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't (January 12)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't.

Wendy
1. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
2. Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer
3. The Rose Society by Marie Lu 

Shon
4. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

5. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

6. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

7. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

8. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

9. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

10. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman 

Shon Reviews Not If I See You First

Title / Author: Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
Publisher: Poppy
Year Published: December 2015 
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Bought
Rating:  3.75/5 stars

Synopsis

The Rules: 

Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter. 

Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened--both with Scott, and her dad--the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

My Review

I was a little skeptical about reading this book, I usually don't read contemporary. The book starts off a little depressing, the author hit you with some much stuff in the prologue. 

The story is about about sixteen-year-old Parker Grant, who lost her mother and her sight when she was seven, and she lost her father at the end of her sophomore year of high school.

So, once you get past the very depressing and slow start the story really picks up and I found myself laughing out loud. 

I love the beginning of the story. There wasn't to much world building and the backstory was fun to read about, and I got a feel for who everyone was quickly.

For the most part, I enjoyed Not If I See You First.  I enjoyed Parker voice and the relationships she had with other people. In particular, I liked her friends and her little cousin.

It is towards the end of the book where things go downhill. Parker's narration of her struggles turned into a pity party, and you started to lose interest.

Shon Reviews A Thousand Nights

Title / Author: A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Year Published: October 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings
Source: Bought
Rating:  3.75/5 stars

Synopsis

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster. 

My Review

I think I was expecting a little more from this book.

I remember when this book was released, plenty of people compared it to The Wrath of Dawn (which had only came out few months before), but I haven't read that book so I can't do a comparison.

One thing I did not like about the story was nobody had names except Lo-Melkhiin. All the characters in the story were referred to as my sister, my mother, my sister's mother, my youngest brother, my father, it was a little confusing and I found it to be more than a little distracting.

The magical aspect of this story was also confusing. It just came out of nowhere. 

The demon factor felt a little glossed over and perplexing at least.

There is a point in the story where you think the author is going to throw in some romance, but later down the road, she changed her mind and never went back to delete that part of the story. So in the back on your mind you are waiting for the romance to happen and it never did.

The book itself is an interesting and enjoyable read. I did enjoy parts of it and it did keep my attention. I'm just not sure how I feel about the ending.

Top Ten Tuesday #12: Top Ten Resolutions We Have For 2016 (January 5)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Resolutions We Have For 2016 (can be bookish, personal resolutions, "I resolve to finally read these 10 books, series I resolve to finish in 2016, etc.).

Tina
1. I resolve to quit starting a fresh book each time I read 50% of another book thus going thru the pains of completing 5 books by the end of one week.
2. I resolve to expand my literary genre.

Wendy
1. I resolve to expand my book collection :)
2. I resolve to stay organized, in life, and in book series.
3. I resolve to make this blog extraordinary for our viewers!

Shon
Series I'm resolve to finish in 2016
1. The Red Rising Trilogy
2. The Half Bad Trilogy
3. The Ruby Red Trilogy
4. The Remnant Chronicles series
5. The Lunar Chronicles series
6. The Grisha series
7. The Monstrumologist series
8. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy
9. Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
10. Bloodlines series

Shon's Bookish Goals + January 2016 TBR & Most Anticipated Releases!!

Happy New Year's, Bookworms!!


I going to start posting my monthly TBR and warp up on the blog, I'm a book blogger and that what book blogger do. 

                           Here my bookish goals for 2016

1. To complete my Goodreads challenge + PopSugar's 2016 Reading Challenge.
2. To write a review for every book I read (minus the comics and manga).

3. To finish a least 10 series (there are some series that I have only one book left to read).
4. I'm not going to stress myself about reading, blogging and posting. (We started this blog for fun, and I am going to have fun. No more forcing myself to read a book, just so I can post a review.
5. Buy a bookshelf.




       These are the books I'm planning to read this month.


1. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

2. Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
The Rules:
Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter.

3. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
 
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave...
4. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe.

                              Most Anticipated Releases!


All of these books will be releasing some time this month.
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan
Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace
Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
The Heir and the Spare by Emily Albright
Shade Me by Jennifer Brown













Have you read any of these? What books are on your January TBR? What books are you excited for this month? Let us know in the comments!

Carry On (5 of 5 reviews RR)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell             
Published October 6th 2015 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
Page: 522
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Review by: Tina

Synopsis
Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.
Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a fictional story out of RR's contemporary novel Fangirl. 


Review
Ah finally... I have finished it! Let me first say, this was not an easy read for me. I kept imagining an awkward version of Harry Potter and I couldn't separate the two stories.

There was a lot of anger and angst from the hero and I was growing frustrated and impatient wondering why the story is so beloved by many readers. 

Reading and waiting and then Chapter 32 happened...o m g. I knew what the story was about, I just didn't know how it would get there. From then on, the story picked up quickly. I was able to lay down the foundation of the story and follow it to the end easily. There was quite a few references to the plot of Harry Potter 2 and Harry Potter 3 so I envisioned the scenes as Simon, Penny, and Agatha going on those adventures.

I'm grateful the story wasn't a complete "fan-fic" as I imagined. There was no smut, no distasteful scenes, just simple down-to-earth-love. The epilogue was a pure joy to read, wrapping up the story very nicely. All in all, I liked it. Made me fall in love with Fangirl all over again.