Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

TITLE:  Falling Kingdoms
AUTHOR:  Rhodes, Morgan
GENRE:  Fiction/Fantasy

DATES READ:  1/1/2015 - 11/27/2015

MY RATING:  3/5

This was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law.  I love the cover!

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1/5/2015:  I actually lost this book during a car accident, and since it was found I haven't been able to pick it up again.  It's just staring at me on my shelf.  But I am determined to finish it at some point...

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Only 10 months later!!!  I finally got up the nerve to finish it.  It was actually a really good fantasy story, but more of an introduction novel for the rest of the series.  I'm always a bit intimidated by books with maps in the beginning, and cast lists for different countries.  I admit, I did have to keep looking back to keep all of the character straight at first.

There were 3 different countries.  And magic.  And power struggle.  An excellent pick for YA fantasy readers.  I would definitely recommend it.

Will read and write soon!

***Photo by B. Bumble***

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

TITLE:  The Museum of Extraordinary Things

AUTHOR:  Hoffman, Alice
GENRE:  Fiction

DATES READ:  11/13/2015 - 11/23/2015

MY RATING:  3/5

My coworker let me borrow this one, and she said it was really interesting. 

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This was pretty good.  The Coney Island museum was cool and creepy.  It reminded me of the old school freakshows, only it was a museum of oddities.  And the owner ended up using his daughter's ability to swim very well in order to cast her as one of the main attractions.

The character introductions were all fascinating.  And then the story kind of slowed down.  The story was based around a mystery.  And the mystery was not mysterious.  There was little to know character development throughout the novel.

I found myself wanting to tell the characters to move along.  Besides that, the story was well put until the ending.  Brutal and seemingly superfluous.  I will return this to my coworker, happy that I read it, but not recommending it to anyone else.

Will read and write soon!

Book Cover Source

Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer

TITLE:  Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined

AUTHOR:  Meyer, Stephenie
GENRE:  Fiction/Supernatural

DATES READ:  11/5/2015 - 11/13/2015

MY RATING:  1/5

I got this because frankly... I was curious.  It's supposed to be the original Twilight story, only Bella's character is male and Edward's character is female.  Why not?

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Twilight reimagined my tush!!  She literally went through, hit Ctrl [F] and changed "he" to "she" and vice versa.  And Beaufort as a name?  Really??  Get real.  I feel like this was just a money maker.

She should have just gender bent the main characters and left everything else alone.  It made no sense to gender bend everyone else, and it got really confusing really fast if you're familiar with the original books.

And the ending!!!  At least she changed that up a little bit.  But overall, I just don't understand.  From what I've heard, Meyer wanted to show that the romance would work either way; female vampire or male, but it just doesn't.  Make it from Edythe's point of view, at least.  Not recommended due to lack of imagination.

Will read and write soon!

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The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber

TITLE:  The Inn at Rose Harbor

AUTHOR:  Macomber, Debbie
GENRE:  Fiction

DATES READ:  10/4/2015 - 11/5/2015

MY RATING:  3/5

I got this at a book kiosk at the bookstore, and saw that it was by Debbie Macomber, so I decided to pick up.  She also makes a lot of knitting patterns that I use.

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Jo Marie takes over an inn and this story involves her getting to know the town and several of the residents.  It was a typical feel-good novel; bed-and-breakfasty, knitty, warm romancy, get-over-lossy stuff.  Lovely and sweet.

My favorite character was the grumpy carpenter/mechanic.  I also found myself enjoying the coastal setting.

I appreciated Abby and Josh coming to the B&B, but everything didn't seem to have enough conflict or chaos.  Like it was all coated in an apricot lense, all glowy and soft.  Which is great!  And so Debbie Macomber!  It was good as expected.

Will read and write soon!

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