I know I'm such a dork, but a book about a girl ninja? That should be an awesome read.

When I first read the summery I knew I had to read the book and not I feel satisfied with my decision and I would say this book has really some action, a kick butt heroine and a plot that I can compare with Kill Bill.



Rileigh Martin lived a normal life until she fend off three mugger with courage and skills she never thought she had, also instructed by a strange voice in her mind. She wanted to believe hard that all her actions were caused by adrenaline. But Adrenaline was not the excuse of her m More...

When I picked up "Katana" by Cole Gibsen I really had no expectations and didn't know what to expect. The flow of the writing and story really just caught me. This book was stuffed full of action like you just step into the middle of a Kill Bill scene. Throw in a young woman samurai reincarnated into a young teen of today and a dash of romance and you have a kick-ass story.

Rileigh Martin is a skater girl living day to day. Until one day she fends off three muggers in the mall parking lot witho More...

Originally posted at A Bookalicious Story.

*4.5 stars* It was amazing! I think I have finally found the perfect novel with a Japanese martial arts theme. This book is phenomenal! I loved the flashbacks to 15th century Japan, I loved the undying love of the two samurais from the past, and I loved how that loved stayed true and un-cliche even till modern age. Wow.

My Summary

Rileigh Martin is a skater chick with a gay best friend, Quentin. They were shopping for a gift for the party they were about More...

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On the outside, Rileigh Martin is just your average high school senior. She spends her days in school, working, skating, or with her best friend Quentin. On the inside, she is something entirely unexpected. She is the reincarnated soul of an ancient samurai warrior named “Senshi”. Does she know this? Of course not! Then the changes begin.

One night she and Quentin are leaving the mall after a late-evening shopping trip. While in the par More...

REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/2012/...

Guys, I have been dying for Katana by Cole Gibsen ever since I read the “Buffy meets Kill Bill” comparison. And while I have never seen Kill Bill (*ducks and runs*), Katana was all kinds of awesome. It did take me a little while to get into, but once I was hooked, I was hooked!

For one thing, something crazy is happening to the main character, Rileigh, and she doesn’t just lay down and accept it when the mysterious boy tells her wha More...

Finally a book that doesn't leave me wanting to kill the heroine. Finally a novel where the heroine does not put the plot on hold to go on and on about how good looking the hero is. FINALLY JUST FINALLY A HERO THAT DOES NOT SHOW HIS LOVE BY BEING A COMPLETE AN UTTER ASS HOLE. OH FINALLY A HEROINE WHO DOES NOT WALK AROUND WANTING A DAMN PITTY PARTY BECAUSE SHE BEEN THROUGH SOME THINGS.

This was such a breath of fresh air.

Thank you Cole Gibson.




Light, funny, good dialogue, wonderful characters, won More...

I really loved how this was written. The book practically begged me not to put it down. I was so enthralled that I hated the moments I had to stop reading.

Also it's not another vampire romance novel. Those seem to be booming. Can't wait for number two.

Tickle my toes and call me slappy.

A book about a girl ninja? Awesome. I bet the author is a Nerdfighter, which makes it even more awesome.

Omg, ninja? I have to keep my eyes on this one.

Blurb:

Kill Bill meets Buffy in this supernatural samurai tale.

Rileigh Martin would love to believe that adrenaline gave her the uncanny courage and strength to fend off three muggers. But it doesn't explain her dreams of fifteenth-century Japan, the incredible fighting skills she suddenly possesses, or the strange voice giving her battle tips and danger warnings. While worrying that she's going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, More...

This book has a lot of spunk! It is very different from the books I normally read and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Cole Gibsen has a wonderfully unique voice. The main character, Rileigh Martin, is a snarky girl with lots of heart! She's a very endearing character and as the story unfolds you find yourself wanting the best for her.

Cole also writes a compelling villain. I was completely surprised at end when I found out who the "bad guy" was. I had it completely wrong!

This is definitely a book to ch More...

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. BEING IN MARTIAL ARTS MYSELF, I BELIEVE MADE THIS BOOK EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE. IF U LIKE BOOKS WITH A KICK-ASS HEROINE AND A VERY DETAILED STORY U WILL LOVE THIS BOOK! IT KEPT ME GLUED SINCE THE FIRST CHAPTER. ITS A WILD RIDE AND I WOULD RECOMEND THIS TO EVERYONE I KNOW AND PEOPLE I DONT.

This was the second book by this author that I've read. She writes YA and I've been off that lately so even though I keep thinking of this book I've been slow to get it. Three things about this author: she has a super tight writing style and biting wit I love. Also, she writes YA that is neither sniveling and whiny or no juvenile I want to jump in the book and slap all of the characters for being such big babies. Gibsen rides the line of emotionally charged and fast action so well she makes it l More...

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Well, after having a terrible few weeks filled with loads of homework, I finally had a reprieve! Today, I was able to finish Katana, a book that I had been reading for a few days. Before this book, I was actually reading Eyes Like Stars, but I couldn't get into it, so I quit and picked up this book. And guess what?! I so do not regret it!

I had high expectations for Katana, mostly because I wanted a break from the "real world". Katana was a silly story, but it d More...

“Kill Bill meets Buffy in this supernatural samurai tale.” If the publisher’s blurb grabs your attention like it did mine, then you’ll love “Katana,” by Cole Gibsen (Flux, 2012).
Rileigh Martin is a skater chick who just wants to go to her junior class’s end-of-the-school-year party, maybe hook up with this cute guy she’s had her eye on for the past year. But when Rileigh and her best friend Quentin witness a mugging in a shopping mall parking lot, something—someone—is awakened inside her. Rile More...

This book first starts off with Rileigh (cool spelling for her name, am I right?) and her best friend (who just so happens to be gay), Quentin leaving the mall when they see an older woman getting her bag stolen from her. The next thing Rileigh knows, she's gotten the purse back and fought the muggers, all without remembering it. The Muggers end up attacking again, though Rileigh beats them off again, but she ends up in the hospital. The next morning, a strange guy knows who she is, and she's ki More...

The Story- Rileigh Martin is just a normal girl living her life and spending the summer at a salon shampooing hair. Then, bang, she fights off two would be attackers using intense skills in the mall parking lot. She figures it must have been the adrenaline, but that doesn’t hold up when she starts hearing a voice in her head giving battle tips and warnings.
Things get worse as crazy ninja’s beginning following and attacking Rileigh. In steps Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rile More...

Well if Buffy ever was a samurai in a past life and could wield a katana? She'd totally be Rileigh Martin. Well maybe not totally, but definitely a lot like her.

I was gripped in the beginning of the book, not by the plot or the summary or anything particularly significant other than Rileigh's relationship with her best friend Quentin. It tugged at my heartstrings in so many ways with it's echoes of my relationship with my best friend who calls me "poodle" and my other one that calls me "Juno." S More...

This was such a fun read!!

I'd say that the last line of the summary, "Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she's always been and embracing the warrior inside her," accurately describes most of this book. Don't get me wrong there was so much going on that when I was done with it I was so disappointed because I wanted to read MORE! However, Rileigh does spend way too much time in denial about the whole reincarnation thing despite overwhelming evidence. It tends to get a bit annoying; I m More...

More of my reviews can be found at Flipping Through the Pages!

Katana has been on my to-read list for a long time and I think it's easy to say that this was one of those books that I was disappointed in, but still thoroughly enjoyed. Whilst there was SO much potential for this to be a fantastic read; reincarnation, samurais, fighting, a little romance... The delivery was unsuccessful.

As a person who loves the idea of reincarnation, having the same soul and encountering the same souls in every li More...

It all started with a quest for a toaster at the mall. Rileigh, a normal teenage girl, and her best friend, Quentin, are attacked in the parking lot, and Rileigh somehow fights off all three men. While at the hospital, she meets Kim, a hot Asian martial arts instructor, who insists she’s the reincarnation of a Japanese Samurai from 500 years ago. She thinks she’s just going crazy. But as people start coming after her, and the voice in her head and the change, almost possession, in her body happe More...

What's not to like about Katana? A gorgeous, Japanese-inspired covered with a kick-ass chick dual-wielding katanas, an intriguing and action-packed blurb evoking the classic cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Kill Bill films. I was pretty much in love from the start.

While the story turned out to be much more Kill Bill than Buffy, there was still plenty to enjoy. Young Rileigh Martin hasn't had a normal life lately. She's been having strange dreams about feudal Japan, and finds herself More...

In the interests of openness: Cole Gibsen is a friend of mine. But . . .

She did not ask me to read KATANA, or to review or blurb it. However, I asked her editor for a copy, and will definitely blurb it (if they'll let me) because I think this book rocks. The "Kill Bill" and "Buffy" comparisons are spot on, but I'd also add "Hold Me Closer, Nercromancer" by Lish McBride as an even closer spiritual companion. As in HMC,N, the main character, Rileigh, has no idea what's about to hit her, but both a More...

The story between Senshi and Yoshido was absolutely beautiful. The story between Rileigh and Kim? Not so much...

When I saw the cover and the summary, I thought, "This book is going to be so cool." Unfortunately, there wasn't as much action as I thought there was going to be. Just a lot of drama as Rileigh fights so hard against everything.

I think Rileigh was the reason why I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. She had potential to be such a great character, but she ended up being a hug More...

This was a fun story and a fun story idea, but I had some problems with it that kept me from loving it.

First, the main character Rileigh is supposedly a skater girl who is not girly. Then why is she working at a shampoo parlor? Why does she know the toaster is chrome? why does it MATTER that the toaster is chrome? If this would have just been a passing comment, it would have been fine, but I feel like there was a couple times when the main character was bemoaning that she was not more girly to l More...

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WHAT I LIKED: Sigh. Katana really had so much going for it. Samurai warriors. Reincarnation. Kicking butt with a side of romance and eternal love. Sounds like my kind of paradise. I give Gibsen major props for an original premise; I love the idea of past lives melding together and making us who we are today. Ever since I saw the movie Dead Again with my baby-doll Kenneth Branagh back in the 90s, I've been in love with the idea that we are constantl More...

Rileigh works at a beauty salon with her best friend and deals with typical teenage-parent drama; her life is pretty much normal right up until the day three muggers attack her in a dark parking lot. Rileigh wants to believe that her sudden, terrifying martial arts skill was just an adrenaline rush, but the strange voice whispering advice inside her head won't leave her alone. Then Rileigh meets Kim, a gorgeous, mysterious martial arts instructor who claims to have the answers to all her questio More...

It’s not unusual for a book to promise more than it can deliver. One can seldom blame the book itself for that, since so much time and effort from the publishers goes into making said book as marketable as possible. The temptation of a supernatural mash-up with Asian culture was one with immeasurable potential, as well as one that could easily slip into misguided cultural appropriation. On the bright side, such awkwardness is for the most part avoided. Unfortunately, this book is also just not v More...

I wasn't sure what to expect from this when I first started reading. And was even more apprehensive because the author is a fellow Apocalypsie and the last thing I wanted was to read their book and not like it. But that was not the case here. From start to finish, I was never bored. Plenty of action and building romance to keep the book going.

Katana was a long book. It did take me quite a while to get through. And the biggest issue I found was that I didn't really get a sense of urgency out of i More...