Meditated, not actually Premeditated
2.5 stars
The premise was actually quite interesting. Dinah's cousin ends up in a coma from self harm. Dinah being bad ass, seeks revenge on the person who caused her cousin to self harm in the first place. Cue main character setting off to boarding school and donning a private school disguise and you have the recipe for intrigue success!
Sounds like a tame kill-bill plot, and the girl actually sounds like she could pull it off. Except once you actually get to the part where Dinah's undercover, it becomes quite apparent that she does not have the intelligence nor the balls to pull it off.
Unfortunately when you figure out the ending before the main character, the rest of the story becomes a battle between 1. giving the book a chance and 2. Mocking everything the main character does because she has no idea.
In this case numero 2 wins by a landslide.
It's not just me being assist at figuring out the ending, its the fact that the ending is so bleeding obvious that it's painful to watch Dinah walk around totally oblivious to it.
If your looking for suspense and badass-ery id look elsewhere.
Team Javier. Spoilers ahead for all books. I have to say, I'm a little surprised at the support behind Cam. Yes Javier is a drug-lord. An active participant in illegal activities. A cheater. A crazy-mofo. But it's also evident that the chemistry between Javier and Ellie is off the charts. Their hating on each other is a total kind of lust I can get behind. Then there's Camden, and whilst yes, his relationship with Ellie is technically safer and has less Mexican illegal activities involved, I just cant throw my support behind him whilst Javier remains in the picture. Lets remember he held a gun to Ellie and blackmailed her. All after setting her up on a date to put her in a position where she could steal his money for the sole purpose of catching Ellie in the act. Anyway that's my 2 cents on it. I have a feeling Ellie will end up with Camden and Im happy to ride that train because I love these books, but Im throwng my towel behind Javier. As for book 2. I liked it. I didn't like it as much as Sins and Needles or On every street. I didn't even like Javier as much. What makes these books unbelievably good however is that you cant guess what's going to happen next, the characters are great, and they're all 100% out for themselves.
This is a DNFWhilst I understand some will love it, I just cant take it seriously. It's suppose to be dream-like and "beautiful" in it's writing style. I guess I can see where they're coming from but to me it comes across as ridiculous.
Well colour me totally impressed.I'm embarrassed to say my first thoughts when picking up Omens was that of, "Really 500 pages, how tedious". I'm glad however to say that Ive been left eating my words as by the end of those 500 pages I wanted more.Omens begins with privileged Olivia, good education, good money, good future. That is until she finds out she was adopted, and her biological parents are in fact notorious serial killers. Things get shaken up and she ends up in Cainsville, a town near Chicago, where she starts investigating her parents case.Olivia is a great main character. Dare-i-say its nice to have a blonde main character who isn't dumb, slutty or out trying to steal everyone's boyfriend. She's level headed, able to make smart decisions and witty. I liked the mystery of Cainsville and I liked that it wasn't shoved in your face. Olivia (who can spot omens) talent likewise is slowly introduced and made fairly believable. The Cat, or TC. Loved it. Gabriel is a great character, Its obvious he's some sort of romantic interest and I'm interested to see where it ends up. I love their working relationship and Im happy that they will continue to work with each other in the future. At the same time, loved that Olivia wanted to maintain her own source of income away from Gabriel so that she was not totally dependent on him. Independent women exist y'all!The other supporting characters remain interesting. From her adoptive mother, James, Patrick, the old folks of Cainsville, her real estate agent. They all add something and are well built into the story. The only disappointing thing... I really hope I don't have to wait long for book 2. I need to know what happens next, between the characters, the further investigation and hopefully more answers on Cainsville. Until then, ill be anxiously waiting.
A Tale of Two Centuries
A lighthearted, easy read. I liked Less and her story, but if I'm honest I liked and related to Cat a tad more in book 1; My Super Sweet 16th Century. Still enjoyable and much like Book 1, except Less is from the 16th century visiting Cat in present day.
Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend
There better be a book 3. The need to define the relationship between Jamie and Rose is strong with this one.
I was very impressed by Griffins previous titles; Masque of Red Death and Handcuffs. Dance of the Red Death meanwhile not so much.I wont go into a whole review because im on a state of disappointment and I want to go jive to some music to drown my emotional sorrows. Of course the girl didn't choose the guy I was barracking for (This tends to be my curse).But, I will go on to ask, was the duo-logy necessary? Dance of Red Death does nothing but tie up the loose ends that were deliberately put in place in MORD to create the need for a squeal. In doing so dragging out a love triangle and plot that, whilst worked in book 1, becomes utterly boring and frustrating in book 2. Perhaps I should be thankful they didnt drag this out into a trilogy.
I feel like Ive read a completely different book from everyone else. This book and I did not gel. I didn't like Anna. I didn't get why Anna became so obsessed with Abel. To me, he had no outstanding qualities and he treated her like dirt. I didn't feel any chemistry between any characters. I didn't feel like the language flowed properly. Note that: All my GR friends of whom I trust have highly rated it so I'm a little puzzled over my own dislike of it. I feel like the fish swimming in the fishbowl whilst everyone else is in the pond happily enjoying themselves.
Nowhere but Home: A Novel
Im really starting to fall in love with this author. She's Sarah Dessen esque in the fact that she has a formula that works and her stories pack in a lot of heart and character. I started off with More like her, which was good but my heart really fell in March when i read her novel Seeing me Naked which was a 5 star favourite. This story, sits somewhere in the middle at 4 stars and still packs a delicious punch. I love how real her characters feel and that your never quite sure where the romance or characters are going, they follow a certain predictability just like in real life, but there are no certainties.
Apollyon: The Fourth Covenant Novel
If you didnt like book 3, dont bother with book 4. Is there actually a set number of books planned?, because this love triangle feels solved and yet they're dragging out the final details til the cows come home. Cash cow anyone?
If You Find Me
A recommendable read. Its hard to say who the target audience for this is though. Its an unusual story and I suppose that's what makes it interesting, but beyond that, its not a story I was excited over. More or less one of those stories that are intriguing, and whilst the main character was like-able, as were the supporting, there was no eventual emotional outburst that you'd expect with a story like this. By no means was the subject matter not shocking, but I just didn't feel it.
Ten Tiny Breaths
Spoilers...I seam to be in the minority here. I actually enjoyed the beginning of this book, it was the ending which left me feeling weird-ed out. The story begins with 2 sisters, whose parents died in a car accident earlier in their lives. Focusing on the older one Kacey, the story starts with both of them moving to Miami to escape a abusing uncle. It's a struggle, moneys tight, Kacey takes up a job at a strip joint (bartending only) to rake in extra cash, and punches things in her spare time to relieve some stress. Then of course she meets the hot guy (Trent), with cute dimples and a bad case of wanting to fix Kasey. I didnt mind the story at this point. Yes, a little cheesy, 99% predictable, but nice supporting character dynamics with a sing mom living next door and a fat bellied landlord and still enjoyable. It's when the story gets to the reveal that I got major creep vibes, and fair warning I'm letting loose the twist to the story, so if you don't want to be spoiled - read no further. It's not actually the twist which disturbed me, but one of the side details. If you havn't guessed the twist by now, its pretty obvious from the book bio. Trent turns out to be one of the passengers of the vehicle that drove into her parents car and ended in their deaths. Okay fair enough, dramatic twist. I can deal with that. What I cant deal with is the fact that Trent has been stalking Kacey for the PAST TWO YEARS. Oh and in order to meet her, he hacked into her email account, found out she was moving to Miami and promptly followed her and moved into the same building complex.ummm what. Is that necessary for story progression? To be fair, Kacey initially reacts somewhat properly to this (although id hope most people would have pressed charges). However the guy remains a love interest and is eventually forgiven??? and they live happily ever after. Everyone just seamed to brush it off like it was nothing and simply focused on the fact that he was simply apart of the car crash. That seamed to be the only issue. When did hacking into emails to track down someone who has specifically asked you not to contact them not addressed or pointed out as completely crazy? Instead it's covered up as a by-product of the emotional turmoil trent, *cough* i mean Cole, had to deal with.Anyway rant over. Overreaction maybe. The whole thing just left a terrible taste in my mouth.
