Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter

(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part.  Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever.  And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive.  Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus.  But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

As you may or may not remember, I was sort of disappointed in The Goddess Test.  It just didn’t live up to its full potential, but I saw that the sequel did have potential, so I went ahead and bought Goddess Interrupted anyway.  This time I went into the novel with a completely open mind (with no expectations about how the tests would go) and I think that was what made the difference.

I found Kate a much more sympathetic character in this second book and Henry is actually trying to move on from Persephone.  They actually start to *gasp* fall in love for real, not the fake teenage love that happened in the first book.  The secondary characters like Ava, Kate’s mother and even Persephone herself get a lot more page time and their backgrounds are fascinating.  Persephone is probably my favourite character in the novel, not because she’s especially sympathetic, but because she’s very complex.

The plot, as in the first book, was very good and the cliffhanger Aimée Carter puts at the end of the novel is brilliant.  No doubt even fans who have a ‘meh’ attitude toward the book will be anxious for the last book in the trilogy, The Goddess Inheritance.  Which, by the way, releases on February 19, 2013 according to Amazon.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble

My Status Update Journey by Marcus Matherne

(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

The author of this book also wrote the next paragraph. I wonder if you be able to pick up on that. If not, you might not be qualified and/or prepared to read the inside of this book. Seriously, if you read the next paragraph and you fail to consider that I’m purposely trying to over-hype the book for the potential sale, don’t buy the book. Oops, let me rephrase that. Don’t buy the book for yourself – buy the book for someone else. This book is so captivating! You’ll be on the edge of your seat from the first word all the way through to the last. You’ll be guessing with each turn of a page. What topic will Marcus cover next? Every page is incredible! You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be touched, moved, and inspired. This book will bring back memories that have long been buried. You’ll want to read this one again and again. Or not. How am I supposed to tell? I don’t even know you. Maybe you’ve recently been in an accident. Maybe the act of laughing causes horrible pains and spasms and causes stitches to burst. In which case, you should consider healing fully before embarking on my journey through three years of social networking status updates. Follow my journey as told by my status updates and the intriguing commentary from the voices in my head. On this trip you find stories of a family man, growing children, delicious cereals, malfunctioning toilets, park benches, awesome soldiers, birthday parties, adorable puppies, on-line games, winter storms, roller coasters, slugs, and a high profile celebrity party. This book contains a topic for everyone! If you can’t find a situation or something to relate to in this book, you are either dead or you’re that person that no one wants to be around. You owe it to yourself to read this book in order to confirm that you’re alive and that you are not “that guy.” Seriously, what if you are a loser and you don’t know it? Let me help you. Read my book. Help me, help you. Really. About the Author: Marcus gets a sharp agonizing sensation in his leg muscles when he attempts to place his foot behind his head. Oh, wait a minute. I guess that’s not the kind of thing we’re looking for here. Let me try again. Marcus lives with his wonderful wife of over fifteen years and his two awesome boys in Mason, Ohio. Better? Good, now start reading the book.

(Summary courtesy of Amazon.)

[Full disclosure: Marcus Matherne sent me a free PDF of his book in exchange for an honest review.]

Okay, I admit I was a bit skeptical when I started reading My Status Update Journey.  I mean, how funny could a bunch of Facebook statuses and the accompanying commentary be?  I braced myself for disaster, especially since Marcus said his book would make me laugh.  That’s usually a warning sign.

But, thankfully, I was wrong.  I did laugh, frequently.  I didn’t quite reach “laughing until I cried”, but I did chuckle aloud at some parts and the book did lift my mood.  The combination of self-deprecating humour and insightful commentary on social media and human behavior worked well together.  Even though I don’t have Facebook enough of what Marcus Matherne wrote about was common knowledge that I wasn’t completely out of my depth.

My favourite quote in the whole book was an observation about the common cold:

“I would think that if a person wants to make a profound and permanent change for the better in this world, that person should first be able to breathe through their nose comfortably.” (Page 123)

Seeing as I have been suffering from a stuffed nose and barking cough for the past two weeks, this observation definitely hit home.  My Status Update Journey is one of those books that is funny without being crude or resorting to excessive obscenities and has great observations about human behavior, especially on social media.  Those cryptic status updates everyone supposedly hates?  Yeah, I think in that case, everyone is a hypocrite.

If you’re looking for an intelligent but hilarious novel, My Status Journey Update is a great book for you.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Amazon    Barnes and Noble

Bullying: An Issue Near and Dear to my Heart

Today is my birthday, but more importantly October is Bullying Prevention/Awareness Month.  Today is also the only day of the year I will ever deviate from my book discussion/reviewing mandate.  I feel strongly about many issues, but the only time I will take a stance on any non book-related issue is now.  You have been warned.

I was bullied in school.

There, I’ve said it and for the first time in many years, I am not ashamed nor am I looking for a pity party.  For five years of my life, as I transitioned from child to teenager, I was socially ostracized, verbally assaulted, sexually harassed and was the subject of many, many vicious rumours.  The reasons for my bullying were my appearance, my grades, my religious beliefs and the fact I stood up for my best friend, who received the worst of our classmates’ cruelty.

Now, I know that there are those of you out there that say bullying is just kids being too sensitive.  This is true in very few cases.  What my best friend (let’s call her Jane) went through was enough to put most people in therapy for a decade.  Nearly every single person in her class and mine (I was a year younger than her) actively joined in the bullying.  The teachers and school administrators did not do a damn thing, even when it happened in front of them.  After five years of every sort of horror imaginable, Jane transferred to a private school two provinces away, where she was happy.  I won’t go into many details because it is not my story to tell, but know that she suffered more in those five years than anyone deserves to in a lifetime. Continue reading →

Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

The second installment of The Kane Chronicles continues the story of Carter and Sadie Kane a few months after the events of the first book, The Red Pyramid. They have been spending their days training other young, fledgling magicians in the Brooklyn House and trying to figure out what the next step will be in saving the world from the inevitable return of Apophis.

I’ll admit that I liked this book a lot more than the first one but I think that had to do with being able to jump right into the action this time instead of needing all of the character buildup and introduction that took place in the first installment. The action as a lot more interesting and the plot seemed to be a lot more solid than before. New characters were introduced such as the dwarf god, Bes who has an entire back-story that had me very intrigued. Especially when it comes to his powers of scaring people as a means of attack/defense.

One of the best parts of The Throne of Fire was the various cameos by characters from the first book. Bast shows up here and there to help the kids out. Set, who is basically the god of evil shows up and turns out to not be quite as evil as you might think in the end, even if he is scheming behind the backs of the heroes. I also really liked some of the small touches. The things like the small glowing balls that crew the boat Ra used to ride through the Duat each night between sunset and sunrise. Rick Riordan does a really good job of sneaking in small surprises within the text that are all fairly unimportant as far as the story is concerned, but when you notice them it gives the text a little more vibrance.

I’ll be reading the third book in the series sometime soon, but there is one thing I hope the author can get away from. Sadie and Carter have done enough of the “little sister/big brother” bickering. I hope he lets them grow up and mature a little at some point because otherwise it might be a little tiring as a reader.

Grade: B
Length: 465 pages

Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Goodreads

My Commenting Policy

In case you didn’t know, during my 3 day hiatus a couple of weeks back, I updated my comment policy.  I know most people don’t check this tab regularly (and in all honesty, why should they?), so whenever I change the guidelines I’ll be posting them here on my main page.  Here they are:

“Everything on my blog is my own opinion, except for comments made by others (which are theirs).  I try to be a fair and light-handed moderator, but any spamming or trolling will be deleted without a moment’s hesitation.  Here are some general guidelines to read before you comment:

1.  Feel free to debate with me or any other commenters.  However, your comment will be deleted if the debate degenerates into personal attacks, bigotry and/or racism, sexism, etc.

2.  No swearing in the comments!  I try to keep my blog as family friendly as possible, as it is a YA blog.

3.  Don’t say anything in the comments you wouldn’t say in front of the person you respect most in real life.

4.  Stay on topic.

5.  No one is perfect, but do try to use proper grammar and check your spelling.  I am constantly amazed by the superior quality of commenting on my blog and I would like to keep things this way.

Any violations of these policies can result in deleted comments, temporary suspensions or a permanent commenting ban.  The degree of violation is what determines your punishment.  Minor infractions = chastisement, edited or deleted comments.  Major infractions = suspensions or bans.”

Lately I’ve received some one-liner comments in which a person says “Great article I totally agree!” and gives a link to their site.  This is not acceptable.  It is shameless self-promotion and in the future I will be calling people out on it.  In the past, I simply deleted the whole comment, but from now on I will be deleting the link to your page (in your comment and profile) and adding in one of my own editing comments.  Don’t you appreciate the special treatment?  Not everyone takes time to embarrass trolls personally.

Despite this slightly annoying one-liner trend, as I state in my actual policy, I am constantly amazed at the quality of comments I receive.  For the most part, they are well thought out and bring up some very good points on both articles and book reviews.  The excellent grammar and spelling are also very much appreciated, since everyone here knows that those are two of my biggest pet peeves.

I really do appreciate the thought and time people put into comments.  Thanks guys.  You’re awesome.

A note on tomorrow: On Saturday it is my birthday.  My birthday is the only day out of any given year I will ever stray away from my book discussion/reviewing mandate.  The article tomorrow has a bit of bad language and is on a topic I feel very strongly about.  This isn’t going to be your typical Mad Reviewer-style rant; it’s sort of a throwback to an article I wrote a few years ago on the same topic, which caused the proverbial crap to hit the fan.  If you get offended easily, I would advise you to not check in on Saturday.  Trust me, it’s for the best.