We Are All Ugly

Uglies

Author:
Scott Westerfeld
Publisher:
Simon Pulse 2005
Number of Pages: 
425
Review: “What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.” What negates beauty? Is it our perceptions that we imply upon others? Is it ingrained upon us from childhood? Is it socially instilled within ourselves or something that is essentially one’s own and no one else’s? But more importantly can we use beauty to control the emotions and actions of other peoples, or on a greater scale, a whole country? These are the questions that Scott Westerfeld asks in his novel called Uglies.

Uglies takes place in a futuristic earth where humans are grouped into five categories: Littlies, Uglies, New Pretties, Middle Pretties and Cumblies. Uglies pretty much look like humans from the 21^st century. Flawed, different, unique; and taught at a young age that everyone deserves to be pretty, every ugly at the age of 16 will go through a series of surgeries to make them pretty. Tally is just a few months away from becoming a New Pretty when she meets Shay, the rebellious and adventurous new friend who’s also waiting to become a Pretty but unlike Tally, she is not looking forward to the surgery. On the day before her scheduled surgery, Shay decides to run away begging Tally to go with her. When Tally refuses and goes in for her surgery she’s given an ultimatum: Find Shay and expose the Ugly Society called The Smoke or remain Ugly forever. Tally must make a decision, one that will alter her future forever.

I must admit I didn’t like the first half of Uglies. In fact I hated it.  It wasn’t the concept that I hated but Tally. Talk about your typical shallow female. She complained all the time about her flaws, other people’s flaws and then I realized, of course she was complaining, she lives in a society that calls normal people UGLY! When I got over the fact that she’s supposed to be shallow I started to warm up to the story, by the time Tally got to the Smoke, I loved it.

Tally is smart. She knows wrong from right, yet she lives in this society that makes decisions for her. When Shay comes along and shows her a life that is beyond the ugly/pretty boundaries she begins to open her mind to the fact that perfection isn’t always perfect. She’s a strong female character. Once she’s out of the ugly mindset she’s not afraid to be herself, and she’s not afraid to embrace the beauty of the people around her and of her own beauty. I loved how she developed from a little girl to a strong independent young lady.

In terms of the other characters, Shay was a great ally and sometimes enemy of Tally. The rivalry between the two as well as the friendship and love they have for one another makes the characters realistic. Yes they are best friends but even best friends fight. As for the main love interest, I like the fact that it wasn’t instalove. This relationship was a slow development. I felt that David was a good match for Tally, he challenged her, and fought with her beliefs, and let her make her own decisions. He was never pushy with his beliefs and she was respectful of his opinions as well. Where Shay gushed over David, Tally actually listened to what he had to say. I liked that contrast between the two friends.

The plot was interesting. To be able to control a whole population by telling them they’re ugly and they have to look a certain way in order to feel accepted is not too far off from where our society is heading now. Everywhere we go we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, movies, even books that say we have to look a certain way in order to have fun, get a mate and live a full wealthy life. More and more people are opting for Plastic Surgery these days, if we could somehow get that kind of extreme surgery for free I’m pretty sure the number of plastic surgeries performed per year would sky rocket. This false sense of happiness can be used against us into making us do things we really don’t want to do after all.

Scott Westerfeld really put a lot of great plot twists and ideas in this novel.  The Uglies society is something we should pay close attention too because the way society is shaped upon looks these days this may very well be our future if we’re not careful and don’t show people that everyone is beautiful in their own way.  I highly recommend you checking out the first book in this series and I plan on continuing with it in my future reads.

Happy Reading!

Marissa Meyer visits Toronto

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday might seem like a step towards borderline insanity but when someone as incredibly cool and funny like Marissa Meyer comes to town, 6:30 doesn't seems soon enough. Which is what happened to me today.

I set my alarm for 6:30 and found myself awake at 6:15am bursting with energy and excitement for today was the day I'll get to meet Marissa Meyer.

By the time I got to Yorkdale it was 8:30 am which meant that I was finally early enough to get a seating at the actual signing and not just any seat: Front row seats!!!

Since she was scheduled to arrive at 12 pm I had plenty of time to mingle with my fellow eager reading buddy and a few people we met in line. Needless to say by the time we were being seated our legs were begging for the rest (three and a half hours is a long time to stand people).

Finally the wait was over and the beautiful Marissa Meyer came out to a very vocal welcome from her Toronto fans.

Discussing with the crowd on how she started writing

She entertained us with her love of writing and what got her started as a writer (Sailor Moon fanfiction!! Who knew?) and a bit of a back story about her life before writing, how she conquered NiNoWiMo but not Star Trek but more importantly her love of fairy tales.

She then proceeded to tell us a few fairy tales. A rendition of Rapunzel, wherein the evil witch sends Rapunzel out into the world forsaken and proceeds to gorge out the eyeballs of the Prince (don't worry Rapunzel weeps into his sockets and he miraculously grows a pair - of eyeballs that is). A rendition of Cinderella, which makes me think that the Prince is either really cross-eyed, or the most gullible fool in the kingdom. And finally Red Riding Hood, which in the end, little red was able to actually save herself! Shocking, I know.

Then there was the Q and A section which I will now try to emulate in writing to the best of my ability:

Diligently answering questions

Q: Why is the third book called Cress?
A. Cress is a type of lettuce as is Rapunzel thus calling the main character Cress eludes to Rapunzel but also makes her a character all on her own much like Scarlet and Cinder.

Q: Is Cress going to take place in Africa?
A: Yes, In Africa, New Beijing and Space.

Q: Do you write consciously for shipping?
A: Kind of. While writing the characters the heroines and the heroes can sometimes fall for each other, find themselves in other books and play a minor or major part in the other characters' lives. 

Q: Do you write with women's issues in mind?
A: I don't write with it in mind per se, but I like my heroines to be strong and independent female characters. It's more about being strong and less about liking the guy.

Q: When did you start writing?
A: I always wrote but didn't get serious about it until 14 years old when I started my Sailor Moon Fanfiction.

Q: What advice would you give new writers?
A: Write because you love to write. Don't think that you have to write from a deep dark place in order to be taken seriously as a writer. Don't become a cliche instead write from your heart, the story will be more genuine that way. 

Q: What do you love most about reading?
A: I love the fact that I can become a different person. This is with writing too, I get to experience what it's like to be someone else and explore other worlds I would probably not and in some cases never ever get to experience otherwise. 

Q: What is your writing process?
A: I'm an outliner. I like to outline my books, with characters and subplots but I don't do it too extensively. I like to leave a little bit of mystery and the writing won't become boring or too structured.

Q: Are you a Nerdfighter?
A: [Does NerdFighter Sign] (Lol) What counts for a Nerdfighter? I mean I love John Green (and Hank too) but I don't really watch too many vlogbrothers videos. I do love what they stand for and support their causes. 

Q: Do you choose your covers?
A: I don't unfortunately. The publishers have their own design team that chooses the covers for the authors. They usually show it to us and basically tell us "Yes yes you do like these covers." For the most part, I've been pretty lucky with my covers. I love them tremendously.

And Finally:

Q: Who is your favourite Sailor Moon Character?
A: Sailor Jupiter. I mean, she's super strong and badass and always sticks up and defends her friends but there's this soft, gushy, vulnerable side to her too. She's tough but she also just wants to be loved.

Signing some books backstage

After that we got our books signed and grabbed some swag and left the beautiful Marissa Meyer in the midst of Yorkdale with 100+ more books to sign. Envious I was not, but grateful that she took her time to come and meet us. I cannot wait until Cress comes out and I'm hoping that she'll be back to do another signing and entertain us fans once again.

Happy Reading!!

I'm Back!!

There comes a time in everyone's life when they revert back to things they love and know. I loved blogging and I find that for the past year and a half I've missed it tremendously. And so I've made a conscious decision to come back to what I love to do.

My excuse for leaving? To put it bluntly I was in a pretty bad car accident. Recovering from the accident left little time to read and even less time to review books. On top of that my job no longer received the funding it needed to keep on going so everyone in my department was let go. With the stresses of finding a new job, overcoming pain and trying to keep myself from being bankrupt I had little to no time to do anything I loved doing.

But now I'm back and determined to do what I want to do. This past year has really opened my eyes that no matter how down life can get it's never an excuse to stop doing what you love. I let my life, my job, my inability to make anything flow right, take over every other aspect of my life. As soon as I started doing things that I loved to do again (hanging out with friends, reading, writing, walking outdoors) I found my depression to subside and a love for living life reemerge.

With that being said, I'm going to start my reviews again. I can't wait to get started and I hope you stay with me in this journey.

Happy Reading!!

Swept Up By The Words

 Gone with the Wind

Author:

Margaret Mitchell

Publisher:

Macmillan Publishers (1936)

Number of Pages:

1037

Review:

"Hunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, and God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill - as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again.” In honour of my vacation to the beautiful states of Georgia and South Carolina I decided to review one of my all time favourite novels: Gone with the Wind. There is nothing I love more than a love story, but this love story is so complex and full of tough emotional situations, tragedy galore and *spoiler alert* a not so happy ending that when I first heard about it I wasn’t sure I’d like it at all. Mind you I’ve never seen the movie *insert gasp here* and what I’ve heard of the novel/movie was always second hand information that wasn’t always accurate so you can kind of see why I was hesitant to start this 1000+ page novel. However I did pick up a copy and I promise you I am not exaggerating but I finished the novel in 2 days! I loved it even more than my love for my cell phone *insert second gasp here*! I just hope this review can do this novel justice.

Scarlett O’Hara has never known hardship in her 18 years of life. Her father, an Irish immigrant who came to America and set up a well running and wealthy plantation named Tara, has never let his girls lift a finger or known the hardships of life, thus leaving Scarlett to grow up very prim, spoiled and selfish and indulged by both her mother and head slave Mammy. She soon finds herself developing strong feelings for Ashley Wilkes and when she confesses her feelings to him he admits that despite his attraction for her he doesn’t see how their personalities could ever fit together; he then admits to her that he is engaged to Melanie Hamilton. Heartbroken, she is teased relentlessly by the charming and dashing Rhett Butler who having heard her confession of love praised her for her gumption. She often makes crude remarks to Rhett unbeknownst to her that Rhett is in fact developing very strong feelings for her. In a fit of rage and jealousy Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton in the hopes that it would make Ashley jealous. It doesn’t, but it does amuse Rhett tremendously. In the union with Charles she unwilling befriends her new sister-in-law and rival Melanie, who is as sweet as icing sugar. However her life changes drastically when the American Civil War hits her state of Georgia. Her husband is killed in action; her mother becomes ill; her father dies and her beloved Tara becomes run down and neglected. Hungry and desperate she finds a stray cow that she uses to rejuvenate her land and vows never to go hungry again. Despite her hatred for her sister-in-law she accepts Melanie and Ashley into her home in hopes of luring Ashley into loving her, and also for the extra hands on the farm. It is while on a trip to Atlanta that she befriends and seduces Frank Kennedy a wealthy business man. Honing her skills as a negotiator and ruthless business woman she manages to make a fortune in Atlanta and, leaving Tara behind for Ashley to look after, she takes over Kennedy’s business. Eventually Frank dies and in steps Rhett who after seeing her grow into the woman she’s become he offers her a proposal of marriage. She accepts. A lot happens after her marriage to Rhett but I'll leave you to figure that all out yourself.

What I love most about this novel is Scarlett herself. She is one of the strongest and fully developed female characters about which I have ever had the pleasure of reading. She’s also a woman living in a very male dominant society. It’s unheard of for a woman to be strong and callous as she in her time, after all "a woman [who] could handle business matters as well or better than a man, [was] revolutionary [for a time when women were reared] in the tradition that men were omniscient and women none too bright." Where Melanie was emotional and ever trusting Scarlett was cold-hearted and determined to succeed. 

She starts off a young idealistic child and grows into a hard brutal woman which given her circumstances one can only understand why she is the way she is because after all “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.” But she is also deeply flawed. Her schoolgirl crush is often confused with love, and having never experienced real love before, when she realizes what it really is to love and be loved it was already too late. Rhett once said: “I loved you but I couldn't let you know it. You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett." And she really was. Perhaps it was a survival mechanism, I just think she never had a chance to realize and accept real love because she doesn’t even know what love really is. I mean who does? Sometimes we all make foolish mistakes but it’s her mistakes and her accomplishments that make Scarlett so relatable and I can see a lot of myself in her. That drive for success, the ruthless personality that can only come from poverty, that desire for love, anyone in her situation could have and quite possibly do end up exactly like Scarlett.

Even though this novel takes place in a time well before our own I truly believe that it’s a story that can be put into any time frame. It really is a universal story that could happen within our very own backyards. And despite the length of the novel it is a quick read because it captures your whole attention from the very first paragraph.

Mitchell has a way with words that’s timeless. Her characters are rich in depth and emotion; even the minor characters are present as whole beings in this novel, a very rare thing to find in fiction these days.  Her prose is one of the best writing I’ve read in a long time and despite this novel being an early modern classic it's written in a way that any Joe from the block can read it; it’s not like a Tolstoy novel where you need a dictionary on hand at all times, this novel is very readable.  I think this is why it stands the test of time and is constantly on the readers’ favourites lists at local libraries; it just has this way of being relevant to any generation. It is a remarkable read and I encourage every reader young and old to pick up this novel and read it. You will not be disappointed. Don’t be like Scarlett and think to yourself: “I won't think of it now. I can't stand it now. I'll think of it later.” Instead pick it up as soon as you can and devour it, you brain as well as your heart will thank you. 

Top Twenty Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)

I am in search of a new Dictionary. Now I know you all might be thinking, why even bother buying a dictionary when all the words and their definitions are pretty much available on practically a billion websites? Well, I find that a paperback dictionary is a lot more practical for me to use because I am not always beside a computer (or a phone for that matter) while I read and my old dictionary is always available at hand for my use while I'm in my room which is where I do most of my reading anyway, plus computer screens hurt my eyes a lot, and I tend to get distracted. I might tell myself I'm going to search up this new word I had no idea existed but 2 hours later I'll find myself on ebay bidding on a candy wrapper from 1922 and I still wouldn't have any idea what  schadenfreude means. (Schadenfreude: pleasure derived from another's misfortune.)

Well in my quest for a new dictionary I've been thinking about words that are not listed in the dictionary (yet) but that are often used incessantly like derp or cinephile and thus led me to a list of my 20 favourite non-dictionous words that I decided to share with you all.

1. fugly: something that is f**king ugly
2. ginormous: bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
3. aight: a lethargic way of saying alright
4. confuzzled: confused and puzzled at the same time
5. woot: an exclamation of joy or excitement
6. swagger: used to describe a person possessing a sense of style, sophistication and confidence about how they present themselves to the world
7. chillax: chill out/relax, hang out with friends
8. cognitive displaysia: the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway
9. gription: the purchase gained by friction
10. moobs: man boobs
11. urkin: when various sports programs decide to play commercial breaks at the same time as the other networks thus leaving viewers unable to switch games during commercial
12. phat: pretty hot and tempting
13. phonecrastinate: to put off answering the phone until caller ID displays the incoming name and number
14. bogo: buy one get one...
15. slickery: having a surface that is wet and icy
16. guido: a sad excuse of a man
17. quisling: to convince yourself that you are a zombie (one of the walking dead)
18. knackered: to be exhausted
19. snirt: snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed
20. lingweenie: a person incapable of producing neologisms

How cool is this list people? Let us hope that a few of them will end up in the dictionary soon.

Netflix for Novels?

I've recently moved into a very crowded and *cough*messy*cough* little apartment and as sad as it may seem I simply have no room (or money) to support my very expensive reading addiction. I love going to my local library to browse new titles, check out new books and find those few obscure titles I never would have read had I not visited the library that day, however lets face it, I like to take out a lot of books at once, I'm not good with deadlines, and my library can be a bit inconvenient, you never get the bestsellers or blockbusters when you want them because they're almost always checked out and the waiting lists are huge. The closest library to me is a good 20 minutes drive away. Now with limited means (as well as limited gas) I cannot afford to drive back and forth from the library to home when I need to preserve my gas for work. I really can't buy any books because, right now I have no where to store them. I also can't bring back my books on time because I honestly don't know how I can get them all read in time for me to return them (nor can I remember to return them. Sometimes I think I have the worst possible memory in the world). The last thing I want is to rack up a huge debt in library fees and believe me it's happened before *sneeze*$100*sneeze*. So you all can probably assume I'm the worst library borrower in the history of borrowers. So what's a girl to do?

Well, I happened to stumble upon this very cool renting program. It's called Book Swim and it's basically a program where you can rent books for as long as you want and then return them when you're finished with them. Much like the same concept as Netflix, but what Netflix did for films, Book Swim is doing the same thing for books. The fees are reasonably priced: for less than $1 a day you can take out 7 books at a time and keep them for as long as you like, and yes this includes the bestsellers that you'd probably have to wait months to get your hands on. They're mailed right to your doorstep so there's no need for you to even leave your house. You just choose which books you want to rent online and have them send it out to your home. Once you've finished with your novels simply place them back into the pre-paid envelope and choose your next set of novels. 

While some of you have the patience to wait for the novel you want to read either through saving up to buy the novel, or waiting for it on a waiting list, I find I am not that patient. When I want to read something, I want to read it now! And I especially cannot wait at all to get my hands on a new book of a series I am reading. So while this option maybe costly to a few, to others, especially those living in small towns where their books may be limited, it is a god sent.

If course, you can always buy an e-reader, but lets face it, it's not the same as reading a real book now is it, no matter how anti-glare the screen may be.

Anyway I just thought I'd share this with you in case you were looking for an option on renting books. By the way, they rent college textbooks too, and if you've ever bought textbooks you know how expensive they can be. I love this idea and fully support it. You don't have to agree with me of course but I bet in your mind you're thinking the same thing as me: Why oh why didn't I think of this first?

Happy Reading!!!

So It's Been Awhile...

Yes I know I haven't been blogging for a while. My main (and lame) excuse is that I haven't really been finding a lot of time to read. Aside from my regular book club novels I've been putting off reading because of work. I'm currently changing jobs. My project at my former job has now ceased thus forcing me to look for other employment. On top of job hunting, I've been writing bits and pieces of my novel so that's been keeping me occupied as well, but I will start reviewing what I have been reading soon, I promise.

Can't wait to get back on track once again. Also have you all seen the Breaking Dawn Trailer?? If not I've taken the liberty to post it below.

Ahhhhhh I'm so excited. Can't wait until November, but until then I always have Harry Potter to keep me company.

*Le Sigh!

She is the one!!!!

You might remember her as the crazy girl with the meatball hair... well, I'm here to tell you, you better refresh your memory because Sailor Moon is back, and she fights for love and justice, if you don't remember her, she will punish you. Okay, she might not punish you but she sure will entertain you!!! You have no idea how excited I was (and still am) to hear that Sailor Moon is coming back! Yup you heard me, it was announced that Kodansha USA is set to re-release the popular comics in bi-monthly editions, complete with new cover art, the prequel: Codename Sailor V, as well extensive bonus materials and detailed translation notes.

Now I don't know how many of you were fans of Sailor Moon but I must say it was an obsession of mine for the longest time. I could not get enough of that cry baby and her totally awesome friends. I wanted to be her, if only for the fact that she gets to date that super dreamy hunk of a hunk Darrian. *Sigh* some girls have all the luck.

If you are a Sailor Moon fan like myself, you probably have the comic books already, but don't let that stop you from getting the newer updated versions. I myself, will be getting all of the new ones. I figured I might as well seeing as I've been missing a few of them from my collection. I cannot wait to rediscover my love for Sailor Moon and I know many of you love her as well. So if you never had a chance to collect any of the comics before I suggest you tear your eyes off the computer screen, stop watching uploaded episodes on youtube, get your butt off your bed and pre-order these phenomenal new comics. You will not be sorry.

Happy Reading!!!

The Can't Wait To Wake Up So I Can Read Some More Story.

Bedtime Story

Author:

Robert J Wiersema

Publisher:

 Random House Canada (2010)

Number of pages:

496

Review: "Turning to the first chapter, I couldn’t help myself: with the first sentence it was like I was eleven years old again, reading in the apple tree or the hayloft at my grandparents’ place in Henderson." Parents will always see their children as their little boy or their little girl. It is a fact that neither you nor I can escape. Our parents until they die will view us as the little people they’ve birthed and raised. So when I was browsing the shelves of the library and happened to stumble upon a novel called Bedtime Story it caught my interest. When I started to read the synopsis I was hooked, no doubt about it. Not only was this novel going to remind me about my parents and their unrelenting love of reading to their children, but I love novels with two separate plots written in one book, it’s like a bonus: two stories in one. So of course I jumped at the opportunity to read Bedtime Story and I must say Mr Wiersema would have made my father proud.

Christopher Knox began his writing career with a bang. He had a hit novel, a popular column, and the ambition to be the best writer in his generation. 10 years later he finds himself living above the garage of his home, estranged from his wife and still trying to write his second novel. The only thing that keeps him sane is his daily routines, one of which involves reading his young son a bedtime story every night. When David’s 11^th birthday rolls around, Christopher presents him with a novel written by one of his favourite authors from his childhood called To the Four Directions. At first the novel was discarded by David but soon he becomes so enthralled in the novel he cannot distract himself away from it until one day David has a massive seizure and falls into a catatonic state. At first devastated Christopher tries to make sense of the seizures that usually fall around the time he would read a bedtime story to David. When Christopher falls into his story routine at the hospital David’s seizures rapidly decrease yet he still remains catatonic. Christopher realizes that the novel is somehow connected to David’s inability to snap out of his coma and sets on a mission to find out what is happening to his son, all the while he is unaware that his son is trapped within the pages of the novel, trying desperately to stay alive, and find his way back to consciousness.

I absolutely adored this novel, I couldn’t put it down.  I was David; trapped within the words of Wiersema (I didn’t get a seizure thankfully). This novel, right from the very first sentence, captures your whole attention and sends the reader on an adventure of mystery, action and suspense. It also shows the true love a parent can have for their child. Where David’s mother tries desperately to come to terms with the fact that her son may never get out of his catatonic state, his father tries desperately to find a solution using theory, magic and psychics. There is a story in here that will appeal to both children and adults.  There’s David’s narration of his quest to find the healing stone that will appeal to a young adult reader while Christopher’s quest to find a cure for his son will surly capture the attention of the adult reader. And, while these days with television and the internet, it sure is nice to read a novel that advocates the joys and pleasures of reading, especially among young males. I honestly hope that our generation and the generations to come will fall in love with reading again, especially boys. There is so much joy to be had being captured for a few hours by a book. Anyway I do hope you all will get a chance to read this one. It really is worth a look.

The Goddess of Annoyance.

The Goddess of the Sea

Author: PC Cast

Publisher: Berkley (2003)

Number of Pages: 368

Review: “I will wait for you for an eternity.” How long will you wait? “For an eternity.” Wait, how long again? “A @&*%!$^ ETERNITY!!!”  I love romance novels. They’re what I pick up for a quick read, or if I feel lonely, or bored or just want something entertaining for a few hours. Romantic novels usually put me in a good mood and I feel happy or excited, or gushy, however this was not the case with PC Cast’s Goddess of the Sea.

Christina Canady aka CC is alone and drunk on her 25^th birthday so she decides to celebrate by casting a circle and summoning the powers of ancient goddesses to ignite some magic into her life. What she doesn’t expect to happen is for her Airplane to crash while being transported to the Middle East for duty, and she certainly didn’t expect to be turned into a mermaid which is exactly what happened. After finding out that she’s switched bodies with a mermaid and that the mermaid, whose body now belonged to her, has an evil step brother out to conquer her and marry her, she seeks the help of the goddess Gaea. Gaea then gives her the ability to stay human for 3 days and every third day she must return to water so that she can transform into her mermaid self.  Once the sun rises she’ll be given another three days to stay human. Her task is to find a human to fall in love with her and then she’ll be able to remain human forever. The only problem is, the goddess has taken a modern woman and dumped her in the middle ages. Not only will finding a man be difficult for her and her modern ideals but there’s a mistrusting priest out to sabotage her every move, a daft and sexist knight who lacks potential as a permanent mate, and a mysterious young merman lurking in the shadows who promises to love her and wait for her for an eternity. Torn between her need to be human and her love for the sea (and its creatures) CC must risk everything to save herself and those she loves from her evil step brother, the sneaky priest and ultimate doom.

I really wanted to like this novel. I actually enjoyed the beginning of it a lot. CC came off as an independent strong likable character. She knew who she was and wasn’t one to be pushed around. Even with such strong attributes she wasn’t able to stay likable in my mind. What came off as strengths soon turned into annoyance, many times the dialogue between her and her Goddess Mother was strained, predictable and annoying.

I also didn’t like the way men were portrayed in this novel. Sure sometimes man can be barbaric but when every male character in the novel (be they men from the past or present) are no more evolved than chimpanzees that becomes a problem for me relating to the story. I am a feminist but in no way do I like to read material that makes men out to be boorish buffoons.

The plot was also redundant and forgettable as well as the horrible writing. Of course this is a PC Cast novel and she isn’t exactly known for quality writing, however before trying to read the House of Night series, I wanted to dip my tresses into the pool that is PC Cast and came out thoroughly cold and disturbed. If the House of Night series is anything like this novel I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it. So if any of you are avid fans of PC Cast please let me know if her writing is actually worth the effort and that perhaps this one novel might have been the anomaly in the collection. Thanks in advance.

Happy Reading!!!