Making Faces
8! That is how many times my vision blurred with tears as I read this book.
I loved Bailey! His character is really what kept me sneaking in pages every chance I had.
I would recommend this book to my friends, with a few words of warning:
This is an extremely emotional book, be prepared for sad and depressing.
There are a few coincidences that try too hard to mimic other known tales.
This might have been done so the reader will think the similarities are almost like an epiphany.
It does get preachy. Scriptures are quoted and repeated throughout.
The end is not a surprise, it is expected from these characters.
But if none of the above bothers you, it really is a good story.
The Day My Mommy QUIT!
BEST BOOK EVER! Every child should read (or be read) this book to appreciate Mommy more. Spouses should also read this for the same reason!
I made it to 14%. Too similar to a soap opera. Not even realistic drama. I got frustrated with the characters and gave up.
4.5This probably would have been a solid 5 if Rose and Miaow were more involved. I still love this author and his characters after 5 books in the series. I can't wait for the next one!
Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy, #2)
3.5 if I am being completely honest.I liked the story and I really am anticipating the final story.
Knowing this author, there will probably be another novella in someone else's POV soon.
My only complaint would be some predictability. It doesn't take incredible intelligence to know who Gus really is to Ellie and who caused his mental breakdown, yet it is being kept such a secret. I guess to be a big surprise in the last book. There is a ton of action in this book and I did learn how to burn a man's face with non dairy creamer, which is always a plus.
The Education of Sebastian (The Education of..., #1)
3.5Don't read if you are an anxious person!
I couldn't even be happy for their relationship because I kept waiting for them to get caught in every chapter. Some of the story is pretty predictable, especially when you know there is a second book.
The first half of the story was amazing. Then he solved the mystery in the middle of the book and it dragged from there.
Good premise though.
I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I just didn't really care about either of the main characters. You reap what you sow and I have a hard time with feeling sorry for them when bad things happened. I think if they were more likable I would have forgiven some of the selfish acts that were done. The story was well written enough to keep me reading. For that I will give it 3 stars.The story was a little unrealistic (yes, I know it is only a fictional story!) but things like Ellie seeing Camden for the first time in years and not recognizing his unusual ears was a little hard to believe. I mean, if they were that unusual and she noticed them right away and how imperfect they made him, would she not remember on who she had seen them before? Someone she saw every day for years, and yet had no clue who he was when she walked into a coffee shop in the town that they grew up in. Really?
For this “Grifter” that is supposed to be so intelligent, I found her pretty naive to a lot of things. If you were being followed by bad guys why would you drive around in a very unique green GTO for years after stealing it? Also, if Verizon can track my whereabouts from my cell phone, why wouldn't these mobsters be able to do the same to her and Camden? Javier tracks them down in every casino in Vegas and she doesn’t know how he does it.
Now Camden. It really bothered me that Camden was supposed to be this really tough (even psychotic at times) kind of guy but he whimpered and became a cowering two year old when his homophobic father punished him. Not even to defend himself while being thrown and hit repeatedly. He is a six foot, 26 year old, tattooed bad ass!
Another cliffhanger…………
The Thirteenth Tale
4.5This was one of those stories where the characters will stay with me for a long time to come. It is also one of those stories that, now that I know the secret in the twisting plot, I feel like I have to re-read so I can see what I missed the first time.
Sweet Thing
This was actually painful to read. How can I dislike the main character Mia so much and yet continue reading until the over-the-top fairy tale ending? Because I was hoping that Mia would stop being a cocktease and give Wil a little relief already! This 300+ page book could have been condensed by about 150 pages. I was actually happy when Mia was having her breakdown and was living like a depressed Winona Ryder! She showed at least some guilt for a short while. Then she makes the same mistakes again...... Are we then expected to believe that she finally learned her lesson and is now perfect and she deserves happiness?
This story seemed familiar to me somehow. It was as if some ideas were taken from other "Rock Star" type romance stories I've read recently. Some other readers have noticed this too and I haven't even read the YA books they are comparing this one to.
Three good things about this book were Wil, Lauren and most importantly, it wasn't a Trilogy.
Minder
What a wonderful story!I would put this book in the same fantasy genre as Alice in Wonderland, Narnia and The Labyrinth. The author has such a great imagination. It felt good to be a kid again for a few hours while reading this adventure.
There was just enough light cursing, questions of religion, hints of perversion and mild morbid macabre situations to cross the line from Children's book to YA.
I would recommend this to people looking for a short, fun, yet thought provoking read.
The Opportunist (Love Me With Lies, #1)
Really a 3.5 but rounded up because in some twisted way I could relate to Olivia.
Autism - A Practical Guide for Parents
I have read several books on Autism and countless internet articles. They all tell me what Autism is and give examples of cases they have reviewed. There is a lot of good information out there but I was looking for help now. This was the first book I've read that gave me actual ideas on how to help my 5 year old son! While there is no substitute for my son's pediatrician, I needed help with the everyday at home activities. This book gave me insight to simple things that no one else had suggested. An example was to print out pictures for his schedule so he could "read" what he needed to do next. There has been a lot less friction just from this simple change. I also discovered that children with Autism have problems sleeping through the night. No one told me this, not even his doctor. This information helped with the guilt my husband and I were dealing with thinking that our parenting skills weren't up to par concerning his sleep issues.While this book isn't for everyone, I found it extremely helpful for my son's age group and place on the Autism Spectrum.