The World Before Us Review

Title: The World Before Us

Author: Aislinn Hunter

Publication House: Hogarth

Publication Date in US: March 31, 2015

Date Started: May 15, 2015

Date Finished: May 26, 2015

Format: Hardback

Medium: Book

Review:

I feel as if I am in a perpetual state of dislike for the book I have been reading lately.  I don't know if it is because of my personal issues with work being hectic and I HATE MY UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR or if these books are just that nonplussed to me.  Hop.

I didn't get that far into the book actually before it was a strain for me to even pick it up.  I turned to reality television and my Netflix because I have wary eye after wary eye to this book every time I looked at it.  I really wanted to like it.  Truly, I did.  I always enjoy a good historical fiction filled with paranormal and fill-ins but this seemed to just drag on.

By the time I reached page 75 I was kinda done with it and I was a little sad about it.  I like learning about the people but my main concern was that I couldn't keep any of the characters straight in my head.  I kept having to go back and re-read what I just read so I could have some sort of understanding of who was who and what was going on.  The spirits narrations weren't even the most difficult, just the regular narration in "real-time".

What I did enjoy was the actual setting.  I like learning about the asylum and the museum but geez I just couldn't get into the storyline.

DNF...again.

Material Girls Review

Title: Material Girls

Author: Elaine Dimopoulos

Publication House: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date in US: May 5, 2015

Date Started: April 19, 2015

Date Finished: April 29, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Kindle Keyboard

Review:

Agh,  just...agh.  So this book is filed under DNF (Did Not Finish) because, well, I didn't finish it.  I feel as if this book would have appealed to me at a previous point in my life, like when I wanted to major in fashion and attend the Fashion Institute in NYC.  There are certain novels that are written for a specific group of people and I feel as if this is one of those books.  While this book is a sort of dystopian (maybe utopian for some) it still kind of feels like it could be within in century.

I am a self-proclaimed sewing enthusiast that has to take monthly breaks to appreciate the art of "THE SEW".  Really what I'm trying to say is I enjoy sewing.  I like taking pieces of nothing and turning it into something that someone can wear.

I thought I would really like this story.  I had no want to read it, really.  There wasn't that catch that kept wanting me to come back and read it.  Normally I can power through something in order to give a full review but I just couldn't.  The characters lacked any kind of star quality about them and I couldn't figure out why the main character was so dull.

I don't know.  Not much to go on for a not much to go on review.  Sry.

Even Monsters Say Goodnight Review

Title: Even Monsters Say Goodnight 

Author: Doreen Mulryan Marts

Publication House: Capstone Publishing

Publication Date in US:, August 1, 2015

Date Started: April 21, 2015

Date Finished: April 21, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Adobe Digital Downloads

Review:

When I do these reviews on picture books I like to review as I read so I can get real time opinions on it.  It saves me time on flagging and bookmarking comments on Adobe Digital and then having to go back and bleh bleh bleh.

D'AWWWW is my first thought on the cover.  Look at the cute witch and cute mummy and cute dracula :D

Also, the weiny dog is a-dorable!  I also really like the font.  It stands out on it's own and would catch a lot of kids attention.

In the middle of the story I could see how this could fit in to a variety of storytime themes.  While this is a mostly Halloween themed book, it could easily fit in to a bedtime themed storytime along with Goodnight Moon.  I can also see how it could be a little difficult to get into the story.  The first page doesn't have anything on it with the exception of pictures so a description from the storytime kids would be key.

This book would also pair GREAT with fingerpuppets.  I feel that if a kit were sold with these specific puppets (i.e. werewolf, ghosts, witch, skeleton, and vampire) it would do soooo well!  While most children's programmers are pretty efficient with making their own flannelboards or finger puppets, there are some programmers that just do not have the time.(Me.  I'm pointing at me.  I have no time. None of the time.)

The story itself is just a wonderful way to teach kids that it is alright to be afraid, you don't have to feel dumb about being afraid of monsters, and while the fear is real the actual thing is not.  It is also a great tool for parents to learn and understand how to talk to your child about monsters.  As a grown child, I know to treat their imagination with the utmost respect.  If a child is genuinely fearful of something, respect that, don't just shoot it down.

I enjoy a good lesson learned picture book :)

Great job Ms. Marts!

Joe All Alone Review

Title: Joe All Alone

Author: Joanna Nadin

Publication House: Little Brown Young Readers

Publication Date in US:, May 7, 2015

Date Started: April 18, 2015

Date Finished: April 19, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Kindle Keyboard

Review:

As you can see, I read this book in less than a day.  It probably could have taken me less time than that seeing as there are only 240 pages compared to what I have been reading lately but...life.  Cleaning and napping when I'm not working 10-12 hours take up most of my day and I am quite alright with that.  But!  Back to what I'm suppose to be doing on here, reviewing Joe All Alone by Joanna Nadin.

NetGalley has an odd way of grouping Juvenile and YA books together so I was a little confused about who this was targeted towards going into this.  The main protagonist is 13 and the cover makes this book seem to be targeted towards Juvenile...buuuut I can tell you it's not.

I haven't ever experienced anything like what Joe had to go through when I was 13; mom and boyfriend abandoning him for weeks, not having enough food, not having electricity, not being able to shower, etc.  This book was so heartbreaking the entire time I was reading it because Joe also hinted at having some form of OCD that he went through therapy to try and help.  Sometimes throughout the book, Joe's OCD comes out through him counting his steps, counting the paint chips on his wall, and also how many times he checked to see if the phone was still working.  His poor little life was so hard before and throughout the book, it just keeps getting harder.

Asha reminded me of one of my best friends when I was younger.  She was spunky and relatively different than most people of my little town.  She practiced a different religion and hung out with me...which was different in itself.  She was always funny and I miss her terribly but she would help me with problems in the way that Asha helped Joe with his problems, in a positive way.  She really did stay loyal to Joe no matter the circumstances and/or consequences that came along with that.

Her uncle Otis was so sweet..  I enjoyed his "Jamaican" accent and how he took things with a positive attitude.  He helped Joe right after he got bullied and was just trying to look out for the well-being of both children.

While I feel this story would not be appropriate for the majority, there are some children and teens who could benefit from a story like Joe's.  I know a couple of patrons who would see themselves in his shoes and who could understand what he was going through.  You never know what book will help which child in whatever situation they find themselves in.  Moral of this paragraph: LIBRARIES DON'T CENSOR.  Thank you and Goodnight. :)

FairyTale Reform School: Flunked Review

Title: Fairy-Tale Reform School: Flunked

Author: Jen Calonita

Publication House: SOURCEBOOKS Jabberwocky

Publication Date in US:, March 03, 2015

Date Started: April 12, 2015

Date Finished: April 18, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Kindle Keyboard

Review:

Just look at this cover!  I know I know, "Don't judge a bloobey blah by it's bladdy bleh" but look at it!  It makes you want to read it.  For some, the cover art may be busy, but the book matches that.  Not that the book is messy in any way at all but it is constantly moving, which (in a book) is very AWESOME.

I feel as if this whole fairy tale movement is coming all at once what with Kingdom Keepers, The Land of Stories, and The School for Good and Evil being published within the last few years all stem from the show Once Upon a Time which is just a fantastic show.  While all of these books and the show talk about how the fairy tale characters were, Flunked takes a completely different approach that is quite interesting.

I enjoyed how Calonita portrayed the evil villains as being reformed and how they can, if they really wanted to, change to be for the better.  While reading this book I also realized how many of Disney's villains her female.  Ursula, The Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters, Cruella DeVil, the Evil Witch, Maleficent...it was really quite odd too seeing as the main character in all those stories who were in trouble were women.  I don't know...crossed my mind at some point towards the end when Gottie turned into Maleficient? I was really confused by the whole name change, which I see as necessary so Ms. Calonita doesn't get sued, but it was odd and confusing.

I LOVED MAXINE.  Holy cow I wish there were a story about Maxine and her troll ears and her dress for the ball. HEEHEE she was adorable and I want more Maxine, now!

I really hope that this book gets processed for e-readers because it was very difficult to read it during the Magical Scrolls parts.  It took up like three or four pages when it should have taken one or two.

I kind of feel like Gilly is like Harry Potter in the sense she is the main character of the story and also the accidental heroine buuuuuut she won't be anyone's favorite. She doesn't have any defining characteristics that would pull someone into thinking she was just fantastic enough to have as a favorite character.

I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to have more!

Jake's Monster Mess Review

Title: Jake's Monster Mess

Author: Ken Spillman

Publication House: Star Bright Books

Publication Date in US: April 15, 2015

Date Started: April 13, 2015

Date Finished: April 13, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Adobe Digital Edition

Review:

How adorable is it when a child wants nothing more than to please his or her elders by doing something that will please his or her elders of their own choosing?

This book is great not only for children to learn and understand how actually respecting elders can be satisfying for them but it also help adults realize that we can give kids the benefit of the doubt.  Sometimes kids are really trying their hardest to do the best we can but adults push them to the limits.  It is great when adults can give kids a push in the right direction, but when it comes to pushing too far, it gets out of control.

With the lesson out of the way, I LOOOOVE and adore the illustrations throughout this story.  While I am not sure if this book would work properly for a storytime, I think it would be good for kids to use this storybook for learning how to read.  It is almost like a pre-chapter book for kids to learn how books that aren't normal storybooks are read.  It's actually pretty cool.

The illustrations are quite interesting.  I am not sure if this is not the finished product or if the illustrator meant to make the illustrations look unfinished.  I would really like to ask the author what his take on this was.

Overall I quite enjoyed this one and would most definitely get it for my library collection.

The Mermaid's Sister Review

Title: The Mermaid's Sister

Author: Carrie Ann Noble

Publication House: Skyscape

Publication Date in US: March 1, 2015

Date Started: April 5, 2015

Date Finished: April 12, 2015

Format: E-Book

Medium: Kindle Keyboard

Review:

I read Noble's The Mermaid's Sister at the same time I read Tom Cooper's The Marauders and I must say, this one came in as a night read when I had to read with my kindle light.  My averaged thoughts throughout the story were confusion for the time period (the elf/sprites and mermaids just threw me for a loop when trying to picture the period clothing and auto's used), confusion for Clara being so modest and no one else being modest, and why Scarff didn't go looking for those kids himself.

No, but really.  He's not stuck to the land like Auntie is...WHY NOT LOOK FOR THOSE KIDS?!

I don't know.  I really don't know how I feel about this book. I enjoyed the whole premise of the story.  Girl has mermaid for sister, girl loves sister, girl brings sister to ocean, girl marries love of her life and lives happily ever after.  But isn't that a bit conventional?  I mean, yes it's nice when characters get a happy ending, especially after a reader gets attached to the characters but if an author doesn't make her characters at least likeable, then does it really matter if they get their happy ending?  I was more enthralled with Auntie and Scarff's story than I was with what the story was actually suppose to be about.  Wait, what was the story suppose to be about?

Oh, right.  Getting Maren to the ocean.  But they don't want to bring her to the ocean.  But they do.  But they want to tell the ocean king off.  But they don't.  Well, they kinda do.  But not a huge ordeal or anything.  Just what they came to the ocean to do?  I really don't know.

I had a problem with the time period not being clarified either.  I don't know if obscuring the time period was the author's point or if it was accidentally never mentioned?  I DON'T KNOW.  I just didn't like it.

Short review.  Slow book.  Not enough magic for the magic part of it.  Okay characters. But in the end it could have had a much bigger punch.  Very sad.