Books

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan EE

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Angelfall cover art

Title: Angelfall 

Author: Susan EE 

Series: Penryn & the End of Days, (Book 1) 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, SciFi 

Pages: 224 

Format Read: Audio

Publisher: Filia 

Published: July 3, 2013 

iBooks

iTunes Audio 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble 

Goodreads 

 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again. 

My Rating: ☆☆☆ 

Disclaimer, disclaimer! I am a self-proclaimed angel enthusiast! I love studying angel lore! Cheyenne Raphael is my pen name because Archangel Raphael is the angel of healing and the patron angel of the blind. Therefore, I had some angelic expectations upon opening this book! 

I did really enjoy Angelfall, but it was also a bit of a let down for me. I’ll hit the high points first, and then I’ll get into the… not so great stuff. And we’re gonna do this in bullet point form today because I have to do chemistry homework after this is over… Yay me… 

 

The Awesome Stuff! 

  • Penryn Young is a total badass! Like she is awesome, and I love her sarcastic attitude, and we would either be best friends or one of us would kill the other! I’d probably be the one to die… 
  • Penryn’s Mom has paranoid schizophrenia, and it is portrayed very well. I love books with mentally ill characters that aren’t just there for the sake of having mentally ill characters! Like she’s crazy, and that’s a problem, but it’s also not a problem, and that’ll make more sense when you actually read it… Maybe… 
  • There are angels! And they’re actually real angels mentioned in the lore! Sort of… 
  • Penryn’s little sister is wheel chair bound, which is awesome because I don’t see many books with wheel chair bound characters! I have NO idea if it’s a good portrayal of a wheel chair bound character because obviously I’ve never experienced that. It could be totally stereotypical like most blind characters in YA literature, but it seemed pretty darn good to me, and the fact that we had a schizophrenic character and a character in a wheel chair in the same book is awesome! (someone please tell me if this is a good wheel chair bound character because now I really wanna know…) 
  • The plot keeps you on your toes! In fact, it kept me up until midnight trying to finish it… And I had to do Algebra the next day… That went well! Not! 
  • I was really able to get into Penryn’s head and connect with her character. The writing style and POV made that really easy, and it was literally an emotional rollercoaster! 
  • I listened to the audio book, and the narrator was amazing!!! That has absolutely nothing to do with anything unless you love audio books like I do, so just go with it if you don’t…. 

 

The Not So Great Stuff: 

  • The angels are… interesting. I guess I didn’t really expect it to follow the lore exactly, but I didn’t expect them to be kinda warped either. And… There’s some stuff in there that bugs me about the whole God/angel connection thing. You’ll get it when you read it… 
  • The romance aspect seems kinda silly to me! Like… It’s not very believable! I get that it’s fantasy, but usually I can suspend my disbelief and become absorbed in the story enough to believe anything, and that didn’t happen with this relationship! I can’t say anymore for fear of spoilers, so just see for yourself! 
  • Why does every chapter end with a massive cliff hanger?! That’s cool sometimes, but it got old after about the first five times it happened. I’m the kind of person who can’t stand to stop anywhere other than a chapter break, and those, “whose gonna die?!” cliff hangers were making it reeeeeally hard to find a good place to stop and sleep! Hence the midnight reading… 
  • The writing was a little overdone in some places. I noticed it mainly with dialogue and descriptions, which is something I notice a lot because I have to watch it in my own writing. I mean… We get that the city is in ruin; you don’t have to tell us fifty-two thousand times! And the dead body description is making me sick… 
  • Why are there suddenly creepy alien monsters being created in an angelic science lab? Where did that even come from? Is that just there for a weird plot twist to keep people up reading late and give them nightmares, or is it going to mean something later? Ok… It did mean something, but it was just a little shocking, and nothing really lead up to that. I had this whole elaborate plot worked out in my head the way I would have written it, and then it all crumbled to the ground with freaky stuff that seemed like it didn’t belong. We already had demons, and then these weird, creepy, SciFi monsters took over the plot and i didn’t see their connection to the previously mentioned demons!
  • What is with that ending?! It just stopped suddenly, and nothing really came to any kind of close! I get that there are more books in the series, but even though it is a series, it needs some kind of closure or else it’s gonna drive me insane! And not the good kind of insane that makes me want to keep reading! That goes back to the massive cliff hangers getting old after a while… 


Final thoughts: 

I liked Angelfall, and I will probably finish the series, but the other books got shoved further down my TBR list after reading the ending. I wasn’t impressed with the ending, and endings are the one way for a writer to hold my trust. If you can’t write a good ending, I won’t trust you to write a good series. That’s ironic since I struggle with endings myself, but it’s just how I am! The cliff-hanger chapters threw me off too. I like short chapters, and I don’t mind cliff-hangers at all, but we don’t need a giant cliff-hanger to end every chapter. Sometimes it is perfectly ok to write a small cliff-hanger that doesn’t immediately threaten anyone’s life. I did really like Penryn’s character, and her and her sister are honestly probably the only reason I plan to continue the series. I thought I’d like it for the angels, but they’re just weird… Angels shouldn’t be weird! 

 

What Do You Think? 

Have you read Angelfall? Are you going to read Angelfall? Do you agree or disagree with me? Let’s talk bookworm stuff in the comments! 

P.S: My laptop is insisting on autocorrecting Penryn to Penny, so sorry about that if I missed any! I tried… I really tried… But technology hates me today… 

From Cheyenne 🙂 

Book Review: Girl Of Nightmares, (Anna #2), by Kendare Blake

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 2 Comments

Girl Of Nightmares

Title: Girl Of Nightmares 

Author: Kendare Blake 

Series: Anna #2 (click here for my review of book1) 

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates 

Published: August 7, 2012 

iBooks 

iTunes Audio 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble 

Goodreads 

 

Goodreads Synopsis 

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on. 

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong…these aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor. 

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 

Like Anna Dressed In Blood, Girl Of Nightmares is seriously creepy! Like don’t read it at night creepy! But the creepiness is toned down quite a lot in the second book. Anna Dressed In Blood gets a ten out of ten on Cheyenne’s scale of creepy, and Girl Of nightmares is somewhere around an eight. It may actually be the same level of creepy, but it’s a different kind of creepy. I’ve said the word creepy WAY too many times in that paragraph, so I think I’ll move on now! 

I will admit that Girl Of Nightmares was a bit of a let down for me as far as plot and structure, but it still maintained the realistic characters that I fangirled over in book1. I’m a sucker for awesome characters, so that’s why I’m giving it four stars. Anna Dressed In Blood had a very tight plot structure, along with the realistic characters, and the end of the book left the readers wanting something more. Girl Of nightmares was that something more, but it wasn’t quite the tightly woven something more I was hoping for. 

The main problem that I had with it was the romance subplot, and the ending. The subplot kind of seemed to me like it was just there for the sake of having a subplot with romantic issues, and the ending was just a little… anticlimactic. I mean… We went through all this stuff, and traveled half way across the world, and now it’s just gonna end, and everybody’s just gonna walk off into the sunset in a cloud of rainbows and butterflies! That might be a little exaggerated, but that’s what it seemed like to me. And ok! I have to add a spoiler because I have feelings! 


Spoiler, Spoiler!!! 

The whole break up thing with Thomas and Carmel… What on earth was that about?! I mean I get what it was about, and it totally made sense, but it just seemed a little down played/way over done to me! That was a conflicting statement, but it’s true! It was kind of taking over at first, and then it kind of got dropped, and then she showed up in England, and then it was all better! I guess I just think it could’ve been done better, but it’s nothing to stop anyone from reading the book. 


End Of Spoiler!!! 

In short, Girl Of Nightmares is an awesome book with a few minor plot problems that bug my writerly brain more than they probably should. It definitely shows Kendare Blakes amazing characters, and the writing style is very true to the series. It was a bit disappointing after the tight structure of the first book, but it isn’t enough to make me drop the series if a third book is released. 


What do you think? 

Did you like Girl Of Nightmares? Do you agree with my views? Disagree? Think I’m crazy? Don’t answer that last one! I love hearing from you guys, so drop me a line and tell me what you think! Happy creepy reading!!! 

From Cheyenne 🙂 

Book Review: Born At Midnight: Shadow Falls, (Book 1), by C. C. Hunter

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Born at midnight cover art

Title: Born At midnight 

Author: C. C. Hunter 

Series: Shadow Falls, (Book 1) 

Pages: 416 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 

Published: March 29, 2011 

Format read: Audio 

 

iBooks 

iTunes Audio 

Amazon 

Goodreads 

 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams, Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

My Rating: ☆☆ 

Ok… This is rough… I am giving my first public two star rating! But I feel it’s warranted, and I’ll explain why! 

Born At Midnight really does not have the best writing in the world. Maybe I’m a hard critic since I’m an aspiring author who loves to pick apart writing, but it just seemed to me like the whole flow of the words needed a couple more rounds of edits before it hit the market! It certainly wasn’t horrible, and it definitely shouldn’t make you not read the book. It just seemed to me like the writing style was… let’s go with simplified. By that I mean that the writing style made it seem like the book was meant for middle grade readers, but there was some content in there that definitely was NOT meant for middle grade minds! It really just did NOT blend well, and it got my attention enough for me to mention it here. There were also a few descriptions of character actions, dialogue, and body language that just didn’t seem right. I was cringing a bit whilst reading it because it was just SO awkward for the characters involved in the scene that the awkwardness carried over to me… I mean, there is a certain degree of awkward that is good to have in a book, BUT come on… Enough’s enough! This kiss is getting gross and will probably be the thing that makes the two kissers avoid each other for the next thirty pages! And I’m blushing! Yeah, that’s another thing. The romance is a little weird, and it kinda takes over the plot a little instead of being just a subplot, but I think it might shape up to be better in the next book. I don’t care about your guy troubles; I care about figuring out what on earth you are so I can get on with my life! 

WOW! That came out harsh! I’m going to reiterate that the writing should not stop you from picking up this book after reading my review, and that I am somewhat of a hard critic when it comes to writing style and words. I also listened to the audio book, so it tends to really draw my attention to writing style issues when I hear the words rather than reading them myself. I reeeeeally like where the plot is going, and I will honestly probably finish the series because I want to know how it ends. To me, it kind of seems like one of those pointless but ridiculously entertaining TV shows that you turn on for mindless entertainment after a long day. 

I do like the characters a lot! They aren’t your stereotypical vampires, witches, werewolves, shifters, and fairies. There’s a really cool spin on some of them, and I want to find out how they develop over the course of the series. The main character seems a bit flat to me, but that goes back to the writing. The whole point of the book is that the main character gets sent off to this camp for supernatural creatures, and everybody knows what type of creature they are except for her. She sees ghosts, which really resonates with me, but she isn’t quite like the other creatures who see ghosts. She’s trying to determine her identity, and I love that theme. I have the other audio books, and I am planning to finish them, mostly because of that addictive TV show vib I mentioned! The plot did thicken at the end thankfully, so that’s enough to keep me going. Hopefully the writing will improve too, and I’ll be sure to post my reviews! 


What Do You Think” 

Have you read Born At Midnight? Are you planning to read it? Did my review turn you away? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or through any of my social links! I love to chat! 

From cheyenne 🙂

The Reader Confession Tag

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 6 Comments

Hey bookworms! At long last, (after I remembered that I forgot to add this to the todo list), I bring you the reader confession tag! Much thanks to The Quirky Book Nerd for tagging me! You guys should really go check out her blog because she is awesome, and I am sorry for forgetting to add this to a todo list so I’d actually remember to do it in a timely manor… School ruins everything!!! 😤 

Anyway… It is now time to spill all of my bookish confessions onto a screen for the entire internet to see! Well… Ok… So in actuality it’ll only be the tiny corner of the internet that reads this blog, but it was a lot funner, (more fun???), to write the first time! 

 

1. Have you ever damaged a book? 

Not that I can remember… I read mostly eBooks, so those are kinda hard to damage! 😄 

 

2. Have you ever damaged a borrowed book? 

I am absolutely sure that I have never damaged a borrowed book! 

 

3. How long does it take you to read a book? 

Umm… It depends on the book, my schedule, what’s around to distract me, and whether we’re talking about actually reading a book or listening to it… I’m blind as a bat and read braille, so reading that way I can finish a 350-500 page book in 3 or 4 days if I really enjoy it. Now… By the end of the school day, I am usually SO sick of the feeling of braille dots, and my fingers and arms are tired from moving across a display and being raised up on my desk that the idea of touching my BrailleSense to read one more word makes me want to scream. Therefore, I have mostly been listening to audio books or having Voice Dream Reader read stuff to me. When I do that, I can finish a 350-500 page book in 2 days or so. 

 

4. Books that you haven’t finished? 

Twilight

Vampire academy

I’m sure some of you are screaming at me right now, but I didn’t make it through the first Twilight book, and I will NOT be finishing the Vampire Academy series. I think I made it to the third book in that one before I decided I just couldn’t take it any longer. I’m sure there are a couple other books that I haven’t finished, but those two are the ones that stand out. 

 

5. Hyped/popular books you didn’t like? 

Red Queen

You mean other than Twilight? Cause I reeeeeally cannot stand Twilight! I guess Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is the most recent. I’ll be reviewing that series soon so you can see all my wonderful thoughts! 

 

6. Is there a book you wouldn’t tell anyone you were reading? 

I will read whatever I wanna read, and if you’ve got a problem with it, you can just get over it! I do NOT value your opinion of what I’m reading, unless you wanna talk bookworm stuff! Then feel free to express your opinion! 😜 

 

  1. How many books to you own? 

Well my Kindle library says 550, but I’ve got WAY more than that in other eBook formats that don’t show me a nice statistics screen. 

 

  1. Are you a fast reader or a slow reader? 

I’m really fast among braille readers, but I have no idea how that stacks up in sightling terms! I keep up with my sighted classmates ok, so I’m just gonna say I’m a fast reader and call it good…. 😆 

 

  1. Do you like to buddy read? 

Umm… Read this post! I’m thinking about starting a “Bloggers Bookclub,” so click the link above for my rambling and more details and drop me a line if your interested! And to actually answer the question for those who won’t click the link, (I know there are some of you crazy people), I LOVE to buddy read! 

 

10. Do you read better in your head or out loud? 

I read waaaaaaay better in my head! Like you DO NOT want to hear me read anything lengthy out loud! 

 

11. If you were only allowed to own one book, what would it be and why? 

The raven boys

Ok first of all, this is a horrible question and will probably give me nightmares tonight! Harry Potter was the first thing that came to mind, but that answer is probably way over used… So I’m going with The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater! It’s my current obsession, (review coming shortly), and I think I could read it again and again and still get something new out of it every time! 

 

I Tag: 

•Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff 

•Emma @ Emma The Book Lover 

•Anyone else who wants to do it

*If you’ve already done this or just don’t wanna do it, don’t feel obligated! But if you do decide to do it, drop me a link so I can see your answers! 

 

Let’s Start A Discussion! 

What did you think of my answers? Would you answer anything differently? What book would you choose to own if you could have only one, and what books have you not finished? Also, let me know if you’re interested in a bloggers bookclub because I think it really needs to happen! Let’s chat in comments! 

Goodbye Summer; Hello No More Free Time!

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 1 Comment

Hi guys! It is officially my last day of Summer… That’s right… I start my Junior year of high school tomorrow… Oh my gosh… I’m gonna be a junior! Anyway, no matter how much I try to will it out of happening, school is happening. And so in one last effort to cling onto this Summer, I’ve decided to do the Summer book tag… No one actually tagged me for this, but I’ve seen it floating around the internet, and so here it is! 

 

LEMONADE: Pick a book that started off bitter but then got better. 

Girl of nightmares book cover

Girl of Nightmares was SO sad, and… well… tortured I guess is the right word in the beginning, but it had the sweetest, or maybe bitter-sweetest, ending ever! My review will be coming soon, and you can click HERE to read my review of the first book in the series. 

 

GOLDEN SUN: Pick a book that made you smile beyond compare. 

The Worst Class Trip Ever

The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Berry is possibly the most hilariously funny book I’ve ever read! It’s a middle grade book, but I think anyone can enjoy it. It’s so stupid it’s funny in places, but it’s guaranteed to give you a good laugh! Just don’t read it in some place like school where you need to look somewhat sane cause you will find yourself laughing hysterically! 

 

TROPICAL FLOWERS: Pick a book set in a different country. 

The islands at the end of the world coverart

The Islands At The End of the World isn’t set in a different country, but it’s set in a different state, and it felt like a different country because of the difference in culture. It takes place in Hawaii, so there are also lots of tropical flowers! I guess I could have used Girl of Nightmares again because part of it happens in England, but I’m trying not to use anything twice, and I honestly haven’t read much that happens outside of the US this Summer. 

 

TREE SHADE: Pick a book where a mysterious or shady character is introduced. 

The Deviners

The Diviners by Libba Bray has several shady characters, but what’s cool about the book is that the reader is always one step ahead of the other characters and knows exactly what is going on at all times! The writing is SO amazing, and I have sO much to learn from it, and there will be a review for that going up soon! 

 

BEACH SAND: Pick a book that was grainy and the plot barely developed. 

Vampire Academy Book Cover

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead needs some serious plot doctoring! It’s an ok book, but that structure needs some tightening! It’s got great characters, but the main plot pretty much fell apart by chapter three because the subplots started taking over everything! 

 

GREEN GRASS: Pick a character that was full of life and made you smile. 

The lightning thief

Percy Jackson was the first character who came to mind for this. Lets face it… Who doesn’t love Percy? If you don’t love Percy, then why on earth are you reading this blog?! Just kidding! All book lovers are welcome here, and your certainly welcome to your own opinion, but I’m also sticking to my opinion that Percy is awesome! 

 

WATERMeloN: Pick a book that had some juicy secrets. 

Girl of nightmares book cover

Ok… So I’m totally abandoning my rule of not using stuff twice, but Girl of nightmares just has SO many secrets that it’s perfect for this position! And maybe I just love it a little too much… 

 

SUN HAT: Pick a book with a vast/big universe/setting. 

Harry potter

Please tell me I don’t have to explain why I picked the Potterverse for this…

 

BBQ: Pick a book in which a character was portrayed as a hunk. 

Vampire Academy Book Cover

Here I am using another book twice, but the hunkiness of one of the main characters is a BIG part of the problem with this book’s plot! I mean seriously… It’s ok to have romance in a book, but don’t trick me into thinking I’m getting an epic fantastical vampire filled adventure and then let that awesome plot get swallowed up by a doomed romance! Sorry… Rant ended… Maybe… 

 

SUMMER FUN: Pass the tag on. 

I’m not tagging anybody because I think a lot of people have already done it, but do it if you want! Drop a link in the comments to your post, and tell me what your favorite Summer read has been even if you don’t do the tag. Also, tell me about a book you’ve read that has secrets or shady characters because those are some of my favorite things to read. Good luck if your also starting school tomorrow, or if your starting it sometime soon! I hope you all are more excited about it than I am! I’m signing off now because school is tomorrow like I’ve already said about a zillion times and I told myself I’d be in bed an hour ago! Good night all you bookish and writerly people! 

Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Anna Dressed in Blood

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood 

Author: Kendare Blake 

Series: Anna (#1)

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Tor Teen 

Published: October 17th, 2011 

Find It On: 

 

 

Synopsis From Goodreads 

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas’s life. 


Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Anna Dressed in Blood is creepy! Like we’re talkin’ voodoo creepy! When I say it shouldn’t be read at night, I am speaking with late-night reading experience! But at the same time it has some of the most realistic and relatable characters I have ever seen in a book of it’s genre. 

I put off reading Anna Dressed in Blood for a long time because of the creep factor. I believe that some of that paranormal stuff can actually happen, and I tend to not open myself up to that kind of thing through books and movies, but multiple people insisted that I give it a try. I was hooked by the third chapter, and I read the book through in two days. It seems to me that most horror/fantasy books are largely plot driven and don’t allow much room for character development and reader connections, so I’m always super excited when I find a book in one of those genres that is strong in both aspects. If I can’t connect with the characters, even in the most basic of ways, the book will not hold my attention, and I’ll have a hard time even telling someone what it’s about. Anna Dressed in blood has a very strong plot with a very tight structure, but it has possibly the most beautifully written characters that I’ve read in a long time! Cas undergoes a full transformation. In the beginning he’s a loner; his philosophy is get the job done and move on without creating any attachments. By the end of the story he’s come to realize that it’s okay to open up to people, and that sometimes friends are needed to assist with rough times. He gains a close circle of friends that is bound together by all the things they’ve experienced over the course of the plot, and there is also a bit of romance that is SO sweet and amazing. I can’t say anymore about that though, because it would totally spoil the book, and then you guys would probably yell at me in the comments… Kendare Blake must be some kind of word witch herself, because this book is magical in more ways than one! I will be reading Girl of Nightmares, which is the second book in the series, as soon as I can get my hands on a Kindle copy. 

That’s pretty much all I can safely say without spoiling the whole thing, so I’ll stop raving now! If you’ve read it or are planning to read it, I’d love to know what you think of my review! You can drop me a line in the comments, or tweet me @Cheyenne_writes. Until next time… Always remember to be bookish, stay writerly, and enjoy your creepy reading! 

The Harry Potter Book Tag

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Harry potter

Since I’m a total “dumbledork,” and I’m still not over Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I decided to do the Harry Potter tag in celebration of the eighth story! I promise I’ll try not to fangirl over Cursed Child the whole time… But it’s just SO amazing!!!! You can go HERE to see my Cursed Child review and the rest of my fan-girling, but for now, turn on the HP playlist above, and keep reading to see my answers to these tag questions! 

 

FLAGRATE: writing charm 

Vampire Academy Book Cover

A book that you found interesting but would like to rewrite 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 

I liked Vampire academy. It certainly wasn’t your typical trope-filled vampire book, and it had some very interesting characters. It had an awesome plot in the beginning, but one of the subplots seemed to take over the main plot about three chapters in. I’d still recommend the book for anyone wanting to read something a bit different, but that plot needs fixing! 

 

ALOHOMORA: unlocking charm 

The lightning thief

The first book in a series that got you hooked 

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 

It took me a while to actually start the Percy Jackson series because it sounded to me like it might be a series about a bunch of wannabe super heroes, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! If you haven’t read it, go read it!!! Not reading this series is like not reading Harry Potter! It’s just wrong! 

 

ACCIO: summoning charm 

 

A book that you wish you could have right now 

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake 

I want it NOW!!! I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood, which is the first book in this series, and it was amazing! I’ll have a review up on that sometime in the near future… 

 

AVADA KEDAVRA: the killing curse 

The Deviners

A killer book 

The Diviners by Libba Bray 

I’m not sure if this question means “killer” as in a good book, or “killer” as in lots of people die, so I picked a book that has both! The Diviners is freaky… Like I mean do not read this at night freaky… But it’s SO good! It’s made even better because I learned a lot about writing multiple POV characters while I was reading it! 

 

CONFUNDO: confusing charm 

Things fall apart

A book you find confusing 

Things Fall apart by Chinua Achebe 

I had to read this book for school last year, (which should tell you something right there), and the only thing I got out of it was that it involved African politics. Seriously… If you’ve read the book, and you can understand it without consulting spark notes, please explain the general plot line to me! As far as I can tell, it doesn’t have one! 

 

EXPECTO PATRONUM: patronus charm 

Fangirl Cover

Your spirit animal book 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 

The first answer that came to mind was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but this tag already shows that I’m a total Potterhead, so I’ll be somewhat original. Fangirl is the first contemporary I’ve read and liked in a long while. As I said in my review, Fangirl didn’t seem to have much of a plot, but I was really able to connect with Cath, the main character. As much as I try not to admit it, I am a lot like her, and that’s why I’m saying it’s my spirit animal book. 

 

SECTUMSEMPRA: dark charm 

Anna Dressed in blood

A dark, twisted book 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 

I already used the Diviners in this tag, so the dark charm goes to Anna Dressed in Blood. It is definitely dark and twisted! Like we’re talking’ voodoo dark and twisted! It was seriously creepy, perhaps because I was reading it around midnight since I couldn’t sleep, but it was also really sweet. It’s got some of the best characters I’ve seen in a long while, and it almost made me cry at one point. It’s probably made it onto my list of books with the reread ability factor, which is NOT easy to do! I could keep fan-girling, but I’ll save that for my review which should be going up some time tomorrow. 

 

APARECIUM: revealing charm 

The Fault in Our Stars

A book that surprised you in a great way 

The Fault in Our stars by John Green 

I am not a contemporary reader, and i don’t enjoy reading about real-life diseases. I have enough real-life diseases; I don’t need to read about them… That being said, I absolutely LOVE The Fault in Our Stars! I picked it up after about ten people yelled at me for refusing to read it, and I read the thing through in two days. It was SO sad… I mean… One character dies… But at the same time it was beautiful. The characters were so real and open that I was really able to connect with them, which honestly isn’t something I’m usually able to do with a contemporary novel. I’m glad I read it, and I’ll probably end up rereading it! 

 

I’m not sure who has and hasn’t done this tag, or who is and isn’t a Potterhead, so if you wanna do the tag, do the tag! Drop a link to your post in the comments or tweet me @Cheyenne_writes, and I’ll check out your answers! 

 

P.S… I found all those cover images myself, so please forgive me if any of them aren’t what they’re supposed to be! The blind girl finding pictures doesn’t always end well! If it’s anything completely insane, please, I beg of you, clue me in in the comments! I’m trying to keep the blind blunders on this blog to a minimum… 😉

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (warnings before all spoilers!)

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

HP Cursed Child Cover

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

Author: J. K. Rolling 

Series: Harry Potter, (Book 8)

Genre: Theater 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Pottermore 

Published: July 31, 2016 

 

Synopsis: 

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is one play presented in two Parts, which are intended to be seen in order on the same day (matinee and evening) or on two consecutive evenings.

*Image from pottermore.com 
*Synopsis from: harrypottertheplay.com 


☆☆☆☆☆


Harry Potter and the Cursed child was weird, and dark, and twisted, and sad, and terrible, and beautiful, and amazing all rolled into one, and I am giving it five stars! I was somewhat doubtful that Cursed Child would be worth reading since it was written as a script for a play, but I bought it as soon as it was released in the Kindle edition, (because who wouldn’t jump at the chance to be back in the Potterverse?), and now I understand why J. K. Rolling chose to write it in that form. There is simply too much action and switching among view point characters to cram it all into a book. The original seven Harry Potter books were also filled with action, but they could be shown through the eyes of one character, one scene at a time. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child also has a pretty… tangled timeline… (you’ll catch the underlying meaning to that when you read it), and that would have most likely made for a confusing mess were it displayed in the form of a novel like the first seven books. Rather than being confusing or hard to read as I expected, reading Cursed Child was like reading a movie. It was a very quick read because of it being written as a script, and I was able to clearly picture each scene and hear the emotion behind each character’s words.

I won’t spoil anything, but the beginning of Cursed Child almost tore my poor little “dumbledork” heart to shreds! I hated forty-year-old Harry and wished I could slap him across the face so he’d shut up and listen for once! And I spent a good chunk of the book internally screaming, “Albus Severus Potter you are a blithering idiot and you are acting even stupider than your dad at this age!” But then the end of the book redeemed Harry and Albus, and I saw a side of Draco Malfoy that I thought I’d never see. Anyone who reads Cursed Child should be prepared to cry in heartbreak and then relief multiple times, and then with joy when the last word is spoken. J. K. Rolling did it again, just like I knew she would! She wrote a wonderfully magical story that shows a lesson that isn’t even evident until the very end, and one day I hope that I can evoke as much emotion through the words of my characters as she does through the words of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. I honestly can’t say much more than that without terribly spoiling things, so I’ll move on and share a few quotes that I highlighted as I was reading. Be forewarned… One of the quotes is a mild spoiler, so watch out for the screaming alert! 

 

Quotes from The Cursed: 

■Albus Dumbledore: “You must see him as he is, Harry. You must look for what’s wounding him.” 

■Draco Malfoy: “Tom Riddle didn’t emerge from his dark place. And so Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort.” 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!! 

■Severus Snape: “Sometimes costs are made to be borne.” 

END SPOILER ALERT!!! 

■Albus Potter: Oh I’m not going to be a wizard, I’m going into pigeon racing.” 

■Harry Potter: “They were great men, with huge flaws, and you know what—those flaws almost made them greater.” 

 

 

Find It ON: 

•Amazon 

•iBooks 

 

What do you think? 

Have you read Cursed Child? are you planning to read it or see the performance? I’d love to know what you think in the comments. If you haven’t read it yet, you are nothing but a muggle! Hopefully I didn’t spoil anything, but if I did… Alas… earwax!

Book Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Carry On Cover

Title: Carry On 

Author: Rainbow Rowell 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance 

Published: October 6, 2015

Pages: 384 

Synopsis: 

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

 

*Synopsis and cover art from www.rainbowrowell.com. 

 

☆☆☆☆☆

I am giving Cary On five out of five stars because it is absolutely amazing! If you’ve read Fangirl, (click here for my review), you will understand the meaning behind Carry On a bit better. In fangirl, Cath is writing fictional fan fiction for a fictional fantasy series, and Carry On is Cath’s fictional fan fiction brought to life by Rainbow Rowell! A lot of people are criticizing Cary On for being a rip off of Harry Potter, but honestly I don’t see that. Yes, it features a school of magic, a dark creature trying to harm magic, spells that relate to common words and phrases, and a young chosen one who seems like the worst chosen one ever, but the story still seems to be a world away from the Potterverse in my opinion. Harry Potter has a more fantastical flow to the words, like it’s set in a far away world, while Carry On is set in the modern world, and has a more modern flow to it. I would consider HP full on fantasy, while Carry On to me is “modern fantasy,: if there is such a genre. 

I absolutely LOVE the romance in Carry On, and that coming from me is a huge complement since I’ve been called an “anti romantic” for my views of romance in YA literature. It’s amazing to me that Rainbow Rowell was able to turn two complete enemies around and make them fall for each other in one single book.

**Possible romantic spoiler alert!!! Baz and simon are sO awesome together, and I was shipping them even as I was reading Fangirl. I love how the little bit of diversity in Carry On seemed perfectly natural, unlike in some books when it seems forced, or like it’s there simply for the sake of being diverse. 

**Possible spoiler ended… 

Carry On is meant to be the eighth book in the fictional Simon Snow series that is portrayed in Fangirl, and I would honestly love to see Rainbow Rowell publish the other seven books. I really like how Carry On encompasses so much world building and character development in one novel without it seeming overwhelming, but I really would love to spend more time in the Simon Snow universe. In short, Carry On is amazing, and you should totally read it if you A: read Fangirl and loved it, or B: like YA romance/fantasy and want something a little bit different to read. 

Buy it now at: 
Let’s start a discussion! 

Have you read Carry On? Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? I’d love to know what you think in the comments or on twitter @writergirl1999! 

Book Review: Fangirl

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 1 Comment

Fangirl Cover

Title: fangirl 

Author: rainbow Rowell 

Publisher: st. Martin’s Press 

Copyright: September 10, 2013 

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Romance 

Pages: 445 

Synopsis: 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath it’s something more. Fandom is life. It’s what got her and her sister, Wren, through losing their mom. It’s what kept them close.

And now that she’s starting college, introverted Cath isn’t sure what’s supposed to get her through. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

 

*Synopsis and cover art from www.rainbowrowell.com 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

I am giving Fangirl four out of five stars. I really love the characters, but I wasn’t that impressed with the plot… Honestly there was nothing that surprised me about it, and I would’ve given it a lower rating had it not been for the amazing characters. Cath, the main character, is someone I can really identify with. She’s the nerdy girl who loves books and writing, and who doesn’t really understand other people her age. I could totally see myself feeling the way Cath does about college. She’s the kind of person who over-analyzes every situation before she actually gets into it, and that is one of my biggest faults. Cath also writes fan fiction for a fictional fantasy series, and you get little snippets of what she’s writing at the start of each chapter. It’s almost like you’re reading two books in one, and I was completely fascinated with how that was done. Rainbow Rowell also published the story that Cath was writing during Fangirl, and I am currently in the midst of reading it. I can’t wait to review that as well because so far it is amazing! Cath’s writing in Fangirl features some diverse, (LGBTQ), characters, and I think that incorporating them into a YA contemporary novel was very well done! 

Fangirl is not the sort of thing I normally read, (I usually won’t touch it if it doesn’t involve magic or SciFi), but lots of people kept telling me to read it. I’m so glad I did, mostly because I’m a sucker for character focused stories and well-written diversity of any kind. It’s the kind of book that anyone can pretty much enjoy because it captures a bit of real life between the pages. It really gives you something to connect with because it demonstrates how you are going to grow up and away from things, and how it’s ok to let that happen. It shows that the things that used to make you who you are will not always define you as well as they once did, and that it’s ok to let other things define you as you grow and change. In short, (before I continue to ramble), Fangirl probably isn’t for you if you like twisting, surprising plots, but it does give you some things to think about. I’m really glad I stepped outside my fantasy bubble and gave it a chance. 

 

Let’s start A Discussion 

Have you read Fangirl? Do you agree with my thoughts? I’d love to know what you think in the comments!