This book was such a fun read! I really enjoyed it right from the very first page. I loved the characters, the storyline, and the fun paranormal and witchy elements!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

My thoughts:
I really liked the main character, Gwen. I thought that her powers from the start were really interesting as she was able to see visions or transport herself to the past through another type of vision. I was surprised that during the transports, she could be hurt. That was an interesting twist to other similar tropes I have read, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops later on.

I also really enjoyed seeing her character learn more about herself, her family, and her powers as the story moved on. I will admit, the whole woman who is oblivious to the magnitude of her powers trope has been a bit over done for me, but in this case it was absolutely perfect. I loved that Gwen had to really practice and that most things were very overwhelming and exhausting for her. This made it much more believable. And there wasn't a moment when she suddenly had perfect control and clarity of her powers, which I really appreciated. I really liked that she still needed a lot of help from Lewis and Sebastian.

Speaking of, Lewis and Sebastian were two lovely paranormal characters. Lewis was her familiar who transitioned between his forms of raven and man. From what we learned about him early on, he had the ability to heal others and played the role of Gwen's protector and teacher. But for some reason he was holding her powers back and only teaching her very basic magic. He was also a very jealous character that had a strong love for Gwen, and repeatedly mentioned how he could never actually romantically love her.

Sebastian was Gwen's neighbor and her grandmothers best friend. He was also magical, but as a reader we didn't find out why until much later in the book. When he told Gwen exactly what he was, it shook their relationship.

There were also many side characters that lived in the small town that I enjoyed a lot! I am definitely interested to see if they play roles in the rest of the series because I would love to see them further developed.

One character that gave me the willies from the first meeting with Gwen was Curtis, the local cop. He was always so odd. The author wrote his persona so wonderfully! His dialogue really got to me, as most of it was degrading. For example:
She finished her food and coffee and left a tip under her cup. "I should go, I have an appointment," she said and felt her breath suck in. She really needed more practice on her thought to speech filter.
"Oh, getting your nails done," he said, his tone flat as if he assumed that was the extent of her appointments she could possible have.

The storyline itself flowed so well! I really enjoyed that we seamlessly read thoughts from each of the characters perspectives all on the same page, rather than the book being split into chapters for each.

The suspense factor that was woven in was perfect; not too much, but certainly enough to really get my heart pumping. I also love that there was a lovely small town vibe, which I'm always a sucker for. Needless to say, this book was really difficult for me to put down!


Beware, the (slight!) negatives:
There were some issues with punctuation, grammar, and wording. Examples:
"...more time slipped from away her."
"She brought in what needed put away immediately and left the rest for later."
"Why did his tension pulsed so strong, and how it connected to her family?"
"It certainly needed addressed very soon."

There was a bit of repetition that was a little bothersome to me, but as always, that's just my reading irk. I just felt that there were many topics that were repeated too frequently for my preference. For example the pull that the characters felt for one another, or why they shouldn't feel that pull.

The ending seemed a bit rushed. My first thought was "Wait, what? What about the Fannie threat?" It was like they solved one of the issues and immediately forgot about the second. The more I thought about it, the more questions I realized were left unresolved. Loose threads like this usually make me a little angry, but in this case I only thought: "Well, guess I'll have to snag book two soon to find out what happens!"


My favorite passages:
"Sometimes the only reason is that life is awful and people do things that don't make sense."

His office was a mess, papers everywhere, smelled like smoke, and had overflowing ashtrays lying about on top of the papers. Was it even legal to smoke in offices anymore? Gwen wondered. It was too classical a representative of a burnt-out detective.

The scent of books added to the warm, welcoming feeling. In her mind, she could almost hear the sound of an old book opening and sending out its welcoming scent.

Her unhappiness and the magic it called on filled the night and beckoned him to her. He watched in awe as the sky responded to her sorrow. Little beads of despair turned to frozen drops that clung to her hair. They looked like pearls on the black strands. Even in her absolute sadness, he found her more beautiful than anyone he ever laid eyes on before.

His mind easily drifted to how her presence felt and he smiled as the memories danced across his thoughts.


My final thoughts:
This is definitely a book that will hook you right from page one and not let you go! So make sure to pick it up on your day off! If you enjoy small town stories filled with paranormal features and a slight romance element, go pick this one up. I would highly recommend it; Four stars!

I can't wait to get my hands on the second book in the series, Burning Captivation!

The Beat on Ruby's Street by Jenna Zark is a book about Ruby Tabeata, an eleven-year-old living in Greenwich Village.

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

I thought that this book was written very well, style wise! I really enjoyed how perfectly the author captured the persona of the eleven-year-old main character. The storyline flowed in a linear fashion over a seemingly short period of time.

My favorite feature of the book was that throughout the story the main character was always a rambling off a random fact, definition, or anything that she's learned from her teachers. This was written in a way that I felt was constantly backing up the fact that she has learned plenty in her nontraditional schooling.

I do wish that we had gotten more about the characters and their dynamics early on. The lack of family backstory made me feel lukewarm about the characters, especially when it came to the parents. But of course, if I had read this when I was in the targeted age group, I don't think that would have been an issue.

I also wish there had been more of a deeper explanation about the historical factor. I personally didn't take much away from this book in regard to the Beat poets.

While I did enjoy the read, I can't say it was exactly in my wheelhouse. I would still recommend this book to others, but I personally wouldn't pick it up again. I gave it three stars.

I would recommend this book to readers that really enjoy quick, realistic middle grade stories with a focus on personal growth, family problems, and poetry.


My favorite passages:
The night I saw it, someone said the lights made it look like a pearl necklace, which I wrote down in my notebook. If you want to be any kind of writer, you should always have a notebook with you.

It's really hard getting Ray to worry. He's a lot like Gary Daddy-o, who says while everything matters, nothing matters very much. I think that's another one of those Zen sayings. What it really means is if you want to get through life without falling apart, you can't let every flippy little thing get to you.

"Oh, yeah. Sure," I say like it was nothing, but my heart's going so fast I'm sure he can hear it.

It's funny how something can look pretty good until you see it with someone else's eyes.

It's the ugliest budding on the block, wide and squat, and if it had a color you wouldn't know it. I think it's yellow, but it could easily be gray.

I think Nell-mom can sense what I'm feeling because she asks, "Are you okay?"
I lick my lips, trying to decide I feel like the lady in King Kong when he picks her up and shakes her while he's walking through the jungle. When he finally puts her down, it must have bene strange to be standing on the ground again. But how do I say that?

When I suggested The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls to my office book club, I warned everyone that it would cover some tough subjects... But I had no idea that the topics would be incredibly hard to read. While the book was beautifully written, I had to keep setting it down and walking away.

As I said above, there were many really tough topics that may be triggering to some; lying, cheating, alcoholism, destructive violence, sexual assault, child neglect, et cetera.

Memoirs are so hard for me to review simply because their content is all true. Of course, all of the hardships that Jeannette went though shaped her into the person she became later in life and all that... But throughout the entire reading, I couldn't help but think how toxic the siblings childhood was. Sure, there was clearly love there as well, but a lot of it was just not okay.

It was so heartbreaking to see how the author excused all of the bad behavior when she discussed her childhood. Of course, as a child, she didn't know any better and she captured that past persona beautifully.

As the memoir progressed, I was very happy to see that Jeannette really began to grow and see how destructive their lifestyle was. I loved seeing her make positive life changes as she worked to improve her life. Closer to the end of the memoir, I will say that I was quite bummed that she didn't completely cut the toxic people from her life, but I can also understand why she didn't.

This memoir was beautifully written. Another issue that I usually have with memoirs is that they seem so choppy. But that was not the case here! The organization and flow was wonderful.

Even though the writing was beautiful, the content was very difficult. Many of the stories got my blood boiling! I couldn't make a guess as to how many times I set this book down and walked away because it was just too heavy for me. I mean, take just these stories and quotes for example:

* Tossing a cat out on the side of the highway because it didn't like to travel.

* Driving through the desert trying to hit the pregnant mother with the car as she ran away.

* "For some reason, she didn't have it in her to say no to him. If she tried, he'd argue and wheedle and sulk and bully and plain wear her down.

* "But Mom," I said, "that ring could get us a lot of food." "That's true," Mom said, "but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is more vital than food."

* "Eventually, even Mom acknowledged that I'd done all right. 'No one expected you to amount to much,' she told me. 'Lori was the smart one, Maureen the pretty one, and Brian the brave one. You never had much going for you except that you always worked hard.'"

My favorite parts of the book were the happy moments that the siblings had. Like the mattress catapult, the bike gifts, and even the river rat in the bedroom. I only wish we had gotten more upbeat stories to outweigh the more negative.


Favorite passages:
I wondered if all fire was related, like Dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn't have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.

That was the thing to remember about all monsters, Dad said: They love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.

"Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy," Mom told me. "You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more."

At times she'd be happy for days on end, announcing that she had decided to think only positive thoughts, because if you think positive thoughts, then positive things will happen to you. But the positive thoughts would give way to negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts seemed to swoop into her mind the way a big flock of black crows takes over the landscape, sitting thick in the trees and on the fence rails and lawns, staring at you in ominous silence.

...a fifteen-minute subway ride south and about half a dozen worlds away...


My final thoughts:
Definitely a worthwhile read, just personally not for me because it was so negative and upsetting. I gave this book four stars, but I would not pick it up again.

That all being said, I am really looking forward to seeing the movie staring Brie Larson!

This will always be one of my favorite classics. 5 stars!

Click here to read my full review!

Now this is my kind of fantasy! I was hooked right from page one. Now that I have finished reading, I'm wicked antsy for book two!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

Halfway is set in a futuristic place called Enigma, a halfway point between Earth and Hell or Elysium. The people, now called Myrits in this realm, have been reborn after their death. They awaken in an amphitheater with no memory of who they are. A man standing at a podium informs them that they are indeed in the afterlife and now must face trials for the crimes that they had committed in their human lives. If they are proven compatible and deemed worthy for Elysium, they will be granted access to move on.

The Myrits are confused. Some of them question the speaker. Before things can get out of hand, the speaker tells them that in order to get their human memories back, they must put on a bracelet that sits on a table in front of them. For some, the memories come rushing back as soon as the bracelet is on, but for others, it takes more time. The speaker warns them that if they take the bracelet off, they will lose all of their memories and could potentially lose them forever because they will not be able to remember to put the bracelet back on.

From there, we dive deeper into the story.

My thoughts:

In this situation, I really loved that we were just dropped into the story! This is such a great example of a book that starts in the middle of the action and then backs up to explain the situation in a way that doesn't rely on a ton of information dumping.

So needless to say, I was hooked right from page one. I really enjoyed the quick prologue, though it was a bit confusing because it was right in the middle of the action. However, I felt that it really set the tone of the book perfectly. I was only confused for a short while because right in the first chapter, we got the important information that helped us understand the world.

The storyline flowed well and it was all so wonderfully paced. I really enjoyed that there were chapters sprinkled throughout the book that jumped back to the main characters human lives in order to fill in their backstories.

I really enjoyed all of the characters! Each of them were just so interesting to me. I loved that we met the Myrits when they were very vulnerable and confused, but then got to learn more and more about them each each time we jumped back to see them as humans. I absolutely loved discovering how the characters we focused on were all linked in their human lives as well. I cannot wait to see how things turn out for all of them!

There was a bit of violence included and to me it was wonderfully done! It really made me shudder, but I didn't feel like it was overdone. It was very refreshing!

Beware, the negatives:

The writing was a bit repetitive (my personal reading irk). For example, we learned about going before the Department of Justice through one character, then learned about it again through another character. We also hear the bit about how some Myrits have a hard time using their bracelets and why that is a couple of times. Also when we see a couple of characters use the Televator, we get the same description twice. In each situation, just the first mention would have been enough in my opinion.

This book could also use a tune up editing wise, but only in regards to simple things like capitalization and slight rewording.

My final thoughts:
I would definitely recommend this book! I had so much fun reading this and I cannot wait for the second book.

I had never read a manga before, so I was a bit worried that I may not be able to read from right to left very easily.

Luckily, I had nothing to worry about! Once I started reading, I flew right through the book! There were only a couple of times that I messed up and read from left to right.

Click here to check out my full review, complete with images!

I cannot believe it took me so long to read this book! I purchased it back when I was 23 years old. I am 27 now and I am totally kicking myself! There is so much information in this book that I could have used when I was 23!

While reading this as a 27 year old, there was a lot of content that I simply didn't care about. Of course, that is just the way that I personally felt. So I gave this book three stars.

My personal thoughts aside, I would very highly recommend this book to anyone in their 20's or 30's! Especially for people that fall within that age range who are struggling with work, love, or planning for their future.

This review is going to be quite short, as I only have a few things to say about this adaptation:

1) I thought that this graphic novel captured the tone of the original novel very well.

2) I loved that it stayed true to the original storyline.

3) The artwork and color palette was lovely and set the perfect atmosphere. Some pages were dark and dreary, others were vibrant and hot!

4)My god, seeing the hound drawn out was incredibly spooky!

I'll admit, I had my hopes up really high for this book... And I am so happy to say that it did not disappoint. I thought this was an absolutely incredible adaptation! Five stars!

I snagged The Dip by Seth Godin at a local thrift store for just a dollar! I couldn't believe it; what a find! I brought it with me to the gym and read it while I walked on the treadmill. I didn't leave the treadmill until I had read it cover to cover. It took less than an hour to read.

I thought this book was absolutely incredible! If you are struggling with your job, a project at work, or any other project in your personal life, this is a must read!