The Dark and Hallow Places

Grade B-

Synopsis-

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.
But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

My Review;

This was a good book but for me it wasn't as good as the first two. The ending where they got off the island came way to easily, I don't think anyone can build what they built without practice and some things going wrong. It just doesn't seem like something that could happen so easily but honestly what do I know about what it is they built ( I won't ruin the surprise by saying what they build). I didn't love the relationship between Annah and her sister, it just seemed to easy and after their past it just didn't feel real. I do love Annah's relationship with Catcher, I don't know if it's because it really is a good romance or because the rest of the book is so depressing that you cling to anything good happening in the story. The part of the book that bugged me the most is when Catcher saved Annah from the cage and then he had to kill the guy to save her life and later she lectures him for it, but there was nothing else he could do. It just really bugged me, she had a point about not becoming bad like the recruiters but when somebody saves your life don't chew them out for it.
I'm not sure but it seems that the author left it open for another book, if she writes another one I would read it but the first 2 books in the series were better than this one. One thing that will make this book more enjoyable too is to make sure you remember the details of the first 2 books. I thought I remembered them until I started reading this one and it kept talking about things that happened in the first and second book and I couldn't really remember what had happened. 

Wherever you Go

Grade C-

Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Holly Mullen has felt lost and lonely ever since her boyfriend, Rob, died in a tragic accident. The fact that she has to spend most of her free time caring for her little sister and Alzheimer’s-stricken grandfather doesn’t help. But Holly has no idea that as she goes about her days, Rob’s ghost is watching over her. He isn’t happy when he sees his best friend, Jason, reach out to help Holly with her grandfather—but as a ghost, he can do nothing to stop it. Is his best friend really falling for his girlfriend?
     As Holly wonders whether to open her heart to Jason, the past comes back to haunt her. Her grandfather claims to be communicating with the ghost of Rob. Could the messages he has for Holly be real? And if so, how can the loved ones Rob left behind help his tortured soul make it to the other side?
     Told from the perspectives of Holly, Jason, and Rob,Wherever You Gois is a poignant story about making peace with the past, opening your heart to love, and finding the courage to move forward into the light.


My Review


The first 3/4 of the book was so dull. Reading about people being frustrated, confused and bored is frustrating, confusing and boring. I also hated the way it was written in the way that the point of view changed so often and without warning and you never knew from who's point of view you were reading when it changed because everything is written like "You wake up to a loud noise, or You find yourself in a room full of people.". I am all for trying to pull the reader into the story and making them feel involved but when it switched from a teenage girl to a teenage boy to a ghost of a teenage boy and the characters are always refered to as "you" it gets confusing and pull me as a reader out of the story. I got so sick of thinking -What the heck, who is the story being told by now? Tthen as soon as I figured out who it was it would switch again. Other people might like this style of writing but it wasn't for me at all. The last 90 or so pages things got pretty good, the story finally started moving and things started actually happening.
I think you are supposed to feel sad for the main character in the story because her mom is always gone and she has to take care of her sister who is about 9 years old and her grandpa with Alzheimer disease. I imagine that would be so hard, but honestly nothing in the story ever conveyed hard. Her sister was very well behaved and her grandpa although forgetful was docile and cooperative. The worst thing that happened was her sister cut her finger, there was no Dr visit or stitches or anything just a cut and that was as bad as it got. At the end of the story the main character (I cannot remember her name, I just finished this book that was over 300 pages long but I guess I just didn't care about the story enough to remember) was so frustrated and overwhelmed that she had to leave a note for her mom saying she just couldn't do it anymore and she needed help. I am 100% sure it would be too hard for any teenager to handle I just wish the story would have showed more of the struggles of her life because honestly most everything went very smoothly the whole story. I found the new boyfriend in the story to be too kind, perfect, thoughtful and involved. The kid was a rich boy from a broken home with a selfish mom, I just wasn't buying the perfect boyfriend thing. Rob the dead boyfriend was one of the the best characters in the story but even he wasn't great, at least I remembered his name right. Anyways I disliked the whole book except the last 90 pages when things got okay. The message of the book was nice, get help when you need it kind of a message. My very favorite part of the story, probably the part that kept me from quitting was Aldo (the grandpa with Alzheimer's). I love that he was clear thinking when he talked to Rob (the ghost boyfriend), I loved that he was still "there" and that he knew what was going on and that his granddaughter was taking care of him. I don't know anyone personally with Alzheimer's but I imagine that this part of the book would give them hope and some comfort that even though it seemed like their loved one was lost that they were still inside somewhere and that they know and appreciate what you are doing for them. I just thought it was so sweet to see things from Aldo's perspective. I found his character to be kind and deep and just overall a lovely man.

If you liked the book Hereafter you will probably like this book as well or vice versa.

Overall Grade C-

Bad-
-Book was too long
-Nothing really emotional, exciting or scary ever happens which made it dull.
-Too many of the characters were unrealistic or hard to relate to.
-Switched characters point of view too often and was always refered to as "you"

Good-
-Aldo's character
-The take on what Alzheimer's is like for the person suffering.
-The message at the end of the book about seeking help and taking care of yourself and your loved ones.

The Shop on Blossom Street

Grade B+            Page count 416     


I liked this book a lot, I don't think it is a book everyone would enjoy but it is exactly what I was in the mood for. 

Lydia a 2 time cancer survivor opens a yarn shop and offers knitting lessons. Three very different women join the knitting class for a variety of reasons. Lydia is happy to be alive but desperately missing her father who was her main support through her cancer but died of a heart attack. Lydia has a very strained relationship with her only sister but in the end they all learn to love and understand one another and Lydia learns to truly love again. 

Jaqueline a 50 something wealthy woman joins to learn to knit a baby blanket for her soon to be born granddaughter. Jaqueline struggles with the pregnancy of her daughter in law because she feels her only son married beneath him but she is determined to be a great grandmother anyways. As the story progresses Jaquline learns not to judge people just by how they look or how much money they have. Jaquline's love story with her husband is romantic and has a nice happy ending which I loved. 

Carol put of starting a family to pursue her career, now her and her husband are desperately trying to get pregnant. Carol has had 2 IVF treatments both ending in early miscarriages, her insurance will only help pay for one more try. Carol joins the knitting class to knit a baby blanket for the child she so desperately wants. Carol is my favorite character in the book, she is sweet and honest and kind and I just loved everything about her. 

Alix is in her early 20's, she has a very troubled past and has no contact with either of her parents. Alix has dreams of becoming a chef and leading a normal healthy life but her past tends to stand in her way. Alix is stuck living with a lazy room mate who is even more troubled than Alix and is stuck working in a movie rental place. Alix meets Jordan a preacher and a sweet relationship begins to start.  Alix joins the knitting group as a way of serving community service hours she got for a drug bust even though the drugs weren't hers. 

I loved all of these womens stories, I love how they all become good friends and that each of their stories has a happy ending. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. 

I'm not really sure who to recommend this book to. I know I enjoy knitting but Im not very good at it and I don't do it often. I guess read this if you are in the mood for some good life lessons, some sweet innocent romance and a nice happy ending.

Christmas Letters

Christmas Letters

by Debbie Macomber

Why I read it; Wanted a Christmas story for the Christmas season.

272 pages

Synopsis;

Katherine's (K.O.) sister read a book called The Free Child written by a child psychologist  and has decided to raise her children the way the book suggests. The book has turned her sisters twin girls into little monsters and as a result Katherine thinks the author of the book is a complete idiot. After meeting the author of the book they instantly fall in love with each other they decide not to talk about his job or his feelings on children at all. Like all love storys there is a happily ever after but don't expect it to be realistic at all.

My review;

This is kind of a spoiler review but not really, I mean we all know how all romance books end don't we, happily ever after.

This is a hard review for me because I really enjoyed reading this book but at the same time there were a lot of things that really bothered me about it too. I think the best way to review this book is to give a list of the things that bothered me and then sum it all up with why I liked it.

Things that bugged me

1- Katherine's nickname being K.O. it's just dumb I trained myself to call her Katherine every time it said K.O. because it bothered me so much.
2-So many times the people in the book acted like 2 year olds, it was SO DRAMATIC that it wasn't fun to read because adults would never act the way they do in this book. Examples; When Katherine first meets Wynn she starts off all nice to him and the goes crazy screaming at him in a public place. I know she dislikes his books but really who would do that to someone famous who you have never met in a public place? Plus she never even read his book which seemed crazy to me, you can't hate something you don't know anything about.
3- When Katherine introduces Lavonne to Max this nice sweet kitty all the sudden goes crazy like a rabid animal and attacks Max. Then there is so much blood all over everything but Max doesn't even need stitches. Then Max although normal up until this point starts acting like a crazy man who is going to sue Lavonne over the cat incident and fakes amnesia then a few chapters later he is a normal man again and with no explanation why marrying Lavonne.
4- The ending was so rushed, it was like the author looked up from writing and realized that her book was due to be finished so she wrapped it up in like 3 pages. All of the sudden after babysitting 2 naughty kids Wynn decides that he is wrong and is going to write a retract his last book and write a new book saying kids do need boundaries. It just doesn't make sense at all, didn't Wynn a child psychologist who works with children every day do any research or have any proof his theories worked before writing a book? Then one day he babysits twin girls who's mother read his book and raising them like it says, when he sees how naughty they are then all of the sudden he realizes he is wrong. You would think he would have realized that before publishing a best selling book right? So Katherine knocks on Wynn's door says she loves him, he says his book is wrong they decide to get married and have kids and Max and Lavonne are engaged all in a few pages.
5- And lastly, it bugs me that without even discussing important issues like how they will raise their own children they decide to get married and start a family and everything turns out happily ever after. It would never happen, people who disagree on important matters like how children should be raised in such a big way should never have children unless they want to eventually get divorced.

But really at the end of it all it is a cute little Christmas romance. The characters are funny and mostly likable even if they aren't realistic. The story is funny and made me want to keep reading. The language was good and I like a romance where there aren't sex scenes and groping, those kind of romance books just aren't my type of romance.

Read this book if you are in the mood for a mushy sweet romantic book that you won't try to take to seriously.
I would rate this book a B- or a C+, not the best book ever but I enjoyed it and would read more by this author.