Baby Doll by Hollie Overton Book Review

Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So, first and foremost, I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.
I don't tend to read the synopsis of the books that I win in giveaways, so this was my fault, but since I did read the book I have to deal with the consequences of reading a book like this. However, the fact that the book did trigger my PTSD did not affect my rating and I want that to be clear.

The last time I made this mistake was with Identical by Ellen Hopkins. Which, by the way, this book is kind of like but also nothing alike. Identical was what this book could be. Identical was amazing and did it's a literal thriller. This book is not a thriller, not in the least, you can see parts where the author tried to make it a thriller but it just didn't work out.

Baby Doll, basically, is about a girl that escapes from her captor and gets used to life back in the outside. Like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt but without humor. The girl's name is Lily and based on my own experiences, her portrayal is for the most part realistic. I have PTSD from 12+ years of abuse and a lot of her reactions and fears are similar to my own. The book would have been a million times better if Lily was the only point of view.

Lily wasn't the only point of view that was in this book.

There was Evie, who offered nothing to the story, it would've been the same without her point of view. Abby, who is Lily's twin sister, and somehow turned out to be dramatically more unhinged than Lily who went through a severe trauma. Then there's Rick, who's parts I skipped because I just didn't care for what he had to say. Overall, the point of views were not needed. I would have much rather had the story been in Lily's point of view and be about her recovery because this is what the book is about. Anyone that has read the book can say that it is about nothing else but her recovery, it's just simply not a thriller.

That being said, when it was good it was okay and when it was bad it was horrendous. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone. If you're looking or a good thriller about twins pick up Identical by Ellen Hopkins and if you want a book about a person being held captive read Room. It's as simple as that.

Grand Verdict: Not Worth Your Time TBH
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Favorite Character: Meh.

The Mysterious Abductions by Tracey Hecht

The Mysterious Abductions by Tracey Hecht
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to say that I did thoroughly enjoy this book.

It is middle grade so it wasn't a difficult read for me but given the sorts of books that I do like to read, that aren't pages and pages of pure detail, I enjoyed it. It was a nice quick easy read and I found it delightful.

To put it simply, this book is about Dawn, Bismark, and Tobin. The three are nocturnal animals that became a brigade one night after the three of them defeated a snake together. This book is about a series of kidnappings that the trio are investigating and they meet friends along the way.

There are some dark themes in the book but not too dark, I'm certain that kids in middle school are aware of some of the things that this book alludes to but it kind of does come out of no where and it caught me by surprise. However, it's manage-able. The book did make me tear up a bit at the end, I do have to say that. The catalyst that caused this whole story to happen, it was just so heartbreaking to me.

However, I do recommend this book. I feel that it is very child friendly and it was just a nice read in general.

Also, I won this in a goodreads giveaway and am very grateful for the opportunity to read this book.
Just another series to add to the list.

Grand Verdict: Awesome
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Favorite Characters: Dawn, Ciro, Harry

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid Review

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Iain Reid pieced this book very carefully and left clues towards the grand reveal in the end. I am proud to say that I guessed the twist at the beginning because of some of those clues but then I ruled it out because of other clues. I don't want to spoil the story in this review even though everyone else did. Though, it is hard to delve into the intricate details without spoiling it. That means that the general details and the specific genre. It is a thriller and it is a good thriller.

This is about a guy and his girlfriend going to his parents farm. It is written in the perspective of the girlfriend, so the guy is kind of a vague mystery throughout the book. The book is written in present time but also in flashbacks as they relate to what the girlfriend is currently thinking about at the time. And throughout this book, she is thinking about ending things.

The writing was right up my alley, it was for the most part straight forward, it didn't drown me with stupid details about everything, which is apparently great writing, the parts that needed to be vague stayed vague and the things that needed to be highlighted, they were definitely highlighted. You can tell what details are meant to stick into your mind and because those details are meant to stick in your mind it makes you scrutinize those details and decipher them as needed be.

The twist was straight forward but the very last sentence had me flipping through the book a full thirty minutes trying to figure out what that even meant, so if anyone else here that has read the books and want to clue me in, please do. I don't know if it's just one last vague line to end the book but with what this book is I doubt that it is.

I have received this book from goodreads firstreads and am genuinely happy that I had.

Grand Verdict: Hell Yeah. HELL TO THE YES.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Favorite Character: ASPIRIN

Symmetry: Volume 1 by Raffaele Ienco Review

Symmetry, Volume 1 by Raffaele Ienco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So Symmetry, this is a very interesting series. I suppose that Volume 1 is acting as a prologue to the series considering that the author mentioned that we didn't meet her in this volume.

This is a dystopian graphic novel with sci-fi elements but is ultimately dystopian at it's very core; in my opinion. The Sci-fi and dystopia genres aren't my most favorite, in fact, they're usually my most avoided genres but with this is actually kind of worked for me. I feel like it worked because there were a lot of subjects that I'm not used to seeing outside of my own life, as an interracial person.

In Symmetry, there is four races, and those four races are divided by continents. Africans, Asians, Whites, and Latins. The other races were apparently exterminated at a time before Symmetry takes place. The four races never become involved with each other and their cultures intermingle. It's to the point where the citizens of these areas are not even aware of each other's presence.

There is also the cliched element of AI, the humans in this world are heavily dependent on the AI in this world, to the point where their only real family is the AI in their head. At least, the AI in the whites community works this way. We were not introduced to the other cultures enough to understand the roles of AI in that culture but I have no doubts that it is the same.

To me, there was a lot that this Volume had to cover before going to the main character and the main story. This became evident to me when I finished it and in the end of the book was a lot of information regarding the world and how the world was built. I suppose Symmetry at it's ultimate core is a tale of the true nature of man and I'm eager to see what happens next.

The art was very reminiscent of the Telltale Games and I was convinced that the artist was an artist for Telltale Games, until I googled it, and realized that I was wrong. The art has a different look to it, I usually like softer colors but I found this to be a decent change to the art that I usually like to view, so that actually worked in the favor of this comic.

I do recommend this, it's different. Then again, I don't typically look at Sci-fi and Dystopian worlds so I don't know the norms of the genres. But even if it's cliche'd, I would recommend it.

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Grand Verdict: Kind-of-Totally-Worth-It
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Favorite Characters: None thus far.

Today's Mail 6/9/2016

I had first thought that there was no mail today but later realized when my dad came home that the mail was late. I received books and a letter that I've been waiting for from school, so this was a good mail day.

One is a memoir and one is a graphic novel. I finished the graphic novel not that long ago and have the review ready to go.

Overall, I'm surprised that I've received mail three days in a row. I feel like the complaining on the internet thing really pushed things into my favor. If only real life worked out like that, yeah?

Today's Mail 6/8/2016

Only one book in the mail today, it's really rare for me to receive book mail two days in a row but it's a change that I welcome.

In truth, I generally don't know what this book is about but it did win an award in 2009 and on the back it says it's a thriller and I have good faith in thrillers.

I'll definitely get back to you about the quality of the book later on.

Good day!

Top 5 Wednesday: Top Character Names

Usually, I would be doing Top 5 Wednesday on my youtube channel but since I'm holding out for a good camera, I'm sticking with the blog for now. This week's Top 5 Wednesday is fairly easy and I'll just get right to it.

5: Rosalie from The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer
    I really just love names that come from the word Rose as a default. Like another name that I like related to Rosalie is Rosette but for some reason I don't like the name Rose by itself.

4: Jean-Claude from The Anita Blake Series by Laurel K. Hamilton
    Legit, Jean-Claude is just a really sexy name. Like even when I started reading this series from when I stopped, which was basically a year long experience in high school, and Jean-Claude was my favorite character by default in the books. But in books it's just a win for me to find that name, I almost always like a character named Jean-Claude.

3: Micah from The Anita Blake Series by Laurel K. Hamilton
    This is another one of those names that I just like because I find them to be kind of sexy. I find Micah to be a little bit less sexy than Jean-Claude but the reason why Micah is ranked higher is because from where I stopped in the books he was my main book boyfriend in the series. Plus, Micah is one of those names that has a variety of pronunciations and that's always a win in my book. The main two that pops into my head is adorable or sexy. Win win. WIN WIN.

2: Celeste from The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
    This name was one of the reasons why I love the character so much. When I read the name Celeste I instantly knew that there was something good about this character. Even though she was an epic bitch until the third book Celeste proved to be the most independent and self-reliant girls in The Selection. I feel as if an author that names a character Celeste and doesn't make them into an amazing character is a wasted chance, Celeste is a name for elegance.

1: Shahrzad from The Wrath and The Dawn Duology by Renee Ahdieh
    Shahrzad is a powerful name to me. Like when I hear the name Shahrzad the image that comes into my head is a dragon, a literal dragon. Shahrzad is the name of a badass that will do anything to survive.  It's like the name of a queen who is the true king of the land. The Shahrzad in this duology was the one that built my expectations for the name and it's definitely one of my most favorite names I've come across from reading.

Divorce Lawyers Review

The last two weeks for me were spent on Drama Fever and I watched a total of three dramas and I have full intentions of reviewing all three eventually.

But here is one today.

Divorce Lawyers is a drama about Chi Hai Dong and Luo Li, who are, as you could guess, divorce lawyers.

There are other characters but they are just accessories to the main couple. The main couple literally does not become an actual couple until the end of the show.. And the show is 46 episodes. I was emotionally dying towards the end.

It is a really good show though, some of the situations are overly dramatic, however, a good portion of the drama on the show is realistic for when it comes to the chinese culture. I would not judge the show based on my own culture like others were doing, it would just be too frustrating you did.

To put the structure of the show plainly, we literally just go from one case to the other. The show can drag on and I have skipped episodes while I was watching the show. I didn't miss much of anything when I did. I also skipped multiple scenes of people that I just didn't enjoy, I definitely suggest you do this when you watch Divorce Lawyers because otherwise the show will be really boring for 8 episodes in a row. You're not going to miss anything if you skip one or two scenes an episode, you just wont.

Yao Chen and Wu Xiu Bo have great on screen chemistry and I did thoroughly enjoy the drama.

I just want to say, and I think others that watched the drama would agree; if I see a man wear the same ring as Chi Hai Dong I might cut his pinky off.

Grand Verdict; Boring at Times but Really Fucking Good.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Favorite Characters: Chi Hai Dong, only Chi Hai Dong

Today's Mail 6/7/2016

I thought that this would be kind of interesting for me to do. I don't get mail everyday but I figure that I would at least share the books and stuff I get in the mail.

But today, I finally got one of my goodreads books. I am waiting for several books that I've one on goodreads and I am grateful for every book that I do win but it seems as if the mail is backed up because I haven't received books that I won last month and I'm just a but frustrated. But it's okay, I'll be patient.

Before anyone tries to ask, I'm not polyamorous and I wont ever be apart of a polyamorous relationship but just because I wont ever be affiliated with those things doesn't mean that I shame them and it doesn't mean that I can't be educated about it. Plus, the cover was really really cute.

Of course, as soon as I finish the book I will be reviewing it and it will be up here as a review. Maybe I'll get something else in the mail but I wont hold me breath.

Updated with the other three books that came in the mail today. Turns out when you complain on the internet about how the mail is failing you UPS gets their shit together and sends all of your packages in one day. Bravo, get me the rest of my books.

Doll Bones by Holly Black Book Review

Doll Bones by Holly Black
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like the other books of Holly Black.
This was a slow read but unlike the other books by Holly Black it's not a slow read because I purposefully dragged it out rather than I wasn't feeling it that much.

The characters were kids and thus annoyed me.
It did creep me out a few times though but it's because I really dislike dolls.

Overall, I liked the book but I didn't love the book. To go into depth about why I'm so neutral about it, the simple answer is that it's a book written for a drastically younger audience and I'm aware of that fact while reading it. The general thought that occured in my mind was; 'a preteen might like this'. Holly Black is one of my favorite modern authors and the book was enjoyable to me by a degree.

I do like my easy reads.


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