A Not So Singular World - Patrick Hatt

Jeremiah has spent his whole life searching for his parents with nothing but a faded picture of them to keep him going. His search had hit a dead end until his birthday rolled around and he received a gift, being run down by a car that seemed to have no driver. And that was the best part of his day. 

Jeremiah is just your average loner, content with just his trusty cat, Orlin.  Until a weird guy from the "Brother of Olympus" shows up, and he's told soon after he has cancer.  Or when a weird science dude goes to find him, and a punk Brit reality TV show host is hired to capture him, and well.  Things certainly turn topsy turvy for this fellow.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Carpe DiEmily (Part 1) - Riley J. Ford

TRIGGER WARNINGS: SUICIDE AND MENTIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Emily Keane has her life organized, filed, scheduled, and color-coded, and now things are looking up:  Her boss, Darren, has a promotion she just knows has her name on it, and her longtime boyfriend, Lenny, is going to propose to her tonight.  Except... not.  Turns out the promotion is for her sleazy coworker, Simone Stevens, and Lenny bought her a break-up gift instead of a ring.  Now her life is in shambles, and decides to end her life.  She doesn't want it to end for nothing, though, and decides to donate her organs when she dies - and that's where Dr. Becker comes in.  Enigmatic and calculating, he gives Emily an offer: One million dollars and one year to do what she wants before he comes to assist her suicide and harvests her organs.  Now, with the clock running down, Emily tries to shake up her methodical lifestyle and do what she's never done before: Live spontaneously.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Under the Burning Sky - Olivia Bersell

In 1969 Ex-Marine Ethan Coles, arrives at Stoney Creek, a cattle station in the remote Australian outback to take up his new position as the resident school teacher, and is instantly drawn to the beautiful eighteen-year-old half cast girl, Amarin.

The year is 1969.  Ethan Coles, an Ex-Marine, goes down under, to Stoney Creek, a town in a remote area in the Australian outback to teach.  He is instantly enamored by Amarin, an beautiful half-Aboriginal girl.  They quickly find themselves falling for each other, despite Amarin's mother's disapproval.  As they begin their summer romance, Ethan deals with getting accustomed to life in the Outback and trying to avoid a rival, while Amarin struggles to uncover the secrets to her birth, all while a mysterious murder shakes up the small town.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Plantation - Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

A century has passed since they arrived. Human history has been erased. Children are enslaved on Alien plantations. Some have heard whispers of the existence of a rebel band of humans who roam free in the forests. Most slaves dare not speak of the rebels for fear the mutant guards will grab and make an example of them.

It's one hundred years after the fall of humanity. Aliens have taken over the earth, enslaving humanity and putting them on plantations. Not all hope is lost, however, as Freya, Finn, and the band of escapee slaves who call themselves the Saviors are out there, training and waiting for the day they can start a revolution. While every Savior has some sort of superhuman ability given to them by alien testing, Freya is average, making her the weakest one on the team. Tensions rise as leadership is challenged in this struggle for humanity. 

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

The Color of a Memory - Julianne MacLean

ER nurse Audrey Fitzgerald believed she was married to the perfect man - a heroic firefighter who saved lives, even beyond his own death. But a year after losing him she meets a mysterious woman who has some unexplained connection to her husband.... 

Audrey Livingston is a nurse who meets firefighter Alex Fitzgerald on just an average day at the clinic. However, she quickly finds herself falling for him. When he dies on the job, she is devastated, and the story follows her in investigating whether Alex was faithful and Nadia, a woman who received Alex's heart.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Seduced By Innocence - Karpov Kinrade

All my life I've been told that I will kill my first love. That the dark power I harbor within myself will destroy him.  Just like it's destroyed others.  Witches take an oath to do no harm, but I broke that oath even as a child, and so I hide within the invisible walls of my strange coven, keeping everyone at a distance.  Until I meet Derek.

Rose is a dangerous girl: she has the power to destroy someone's mind, leaving them an empty shell of what they once were. She's been told all her life by her mother and other members of her witch community that her powers are uncontrollable and that she is doomed to a life of celibacy lest she kills her lover. However, she meets Derek, a man she is inexplicably drawn to, right as her coven prepares to launch an attack on the Druids, their enemy.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Mythical - C.E. Martin

Colonel Mark Kenslir is the last of the Cold War supersoldiers--and he's just come back from the dead. Sent to Arizona to hunt a heart-devouring shapeshifter, Colonel Kenslir and his team of supernatural-smashing soldiers thought it was just another mission. But instead of stopping the monster's murderous rampage, Kenslir and his team became the latest victims in trail of carnage blazed across the southwest. 

It's summertime for Josie and the gang, who ride off in their motorcycles to celebrate having graduated high school.  However, they find a burnt boat and a stone man in the middle of the desert.  Soon, the stone man comes to life as Colonel Mark Kenslir, a supersoldier with general amnesia.  Josie and her friend, Jimmy, soon find themselves on a wild ride as they try to help Mark Kenslir remember his past and complete his mission.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars.

Scarletta Reads Atlas Shrugged - Chapters 1-2

Chapter 1

The story starts off following Eddy Willers as he approaches Taggart Transcontinental to tell James Taggart that the Rio Norte Line is pretty much falling apart. James Taggart seems to be stuck on doing nothing because he still hasn't gotten in a shipment of steel for the tracks from his good friend.

Next, we follow Dagny Taggart as she heads to Taggart Transcontinental HQ as well, seeing how badly the railroad company is doing and deciding to implement change: first by canceling the order of steel to instead order Rearden Metal, and then to work on the Rio Norte Line. J Taggart is for the most part unreasonable while D Taggart is the epitome of reason.

--

The first chapter is by no means attention grabbing. To be frank, a lot of the words that I've been seeing feel like white noise - you could probably half this novel's length and get more impact from truncating it. While I tend to like descriptive novels, this novel seems hellbent on adding a lot of things that seem like symbolism and needlessly elaborating on what Rand is already saying. I'm willing to bet at least 75% of these are cases of faux symbolism written just to seem profound.

I'm not here for an Aesop's tale, and that seems to be what I'm getting right off the bat. Logic and reason = good; empathy and basic human emotions = bad. While I see some point in this, fervently attacking J for having loyalty and, you know, pesky emotions, is Kind Of. It is starting out a bit absurd, as right now the story seems to say 'the less you function as a human being the more valuable and therefore better you are'.

Chapter 2

This chapter is 100% about Henry "Hank" Rearden, who, after months and months of tireless work, has gotten his first order of Rearden Metal and has begun pouring it in preparation. While he is overjoyed by this, his family is cool and indifferent to his success, blaming him for not caring about them. His mother and brother are by far the worst offenders, with his wife and friend occasionally (not always, mind) stepping in to defend him.

--

I had been told I should at least get to reading about Rearden but. I mean it's like "here's another human robot who is contemptuous of these meager humans and their pesky need for contact and emotions, BAH" and I'm just not feeling it.

I liked Lillian though. His wife? Was pretty cool, like she just kind of talked to in a way he could relate and defended him from the worst diatribes. But like. Rearden really is the most arrogant asshole like. He overanalyzes every single move his family makes as begging at his feet "throwing themselves at his feet" I believe is the term used (twice) for money and time from him and he just condescends to helping these poor, sad, over emotional human beings, waahh. Like is Rearden supposed to be a good human being for blowing off family? Is he supposed to be a good human being for feeling like he's doing his wife a HUGE favor by agreeing to show up at their anniversary? I don't get it. I really don't. 

The one thing I liked was the end:  “A chain," [Lillian] said. "Appropriate, isn't it? It's the chain by which he holds us all in bondage.”

The Shadow and the Rose - Amanda DeWees

When ordinary high-school junior Joy Sumner visits a graveyard at midnight on a dare, she doesn't expect to end up sharing a kiss with brooding teen model Tanner Lindsey. And she definitely doesn't expect to make an enemy of Tanner's seductive, sinister mentor, the ageless supermodel Melisande--who may not be entirely human--or to find that her sleepy little corner of North Carolina is buzzing with supernatural energy. 

Joy Sumner, a junior attending Ash Grove, an extremely competitive performing arts high school, ventures out to a graveyard at midnight because of a dare.  What she doesn't expect to find is teen model Tanner Lindsey, an old student at Ash Grove.  She finds herself at odds with the new big celebrity in town, the beautiful Melisande, and works through her year to survive high school and uncover the mystery behind Melisande and Ash Grove.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Investigating the Hottie - Juli Alexander

When Amanda spends a week with her aunt, Christie, she learns that her aunt is a spy. Christie admits that Amanda has security clearance and has already started her training. When her aunt asks her to investigate a teenage hacker, Amanda thinks that spending time with a nerd should be doable despite her social ineptitude. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is a hottie.

Amanda Peterson, super spy. At least, that's the temporary occupation this high school sophomore takes when she spends her fall break at her aunt's place. Her assignment? To investigate a hacker who has promised something big come next Monday. So far, the top suspect is Will Middleton, who attends school near the area. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is, in her words "yummy".

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Remember This (A Romantic Comedy) - Shae Buggs

Lucy, a hard working shenanigan queen, finds evidence that her husband, Mason, cheated on her. In a heated moment, she throws a wine bottle at his head leaving him unable to remember anything from his past. Since she is responsible for her husband’s amnesia, it is her responsibility to get his memory back. Motivated by revenge, Lucy plans a way to get Mason back to normal while having a little fun in the process. This story unveils her comical attempts to sabotage him and how he tries to win her back.

Clumsy and hardworking Lucy Harper has lately found herself growing apart from her husband Mason.  However, one day she finds compelling evidence that he has cheated on her, and in a moment of passion chucks a wine bottle at his head, inducing a case of amnesia.  Now, she needs to get his memory back so they can finally get to divorcing.  However, Lucy soon finds herself falling for this amnesiac Mason, like the first time around.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Atlas Shrugged - A Bi-chapter Commentary

So far I've been reviewing books I've found on Amazon, which are usually not exactly the most popular books on Kindle. Now, however, I'm going to try to read a much bigger, much more famous book: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand.

I've decided that I'll give a review every two chapters for this book. They'll be short updates, and they won't stop the regular book reviews from coming in every Monday and Friday. These reviews will always be under a read-more, and they will contain spoilers. If you've read Atlas Shrugged and you want to join me in my commentary, I'd love to share this conversation with you.

That's all; I just wanted to update on a new goal of mine. 

The Paparazzi Project - Kristina Springer

Livvie Peterson thought taking Interpersonal Communications her junior year would be an easy A. But when the first assignment is given, her world flips upside down. Here’s the deal: the class is assigned a six-week project and is split into three groups— Paparazzi, Tabloid, and Celebrities. The Paparazzi follow around the Celebrities taking pictures and grabbing any kind of quotes they can. The Celebrities try to navigate being tailed on a daily basis. And the Tabloid receives all the information collected by the Paparazzi and decides what makes the weekly summary report. Sounds harmless…and it’s all just pretend anyway, right? 

Livvie Peterson has just been assigned a project - to be a part of the paparazzi.  For school, of course.  Her junior year Interpersonal Communications class's first assignment is to recreate the relationship between celebrities, paparazzi, and the tabloids.  So she follows around the selected celebrities, taking pictures, and sending them to her tabloid contact, the cute Chas, to spin several articles a week, just like regular tabloids.  It starts off innocently enough, but exactly how much can someone take their personal life being broadcasted to the school?

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Arrival (The Maddy Young Saga) - Nick Pirog

Maddy Young is dead. Or at least that's what they tell him. Imagine that when you die, you have a 1 in 3 chance of having another life; same body, same age, same place as when you died. But for Maddy, everything is not making sense. He was just a week away from his Bar exam and starting his life as a Public Defender, when he made a grand entrance into this second life of his—a place they call Two.

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS STORY:  Mentions of death and various ways to die throughout; brief rape mention, lesbophobic language and general homophobia

This story is about Madison "Maddy" Young, a young man who has died jerking off in the shower before the story has even begun.  But he doesn't find himself in your typical afterlife, but instead a facility with other people, who all have died too.  They've found themselves in a rehabilitation center in a place called Two, a world were one in three people arrive to in the afterlife.  It's just like the living world, Maddy finds, only with people who have died.  However, some things are not quite as they seem.  They surround the conspiracy of the 'Borns', people who are supposedly born in Two.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Crying in Colour - Sally Sorrell

George definitely got off at the wrong bus-stop. Either that, or he's having a really bizarre dream. Probably both, as he wakes up in a tree with two strangely-dressed men staring up at him.

Crying in Colour is a story about modern Brit George, who lands in this medieval land one might hear about in old tales. This story combines medieval fantasy with modern wit. George plays the straight man to Lord Farley and his hodge podge crew: Oberon, the voluntary servant to Farley; Chancy, the long-haired, beautiful gentleman with an aversion to violence and bloodshed; Mackerel, a jack of all trades and his younger brother Koi; and Benjee, an Australian woman. This unlikely group bands together on a quest to find the magical Tear-Stone.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Update

Not a review in itself, but just an update saying that I'm going to be importing my reviews from my previous blog onto here.  Not all at once, but I'll schedule them to come in about once a week.  Thanks!

Blur (Night Roamers) - Kristen Middleton

Seventeen year old Nikki and her twin Nathan have moved to Shore Lake to start over after their mother is brutally attacked. When Nikki starts seeing shadows outside of her bedroom window and hears whispers of vampires in town, she realizes that there are worse dangers than what they left behind in the big city.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE

Nikki, her mother, and her twin brother, Nathan, move to Shore Lake after her father sexually assaults and rapes her mother. However, what originally looks like a great place to at least start getting their bearings turns out far more deadly than anyone could have foreseen. A dead body the first night, and mysterious figures outside at night cause fear in both Nikki and Nathan.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Botanicaust - Tam Linsey

After genetically altered weeds devastate Earth's croplands, Dr. Tula Macoby believes photosynthetic skin can save the human race. Her people single-mindedly embark on a mission to convert the cannibals roaming what's left of Earth. But when Levi, a peaceful stranger, refuses alteration, Tula doesn't think the only options should be conversion or death.

It's a futuristic, crapsack world. The earth has experienced the Botanicaust, in which foreign weeds have overtaken almost all plantlife, leaving no crops or the like for humanity. Most have resorted to cannibalism in order to survive; other humans have found a way to survive without much sustenance: by inserting chloroplasts into their skin and photosynthesizing like plants do.

In Levi's case, his community does neither. A heavily religious, tightknit town, using electric fences to keep out the dangerous weeds and the cannibals, the Holdout has been able to survive the Botanicaust. However, his son, Josef, has cystic fibrosis, and there is no way of curing it, except for maybe contacting the Fosselites, advanced people who have also survived the Botanicaust and have discovered eternal life. His journey begins when he searches for them.

Tula is a Haldanian doctor, a Conversion Psychiatrist who aids cannibals in converting to Haldanians, people with chloroplasts implanted in their system.  However, when the Burn Ops capture a person who might not actually be a cannibal, Tula takes off on an adventure that will change her life.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Scary Mary - S.A. Hunter

Mary has always been different. She’d like to be normal, but being able to hear ghosts means she’ll never be like everyone else. She starts her junior year of high school hoping to be left alone, but Cyrus Asher is new and doesn’t know or seem to care that she’s an outcast. They start hanging out and all is well until she goes over to his house. Cy’s house is haunted, and not by Caspar, the friendly ghost. 

Mary is an outcast at her school. She can hear ghosts, and that, complemented with her macabre sense of humor, has earned her the title of 'Scary Mary' or freak, if classmates don't want to get too formal. However, the new kid, Cy, doesn't seem too bad. In fact, Mary kind of likes him. But when she goes over to his house, she finds that Cy's house is haunted, and not by any old thing, but by a malevolent and dangerous spirit.

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

In Your Dreams - Amy Martin

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titusville, Illinois, where the junior high and high school are in the same building and everyone's known everyone else since birth. But when Kieran Lanier moves to town and passes out on her desk on his first day at school, Zip's life gets complicated in a way she never dreamed. 

Zip McKee is just a junior trying to get through school in the sleepy, small town of Titusville, Illinois.  However, the arrival of a new family in town shakes up her small world.  She finds herself growing closer to Kieran, the new boy with narcolepsy. However, she soon finds out that his narcolepsy isn't exactly normal - sometimes when he dreams, he dreams of the future. Together Zip, Kieran, and his family try to piece together why that happens. 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Styrofoam Throne - David Bone

Coastal California, 1984…with school season just ending, sixteen-year-old Donovan wants nothing more than to work inside Castle Dunes, the seaside haunted attraction that his mom wishes him nowhere near.

 School has just ended for the sixteen-year-old, macabre weirdo Donovan.  This year, he has his sights set on Castle Dunes, a horror attraction nearby.  The only problem?  He's broke, and his mom won't help whatsoever.  However, after getting out of working with his mom, he finally finds himself at Castle Dunes.  Before he knows it, he's now in, an employee at Castle Dunes.  There, he makes friends and tries to make the most out of his dream for the summer.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5