Book Review: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Still Missing

Chevy Stevens

This book was this months Book Club read. And honestly - it's the best book we've read since creating the group.

Annie is a realtor who gets abducted by a man she calls "The Freak". The story starts though, after the abduction, and with her talking to her therapist. You find out all about her gruesome experience as she tells her therapist what happens. It is awful and heart-wrenching.

This book is very raw, and will evoke a ton of feelings. But I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for a good-cant-put-it-down thriller. 

Goodreads rating: 5/5 Stars

Book Review: The Search for Good Wine - John Hailman

Book Review: The Search for Good Wine - John Hailman

I was given this book from NetGalley in promise of an honest review.

I wanted to like this book - I really did. As a wine lover, but not necessarily a wine scholar, I was looking forward to educating myself with a book that was accessible to the average wine drinker. I felt encouraged when the author expressed that was exactly what his book was about - educating the average wine lover. It wasn't going to be pretentious, which gave me a huge sigh of relief.

Not being pretentious doesn't mean it needs to be badly written, and unfortunately that is what John Hailman delivered in this book. His first wrong foot started in the very beginning - when he gave us the long and drawn out life story that he desperately wanted to fit into this book, but just didn't. The writing was very informal - it almost felt at times like I was reading a blog instead of a book. It also felt like the author was "tooting his own horn" at times - name dropping left and right. I felt like the author maybe didn't feel like he deserved to be writing this book so he was constantly trying to inflate his self image.

With that said - not all of the essays were awful. I quite enjoyed a few, and I do feel more educated about wine than I did before the book. I just feel like the author maybe needs a little bit more reigning in - either from himself or his editor.


Goodreads stars: 2/5

REVIEW: Paradigm - Ceri A. Lowe

REVIEW: Paradigm - Ceri A. Lowe

I received this book through Net Galley in turn for an honest review.

I really, really enjoyed Paradigm. I initially thought it would be just like every other dystopian fiction out there right now, but I feel like Ceri Lowe raised the bar with this one. I normally despise books that come from two different perspectives - but this one was different. It's smart. It's well written. It's an easy read that doesn't feel like cotton candy. It was interesting to see a dystopian from not only the "rebel" side but also to see it from the side of someone who created the strict government in the first place. It gives you an honest perspective of why this government was a necessity to begin with - but why it may not be working 87 years later. In a year (or couple of years) where dystopian books are a dime a dozen, this is one of the books that stands out. It is a great mix of Legend by Marie Lu and Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who truly enjoys the dystopian genre, but is looking for something more. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next two books in the series.

Goodreads stars: 5/5

REVIEW: Dorothy Must Die - Danielle Paige

REVIEW: Dorothy Must Die - Danielle Paige

What happens when an outsider comes into OZ and finds out that Dorothy has become pure evil and is ruining everything?

Kill her, naturally.

At least this is what Amy is told once she is recruited by the Order of the Wicked. They train her, educate her, and then send her to do the one thing that they think will save their beloved Oz - to kill her.

Danielle Paige has definitely turned the Oz world as we know it upside down on its head. After reading this book I doubt I will ever look at Dorothy or her "crew" (Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion, and Glinda) the same. It was an easy read - and a great take on a story we all know if love. If you are fans of things like Wicked, or have ever thought there is no way that Glinda is as good of a witch as she seems, then this is a great book for you.

Also - After you are done reading the book, go watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmd6aG626A

Its hilarious! Good job Epic Reads!


Goodreads stars: 4/5

REVIEW: The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

REVIEW: The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

Okay.

Okay.


Thank you, John Green, for ripping my heart out and stomping on it. Multiple times. It hurt so good. The tag line for this movie is "one sick love story", and I find that is a perfect sentence to sum up the feeling of this book. Witty and sarcastic but also sweet and endearing, John Green has captured teenage love in a way that most authors could only hope to do. It is not your perfect love story, but its real. It is the realists of real. Life doesn't always hand you lemons and you can't always make lemonade, but its the things you do in-spite of the shitty hand God gave you that make you who you are.

I recommend this book for everyone. It is a must read.

Goodreads stars: 5/5

REVIEW: The Selection - Kiera Cass

REVIEW: The Selection - Kiera Cass

Synopsis:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


Review:

I have often heard the term "Don't judge a book by its cover". In the case of The Selection, though, I feel the phrase should be "Don't judge a book by its ridiculous premise". Because that is what I did for a very long time. Amazon kept recommending the series to me, but I kept passing it over for other books because I thought it sounded very much like "The Bachelor" meets Dystopia which sounded incredibly dumb to me. I have never been more wrong about a book in my life. Once I eventually read the book, I fell in love. It has a wonderful mix of romance and adventure, and Kiera Cass tells the story with great finesse. I highly recommend this book to any woman with a pulse, because I promise you will fall in love the same way I did.

Goodreads stars: 5/5

REVIEW: The Testing Joelle Charbonneau

 REVIEW: The Testing Joelle Charbonneau

What a wonderful dystopian novel I stumbled upon!

Synopsis: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same?

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.

Review: 

I'm not sure why I loved this book so much. On the surface it is nothing but your average, run-of-the-mill dystopian series. But the writing is fantastic, and the characters are memorable. I read the first two books back to back in about a day, and I couldn't put them down! I am waiting impatiently for the third! If you are a dystopian fan I highly recommend this series.

Goodreads stars: 5/5