Okay folks! True story: Kaitlin and I went to college together, and I recall many a-time we spent eating breakfast/lunch/or dinner together at the sam...moreOkay folks! True story: Kaitlin and I went to college together, and I recall many a-time we spent eating breakfast/lunch/or dinner together at the same table with a group of other awesome people! But I want it to be known just because I know Kaitlin doesn't mean I won't give this a fair and honest review! And with that, Kaitlin, I love you, and I'm so proud of you! No matter what may follow ;-)
Valeria is the first steampunk book I've read. The genre is not appealing to me but of course if a friend of mine writes a book, I'm going to read it no matter what. I always love fairytale retellings so the Rapunzel aspect had me quite interested! Though having said that, I think this was a good "first" for steampunk because it wasn't overly complicated and boring with the technology and its terminology.
Kaitlin's writing is great! It's not too complicated but not too simple. Somewhere nicely in the middle, which I completely liked! The storyline is very sweet and cutesie, if not predictable (I even predicted the ending before it happened). But it was a very quick read, and I enjoyed reading it. And for some strange reason, even though Valeria has this long, flowing golden locks, I kept picturing her as Robecca Steam from Monster High:
(haha even though Valeria isn't a robot :p) She even sounded like Robecca in my head!
BUT, however, there are some things I didn't quite like so much. First, I say this out of much love to you Kaitlin and as something to pay attention to as you continue to gift us with books - be aware of repetition. The phrase "Mache blinked." was so present, had I kept count I'm sure the count would have reached at least 20 times. Though the image she was going for was clear in my head (I knew exactly the look on his face), reading it so many times, and sometimes two times on a single page was getting to be a bit much (however, I forgive most of this because... first published novel!)
The other thing I didn't like was the rushed ending. I was left wondering a number of things: (view spoiler)[1) What had the CEO exactly done to Mache? Had his eyes been removed? Had they just been damaged? Did she hurt him in any other way? What exactly had happened? 2) Why had Mache, who had very few memories of anything after the attack been so open and not questioning of Valeria's incredible affections after they were reunited? He had no idea who this woman was but didn't mind her snuggling up to him, kissing him, and who knows what else... I found that a bit peculiar. I know at one point it says "Slowly it became less strange" but I never got the impression Mache found it strange because his behavior didn't indicate that it was. And 3) What exactly did Valeria do to return his vision to him? She said she made a ring that would return his vision but... that's pretty vague. What kind of ring? One he wears on his finger? One that was implanted into his brain? But then she tells him she hasn't turned them on... so are they fake eyes that have been implanted...but what about the ring? (hide spoiler)] Knowing the author allows me the privilege of asking her these questions and perhaps she wanted all of that to be vague, I get that...but it still left me with my eyebrow slightly raised.
BUT despite all that, I am so proud of Kaitlin and so happy for her! I hope many more books are to come and I don't discourage anyone from reading this (duh! I know her so of course you should read it!) I have a handful of friends who would love to be writers and it isn't an easy process, so it's exciting when one does just that, and I wish her the best of luck on her future novels! (less)
The first book I checked out from the library on my Kindle!
I liked the story - it was easy and fun. The Kindle edition was in some serious need of edi...moreThe first book I checked out from the library on my Kindle!
I liked the story - it was easy and fun. The Kindle edition was in some serious need of editing... there were no indicated spaces when time had passed (such as paragraphs being a few spaces apart or those little details that let the reader know some time has passed between the paragraphs) so at first I was really confused when I came across this because the text just kept flowing. Then I realized there was supposed to be a space or something to signify time change...but after I figured that out, I was able to figure out those on my own.
This book was easy to read. The writing is pretty basic, but it's a teen book and it's written in a way teens will enjoy. I look forward to reading the next one!(less)
I find these books extremely hilarious! Though, I definitely will be buying them in book format from now on. This one was on my Kindle and it was fine...moreI find these books extremely hilarious! Though, I definitely will be buying them in book format from now on. This one was on my Kindle and it was fine but with the pictures it chopped things up and was slightly irritating. Also I found from the middle to the end there was a lot of typos and spelling errors (unsure if this was the editting from book to e-book or mistakes from the actual book - but editors pay closer attention! Lol)
But oh man, there was one part of the book I was like AMEN about because it's so true! And of course I will share:
WHAT THE F*#! IS UP WITH... AMERICANS BEING THREATENED BY ILLEGAL ALIENS Illegals are taking our jobs away! Ille-gals are taking our jobs away! Illegals are taking our jobs away! You hear this all the time on certain cable news networks. Yes, illegal aliens - many of whom come from Mexico and other Central American countries - are taking our jobs away. But they're the shitty ones. The kind of jobs "real" Americans won't do - like pick strawberries or mow a lawn all day. You know, there's a word for grown American men who need to wash dishes for a living, it's called "loser." Look it up. Oh wait, redneck moron, that would require the ability to read.
Right! Way to stick it to 'em Greg and Jodi!!
Also, I gotta say... if you read these books and get offended, you're a moron. Just Saiyan. (yup, I said it and I really don't care if I've offended you...because you're still a moron)(less)
Bwahaha!! The title of this book is too much for me to handle! I read the free sample for my Kindle and decided the 99 cents I'd sp...moreActual rating: 3.5
Bwahaha!! The title of this book is too much for me to handle! I read the free sample for my Kindle and decided the 99 cents I'd spend on this no doubt horribly hilarious book would be worth it! XD
And it was! I cackled through this whole thing! The story itself was absurd and stupid (in a good way) but well written in parts. I really hope Andersen Prunty writes more stories about the Grassville Gang (if he hasn't already)!
Best line in the whole book: [in regards to Brock's fake body parts]: No one was sure where the penile parts came from but it was so racially diverse it was the genital equivalent of a college brochure.
Well well, I FINALLY got around to reading one of Lance Carbuncle's books! About darn time.
I really wanted to love this book because I have spoken to...moreWell well, I FINALLY got around to reading one of Lance Carbuncle's books! About darn time.
I really wanted to love this book because I have spoken to the author a few times through Goodreads and he is a pretty righteous dude so I wanted to read this book and go "IT WAS AMAZING!! CARBUNCLE IS A GENIUS!" and give it 5 stars, but I want to be honest, so I will.
First, Carbuncle IS a genius! He is quite hilarious. I loved reading his "Muchas Gracias" section and some of the jokes he made in the end notes were funny. The book, however, did not live up to my expectations. Though the book isn't bad, I did enjoy reading it, it just wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be.
Having said that, there were a handful of things I really loved - First, Aunt Turleen. Oh my, she was the greatest! I loved her! Second, the animals! The dogs, Idjit Galoot and Stubs (which makes me excited to read Carbuncle's first book Smashed Squashed Splattered Chewed Chunked and Spewed because it is about Idjit Galoot) and the donkey, Alf the Sacred Burro. Third, Grundish. I really, really, REALLY liked Grundish a lot...which only made me really dislike Askew A LOT! I was totally going "How can you do that to a brotha!?" through most the book because I was so loyal to Grundish. And now, having said THAT, despite the fact that the book let me down, it was very well written. I genuinely cared about some of the characters, and even at the end I was a little sad at the outcomes for some of them. A sign of good writing! And also, there were some great, funny moments.
So, throw it all together, the book wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't as glorious as I had hoped. However, it does not turn me off from this author, and I will read his first book and anything else he writes from here on out!(less)