Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, illustrated by Brendan Shusterman [ARC Review]

GOODREADS SUMMARY: Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence, to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

A captivating and powerful novel that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by one of today's most admired writers for teens.
 

*PHEW*
 Okay, how am I going to criticize/review a book like Challenger Deep?
The topic is a bit sensitive… It’s not my first time to read something like this, but it my first time to read that focuses only with the issue.

I want to apologize, in advanced, if I will say something rude or inappropriate. GOSH I know deep in my heart I won’t mean any of that, Challenger Deep made me respect more the people with this condition.

Honestly, when I saw someone, on the streets, with mental illness I try to avoid and not ever made eye contact with them. It’s a knee jerk reaction; I know most of you have done that also. I felt embarrassed and ashamed for myself right now.

(Gosh! It is really hard writing a review for this book! I’m sweating!)


*MC’s Corner*

Note: Spoilers.


·         Did I enjoy reading Challenger Deep?
NOPE. I did not enjoy it.
But Challenger Deep is a compelling book, it compelled my mind to finish it and it never came cross to my mind to put it down... and not picking it up again.
I think it was the topic and the concept that made me finish it. It was honest and very brave.
Challenger Deep is a pretty good book you don’t know where will it take you.
Add it to your reading list next year.


·         When I read a book I write some notes. One of the notes I wrote on the first chapters of Challenger Deep is, “Lunatic. #craydar.”
On that time I have no, absolutely no idea that Caden Bosch has a mental illness.
The very first note I wrote is, “Narnia.”
I thought Caden just went into another world, like what happened the Pevensies. I just kept on asking chapter after chapter, “What will happen next?” “How did that happened?”
So… when I realized that it wasn’t like that. GOSH. I wanted to bang my head on the table that time.
I always throw the word ‘Cray-cray’ like it’s nothing but a fun word. (Read my other review. I do love throwing that word.)
I give you guys a permission to kick my ass. Not Really. *grin*


·         On Chapter 113 Neal Shusterman said something like a… similarity between Vincent van Gogh & Michelangelo and then on Chapter 122 pointed something about the prophets. Well he did have a point… we really don’t know what on these people’s minds.

·         This book requires a lot of attention. If you didn’t you’ll find yourself lost.
And you’ll ask yourself, “Why is he scared to a parrot?”


·         Tell me… the illustrations/drawings are just outlines… RIGHT???
That is the only I don’t like about the ARCs with drawings… some of them were… unrecognizable and I just can’t make out the picture.
The pictures were drawn by Brendan Shusterman, Neal’s son. #shocking.


<i> ARC provided by HarperTeen (HarperCollins Publishers) &Edelweiss in exchange of honest review.  Thank you! </i>

@gleekidMC

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen Trilogy #1) [ARC REVIEW]

★★★★★
GOODREADS SUMMARY: 
The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
Today, I vow that if Red Queen didn’t make it to the Top Ten Best Selling books list–any list–a week after it was published I am not going to read books for a whole week.

Red Queen is a TO-READ Book after The Hunger Games, Divergent & The Selection.


Pierce Brown’s Red Rising meets Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games meets Kiera Cass’ The Selection meets Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart meets Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass.
 Red Queen is 2015 MUST READ!
I WANT THE BOOK TWO!

*MC’s Corner*

Note: Spoilers.
  • I love the plot. One of the best that I’ve read.
  • I am excited for this book. I can’t for it to come out and everyone to read it.
    And I really want the book two.

  • If you want some Dystopia book add Red Queen to your list.
  • Ang ganda nya grabe!!! NAKAKLOKA NG BONGANG BONGA!

  • I am the type of reader that I put notes on my books; nonsense notes, some questions and sometimes I wrote theories.
    DAYUM! I wrote A LOT of notes on Red Queen. And what I actually liked about it is, whenever I got some question they were all answered. Victoria Aveyard thought of everything, she looked on every side and every corners of the story.
    She created this world and it’s just… I don’t know how to explain it but *I am making some hand gestures right know, I am speechless*
    *cough*
  • One thing is very clear though, I am now a fan of Victoria Aveyard.
  • The writing style is just right for it. Flawless.
  • I don’t have problem or some unanswered question. Well except when is the book two coming? *grin*
  • The people in Red Queen are divided well… separated into two. The Reds and the Silvers. (Much like in Red Rising: The Reds and the Golds.)

  • The Reds –are like slaves… they are slaves; they pretty much do everything for Silvers. It’s a cruel world for them.
  • The Silvers –they control almost, ALMOST, everything. On Red Rising the Golds are gods, the difference between them and Silver–no not the name­–are the Silvers, all of them got something special. They are like the “Epics” on <i>Steelheart</i>. They’ll have special powers, inhuman abilities and they are all power hungry.
    And… they bleed silver. Yes their blood is silver. When they blush… they were… paling???

QUESTION: Dear Victoria Aveyard,
*cough* This is an innocent question… and I am just wondering.
Do female Silvers have monthly bleeding???

  • The Characters: 


  • Mare Barrow –she is the protagonists. She’s a Red. A different kind of Red. She supports her family by pick pockets. Yes! She is a thief. That’s all she knows what to do. She just waiting for her 18th birthday to join conscription like his three older brothers. She’s going to be mixed up with the Silvers. That’s all I am spoiling. It’s really hard to explain her journey without spoiling the story.
  • I think, right now, she is my favorite female Dystopian character. Ranked first over Katniss Everdeen & America Singer.  I like her very much.
  • DAMN! I just realized that if I wrote the guys in Red Queen it is like spoiling all of it. OH MY! Mare is a quite a slut–she’s got lots of boys all over her. (She’s not, what I said is full of exaggerations and I am just jealous.)
  • Kilorn Warren –he is of the guys I am talking about. He also is a Red and he is Mare’s best friend. He is a fisherman’s apprentice until his Master died and will be forced to conscription to fight and die in the crazy war of Silvers. And Mare is going to help to escape that fate…
  • Prince Tiberias Calore aka Cal–he is Silver and a Prince. His “power” is to control fire; they called them “burner”. (He reminded me of Roy Mustang is my favorite anime Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood.) He is the reason Mare mixed up with the Silvers…
  • Prince Maven Calore –he is Cal’s half brother and also is a “burner”. He is going to be Mare’s fiancĂ©. Zipping my mouth now. #MajorSpoiler


Just so you know I want to ‘fangurl’ but I don’t want to clue someone… *fanning my face*

  • A piece of advice who will read Red Queen, TRUST NO ONE. Question everyone and everything. Every move made and words of the characters said.
    The last portion of the book is the best. Shocking but it made sense.


NAKAKALOKA!
I WANT BOOK TWO!!!

ARC provided by HarperTeen & Edelweiss in exchange of honest review.  Thank you!

@gleekidMC

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Heated (Most Wanted, #2) by J. Kenner [ARC] Review




★★★★★

 Goodreads SummaryI knew better than to risk my heart.
But fierce passion comes at a high price.

I grew up believing in right and wrong, good and evil, black and white. I knew better than to trust. And then I met Tyler Sharp.

Bold, charming, and dangerously sexy, Tyler always gets what he wants. But his smile can be deceiving, his dealings sordid, his ambitions ruthless. I thought I was the one woman strong enough to resist him, but our need for each other was too urgent to deny.

One look and I was in trouble. One touch and I was hooked. One night and I became his.

And now that I’ve fallen, there’s no going back.


THIS IS SO MUUUUUCH BETTER AND HOTTTTTTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK!
I’M IMPRESSED, LOVED EVERY SINGLE BIT OF IT.
I LOVE TYLER SHARP! *PHEW*

*MC’s Corner*

Note: Spoilers.
  • I’m not actually planning to read this. I really didn’t enjoy that first book that much. Then I saw it on NetGalley saw its synopsis. So I tried requesting but there’s so region restriction… Then, I saw it on Eideleiss and I’m so pleased that there are no region restrictions. Then I got approved and started reading it. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
  • I enjoyed it! I am definitely reading the third book! GIMME GIMME!

  • This series is about three guys: Tyler Sharp, Cole August, and Evan Black. They’re best friends and business partners. They have some dark secrets.

  • Heated is told by Sloane’s POV. She’s a cop. I liked her, very much.She described herself as “genuinely pretty woman” with “camera-ready face, nice tits, and tight ass”. She is so cool!!! Very likable. She also got some dark past. She didn’t just pop-out of the blue, I mean she got a reason/mission when she met Tyler, plus points.

  • Describe Tyler Sharp. *fanning*
    First, he blond. (I love blond guys, not bleached or salon blond… well Niall Horan is an exception…)
    He’s really hot. (that’s given) But yeah… he’s really hot, especially when he’s just wearing his slacks…. (like in the cover) *phew* When he’s naked… #dead
    He’s not an alpha male kinda guy. He’s not a pussy or pussy whipped okay? It’s just he’s not that alpha male, I mean the kind with testosterone pouring all over his body and want to crush everyone making a move to his woman. He doesn’t “mark” his territory

  •  I think it is balanced. The idea is not over powering the other one.
 ARC provided by Bantam Books & Edelweiss in exchange of honest review.  Thank you! 

@gleekidMC
         

Monday, March 31, 2014

If It Drives (Market Garden, #7) by Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt [ARC]



★★★★★
Goodreads summary: If it flies, drives, or fornicates, it's cheaper to rent it.

After driving James Harcourt, his wealthy banker boss, around for a year and a half, Cal isn’t surprised by much anymore. Not even James’s regular trips to Market Garden, London’s most elite gay brothel.

But when James leaves the Garden alone one night and turns to Cal instead, Cal’s floored. After crushing on his boss for ages, it’s his wet dream come true . . . until the awkward morning after. Cal still has a job to do, but he wants to offer more. Yet James doesn’t take him up on it; he keeps Cal at arm’s length and continues his chauffeured jaunts to Market Garden.

As Cal learns what James needs from the rentboys, he tries to fill that need himself. But there’s more to James’s penchant for rentboys than Cal realizes, and it may be one role that Cal can’t fill without overstepping his duty.



So… this is the first M-M book review here on my blogger, but it’s not the first M-M book that I’ve read. You can check my goodreads page so see them.
If It Drives actually is my first M-M ARC! YEY!
I love L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov duo. I am a big fan of this series!

So when I got approved, I started reading it. It kept me up all night.
I love it. It’s beautiful, sexy and so hawt!             
*MC’s Corner*
Note: Spoilers.
  • At first part I thought it’s not connected to Market Garden besides James being an occasional client. Then James and his driver, Callum, got involved (I mean they had sweaty and so hot sex) so I start asking (asking my imaginary book buddy while reading. I’m cray cray! Wahaha!) why this book is in Market Garden series.

  • So yeah… the story is about this sexy banker, who likes men to top him and his driver, who wants to learn how to dominate a guy much better.

  • James is the sexy banker. (I mean very sexy, for real I think he’s the sexiest among the Market Garden Series characters from book 1) There is something about him that I instantly liked. Gawd!  I love him in bed. (well I didn’t exactly got to bed with him… so you know what I mean) He’s so “sub”, gah! I don’t know how to explain it! I like it when he do what Callum told, it’s like I can picture it in my mind. * fanning *

  • Callum is the driver. I love this guy! I love him especially when he and James are in bed. (Well… not always in bed, I mean.. you know what I mean) Gosh! My stomach is full of fluttering butterflies when he says “sir” even he’s the Dom in the relationship! Hawt Hawt!

  • I love the part when Cal compares himself with a car, it’s my favorite part.

  • Is this the last Market Garden Book? I hope it’s not. I’m still wondering what happened to Rolex…  
ARC provided by NetGalley & RiptidePublishing in exchange of honest review.  Thank you!
@gleekidMC