Quote of the Week #10

Hi everyone! Here is the quote I've picked for this week:

"It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
                                                               ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I hope you like it!

Later,
Aceba

It's good to be back...

Hi people! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I went camping with my family for a week, and I didn't have access to a computer or anything. I have to say, though I do love camping, it's very good to be back!!!

I have a lot of posts to create and put up, but don't worry, I'll get there!!!

Hugs,
Aceba

Book Review: I AM NUMBER FOUR

Author: Pittacus Lore
Number of Pages: 440
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 3, 2010

At one point in time, Lorien was a lush, prosperous planet thriving with life. That was all before the Mogadorians attacked and invaded, wiping put all civilization just for their own benefit. Nine people from Lorien were able to escape with their keepers. They traveled to Earth, which is where they now live. Only problem is, the Mogadorians are hunting and killing them.

Numbers One, Two, and Three are dead. John is Number Four.

This book was extremely good!!! It was fast-paced and suspenseful the entire way through. John is a character that I think almost every teenager will be able to relate to, despite the fact that he is an alien. This book has everything in it; romance, suspense, action, fighting, fantasy/sci-fi details- everything! My friend told me that this book is amazing, and now that I have read it I totally have to agree!!! This is a definite must-read this summer!!!

Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys. This book is awesome!!!

Would I recommend it to a friend???: Absolutely!!!! I think that both guys and girls would like this book.

Yours,
Aceba

Quote of the Week #9

Hi people!!! Here is this week's quote:

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."
                                                           ~ Jorge Luis Borges

Enjoy!

Later,
Aceba

Book Review: FOREVER

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 386
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: July 12, 2011

Forever is the final book in this trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater. The first book is Shiver and the second book is Linger.

**********SPOILER ALERT!!!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED READING THIS SERIES, DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST!!!!!!!!**************

Grace is still a wolf in the forest of Mercy Falls. Sam is stressed and depressed. Isabel's father is scheduling one massive hunt that will kill all of the wolves. Cole is trying to find the cure to the madness that is their lives. In this suspenseful, romantic conclusion to this amazing series, everyone has their life is on the line.

I loved this series!!!! The relationship that Sam and Grace have is one that every girl dreams of. Maggie's writing style is flawless- I love the fact that she is very descriptive, yet she doesn't lose the personalities of the characters. The biggest surprise for me was the way Cole changed throughout the series. He started out as a guy who was lost inside, someone who didn't seem to care if they lived or died. But by the end of this trilogy it appeared to me that he finally found himself.

The ending of this book wasn't what I was expecting, but it was good nonetheless. It left a lot of room for multiple endings for the characters, which was kind of nice. Overall, this was a fantastic book!!!!!!

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Of course!!! This was such a cute series. Normally I'm not a fan of werewolf-type books, but this was amazing! It's a definite must-read!

Hugs,

Aceba

Book Review: THE GEMMA DOYLE SERIES

Author: Libba Bray
Number of Pages:  A Great and Terrible Beauty has 403 pages, Rebel Angels has 548 pages, and The Sweet Far Thing has 819 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

This trilogy is about a sixteen year old girl named Gemma Doyle, who is alive during the Victorian age. Gemma has spent years and years living in India with her family. One day, after an unpleasant fight with her mother, Gemma experiences a strange vision- one that shows her mother committing suicide. Shockingly, her vision comes true.

Gemma is soon sent to England, where she is to attend Spence Academy, an all girl boarding school with a reputation of turning rebellious girls into mature women. It is at Spence Academy that Gemma learns the reasons for her visions and dark secrets about her family's past. Throughout the series Gemma and her friends Felicity, Ann and Pippa are swept up in a tangle of magic, realms, and the dark past of a mysterious all-women society called the Order. It soon becomes Gemma's fate to save the realms from the all-powerful Circe- or at least die trying.

This series was fantastic!!!!!!! There was a perfect balance between historical fiction and fantasy. This series is filled with an abundance of twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages, even when you know you should be doing something else (like sleeping. Yeah, that was a big problem for me ;)). From the very beginning I felt like I could really relate to Gemma and her friends.

Also, I really liked how this series was divided up. Instead of creating a long series with a bunch of shorter books, Libba Bray made it so there were only three, really long books. This is good because you don't have to spend a lot of money buying six books to finish the series. Of course, some series (such as Harry Potter) need to be long because there are just so many details that need to be covered. But I felt that this series was divided up correctly.

My Rating:
~ A Great and Terrible Beauty: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys
~ Rebel Angels: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys
~ The Sweet Far Thing: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys

Rating Overall: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys!!! This series was truly remarkable. These are the first books written by Libba Bray that  I have read, and I will definitely be picking up another one soon!!!!

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Absolutely!!!!! Although I do have to say, I think this is definitely a series that guys probably wouldn't enjoy reading. I could be wrong, but it seems to be more geared towards girls.

Word of the Day!!!!!

He updated his sign today!!!! The new word is:

PROFFER

Which is a proposal or an offer.

Yours,

Aceba

Book Review: A CURSE DARK AS GOLD

Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce
Pages: 396
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Charlotte Miller is left to run her family's wool mill when her father dies. Sure, she has her younger sister to help her out and the town of Shearing backing her up, but it's still a lot on her shoulders. Making enough money to pay off her father's debts, dealing with her grief- not to mention the bad luck that seems to always be present at the mill. Stirwaters, the mill the Miller family has owned for generations, is said to be cursed. And on top of all that, she has to try to understand her feelings towards the friendly, irresistible banker named Randall Woodstone.

Then, one day the mysterious Jack Spinner shows up. He offers Charlotte and her younger sister Rosy an amazing deal: he will turn a whole room of straw into golden thread as long as Charlotte gives him her mom's ring. The two sisters agree, and with that one decision their lives will never be the same. Think you know that old fairy tale "Rumplestiltskin"? Think again.

This book started out extremely slowly. The pace didn't really pick up until about a third of the way in. There was nothing in this book that made me go WOW! If you know the story of 'Rumplestiltskin', you basically know the gist of the book. I guessed what was going to happen and sure enough, it did. It was a cute book, but not really my thing.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Maybe. It depends what age they are. I would say 12 and below is a good age level, and they have to like fantasy.

Hugs,
Aceba

Quote of the Week #8

Here is this week's quote:

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth."
                                                          ~ Pablo Picasso

Enjoy!!!!
Yours,
Aceba

Book Review: THE TOMORROW SERIES

I have recently read the entire 'Tomorrow' series by John Marsden. This series consists of seven books:

1. Tomorrow, When the War Began
2. The Dead of Night
3. A Killing Frost
4. Darkness, Be My Friend
5. Burning For Revenge
6. The Night is for Hunting
7. The Other Side of Dawn

This series is about a group of Australian teenagers written from the point of view of a girl named Ellie, who is among the group. One summer they decide to go camping out in the bush for a few days without any parents. They ask their parents for permission and they say that they can go. So while all of their families are at the Showground for a fair/carnival of some sorts, the teens pack their bags into the Landrover and drive into the bush headed for a basin called Hell, where an old Hermit was said to have lived in a cabin that he built.

But while they are away the unthinkable happens. When they go back to their houses from their innocent camping trip, they find that their houses are abandoned. Their families are nowhere to be found. Many of Ellie's dogs are dead, and it appears that no one has fed them for a few days.

It turns out that they are in the middle of a war zone. Their country has been invaded and their families are being held at the Showground. During the course of this series the teenagers have to fight their way through a terrible war, experiencing loss, love, hatred, betrayal, exhaustion, misery, shock, and surprisingly, happiness. As they fight for their families and friends they become closer as a group (and sometimes farther apart). Will they win the war??? Will they ever be able to see their friends and families again??? Will they even survive??? The only way to find out is to read this suspenseful, action-packed series.

I have to say, this series really surprised me. When I first realized that there were seven books in the series, I was like, Great, now I have to sit through reading all of them just to find out if they survive. But after the first book, I found that I had started to care and feel for the characters, and I just had to find out what happened to them. John Marsden does a great job at narrating the book from a teenage girl's point of view, and you really get to know each and every character. This series did drag on during some parts, but for the most part it was very suspenseful and kept my interest almost the entire way through.

There were a few things that I didn't like about it, though. First, the teenagers plan tons of crazy things they could do to sabotage the people invading their country. This is totally unrealistic, because when you think about it, how can a small group of teenagers bomb an entire bridge over a highway by themselves? How can they go what seems to be days and days without food and water, and without stopping to take a rest? Some of it was just a bit too unrealistic for me. I'm not saying that they didn't suffer, because they definitely did. I'm just saying that in real life I doubt they could have pulled half of that stuff off without a scratch on them. But, I guess why they call it fiction.

If you have a weak stomach when it comes to things gory and gruesome, then this series may not be for you. The teens do acquire many injuries and Ellie writes about them with a good amount of detail. I'm not so good with that kind of stuff and I was fine, but I'm just giving you a heads up.

Also, it seemed as though the series was kind of split in half. When I finished reading the third book, I was like, Oh, that's kind of a crappy ending to the series. I didn't realize that it went on for four more books. If you really wanted to, you could probably just stop reading the series at book three and feel satisfied. I didn't, but some of you probably could.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) I'm going to give this entire series a 4 out of 5 smileys. Here is how it breaks down book by book:

• Tomorrow, When the War Began : :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) I give this one a 5 out of 5 smileys. It was a great start to the series!
• The Dead of Night : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.
• A Killing Frost : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.
• Darkness, Be My Friend : :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. I was kind of disappointed with this one. It seemed like it was just dragging on too much.
• Burning For Revenge : :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. Same with the one before it. To me, it was very slow.
• The Night is for Hunting : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys. This one was a big improvement compared to the fourth and fifth books in this series.
• The Other Side of Dawn : :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys. This was an okay end to the series.

Would I recommend it to a friend? : Yes, if he/she was not afraid to read a very long series. This would be a great read for both boys and girls, because it has a lot of action but it also has some romance.

Yours,
Aceba

It's 4th of July (in the U.S.)!!!!!

So, I'm back from my vacation! My brother's soccer team lost all three of their games and only scored one goal during the entire weekend, but nonetheless I had a ton of fun!!! I also did a lot of reading. It was abot an eight to nine hour drive to the soccer tournament and then the same amount back, so there was a lot of time for doing whatever I wanted. I read:

• The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden
• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
• Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

All of these are awesome books, and I can't wait to post my reviews for them.

Also, last night when I got back I pre-ordered John Green's new book called The Fault in Our Stars from Amazon. John Green is an amazing writer, so you should totally pre-order his book too!!!!!!
Hugs,
Aceba

P.S. For all of you who live in the United States, Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!! :D