Monday, June 30, 2014

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.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

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.”

Friday, June 27, 2014

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.

Monday, June 23, 2014

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.

Friday, June 20, 2014

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.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

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. 

Monday, June 16, 2014

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.

Friday, June 13, 2014

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.

Monday, June 9, 2014

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.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

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!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

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

Thursday, June 5, 2014

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