http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/72729 en-US Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:23:21 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 32005172 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:23:21 -0700 Review25398894 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25398894 to: Zombie Blondes (Hardcover) by Brian James
bookshelves: youngadult
Hannah has just moved with her father to a new town AGAIN. She can’t understand how her father doesn’t understand that he can’t run from his problems. Once she gets settled someplace they seem to get into a financial situation that her father would run away from rather than solve. It never seems to work. Her father promises that Maplecrest is going to be different. Boy was her ever right – just not in the way he meant.

Hannah is used to being the new girl in school. She has made picking out the rulers of the school an art form. At Maplecrest, they are the Cheerleaders and the Cheerleaders are led by Maggie Turner – with her pale skin, glowing blonde hair, and brilliant blue eyes, Hannah can see why she attracts so much attention.

Lukas approaches Hannah at lunch on her first day. He comes to warn her. He doesn’t want her to get pulled into the popular crowd. The popular crowd, he warns her, are flesh eating zombies that are slowly killing off the people in town. Hannah’s mind immediately flashes to all the For Sale signs she saw in the yards of the homes her and her father passed on their way into town but zombies? There was no way she was going to believe that. She could clearly see by the comic books Lukas carried with him that he was letting his imagination get carried away. While glad to have a friend at school, she didn’t like him talking about zombies and quickly put it out of her mind as crazy talk.

When the Cheerleaders approach Hannah she is both excited and nervous. Can she make the cut and win a spot on the squad? What will she have to do to be accepted by the girls?

Brian James has written an exciting horror novel set in an everyday teen setting – high school. What could be more horrifying?
]]> 32005111 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:21:26 -0700 Review25778485 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25778485 to: Vampire Kisses#5 the Coffin Club (Library Binding) by Ellen Schreiber
bookshelves: vampires, youngadult
This installment of the Vampire Kisses series is a delight. It is much better than the last couple in the series. Granted, there are still problems with the novel, like Raven ALWAYS gets out of trouble too easily and she never gets caught by the adults in her life when she is doing something she isn’t supposed to. These issues don’t take away from the storyline thought.

It’s summertime in Dullsville and Raven is chomping at the bit to get out of school. The only thing putting a damper on her plans is that Alexander still hasn’t returned from Hipsterville from reuniting Valentine with his brother and sister. The only thing she can think to do is to hop the bus to Hipsterville for an impromptu visit to her Aunt Libby’s house.

Raven takes the first opportunity she gets to head to the house Alexander and Jameson have rented. Her time with Alexander is never long enough. After a quick dinner it’s time for her to head back to her Aunt’s house. Before she goes inside though, she decides to check out The Coffin Club, the goth club she visited the last time she was in Hipsterville (even though Alexander warned her not to go there alone.)

Once inside, she immediately can tell the place has changed. It is a lot more crowded and it seems a little more intense. She is intrigued by one person in particular - a motorcycle riding, leather wearing, purple haired man. She can’t seem to take her eyes off of him. He scares her and intrigues her at the same time.

While looking around the club, Raven gets turned around and stumbles upon something called The Dungeon. The Dungeon is located underneath The Coffin Club. Some very interesting people are in attendance, including Jagger, Alexander’s long time enemy. Is it possible that Raven is in over her head this time?

Ellen Schreiber has written an enjoyable installment in Raven and Alexander’s complicated relationship. It seems clear that she doesn’t have any plans to stop writing this series. Even after 5 books, only a couple of months have passed since the beginning of the series.
]]> 32005054 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:19:12 -0700 Review25813812 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25813812 to: The Merchant of Death (Pendragon) by D.J. MacHale
bookshelves: youngadult
The Pendragon series is extremely popular at my middle school, but I’ve never read any of them for myself. So, this graphic novel is my first introduction to the series.

Bobby Pendragon is a “traveler,” but he doesn’t know it. His Uncle Press picks him up the day he is on the way to a big basketball game and takes him to an abandoned subway station. Once there, he makes it to the flume and is transported to Denduron. Bobby has no idea what he’s doing there. His Uncle hasn’t had time to explain anything. It turns out he is meant to save worlds like Denduron from disaster.

Bobby becomes very frustrated with the responsibility of saving Denduron and is asked to keep a journal of the events he is going through in order to keep everything straight and for future reference. He was given a way to send his journals to someone he trusts back on Earth and the only person he can think of is his best friend Mark. Through Bobby’s journal entries to Mark, we get the whole story of Denduron and the problems they are facing.

I enjoyed the story, but I do feel that I missed some of the story. I feel like I need to go back and read the whole story.
]]> 32004950 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:16:22 -0700 Review25845609 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25845609 to: Coraline Graphic Novel (Hardcover) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: youngadult
I was extremely excited when I saw the Coraline in graphic novel form. When the book first came out I totally fell in love with it. For a children’s book, it was completely frightening. The graphic novel does a great job of hitting the high points of the story and the illustrations are great, but I don’t think it should be used as a replacement for the original book. The illustrations that are in the book publication are even creepier than the color illustrations in the graphic novel. For example, look at this illustration of the Other Mother from the book.

If you aren’t familiar with the story at all, here is a quick summary. Coraline has just moved to a new flat with her parents. School is still a couple of weeks away so she is left to explore her surroundings including the grounds of the building and the flat itself. Her parents are extremely involved in their work and have little time for Coraline so she is left on her own a lot.

There is one door in the flat that is locked and when she asks her mother what is behind the door she is told that it leads to another flat, but the passage way has been bricked over - her mother opens the door to prove it.

Later that night, while Coraline is in bed, she hears a clicking across the floor, curious about what made the noise, she gets out of bed and creeps into the hallway. She notices the door that leads to the other flat is open. Her curiousity forces her to walk into the dark opening and what she finds is a mirror image of her own flat - including her Other Mother and Other Father.

After entering the flat next door, Coraline’s life takes a horrifying turn. She must enter a battle with the Other Mother in order to save not only her life, but the lives of several others.

This is an awesome book. You should definately read the book in addition to reading the graphic novel.
]]> 30924611 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:14:28 -0700 Review26945060 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26945060 to: Chibi Vampire Volume 5 (Chibi Vampire (Graphc Novels)) by Yuna Kagesaki
bookshelves: vampires, youngadult
Karin is a vampire - she just isn’t like her other vampire family members. Whereas they drink the blood of humans for nourishment like traditional vampires, Karin has a problem with having too much blood in her body. Her blood constantly increases. It builds up faster the closer she is to a human with the type of blood she is attracted to. If it builds up too much, it gushes out in the form of a horrible nose bleed. Sometimes if someone is around her and the time is right she can bite someone and inject the blood into them. Her problem is, she can’t erase the memories of the people she bites. She must rely on her siblings for help.

Karin’s life becomes even more difficult when a transfer student arrives at her school. Kenta Usui causes Karin’s blood to increase everytime she is around him. She has trouble just looking at him. What is even worse is the fact that Kenta witnesses Karin biting someone, becomes suspicious of her, and is determined to find out what she is doing.

Karin must attempt to control her problem and figure out how to handle her relationship with Kenta. This is an interesting concept for a story and turned out to be pretty cute and I’m glad I gave them a chance (even though I bought the first one because the main character’s name, Karin, is spelled like my first name). I’ve read 5 volumes so far and plan to read the others soon. There are novelizations and an animation series available as well.
]]> 31313382 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:41:56 -0700 Review27247166 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27247166 Bliss (Hardcover) by Lauren Myracle
bookshelves: currently-reading, youngadult
]]> 30924627 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:14:46 -0700 Review26945072 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26945072 Chibi Vampire Volume 7 (Chibi Vampire (Graphic Novels)) by Yuna Kagesaki
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 30924618 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:14:41 -0700 Review26945064 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26945064 Chibi Vampire Volume 6 (Chibi Vampire (Graphic Novels)) by Yuna Kagesaki
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 30924578 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:14:26 -0700 Review26945033 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26945033 to: Chibi Vampire Volume 4 (Chibi Vampire (Graphc Novels)) by Yuna Kagesaki
bookshelves: vampires, youngadult
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