Sunday, November 15, 2015

Must Remember by Colleen S. Myers - 4 stars

Book 1 in the Solum Series
Must Remember by Colleen S. Myers
4 stars

I got this book through NetGalley and after reading it, I will definitely be buying it.

This book falls under the New Adult genre. I was pleasantly surprised as I was reading this. It's a bit of Sci-Fi and a bit of Fantasy mixed together. There's humor that you wouldn't expect either. I was laughing out loud which is extremely difficult. There is sarcasm, romance, magic, action, aliens, and more.

Elizabeth/Beta is our heroine and the narrator in this book. I love the nickname Myers chose for Elizabeth. I've seen Beta used as a nickname. I found it clever. Beta is a college girl and her entire world ends one day when everyone around her stars going crazy. That was how the book opened. That whole first chapter had me going "What the hell am I reading?!" Then she wakes up on another planet with two suns in a uniform she doesn't recognize with no memories of how she got there.

Some books that have amnesia dive me crazy because they tend to drag it out. Beta gets flashbacks and dreams that slowly clue us in without ruining the plot. In fact, I found that Myers paced the plot and action quite well. She didn't info dump us on too much and allowed the characters to describe the world.

One thing I did have a problem with was the love triangle. I'm just not a fan of them. We do know who she prefers pretty early on but she kept going back and forth which is annoying. Thankfully she chose by the end of the book so it wasn't too drawn out. Of course, the rejected guy won't be giving up that easily. I'm on team Marin.

The character development for Beta was great. Things weren't dragged out and when she started getting bored, she decided she wanted to do something about it. But she was very real. The memories that began to return scared her and at points she was very human in not wanting to remember the pain.

I enjoy fantasy more than sci-fi and the fact that this was both made it great and unique. I love the elemental magic that was included and I love the jatua. They are tattoo-like markings that appear on a person's skin. They are basically the person's story. I just found it cool.

I'm excited for the next book, Can't Forget. Must Remember didn't end on a cliff-hanger exactly, but it's enough to make you want more. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys magic, aliens, or romance.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Hidden Gates by D.T. Dyllin - 1 star


Hidden Gates by D.T. Dyllin
1 star

I don't like giving 1 star but the more I write this review, the more I don't like this book. This is not a YA book like I thought it would be when I read the summary but a NA. The New Adult genre is a difficult one. You have a character that's between a teenager and an adult and the author has to find the right balance. I don't believe that balance was found in this book. I had a hard time not rolling my eyes while reading this.

Forbidden love? Check! Love triangle (quadrangle)? Check! Annoying (slutty) best friend? Check! Soul maters? Check! I'm sure there are more cliches I can add in there. I don't have a problem with a lot of cliches but throw them all together and it's just painful. Things were so predictable when it came to the relationships in this book. Almost everything was predictable.

PJ is our protagonist. She's a Seer and her best friend, Bryn, is a Guardian. PJ isn't allowed to be with anyone but a Gate Keeper or a Seer descendant. No lowly Guardian for PJ. But who is PJ in love with? You guessed it, Bryn, the lowly Guardian. But we can't forget about the slutty best friend, Jenna. She's a Speaker, she can speak/read any language. She's also second-class to the beloved Gate Keepers and Seers. Don't get me wrong, I like that there are levels of power and the fact that the Gate Keepers and Seers are snooty. That makes for a interesting complication. This wasn't. We were never given a reason why Speakers and Guardians are so lowly. Hell, we aren't even told why these special humans exist! On top of that you have dragons. Yes, dragons. Oh, and "aliens" who come through the gates take over people's bodies. What's a Gate? I don't know.

Every character is flat. There isn't any depth to them. The entire plot focuses on PJ and the three love interests. Romance is basically the only plot point. There isn't any real character development. There's no real movement throughout the story. There's very little action. Everything focuses on PJ and how she loves Bryn but he's forbidden. I wanted more than that. I wanted some reason to be emotionally invested in these characters or this world but there wasn't anything for me to care about.

The plot Dyllin was trying to write just didn't come through. It needs to focus less on PJ and her love struggles and more on the end of the world plot point that was introduced at the end. Overall this book just wasn't for me.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Rereading and more


I'm having a hard time reading new books lately. I've actually been rereading a lot. I'm in this weird mood and I find rereading is useful when in these little ruts. I have specific go-to books for time like these. Harry Potter, Kate Daniels, The Others, and a few others are the ones I tend to gravitate towards. Audiobooks also work wonders.

Of course, rereading doesn't give one much time to review new books. It can be a bit frustrating. It's like I have writer's block for reviewing. Very odd. Since I'm not reviewing anything at the moment, I thought I'd share some pretty cool fan art that I've come across during my frequent visits to Deviantart. It is a wonderful place. I'd definitely recommend anyone to check out the artwork people post.

Peter and his Shadow by FlyingMilkPig
Peter Pan

Magic Mornings by Qinni
Harry Potter 



Heir of Fire by annalise
Throne of Glass
The Promise of the World by StickyLeaf
Howl's Moving Castle

through the looking glass by LanWU
Alice in Wonderland

The Book Thief by Laura M
The Book Thief
Hanging t
Dear Tom by Soylent Green
Harry Potter

Distorted Beauty by Blanca Morelos
The Lunar Chronicles