Author: The Novel Girl

Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, Book 3)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Into the Still Blue cover

Author: Veronica Rossi

Series: Under the Never Sky

Genre: Dystopian/Sci-Fi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 400

 

In the conclusion of the Under the Never Sky trilogy, Aria and Perry must somehow unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders if their plan to make it to the Still Blue is to succeed. Sable and Hess are just as determined to make it to the Still Blue, and have abducted Cinder in their effort to do so. Aria and Perry now that time is running out to rescue Cinder and make it to the Still Blue before the aether storms trap them, but will they make it?

I enjoyed the conclusion to this trilogy, although I must say that the second book in the trilogy was actually more gripping than the conclusion. Don’t get me wrong, this novel was a good read and was very entertaining, it just didn’t grab me and hold me the way that Through the Ever Night did. It was a bit….predictable in many ways, but still fun. It ended the way that it should have, and I am now a Veronica Rossi fan.

 

I’m Back!!!

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Hello!! 

I just made it back home from my little vacation to NOLA town (aka my favorite city!). The pic below is my friend and I at the Krewe du Vieux parade on Saturday night! We also went to see Ann Rice’s old house on the way out of town, and it was inspirational. I got in later than I planned, but I made it nonetheless. I hope that you all have had a great start to the week. I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, but I suppose it must be done! Thank you guys for hanging with me and indulging my not posting reviews while I was gone, but there will be a new review posted for you tomorrow. Have a great evening!! As always, thanks for reading! 

-T

 

   

Vacation Post! 

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Happy Saturday, my awesome readers!!! I’m on vacation in NOLA this week for Krewe du Vieux, so that’s making it a little hard to post reviews. I should be settled at my mom’s for the night on Monday, & home on Tuesday, so my latest reviews will be posted then. I hope that you guys are having an amazing weekend!! As always, thanks for reading!! 

-T 

  

Hello! 

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Hi everyone! 

I’ve been traveling today, as this is the start of my vacation. I did get Into the Still Blue finished up before I left, so I will have that review posted up for you soon. I hope you’re all having an awesome week! As always, thanks for reading! 

-T

So Sorry!!!

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Hi Guys!

I’m so sorry that I am posting late this weekend! I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so yesterday’s post was pushed off until today. I hope that you enjoy the reviews that I posted for you today. Right now, I am about halfway through two books: Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, Book 5) and Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, Book 3). I am hoping to have both of these finished and the reviews posted before I leave for my vacation towards the end of the week. Herein lies the dilemma: Both of these are the end of a series! This is going to be a busy vacation, but I am still hoping that I can get some reading time in while I am gone. So, what do I take with me to start on next?! Here is what (I think) I have it narrowed down to: A Discovery of Witches, City of Bones, Trigger Warning (Gaiman), or Bazaar of Bad Dreams (King). If you have any other suggestions, I’m definitely open to them!

I hope you guys have an amazing start to your week! If I don’t post before, I’ll see you guys on Wednesday. As always, thanks for reading!

-T

House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, Book 4)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

house of hades cover

 

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: Heroes of Olympus

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology/YA

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 608

 

The end of Mark of Athena found Percy and Annabeth falling in to Tartarus, and the rest of the Demigod heroes promising to find the Doors of Death on the living side and meet them there to close them, so that they can stop Gaea from being raised. Percy and Annabeth must survive traveling through Tartarus, which is worse than traveling through Hades itself, in order to reach the doors on their side. The rest of the Seven have their own battles to fight before they can even reach the House of Hades, which they must fight their way through in order to reach the doors on their side. If either one fails, there will be no stopping the Giants from raising Gaea. Percy and Annabeth are facing sure death in Tartarus, until they get some unexpected help that just might get them through…

I have put off finishing the last couple of books in this series for a while now, obviously, but I am glad that I finally got back to them. I forgot just how much I love these books and these heroes! Riordan is a master of world building. I can picture everything that he is describing, and the visual of Tartarus is, just, wow… The writing is excellent in this novel, as it is in all of the ones before. I think he just gets better as he goes. I am anxious to finish up the next one, and see what happens with these Demigods. If you are looking for a fun series, and like Greek and Roman mythology and YA Lit, I recommend this series.

Quitters Inc.

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quitters inc cover

 

Author: Stephen King

Narrator: Eric Roberts

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Publisher: Phoenix Audio

 

Dick has an addiction problem: he eats too much, works too much, and smokes way too much. By happenstance, he runs in to an old pal at the airport who has kicked his habits, and offers him a way to quit his addictions: a place called Quitters Inc. Dick thinks that it is all probable a sham, but decides to check it out anyway. Before he knows it, Dick has signed up for a program that has severe punishment is he ever backslides on his smoking addiction. The consequences begin with mild electric shocks to his unsuspecting wife, and only get worse for his loved ones from there. Will Dick be able to quit his addictions in order to save his loved ones from to consequences of his shortcomings?

This is a wonderful short story, which was originally a part of King’s book of short stories titled Night Shift and then one of the stories in the movie Cat’s Eye. I loved this story! It wasn’t particularly creepy or scary, but it was definitely entertaining and kept me engaged while listening to it. If you enjoy King’s work, I definitely recommend this classic short story!

 

Start of 2016

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Hello everyone!

I hope that the new year is treating you all well,  so far! It has been super busy for me, already, as things have started off with a bang at work this year. I have taken the first little bit of this year to try and map out my reading goals and what I hope to get accomplished this year. It is quite a bit more than what I set for myself last year, but I hope that I will be able to get it done. You guys all keep me motivated to keep going, and sharing my thoughts, so thank you for that!

There are several series that I am hoping to get through this year, that I have been putting off. Some of them are ones that have been out, and popular, for some time and I just haven’t gotten around to them yet, and some you may not have even heard of. I hope that you won’t mind journeying with me through these series. There will be some stand alones in there to break them  up, though, so don’t fret! I will also be re-reading some of my favorites, which I do every year. Some of those I will share with you, and some I may not, as they have been reviewed to death (like Harry Potter). There will be a lot of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & YA this year, as that seems to be where the reading list is headed, but there is quite a bit of Stephen King and some Joe Hill on there, as well. Quincy J. Allan has promised some new books this year & and I’m pretty sure that Jordan K. Rose will have something new out, so I’m very excited about that! A little birdy also told me that Jamie Lee Scott has some new reads coming out, so I can’t wait to see what those will entail!

My intent is to post every Wednesday and Saturday (and some in between, as needed), whether that be just an update or an actual review. I look forward to this year with you guys, and hope you all have a wonderful year!!! As always, thanks for reading!

-T

Goodbye 2015!

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Hi Everyone!

I can’t believe that it is already the last day of 2015! It seems that this year has passed by so quickly. It was a very busy and exciting year for me. It has also been a year filled with some amazing reading! I had a little bit of a tough time deciding what my best book of the year was, but I just kept going back to a book that was sent to me to review in May. I happened upon a post asking for reviewers when I very first started my blog, and I decided to give this author a try on a whim: I am incredibly thankful that I did! Not only is the first of two books that I have reviewed for him this year my favorite book of the year, he is my favorite new author of the year:

Chemical Burn by Quincy J. Allen

chemical burn

This novel is a Sci-Fi Thriller, and it is awesome! I still think about it, and I am really hoping for more in this series! Mr. Allen is a cross-genre author, and he does it flawlessly. His other novel, Blood Ties (you can find my full initial reviews for both of these on the blog) is a steampunk/western. It never seems forced when he crosses the genre barriers, the words and stories flow beautifully. I cannot wait to read more from this author. If you like sci-fi, you really should check this novel out. I hope that you will fall in love with his writing, as I have.

Thank you all, again, for indulging me and keeping me going on this blog. I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve!! As always, thanks for reading.

-T

Tricky Twenty Two (Stephanie Plum, Book 22)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

tricky twenty two cover

Author: Janet Evanovich

Series: Stephanie Plum

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Bantam

Pages: 304

 

Stephanie is on the hunt for a Frat leader named Gobbles, who was arrested for beating down the Dean of students. He skipped out on his bond and is in hiding, but it doesn’t look like he has gone far. No one on campus will tell her where he is and she has a feeling that there is more to his story, especially after a few interactions with his faculty advisor- a crazy science professor. Ranger also asks her to help with security on the Linken’s, after Mr. Linken’s business partner is gunned down by an unknown person. Meanwhile, Stephanie’s personal life is a mess, because Morelli is having some major inner turmoil causing him to dump her out of the blue and consider changing careers.

This is the twenty-second book in this series, so the plot lines are getting a bit redundant, but it was much better than the last couple of books in this series were. There were some detail inconsistencies that were a bit annoying, for a reader who has read all of these books a pays attention to the little details (Rangeman has the wrong number of floors and his office was on the wrong floor, etc). Ranger’s character was a little flat in this book, for some reason. It was nice to see some growth potential in Stephanie and Joe’s relationship, and there were definitely still some laughable moments. One of the best parts of this book, for me, was seeing a different side of Steph’s mom! That was great! Overall, the book was, for me, what Evanovich’s books always are: a fun, short break from some of the more intense books. I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes from here with the story.