Book 12 - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Sooo...loved this book.  Really heavy issues that can be related back to our present day society.  But...I'm not so sure I like the main character, Mare Barrow.  There's just something about her...she's a little too naive to me but wants to act like she's nobody's fool...but she gets played.  I don't know...maybe my feelings will change when I read the second book.  

In the world of Mare Barrow, there are two kinds of people, divided by the color of their blood...those who bleed Red, and those who bleed Silver.  Those who are Silver have unique abilities depending upon their family and it is typically the father's ability that is passed on to offspring.  The Samos family have the ability to control metal, the Jacos family has the ability to control fire, the Osanos family controls water, and so on and so forth.  If it's an element, it can be controlled by some Silver family.  And even worse is the Queen who is what is known as a whisper...she has the ability to read minds and manipulate them to make anyone her puppet.  Now THAT is FUCKING TERRIFYING!  And...she's the Queen...so you know she's used that shit.  Plus...we all hate her...but I've gotten ahead of myself here.  So the Silvers are the aristocracy and basically their shit doesn't stink.  Then you have the Reds.  They are treated poorly, typically they are servants, and even their electricity is rationed, if they're fortunate enough to have a home with electricity.  The Reds are also the soldiers that are fighting a war started by the Silvers and basically, no one remembers why there is even a war still going on...it's been over 100 years now.  The Red soldiers are on the front line and still they get no respect from the Silvers. 

Mare Barrow is Red born, her younger sister Gisa has talent with silk, needle, and thread, and her three brothers have been conscripted to war...a path she herself will soon take since she has no apprenticeship or job.  Her sister Gisa will be safe but the rest are doomed for war.  She thought her best friend, Kilorn, would be safe from the war that killed his father since he had a job, but when his boss dies, even Kilorn is doomed to go to war.  Mare vows she will find a way to save them from the war.  She goes to see a man named Will about smuggling them out of the area so they won't be found when the legionnaire comes to gather them up but he instead introduces her to a woman named Farley.  Farley wants 1000 bucks to smuggle them and Mare seeks out to obtain the money the only way she knows how...pickpocketing.  Unfortunately she picks the wrong pocket...or maybe it's the right pocket.  I honestly think it's the right pocket, but you can judge for yourself.  She happens to pick the pocket of the Prince, Cal, only she doesn't realize he's the prince and he doesn't tell her.  He instead gives her money and walks her home.  The next day, a maid from the palace shows up with Sentinels (guards) to take Mare to the palace as she has been given a job. She arrives at the palace and begins going through the motions of being a servant when the day arrives for the princes to meet their potential princesses.  It's a big ta-do in a huge area where every Silver House shows up in their finest clothes and blah blah blah.  Since only the strongest of the princesses can marry the princes, Cal (to be king) and his half brother Maven, they must provide a demonstration of their abilities.  In order to do so safely, an electrified net is placed between the show and the people...think Gladiator style arena.  Well one princess, already chosen to wed Cal, is Evangeline Samos and she is a magnetron...that's right...she controls metal (nice work if you thought of Magneto from X-Men).  She tries to be smart and starts fucking with the rebar in the concrete box that one of the houses is sitting in...she's trying to pull the box from the rest of the structure.  Mare happens to be serving the family at the time, and since she isn't seated in a cushy seat and has anything to grab on to, she begins falling toward the edge and then out of the box completely.  She is sure she is going to die but as she lands upon the electrified net she finds she does not die.  Sure...it burns all of her clothes off so I'm sure naked in an arena full of people is awkward, but she actually feels ALIVE.  The electricity courses through her, and for the first time in her 18 long years, she finally feels alive.  But wait...she's Red!  Red's don't have power...wellllllllll she just proved you wrong.  Now what are they to do with a Red girl with power to not only control electricity but to create it?  They can't kill her...millions of Silvers saw her...they would notice her missing.  Maybe they can use her...oh here we go...let's link her up with Maven!  So we'll have Cal and Evangeline get married and take the crown, and we'll have Mare and Maven get married and be the prince and princess forever.  

So...they change her name to Mareena and make up some story that she is the long lost daughter of this decorated Silver general who was raised Red when her parents were killed in battle and just that day discovered who she really was.  Changing a name doesn't change the person.  Dressing her up like Silver doesn't change the fact that she bleeds Red...but alright...we'll play your game.  Problem is, Mare is involved in a deadly game and she has no idea the rules or really the players.  

Side note about our princes.  Cal is the son of King Tiberias and his first wife.  She is said to have been a good woman and devoted mother; however, she was murdered.  Can you guess by whom?  Maven is the son of King Tiberias and his second wife/queen murderer.  I will say this now and keep it in mind...he is his mother's Son.  And Cal is his mother's son.  Can you tell which one I would trust more?  However, Mare is not me, nor I her.  

Once she has been inducted into the role of Mareena, the Silver daughter who can control lightning, she is contacted by Farley again.  Throughout all of this, we learn there exists the Scarlet Guard and they are rebelling against the Silvers.  Farley is the leader of the rebellion and she wants Mare to join.  Mare could potentially be an influential position to help the rebellion and she agrees.  She wants a cause and she wants change...change for the better for the Reds.  However, she's not alone in joining the rebellion...Maven too, it seems, has joined the cause.  Thinking she's found an ally, Mare begins to trust Maven and begins to see Cal as the enemy.  She should have listened to her initial instincts about the brothers.  She should have kept Maven at a distance.  I told you he is his mother's son.  

Through many ups and downs, and a lot of shed blood, both Red and Silver, things do not end well.  The tables are turned by Maven and his bitch of a mother.  Cal becomes hunted because he killed his father...not of his own free will but by the will of his step mother.  She turned him into her puppet.  Now Cal and Mare are on the run from Maven who has now assumed the throne.  However, the rebellion is not crushed.  And Mare learns a valuable lesson from her teacher...there are others like her.  Red AND Silver...and stronger than both.  

Now that Maven is king and Cal has been forced to join the rebellion, I can't wait to see where things go from here.  I'm hoping Mare has grown up a bit and has learned to trust her first instinct.  She instinctually liked Cal from the moment she tried to pick his pocket but she let others influence her.  I hope she listens to her gut a little more and I hope she learns to trust Cal.  Cal may have his faults but I think he's just torn between two worlds...trying to keep the kingdom from falling completely apart.  I think in his perfect world all would be equal and Mare would be his Red Queen...but wouldn't we all be equal in a perfect world?  

I highly recommend this book...so many parallels between the Red/Silver world and our own.  I don't think I'm really rooting for one side or the other but more I'm hoping for a peaceful balance...but I'm sure that's too Utopian of an idea...

Book 11 - My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

I was browsing the shelves of New Fiction in my local Barnes and Noble store when I stumbled upon this interesting cover.  I mean...it's like a yearbook...who doesn't love yearbooks?!  And then I read the title...I mean hellooooo...everything about this book says READ ME...so I did!  I seriously flew through this book.  Once I sat down and really started reading it, I was drawn in.  The first few pages were a little dreary because it was background on the two main characters, Abby and Gretchen.  They met when they were children and Abby had a birthday party at the local skating rink.  She invited all of the kids in the classroom, including new transfer student Gretchen, but then Margaret Middleton with her rich ass self invited the whole class to her horse farm...on the same day as Abby's birthday party.  Bitch.  Gretchen was the only one who showed up to Abby's party and though rough for the first hour (because Gretchen's mother made her give Abby a children's Bible as a present), the girls eventually came around to one another and have been best friends ever since.  

Cut to 10ish years later and the girls are roughly 16.  They're popular, they're inseparable, and they're weirdly good friends with Margaret...yes the same rich bitch who ruined Abby's birthday party.  Isn't it funny how time changes people and situations?!  Completing their clique is Glee, a genius girl who you wouldn't think would fit in with them but somehow she just rounds out the group.  

One night, the four girls are at Margaret's lake cabin when they drop acid but hours later still don't feel anything...so to excite the night they decide to go skinny dipping.  Gretchen takes off running for the pier, stripping as she goes, when they yell at her not to jump because the tide is out but Gretchen goes off into the water anyway.  It's pitch black dark out and they can't see her.  They start yelling her name and Glee thinks she sees her a ways down the bank walking into the woods.  Abby goes and grabs Gretchen's clothes and goes into the woods to find her.  She emerges where they saw Gretchen go into the woods and she begins trying to track where Gretchen would have gone.  She arrives at a little clearing with an old run down shack with graffiti all over it and she swears she sees something black standing inside of it.  While she's staring at the figure in the window, she hears a man's voice say "Abby" and she takes off running back toward the direction of the house, sure that someone will reach out and grab her at any moment.  She gets back to the cabin, but there's still no sign of Gretchen.  She grabs a flashlight and after psyching herself up, she returns to the woods to look for Gretchen.  It won't be long before dawn is here so she feels a little more comfortable with going into the woods.  She finds Gretchen walking toward the house, naked except for her shoes, dirty, freezing, and when Gretchen sees her she breaks down crying.  They get back to the lake house and leave but something isn't right with Gretchen.  She's spaced out and can't seem to figure out exactly what she's doing.  

Within the next few weeks, Gretchen isn't herself.  She looks a mess, she keeps wearing the same clothes, she smells bad, her breath is rotten.  Abby knows something happened in the woods but Gretchen won't tell her what.  Through a series of events, and Gretchen's admissions of some of the things currently happening to her, Abby surmises that Gretchen was raped in the woods and she keeps having flashbacks, reliving the night and she's hurting herself as a coping mechanism.  I'm sure at this point you know she's been possessed.  Abby goes back to the shack in the woods and sees the name of a band spray painted on the building.  The same band that Margaret's boyfriend, Wallace, was recently in.  And Wallace has had some beef with Gretchen now that she's all possessed and junk.  Abby believes now that Wallace has raped Gretchen.  When she tries to talk to Glee about, she does the typical mean girl three way call routine and has Margaret on the line.  Of course Margaret flips her shit and tells Abby to fuck off and never come around them again.  Wouldn't you know it though, the next day Gretchen shows up to school practically glowing.  She's got on new clothes, her hair is polished and shiny, and her make up is done impeccably well.  It's as if nothing ever happened and she's had some sort of post puberty makeover.  This new and improved possessed Gretchen begins fucking around with people.  She starts flirting with Wallace, she gives love letters to Glee who thinks they're from a teacher she has a crush on, and she gives Margaret these shakes that are supposed to help her lose weight.  She also further pushes Abby away with her nonsense.  

During all of this angst and turmoil, an assembly is had at school...they go to a Christian academy so every month they have some sort of assembly about God.  This month it's the Lemon Brothers Fitness show...they're body builders who lift logs and stuff and spread the message of God.  I've seen something similar to this at my old church and it's actually quite fascinating.  One of the brothers, Christian, happens to be talking about demons that affect us...sloth, greed, pride, etc.  But he happens to point to Gretchen and tells her he sees the demon that is weighing her down.  Abby is immediately intrigued and goes to find him after the assembly.  He tells her yes he has the power of discernment and can tell she is possessed.  Abby takes a pamphlet with their information but they have to leave before she can really talk to him about it.  

A few more weeks pass and things continue to get worse for the people around Gretchen.  Abby finally makes up her mind to talk to Christian again after attempts to speak with any other adult fail.  She's not just trying to save Gretchen's life at this point but her own as well.  Gretchen is doing everything she can to get Abby kicked out of school and ruin her life...or at least ruin it in terms of how a 16 year old would feel her life has been ruined.  Abby meets up with Christian at the food court and they decide that based upon the evidence, Gretchen is indeed possessed.  Christian tells her when she's ready to do something about it, let him know.  

Abby finally decides something needs to be done before Gretchen kills someone, because of some shit that pops off with Glee and Margaret, and she calls Christian.  They devise a plan to drug Gretchen, take her somewhere, and perform an exorcism.  Well things don't go so smoothly...of course not...they never do.  But eventually they get her somewhere and begin performing the exorcism.  Well Christian isn't a priest...while he may be a man of God who has seen deliverance services before...he's not an exorcist.  The struggle is real.  It's a cluster fuck of an exorcism and eventually he flees with his tail between his legs, leaving Abby alone with a possessed Gretchen.  

So...is Abby able to exorcise the demon?  Does Gretchen die during the process?  Do they get their happily ever after?  Do they remain besties?  What happened with Glee and Margaret?  Well...I'm not gonna tell you.  You'll just have to read the book and find out for yourself.  If you like 80's music, demonic possession, teen angst, and Charleston, South Carolina, you'll like this book.  It's a quick read and it's actually really quite good.  I enjoyed it but again, I'm weird and my literature choices are as varying as my musical choices.  

Happy Reading!        

Book 10 - Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

WHY OH WHY do I start a brand new series when I know I'm going to have to wait FOREVER...okay, realistically a year...for the next one to come out??!!  I'm ready for the next one in this series right this minute...give it to me...NOW!  Okay...now that I've said that, let me tell you a little bit about this book.  I can't give too much away though because...PLOT TWIST!   Oh how exciting! I LOVED this book!  

You know, let me just take a second here to say that there are some exceptional young adult books out there.  Like this one.  But for real though, I find myself reading more "Teen Fiction/Teen Fantasy and Adventure" than I do normal Fiction.  Anyway...

This little gem of a book takes place on an island named Fennbirn that is separated from pretty much the rest of the world.  There are a select few on the 'mainland' that know of this island and the people who inhabit it, but it's a very small few.  On this island, there are triplet daughters born to the queen and her king-consort.  As soon as the triplets are born, the queen and her man peace out to somewhere else, the triplets are split up between the three different regions of this island, and raised up there by foster families.  In Wolf Spring, there are naturalists.  They make shit grow, have animal familiars, and like to hunt.  Arsinoe calls Wolf Spring her home.  Then there's Rolanth, home of the elementals.  They control earth, wind, fire, water, and all of that cool shit.  Mirabella calls Rolanth home.  Then there's Greavesdrake Manor, home of the poisoners.  Not only do they poison other people but they consume poison and most are pretty immune to it.  Katharine is the poisoner queen.  Now that you know the triplets...on to their issues.

Katharine's biggest issue is she's deathly ill because she's not immune to the poisons even after years of ingesting it.  She's a bit more able to deal with it now than she used to be, but basically she's not a very good poisoner and the people fear she will fail as a queen.  She's not the only one with this seemingly 'giftless' problem.  Arsinoe can't bloom a flower to save her life.  She has no naturalist power whatsoever, and despite calling it every day, she still does not have a familiar.  Her people fear she will fail as a queen.  Mirabella, however, seems to be fairly strong in her power in controlling the elements, just don't make her do too much with water...

The point of all of this is that there can only be one queen.  One queen has to kill her sisters in order to gain the crown to rule the land of Fennbirn.  Well things aren't looking too good for Katharine and Arsinoe, so the Temple, priestesses who are supposed to be neutral, are backing Mirabella.  Mirabella is the only one who seems to have any gift so obviously the Goddess has chosen her to be the queen.  Eh...Mirabella is a softy who still has memories of her sisters from when they were children...before they were taught that they hated each other and would one day kill one another until only one was left.

Katharine is treated so poorly in Greavesdrake Manor that I immediately joined her side.  I root for her.  I want her to kill these bitches and I want her to kill the Arrons...the poisoners who rule the Black Council...think Parliament.  There's a queen and all but they make most of the rules and decisions.  There's been a poisoner queen for the last 3 generations so the Arrons are flipping their shit that they may be ousted if their queen can't get her shit together...and quit vomiting everywhere due to the poison she's consuming.

So, when the girls turn 16, on their birthday, there is a celebration for them to demonstrate their awesomeness.  Arsinoe can't do shit.  Katharine gets sick in the middle of the ballroom in front of all of the poisoners.  And Mirabella is able to wow the people of Rolanth with her thunderstorm, wind, and fire.  I think because she does have some measure of power is the reason that I just don't like her.  Well that and she fucked Joseph...but I'm pissed at him too for fucking her.  So Joseph...follow this flow chart children.  Arsinoe's best friend and foster sister is Jules.  The girls are sent to a family that will help teach them the art of their power and how to use it.  For Arsinoe, that was Jules' family.  Jules is an incredibly powerful naturalist and her familiar is a cougar which is holy shit balls powerful in the naturalist world.  So Jules, Joseph, and Arsinoe were bff until they tried to sneak Arsinoe off the island and Joseph was banished.  He's back now though and he and Jules are in love or appear to be and they've always held out hope for one another and knew they would be reunited and blah blah blah hearts and kisses everywhere (barf).  So when this dude fucked Mirabella, I was pissed.  Like put the book down for a week kind of pissed.  I know the bitch saved you from drowning and you were confused but fuck off.  Now...having said all of that, I'm really confused now that I've finished the book with how I feel about Joseph and Mirabella.  It's like I don't want him around Jules because he can't seem to keep his mind or dick off of Mirabella so I'm starting to kinda feel like just go on with her somewhere.  You hurt Jules so just go.

Now that I'm done rambling about that...after the birthday celebrations, the following year there is the Quickening ceremony where they meet potential suitors that come from the 'mainland' and they basically show off their powers again.  And once again, epic failure abounds.  I don't want to give it away but it's a disaster.  People die...a queen dies which is, in itself, a plot twist I didn't see coming...and then there's another plot twist that showed up.  It got super plot twisty right there toward the end which was good because I really, really, really want to read the next book now!  The whole point though of the Quickening is after it...it's game on to try and kill your sister!  So...any bets on who gets killed first and by whom?  It could be like a game of Clue!

For a young adult book...two thumbs up.  5 stars.  I'm ready for the next book.  If you're into a little supernatural but with a monarchy and also people trying to kill each other...totally read this book.  It's a super fast read and I would have finished sooner had I not gotten in my feelings about Joseph and Mirabella doing the dirty dirty.

And...now that I'm done...I'm still on Team Katharine!  Make me the shirt and bumper sticker.

LOVED IT!      

Book 9 - The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

I don't know about you, but I'm an avid HGTV watcher and one of my favorite shows is Fixer Upper.  Chip and Joanna Gaines are a married couple in the Waco, TX area who help their clients find a house within their budget that needs some renovations.  They then fix up the house in order to turn it into their client's dream home.  Okay...not that unique of an idea...but really with these two, there's just something different.  There is this vibe they put off that they're good people, down home people, people you want to get to know.  So...given that I'm obsessed with them and every design idea Joanna has, I HAD to pick up this book and boy am I glad I did!  I LOVED reading their story and finding out a little bit more about them. 

Their book takes you from the beginning with a little background on where they grew up told from their own perspectives and you also get a little background on how they met.  Turns out, neither one was what the other thought they would end up with as a significant other.  Joanna didn't think she would end up with a talkative, rambunctious man and Chip didn't think he would end up with a shy, introverted girl...but they just knew somehow that they were meant for each other.  You can really feel the love they have for one another throughout the pages of the book.  They eventually lead you into how Chip had an entrepreneurial spirit and several lawn care businesses that then developed into renovating homes and through many years developed into something more.  Joanna never pictured herself being a designer but somehow that's where she ended up.  

They are both very candid in explaining that it wasn't always sunshine, butterflies, and unicorn farts.  There were real struggles and certain times when they thought they would hit rock bottom, but it always worked out.  They're so incredibly candid in their belief in God and I found that incredibly inspiring.  As someone who personally knows the power of God's timing, this book really spoke to me.  Joanna continually expresses throughout the book that just when they thought things were falling apart, God would come through at just the right time.  It was so refreshing to hear that from complete strangers.  It's one thing for me to talk about my experiences with trusting in God and His timing with my mother, but it's just further validation in my own beliefs to hear about it from others.  

There is truly a genuine quality to these two that shines through in their book.  You find that they are people you want to know, you want to hang out with, get to know.  They're hard working, honest, and just GOOD people...and good people are hard to come by sometimes in today's world.  When I was finished with this book, I wanted to meet them, I wanted to visit Magnolia Market in Waco, and I felt my faith restored in people.  They are legitimately setting a good example for their children and even their community...but the thing is, they were doing that before there was ever a camera on them.  It truly is God's blessing, I think, that they were given the opportunity to shine their light into the world.  Their story really is an inspiration.  

Thank you, Chip and Joanna, for sharing this beautiful story with the world.