Audio Review: Walking Disaster (Beautiful, #2) by Jamie McGuire

Title: Walking Disaster (Beautiful, #2)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Narrator: Dan Bittner
Published by: Simon and Schuster Audio
Length: 11 hrs. 26 min
Source: Publisher*
Format: Audio
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

 Explosive, sexy, and a bit unsettling.

The whole thought of reading the same story from two different points of views is quite interesting.  When you really like characters you want more of them, but the story itself may not lead to being part of a series, so instead Jamie McGuire took her story and gave us Travis's POV. 

Was Walking Disaster as good as Beautiful Disaster?  It is hard to say, because the essential story is the same we just hear it from Travis's head, which I have to say can be a scary place to be.  I enjoyed Beautiful Disaster, but I had an issue with Travis's and Abby's somewhat unhealthy relationship.  Walking Disaster only brings that out more for me.  Travis was very possessive and at times controlling.  Normally I love books from male POVs, but with Dan Bittner sounding exactly like I imagined Travis would (cockiness and all) Walking Disaster just made me too uncomfortable.

Besides their somewhat train-wreck of a relationship, the rest of the story was just as enjoyable as the original.  Jamie McGuire sure knows how to turn up the heat.  Listening to the audio at times almost felt a little uncomfortable with the scorching sex scenes.  I would at times look to the person next to me at the gym and think "if they only knew what I was listening to right now?"  

The one thing I really enjoyed about the book was the prologue and epilogue.  They were intriguing and wrapped up some loose ends.  I don't want to give too much away, but I love how they added to the story and enriched it.

Walking Disaster is sure to keep Jamie McGuire fans happy and satisfied.  However, for me Travis was just too intense, but if you enjoyed Beautiful Disaster I think you will enjoy Walking Disaster as well.   

*I did receive this audio for review, but I was not compensated for this post in anyway and all opinions are my own.

Blog Tour: The Devil's Triangle by Toni De Palma

Title: The Devil's Triangle (The Devil's Triangle, #1)
Author: Toni De Palma
Published by: Crescent Moon Press
Pages: 218
Source: Author
Format: ebook
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: When 17 year old Cooper dies in an attempt to burn down his school, he finds himself in the afterlife. Lucy, the Devil's sister who has crossed party lines, decides to give Cooper another shot at heaven. The deal? Cooper returns to Earth and has to find a girl named Grace. The rest is up to him.

While Cooper figures out his mission, he's thrown into the life he's always wanted. Great parents, a spot on the Varsity football team and a real future are all within reach. But what he really wants is Grace, a feisty girl with an abusive boyfriend who can pound Cooper into pulp if he doesn't watch out.

While Lucy plays demonic-puppeteer, clues to an unknown past between Cooper and Grace start to unravel. Cooper discovers that what's keeping him and Grace apart is far more sinister than anything this bad boy could have ever imagined.

An original story about what's in store for you when you deal with the devil, or his sister for that matter.

I have read stories about angels and demons, but I'm not sure if I've ever read one that dealt with the devil.  I liked that this story was a bit different than what seems to be mainstream YA right now.  It was unique and the idea of getting a second chance was hopeful, and yet Toni De Palma didn't make Cooper's journey a ride in that park.  He had to go through many obstacles and while at times I thought maybe his mission was hopeless, there seemed to be some subtle divine intervention at the perfect moments.

The characters in this story were a bit hard for me to like.  First, a lot of the characters were quite evil and vindictive.  This always rubs me the wrong way when someone gets controlling and hurtful.  Toni De Palma did a great job at making me dislike these bullies and even at times fear them...we are talking about the devil and his minions so some fear is to be expected.  However, I didn't feel like we knew enough about the 'good' characters to like them.  Cooper and Grace are the main characters and yet we see little into Grace's life, and Cooper's life is kind of jumbled so that makes it a bit hard to connect to him.  My favorite character ended up being Cooper's brother Ryan.  He seems like a genuinely great guy who has had a horrible hand dealt to him, yet he seems to take it all in stride.  I wish we got to see more of him.

With Cooper's life being as convoluted as it was, I had a hard time following what was going on.  I wish I would have gotten a little more back story to understand Cooper and Grace's past and the events that led them up to today.  The missing information made it hard for me to read The Devil's Triangle at times, because I wasn't sure what was going on.  Eventually most of it plays out by the end of the novel, but I'm still a little confused about a couple of things.  Maybe they will be explained more in the next novel.

I really enjoyed the unique plot of The Devil's Triangle, but with the hard time I had connecting to the characters and following the plot left me wanting more....hopefully the sequel will fill in some blanks for me. 
   

Review of Home for the Holidays by Christine Lynxwiler

Title: Home for the Holidays
Author: Christine Lynxwiler
Source: Obtained from Amazon for free (12/19/12)
Format: ebook
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: A heartwarming Christmas novella about true friendship, helping those in need, and falling in love. . .

What's a girl to do when she falls in love with her lifelong best friend? Small town librarian Lauren Forrester moves to St. Louis so that handsome contractor Jeffrey Warren can find a wife without having to deal with Lauren's moods. But when Jeffrey shows up on her doorstep to convince her to come home for a country Christmas, will the hardheaded pair lose their friendship or find something even more precious?

With the end of the holidays slowly approaching and the reality of five day work weeks in the forecast, I thought it was time to throw in a couple last holiday reads. 

This was a cute and light holiday story.  Lauren has been in love with her best friend for awhile, so when he starts showing serious interest in finding a wife she can't handle seeing him with other women and she flees.  While I don't necessarily see moving two hours away as a solution, I think what she did was realistic.  I understand her need to separate herself from Jeff so as not to ruin the friendship with her feelings.  Lauren was a very kind person with a big heart.  She was willing to help out those in need without anything in return.  I admired this quality in her and thought this was a great addition for a holiday read.

Jeff on the other hand, was a bit clueless.  He's had a hard past and is not willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.  I think he genuinely has a kind heart, but has a hard time looking past his own grief to use it to help others. 

As for the story there wasn't much sustenance to it.  I think if the main conflict would have been more the focus then I would have enjoyed it more.  The story was predictable and like a lot of novels out there would have been resolved earlier if only the main characters talked to each other instead of hid their feelings, but I guess the story would have been a lot shorter than. 

Do you enjoy reading seasonal stories?  If so, what are your favorites?

Review of Entwined by Heather Dixon

Title: Entwined
Author: Heather Dixon
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 485
Source: Bought
Format: ebook
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Azalea and her younger sisters dance in the mysterious silver forest every night, escaping from the sadness of the palace and their father’s grief. What they don’t understand—although as time passes they begin to get an inkling of the danger they are in—is that the mysterious and dashing Keeper is tightening his snare with deadly purpose. Luckily, Azalea is brave and steadfast. Luckily, a handsome young army captain also has his eye on Azalea.

This must be the week of fairy tales for me.  Somehow, lately I haven't been able to get enough, be it actual fairy tales or the retellings.  Entwined is based off the fairy tale known as "The Shoes Were Danced to Pieces" or better known as "Twelve Dancing Princesses."  This is one fairy tale that I didn't know much about so the story itself wasn't so much a retelling, rather it unfolded this mystical world of wonder.  With not knowing much of the background to this fairy tale, there was more mystery involved then the normal retelling which always lead to something unexpected and intriguing. 

The story was a bit darker than expected, as it was lined with death, deception, and power struggles.  There were some touching moments as well though that kept me intrigued and not overwhelmed by the darkness.  Especially towards the middle with the interactions of the daughters and their papa, the King.  At first their relationship was strained, but I believe he was always looking out for their interests to the best of his ability.   

I did have a hard time connecting with the characters on this one.  They seemed too out of reality and it always felt like I was reading a story instead of living it.  Azalea and her eleven sisters had different personalities, but at the same time all kind of blended together.  I only remembered some of their names and even then it was hard to not only maintain who each princess was, but also the revolving cast of other characters in the story.  The only character that stood out to me was the villain and that is because I despised him.  I had a hard time with how forceful and controlling he was and was horrified every time he hurt Azalea.  I felt like he didn't have a conscious and was a deranged and certifiable crazy.   

Entwined was a intriguing story, but not exactly my type of retelling.  While I like a bit of uncertainty it was just too dark for my idea of a fairy tale. 

Review of The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Title: The Eleventh Plague
Author: Jeff Hirsch
Published by: Scholastic Paperbacks
Pages: 288
Source: Won
Format: Paperback ARC
Rating: 2.5

Summary from Goodreads:  In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two-thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing--and their lives--forever.

Jeff Hirsch makes a name for himself with his debut novel The Eleventh Plague.  I hadn't heard much about this novel, so for once I felt like I was completely looking at a novel with fresh eyes.  While the premise of this story was entertaining, it wasn't as original and unique as I was hoping.  This seems to be a reoccurring theme and while I do enjoy dystopian novels I want ones that catch my attention or bring something new to the table.  

Stephen is an enjoyable character that is loyal and a bit of a rule breaker.  After coming to Settler's Landing he wants to start over, but he has trouble trusting others and can't seem to go of his past.  Jenny on the other-hand is a fantastic character.  She’s charismatic, spunky and full of life.  She's got an edge to her and you can tell she's completely comfortable with who she is and what she wants.  I'm actually kind of in awe of her and wish I could be as confident as she is.  Jenny's a bit of an outsider too so when she teams up with Stephen trouble is sure to ensue.

The other characters were not very memorable.  I did like Jackson, Derek, and their quibbling along with the rest of the teenage characters was fun.  It was nice to see light-heartedness in this hopeless world.  One thing I did really enjoy about the story was when the teens got together and played baseball.  It seemed such an ordinary thing to do and I loved that they kept up a small amount of normalcy despite the disarrayed world around them.   

As for the writing, I enjoyed the style though it was a bit simplistic.  It was an extremely fast read and when it was over I felt that it was almost too short.  I think there could have been more detail and pages devoted to certain situations and feelings.  I felt that the romance was a little rushed and I wanted to know not only what the characters did, but also how they felt. 

The Eleventh Plague was a bit darker than I was expecting, but not so much that it shifted to horror.  While this book didn't do it for me, I'm interested to see what Jeff Hirsch comes up with next. 

Review of The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos

Title: The Emerald Talisman
Author: Brenda Pandos
Published by: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Source: Obtained free from Amazon (12/27/2011)
Format: ebook
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

The Emerald Talisman started out with so much promise.  In fact, I flew through the first third of the book.  The writing was good, the plot enticing, and the characters quirky and fun.  Then for some reason it changed for me.  It didn't hold my attention or feel like anything that was extra special.  It turned into one of those novels that you feel like you've already read. 

Julia has led a hard life and it just got more crazy.  She did seem caring and used the gift of empathy to help her friends, instead of using it to her advantage.  I'm not sure how much she would call it a gift, but it seemed to help her out at times as much as it was a burden.  I liked Julia, but felt she was a bit obsessive and was annoyingly stubborn at times which put not only herself, but others at risk.  She didn't think very clearly and instead acted on emotions alone.  This is not someone I'd like in my corner when facing blood thirsty stalkers.

The story was good, but not very original and it got a bit weird at the end.  A lot of major events happen at the end without any real explanation.  The conflict of this story did get resolved, but I think Brenda Pandos also used this novel to set up her next in the series by leaving the readers with some major questions. 

While it wasn't my favorite read, I still think I'll check out the next in the series to see if some of those questions get answered. 

Review of Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

Title: Pretty Crooked
Author: Elisa Ludwig
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books         
Pages: 368
Source: Library
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.

But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

When life is unfair, what is the first thing you want to do?  Well if you are me then you'd probably start crying because you'd feel so sad and frustrated, but I'm sure most other people would answer that they'd get upset and want to set the wrong right. That is exactly what Willa decides to do when she realises the Glitterati are purposefully harassing the scholarship students.  This storyline is super cute.  Who doesn't want to swoop in and be a hero?  I know Willa's intentions were in the right place, but her execution was not thought out very well.   

I had a hard time believing Willa to be true.  She wanted to fit in and by doing that went against what she knew and her upbringing.  She started to overspending and she knew it was wrong but still did it anyways.  She liked being popular and all the "perks" that went with it.  I did like her, but she just seemed so spacey.  First she doesn't want to believe her new friends are not nice people even after seeing all this evidence and then when she finally does admit they are mean people she comes up with this crazy plan.  Did she really think stealing from her rich classmates and giving anonymous gifts to the scholarship kids was a great plan?  Seriously? 

During with Willa's "Robin Hooding", she somehow caught the attention of Valley Prep's resident hottie.  Aidan comes with a lot of mystery surrounding him.  I thought you'd find more out about him at the end, but that was not the case.  I'm guessing I'll have to wait until book 2 to figure him out some more.  Aidan seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  I love when we meet nice guys in books...they seem more real to me.  I wish we would have learned a little more about him and for the romance between him and Willa to be stepped up a notch.  There relationship was really mild and innocent with just a touch flirtation.    

Along with not finding out about Aidan, I felt that Pretty Crooked just kind of ends.  While it does wrap some things up, there is still a ton of loose ends.  I understand this is a series, but I'd like a little more resolution at the end of the book.  I know some people like big cliffhangers or for one storyline to be continuous completely throughout all of the series.  If that is your fancy, then this book if for you. 

Review of On the Bright Side by S.R. Johannes

Title: On the Bright Side
Author: S.R. Johannes
Published by: Coleman & Stott
Pages: 285
Source: Author
Format: ebook
Rating: 2.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: As if the devil’s food cake at her wake and the white fat pants she’s stuck wearing for eternity weren’t bad enough, fourteen year-old Gabby is quick to discover that Cirrus, the main rung of Heaven, is a far cry from the Pearly Gates. Here, SkyFones and InnerNets are all the rage. At her first Bright ceremony, G.O.D., the automated assignment system, spits out Angela Black, Gabby’s arch nemesis and longtime fencing rival. As a Bright, Gabby has to protect Angela, her assigned mortal, in order to move up through the training levels of heaven.

Note to self: Don't text while crossing the street. It's a crappy way to die and Gabby knows that first hand.  Once Gabby left the earthly plane she traveled to Cirrus and became a Bright in Training (aka Angel).  There was a lot of explanation in this book of how everything in Cirrus worked.  It was interesting to see the different take on Heaven and Angels that S.R. Johannes had.  She created this fictional place to resemble a working city with a very futuristic view.  It was interesting learning about the new gadgets and I actually coveted some of them.  Maybe S.R. Johannes can hook up with Apple and we could get some of these awesome toys!

While Gabby is training to become a Bright she has to guide and protect her number one enemy, Angela, who is after Gabby's old crush.  Gabby is pretty immature throughout most of the book and plays harmful pranks on Angela.  It actually crossed over to the point where I thought Gabby was cruel and let her anger take over her emotions and rule her behavior.  She always seemed to be breaking the rules and didn't care who she brought down with her. 

Gabby does end up trying to redeem herself, but I'm not sure I bought it.  I felt she changed her behavior really fast for it to be truly believable.  I know it was extremely hard for her dealing with the situation she was put in, but I wish she would have handled it better.  The end threw a big twist at the readers.  It was something that I was not expecting, but it tied up the story nicely and almost gave an reason for Gabby's bad behavior. 

This book is based for younger readers and may be a reason why I had a hard time with Gabby's immaturity.  It was a easy read and the idea behind Brights and Cirrus was quite interesting.  I'll be interested to see what more adventures Gabby will go on now that she's handled the worse.