Book Review: These Vicious Masks - Taurn Shanker

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published Date: February 9, 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Buy Link: https://amzn.com/B011I5QPP4

These Vicious Masks was one of those moments when I was just browsing through what was available at the library and just happened to run across the book. After reading the blurb, I found it might be something I could possibly enjoy. I’m SO not disappointed that I downloaded this book!

What I Loved: So Evelyn, our main character and narrator, is SO FUNNY! She has very dry, sarcastic humor, but I loved it. Straight from the very first page I knew that I was going to enjoy this book based on her voice alone.

Normally I’m not a ‘love triangle’ lover, not that it’s horrible, it’s just done so frequently, but never have I read a book and really wanted both options to win. Not that I want this girl to have two guys – but well, I liked both options equally and for different reasons.

These Vicious Masks is the beginning of a series (imagine that!) and this book gives you just enough to get you into the story, fall in love with the characters, and make you want more without some huge cliffhanger. I loved that! And I am very excited to carry on with this series.

Not So Much: There was a story line that I wanted to play out soo differently. It’s an extreme spoiler and plot killer, so I’m not going to list it here. But it is just one of those, I want my way, type moments for a reader.

The Verdict:
An excellent Paranormal Victorian YA. I loved it! It’s clean and perfect for the age group it’s written for. I can’t wait to read more.

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Book Review: God Bless America: A Patriotic Adult Coloring Book by Multnomah

Title: God Bless America: A Patriotic Adult Coloring Book
By: Multnomah

Blurb (From Goodreads):
Return to simple pleasures and simpler times.

Enter the pages of this coloring book for adults, and you will find a peaceful way to reflect on what makes America a truly amazing country: our values of equality, opportunity, faith, family, character, generosity, justice, and perseverance. Each coloring page features an original design from one of nine different artists, illustrating an inspirational quote from one of the Founding Fathers, an historic document, a patriotic hymn, or another of America s heroes.

Slow down, quiet the noise, and express creativity as you color your way through history.

So grab your colored pencils or markers, find a comfortable spot to relax, and spend some time celebrating America. To help set the perfect patriotic mood, a link to the Coloring America playlist is
included inside.

My Review:
Adult coloring books are all the rage, and this one even more appropriate given the day! I couldn't turn down this treasure!














What I Loved: This book is filled with wonderful patriotic images from birds and flags, to military shots, all pages waiting to be filled with color and life. Each image includes a quote, popular line, or some sort of patriotic verse. On the left-hand side there is a bit of a history lesson as well.




Not So Much: Most of the images are beautiful, but there were a couple of pages that were just okay to me. I think you'd get that will every and all coloring books; children and adults alike.

The Verdict:       

In all, I enjoy this coloring book. I love the peace that comes with filling in the blanks and making the pages my own.


I received this book for an honest review from Blogging For Books. No other compensation was given for this review other than the joy of a book.

Book Review: Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Title: Echo
Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: Middle School Age, Fairytale, Historical, Humanity

Form: Audiobook
Narrator: Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, MacLeod Andrews, and Rebecca Soler

Blurb (From Goodreads):
Music, magic, and a real-life miracle meld in this virtuosic, genre-defying tour de force from storytelling maestro Pam Muoz Ryan. Lost and alone in the forbidden Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives, binding them by an invisible thread of destiny. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. How their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.

Richly imagined and structurally innovative, ECHO pushes the boundaries of form and shows us what is possible in how we tell stories.

My Review:
Echo is not a book I would have picked up on my own. Never would I have read the blurb and thought, “hey, this book is for me!” However, I have a friend who is a youth/young adult librarian, and she read a variety of things, some of them specifically to have a better knowledge of her product. She listened to this book via audio, and thought it was great, and pressured me into listening to the audiobook specifically because the audiobook comes with musical interludes that correlates with what is happening in the book.

What I Loved: This book isn’t simply fiction. It isn’t non-fiction. This book isn’t even straight up literary fiction. Describing Echo to others has been a little bit something like this: “It’s a fairytale, historical fiction, and a lesson in humanity wrapped into one book.” Echo starts off with a short fairytale, or myth, which surrounds music. Music, specifically harmonica music played on specific harmonicas becomes the point zero of this tale, but once the first part is completed it quickly branches off into three different stories taking place in a somewhat jagged yet still the same timeline. Each story is unique, yet the lessons seem to be about the same.

I love the woven tales, the music, the relationship between the stories, and the differences. I LOVE the message of this book most of all.

Not So Much: I can’t tell if it was mean, or genius how the stories are broken down. All I have to say is that if you are using some kind of electronic device, you might have a strong temptation to throw it. Don’t do it. Just trust me.

The Verdict:        

I cannot speak more highly of this book. I know my review was vague, and it is purposeful, because the journey itself is what makes this special. If I were to lay out details too specific, it might ruin the effect for you. I suggest getting the audiobook if you are able to. This book is written for Middle Age/Jr. High Age, and it’s very age appropriate. In fact, I recommend it for your children, and you adults as well!

Book Review: Defending Taylor - Miranda Kenneally

Title: Defending Taylor
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Genre: YA - Coming of Age, Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Published Date: July 5, 2016

Buy Link:  https://amzn.com/B01BX1PIPQ

Blurb (from Goodreads):
Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High.

Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it’s hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?

My Review:
Defending Taylor was one of those books that was difficult for me to put down. This was another one of those Netgalley books I picked up as a summer read, and while it wasn’t exactly about summer at all, it fit the bill rather nicely.

What I Loved: All of the characters were interesting and fun. Taylor is pretty typical as far as ‘near adults’ go, she is unsure of her place and of her future destination in life; couple that with an epic mistake on her part, and you’ve got enough drama to fill an entire lifetime. She deals with it though. I really could see her perspective on why she made some of the choices she did, even though in my head I was screaming “noooooooo…..”. I cannot, however, say I would have done anything any differently. Beyond that, Taylor’s character was honorable. I loved how she worked through problems, relied on her friends and family when she didn’t have a solution – but in the end she came up with good solid solutions, and went after what she wanted.

The relationship between her and Ezra (well, first off..who doesn’t love a MC named Ezra?! I think that if he were the antagonist, I would have fallen for him just for the name! ;) ) was hot! I love the pre-existing condition of their feelings for each other before the book starts, it made their quick moving relationship easier to take that way.

Not So Much: I will forever list sex in a YA novel in this spot…and I apologize, but I’m just not a fan. I also felt kind of weird about Taylor’s parent’s personalities. At times they are over-bearing, a bit uppity (which makes sense considering their position), and completely detached from all things concerning their kids; and then other times they seem like a completely normal family where talking isn’t so hard, and understanding and forgiveness isn’t such a huge deal. I don’t think that this was a growth progression throughout the book as much as it was an irregularity. Specifically in Taylor’s dad; he is so understanding and willing to let things go as soon as Taylor decides to really have a conversation regarding college, however most of the evidence leading up to that point indicated that the conversation should have gone way differently.

The Verdict:  

      

I did enjoy this book. I feel like Taylor as a person is a character that I will always admire. She really stands out to me in the YA world as someone who has her head on straight, she knows when she needs help, but she also makes good decisions (most of the time). I’ve already mentioned that this book isn’t exactly clean – it’s not overly descriptive (unless you count talk of using condoms), but there’s no denying it’s there, so my recommendation is that this book isn’t really a good one for any younger teens.

Book Review: Vengeance Road - Erin Bowman

Title: Vengeance Road
Author: Erin Bowman
Genre: YA - Historical, Western, Romance
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Published Date: September 1, 2015
Audiobook Narrator: Amy Rubinate

Buy Link: https://amzn.com/B00QPIM66M

Blurb (from Goodreads:
Revenge is worth its weight in gold.

When her father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal.

My Review:
This book was sort of a break from my norm. It’s not a fairy tale retell, it’s not straight up fiction, or even dystopian/fantasy. This can best be described as a YA-Western, complete with guns, small down salons, horses and Stetsons. Although I’m wondering…were the hats actually called Stetsons back then? Because I’m pretty sure that’s a name brand, right? I could be wrong.

What I Loved: It was just ever so different, yet the same. The setting is one that I’m not used to, and the southerny/western accent too. This was more a book about redemption than anything, but first comes vengeance. I think the thing that I liked most was Kate’s character, she was complicated. She was after the men who killed her father, but at the same time was able to be compassionate and understanding toward the Apache Indians, the race that everyone hated/feared/mistreated. However, even in that area, she was tainted by society norms and while she was trying to maintain a friendship and understanding, she continued to have disregard for their ways and was borderline offensive for a good portion of the book. There were events that helped her to gain more understanding and respect for the Indians as the story went on, and this growth was the most significant throughout the book, in my opinion.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Kate and Jessie. I felt like it was this low simmer sort of thing between them, rather than drama that extended throughout the book. This wasn’t just Kate’s story either, Jessie had his own redemption to find as well.

Not So Much: Despite any kind of redemption she found while on the hunt for her father’s killers, Kate really never did leave the thought of vengeance behind. For a small portion of the book I thought that she was going to find healing elsewhere, and I do feel like she kind of did – however she was still pretty set on her path. I would have liked to have had more of an emotional resolution for both Kate and Jessie. While there was character growth throughout the book, I feel like we stopped just shy of anything remarkable.

The Verdict:  

    

I enjoyed listening to this book. Again, it is nice to break free from the mold just a bit and read something a little different. I can’t say it was my favorite book of the summer, but I certainly do not regret reading it. This is a YA driven novel, though there is some stronger cussing in it..just so you all know.

ADDED:  So I went and did a little google...Stetsons were created in 1865, and this book took place in 1877...so I guess it works! ;)