Endlessly by Kiersten White Review

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Another series down!!   I am so happy that I am finishing all these series.  I originally read the first book Paranormalcy way back in my Young Adult Book Club.   I seem to start all my series books in that group! I enjoyed the first two but this one fell flat for me.  Here is the goodreads description:

Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate. The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands. So much for normal.

I have attempted to read this book two times before this.  When it first came out, but I didn't read it fast enough so I had to return it to the library.  Then again in November when a family emergency came up so I had to return it to the library again.  This time I did it!  I did start back over from the beginning because I was a little lost.  I really wanted to read these books because of the book covers.  I just love them, they are beautiful.

The story itself was only OK for me.  I just felt the main character Evie came across as a little annoying.  The supernatural spirits needed her help and she just had a huge fit because she wanted to do what she wanted to do.  That didn't include helping all these spirits. So we travel through the book and everyone keeps trying to get her to help them.. of course by tricking her.  So every time she was discovered she was tricked she would have a fit again.   I liked Evie more in the first two books.

This book is larger then a love triangle.. it's a .. well whatever a four person love mess is.  Lend, Reth, Jack and Evie.  There were a lot of other love interests in this book, but they were just so quick.  What were they even there for?  I think the humor in this book was too much and trying too hard.  I did enjoy seeing the Dark Queen and the Good Queen but even those were short story lines.  

Spoilers coming!!

So the book was a satisfying ending.. but I wonder if it was a realistic ending.  Why would two supernatural beings stay behind in our world?  I really think Lend and Evie should've went over to the other side. I don't really think it is that smart of Lend to stay in our world when he has to live forever.  What a depressing life.  Evie would get old, wrinkled.. I guess that Lend stops aging at some point?  (this is confusing and the author never lets us know why he is aging now but won't be again later).

END spoilers

Overall I was just disappointed in this final book in the series.  I will still read more of the author's work because I think she is a great descriptive writer.

The crystal ball says:

Rain is pouring...  Not sure if this was really worth my time, must get umbrella.
Reviews of the first two books:
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Legend by Marie Lu-Review

Legend by Marie Lu

I have been wanting to read this book for a while but my TBR pile is huge.  Then I won the book from another blog and then it was chosen for my Young Adult Book Club and I read along with the group every month so I finally read it.  And what a ride!  Here is the goodreads description:

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. 

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. 

This book got a lot of hype and for good reason.  The book is written in more then one POV and I love it!  For example Game of Thrones does this too (though it is a huge epic series and there are tons of POVs). This book does a really good job with it though I am curious to see how the other books follow this format. Lord of the Rings kind of does this too. First half of the book follows Frodo and Sam and then the other half of the book follows the rest of the Fellowship. In those books it actually drives me nuts. I wish Tolkin would've gone back and forth every other chapter.
I didn't think there was very much world building in this book either. The only time we got any information about the world was that there were extremely poor districts and rich districts. Oh and that the animals are bred for eating underground and that they get a lot of diseases. Which was a little scary to me. The guns were interesting. I like that they can register by finger print who was using them. I think this is a good book but now I wonder .. is it just a story that is more sci-fi then dystopian?

I love how fast paced this book is. At first I thought it wasn't going to be any good going back and forth between two characters. I'll be curious though to see how that plays out in the next two books since the Day and June will probably be together. I agree about the worldbuilding. Really we didn't see very much of the world but maybe in the next book. We really only read about broken down buildings and seeing a few pipes around town. Though I am a little surprised that there is hardly anything left of the United States of America. Day's dad found a quarter and that's it? No flags... and with computers no internet evidence of the US either? It seems that the book takes place only in CA and NV area. So the rest of the US are rebels? That is a huge area of the US you would think they could take over the Republic easily. Where is the rest of the world? Can we get a map? Books like this should always have a map!

I think Lu does a very good job of character building. I read this book really fast it was hard to put down. I wish that June was able to get Ollie back. I was sad for the dog! Tess is one of the characters I liked too. I love how talented she was in medicine. Someone you always want to have on your team when you are homeless and always fighting. I will be curious to see what part she plays in future books. I am a little worried that there will be a love triangle between Tess, Day and June.

Thomas and Commander Jameson were great villains. I really didn't like them so I know that Lu wrote them well. Day has skills... I know some people when reviewing this said it's untrue that he can do it but it reminds me of people who are really good at Parkour. I have seen people get seriously hurt from this on youtube though so I won't be attempting it.

I liked this book a lot. It's a very fun fast read. But the plot and worldbuilding fall flat. It might just have been too short. It's one of those first books in a series that just leaves too many questions. But super fun!I have the second book, Prodigy on hold at the library and am excited to get it started!

The crystal ball says:

Clouds are covering! A read that lets me down every now and then but peaks out of the clouds!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum- Review

 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is an amazing classic!  I am so surprised I hadn't read it before now.  We are reading it in my Young Adult Book Club this month and discussing how great it is.  Here is the goodreads description:

Join Dorothy Gale, Toto, and all of her friends as they explore the incredible land of Oz. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is American's most enduring fairy tale. From the moment Dorothy puts on the silver slippers (changed to ruby slippers by MGM to take advantage of their new advance in movie making: color) until the moment she clicks her heels and returns home to Kansas you will be swept away and captivated by her extraordinary story.

This is my first time reading The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Shocking! I am so glad I read it. It really is a wonderful tale. Full of great characters and plots. Baum creates a wonderful world. I will for sure be carrying onto the other novels in the series. I am glad too that in the book Oz is not a dream. I can't stand when books/movies do that. You go the whole way only to find out it was all fake! The silver shoes in the book/red shoes in the movie has always bothered me too. I guess it was because they were trying to make use out of the movie being in color. Also the characters have to wear goggles with green lenses in Oz so that everything looked green. Even after the Wizard left people continued to wear them. If the Wizard left I would quit wearing those goggles!  The Wicked Witch of the West is clearly not a big villain like in the movie. In the movie we know she is chasing Dorthy the whole time. The monkeys are EVIL and scary. In the book they were so friendly and just really wanted to be freed. I really enjoyed finding out their back story. I did think the story ended a little abrupt. Was a series planned? Or did the author just want to write this one book? One thing I LOVE LOVE about the movie is that Kansas is in black and white and OZ is in color. Very very clever!

I wish that by the end of the book the characters had found out that the Wizard gave them fake items and that in the end they had the heart, courage, and brains in them all along. I think that would've been a better moral to the story. As readers though I suppose since we know that items are fake the moral still comes across. Just think of how many people the Wizard faked out?

The characters are really neat. I wish that I hadn't seen the movie prior to reading this. Because the movie is so dominant in our culture I of course pictured the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man just like I saw them in the movie. The Wicked Witch of the West only has one eye? Who knew? The later OZ books now intrigue me.. what are they even about? Can't wait to find out. The China town in this book really interested me. I didn't even know about it till the movie Oz the Great and Powerful (the one that just came out). They did a fantastic job of bringing china town to life. The Wizard is the most intriguing character to me. Is he a bad man or a good man? He ended up in the circumstances he did by accident but did he do the best he could in the situation? The four witches are also interesting to me. Two evil, two good. It seems the only way the can gain/lose power is by being killed. 

I am interested in reading more into the series and see where it goes. I love the art in the edition of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz I have pictured above.  The artist is Michael Sieben and I first heard about this book through Huffington post.  What do you think of OZ?  Do you have any favorite retellings? 

 The crystal ball says:

Clouds are covering! A read that lets me down every now and then but peaks out of the clouds!