Death Sworn (Review) by Leah Cypress

Ileni was trained since birth to be a sorcerous, she was suppose to be the best, strongest, most powerful person on Earth. But Ileni started to lose her magic, she felt it leaving her long before her teachers and friends new, simple spells took to much effort and left her drained. She was becoming of no use to her people, so they sent her away. 

They sent her into the mountains, to teach the assassins with what little was left of her magic. For centuries the assassins left those with magic alone, and helped protect them from the Empire who wished to kill them and take their power. All they asked in return was a teacher to enter the caves and teach it's students basic magic. 

The Elders send Ileni for one purpose, to find out what had happened to the previous two teachers. Both had died under mysterious circumstances, and only two months apart. She could still be of use to her people, using what magic she had left she could find out why all the teachers of the Assassins were dying. Ileni was ready for her mission, the worst thing that could happen to her was that she would die, and death was something she not only could accept, but yearned for in the absence of magic. 

Things are difficult in the mountain, everyone around her could kill her as easily as look at her, she has no friends, and Ileni realized that the previous teachers had been involved in dealings and practices that didn't uphold with the values of their people. Secret meetings, private magic lessons, murder and plans more than twenty years in the making are coming to light as Ileni continues to run out her magic trying to find out what's really going on in the Assassin's Mountain, and nothing she finds is good. 

I thought this book was great. It was a afar and simple read. Leah Cypress wove a beautiful tale with a whole separate world with a rich history. The characters have depth and emotional levels, the descriptions of the different places in the book created a picture that I could see in my head, and scenes that fluidly moved te story forward seamlessly. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a fun fantasy adventure series. 

ASYLUM: a thrilling horror tale by Madeline Roux

Dan Crawford cannot wait to start his summer program at New Hampshire College Prep, for once he’ll be around other teenagers who want to learn and who care about their academic futures. When he arrives at the school, he is shown to his dorm in the old sanatorium. Because the regular dorms are being renovated he and the other high schoolers are staying in the old towns asylum that was closed nearly thirty years ago because of the awful torchers and escaped mental patients.

Despite the oddness of his rooming situation, Dan manages to make friends and even lands himself a girlfriend by the first week. However, things don’t stay bright and chipper for long. While exploring the asylum Dan and his friends start to discover weird things, and begin to learn things about the asylum, and the town that the citizens are trying to keep hidden. Soon Dan begins to receive strange notes, and begins blacking out and having visions and dreams of the old torchers and methods the warden used on his patients.

One night, while Dan and his girlfriend Lucy are exploring the “locked” areas of the asylum, one of the college students acting as guide and hall monitor is found murdered in a fashion similar to one of the asylums patients. He is but the first person to be murdered, and even more have murder attempted upon them. To make matters worse, Dan has been blacking out more than ever before, and while exploring one day finds that the old warden shares his same name.

Could there be an explanation for Dan’s blackouts and the reaction people in town have toward him and his name? Is there something to the crazy experiments the old warden wrote about in his journals? Or come someone with a sick fascination for the old towns history just be acting out? Dan is determined to get to the bottom of it, even if it means finding out things about himself and his friends that he didn’t want to know.

  I really enjoyed this book, that is until the last five chapters. It was a fast paced thriller, with a lot of moments when I was truly scared and glad that my front door was locked and the lights in my house were on. I love a good horror/thriller, and the potential for this was great. Unfortunately the ending did not live up to the rest of the book.

I don’t know if the author was rushed for a deadline, backed herself into a corner, or just wanted the easy way out but the ending was rushed and overly simple. It left a lot of unanswered questions, and not the kind that makes you hope for a sequel, but the kind that makes you say WTF out loud and roll your eyes. I think the ending had so much wasted opportunities, and if the author had taken the time to actually flush out the themes and ideas of the book, maybe add an additional forty pages it would have been amazing.

If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young by Kurt Vinnegut

I'm not a fan of advise books. I tend to find them preachy and annoying, but this was different. A collection of speeches that Kurt Vonnegut gave to graduating students, filled with personal stories, encouragement and advise. If you like his writing, and to be honest it takes a certain type or reader, then this might be up your ally. It's realistic, not giving false promises of greatness or cheesy and corny sayings, but encouraging words on family and not giving up. I personally would recommend getting this on audiobook to listen to on the way to and from work, it's what I did. 

Chuck Palahnuik's Tell All: Not Really Worth Telling

The problem with having an author that I admire, is that I tend to hold their novels to a higher standard than might be fair. Chuck Palahnuik is one such author. He is definitely in my top five, and both Fight Club and Survivor make my top ten list. This is probably why I thought that Tell-All was only okay. Had I not been comparing it to his other novels, I would have enjoyed it more, but alas it does not hold up to the majority of books Palahnuik has written.

Tell All is written in the form of a movie script and chronicles the final days of famous actress Katherine Kenton and her doting assistant Hazel Coogan. Hazel has spent her life trying to keep Katherine’s reputation perfect and preserve her legacy, often lying and keeping would-be suitors away by any means possible. Everything begins to unravel for both women when a man named Webster Carlton Westward III appears in Katherine’s life. In her own words Hazel says, "My purpose is to impose order on Miss Kathie's chaos … to instill discipline in her legendary artistic caprice. I am the person Lolly Parsons once referred to as a 'surrogate spine.' "

Appearing to love and care for Katherine, she ignores all of Hazel’s warnings, even making accusations that Hazel is working against her. That is, until the two women discover that Webster has written a tell all book to be published after Katherine’s death. It details intimate moments of their time together, and downright lies about things they did together. In fact, the end of the book even details how Katherine is going to die!

But more is going on behind the scenes of Katherine’s life, and Hazel might not just be looking out for her mistress, but for herself. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and Hollywood life in the 1950s, the potential of a novel of worth and merit was there, especially with a writer like Palahnuik creating the world, but it fell short. Very Short. 

Wide Window (Series of Unfortunate Events #3)

Rereading the Wide Window by Lemony Snicket was a great experience, and I think a lot of that is because out of the first three books that were turned into a movie, this is the novel that was changed the most. Well, not changed so much as so much of it was left out. I had forgotten so many of the details, and it almost felt like reading it for the first time. Lemony Snicket has a wonderful way with the names of people and places. He uses so many alliterations for places and often the names he gives the characters have underlying meanings if one has a grasp of vocabulary and history. This book was no exception with places like Lake Lachrymose and Curdled Cave, and names like Captain Sham (who is really Count Olaf) and even Josephine and Ike are famous hurricanes. The entire Series of Unfortunate Events if filled with names and places like this, and it makes it such a joy to read.

Violet, Klaus and Sunny find themselves with their third guardian in this book, their Aunt Josephine. The woman is terrified of almost everything, believing that a doormat will trip people entering the house, door handles will shatter and blind her, and the stove will burn the house down. She does however love grammar, and is constantly correcting the children’s, even when they are upset or in Sunny’s case, a baby.

While at the store a short time after the Baudelaire’s arrived, they run into Captain Sham, Count Olaf in disguise.  As usual, no one believes the children about who he is, and Olaf is able to charm Aunt Josephine into liking and trusting him. Just like with Uncle Monty, that is a big mistake. The three Baudelaire’s come out of their room one day to find the window overlooking the lake below smashed and a note saying that Aunt Josephine has taken her life and if leaving the three children in the care of Captain Sham.

Despair wraps around the children until Klaus and Violet realize that the note was a code, telling them that Aunt Josephine had only faked her death and was at Curdled Cave. At lunch with Mr. Poe and Count Olaf, the three manage to sneak away, steal a sail boat and with the help of Aunt Josephine’s atlas, find Curdled Cave and their Aunt.

Sadly, that is not the end of the story. Aunt Josephine is as irrational, scared, and more concerned with grammar than the children’s safety. After pleading and threatening her with realtors (another of her fears), she finally agrees to go back with the children and confront Olaf, hopefully putting him in jail. While sailing back to shore however the sailboat is attacked by vicious Lachrymose Leeches, who smell the food that Aunt Josephine had just eaten.

Violet and Klaus start to signal the shore for help, but the only help that arrives is Count Olaf, who pushes Aunt Josephine into the water and watches as the leeches tear her apart. Once back on shore, Mr. Poe refuses to believe that Captain Sham is really Olaf until Sunny bites his wooden leg, revealing his eye tattoo underneath. Of course, thanks to Mr. Poe’s ineptitude and short sidedness Olaf once again escapes capture, leaving the children sitting on the pier wondering what will happen to them next.

Harken by Kelab Nation (Review)

It took me over three months to finish Harken by Kaleb Nation. It wasn’t the worst book I have ever read, but it didn’t hold my attention and I kept being distracted by other books and reruns of television shows. I think part of the reason that this book was such a letdown was it was really hyped up in the BookTube community and on book blogs. The writing was only mediocre, it sounded like someone who was used to just writing blogs and reviews online, the language wasn’t fluid enough for me. One of the things I hate most about many new and young authors is how pretentious they try to sound in their writings. That was something that unfortunately happened with Mr. Nation’s first novel.

The plot is a great one that was full of potential. Its one of those stories where a teenager finds out he has a great destiny foretold in prophesy or unknown family lineage. It’s set up like a Percy Jackson novel or one of the Heir Chronicles. Unknown origins, that leads to epic battles and growth. I feel like I should have loved this novel, but again the writing was just a little to difficult to get through.

Michael Asher has the ability to see people’s true emotions. When he looks into their eyes he knows what they are thinking and hiding. He made his money from spying on couples that suspect their significant other of cheating and lying. One night while investigating a possible affair, a man attempts to assassinate him. Turns out, Michael is the reincarnation of a warrior who is tasked with riding the world of evil beings.

His adventures lead him to finding his two protectors, also reincarnations, who have tried to protect him throughout all of his lives. Those who are trying to kill him feed stories to the news about Michael being a terrorist, not hard to fake since Michael keeps being in places he shouldn’t be. Plane crashes, burning houses, and killed law enforcement agents are only a few of the things that are being pinned on Michael.

The end of the book was a decent one. Enough open ending plots to make the second book a smooth transition of story, but not enough of a cliffhanger that I will buy the book. I really wanted to like this book, but again it was only a mediocre read. Three months to finish a novel? That usually isn’t a very good sign, but at least I finished it. It wasn’t bad enough for me to give up on. I can understand why people liked it, there are some great battle and fight scenes, but the writing was a little to pretentious for me, and Michael was a little to whiney for my taste.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and light conspiracy theory novels. Books with heroes who have special abilities, novels similar to the Heir Chronicles, books by Cat Patrick or The Time I Joined the Circus by J.J. Howard.