Review: The Ghost Hunter's Daughter

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Caroline Flarity
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spooky & Wonderful!

What drew me in for this book was the cover. It was creepy and interesting and I have to say that the book didn’t disappoint at all. This one really reminded me of mashed up episode of Supernatural, The Conjuring, and Mean Girls with Hoarders tossed in for good measure. And I have to say that IT WORKED!! I have have been in the pahanmoral field for over 20 years and I have to say that this author did a very good job with the ghosty demon aspect of this story. I felt like she did justice to those who cleanse objects etc. And I loved every second of it.

The characters in this one were great. I loved Anna and really enjoyed that she was just a normal teenager. She had her faults and well she acted her age! How many young adult novels can say that? I know that I have seen some people say that this reads for younger teens and I would have to disagree. Her being 16 in this she sounded just right. I know that my 14 almost 15 year old acts a lot like Anna in some aspects. And over the course of the story she grows and learns that its ok to make mistakes. And its also ok to just let things go. Because in the end no one can make you feel bad unless you let them. Her friends were perfect for this story as well. I do wish we would have gotten a little more romance in this one but I could see that happening in a book two. Her dad although a hoarder was also great. He was understanding for the most part and his new partner was so adorable!! I love her so much!!

I think that I would love to see a book two that centers around the house being cleaned up. Her dad going forward with healing after his wife's death. And some romance blooming between some characters. As well as maybe then going on the hunt to start ridding the world of bad spirits etc. Esp. with how this one ended with Anna having a certain connection.


Go Into This One Knowing: Bullies, Pedophile (old teacher), Ghosts, Death of a Parent, No Cliffhanger

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Review: American Panda

American Panda by Gloria Chao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review: This was such a cute little book. I loved it so much but did have a few issues with it. I have to say that it was a little off putting to read about a set of parents that didn't get their daughter the glasses she needed. Many times during the story Mei talked about how she couldn't see something because of her bad eyes. If this is the real way this culture is for those families that are I fear for these children. How are they supposed to get this amazing education if they can't even see right?

Ok so my rage for glasses is now over. Other than that these parents were so in this story that it kind of makes up for all the other stories out there where the parents are not there. The other characters were great to. I really wished that Mei would have taken a hold of her own life and just told her parents how she really felt. There comes a time at an age where you just need to do what you want. You are almost an adult or you are one and its time to cut the cord.

The story itself was really good. There were a few parts that were kind of stagnate and I think this one could have been a little shorter. But all in all it was still a very cute story.



Go Into This One Knowing: Slight Child Abuse, Family Relationships, Overbearing Parents, Light Insta-Love

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Review: I Believe in a Thing Called Love

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: OMG This book was just adorable. I have been a fan of telenovelas for a while now and this one based on K Dramas was just as good if not better. This reminded me of the TV show Jane the Virgin and I would love this to hit the tv screens as a movie or short series. If you are looking for a great read to enjoy at the pool side or beach look no further than this one right here.

I just loved how strong a character Desi was she knew what she wanted to do when she got done with high school and went after it head on. I also enjoyed how she grew as a character in the last few chapters. I do wished that the story would have covered her being just a tad to obsessed a little more but what we got really fit with the story.

I think that they only thing that would have made this story even better could have been maybe if it would have been dual POV but I fear that it might have slowed the story down. I would love to have a novella book or something in Luca's POV just so we could fall in love with him even more. I could see a collector's edition of this being full of art that Luca did.

The story itself was so beyond adorable. It had some of the funniest and cuties quotes (you can see those here) that I have ever found. It was well paced and I enjoyed every page. I also really enjoyed how the chapter names changed from chapters to steps and then back to chapters. It was just a little addition that made this story even cuter.



Go Into This One Knowing: K Dramas, Korean Culture, No Love Triangle

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Review: Toward a Secret Sky

Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My Review: I was so enjoying this story. It was well paced and had a lot of mystery in it. I loved the romance that was coming and the suspense of figuring out what in the world was going on. But that all came to a crashing halt when around 70 pages our heroine finds some girl laying in a pew and this girl holds all of the answers that she was looking for. She knows where Maren's parents worked, the necklace, and she just goes on an info dumping story of telling Maren everything she needed to know. For me that killed the story. It was way to much to believe that this girl who says o don't let any information fall into the wrong hands. That she would just blurt out all this information to this girl that she JUST met. It was just to much for me to believe. So although I would kind of still want to know what was up the story just pretty much fell apart. I wished that this girl didn't exist in this story and maybe Maren could have overheard something from the nun that was there or something else. Because this just did not work for me at all.



Go Into This One Knowing: Unrealistic, Info dumping the Mystery starting at page 70

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Review: The Last 8

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: OMG this book was so good. I was up until 3am just to finish it and I did that in just over 4 hours. This alien invasion/dystopian was freaking great!! The characters were awesome and the story just kept going. I was kind of sad about the ending but I am so excited to see what the author does with book two.

This young adult story has almost no romance so if that isn't your thing don't worry about it this book doesn't have a lot in it almost at all. Theres really only like two parts that deal with it and that's it.

This is kind of how I hoped The Fifth Wave would have been. With the world going to the trash heap and the aliens taking over. If you have been searching for a great alien story then look no further than right here!!

The characters in this one were diverse and amazing. I loved everyone!!! And the author did a wonderful with all of the twists and turns that came at me. The world was full of everything from creepy creatures to real questions about life. The author didn't shy away from creepy scary action and man o man this was one for the best reads list!!


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Review: The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting

The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting by Emily Mills
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review: I love this book about visual notetaking. It was so informative and had space for practicing the steps in the book. I do wish that it would have given more complete samples. But these really remind me of those infographic. I am excited to try and do some of these for the books that I read as I think that they would help me with keeping my thoughts in order to do reviews. And of course its so freaking cool looking!!! This would be great for all skill levels and I like that the author drops the hammer that you should keep all of your work. So that over time you could see how much you have learned.

I could see someone using this for school as well as for work. It just has so many applications. That the possibilities are endless.


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Review: The Queen's Rising

The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My Review: I really wanted to love this book. I gave it over 200 pages instead of the normal 50-100 pages that I normally give books but sadly this one came to an end around page 225. I found that it took the story way to long to get really started. At about 100 pages the story picked up but even past that it lagged a lot.

I loved the idea of the passions it was something fresh and new. The world that they lived in was like most fantasy worlds set in this time period of Castles and queens and kings. My main issue was that I was just bored to tears. I wished that this would have started out like it did with Brienna showing up at the school and then it skipping to 7 years later. But I wished that those chapters after that leading up to the solstice and her graduating would have been summed up a lot faster.

The next issue I had was that if you looked at the front of the book it gives you a very convent family tree that lays out who everyone belongs to and where. So this entire book that centered around Brienna's family was kind of stupid I am sorry to say. Because we already knew who her father was etc. So that was a very big let down. I wished that the author/publisher would have maybe put that at the back of the book because it really is like a MAJOR spoiler for the story.

This book just really lacked the suspense and thrill that it could have had. I kept reading because I was hoping that something was going to happen to speed up the story and make me be like OMG that's awesome. But in 225 pages that just didn't happen.

So sadly this one just was not for me. If you like slower stories that well are fairly predictable then check this one out.

Go Into This One Knowing: Spoilers at the start of the book, Predictable, Slow

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Review: The Deepest Blue

The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: When I started this book I thought, OMG YES were going to get a brand new story and this time we won't be in the glade etc. Like we were in the other three books. Where it was all about becoming queen. This was going to be about these two newly married people being on the run!!

Sadly, that didn't happen and were back on an island this time against these women's wishes. I have to say how the world of Belene felt very Hunger Gamesish. I actually just now looked at book synapses and yes this is VERY much like the Hunger Games. But instead of other tributes that these women are defending from its the spirits.

This story follows a bunch of characters from the main character Mayara and her trying to survive to get back to her husband, her husband trying to find a way to get her off the island, and the Queen trying to find a way out of her situation. I did enjoy that we had a character from the original series. I do not remember who she was in the other series so if someone knows and can remind me that would be great. It's been a while since I read it.

The number one thing I loved about this story was the pacing. I liked that it was a stand alone and that although the author could come back and add more to this story she doesn't have to. This is a fully formed story on its own. The story starts we get all the information that we need to know and then it gets going. Nothing was stagnate and it flowed very well. Even when it was just Mayara surviving on the island and she was going through caves this story was still going and it was great!

The world building was amazing I loved all the islands and the construction and use of old skeletons as homes and roads etc. The diving aspect was great as well. I felt like the author did a wonderful job with the ideals and just everything. This world of Belene came alive on the page and it really made me want to go to the beach. The characters were the same way. I loved how strong Mayara was as well as her husband Kelo. The rest of the cast from the Queen to the other Spirit Sisters were all there and no one was lacking.

The spirits of the Deep Blue themselves were awesome even though we don't really get to spend a lot of time with them. I do hope we get to see what occurred in the end of this book in a new one set with them. (view spoiler)[At the end of the story Mayara tells the spirits of the Deep Blue that they could go out to the vast oceans and build. It would be awesome to get a story that deals with that. (hide spoiler)]

*Do you need to read the other series to read this one?
No you don't really need to read the other series to know what is going on with this one. The author gives you everything you need to know in this title to read it on its own. (view spoiler)[The only things you will miss without reading the other series is the way things are done on the mainland of Renthia. As they use schools to train their Heirs vs. sending them to a death island. As well as how the Queen of Belene is treated vs. how the Queen of Renthia is. And then there is that one character from the original series that for the life of me I don't remember who she was. But other than those things no you do not have to read the other series. (hide spoiler)]

Go Into This One Knowing: Danger, Sisters, Magic, Romance

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Review: Kawaii Origami: Super Cute Origami Projects for Easy Folding Fun

Kawaii Origami: Super Cute Origami Projects for Easy Folding Fun by Chrissy Pushkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: This book is just so adorable!! It comes with 50 sheets of paper so as soon as you get it you can start working. I do wish that some of the papers would have had cut lines on them so for the projects that require you to cut would have been a little easier especially for kids to do these . But all in all it was a great little book with a ton of awesome little origami things to do. I know we will be coming back to this book time and again!!

The instructions for this one are some of the best that I've seen. The start of the book gives you everything you need to know to get started. When creating my first origami box I never got lost and could follow the directions very easily. Each page also has suggestions on what to use other than paper for some of the projects which was a nice change. As well as giving you a difficultly level.


Go Into This One Knowing: Great for All Ages, Great for all Levels

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