Timeless by Alexandra Monir

What would you do if you have fallen in love with a man who only existed in your dreams? What if you found out that he was real but existed in a different time? What would you do to be with that person? What would you give to be with that person forever? 

Michele Winsor had a recurring dream. She had been having the same dream about a handsome blue-eyed man in a mirror and a skeleton key. She feels that she knows the person in the mirror but she couldn’t tell who it was, where they met or how she knew him. As for the key, she doesn’t recognize it at all. But she was curious as to why she kept on getting the same dream but that wasn’t going to be answered until later in the book. 

Michele lived a simple life with her mother. She never knew who her father was because he left them when she was young and never returned. Still she was happy and contented even if they weren’t living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. 

Her life crumbled after the death of her mother Marion. She didn’t know how to move on because she was the only family she ever had. 

Now that her mother passed away her legal appointed guardians now were her grandparents who lived in New York. She was told that she had to leave her friends in California and move to New York to live with the Winsors. 

The Windsors were filthy rich. They were considered as one of the richest family in New York. Michele didn’t know how rich they really were until she arrived at the Winsor mansion which was too ostentatious for her taste. She preferred to be with her mother in their bungalow in California but she knew that wasn’t going to happen anymore. 

The Winsor mansion was not only huge and extravagant but it also holds her family’s history. At her room in the mansion, she found out that most of the Windsor girls actually stayed in her room even her mother. She was exploring her room when she came across a locked drawer. She didn’t have the key but she had an idea. 

Rummaging through her mother’s stuff she found a key. The same skeleton key she had seen in her dreams. She tried to use the key to open the locked drawer which miraculously opened the drawer. 

Inside the drawer was a diary. As she flipped through the first entry she was unexpectedly sucked inside the diary where she landed in her own bedroom back in 1901. 

As she goes back in time, she learns about her family and most of all she learns about who the man in the mirror is. 


REVIEW: 

After reading “The Time Traveler’s Wife” I haven’t read any other books related to time travel. I loved the Time Traveler’s wife but reading it got me confused with all the jumping of time and stuff. With Timeless it was different; the flow of the book was fluid and continuous. It was not confusing since it was happening continuously. This book was narrated in the third person which I thought was great. Everything that was happening to Michele in the past and in the future was simultaneous so it won’t confuse you unlike in Time Traveler’s wife. 


The story started off with a dream which I really liked. 


Michele Windsor was down to earth and very simple. I liked that. She was raised well by her mother because even if she knew that she belonged to a rich family that didn’t get to her. She was a very likeable character. She falls in love with Philip. She continues to travel back in time not only to be with him but also to help the Windsor girls with their issues. She learned that what she does in the past definitely affects the future so she made every action and moment count. 

Philip Walker was the man in the mirror. He was the blue eyed guy that Michele has been dreaming of. He fell in love with Michele even though he knew that she was from the future. He was a musician which drew me to him. He was everything that a perfect gentleman should be. (You would see why I said so). He kept his promise and that made me so happy by the end of the book I was still crying. I thought he wouldn’t be able to do it but he did! :) 

Marion Windsor was a cool mom. She kind of reminds me of myself. I am a single mom and I know how hard it is to raise a child all on your own. She did a pretty good job in raising Michele. She didn’t go back to her parents after Henry left. She continued to live the life she chose even if the love of her life left her alone leaving her with a key and their daughter. 

Dorothy and Walter Windsor were Michele’s grandparents. I think they were definitely keeping something from Michele regarding her father. Michele somehow has a clue because of what happened when she was in the past but still I think there was something else that they were hiding. 

Caissie Walker was a good friend. I mean its not every day that you meet someone who would believe you if you say that you could travel back in time.

This book was the first in the series so you should expect that the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger but in a good way. I didn’t expect how it ended to tell you honestly. 

I was in tears as I was nearing the end of the book. I thought that it was not going to have a happy ending. Boy was I so surprised! I won’t go into details on that because that part would ruin everything. The ending for me was the highlight of the book. 

Love knows no boundaries. Love knows no time. Love knows no obstacles. To be with the person they love they would do anything or everything they could to be with that person. No one or nothing could ever tear two hearts apart. 

I have been listening to one of Joshua Radin’s songs “When I find you” which fits Timeless. 

“Oh I need you to know today 
I’ll wait for you always. 
Oh I need you to know today 
I’ll wait for you always. 
Coz when I find you 
I’ll find me” 

This book is totally a 5! I hope the next book gets released soon. 
.

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Now that Meghan is the Iron Queen, Ash could no longer be her knight. Iron was poison to the regular fey and aside from that he was banished from the Iron Realm. But before he left Meghan, he made a promise that he would find a way for them to be together. 

Ash wanted to be human so that she could be with Meghan in the Iron Realm. 

Grimalkin, the cat-who-knows-everything, leads Ash and Puck to the person who could tell them how to get a soul because in order for one person to be human, he/she should have a soul. They need to find the Seer who could tell them where Ash could get a soul. 

Ash, Puck, Grimalkin, the Seer and an unlikely character have to journey to the End of the World to earn Ash’s soul. 

The road to the end of the world was not easy. They encountered obstacles and hindrances along the way. 

The biggest struggle that they encountered was not the tests or the creatures that they faced but it was Ash himself. 

THE REVIEW: 

The Iron fey series was really an addicting one. I used to wonder why people were addicted to this series and now I know why. 

I must commend the author for making the ending so damn good! :) Making the ending told in Ash’s point of view was just GENIUS. 

I was not sure how long Ash’s journey has been but it did say a lot of things about him. The author really did a good job in filtering out the need to know about Ash in the first three books and completing all the missing pieces of Ash in the fourth book. Ash did things that he was not proud of but was never mentioned in the first three books but in the Iron Knight everything about him will be revealed. 

I was a little disappointed in him on most part of the book because of something that has to do with his past. I won’t mention anything because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. There was this side of Ash that you will see here that you haven’t seen before. 

The process that he has to overcome to be human was not easy. But I find his trials very necessary for him to have his soul. It was brilliant. 

Puck showed how much a true friend he really is. I love Ash to the core of my being but still Puck would always be my FIRST love. He never left Ash’s side. I think he came with Ash not just because he was guilty about what happened to Ariella or he was doing it for Meghan but because he wanted to be with his best friend again, possibly rekindle their friendship. It was touching really. Even though Ash was pushing him away, he still stood by Ash all the way. 

Grimalkin was the best cat ever. I wish I have a cat like him. Hahaha. It was funny because this cat got them out of most of the troubles that they encountered. What would they do without Grimalkin? 

The Seer? Hmmm. I didn’t like her at all. Tsk tsk. No further comment on that 

The Iron Knight was an excellent read. It didn’t disappoint. It went way above and beyond my expectation. There weren’t really enough words to describe how I felt for this series. Too bad it’s over. But I heard there would be a spin off. I wouldn’t miss that for the world! 

A SOLID 5 FOR THE IRON KNIGHT! :) 

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

“I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brush strokes of color swirled into the canvas. He was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen – everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable… Utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. He was trapped within his golden painting.

I’ve crossed over into his world within the painting and I’ve seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked – bond together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. And unless I can free him soon, things will only get darker still.”

Lord Denbury’s portrait was the talk of the town. Everyone was curious to see the mysterious lifelike portrait of Lord Denbury. Everybody including Natalie Stewart.

Natalie never uttered a word after her mother’s death. All she had was a journal which she uses to collect her thoughts and communicate to others.

When Natalie heard about Lord Denbury’s painting she was as curious as everybody else was about what the portrait would be like. She was not a firm believer of the supernatural until she sees the portrait. A very strong urge to touch the portrait overwhelmed her. When she finally did touch the painting she found herself tumbling over to a room different from where she was moments before she touched the painting. She was inside the portrait with no other than Lord Derbury himself.

I loved Dorian Gray. It was one of the reasons why I got extremely excited to read this book. Darker Still was a very beautiful and engaging read. A novel like this was not something that you come across every day. It was very unique but not entirely original. I still loved reading every moment of it. Ms. Hieber’s writing was incredible.

The characters were very likeable.

Natalie was my kind of heroine. I’ve mentioned in all of my previous reviews that I admire girls who ooze with girl power and Natalie was a perfect example. Despite her inability to speak (at first) she did not let people talk down on her. She wanted to prove to everyone that she has the capability to do things even if she can’t speak. She was brave and daring. We usually read about girls being saved by the guys but here it was the other way around. Natalie was determined to find a way to save Lord Denbury and she did of course with the help of Mrs. Northe who I adore as well.

I admit it. I have a thing for English guys. Hahaha. Jonathon Whitby, Lord Denbury. *Sigh*. The gentleman in distress. Obviously if I was in Natalie’s shoes I’m sure I would have done the same thing. I would have risked everything if the price would be the blue-eyed Lord Denbury. Hahaha. Way to go Natalie!

The whole book was an amazing read. The setting, the story, the characters, the plot, the pacing of the story was perfect for me.

Five stars!!! :)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

WOW!

Surreal. Amazing. Unique. Remarkable. Surprising. Astonishing. Outstanding. Gosh I am not sure how I could put it in words.

I loved every minute of reading this book. There are no words to perfectly describe how I felt as I was reading this.

Mara knew there was something wrong with her. She knew something was happening to her and she doesn’t know what.

Mara and her friends decided to stay in an abandoned asylum one night. The building collapsed killing her friends but she on the other hand miraculously survived.

She convinced her parents to move to get away from everything that has happened. She was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was common for trauma patients but what her family doesn’t know that what she was experiencing was more than just PTSD.

Mara was seeing things. She gets nightmares. She hallucinates about her dead friends. You think that’s weird? That’s not the weird part. You will have to read the book to find out. :)

Mara was a great character. Not everyone could handle the trauma that she went through. Losing your friends like that could really push you through the edge. She was a strong person and I liked characters like that. I liked the way she talks. She has that I-won’t-take-crap-from-anyone kind of attitude and I liked that.

Then there’s Noah Shaw. My Noah! I found my new book BF! Ahaha. What makes Noah different apart from being good looking? Well he’s sweet and he is not a hypocrite. He was honest to Mara about everything even about sleeping with other girls (I think). He genuinely wanted to help her because he understood what she was going through. Noah was the type of guy I would fall head over heels in love with and seriously am right now. :)

I could understand why Mara’s mom was always looking after her. She wanted to protect Mara. She was a mother it was natural for her to feel protective of Mara. Her brother Daniel was so cool. I wish I had a brother like him too bad I’m the eldest. I liked her friend Jamie and I hope I get to see him in the next book. And as always there is the Queen Bitch. Hahaha. There would always be one and in this book it was Anna. If I met someone like her I would crush her skull myself (how morbid). Just kidding!

I think the book was well written. I could almost feel what Mara was feeling as I was reading. Ms. Hodkin wrote this book in a way that you would feel what the characters were feeling. Sometimes when Mara was having these hallucinations I could sometimes feel my heart pounding with excitement anticipating what would happen next.

For the ending, you have to watch out for the ending! It caught me by surprise. Honestly!

This book is definitely a favorite. I can’t wait for the next book. I give this book a perfect 5! 

The Next Day by John Porcellino

Summary from Goodreads:


Every year, nearly one million people die from suicide. More than 20 times as many people attempt it.... What if they had waited just one more day? The Next Day is a groundbreaking graphic novella constructed from intimate interviews with survivors of near-fatal suicide attempts. In this poetic and profound philosophical exploration, four seemingly ordinary people each offer haunting personal insight into life, the decision to end it, and what comes after. The Next Day graphic novella is an exciting hybrid of documentary film and comic book, cowritten by former social worker Paul Peterson and filmmaker Jason Gilmore, and illustrated by acclaimed cartoonist John Porcellino. Here is a preview look at this moving work.

My Review:

This graphic novel was based on a series of interviews with four people who survived suicide attempts. Each character have their own story to tell. 

Suicide is definitely a very sensitive topic. When I was reading this I remembered Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why. Hannah comitted suicide and she died. The characters in this novel however did not. They were given a chance to make things right. To improve themselves. 

The book dealt with a very heavy topic but the illustrations made it a comfortable read. I loved the concept. A real eye-opener. 

"I was constantly yelling at the voice in my head. It's a real voice but it's your own reality. We're all living in our own reality"

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: December 2010


I’ve always wondered what Paris would be like. City of Love. It’s the perfect place to fall in love and Anna was definitely not expecting to.

Anna was sent to a boarding school in Paris catering to Americans students. At first she didn’t know how she would fit in but because of Meredith everything seemed to go well until she met Etienne St. Clair.

When she was in Paris her relationship with her best friend got messed up because of a certain somebody but what frustrated her more is her relationship with St. Clair. She knew he has a girlfriend but she couldn’t help falling for him either way. I am a sucker for happy endings so I am HAPPY to tell you guys that this book has a happy ending! YEY!

St. Clair was the gorgeous popular guy that everyone likes. You might say its kind of a cliché but its not. St. Clair unlike other guys in YA romance stories wasn’t perfect which was cute. He was afraid of heights, he was scared of change and he was not TALL! Most guys in books were tall and handsome and fearless but he wasn’t which I really liked plus he has that beautiful English accent. I mean who the hell says “ass” in such a beautiful way? Ahahaha. “You are an arse!” :)

Now there’s Anna. I don’t actually know how it feels like to be away from your family because I never experienced it so I sympathized with her situation. I just didn’t like her blowing up on her best friend like that. People make mistakes and she shouldn’t have reacted that way towards Bridget. I didn’t blame her for falling in love with St. Clair but I just don’t think it was fair that she blamed Bridget for everything. It wasn’t Bridge’s fault just like it wasn’t her fault falling for St. Clair. It just happened. But all in all I like Anna and her addiction to old movies, her outgoingness, her love for her family (even though she doesn’t really like her father).

The most prominent cliché that I noticed in this book was Amanda. There was always going to be a stupid stuck-up b*tch somewhere in a book. Hahaha. She was like one of those mean girls whose face you want to shove down the toilet. I know it was mean but bear with me. Also there was that Dave person who I thought was good news but turned out to be BAD! I wanted to kick his “arse!”.

The friends were great. I loved the way things turned out with Rashimi and Josh at least they still remained friends. I liked Meredith too because she didn’t hold any grudges towards Anna. At first yes but then again she gotten over it and I really liked her for that. She has been a good friend from start to finish.

The story was great and so was the setting. I love PARIS! It is definitely one of the places I would visit once in my lifetime.

I would give this book an perfect 5 for the great characters, great setting and great story.


Favorite Quote: But the most notable aspect of my new education is the one that takes place outside of class. The one never mentioned in the glossy brochures. And
that is this: attending boarding school is like living inside a high school. I can’t get away. 

Zeke Meeks VS. the Putrid Puppet Pals by D.L Green

Author: D.L Green
Publisher: Picture Window Books
Release Date: January 2012




As a kid I loved reading Sweet Valley Kids. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t laugh I loved those books. I even have a whole box of books dedicated to the Sweet Valley series believe it or not. I think those were the books that triggered my interest in reading that is aside from the Disney fairy tale books. I loved those too.

Anyway, I got this Advanced Readers copy from Netgalley which was cool. You might be asking why I would like to read a kids book. To tell you honestly I didn’t know what I was thinking. I just wanted a fun and easy read and this book did not disappoint. Reading this made me miss being a kid.

Zeke Meeks and his best friend Hector Cruz doesn’t sit down during recess. So when Zeke found his best friend sitting down with Owen Leach one day he was surprised. They were playing Puppet Pals. Everyone was playing Puppet Pals. Zeke was not at all happy. He didn’t like Puppet Pals.

It was a funny read. No, let me rephrase that it was a hilarious read. I am already 22 but still I enjoyed this book so much. The illustrations were perfect for the book. At the end of the book there was also an instruction as to how you could make your own Puppet Pals. Haha. Cool!

I give this book 4 stars. :) 

Elemental: The First by Alexandra May

Author - Alexandra May
Publisher - Pauma Publishing
Release Date - July 2011


The story was about a girl named Rose who seemed like a normal teenager at first only she wasn’t. Rose had an ability she was not allowed to share with anybody outside her family. She could heal people. Her gift seemed great at first until she found out that her gift could also harm or even kill. 

Moving in with her grandmother Daisy at Warminster had been good at first. After a while she started hearing about people disappearing. One of her friend’s father disappeared as well and that’s when they decided to do an investigation of their own. Aside from helping Jez find his father, she was also trying to research on Halika Dacome.

I liked this book. I found it very refreshing to read something with no angels, demons, vampires, werewolves and fairies. This book somehow reminded me of the Lorien Legacies (I am Number 4 and The Power of Six). The both have involvement of extraterrestrial entities.

Rose was a very strong character. I have always been a fan of girls who could take care of themselves and Rose was exactly that girl. She loves her family even though she knew they lied to her about everything. She felt betrayed yes but still her love for her family prevailed. There was a certain point in the book though that I disliked her. I didn’t like the way she pushed Morgan away. I wasn’t entirely sure why she needed to do that. I thought her excuse was lame. She didn’t act that way at all with Aiden except after she heard what Aiden did to Morgan’s sister.

At first I was so convinced that Aiden was the bad guy so imagine my surprise when he wasn’t (a little spoiler there, sorry!). That was one good thing about this book too. It was not predictable. I thought the author gave too much away during Aiden’s scene with his grandfather but I guess I was wrong again about that one. The author didn’t give anything away; she just wanted us all to think Aiden was bad news.

Morgan on the other hand was exactly how I imagined he would be: handsome, dependable and all. I wanted Rose to pick him. I just got a little turned off during the last part of the book. Turned out he was the one keeping secrets. I felt as betrayed as Rose. Bad Morgan! I still liked his character either way.

Her friends Hanna and Mira were cool but then again like with Morgan I felt betrayed too because after all that time they knew all about Rose.

I am still curious though who the spy is. We all know who ordered to ran over Miranda but who told him that Miranda has maps? That is one question I want to get answered in the next book. I also want to know who Rose if going to end up with of course. :)

For this book I give it a 4! :) 

Life Goes On

Don't let it break you. No matter how hard things get, life goes on.

A Place Called Zero by Jonathan Christ

Jonathan has just been dumped by Nicole. He was devastated knowing he gave everything he has just to make her happy yet still she left him. The morning after the break up he decided to take a walk. During his walk in the park he met Shafin, the man who changed his life forever.

Each and every one of us will reach a point in out lives when we begin to question why certain things happen to us, particularly the bad things. We often blame other people of the situation that we got tangled in just for purpose of convincing ourselves that what happened was not our fault.

I actually think that way. I tend to blame people for my mistakes and misfortune. I won’t be a hypocrite. I blame them because they somehow caused my failures but after reading this book it changed my perception on things.

I learned from this book that there is no success and failure but only success and learning experience. Most of the time we tell ourselves that things happen and there is nothing we could do about it. We just deal with the hurt but we never really move on from it. But there is something we could do. We could change the way we view the challenges that we encounter or the people who have hurt us. Instead of blaming someone who has hurt you thank him/her instead because he/she have taught you something that you won’t learn at school even if attending that school costs a fortune. I think that’s why a lot of people are screwed up including me (sorry for the term). They fail to acknowledge the value of the experiences that life gives us.

This book also dealt with our dreams in life. Sometimes we don’t know what we want to achieve and that’s why we tend to take detours. We get lost but eventually we find our way back once we realized what we really want in life. Some reaches their goal sooner than others which doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you get to where you want to be.  As Shafin have said, “Whatever you desire, understand that not only you can achieve, it should be yours.”

This book only has 39 pages but within those 39 pages you learn. It was a very short and inspiring read. A very recommended read.

Good Life by One Republic Covers

Alright I know this is the third cover that I posted in my blog but I don't know why I love covers now a days. They sort of add new flavor to a songs that people love. Since I am so in love with the song Good life I searched for interesting covers for it and came across two that I liked.

One cover was from Alex Goot and Megan Nicole. The other one was from Tyler Ward and Heather Janssen.

If you are reading this, comment on which version you like more. :)

It Girl by Jason Derulo (Cover by Alex Goot)

I am a fan of Jason Derulo for so long. He makes great songs but this was the first time I heard any of his songs covered this good. Alex Goot this is an amazing cover and WOW you could really play not one, not two but I am not really sure how many instruments you could play but HELL YOU'RE GOOD!

What Makes You Beautiful by Boyce Avenue

This song really caught my attention. I was just browsing through Youtube and came across this song. They weren't the original artist but their version is way better(sorry but just being honest). Boyce Avenue made this song soooo good! :)

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices) by Cassandra Clare

Author - Cassandra Clare
Publisher - Simon & Schuster 
Release Date - August 2010

Once again Ms. Clare you have amazed me with your creativity and writing skills. The Infernal Devices maybe related to The Mortal Instruments but with an entirely new story line. It’s more of a prequel actually. And I would have to admit the story was much more intriguing and exciting that TMI.

Tessa Gray went to London for her brother Nathaniel. She received a letter from him saying that she should come to London and live with him since their Aunt just died. Once in London she was abducted by the Dark Sisters of the Pandemonium Club. Tessa doesn’t know why she has been taken or where her brother had been held captive. Just when Tessa was being prepped to be handed over to the Magister she was rescued by the Shadowhunter William Herondale (Herondale? Now where have I heard that before?).

I mean WOW!  I am truly speechless. Ms. Clare simply made another masterpiece. I loved The Mortal Instruments but I didn’t know it could even get better with The Infernal Devices.

Where do I start?

Let’s start with Tessa Gray. I like Tessa more than I liked Clary. Tessa was more mature than Clary in every way. She wanted to find her brother but made sure she thinks first before she acts unlike Clary who based her decision on impulse regardless of other people who might get in trouble (remember City of Glass?). Tessa was smart and I admire her for that. She uses her head like with her encounter with the Magister. I really loved that part. She was all the things Clary was not so I really liked her.

Then there is William Herondale. Will as he likes to be called. Unlike Tessa who was nothing like Clary, Will however reminded me of Jace. Attitude problem must run in the family. LOL. To tell you guys honestly, I don’t like Will. I don’t like him at all. At first he was okay but then as the book progresses I was beginning to hate him so much I wanted to kill him myself. CURSE YOU WILL HERONDALE! No one deserved what he did to Tessa in the attic. Not everyone could be as understanding as Jem. I know I said earlier that he reminded me of Jace. They were similar in a way like their arrogance and mood swings only Jace’s were tolerable but Will’s? Will was just downright cruel. Tsk tsk. You are an ASS Mr. Herondale.

James Carstairs. JEM! MY JEM! OMG! I love him. He was the sensitive one. He was more appealing to me than Will. I do not usually go for the good guys in books but then for him I’ll make an exception. I know that Tessa would most likely end up with Will but I think Jem was a hell lot of a better choice. Silvery hair and eyes. Loves music. Sensitive. A perfect gentleman. What more could you as for? I am just a little sad about his condition. He was very fragile but I don’t care. I just hope there is a cure for what he has because if he dies I’d be devastated. MS CLARE YOU CANNOT LET JEM DIE! I tell you lot of your fans would die… Really. Hehehe.

The other characters were very much alive as the main ones. Charlotte Branwell was a woman tasked to do a man’s job. She is the head of the London Institute where Tessa took shelter after the encounter at the Dark Sister’s place. She dedicated her whole life to the job that probably why she doesn’t have kids of her own yet. I think she’s what 23 or something? Her husband Henry on the other hand was very... well… Interesting would be the right word. I wouldn’t say he was a mad scientist because he is not. He just loves to invent things and work on stuff. If I am not mistaken the Sensor that Jace and the other Shadowhunters use in TMI was his invention.

Jessamine Lovelace, sometimes I want to strangle you for being such a pain. I think the reason why she is who she is was because she didn’t want to be where she was. She didn’t want to be a Shadowhunter. She wanted to live a normal life just like her parents would have wanted from her. Sometimes I pity her but most of the time I just want to pull her hair and say “OH SHUT UP ALREADY!”

The Clockwork Angel was magical. I haven’t been to London nor do I know much about what the Victorian Era was like but this book took me there. That’s why I love reading books. It always takes me to places I have never been before. The concept of the automatons being an army to me was unique. I haven’t read a lot of steampunk novels but still I love the whole concept of this series. It was also good to know how things were before Clary and Jace and everyone else in The Mortal Instruments. I love how Magnus Bane made an appearance here though I was a little surprise with his relationship with Camille.

My only issue with this book is the ending!!!! I mean WTF!!!! It was a damn cliffhanger!!!! I want to get my hands on the Clockwork Prince now!!!

I have to rate this as a PERFECT 5 or 10 if that’s even possible. Why? Because it was amazing. It was like the Harry Potter fever for me all over again.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Author - Lauren DeStefano
Publisher - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Release Date - March 22 2011

Wither.

One definition of wither is to dry up as part of the process of dying. Another one is to fade or lose freshness of vitality. Both of the definition was shown in this book.

Rhine was a sixteen year old girl who has been abducted by the Gatherers to be the House Governor’s wife.

Sixteen?

Be a wife?

Really?

Yep, that’s right.

How about the other wives?

One was I think Eighteen or Seventeen and the other one was Thirteen.

What?! Really?

Yep.

This book was set up in a dystopian setting where girls die at the age of 20 and the boys die at 25. This was due to an experiment conducted to perfect humans so that everybody would be healthy. All the first generation experiments were good they were healthy and everything but the following generations had the disease that kills them when they reached a certain age. Girls were kidnapped and inspected (yep inspected like some sort of animal). If they were good enough they keep them to be sold to the wealthy people to become wives of the House Governors but if not then they either get left somewhere or worse they get killed.

Rhine Ellery had been abducted. She and other girls were kidnapped and were kept inside a van until they reached a facility where they get inspected. Rhine and two other girls (Jenna and Cecily) passed the inspection and were handed over to the Ashbury’s to become the House Governor’s wife.

Rhine maybe Linden’s wife but she will never allow him to sleep with her. They may share the same bed every once in a while but she couldn’t let him get what he want from her. She was the only one of the three wives that hasn’t slept with Linden.

Why?

Because aside from her distaste of being a prisoner in the mansion and leaving her twin brother behind, she was already in love with someone else, Gabriel.


For the review:

I would have to say that I like the concept of the book. I like how the whole thing was thought of.

Rhine as a character was very fearless. I loved her. She was not the kind of heroine that was useless or clumsy or very dependent on the guys in the books. She herself thinks of ways on how she could get out of the situation she was in. She was the perfect example of GIRL POWER! YEAH!!

Gabriel wasn’t the typical handsome and rich leading man. He was sweet and gentle. What’s not to like about him? :)

And as for Linden Ashby, I really feel bad for him. He seems like a nice guy. He was very oblivious to what his deranged father was doing. He lost his first love and failed capturing the heart of Rhine. He may have everything materially but still I guess that really isn’t enough to make people happy.

Jenna and Cecily were the two other wives of Linden. They both have character of their own. They were not lifeless like most of the secondary characters. Jenna was the silent rebel type. She didn’t have anything to lose. Jenna didn’t like to be where she was but still she didn’t want to do anything about it because she thought there was no use in doing it. Cecily (the thirteen year old) on the other hand was very happy to be one of the wives. She was the first one who got pregnant of the three. Her character was probably one of the things I didn’t like in this book. I don’t really want kids getting pregnant. She was so so young. :(( I thought that maybe the author could have made her older than 13.

And there’s Linden’s evil mad doctor father, Housemaster Vaughn. I hate him and I want to beat the crap out of him. I don’t like what he did to those people. He was controlling, cunning and just plain EVIL! I mean I am not a pronaturalist if I was there. Of course I would like to find a cure for the disease but then what he was doing was just so out of the line. He said he was doing it for his son but I actually don’t really think so!

Anyways, all in all I liked the book. It was a little slow for me but still it was good. I would recommend the book for those who enjoy dystopian genre. It is a good read. It was simply written. The author didn’t make use of very complex words probably because the narrator Rhine was young. The book was good but did not really excite me that much.

I will give this book 3.5 stars!

There You'll Find Me by Jenny Jones

Author - Jenny B. Jones
Publisher - Thomas Nelson 
Release Date - October 4 2011




Two things I love about books are that they take you to places that you have never been and make you feel things that you have never felt. I loved this book because not only did it take me to Ireland (after reading this I really love to visit Ireland) it also made me feel the familiar feeling of loss and pain. 

Finley Sinclair was struggling after the death of her brother Will. Her brother left a journal documenting his trip to Ireland and how he found God there. Trying to find out for herself what her brother discovered there she decided to set off to Ireland. On her way there she met the famous Beckett Rush who turned out to be more than who she thought he was. 

Finley had to struggle with a lot of things: her brother's death, her family, school, her audition piece, a certain boy, God and most of all herself. 

I honestly don't know where or how to begin this. This would probably be the longest review I will ever make. This book indeed helped me a lot. It helped me face the issues in life that I am currently having. It touched so many aspects in my life if not all. 

When I was reading the book, it was as if I was the one narrating the story and not Finley. When I started the book I was like okay she met him at the plane and then what? But as the story progressed that's when I really got the whole picture. 

In the book, Finley kept on complaining that no matter how hard she tried calling to God he never answered. She felt alone and depressed. She developed an eating disorder that she refused to admit even though she knows that it’s true. She was a walking disaster waiting to  happen only she was too preoccupied with so many things that she failed to notice it. 

She was having a hard time accepting her brother's death. She refused to let go of the pain, the loss and the heartache. She found it so hard to let go of her favorite 
brother. Her role model. Her goal was to finish the audition piece that she dedicated to Will. She hoped that after that everything would go back to normal. But things would never go back the way it used to be. No matter what she does, it would never bring back her brother. 

You could either stay or move forward, that is one of the lessons I have learned in this book. Either you mull over the pain over and over again or you let everything go and let God help you move on. 

This book helped me overcome my own pain, my hurts and my regrets. I try and convince myself and others that I have already gotten over the fact that my ex-bf had left me and my daughter but I really haven't nor did I really got over my Mom remarrying. I do regret not being able to graduate. One other important thing that I failed to let go until now is the death of my Dad. I just realized after reading this book that I haven't really moved on from his death. He was my Will. I loved him more than anyone else in my family. He was my role model (I was a daddy's girl). 
I thought I gotten over it a long time ago but I was wrong. I didn't deal with it, I just suppressed it. It was my coping mechanism. I should have known but I was too blind to 
see it but finally I am free all thanks to this book. 

God does move in mysterious ways. I also thought he wasn't listening to me anymore but I was wrong. He spoke to me. He spoke to me through the pages of this 
book. Thank you Ms. Jones for making this book. :) I am 
forever a fan! 

Like Finley, I also selected my own verse. Here it is: 

"Let us not be weary in doing good, for at the proper time 
we reap a harvest if we do not give up." 
- Galatians 6:9 

and before I end this review I would just like to add that Finley and Beckett were two amazing characters. I loved Finley because she was real and vulnerable and so is Beckett. 
Finley and Beckett's love story is inspiring. I think I already gave away most of what the story is about in this review. I will just leave you guys to discover why their love story is inspiring. :)) I hope every girl would get their own Beckett someday.