Peacock Flock Review #26 - If I Stay

If I Stay 

Author: Sunni Overend

Length: ~ 262 pages

Genre: Romance

Heat level: Clean

Stars: 4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

Book Summary:

On a day that started like any other,

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.

Review:

We really liked this. You know it's a really good book when the characters stay with you. The characters felt so real! Much of what we found out about them wasn't from a lot of telling or info dumps but the small little details -- the way they talked and did things, reactions and hobbies-- really rounded out their personalities. The only real drawback and why this wasn't five stars was because of the flashbacks. As much as they were needed and it was the only real way to tell this story, we found it slowed down the forward motion of the main plot line. But as we can't think of another way to tell this wonderful character's choice and decision and this moment in her life, we accept that the author did a good job of it. The only other thing that was both good and bad: the abundance of music was great and specific references lent realism to the novel, however, not being music gurus ourselves we found it hard to feel the tone of certain scenes when we could only imagine what a certain song might have sounded like (because it wasn't a song we were familiar with). All in all an amazing premise and a good story, we wanted to know what happened next to this girl, but the story still ended in the perfect spot. One great read :)

p.s. Just found out there's a sequel to it. Where She Went. We are so reading it too!

That's it from the flock! 

Peacock Flock Review #22 - Stitch

Stitch 

Author: Samantha Durante

Length: ~ 314 pages

Genre: Romance/Dystopian

Heat level: Clean  

Stars: 4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

Book Summary:

Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa’s body screams at her to run… but yet she’s powerless to move.

Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees – and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell – Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.

Because what Alessa hasn’t figured out yet is that she’s not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university’s idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface…

The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.

Review:

We really liked this novel. We thought the idea of a college girl falling in love with a ghost was great enough but we were even more pulled into the story as twist after twist appeared and the premise shifted drastically. The characters were done really well and it was easy to connect with Alessa -- her narrative voice was wonderful. We also felt immersed in the setting and loved seeing things from Tristan's point of view too. The major twist halfway through that changed this from a ghost-love story to the premise of one of my favourite Jim Carrey movies (we won't tell you which one for obvious reasons :D) was a complete shock and so totally unexpected that it left us reeling, in the best possible way. We couldn't put the book down. The only negative was that we wanted a little more from the ending. It is the first part of a series but we wanted a bigger climax. We wanted the resolution at the end to be harder to arrive at. Still a great read though and we eagerly await the next book!

That's it from the flock! 

 

Peacock Flock Review #19 - Matched

Matched 

Author: Ally Condie

Length: ~ 369 pages

Genre: Dystopian

Heat level: Clean  

Stars: 4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

Book Summary:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Review:

We thought this was an interesting world. It reminded us a lot of The Giver or District 13 in the Hunger Games. This was both good and bad. A world like that is sometimes nice to read about, but we didn't see too many things about this totalitarian society that set it apart from the worlds created and that we've read about in the above books. We did really like Cassia though. We liked the concept of the Hundred Poems, and Hundred Songs etc. There's a point where Cassia thinks about how the Society gave them just enough glimpses of life that the people stay satisfied, this really rang true. We also really liked the pill idea. The novel got a little slow at times, so this wasn't a sit and finish in one sitting type of book but it was still good and we're just about to go pick up number two in the series from the library. :D A good read with some good characters, in a world that we'd really like to see shaken up. 

*Something else that made us happy? Book 3 for this series comes out in November so we don't have to wait an absurdly long time to find out what happens. Yay! 

That's it from the flock! 

 

Peacock Flock Book Review #16

Peacock Flock Book Review #16

The Mine 
Author: John A. Heldt

Length: ~ 281 pages

Genre: Science Fiction

Heat level: Clean (scene or two "off screen") 

Stars: 4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

Book Summary:
In 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

Review:

We were quite surprised but happy at the level of skill this book was written with. There were a numbers of times where the prose delighted us so much we laughed out loud and read and reread certain passages just because they were written so well. There's a comparison involving hell that was so good and unexpected that we read it out loud to a number of our friends and family. We won't spoil it for you, you'll have to read the book to get the reference but it was a such an excellent phrase we wished we'd written it. All of the characters were well developed and we quite liked following along in Joel's wake. It's a great premise with, what do you do if you're transported into a time on the threshold of the Pearl Harbor disaster? We would have preferred it to be a little bit harder for Joel to find a way to get home. Considering the fact that there aren't a whole lot of plot twists available when the main character is stuck in another time -- the climax and biggest problem is obviously getting back, and if he can go back whether or not he does go--. All in all though a great book, one we will be reading again! :D

That's it from the flock! 

 

Peacock Flock Book Review #15 - Gears of Wonderland

So we're two days late, but not a dollar short. Here's Book Review #15. :D


Peacock Flock Book Review #15

Gears of Wonderland
Author: Jason G. Anderson

Length: ~ 216 pages

Genre: Fantasy Steampunk

Heat level: Clean 

Stars: 4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

Review:

We were quite impressed with this from the beginning. We thought the cover was well done and doesn't look generic, which is great. We were also very happy with how quickly the action started. We were shocked by how the story got going but that drew us right in. We also "loved" how put off we were by James' fiancé. We wanted to reach into the book and smack her, plus we wanted to yell at James for putting up with such crap. But when you can react like that to the characters it's a good story. Reading this book made us realize that having just watched the movies of Alice in Wonderland isn't enough, we disliked not understanding some of the references but that's our fault, not the author's. The alternate Wonderland created was intriguing. It was easy for us to detest the dictatorial reign of the Knave of Hearts. Plus it was creepy (but great) to read how he was brainwashing the children in the Palace to do what he wanted. The characters where all developed and although we knew the end pretty early on it was still a great read. The only slight deterrence was how little romance there was, although the author gave us fair warning in his request for review, and therefore he got the points for giving us a heads up. Instead of being annoyed at the lack of romance we just knew we wanted more. At the end of the novel the characters were still traipsing across our brains and we found ourselves thinking about the world created - the sign of a great book.

That's it from the flock! 

Peacock Flock Book Review #11 - The Last Enchantment

Peacock Flock Book Review #11

The Last Enchantment

Author: Meg Alexander

Length: ~ 298 pages

Genre: Historical Romance 

Heat level: Clean

Stars:  4 Stupendous Purple Stars 

          

Book Summary:

To prevent her niece, Caroline, from marrying the notorious Duke of Salterne, Aurelia Carrington took the girl away to Brighton. As a means of escape, it was a failure, for Salterne followed them. Deeply, if unwillingly, attracted to him, Aurelia suspected he preferred her company to Caroline's, so what had made him offer marriage? By the time she found out, more was at risk than Aurelia's heart.

Review:

We read this book in a little over 24 hours. It's quite a good little romance. Both the heroine and the hero were well developed and unlike many books where there isn't a lot of scenes between the two main characters the wonderful Duke (the main man) is teasing, admonishing or laughing with the heroine, Aurelia, every few pages. There were many scenes where we couldn't put it down and more than a few times where we giggled and went "Aww", and then proceeded to devour more. The only issues we had with it was that the suspense needed to start earlier in the book and there was a little too much description about unimportant things ie: we've heard more than enough about the Prince Regent and his adoration of Chinese things. Plus there were a few times where references were made to things that didn't make sense at all -- a little hard to follow some of the societal comments. We would recommend this though. The characters are wonderful and (shocker of shockers) have actually been in love before the romance with each other. 

That's it from the flock!