Adventures in Bookland

13 Feb

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As a self proclaimed book nerd, there are things that spark my interest that most would glance over and dismiss as boring, dumb or just plain ole’ dorky. But the products, events, and people that some would label as unexciting, I find enticing and spectacular. You’ll come to find that the longer you join me on this book blogging journey, the more I will embrace, and encourage YOU to embrace, the off-the-beaten-track adventures in the great wide world of Bookland.

I like to say my first real “cherry popping” book adventure was about a year and a half ago when my co worker (the now infamous Ms. Amy) informed me of an upcoming book signing.  Now I had been to the midnight book releases of Harry Potter at Barnes and Noble, trekked through the movie theaters for the Lord of The Rings movie premiers with my father, been actively involved in scripting out light sabers duels to be performed at the theater while we nervously waited to watch the new releases of Star Wars (not really books but you see where I am going with this.) I had clearly defined my place as a lover-of-all-things nerdtastic. And I had spent more nights then I could possible count losing sleep over books that I just had to finish before I went to bed.  But I had never established myself as a Professional Book Lover (PBL). Those were juvenile and amateurish activities compared to what I could be doing to fulfill my PBL potential. So alas, I decided to push my myself to the next level, move my peg up on the board, take that next step on the ladder and commit to my true calling: Sydney, the Book Dominator. Conquer of YA Books, Writer of Rattle the Stars, Reviewer of Stories.

*dramatic cheer* Ahhhhhhh!!! *the crowds going wild* “Sydney, Sydney, Sydney!”

Ok…. got a little excited there. But I think it’s a great moment and everyone should be proud when they commit to being 100% their own person. Finally chucking all those insecurities out the window that have made them hide bits and pieces of themselves. That’s what I did in that moment. I bared my dorky, nerdy, geeky soul to the world! And I am so much happier because of it.

Back to the story!

So Amy and I went to go see none other then one of my favorite authors of all time: Christopher Paolini.

I swoon at his books so hard. The Inheritance series is probably one of the greatest YA series ever written. It’s incredible in it’s richness and depth and the world building is dynamic and captivating it takes my breath away. It has the epic qualities of LOTR and Dune without all the confusing side tracking and WSOD stretching worlds that can distract you from the plot. From the moment you open the book Eragon, the pro-tag, is vivacious, strong, and real. You follow him on his journey, watch him struggle, see him overcome, feel him become the person he’s meant to be. You bleed with him, you cry with him, you love him.  It’s been two years since I’ve finished this series and I still don’t have a way to fully articulate how much these books mean to me. And to think the Paolini wrote these when he was a teenager? A FREAKING TEENAGER! I was still writing essays for English class when this creative bitch over here is writing YA fantasy masterpieces. (Jealous doesn’t even come close to how I feel about this). But needless to say I was fangirling all over this guy at the book signing. We were waiting for hours in the Phoenix Public Library on the second floor for him to come out, give a talk, speak some Elvish (kinda hot in a very nerdy way), and sign the books.

When it was my turn to finallyyyyyyyy meet him and have him sign my well-loved copies, it was an amazing moment in my life. He signed his name in the first three books of the series and then signed MY NAME and HIS NAME in the fourth book. *faints* I was even able to stammer out my favorite part of the series and we had a mini convo about him writing it. Greatest. Experience. Ever.

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(I’m the blonde gawking at him, especially when he’s looking right at me. ERMERGERD!)

My main reason for telling you all about this is because I want people know that embracing who you are is as scary and wonderful as falling in love. Because essentially, you are falling in love with yourself. You are letting yourself be exactly who you are. That amazing, incredible, feisty, fiercely passionate about whatever it may be person that hides in your heart until you are ready to let it fly.

I love books. And I assume that most of you are reading this because you love books too. Or because you know me… (Hi Mom!!)  So for the next week I am going to take you on some of my favorite Adventures in Bookland I have had in the last year. Some were amazing, some were… uh…. different… but all were eye-opening! So hop on the train, my friends and let’s have some fun!

“Perhaps that was the point; life, if you did it right, meant learning and changing. If you didn’t, you died- or stopped growing – which amounted to more or less the same thing. So I would slide in and out of different roles until I discovered the one that fit me best.
― Ann Aguirre, Outpost

To-Read Tuesday – Override by Heather Anastasiu

12 Feb

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Override by Heather Anastasui

Series: Glitch

Previous Rating: Glitch (Book One) – Four Stars

Release Date: TODAY TODAY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why I Am Excited: Glitch didn’t exactly get the best reviews from the bloggers I like but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did have some problems with it, which you can read all about in my review of it, but overall it left me with a positive impression and got me pretty pumped for book two. It had some awesome girl-Neo Matrix moments! Chea! What I really loved about this insta-love between Zoe and Adrien (which makes it not so gag inducing) is that they are kinda doomed to fail. I mean,  Zoe is allergic to air and so they both have to wait to be together until she gets her vaccines, which Adrien lovingly gives to her…alright, I gagged a little there. But I like that aching and that not-so-perfect of a scenario love. It makes them work more for each other which gets me much more ingrained in their lives. Also, Zoe is kinda crazy and volatile which is freaking awesome!! Heroines who actually have to WORK at being good? Yessssssss.

What I Hope to See: *Contains Spoilers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! The version of Glitch I read gave me a sneak peek into the first chapter of book two. The chapter is basically showing us Zoe and how she’s going bizzaro trying to control her telepathy. It’s consuming her and she’s suffering because no one is there to help her control or understand how she’s supposed to react to these situations. And then at the end, oh snap! Her hiding place is raided and she must escape! Dun Dun Duuuuun!! I am slightly ashamed to say I was totally hooked lined and sinkered at this. Yes, it’s cliche but it suckered me right in. I really hope that Zoe struggles with this power and doesn’t just instantly solve her problems. I want Adrien and Zoe to have issues and overcome them and I hope that Max shows up and Zoe and him have a show down. That could be legit.

My Predictions: I am floundering on my predictions because it’s only book two and I am looking towards what I want to happen in the end. So these may be a little grandiose… but work me here.

  1. I think Adrien needs to be captured at some point. Zoe needs some sort of catalyst for her becoming this “leader” he has predicted she becomes. I think he could be it.
  2. Max has to come back into the story. He’s a social climber and although he helped Zoe and Adrien escape, I think the Community will welcome him back with open arms because of his unique glitch. This could also become a crutch for Zoe, she has to battle the fact that she left him there.
  3. I think another boy may come into the picture. Since YAs always like that love triangle and Max is on longer in the picture, is another man going to distract Zoe from the mysterious Mr. Adrien?  We shall see.

“History isn’t all fact–it’s just the story the victors tell to keep themselves in power. And it’s been a slow revision. The more time passes, the easier it becomes to reinvent the past.”
― Heather Anastasiu, Glitch

 

 

 

 

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8 Feb

I’ve never reblogged a post before but this was too hilarious not to share with you all. Especially since I used to have life size posters of Legolas in my room… *sigh*

Katherine Erlikh's avatarThree Chic Geeks

bad boyfriends

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and it’s time to think about to whom you’re going to profess your undying love. As dedicated fanboys and fangirls, we all have a few characters we are at least a little bit in love with. Or a lot in love with. Or obsessed with. You know, that kind of thing. True love won’t be stopped by the constraints of reality, after all – you are absolutely certain that Dean Winchester is the man for you. Great, but we here at 3 Chic Geeks have extensively gone through every one of our fictional crushes and picked apart all the reasons why they would NOT be good boyfriends. Read on to find out what we think would be the dealbreakers for each of the characters!!

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

7 Feb

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Rating: Four out of Five Stars

I am a big fan of audio books. My mom, sister and I used to listen to them all the time when I was younger and since the Boyfriend and I live in different states, audio books have become a life saver on the six hour drive to Cali. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of my life in the car listening to stories (nerd-tastic fuuuur sure!) and this is probably the best book on CD have listened to.

The reason why I say The Best? The descriptions are amazing. A movie was playing in my mind while I listened to The Night Circus. It was rich, dark, luscious with adjectives that made the circus come to life, the people spring into their characters. The story unfolds layer by tantalizing layers in a slow sweet simmering plot. And, readers be warned, there is one steamy scene that is probably the most provocative heaty scene I have read (well technically listened to) and the crazy part? Its maybe four paragraphs long with relatively innocent language. That’s just how well Morgenstern crafts the language in this book. It’s beautiful.

I also spent a lot of time with my mouth hanging open in awe at the incredible concept of the plot. Talk about having a hum-dinger of an imagination! The Cirque Du Reve a.k.a. The Circus of Dreams, was so far beyond what I could ever think up I just drooled over the descriptions of the tents. The Wishing Tree, the Ice Garden, the Cloud Maze… I wish I had an ounce of artistic talent so I could draw how I picture these things. If this book ever becomes a movie and the special effects are done right, it will be on par with epic movies like LOTR, HP, Benjamin Button, all those cinematic masterpieces.

If you do end up reading this book, I encourage you to try it on tape first. It’s really an entertaining read and a wonderful book to listen to. And with Jim Dale as the narrator… oh my lovely man voice. I just want him to whisper sweet nothings in my ear…sigh…

 

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To-Read Tuesday – Sever by Lauren DeStefano

5 Feb

Sorry I have been such slacker status on To-Read Tuesdays lately. Work kind of took over my life the last few weeks and the BF and I are moving into a new apartment (in a different state). Little frazzled and way overwhelmed buuuuut I buckled down and got to it this week so hopefully you can forgive me.

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Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Series: Chemical Garden Series

Previous Ratings: Wither (1) – Three Stars, Seeds of Wither (1.5) – Four Stars, Fever (2) – Three Stars

Release Date: February 12, 2013

Why I Am Excited: I have really enjoyed this series. No, it’s not the most amazing dystopian book I have ever read (character development and consistency problems), but it’s a crazy cool concept with interesting twists that keep me engaged. Wither, Book One, set up a fascinating world of human life as a ticking time bomb. And hate me for saying it, I actually really enjoyed getting a feel for Linden and grew attached to him, even though he was part bad guy. I connected more with Rhine, the pro-tag, in Wither way more than in Fever (book two). Fever was basically a snore fest until the last couple chapters when it became an action packed twisted coolfest again. And honestly, Gabriel is pathetic and I don’t understand Rhine’s feelings for him. But that bridge book! That was a beauty. Seeds of Wither was a great add-on to the series. I am really looking forward to finding out which way Rhine’s heart and head choose to go and the repercussions of her and Leland’s decisions.

What I Hope to See: *Contains Spoilers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! So the cliffhanger at the end of Fever was kind of…. predictable. But no less awesome because of it. I am glad Rhine sees her brother because she was getting a little too woe-is-me and need a spark so she could grow into that backbone she had in Wither. I really want to see her drive come back and kick some creepy father-in-law ass in the conclusion. And Leland, oh please oh please become some kind of great hero. His character is almost swoon status he’s just lacking that internal inquisitiveness that makes men sexy and is waay too passive for my taste. And mostly, I want someone to punch Cecily right in the face. Man I hate that bia.

My Predictions: There is a lot that needs to be resolved in one book. I’m not sure how DeStefano is going to clean it up nicely and cleanly in the third and final segment so I am anticipating an open ending.

  1. Rhine “plays nice” to Leland for awhile. While Leland is royally pissed at her for ditching his ass with Gabrielle, I think Leland will eventually be the key for Rhine and Rowan finding each other, whether Leland knows it or not. Basically, Rhine is going to use and abuse Leland to get her wants while hanging out with *enter new character* Reed? Hmm guess we’ll see how that works out.
  2. Leland will become a hero or… dies. I know that’s a very hot or cold ending, but I feel like he could really swing both way. He’s either going to become crucial to saving their effed up world or he will pass on to be with his true love, Rose. Hopefully he doesn’t end up with Cecily.
  3. This isn’t really a prediction, more of a hope, but I think Father dearest and Cecily need to end up in some wacked out psych ward together. I think Vaughn will end up dying and Cecily will some how redeem herself (basically impossible because she’s messed up so many times) or end up in the same position as her idolized in-law. While the synopsis says Cecily is committed to Rhine’s well-being, I just can buy that with her past. She’s blown that trust too many times.

“Love unrequited is violent. He loves you so much that he’s turned it into hate.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Fever

Reached by Ally Condie

4 Feb

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Book Three in the Matched Triology

Rating: One out of Five Stars

Oh Ally… Ally Ally Ally… Please don’t hate me for this review.

I just want to say that I hardly EVER give one star ratings to books. I feel like its cruel because people work their asses off to write books and stories and they have to endure sooo much to get their ideas published. So know that I tried. I REALLY tried to find a saving grace in this book, but I just couldn’t. This whole Matched Trilogy was just not for me.

I can’t count the number of times my eyes glazed over while reading Reached. And with my previous ratings of two stars for Matched and Crossed, I was tempted to not read the finale. But come on, how can you NOT read the last segment of one of the most popular YA books in the last few years?! It would be like.. sacrilegious. And the last chapter of Crossed made me want to find out what the conclusion held for Xander (love), Cassia (twatface) and Ky (blech).

My dislike is rooted in three parts. 1.) Writing Style 2.) World building/concept 3.) Characters.

1.) You could sing my a lullaby after I have been awake for 48 hours and it wouldn’t hold a light to how fast this book would put me to sleep. As much as I love reading it, poetry should not be a novel. Especially not a Young Adult dystopian novel. Give me a book of poems and I will read the shit out of it. But don’t try to write a 500 page book in all that flowery prose and expect me to stay awake. Seriously, even the “action scenes” were in slow motion and made me yawn. I just wanted things to speed the eff up. If Reached had been a 200 page book it would have been much more tolerable. But instead I had to suffer through 300 more pages of meh. Not my style. No thank you.

2.) While I think the idea behind this series was interesting and creative, book one was the only part that made me believe in the world. Book two was a bore and book three just made me go “WTF” the whole time. Listen yo, if you want to write a story about a dystopia and you want the concept to resonate with your readers, the world needs to keep developing over the series. I feel like Condie gave us a decent starting point in Matched but then dropped all world building in Reached. I wanted to learn more about the Society, about the Rising, about what happened to Ky and his family. But the bread crumbs were spaced soo far apart I kept losing interest. And then one character would stumble upon a clue and then “VIOLA!” all the sudden all three characters knew about it too?  Say wha?? How does that even happen?

3.) Um. Hate to sound harsh but… I think Cassia is my least favorite person ever. She was really supposed to be our heroine? She was the epitome of “book smart but not street smart”. She reminded me a lot of Gretchen from Mean Girls… just following the same stupid guy mindlessly when there are much better men right in front of her. Cassia also had the Gretchen tendency of latching onto to stupid shit and trying to make it happen. “Stop trying to make Xander’s love happen, it’s not going to happen!”

And why WHY is KY given credit for finding the cure? He was freaking passed out the whole time! He did NOTHING but act as a guinea pig unknowingly. AHHHHH! STAB MY EYES OUT PLEASE!
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And poor Xander.. poor lovely precious smart wonderful Xander. Every time Cassia turns him down…
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So yeah… Didn’t care for anything about this book or series. And all I have to say to Cassia is:

WvP62W4

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Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

1 Feb

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Book One in The Arcana Chronicles

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

*Poison Princesssssssss*

This book… oh this wonderful, mentally arousing, exquisite book.

My friend read this book first and she was soo obsessive about it *cough* AMY *cough cough* that I thought she would start sleeping with it at night. I could actually picture her curling her arms around her iPad and caressing it. That’s how stalker-ish she was about PP. And me? I laughed at her. The whole time I was thinking “WTH is wrong with you? That’s like the dumbest title known to man. Re-dic-u-lous.” So when I asked her to collaborate with me on my blog about the Best of 2012 and that book was on it and she became goggle-eyed over it AGAIN, I heaved a heavy sigh and resigned myself to read it. Purely so I could get her off my back about it and find out why she was in love with it.

Holy shit. I have never been so wrong in my life about a book.

It. Was. Fabulous.

I have been spoiled lately because a lot of really amazing books have been dropped into my lap this last month. But PP by far has the best one liners in it. They are one in a million zingers. And I am not typically one to quote books in my reviews, but just to prove my point about how witty this book is, I had to list a few:

“Hey, you’ve still got your endangered hymen. Which means you’ll make it to closing credits – I’m s.o.l.”

“Eves, on the scale from wholesome to whoresome, you’re practically Amish.”

“My mom could be really fierce. A regular Frau Badass.”

“You have two choices, grasshopper. Out-slut Clotile – or go Springer on her ass. I’m down for the assist in both scenarios.”

Oh and the romance… sexy, sultry, feisty and fierce. Man oh man. I need me some Cajun flavor in my life! And to prove my point again… I present you with another quote:

“If you touch me like that again, Evangeline,” he began in a husky tone, dropping to his seat once more, “in the space of a heartbeat, I will have you off this bike and onto the closest horizontal surface. And I woan be picky, no.”

I laughed and giggled and swooned OUT LOUD over these characters. Evie is wonderful and brilliant. Wholesome and moral and such a freaking badass at the end. And Jack… I just want to… want to…mmm…well. Let’s keep this PG and say… he’s… attractive. Yeah….

*shakes heads to remove images*

Ok. Focusing again. What really is unique about this story is the dysoptia and the Tarot cards aspect. I get so super jealous of people who are this freaking creative. WHAT CAN’T I BE THIS AWESOME?!?! It’s a whole new take on why the world blows up and how to save it and survive. When I finished reading PP, Amy and I literally spent hours on the computer looking up Arcana symbols and Tarot card meanings. It was legit. Poison Princess it the book you read over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

Soo… I guess what I am trying to do is swallow my pride and say “Touche, Amy. I shalt never doubt you again.”

…while I make sure I preorder book number two and tuck book one up nice and cozy….

 

BONUS!!! Check out Amy’s Polyvore set inspired  by Poison Princess! Love love love it!

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Crewel by Gennifer Albin

30 Jan

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Book One in the Crewel World Series

Rating: Three out of Five Stars

First of all, can we talk about that delicious cover? GORG! I love the colors, the swirls, the lips, the face. It epitomizes what this book is about and I adore an author/artist who can capture the feeling of the book and recreate it for the cover. Two Thumbs Up.

I was really excited for this book. I actually requested it from the library but got tired of waiting so just bought it as an ebook so I could start reading it righthisminute. That being said, I am not quite as excited for the sequel to this book. I loved parts and I struggled with parts. So my review is a solid middle of the road yellow dashed line.

My biggest beef I have with Crewel is how intensely different this world is and how there was exactly ZERO adjustment time for my WSOD. I spent the first 35% percent of the book rereading the description to try to get a sense of WTH this world consisted of. Then, once the Crewler sat down and explained everything to Adelice, our main character, it was like the beautiful flower of knowledge bloomed in my head and all was right in my bookworld.

But then Adelice kinda goes crazy nutso and doesn’t really think about the consequences and the trail of awful she’s leaving in her path when she’s making her decisions. Flip two chapters later then she’s awesome and heroic again. Plus three more chapters, she’s a twat. The End? She saves lives.

See? Do you see my problem? It was so hot and cold, love and hate, rooting for and totally against. I felt like the plot was a ferris wheel and it would slowly go up towards amazing, crest, and then move towards awful. Over and over and over. The world, once explained, IS impressive. I really liked the concept of it, science meeting fantasy meeting dystopia!?!  Oh hells yes! The actual concept of this book is completely unique and the storyline is decent. But the characters just don’t jive well. And then throw in an awkward tree point love story and BOOM, it’s all the crap we’ve see before. For once FOR ONCE could the book Lord’s Almighty just have two people like each other and be done with it? I can promise all the YA author’s out there that there are just as angsty teen topics to write about.

All in all, I don’t think I can adequately review this until I read the series because so much hangs on what happens in the next books. Jury is still out. Meh.

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daynight by Megan Thomason

28 Jan

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Book One in HOPEFULLY the daynight Series

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

I have decided self-published books are my new “thing”. After the spectacular debut of Susan Ee’s Angelfall and Megan Thomason’s gorgeous gem of a book we have here, publishing companies need to get their heads out of the Twi-Hard’s  and 50 Shades of Crap’s asses and be smacked in the face with delicious stories like daynight.

My desperate need for all things dystopian novel got a real big present when I scored daynight FOR FREE on Amazon as a Kindle download. As I trudge my way through mediocre books, I like to have little treats as motivation. Daynight went from motivation to obsession in three chapters. This book is enthralling, captivating and I just want to devour and then savor everything about it.

Blake and Kira our the main narrators and hot damn do I feel intimately connected to them. They are magnificently developed. The true talent of an author comes through when I can see their pro-tags in real life and describe their reactions to decision that has nothing to do with the book. I adored Blake and Kira. They are loyal and lovely with so much depth in their characters they became real to me even outside the book’s confines. And then there is Ethan, our third point to the Almighty Love Triangle. While he is a front runner of Kira’s affection, I firmly place allegiance with Team Blake. Either way, the budding romances,  tantalizing affections, and the swooning feelings we get to hear to from all sides is enticing. All three narrators are perfect and beautiful and interesting. This story really captures the unique personalities of the human race; what we will do for love, what we will give up for what’s right, what strong morals and unwavering loyalty can do.

Daynight is dynamic and interesting and has secured a spot in my Top Ten Favorite Dyspotia’s. I am drooling over Thomason’s work and I am aching to read the rest of this series. Please oh please finish this masterpiece off! If only for my sanity 🙂

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Everneath by Brodi Ashton

23 Jan

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Book One in the Everneath Series

Rating: Two out of Five Stars

Ugh this book. When I first read the description, I immediately put it down. The whole to-hell-and-back-plot and the dysfunctional romance sounded a little too tweeny Twi-hard for my taste. But then reviews started rolling in and it impressed some of my favorite bloggers so I put it on my “if I get around to it” shelf and was put on the long request list from the library. Then my friends were reading it and really enjoying it and all the sudden BOOM! It’s in my hands.

So then I was stuck with this book I wasn’t really excited about reading, which automatically taints my perception of the book. But even as I started reading it, I knew I wouldn’t like it. I didn’t connect with the characters, didn’t see the vavavavoom in the romance, couldn’t grasp the concept the way I like. It was exactly what I expected, “meh”. Be forewarned, this review does contain spoilers.

Nikki, the main character and narrator, annoys me. She’s “so afraid” of hurting people she just lies and lies and lies to them. Yeah, sweetheart, that makes perfect sense. Nikki spends the whole book trying to “make it up” to her family for ditching them for the Underworld. Which entails handing out flyers for her dad’s mayor reelection and ignoring her little brother, how sweet. Oh and the boy she is just soooo in love with that saved her from going insane after 100 years of being sucked dry of emotions? Way to not even TALK TO HIM for the first 3 months of your 6 months back. WHAT THE HELL. Nikki is spineless. She sits there and says it was  her fault for causing all these problems but she doesn’t DO anything about it. Actions speak louder than words, my friend. And all she did was talk. And whine. And sulk. Nikki only looked things up on the internet, maybe in a book or two but Jack did all the work. SPOILER AHEAD! And then sacrificed himself for her? After Nikki didn’t trust him, ran to another guy to fix things, was gone for 6 Earth months and then when she comes back she lies to him, ignores him, rebuffs all his advances for 5 and 1/2 months and in TWO WEEKS they are willing to die for each other? PUHlease. Shit is so not happening.

Needless to say, not exactly my favorite book. I do not plan on reading the sequel any time soon, if ever. Unless! Unless it has the meat and potatoes and she loves Cole. Because Cole is hot and feisty and deserves Nikki’s selfish self way more than Jack because he is also selfish.. and hot. 🙂

 

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