Review: Agent of Chaos (The X Files) by Kami Garcia

Rate:

5/5

Goodreads Description:

How did Fox Mulder become a believer? How did Dana Scully become a skeptic? The X-Files Origins has the answers.

The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos explores the teen years of Fox Mulder, the beloved character depicted in the cult-favorite TV show The X-Files. His story is set in the spring of 1979, when serial murder, the occult, and government conspiracy were highlighted in the news.

The book will follow Mulder as he experiences life-changing events that set him on the path to becoming an FBI agent.

Review:

I mean, I was already kind of in love with Mulder but after this one its like damn... Damn just damn. 

Heart eyes for days. I just loved how Kami portrayed Fox and just kinda introduced him to the whole world that we know him from. He is one smart Fox... Yeah I had to go there. The book is honestly exciting and I couldn't put it down, I was literally in the edge of my seat. There I mean, sure, there are things that go a bit unanswered but to be honest, what else can you expect out of it. 

I just LOVED being able to see a bit into young Mulders life and just love the whole involvement of the FBI and just how he kinda got into the whole thing. I honestly don't know how I can continue to talk about this book without going into full spoiler territory. 

I love the cover. 

Recommend it?

YEEESSS

Review: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

ELKA BARELY REMEMBERS a time before she knew Trapper. She was just seven years old, wandering lost and hungry in the wilderness, when the solitary hunter took her in. In the years since then, he's taught her how to survive in this desolate land where civilization has been destroyed and men are at the mercy of the elements and each other. 
But the man Elka thought she knew has been harboring a terrible secret. He's a killer. A monster. And now that Elka knows the truth, she may be his next victim. 
Armed with nothing but her knife and the hard lessons Trapper's drilled into her, Elka flees into the frozen north in search of her real parents. But judging by the trail of blood dogging her footsteps, she hasn't left Trapper behind--and he won't be letting his little girl go without a fight. If she's going to survive, Elka will have to turn and confront not just him, but the truth about the dark road she's been set on. 
The Wolf Road is an intimate cat-and-mouse tale of revenge and redemption, played out against a vast, unforgiving landscape--told by an indomitable young heroine fighting to escape her past and rejoin humanity.

Review:

So this book was kinda sold as YA but it soooo was not.

The character is young, 17 and the style of the book is easy to read and comprehend. As for the shirt Elka has to go through I was scared I would end up hating the book, that it would be super far fetched and unbelievable or that it would make Elka incredibly annoying but Lewis did a fantastic job at creating not only a thrilling book but a bad ass character without making her irritatingly stupid and careless for her life.

Review: Wires and Nerve- Marissa Meyer

Rate:

5/5

Goodreads Description:

The first graphic novel from #1 NewYork Times and USA Today bestseller Marissa Meyer!

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new,action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold.When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers' leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, Winter, and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

Review:

Finallyyyy I FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON IT!

IM IN LOVE

It is the perfect thing to move on to after finishing the series, it is exactly what all fans needed to continue on with these characters. I was scared that this series would feel different than The Lunar Chronicles but fans will be relieved to find that it is not. 

It has been a while since I read the original series but this one reminded me why I loved the series much and I of course have the need to read the original series once again and dive head first into the world. This book reminded me why I love Marissa Meyer so much. I could see the book as if it was a TV show, what with Ikos commentary on the characters and such. I just.. I still cant. I loved the book, that is all I can say.

Recommend it?

FUCKING YES

Review: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (Picture Galore)

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. 

When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. 

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

Review:

It is creepy to see Carrie writing about the worth of her autographs posts death and how people would treat her things. She was so right, but that is to be expected, how many times have people not seen this happen, but the fact that this was published so close to her death. THAT is creepy. 

It shocked me to read her interactions with fans, she was never rude, but it makes me question how were you NOT ever rude. The things some people do. 

The famous metal bikini of COURSE is talked about and the effect it had in her life, or rather what effect Leia had in her life all together.

The book goes a great deal into Carrison and her inner thoughts about Carrison. 

Not going to lie, when I first watched Star Wars, and had no internet access, it was Han and Leia forever, even in real life, to me, they were married. When I found the cold hard truth, I wished so much that they were secretly in love with each other. I would see their pictures and get a little sad that they weren't. They then became friendship goals. 

But that is also a whole nother issue that Carrie sets straight.

The Princess Diarist starts off with her previous work before Star Wars as well as her audition and her first days on set, of course, talking about the buns. 

Carrie then goes into how the affair started, the first night, how she got to that point and her inner thoughts as well as how their relationship was handled on set and her inner conflicts and confusions about what had happened and what would happen afterwards.

A good portion of the book is just about her and Harrison, about the affair, but more importantly how that affected her as the affair went on, she knew that the affair wouldnt go any further than the initial 3 months, and that they weren't going to be together afterwards, that it was all fleeting. Yet a small part of her still dreamed and wished, and that is what affected her so much about it. 

She talks a lot about how his personality was, even when it wasn't directed towards her and particularly when he was and her theories on that aspect, her friendship with his afterwards was never a question, and wondered how their friendship would've been different if they HADN'T been together. Or if they HAD but for good. 

Lastly, she briefly mentions how life wouldve been different, had it been Mark all along.

The book gives the perfect closure to fans that we didn't know we would need, it was sad to read the final pages, it had a bitter sweet ending that is even more bitter now more than ever.

Recommend it?

Yes

Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch

Rate:

3/5

Goodreads Description:

An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives -- all over the course of one meal. 

It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse -- the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.

Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.

Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

Review:

So I feel like this book is fantastic for those that like thrillers and for those that are looking for a book for their book club. Its a book that really, to be, easily sparks discussions. 

The book overall could be super frustrating, gave me the feeling that I was reading a menu instead of a book that I took as it being the psychology of the book and speaking a lot about the characters just not truly being THERE there. So its like, hate it but love it after I think about it.
When there was a graphic part, it almost felt like SAW graphic, (dont look it up, if you know, you know).

The topic at hand is basically morals and family and to what extents some might go. To some, its a hit or miss of a book. For me, it was both.

Recommend it?

uy... Not sure.

Review: The Gender Game by Bella Forrest

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

For fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent
comes a story like no other... 

A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates's world by gender.

Women rule the East. Men rule the West.

Welcome to the lands of Matrus and Patrus.

Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet's life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes.

But one decision could save her life.

To enter the kingdom of Patrus, where men rule and women submit.

Everything about the patriarchy is dangerous for a rebellious girl like Violet. She cannot break the rules if she wishes to stay alive.

But abiding by rules has never been Violet's strong suit.

When she's thrust into more danger than she could have ever predicted, Violet is forced to sacrifice many things in the forbidden kingdom ... including forbidden love.

In a world divided by gender, only the strongest survive... 

Review:

So I was interested in this book because it is pitched as recommended for Divergent and Hunger Games fans, and I happen to be both. 

It was not wrongly, its not the first time I read a book by this author but I was still afraid that it wouldn't be good and that it would seem a little too much like Divergent and the Hunger Games. But she did such a magnificent job in making the story her own. 

We the readers get a job description of why the societies separated (Matrus ruled by Woman and Patrus by men) and how they treat members of the opposite sex. To be honest I feel like that whole topic was not far fetched from reality, specially in certain areas of the world, whether the author researched and drew from those ideas is a whole nother thing unknown to me but it makes this dystopian  that much more interesting. There is good world exploration throughout the book. 

Violet

Her story starts off in a way that is just such a perfect way to pull anyone into a story, it gets the adrenaline running, and theeeeen shes in jail, actually, she was in jail for most of her life. Add this to her little brother being taken away from her life and being orphaned, she has become very harsh and closed off. Now, it COULD get a little annoying how fast she would get mad at things or just how mistrustful she would be but it made sense all the way through. Violet is pretty much impulsive due to this. She wasn't my favorite character ever, sometimes I wanted to shake her, but hey, no book is perfect and she kind of had a reason to be the way she is.

Lee and Viggo

So Violet interacts with these characters the most and I am a slightly bit confused about who I am supposed to like and who will later on stab us in the back, I feel like we end up knowing more about Viggo personally. And hardly anything about Lee, I mean, if other books have taught me anything, there might be a good solid reason for this in the other books. Romance-wise there isnt much going on in this book that personally I like.

It isnt a topic of importance which I feel fits fantastically in the plot overall, I mean, to be honest it can be super annoying when a book gives you insta love or where the characters are super in love in a short around of time and one of them or both seems totally different than the originally where, you know what I mean? Like if Violet was all heart eyes by the end of the book, forgetting her original purpose, I wouldve been pissed. So far, there might be something there, there could be something in the future, but for now, they both have a mission, and thats their main focus. 

The ending of the book was all over the place. I am not going to lie, I had to read the climax of the book twice because I was like wait wait wait wait, what?

There was so much going on, in a good way, like, personally I was so pumped about it that I was flipping pages like crazy which could be the reason that I got confused and had to go back xD So.. that is my fault? 

Recommend it?

Yup, I do.