The Red Pyramid

Title: The Red Pyramid

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: The Kane Chronicles, Book 1

Number of Pages: 516

Date Read: 6/14/16 

Genre: Mythology, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Middle Grade 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. 

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. 

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

My Review:

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan Video Review

Rating:A+

Ruthless

Title: Ruthless

Author: Carolyn Lee Adams

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 248

Date Read: 6/1/16 

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Survival, Contemporary 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Ruth Carver has always competed like her life depends on it. Ambitious. Tough. Maybe even mean. It’s no wonder people call her ruthless.

When she wakes up with a concussion in the bed of a moving pickup truck, Ruth realizes she has been entered into a contest she can’t afford to lose.

At a remote, rotting cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ruth’s blindfold comes off and she finds herself face-to-face with her captor: A man who believes his mission is to punish bad girls like Ruth. A man who has done this six times before.

The other girls were never heard from again, but Ruth won’t go down easy. She escapes into the wilderness, but her hunter is close at her heels. That’s when the real battle begins. That’s when Ruth must decides just how far she’ll go in order to survive.

Back home, they called her Ruthless. They had no idea just how right they were.

My Review:

This book was ok but it made me so angry.

The plot of the book is a girl trying to escape her captor. Ruth is taken by a man up to a remote cabin in the mountains. She doesn't know the reason why or what he wants. She eventually escapes. The rest of the book is her escaping and trying to find civilization while he is hunting her. Along the way we learn a few things about the man and what made him turn out to be a psychopath serial killer through flashbacks in between chapters. We also learn a bit about Ruth told in flash back of 5 years ago when she was attending the horse event. This is also told between the chapters and is alternated between chapters with the man's history. 

I loved that the book opened in suspense. Ruth is just waking up in the bed of a moving truck and the first chapter is her trying to work out where she is. This book has a lot of suspense in it for the fact that Ruth was being hunted through mountainous woods. You never knew if the wolfman (that's what she calls him) is just around the bend and if he's really going to catch her. I liked the creepy atmosphere of the book and I enjoyed the journey of survival Ruth had to take. I did think that every event that happened to her was adding too much to the story. Events just kept piling up and up and its hard to think that a person could survive all those things happening to them. 

The sad thing is that I didn't really like the characters.

Ruth was ok. Some things she was smart but other things she was incredible stupid. I liked that she didn't give up and was determined to survive. I also liked that she became delirious after days of running and scavenging for food. It made the story believable that the things happening to her were taking a toll on her body and mind. Ruth was incredibly brave and resourceful. But I didn't like her all that much. What we get of her personality was that she was mean, difficult to be around, rude and basically a brat. 

Then there was her stupidity that made me not care if she survived because hey if she didn't care then I didn't. 

Potential Spoilers ahead for this paragraph:
So she escapes her captor and is on the run for awhile. Then she reaches an empty house and sees the wolfman after her so goes in the house to hide. Of course he gets in because there wouldn't be a story if he didn't. However she gets the upper hand and takes him hostage. And what does she do? She gives him water and decides to have a conversation with him! I'm like wtf? Get out of there! In my head I was thinking she should shoot and kill him. Or she could of shot him in both kneecaps and arms so that he is immobile and she can get away. But no....she talks to him? At teh very least she could of knocked him out with something. After she's done chatting she LEAVES the guy tied up and goes to the bathroom!. She goes and takes her damn time cleaning all her wounds. At least if she knocked him out or shot him she could take the time to clean herself up. And then she's surprised when he escapes. I mean really? There were so many times she could of shot and killed him or shoot him in the knees and arms. But she didn't want to kill him. F that! I'd of taken his own gun and shot him in the face!

The man was your run of the mill psycho who had mommy and daddy issues that made him the way he was. Of course I hated him but he was very smart and very prepared to kill Ruth. He just didn't count on her survival instinct. It's clear that she was not his first victim by the state of the cabin. He was just gross, evil and psychotic. He liked to kill and found excuses to do it. 

I'm also not sure if there is a paranormal element to this book. Ruth has hallucinations that actually help her to escape and find her way. However I'm not sure if the hallucinations were real or not. Ruth also got feelings about things that were happening with her family that were correct but again I don't know if it was her intuition or something paranormal. 

The book was short and I breezed through it. I liked the overall plot and the survival instincts of Ruth but I just didn't like and couldn't connect with either character.

Rating: B

Riders

Title: Riders

Author: Veronica Rossi

Series: Riders, Book 1

Number of Pages: 362

Date Read: 5/29/16 

Genre: Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy, Mythology 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

My Review: 

So overall I like this book but I did have some problems with it. 

The book is about the main character Gideon becoming one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He had a near death experience or actually dies and was brought back to life (that's still not clear), and when he wakes up he has these powers/abilities and a cuff around his wrist that can't come off. He gets entangled with a girl name Daryn, who calls herself a seeker. He becomes a horseman because some demons known as the kindred are looking for a key and the four horsemen are being called to protect it. The book is mainly about finding the rest of the horsemen, learning their powers and fighting the kindred. 

I didn't really like the way the story was told. It's told through interrogation. The book opens with Gideon strapped to a chair being interrogated by an officer to tell his story. One of the big battles in the book has already happened and the book is mainly Gideon recalling everything that happened (except the last few chapters that finally catch up to the present). While the story was good I wasn't a fan the story being told through memories with parts of the present cutting in when the officer wanted to ask him questions. For me that disrupted the flow of the story.

The characters were ok but my favorite was Bas (Sebastian), who wasn't even the main character. Bas was funny, had the best intentions and was always helpful. He was the sweetest guy and the most fun to be around. He had already mastered some of his abilities by the time Gideon found him. He was not one to fight though but did when it was necessary. I really liked him. I would gladly read a book just about him or where he is the main character which I hope Rossi does. 

Gideon is the main character. He was alright. I think I grew to like him as the story went on. He was in the army before his accident so its appropriate that he becomes war. I though he was very pushy at times and felt like he needed to lighten up. He had a lot of rage and anger inside him which made him unstable at times. Gideon did have a good heart and was trying to understand the mission and help. He just got too angry sometimes. He was a soldier so everything with him was about intel, control, the mission and training. He was very strategic and wanted to protect Daryn at all costs. I liked that he took the mission seriously.

Jode is one of the other horsemen and he's kind of forgettable. He come in late in the book and while I did like him well enough he didn't have much part in the book except in the battles. Marcus is the last horseman and I didn't like him at first. He had a bad attitude, always wanted to fight and was hostile. Actually the whole hostility between Marcus and Gideon was getting so old for the amount of time it lasted. They were at each other throats and always wanted to fight. It was annoying. But once the horsemen decided to work as a team and both Gideon and Marcus stopped acting like asses I liked them more. 

I really didn't like Daryn. She was just ehh. She is the seeker whose job is to get the horsemen together. She is very secretive and keeps information from the guys throughout the whole book. She wants them to do their "job" but doesn't want to give them any information about it. She also leads Gideon on with wanting him but then saying she can't be with him but then doing things like hug him and hold his hand. WTF man, pick something already. Either yes or no to him. I just didn't liker her or really see a reason for her to be there. She was always arguing with Gideon and didn't really contribute anything except for the locations of the other horsemen. 

I enjoyed the mythology behind the horsemen with their weapons, abilities and their horses. They weapons were awesome and I loved seeing them train with them. Personally I would of wanted the bow and arrow for my weapon. They're abilities on how they can affect people was awesome too. Individually they were ok but used together they were awesome. I absolutely loved the horses. Each horse was different and manifested different, had different personalities and abilities. My favorite was Gideon's fire horse. That horse had a bad attitude in the beginning and I could totally see him as a warhorse. 

The demons in this book were interesting as well. They're abilities were awesome and their true forms were so nasty and gross. The leader was Samrael and he had a nasty power that could take down any horseman. Personally, I think he was the strongest being in the book, way stronger than any of the other demons and the horsemen. He was also pure evil and was good at it. 

This book did have some action in it in the form big of battles but they happened at the end of the book which was kind of a long time to wait but oh well. 

The ending killed me and it ensured that I will read the second book in the series to find out what happens. I hate cliffhangers. 

Rating: B+

Rebel of the Sands

Title: Rebel of the Sands

Author: Alwyn Hamilton

Series: Rebel of the Sands, Book 1

Number of Pages: 314

Date Read: 5/21/16 

Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three.  She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

My Review: 

I'm currently not able to type up a review but I did do a video review of the book, so I'll link it here if anyone is interested

Click on the link Below:

Rebel of The Sands Youtube Video Review

Rating: A+

The Raven Boys

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Series: The Raven Cycle, Book 1

Number of Pages: 408

Date Read: 5/8/16 

Genre: Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

My Review: 

After reading this book I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I had read Stievater's book Shiver and I really didn't enjoy it. It was so boring and I was afraid this book would be the same. However after seeing booktube reviews on how good it was, I decided to give it a try. I figured I could always DNF it if I didn't like it. 

However, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I don't know what it was about it. It wasn't my favorite book but something about it made me keep reading. This book is told in multiple points of view but the main ones are Blue, Adam and Gansey.

This book is really about a quest to find a dead/sleeping welsh King. If the kind is awakened, he will grant a favor to the ones who woke him. However there are many other aspects and plot lines in the story. The main female character Blue, is a psychic's daughter who is not psychic. However she amplifies other psychic's powers. There is also a prophecy that if she kisses her true love she will kill him. So one day while helping her aunt on St. Marks day, she ends up seeing a boy's spirit (which means he will be dead within the next 12 months) which means that either he is her true love or that she kills him. He turns out to be Gansey, a rich boy from an ivy league high school. Gansey is the boy who is obsessed with finding the dead king. He has his motives as does his 3 friends who are involved in the quest as well. Because of their school, they are know as the Raven boys. Blue ends up meeting them and she becomes involved with Gansey's quest. And the story goes on from there. 

Aside from her ridiculous name, I really liked Blue. As it was said many times in the book, she is very sensible. After she was told the prophecy (which she had been told since she was little) she decided not to fall in love or at the very least not kiss anyone. And she kept her decision, not kissing anyone. She is also very helpful and gave her knowledge to the Raven boys easily. All she wanted was to be part of the quest. She cares for the boys and uses her amplification abilities to help on the quest. She is a loving daughter as well. Sometimes she is disappointed that she has no psychic abilities but at other times she glad she doesn't. She is very sweet to the boys but she is also very spunky and can hold her own against them. She can be very rude and argumentative if she is pushed. She also knows the value of money and will not take any handouts from the boys. 

I also liked Gansey, the ringleader of the raven boys. He is very straightforward and has a take charge personality. He looks out for his friends and helps them in whatever situations they find themselves in. He is rich but he doesn't really look at that. He doesn't realize that the things he says (about money or possessions) can be taken offensively by people who are not rich, like Blue. Gansey has this need to find the welsh king (can remember the name or spelling of it) to feel like he has made a contribution to the world. He really is a sweet guy though. 

The next raven boy is Adam. I really liked him too. He is soooo super sweet and so smart. He doesn't really have a good home life but that doesn't stop him from going to the prestigious school. He studies and works hard. He is very loyal to Gansey but at the same time he doesn't want to feel like Gansey owns him by giving Adam money or paying for things for him. He is very independent and want to make it through hard work, not handouts. He has very strong principals and he doesn't compromise them, which I liked about him. 

The next raven boy is Noah, who has a secret. Noah is not always in everything with the boys and at times he's missing from the excursions they go on. Noah is very quiet and shy but he has a soft spot for blue and is very affectionate with her (like petting her hair). Noah is easily not noticeable. He is described as being scruffy and always disheveled. I like him too as well. 

My favorite character of the book is the last raven boy Ronan. He is a bad boy with a worse attitude. He says whatever is on his mind and he curses up a storm. He loves to fight and I mean physical fighting. He really doesn't care about anything like school. He is very loyal to Gansey and readily believes in the magic and the quest. He would follow Gansey anywhere and he is very protective of him. However he has a soft side especially towards his baby raven that he finds. He feeds the raven, holds it, cares for it and its sweet to see that. He has a rough exterior but his heart is good. He is my favorite!

Lastly for the characters, I want to mention Blue's aunts and mother. I love her mother. She did such a good job of raising Blue to be the strong girl she is. She cares a lot for Blue, protects her and is funny at times. She doesn't want Blue involved with Gansey and the quest but she helps when she realizes she can't stop her. I also loved her aunt Calla, who is just as vicious and mean as Ronan. She is the female version of Ronan. I love how mean she is and how sarcastic. However its clear she loves Blue and Blue's mother. Finally is her aunt Persephone. I really like her because she is so weird. She is very soft spoken and very intuitive. She is very quiet but powerful. 

The world in the story was interesting. There's a lot to do with ley lines and energy. Ley lines are where supernatural events can happen. So there's a lot to do with that and the group wants to find and awaken the ley line in the town they're in. The ley line has something to do with the welsh king. There was a lot of psychic and supernatural elements in the book that I enjoyed. 

There is a small beginnings of a romance in the book but its very small. Like tiny. Right now all the boys are entranced by Blue but in this book anyway Adam is showing some romantic affection. However I get the feeling that Blue will end up with Gansey by the end of the series and certain things happen in the book that point that way. However I want Ronan and Blue to be together. I totally ship them. 

So I did like the book and I will be continuing the series. I know I'm late in the game since the last book just came out like last month but hey better late than never! 

Rating:A

Salt to the Sea

Title: Salt to the Sea

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 383

Date Read: 4/6/16 

Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical, World War II 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

My Review:

Soooo....This book was ok. I liked it well enough but I was expecting an epic life alerting book with all the hype this book was getting. So I'm disappointed to say that the book was just ok for me. I went in expecting a lot but I found it so....boring. And yes, I know I'm in the minority on this one.

This book is basically about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship during World War 2. The boat contained over 10,000 people and over 9,000 lost their lives. It's known as the greatest maritime tragedy in the maritime history. 

In this book we follow 4 protagonists and the story is told in alternating chapters. All the characters find each other while they are making their way to the ships. The country of Poland is being evacuated and all the civilians and soldiers are heading to the boats to get safe passage to Germany. Russia has invaded Poland and is committing atrocities and massacres everywhere they go. 

The first character I'll talk about is Joana. She is a Lithuanian nurse that is was working in a hospital in Poland. We find her with a band of people that she takes care of. Joana is a very caring and loving person. She enjoys helping people and is always more concerned with the safety and health of others rather than herself. Throughout the book when disaster strikes she is always volunteering to help the injured and sick. She always checks on the welfare of her group before she rests. I really liked her a lot and she is genuinely a good person. She really does care for people. She is hiding a secret that is tearing her apart and she misses her family very much. She is my favorite character.

Next is the Prussian, Florian Beck. He has a secret mission of his own that he is carrying out. He seems to be a soldier. In the beginning of the book he was wounded and after awhile he finds Joana's group, where Joana tends to his wound. Florian is very secretive and is very protective of his pack. He also becomes very protective of another character Emilia and Joana. At first he wants nothing to do with anyone and prefers to travel alone but as time passes he becomes attached to the girls and the others in the group. He begins to open up a little more especially to Joana. I really liked him.

The next character is Emilia who is Polish. She also has a secret that is revealed later on in the book. Once she meets Florian she dubs him her "knight" and becomes very attached to him, though not romantically. While she likes everyone else, she trusts Florian completely and if he were to leave the group, she'd go with him. She was always looking for him even when disaster struck. He was very important to her. Emilia is very young in the book, maybe around 15 or so. She has had a hard life and bad things have happened to her. She can be moody at times and she doesn't like to talk much, except to Florian and later on Joana. She is also extremely loyal to people she trusts and cares about and for the most part, that person is Florian in the book. She would do anything for him and defend him to the end. 

The last character is the German Naval Officer, Alfred Frick. I hated him. He was bat shit crazy. He wrote letters to this girl in his head and made himself out to be the best hero and sailor there ever was where in reality he was in the lowest rank of officers. He tries too hard to be someone of importance and its so obvious that its embarrassing. He is also completely crazy. He aligns his beliefs with Hitler's and thinks that Hitler is the only one who understands him and his thoughts. He never even met Hitler. He of course hates Jews and polish people. He kick dogs, which as an animal love, pissed me the hell off and I wanted him dead just for that. He speaks condescendingly to other people especially the refugees and peasants trying to get on the ships, where in reality he's just a little piece of s**t. He thought he was so important but he was nothing. I really didn't like him. His attitude sucks. 

The setting and description of the characters' surroundings were good and detailed. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters and seeing their quirks. I just found a lot of it boring. It took them forever to get to the ships and then the actual main event if the book took a few chapters. There were some tragedies that took place along the way to the ships but it was few and far between. 

I did enjoy learning about Florian, Joana and Emilia's history, their backgrounds, what happened to them before they met and what happened to their families. I also enjoyed the romance that was brewing in the book between two characters. The romance was no where near the center stage of the book but I did enjoy the small presence that was in there. I found myself rooting for the couple and totally shipped them (no pun intended, lol). 

So all in all this book was good. I was just expecting so much more. However I still want to read Between Shades of Gray by this author. Oh and yes I did catch the link that attach this book to Between Shades of Gray and that was only because I read the synopsis of Between Shades of Gray many times. I am looking forward to reading Between Shades of Gray and I'll let you guys know my thoughts on it. Oh and I do recommend this book to be read because it is a good historical fiction.  

Rating:B

Romeo Redeemed

Title: Romeo Redeemed

Author: Stacey Jay

Series: Juliet Immortal, Book 1

Number of Pages: 363

Date Read: 3/5/16 

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Seductive companion to the popular Juliet Immortal, in which former lovers—Romeo and Juliet—meet, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.

My Review:

I liked this book a lot although not as much as "Juliet Immortal."

This book is told in two pov's~ Romeo's and Ariel's. Ariel is the girl that Juliet took over in Juliet Immortal. This time Ariel is herself and not Juliet. 

The main plot of the book is that Romeo is given a second chance and a chance to become an ambassador. He switched sides to good to save hi soul. His mission is to get Ariel to believe in love and to turn to the light side. Ariel is important in the war between Ambassadors and Mercenaries. If Ariel becomes dark, she can destroy the world with "atrocities" she will commit. So Romeo's job is to get her to fall in love with him. The book is how he tries to get Ariel to fall in love. 

I liked Romeo. He was still his sassy self but he wasn't a vicious monster anymore. He really is good a saying all the right things to get a girl to love him. At first, he is selfish because he only wants Ariel to love him so that he can save his soul. After awhile though he changes and wants to protect Ariel. He tried to do the right things by her even if it's things he doesn't want to do. I like the change in him. He also becomes very sweet, loving and good, especially towards Ariel.

I have to admit I didn't like Ariel so much. I think it's because I still think Romeo and Juliet should be together. Old habits... Anyway Ariel is a very damaged girl. She is always doubtful and even after she falls for Romeo she is not strong enough to hold on to her emotions and allows herself to have doubts. She has a very bad anger problem too. She is sassy though which I'll give her. She is always questioning things and she has a fear of being hurt, which is understandable. She overcomes some of these issues by the end though. Ehh I don't really have much to say about her.

I did enjoy the romance between Romeo and Ariel. I also loved how Romeo didn't realize he had fallen in love with Ariel. He is kinda dense so it took him awhile. He was very sweet to her and he really loved her a lot. Ariel loved him very much as well and became such a happier person when she was with him. 

All in all a good book. 

Rating:B+