Gretchen C. Hohmeyer's Blog, page 55

Och Wheesht and Get Oan Wit It!*

The fastest way to start this trip off with a bang is by starting in Edinburgh, Scotland. My school does a five day little add on trip at the start of the London semester that you can opt in to so you can explore this gorgeous city during festival season. I took full advantage of it.

Of course, there’s all the traveling to get there. I left my house at 7:30AM EST, boarded a connector flight at 11AM EST and landed in JFK at about noon. My plane to London didn’t leave until 7:30PM EST. Then it was seven plus hours to Heathrow airport, where we boarded a coach to the school center that took about a half an hour. Some waiting ensued, and our train to Edinburgh left King’s Cross Station at a few hours later. Five hours later, we showed up in Scotland, tired of traveling and everything else but unable to sleep because JETLAG. Do yourself a favor and don’t count my travel hours. They made me a little ill.

BUT. The next day the adventures could begin!

The school scheduled some events for us, but a lot of time was also left to ourselves, which you’ll soon see. Our first scheduled event was a bus tour around the city with a guide. I took way too many pictures of the architecture. Seriously. Like 60.

I’m not going to bore you with this day by day itinerary, don’t worry. But I can’t help but mention the fun times had at Camera Obscura, an optical illusion interactive museum, where we all shuffled through a mirror maze and screamed through the Vortex Tunnel. There was also the Edinburgh Dungeons, which I really didn’t want to go to but ended up having a great time. These two were choices by my friends, which were very, very good choices for attractions.

The school got us into Edinburgh Castle, where we had a fantastically sarcastic and also good looking tour guide. They also brought us to Arthur’s Seat, the hike of which I was not prepared for in any sense. (I was not warned to bring a mountain pony and sherpas. I was wearing knockoff Converse for goodness sake.) They helped us partake in the Film Festival, however the play we watched left even those majoring in the theatrical arts scratching their heads.

Thankfully, my friends and I got our own tickets to see Sh*tfaced Shakespeare. Ah, serious theatre.

And yes, there was some drinking of my own involved. Turns out I really, really like the UK acceptance of cider. Who knew?

I didn’t expect to love Scotland as much as I did; I don’t know why. I literally turned to a friend and said, “I hope I like London as much as I like Edinburgh.” After all, a majority of my four months was about to be spent in a city I had yet to see. As our train headed out of Edinburgh Waverly and headed towards King’s Cross, I could only cross my own fingers.

*Dear Sam – I swear this was the title of this post before I saw what you’d titled yours.

Tally Ho and Away We Go

So you may have noticed that, lately, there hasn’t been too much book blogging done here. There’s a reason for that. The reason is just that I am a little burned out. Reading for reviewing plus school plus life finally pushed me over the edge, and the few books that I did read over the summer that weren’t for Bibliomancy for Beginners I kept to myself, just so I could read them knowing that all I had to think about was whether I myself was enjoying it or not. And that was great.

I had hoped that maybe I’d be able to get some more reviews up here, and we’ll see how that goes. Because another important thing has happened.

I’m not in the United States of America anymore, and I won’t be for the next four months. I’m studying abroad in London!

I have my Kindle and its backlog of ARCs. I have the e-books I’ll be buying while I’m here. With school only being four days a week and my very tiny budget, I have to assume that some of my weekends will be spent with tea and a good story. Will there be blogging that goes along with it? I don’t know! It’s all an adventure.

One thing I WOULD like to do is keep myself thinking about all the stuff that I’m doing. Not much – maybe just a weekend London post kind of thing. If you know anything about me, you know that I’m going to have a LOT to say about many bookish, artsy and crazy things. So. Instead of doing a weekly post round up or a book haul, a brand new feature I’d like to do (hopefully!) will be about my life in London (and beyond!) I’m already here and a little behind because of a lack of an internet connection, so the first couple will come out pretty fast and then slow down to every weekend. Still with me? Excited? Awesome.

Tally ho and away we go!

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury

Better late than never! Today three Bibliomancers take on the classic The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It’s one of Taylor’s picks, and naturally he loves it and I hate it so get ready for some awesome verbal sparing!

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “The Falconer” by Elizabeth May

It’s time again for my pick for book club! I chose The Falconer by Elizabeth May, which has–at least–a really great cover. This one is sure to have a great debate about YA and why I liked this one and Taylor and Michaela didn’t. Check in for a great discussion about this book and YA lit in general!

Heiress. Debutant. Murderer. A new generation of heroines has arrived.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.

Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.

But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline

This episode of Bibliomancy for Beginners features some AMAZING things, so you will NOT want to miss it! For one, me and Rachel are in the SAME CAMERA – crazy, right? For two, it features the first time since our 13 Days of Misfortune that we’ve featured a guest reader and reviewer! Time to shake things up!

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. 

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved — that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. 

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. 

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. 

A world at stake. 

A quest for the ultimate prize. 

Are you ready?

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures” by Walter Moers

As promised, the episodes that I forgot! This one features just Michaela and Taylor, as Rachel and I were both unable to get the novel. However, that doesn’t mean it’s one you can miss! Check it out now!

Rumo is a little Wolperting – a domesticated creature somewhere between a deer and a dog – who will one day become the greatest hero in the history of Zamonia. Armed with Dandelion, his talking sword, he fights his way across Overworld and Netherworld, two very different realms chock-full of adventures, dangers, and unforgettable characters: Rala, the beautiful girl Wolperting who cultivates a hazardous relationship with death; Urs of the Snows, who thinks more of cooking than of fighting; Gornab the Ninety-Ninth, the demented king of Netherworld; Professor Ostafan Kolibri, who goes in search of the Non-Existent Teenies; General Ticktock, the evil commander of the Copper Killers; Ushan DeLucca, the finest and most weather-sensitive swordsman in Zamonia; Volzotan Smyke, the corpulent Shark Grub; Rolv of the Forest, a Wolperting who can pass through the White Fire; Yggdra Syl, the guardian of the Nurn Forest and its talkative animals; Professor Abdullah Nightingale, inventor of the Chest-of-Drawers Oracle; and, the worst of luck, the deadly Metal Maiden…

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “The Way of Shadows” by Brent Weeks

No, the Bibliomancers haven’t gone missing! Busy schedules between the four of us have made this life crazy, but we’re still trying to bring you our sassy faces. I’m a bit behind on posting links, so I’ll catch up on the back log soon. IN THE MEAN TIME, don’t miss tonight’s live episodes on The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks!

ARC Review: “The Forever Song” by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song (The Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa

Goodreads | Amazon

Vengeance will be hers.

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

Monster.

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions – her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost – the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie. 

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

THE FINAL HUNT IS ON.

4 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and HarlequinTeen for this eARC! This title is now available.

WARNING: This review will have spoilers for the first two books. If you’re interested in the series, check out my reviews of The Immortal Rules (#1) and The Eternity Cure (#2)!

So if you read my reviews of the first two books, you know that I was completely blown away by the first one and fairly underwhelmed by the second one. Rather predictably, the final installment was right in between those two feelings.

One of the biggest detractors of this story for me was the constant traveling. Again. In #1, Allie goes from New Covington to Eden. Then she goes from Eden to New Covington. In this one, she goes back to Eden AGAIN. I understand that Eden is a super important place, but all the traveling back and forth between the same exact places got a bit dull. They even revisited Jackal’s old haunt of Old Chicago–even though that was pretty cool.

The story starts out with Allie in such a bad place that she’s letting Kanin down. She’s distraught over Zeke’s death and isn’t handling it well. This makes Jackal super happy, though, because he isn’t the only disappointment. The Allie and Jackal scenes are still probably my favorite things, because he dispenses a cynical sort of wisdom while being as sassy as all get out.

Actually to be honest Jackal in any capacity is my favorite part of the books.

But of course Allie’s good side wins out eventually, because of certain events that would be spoilery. I did enjoy the battle for good and evil within herself, even if I did begin to find a lot of stuff redundant from the first book. There was an added level to it this book that made it different enough.

There was a lot more action throughout this book than the last two, which was really great to see. Right from the get-go they were all fighting for their lives in a number of crazy situations. This made this book feel much faster than the last two, despite the amount of traveling still happening.

The ending is where stuff got a little funky for me. For the most part, it was really good. But there were just a few things that happened that just seemed like “…really?”, deus ex machina kind of stuff. At the very least, the ending showed them all being very true to the characters that they had become and that was important because Jackal and Allie especially drove this book through their characters arcs.

All in all I would call this series solid. It’s still a great one for people looking to return to a “realer” kind of vampire. Romance is still a theme, sadly, but not in the creepy Twilight way or anything. The books get more action packed as they go along, and the main characters (Allie especially) are written quite brilliantly. Still a recommend from me!

Bibliomancy for Beginners: “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein

It’s another episode of Bibliomancers, and today is my pick for books you should ALL READ! I chose Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, which . (For kickers, check out Marina’s review of the follow up book Rose Under Fire.)

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called “a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel” in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

Review: “Sweet Reckoning” by Wendy Higgins

Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3) by Wendy Higgins

Goodreads | Amazon

It’s time. 

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

3 1/2 stars

Warning! This review WILL have spoilers for Sweet Evil  (#1) and Sweet Peril  (#2)!

In my review of the first book, I moaned about the character of Anna being blah and swooned over the sexiness of Kaidan. My basic feel was that it wasn’t worth the hype it was getting. In my review of the second book, Anna was still blah and Kaidan was still swoon-worthy. However, despite it’s “middle book syndrome” I declared that this series was a guilty pleasure I just couldn’t quit, despite questionable plot choices.

Quite frankly, this book is exactly the same.

I will say, this book was probably the most fast paced of the series, with the highest stakes. Everyone, from the dukes to Anna and her friends, are picking sides and grabbing weapons. There’s no more posturing, like in the last book.

Anna, though, is still stubbornly “sweet,” as the description calls her. She has a few moments of being drawn to drugs and alcohol, but they’re fairly blase considering the potential. Her only fault seems to be loving too much.

Kaidan, though, man. Kaidan. From Sweet Evil to Sweet Peril he took a jump to being way more 3-D than Anna, and this book is no exception. He’s sexy and he’s sweet and he’s scared and he’s brave. His struggle against his demonic nature is real, but so is his ability to fight it. I could marry this guy.

The whole Kaidan versus Anna thing mentioned in the description is not a big of a part of the plot as the blurb makes it seem, which was disappointing. Still, watching Kaidan try to protect Anna and stand up to his dad at the same time was pretty great.

The pals also make a reemergence in this one, in a big way. Anna’s “army” may be tiny, but I love each and every one of their personalities in a big way. It isn’t often that this many characters can be so unique and lovable, but this is done well here.

SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!

Kaidan and Anna’s whole big thing in the last book was that they couldn’t have sex because Anna needed to stay “pure” to wield the sword. This becomes a problem when Kaidan’s dad summons her, since he can smell virginity. Anna’s dad of all people decides the only way to fix this is for Kaidan and Anna to get married. REALLY? Of course they get mushy and gushy and say yes and then all their problems stem from trying to conceal that bond from the twins’ dad. Oy. (Believe it or not, this is also a smaller part of the book than I thought it would be. Other than the fact that this means they can have sex now.)

SLIGHT SPOILERS END

There is actually a death of one of the main characters by the end of this book, in a way that I totally did not expect. Given the mushy-gushy of the series most of the time, I didn’t believe that would happen. Since you know this death is coming for a while, it really aids to the whole higher stakes feel of this book. Besides this poor character, everyone else gets to be happily paired off and do the whole fight for love thing.

All in all, the ending was pretty good. It contained nothing I didn’t expect and wasn’t particularly heart pumping. The epilogue, however, bowled me over with the mushy-gushy in a way that made me squeal and cry and do some other things. KAIDAN, GUYS.

Basically, this series is still a great guilty pleasure for me. It’s steamy, the guy makes me fall over myself to swoon, and the plot is engaging enough to keep me entertained. I do love the concept, even if I think it was under used. The paperbacks are cheap enough that I would suggest a buy of at least the first one if you’re looking for a new swoon-read, and say as a definite for searching out in the library. I came for Kaidan and stayed for Kaidan, and he didn’t disappoint!