So since I read the entire Little House series, I wanted to read all the other Little House related books as well. I was pretty sad when Mary went off to college because we rarely see her after that, and I always wondered what kind of life she had after Laura gets married & eventually moves away.

So this book wasn't half bad. It's not as charming as the original books, but it's fascinating to see what Mary's life could have been like (there's very little documentation on her actual life, but this book is based upon research done upon the real college she attended) at the school for the blind. Some of the skills, like beading, that they learnt cracked me up a bit, but again it was a different era & it was actually quite ingenious to teach blind people beading in order to help make a living for their families after they graduate!

It was also very interesting to meet her roommates and her other classmates and the other teacher's and helpers at the school. I thought for a bit there was going to be a romance blooming but alas, that wasn't so.... (and I normally hate romance but I wanted to see Mary happy!)

I do wish the book was longer, and the machine they used to write letters to their families was so cool to read about. I tried finding photos of it online but couldn't find any really good ones, but what a great idea.

So I read this book & finished it in September, but am just writing the review for it now (Dec 7). So my review will be a little vaguer and shorter than usual; I like to write my reviews about a week after I finish it. I like to take that week to muse on it, to reflect on it, to frame my thoughts and start writing the review in my head; much longer than that, and I start to forget the little details in the book that usually frame much of my review; much sooner than that, and I haven't had time to formulate my thoughts properly. Unfortunately I got behind on reviews, and since I was really iffy on this book, the review never got written.

So, overall thoughts. I liked it, and I see why everyone compares this series to the Hunger Games - the testing theme especially seems very Hunger Games-ish, and some of the world building is similar in feel, as well. Of course we have the female, teenaged main character, who magically (and instantly) falls in love with the male lead character. I didn't see any chemistry between Cia and Tomas, and the romance seemed forced to me, but whatever.

Cia is way, way too perfect, and that really affected how I felt about the book overall. She's always the smartest one in whatever group of people she's in, she always has the right instincts, never says the wrong thing, never stumbles just a little bit, or feels ackward. No one is any one thing, everyone has good and bad in them, positive and negative traits, and perfection is simply boring. Large parts of the book dragged for me. Luckily the book was still a quick read, even with all that.

A few months later, revisiting this book and this world, even though I'm only giving the book 3 stars, I did like the world building enough that I do think I'll try to read the rest of the series, though I'm not going to make a big effort to do so.

I discovered a new-to-me site where I could borrow e-books and stuff, and this was the first item I borrowed from "hoopla". I don't read alot of comics, but this was the first thing that popped up as a recommendation. I love Ghostbusters so how could I resist?

All in all, it was cute, good, but nothing special. The story line is basically the original movie, with a few minor changes / differences, the art is OK, but it's also the first volume, so the basic story makes sense as a whole.

minor spoilers are mentioned

Once again, yes, I read an Anita Blake book. I can't help myself; this was the first vampire series I fell in love with, & I really, really, really miss the "original" Anita Blake. I keep hoping she'll show up.

As with the last book, this one is another improvement in the series. The first sex scene doesn't take place for almost 200 pages, & there are only a few scenes in the whole book, rather tame & boring.

The plot - well, I'm not sure what to say on this subject. If you read what the book is supposed to be about, it sounds great -- but, the plot in reality falls really short of that. It's an interesting premise - another reviewer called them the Vampire Tea Party, & I like the phrase enough to use it. But it wasn't very well thought out, written well, & other than the barest mentions here & there throughout the book, the plot never really happened.

You don't see very much of Jean Claude in this one, which makes me happy as I'm rather sick of the guy. Anita sounds pretty sick of him, too, throughout the books, as she does talking about all the men in her life. They finally kick Asher to the curb, though only for a month or two. I was rather hoping Hamilton would kill of a few of the lovers or at least make them go away, so I was happy to see Asher go to the rather vague location of "new city".

All in all, I did like the book, I did finish it in only a few days, & I did like it enough that I'll read the next one, but I am left wondering once again why I am still bothering.

*note* I mention adult topics in this review.

Every time I read a new Hamilton book, I say I'm not going to read another one. Well, she published Hit List, and I requested it from the library, read it in a couple of days - and I'm actually glad I did. This one is much better then the last few. It is a little light on plot, as all the more recent ones by her are, but it's also much less sex as well (though, admitedly, Anita still talks about sex on just about every page, at least she's not actually having sex on every page). All of the main characters other then Anita are basically missing from this one, though you do at least see Edward & I am a big Edward fan.

The ending is wrapped up a little too quickly/neatly/perfectly for me: the bad guys are supposed to be so, so, bad, but without much effort or thought, they are magically saved & live on to fight the good fight another day. That part did bother me, but all in all, I did enjoy the book, it was a light, fun, fast read. I give the book 3 stars because the book of course did have some problems/issues, but it was still worth reading, especially if you are smart like I did & borrow the book instead of buy it.

So, probably just like you, I watch the Handmaid's Tale. I actually tried to read this book when it first came out, and couldn't read more than a chapter. This was years before the Hunger Games was probably even an idea, and I certainly had no idea what a dystopian novel was. Then I watched the Hunger Games movie, read the series, got hooked on the genre, and I've been obsessed ever since.



Anyways, this book is scary - not Stephen King scary, but scary in how realistic this book now is. I'm sure when Atwood first published it, the world she created seemed like a fairy tale, but now a days I think most people read a book like this and say "yeah, that could happen". Without discussing politics, just think about the world we're currently living in, who is oppressed and who is making all the rules...



Even if you aren't a fan of the dystopian genre, I think you need to read this book, if only to open up your eyes and see what's going on in the world today, and let's all help to make sure this book doesn't come true!



So anyways review on the book itself: as always, a book that's been reviewed hundreds of times before, I don't tend to write much about it because it's been said a hundred times before. The book matches season one of the show pretty closely - if you are behind on the show, then know reading the book will spoil the show, and vice versa. It's a very quick read - I think I read in two sittings & could've read easily in one sitting if I hadn't gotten interrupted.