Graffiti Moon
by
Cath Crowley (Goodreads Author)
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How to rate this book?
The Audio:
I can not tell you how much I love this reader! She is so fantastic! I think she is my second favorite (next to Carol Monda) female reader. She seriously brings this series to life. Her voice for Calla is so perfec...moreHow to rate this book?
The Audio:
I can not tell you how much I love this reader! She is so fantastic! I think she is my second favorite (next to Carol Monda) female reader. She seriously brings this series to life. Her voice for Calla is so perfect. I feel like in this book Calla is so exhausted and heart-broken and torn, and Rebecca portrays that so well. She also has distinct voices for each of the other characters, and I'm so impressed by how she maintains each voice, and I can easily identify who's speaking by the way she makes them sound. She even does a fabulous job for the male voices. I honestly forget that it is one woman reading, and that Shay, Ren, Conner and the others aren't actually talking. If you haven't started reading this series, or if you're debating on whether or not you want to pick up books 2 & 3, I suggest getting the audio. It made all the difference for me! If you're looking for a new audiobook to start, you will love this one!
The Book:
Hmmm....wow. I'm not sure I've heard or felt such mixed feelings about a book since Mockingjay. Actually, I didn't have mixed feelings about Mockingjay, I just hated it. I am completely torn about Bloodrose, however.
At a Glance:
Andrea Cremer is an amazing writer and has written a beautiful but heartbreaking story. Although I often wanted to slap some of the characters, I am still glad that I read this series and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a deeper, more complex paranormal romance......and doesn't mind having their heart ripped out.
Review:
First off, let me say that the way I feel about the characters, doesn't necessarily reflect how I feel about the writing or the story. I think Andrea Cremer is a fantastic writer and storyteller, and the entire Nightshade series was written beautifully. The pacing is often slower, which makes the audiobooks a perfect fit for me, but there is also a lot of action, mystery, heartache, betrayal, and love.
Who says you have to love the characters to love the book?
If you read my goodreads updates, you'll know that I'm not exactly a fan of Calla. I found her to be one of the most self-absorbed characters that I've ever read. She seriously frustrated me constantly, mostly about Ren and Shay, and mostly things that are complete spoilers. I think what bothered me, was that she was almost like a fake feminist. Like she really wanted to be a feminist, and she tried WAY TOO HARD at it, but still got it all wrong. Instead of being a strong female, she was manipulative, instead of standing up for herself, she hurt others, instead of having the courage to put others first, she took the cowardly route by lying and deceiving whenever it was convenient. I felt like she was the female version of a male chauvinist pig. I just wanted to scream, "YES, CALLA, WE GET IT!! YOU DON'T NEED A MAN! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO DESTROY THEM!" There was one part, where Calla forces Ren and Shay (both of whom she's endlessly stringing along and lying to) to swear their loyalty to her and then drink each other's blood in front of everyone. I mean, how absolutely humiliating and degrading! Can you imagine if Calla was a man, practically sleeping with two different girls, lying to them, then forcing them in front of everyone (who all know about him stringing them both along) to basically bow down to him and drink each other's blood? I feel like the world would explode from the feminist anger. However, toward the end of the book, Calla makes a couple of decisions that redeemed her a little for me (though she was never honest with the boys). I won't give it away, but will just say it was an act of selflessness that made me start to forgive her for her previous behavior.
Then there's Shay. UGH. I have never liked Shay. Even when I hated Ren (in book one), I still didn't like Shay. He was just so.......nothing. Seriously, it was like he just a side character that wasn't very interesting. I completely fail to see what Calla finds so appealing about him, unless it's just the fact that she can basically treat him however she wants and he'll just roll over like an abused puppy. Really, he was just not my kind of guy.
Luckily there were many other fantastic characters.
I seriously loved all the supporting characters. My favorite had to be Connor. I am in love with Connor. He was so funny, witty, charming, protective, and just so much fun to read. Every time he spoke I had a smile on my face. I adore him. Then, of course there's Ren. Ren and I have an interesting relationship. In Nightshade, I absolutely hated him. He was such a total jerk. But something happened in Wolfsbane and Bloodrose. Ren went from an arrogant, sexist, jerk, to a broken, changed and compassionate person. I absolutely fell in love with him. To think about what he had to go through as a child, and what he's learned as an adult, it just breaks my heart. I also love Sabine, Bryn, Adne, and all the other Wolves and Keepers. There were so many of them, and they all had such distinctive personalities. I don't know how Andrea kept them all straight, and kept them so true to themselves, but it was impressive!
Then there's the storyline.
The storyline was seriously imaginative and smart. It's obvious that Andrea Cremer has a brilliant mind. This was no simple story. There is so much history, backstory and originality in the Nightshade series. There's really nothing like it out there that I've ever read. I loved it and thought it was so well done. With one exception. If you've read it, you know of what I speak. I feel like this one thing that happened was an easy out, and if it had to happen, it should have been handled differently. But, I guess that wasn't up to me. :(
I have to say, that although I'm not happy with the way the ending happened, I am happy with the ending. Does that make sense? I don't know that there could be a happy ending with this book, and for me, this ending fits. It's what fits for Calla. It's not what I would want, and I still don't know that I like Calla, but I'm glad that this is the way things ended for her.
If you read Nightshade, and didn't care for it, you should definitely still give Wolfsbane and Bloodrose a chance, and I really recommend it on audio. If you read the other two, and are scared to read the third....yeah.....you kinda should be. But do it anyway!
Book Doppelgangers:
Hmmm....I'm drawing a blank. Any thoughts? Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a good werewolf book! :D
-Andye Reading Teen
Content:
Profanity: Heavy Sexual Content: Heavy Violence: Heavy
For more information, check out Bloodrose on Parental Book Reviews(less)
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I try not to read the blurb on the book jacket before I read a book. I prefer to discover the story myself without being influenced by the summary. The picture on the book jacket and the title, 'Strings Attached', were enough to spark my interest. 'S...moreI try not to read the blurb on the book jacket before I read a book. I prefer to discover the story myself without being influenced by the summary. The picture on the book jacket and the title, 'Strings Attached', were enough to spark my interest. 'Strings Attached' gives an interesting view of New York City in 1950. It is not often we get a glimpse of the underworld of the mid-20th century with the Korean War in the background. The story involves secrets and lies that bind two families together over a period of years and then ultimately tears them apart.
Kit Corrigan is one of a set of triplets who have been raised in Providence, Rhode Island by a single father and his sister. They have lived a scrape together existence, never quite sure where the rent and grocery money is going to come from. It has always been Kit's dream to be on the stage....preferably Broadway. A series of events converge to blow up relationships in Kit's home and she packs her bag and heads to the bright lights of New York City. She leaves behind an angry father, a brother who might be a homosexual, a boyfriend with a temper problem and years of deception and secrets. Kit is happy working off-Broadway until her boyfriend's father shows up one night. He is a mob-connected lawyer and makes Kit "an offer that she can't refuse". As Kit tries to reconcile relationships and understand past events, she finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into a dark world.
While the story held my interest, it also left me feeling sad and depressed. There was nothing remotely happy or even hopeful about Kit Corrigan's story. Even her happy times were tinged with negative emotion -- jealousy, regret, uncertainty, fear. The story was told well but in such a way that I didn't really care about the characters that much and every time I opened the book it was like a cloud went in front of the sun. The tone and mood was the book was very dark. I saw a mug that other day that said, "Coffee is not my cup of tea", which happens to be very true. Unfortunately, neither is "Strings Attached".
Janeth Reading Teen
Content:
Profanity: Moderate Sexual Content: Moderate Violence: Moderate(less)
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The audio:
Jenny Ikeda was fantastic reading Article 5. She just has a voice for audio, if that makes sense. She doesn't exactly sound like a teenager, which I know bothers some when listening to YA, but I don't think she sounds old either, more lik...moreThe audio:
Jenny Ikeda was fantastic reading Article 5. She just has a voice for audio, if that makes sense. She doesn't exactly sound like a teenager, which I know bothers some when listening to YA, but I don't think she sounds old either, more like early 20's. Sometimes that bugs me, but it really didn't at all with Article 5. It almost read like someone who was telling a story about what happened to her in the past, and so I thought the voice really fit. Her voice was soothing, yet engaging. She got excited when the book got exciting, and angry when the characters were angry. It was really a fantastic and exciting book to listen to. Her voices for the different characters weren't as distinct as others I've heard. This might be a problem in books where there are a lot of prominent characters, like the Nightshade series, but Article 5 was mostly narration and internal dialog, with two main characters that did the speaking, so it worked great. If you'd like to listen to a sample of her reading, you can check that out here. I absolutely recommend listening to this one! It will completely suck you in!
-Andye
The Book:
Okay, I am having tremendous luck lately with the Dystopian genre. I loved the Hunger Games trilogy (of course), Divergent, Delirium, Legend and now Article 5! Yes it deserves to go in with the Hunger Games category of best Dystopians ever. The storyline was phenomenal, adventurous and a roller coaster ride. The story was set years and years from now. Everything was illegal... owning certain magazines to having an affair. You could be locked up for anything in the world that Ember and Chase live in.
Ember was the main character, she was such a sad girl. Ember only had her mom, she and her were so close. I loved Ember's character, she went through so many ups and downs in Article 5, she was always a trooper. Ember sometimes was a little naive. She wouldn't let Chase protect her fully. She was constantly distrusting of everyone and she risked her life and a few lives of others to find her mother after they were separated. I did get very frustrated with Ember at times, her distrust of certain people put her own life into jeopardy. Multiple times!
Chase was an excellent addition to this book. He was mysterious and he took care of business. Chase cared for Ember but ever since he became a soldier they drew apart. I liked how the author wrote Chase's character. He was sensitive when he needed to be and a fighter when it was time.
I would say read this book as soon as it's released. It had several holes in it that annoyed me, but only a little, and the rest of the story made up for what was lacking. Article 5 was amazing and such a nail-biter. Seriously, if you like non-stop action with some pretty intense moments/scenes, you'll LOVE this book! The tension in Article 5 was really hard core, the book wasn't scary but really dramatic. I doubt I would have made it out alive if I were Ember, but maybe if I had Chase at my side, I would at least enjoyed the near death experiences.
-Amy Reading Teen(less)
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My 11-year-old daughter read this and absolutely LOVED it. She hasn't stopped talking about it for days!
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The Audiobook:
There are not enough ways that I can tell you how much I adore these audiobooks. Having listened to both The Demon King and The Exiled Queen, hearing the voice of Carol Monda was like hearing an old friend. I just loved it. If I had ...moreThe Audiobook:
There are not enough ways that I can tell you how much I adore these audiobooks. Having listened to both The Demon King and The Exiled Queen, hearing the voice of Carol Monda was like hearing an old friend. I just loved it. If I had to choose the best female audiobook reader I've ever heard, it would be Carol Monda. She absolutely brings these stories to life. Her voice is perfect for this type of book. The world that Chima creates is fantastical, and Carol has the ability to take these books one step further and really helps you completely immerse yourself in this world. Many times when reviewing an audiobook, I think you'll have the same experience reading or listening, but this is one of those times where I think listening to the audiobook trumps reading it on your own. If you like fantasy at all....please....get this on audiobook!!
The Book:
The Demon King was really good. The Exiled Queen was fantastic. The Gray Wolf Throne was amazing!!
This series has everything that you could possibly want. It's like a mix between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, with quite a bit more romantic tension to top things off.
Magic, danger, betrayal, fighting, war, love and romance, this book had all the things I love most in a story. I love when a writer is able to show all sides of a story, and go in all different directions with the different characters, then somehow bring it all back together, weaving it into one tale, where the smallest action from one character can change the course of another character's life.
Han and Raisa are phenomenal characters. Raisa is such a fighter. I think that she is my new favorite female character in a book. And Han....wow!! I want one! Yes. That's is all.
There are very few books out there that evoke the passion and longing and excitement that this book has given me. If you like fantasy at all, read it! READ IT!! You will thank me later!
-Andye <a href="http://Readingteen.net>Reading Teen</a>(less)
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