The Lovely Bones

Lovely Bones was not exactly what I expected it would be. I thought it would be the typical murder mystery kind of book, which it wasn't really. Suzie, the narrator starts off telling how she died and who killed her. The rest of the book is aobut her family coping with her death and her coping with letting them go in her heaven. She basically watches their progressing lives from her own heaven world. The story is slightly interesting, but a bit confusing at times because it bounces around to what she is seeing different people doing. The ending kind if surprised me, it didn't end how I expected it to. I guess it was a fairly decent read and is now made into a movie.

Review/Description

When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn't happen. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief, her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor and begins the difficult process of healing.

Tempted

Tempted is the sixth book in the HoN series. It was like all the others, meaning same circumstances just different situations. Zoey has too many boyfriends still and has to save the world again. However, Zoey and Eric break up realtaively early and I think they might actually be over this time. Stevie Rae and Aphrodite's imprint gets broken. Stevie rae finally reveals what she has been keeping from Zoey. While she develops a new secret when she saves Rephraim the head Raven Mocker. Zoey and the gand go to Venice to appear in front of the Vampyre High Council, to prove Kalona and Neferet are bad. The end has a suprising and very upsetting twist.

Review/Description

So…you’d think after banishing an immortal being and a fallen High Priestess, saving Stark’s life, biting Heath, getting a headache from Erik, and almost dying, Zoey Redbird would catch a break. Sadly, a break is not in the House of Night school forecast for the High Priestess in training and her gang. Juggling three guys is anything but a stress reliever, especially when one of them is a sexy Warrior who is so into protecting Zoey that he can sense her emotions. Speaking of stress, the dark force lurking in the tunnels under the Tulsa Depot is spreading, and Zoey is beginning to believe Stevie Rae could be responsible for a lot more than a group of misfit red fledglings. Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from Kalona and his dark allure, but they also show that it is Zoey who has the power to stop the evil immortal. Soon it becomes obvious that Zoey has no choice: if she doesn’t go to Kalona he will exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. Will Zoey have the courage to chance losing her life, her heart, and her soul?

Hunted

So I think there are way too many books in this series, this is the fifth, it's just getting ridiculous. Zoey is still dealing with all her boy drama, and the plot keeps circiling around the same old themes. Yes, Neferet is evil, yes she has too many boyfriends, and yes Stevie Rae is undead. I wish she would hurry up and end the series before it becomes a trashy soap opera sort of book, even though it already is a little. I mean the book wasn't bad it was just monotonous. So I would suggest you keep trudging through the series until it comes to a close.

Review/Description

Zoey is a powerful fledging who is training for her conversion to vampyrism at a private boarding school. Zoey and her circle are currently battling evil high priestess Neferet and fallen angel Kalona, who have taken over the Oklahoma House of Night. She is also dealing with power struggles among the other fledglings along with the usual teenage angst that accompanies multiple boyfriends. The plot is zingy and so, for the most part, is the dialogue. The authors go out of their way to recap previous events, which is great for listeners new to the series, but may be annoying to those who already know the back story. They also unnecessarily emphasize gay characters by attaching the adjective "gay" to all of their actions. Narrator Jenna Lamia does a good job, giving each character a distinctive voice and personality, especially Stevie Rae's Oklahoma twang and Aphrodite's very bored delivery.

Along for the Ride

So, Along for the Ride was actually a good book, not on the same level as The Truth About Forever or Just Listen, but good none the less. It actually had a nice ending, which I don't say a lot, becuase it answered most of the questions posed throughout the story. The main characters were complex, but Auden seemed kind of uncaring until the end. There was a lot of personal development from all the characters, although they kind of all had the same problem. All in all it was a good read, and written in the typical Sara Dessen style.

Review/ Description

Studious good girl Auden, named for the poet, makes a snap decision to spend her summer before college at her father's beach house rather than with her mother, a professor whose bad habits include male grad students. Auden's parents divorced three years earlier, a split she's not yet over. Her remarried father has already produced another heir, a colicky baby named Thisbe (after a tragic figure from Shakespeare), with his young wife, Heidi, who owns a boutique. Feeling sympathy for stressed-out Heidi, Auden agrees to do the shop's bookkeeping, providing her with an instant social circle-the teenage clerks plus the boys from the neighboring bike rental, including hunky, wounded Eli. Both night owls, Auden and Eli bond when he coaxes her to experience childhood activities-bowling, food fights, learning to ride a bike-that her insufferable parents never bothered to provide.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre was a ver unusual sort of book, in my opinion. Not in the sense of its material being unusual just the characters. Really there were three stories going on throughout the book. The story of Jane's childhood, the story of Jane and Mr. Rochester, and the story of Jane's life after Mr. Rochester. In the end everything sort of works out, but a few characrers had some life changing events happen. I didn't agree with everything that happened, but I did like the book for the most part. It wasn't a Pride and Prejudice or anything, however it was worthy of being a classic.

Review/Description

Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre leads a lonely life until she finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls by night. This is a story of passionate love, travail and final triumph. The relationship between the heroine and Mr. Rochester is only one episode, albeit the most important, in a detailed fictional autobiography in which the author transmuted her own experience into high art. In this work the plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, but possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order which circumscribes her life and position.

Generation Dead

Basically teenagers across the country are dying, but they aren't staying dead. In the United States, zombies are walking around acting like the living, except a little slower. This was a rather weird book, in the zombie fact and that the main girl Phoebe likes a zombie. The ending really made me mad because Phoebe is such an idiot and doesn't realize Adam loves her until it's too late. Adam isn't a zombie by the way. There is a sequel I haven't decided to read it yet.

Review/Description

Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He's strong and silent.and dead. All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn't want them. The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the "differently biotic." But the students don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the "living impaired" from the people who want them to disappear-for good. When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

The Princess and the Hound

He is a prince, heir to a kingdom threatened on all sides, possessor of the animal magic, which is forbidden by death in the land he'll rule.
She is a princess from a rival kingdom, the daughter her father never wanted, isolated from true human friendship but inseparable from her hound.
Though they think they have little in common, each possesses a secret that must be hidden at all costs. Proud, stubborn, bound to marry for the good of their kingdoms, this prince and princess will steal your heart, but will they fall in love?

A classic love story that isn't really sappy. The prince, which can understand and talk to animals even though animal magic is considered evil, is going to marry Princess Beatrice who loves her hound more than anything. In a lot of eventful situations the true nature of everyone and everything comes into play, and people aren't really who you think they are or what you think they are for that matter. A really good storyline and ending. Both prince and princess realize their true potential and their love for each other at the same time.

Review/Description

Prince George must keep his ability to talk to animals a secret. In Kendel, animal magic is punishable by death, and the fear and loathing toward practitioners is reminiscent of the witch hunts of medieval Europe. Even as royalty, George cannot reveal his secret. Lonely and isolated, George accepts his betrothal to Princess Beatrice as a political alliance, expecting never to trust enough to find love. But when George and Beatrice meet, George is drawn to Beatrice and the beautiful hound, Marit, who is her constant companion. In the pair, George finds not only trust but also others whose lives have been touched by animal magic. George is not a typical Prince Charming, but Beatrice has the feel of a damsel in distress. Both need rescuing in their own ways, and Harrison sets up a story that draws readers into their growing relationship. George, the infatuated prince, is an atypical fairy-tale narrator. His perspective adds depth and insight to his character, but Beatrice's chilly personality is less developed. Her isolation is just as apparent as George's, and he is drawn to her through their shared loneliness. George's growth from prince to king is admirable, especially as he learns to accept his shortcomings and his secret abilities and forgive himself his past mistakes.