The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale, Oliver Potzsch

This was the long awaited sequel to The Hangman's Daughter (which I STILL think was poorly named..the sequel is no different...) and it really wasn't long awaited because I really had no idea it had come out! BUT I   was pretty excited to download it to my kindle and start reading it right away!! We start off about a year (give or take) after the first book ended. Magdelena and Simon are still a couple, as starcrossed couple, but a couple nonetheless, and the Hangman (Jakob) is still hangin' people. There is a mysterious murder of a monk and Simon calls in Jakob to take a look at the and both decide that this gluttonous monk did not just overindulge for the last time, but was in fact poisoned. Some seedy characters dressed as monks that have been hanging around the town are very suspicious, and some robbers have been terrorizing the trading roads. So there is a LOT going on in this story, but it is not all always in the front line. In someway, somehow most everything is connected in one way or the other. The mystery itself is intriguing. Very Illuminati/Knights of Templar stuff going on. At times I feel like some of the story lines (especially with some of the townspeople or even with Kuisl) seem a little more strained than it did in the first book, but it was still an overall good read! I would recommend it for sure if you liked the first one! Having read the first book, however, is not necessary in understanding all the goes on in this sequel. Some of the relationships obviously go back to the first book, but there is always a little summary between them to remind/catch the reader up!

Defending Jacob, William Landay

Man. Talk about a book with a twist at the end. I never saw it coming! This was a pretty typical court room drama, but it was a good one. I like court room books, but I don't have that much experience in them. Most of the court room books I have read have been Jodi Picoult books. Maybe a few other ones, but most just the Picoult books. Anyways. The book at times was a little hard to follow, but that was mostly because of the BIG twist at the end. So without giving it away.........

Andy Barber is a DA in a small town, and a horrendous murder happens at his sons school. He takes the case (as any DA would do for a  high profile case would do), but is then forced off the case when his 15 year old son Jacob is implicated. During some of the book, you are following transcripts from the court and those move into Andy's narrative of the case and how he sees it, and how others perceive him. You see his whole family change and fall apart and rebuild, yet they are never the same.

That's a small summary of the book, without giving much away. This is one of those books that once you know the twist, once you close the book, re-reading it would never be the same. Sure, you might catch a few nuances you hadn't noticed the first time around, and you would probably be able to follow everything to the T, BUUUUUT, it's like the Sixth Sense, once you know, you know, and you don't need to read it again.

Anyways....I really liked this book, except the portrayal of the teens in the story. It was very sterotypical teenage "talk". All the teens said "like" every other word and relied on social media to be heard and as a scapegoat. Landay painted Jacob as a troubled teen (and honestly, what teen isn't  troubled...) which I guess would explain his introverted-ness and general aloofness, but I still feel like all the kids portrayed in the book were very silly. Other than that, I enjoyed the book, the twist, the topic, and the way things were explored and explained. I highly recommend this book for its content and also for it being a pretty quick read. I really couldn't put it down, especially towards the end as (semi-spoiler!!!) everything unraveled! I was on the edge of my seat, and when I closed the book, all I could say was "Damn...damn...."

So pick this up and give it a read and let me know what you think!!!!!!!!!

The Hunger Games (Trilogy), Suzanne Collins

These books were a WASTE of my time. I have never been so frustrated while reading a book or series ever! I am all for a good series. Take Harry Potter for example. Harry Potter were 7 amazingly great books. The best thing about the Harry Potter series was that even though they went in order, and it was best to read them in order, they stood alone. You read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and that was that. It started with one storyline, and ended, and then the next book picked up at a new time, with a new story. The thing with the Hunger Games trilogy was that one book did not end. The first book ended in a cliffhanger, meaning you HAD to read the second book to get answers for the first book. Nothing was wrapped up, nothing was answered. I  felt like I was watching LOTR, wondering how this thing was going to last, then all of a sudden credits were rolling, and I felt like, well jeez, so much for finding out what happened, now I have to wait for the Two Towers! This was how I felt with the Hunger Games. I honestly had no intention of reading this series. I thought I would be satisfied with just the first one so I could see what all the hype was about, but when the first one ended and I HAD to read the second (and surprise, surprise, the second book was ALSO a cliffhanger), I was less then pleased. I wanted to know what happened. but I really didn't care or the stories or characters. I don't know why. 


I loved the concept of the first book, however. The second two I just read to get all my questions answered, but it was really just the first book that held my attention. I liked the idea of a post-idyllic world, where Big Brother was everywhere, and even though sacrifice sucks and is dumb, this book went about it a really great way, even though SO many people had to die. I don't know. I wish the first book stood as one within the series, so that it wasn't necessary to have to read the other two to make the first one come around full circle and actually end. 


I digress though. This is definitely a young adult series, meant for those young'ns that have graduated from the Percy Jackson series, and are too daunted to read the Harry Potter Series because of the sheer magnitude of books that make up the HP series. Worth a read, but be prepared to by, rent, or download all three books!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

I was really disappointed in this book. It seemed really juvenile and simple, and the ending just made absolutely no sense to me. I kinda wonder if this kid, Charlie, has some sort of autism or something, because even though he is in high school, he doesn't seem to function at quite that level. That, and I find it hard to believe that this strange, awkward kid is best friends with two very popular kids, and that the girl, Sam, would actually be interested in him. I totally get that this is fiction, but I like when my fiction is either completely believable, or so far out there that it is fantasy. It was written in 1999, and I believe it was advertised a lot on MTV or something, but it just fell flat for me. After I was done reading it I felt like i had wasted like, 2 days of my life. I do like the concept of the story however, the idea that Charlie was writing letters to someone who always remained unnamed. I liked the anonymity about that, because you never expected an answer, only what Charlie wanted to be known to this mystery friend, if it was even a friend at all. This book was decent, but i honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone else unless they were like 15 or something. This is just not an adult book, that would hold an adults attention. I also saw that this is going to be made into a movie, which I am sort of interested to see, but at the same time I am wary because I don't see how these letters would translate onto the big screen unless they switch the whole premise of the story up, but hey, it is Hollywood and they usually take all kinds of liberty with book to film!

The Rosetti Letter, Christi Phillips

This was a pretty cool book. I would classify it as historical fiction. It is flashback kind of book. It starts in Spain, around the time of the Spanish Inquisition, and that is where a lot of the back story comes from. Flash forward to present day, and it is about a PH. D. student studying this Inquisition conspiracy. I must admit that the present day stuff is not as appealing as the historical parts. Everything to do with Claire Donovan (the student) seemed kind of pathetic and forced. I chalk it up to this being Phillip's first fiction novel, so the character development wasn't ideal. But it was still a decent story, and despite the slow parts, I couldn't put it down. This book was a random used book store find, and I am glad I read it, because I am not a huge historical fiction fan, but I think I could get into it more. This book had potential, but I only give it like 3/5 stars. If I come across another Christi Phillip's novel, I would definitely pick it up and give it a read!

I dropped the ball...

SO many reviews to write! Here is a list of books I have read in the past like....4 months, with a numerical rating (out of 5)!!!!

-The Bell Jar, 3/5
-The Paris Wife, 5/5
-Son of a Witch, 2.5/5
-One Day, 5/5
-The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, 2/5
-Blindness, 1/5
-The Help, 5/5
-The Hunger Games Trilogy, 2/5
-The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2/5
-The Rosetti Letter, 4/5

And of course, my review on The Fall of Giants, 4/5


Whoa. That is a lot of reviews to write! Time to get to work!!!!!!!!!!!

A giant of a book!

I just finished Fall of Giants, by Ken Follet. As with many of his books I have read, this was an epic novel, counting in at 985 pages!!!!! It took me awhile to read it, but I finished it last night, finally!!!!! I need some time to collect my thoughts about it, but then expect a giant post about it, because with almost 1000 pages, I think there will be a lot to discuss! But it was a great book!!