The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks

Currently reading! Review to be posted.

My copy of the book I picked up at the local Walmart for about $6

Just update I am still reading it is October 20th. Here are some pictures of some lines I liked in this book so far.

I really liked these parts of the books describing how different characters felt about the town they lived in. I could relate coming from a small (minded) town myself.

This is another quote seriously relating to my town and I am sure many other peoples towns as well. The closest city to me is Philadelphia, so unless you are a township worker or you run your own business there really isn't a way to earn a high salary around here.

This one made me think of a lot of different things. Any time I am upset and cry Corey (my boyfriend) will always tell me crying won't change things, you need to focus on the positive and move forward. I like the way it is explained in this part of the book.

November 5, 2014

So I actually finished this book several days ago but I just haven't quiet been sure what to write. This is my first Nicholas Sparks book and wow I am impressed. The author switches between all of the characters in the book allowing you to understand where each person is coming from when they make the decisions they make. I was not prepared for the ending even though I could feel it coming. The whole book you are rooting for these two people to be together, at the same time you can feel Amanda's torn heart about the feelings for her husband, and family. The ending is heart breaking yet great at the same time. It reminds me of an Emily Giffin book. I don't think I will be reading another Nicholas Sparks book anytime soon though. I liked it being relatible and all that, just I enjoy a more happy book. This was on the darker side and left me feeling depressed and sad.

Redeemed - PC Cast & Kristin Cast

Currently reading... Review to be posted

Well sorry it took me so long, I had life going on and got a little side tracked. This book was actually good. I know I haven't reviewed the other 11 books on this blog or the 3 novellas but if you are on shelfari you can find me (sgamble187) and read my reviews on them there.

Rant time - I wish it didn't take P.C Cast and Kristin Cast 12 books to finally do what readers have been complaining about since the second book. My biggest issue with this entire series has always been the redundancy. By the time I hit book 6 and they were still explaining why Grandma called Zoey u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya I wanted to slam the book down and be done with it. If I didn't love books so much I just might have. And it wasn't just with Grandma, it was with everything that could possibly have been related to a previous book. I wanted to scream to the authors that we are obviously several books in, we get it, stop repeating yourself. I won't continue on about the previous books and what angered me because this book was actually really good and I am happy I stuck it through to the end. Again just read my shelfari reviews if you want to see my opinions.

*spoilers ahead*

So, Redeemed. Zoey finally gets her shit together. If you are an avid reader of this series you will get the little joke I made there. (for those who haven't read the series Zoey does not curse). When I first started out the book I was so afraid it was going to be the who is Zoey going to have sex with saga all over again but it was not! In the beginning Zoey turns herself in because she believes she murdered two men in the park (Revealed). Now we, the reader know Nefret is the true killer. Don't worry Zoey doesn't waste the book away in there, she is actually out in a few chapters. The #1 thing I have always loved about this whole series is how it changes narrators so you can see where several characters are at once. I loved getting inside Nefret's head and see just how crazy and deluded she had become.

Crazy Pants Nefret decides the Mayo (a hotel in town) is now her temple where people should worship her. She honestly thinks that the people inside are waiting to worship her... She uses her little darkness worm things to take over peoples bodies and make them do her bidding. Nefret is easily upset and lashes out on the receptionist Kylee just because she doesn't immediately refer to her as Goddess. Nefret goes on throughout the book just proving how crazy she is by throwing people off of her balcony and making her worms burst through peoples bodies. One human, Lynette, does not get taken over by the worms and pretty much becomes Nefret's personal assistant. Lynette is only saved by the fact that she herself is power driven and uses that to her advantage to please Nefret. In the end she dies like all the other people trapped in the Mayo but seriously it's Nefret I wouldn't have expected it to be any other way without it seeming cheesy.

Kalona goes on to prove his worthiness of forgiveness to everyone. His story is more of a wrap up of the novella Kolona's Fall. So I did enjoy his part in the book just to see how far he really has come and why he has been so jaded over the years.

Shaunee and Erik end up together. While the characters in the book don't find it weird I certainly do. Erik was always a cry baby to me in the books. Shaunee is a strong character, her affinity is for fire for goddess sake! ;) I do like the turn in personality Erik took not being so self centered like he has been but that is the running theme of the book. People changing and coming to see what is truly important in life.

This book should have been called Zoey Redbird Finally Stops Whining. This is the first book that I have liked Zoey's character. Being in jail finally makes her snap into reality and make some major decisions that needed to be made 6 books ago. I do understand why she was so annoying in the other books because obviously they wanted to show her growing as time went on. And now that the last book has been written I can appreciate the annoying Zoey in the earlier books. She really does come a long way and starts to act like an adult.

My favorite quote in the book I took a picture of sorry if it is grainy. It is at the end of the book before the big showdown which is in the last 50 pages. I started to panic thinking how on earth can this book be done and have all my questions answered in 50 pages. Well they do it, and they do it well. That is why they write books and I read them.

So that is the end. I will try and do better reviews like this for future books too.

Witch World - Christopher Pike

Now this book took on a theme I hadn't really read before. I usually read books about the supernatural because who doesn't want to escape from reality from time to time. The main character, Jessie, and all of her friends have recently graduated high school. The main setting of the book is in Las Vegas, where the entire senior class has agreed to spend their first weekend as graduates. Jessie's ex-boyfriend, Jimmy, tags along with her group as planned by Jessie's best friend Alex, so that they can work things out.

Jimmy reveals to Jessie why he broke up with her out of the blue and stopped talking to her. Jimmy's ex-girlfriend, Kari, became pregnant and they had a baby boy named Huck. When Jessie asks why he is there and not with Kari he states Huck passed away 4 days after he was born. Jessie feels bad for Jimmy but is still mad for not including her in his reasoning for leaving and she storms off with Alex to start their night of fun.

Skipping ahead in the story some Jessie meets Russ who cryptically tells her to find him when she does not know what else to do. Jessie is later kidnapped and locked in a meat freezer until she passes away. When she wakes up she is in Witch World, a world that runs parallel to the real world. Jessie, now known as Jessica, finds out she is part witch, and she now is able to control herself in both worlds. In Witch World Jessica finds her and James (Jimmy) have a baby girl, Lara. Witch World and the Regular World share events with one another but sometimes those events don't always match up. Hence, Jimmy having Huck and James having Lara.

Lara is an extremely rare powerful baby with all 10 of the known witch genes. Now a story needs a bad guy so here is where that comes in. The bad group, the Lapras, kidnap Lara in hopes to turn her evil. Long story short it doesn't work. Jessie is tempted by evil only to have Jimmy, yes Jimmy not James, help her through it. She overcomes temptation... this time. Witch World II, Black Night, comes out December 2, 2014 and I am certainly interested to see what direction Jessie takes.

The main things that bothered me in this book was that these kids are all newly 18 and have kids themselves. It is not exactly promoting a good idea to young readers. I get it is just a story but it was weird none the less that Jessica's father was totally cool with her having a kid at 18 and even helped the Tar push her and Jimmy together. The only other thing that was a tad bit odd was that turns out all of Jessie's closest friends have the Witch Gene. It is lamely explained in the book as people who have witch genes and don't know it are often drawn together...

The story line was very good and the dialect was easy to read and believable for someone who is 18. I like that the book for the most part gives you closure on the main characters and even some of the back characters. They didn't disappear like in some books once the story gets going.

Bound to You - Christopher Pike

Bound to You by Christopher Pike is two of Pike's books published together, Spellbound and See You Later.

This book honestly took me forever to finish because Spellbound just did not captivate my attention at all. The book is about a group of friends in high school who find out their one friend is a monster who kills people. That is all fine and a plot I am used to reading. The problem I had with the book is that everyone is described as breathtakingly hot and extremely athletic. Of course our main character is a football cheerleader who dates the quarterback of the football team. All of the kids driving amazingly fancy cars and have nice big houses up in the mountains. Oh and their parents, they don't mind the kids staying out all night long or anything. The main characters parents even hide in their room so their son can have a girl over at 1 in the morning. The whole premise just frustrated me.

See You Later is a whole different story. I loved this story and found myself not able to put the book down once i started it. This is about a boy who meets this girl Kari, and eventually gets her help in getting a date with a girl he really likes. There are a few plot twists I don't want to ruin because wow this story took crazy turns. The ending leaves you sad but satisfied.

If you can find these books separately, which is how they originally were published, just skip Spellbound.