BOOK REVIEW: Things Fall Apart

Title: Things Fall Apart
Author: Hilary Neiman
Rating: 5 stars

I found this book to be highly engaging and interesting.  I also felt myself empathizing with the author.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Hilary Neiman's were very big ones.  There is no denying that, and she vehemently repeats this over and over throughout her story.  She makes no excuses for what she did and makes it very clear that the only thing she wants the reader to know is the truth.  As with any controversial topic in our world today, there are people who will believe whatever they read and won't bother to do their own research, to dig a little deeper, and to learn what the real facts are.

This woman is not a monster.  She is not a babyseller.  She was a lawyer who specialized in adoption and surrogacy, a field that lawyers rarely solely specialize in.  She wanted to help people who couldn't have children become parents.   A small handful of her cases originated from a certain surrogacy agency that, initially unbeknownst to her, was running an illegal operation by hiring surrogate mothers to become pregnant before parents were involved.

This is the point where it is important to remind the reader that Miss Neiman did not know this at the onset.  When she eventually did learn these details - that was when she made her mistake.  She should have done more; she allowed herself to be lulled into a false sense of complacency by her state's bar association, who told her not to worry about it.  She fully admits that she didn't do enough to investigate and get to the bottom of the situation then.  She greatly regrets the decisions she made during that time.

What I find endearing in this book is the effort that she makes to help others and find herself, both during and after her imprisonment at Atwood Federal Prison Camp.  While in prison, she begins to write a book to help others like her, who were completely unprepared for what prison was to bring.  With little information out there about what the real prison experience is like, she and one of her fellow inmates decided to write something to help others like themselves prepare for what is to come when they find out that they are destined to spend some portion of their lives in prison.  She also wrote a children's book to help explain a parent's absence in prison to their children. While in prison and during her home confinement, she did a lot of soul-searching and thought, in order to better herself and figure out where, fundamentally, she went wrong.  She made the effort to change her life and make sure her moral compass and outlook on life do not again lead her astray.  Everyone makes bad decisions, some worse than others.  Inevitably, she will still end up making mistakes, just like we all do.  However, she is doing her very best to make sure that she, and others who may need her help, do not make the kind of mistakes that upended her life.

I would recommend this book to anyone.  It really opened my eyes to reality and reminded me of the important things in life.  Never take your life, your family, friends, work, and passions for granted.  Do things and find success for the right reasons, not simply to be successful.  Happiness in life is found in the journey, not in reaching the goal of being successful in and of itself.  Goals come and go.  Once you've reached yours, what is left?  Take each day at a time, and make sure you're really living.  Help others, not just yourself.  In helping others, you might actually find that you are helping yourself. This isn't me going on a rant because I feel like it.  These are all things that I learned from Hilary Neiman's story.  Read it, and you can learn these things too.  Put aside everything you think you know about the author.  She tells the truth about what happened, how she dealt with it, and how she plans to deal with the rest of her life.  Despite what started it all, it is an amazing book.  Keep an open mind, and read it to see for yourself.

BOOK REVIEW: Unplugged

Title: "Unplugged"
Author: P.D. Quaver
Rating: 5 stars

Description:

What would happen if some modern kids were forced to live without their modern devices? 

The teens enrolled in 'The Natural Path'--a school for device-addicted kids run by the smooth but vaguely sinister Dr. Zarkov--quickly find out when the school turns out to be nothing but a front for an elaborate kidnapping plot. Trapped on a remote tropical island and facing what looks like certain death, they will have to band together if they hope to defeat their ruthless captors. But it will still take all their ingenuity just to survive... 

A realistically detailed and thrilling story by novelist P.D. Quaver which will appeal to young adults (13 and over). 

My Review:

“Unplugged” had me mesmerized.  At the beginning, I found it a little difficult to connect with any other characters other than Max, but I think that’s how it was meant to be.  All of the characters are so wrapped up in themselves and their panic over the fact that they’re losing their connections to the outside world that it makes it difficult to get a real read on who’s who.  Some traits become obvious – the preppy, self-absorbed girl who thinks the world revolves around her and the guy who seems like a higher-than-thou jerk stuck out in particular.

Throughout the book, in all of the struggles that await them (and there are many struggles, believe you me!), all of the characters grow.  Some of them have fates that are heartbreaking.  In fact, all of them seem to have fates that are going to be heartbreaking for a while.  It’s never clear, before any of their challenges occur, how one of those challenges will go.  Some of what you think would never in a million years work end up working out perfectly, while other situations that seem likely to succeed crash and burn.  Throughout everything, they never give up and continually keep each other motivated and working together to survive and find a way off of their island prison.  All the while, they are growing as people.  Without any technology and very few tools or food supplies, they have to get creative and figure things out using only their brains and brawn, something that some of them have never really had to do before.

By the end of the book (I will refrain from ruining it for you by allowing you to read it yourself and come upon it naturally), all of the characters have come a long way physically, mentally, and emotionally.  They have been forced to grow up and learn to be mature, responsible decision-making adults at a very young age.

I believe this book teaches a very important message.  In our world today, everything runs by technology.  What would we do without it?  In reading this story, we aren’t fed some story about a crazy world blackout that requires us to live without.  It’s something much more old-school, and honestly, it’s much more believable.  A group of kids are kidnapped and held for ransom.  When they are left alone on a deserted island, out of the path of any commercial shipping or flying traffic with no hope of communicating with the outside world, they are forced to learn how to live without any technology whatsoever.  They are forced to learn to live without much at all.  It’s a reminder that, while difficult, living without technology is possible.  If these kids can live without the comforts of computers, phones, internet, tablets, or electricity of any kind, it is certainly possible for the rest of society to do it, especially when one stops to think of how much more we have to work with in our normal world than these kids had in theirs.

I give major props to P.D. Quaver for tackling this idea and for writing a great, thought-provoking book.  Once the action started (and it didn’t take long for it to get underway), I was hooked.  If it weren’t for my busy schedule, I probably would have sat all day and read it all in one sitting.  It will keep you reading as challenge after challenge affects this group of kids, who will also grow on you as you see them struggle to survive.  They are all different and unique characters who have a different skill set to lend to their plight.

But don’t let me tell you the story; go buy it and read it for yourself!  You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

BOOK REVIEW: My Blood Approves

My Blood Approves
By: Amanda Hocking
Rating: 4/5

Description from Goodreads:
Teenager Alice Bonham's life feels crazy after she meets Jack. With his fondness for pink Chuck Taylors and New Wave, he's unlike anyone she knows. Then she meets his brother, Peter. Even though he can't stand the sight of her, she's drawn to him. Falling for two guys isn't even the worst of her problems. Jack and Peter are vampires, and Alice finds herself caught between love and her own blood.

Excerpt:
So. You haven’t texted me.

You’re very observant. I responded.

My plan was to try to be indifferent. I didn’t appreciate the idea that I had probably fallen victim to some kind of spell or hormonal manipulation.

Does that mean you don’t want to be friends?

He actually typed that, like a note I’d get in the first grade. Something about that completely endeared him to me, and since I couldn’t smell or see him, I decided that must mean that I actually liked him.
No. I do. Definitely.

“Who is that?” Milo asked with an edge to his voice. He was sitting at the other end of the couch from me, and he leaned over so he could look at my phone, but I turned it away from him. “It’s that Jack guy, right?”

“You do realize it’s perfectly legal for me to text members of the opposite sex.” I gave Milo a hard look and he just shook his head.

“Whatever,” Milo said and turned his attention back to the movie. My phone rang again, and Milo made a humph sound.

Excellent. Wanna do something? Jack messaged.

What did you have in mind?

Anything. Everything. The city is our oyster! Jack texted back.

That sounds pretty ambitious. I replied, but it did sound exciting.

It is. So can you be ready in like fifteen minutes? Jack asked.

Sure. Meet you outside.


In a flash, I touched up my make up and slid on shoes. Before rushing out the door, I promised Milo that I wouldn’t be home too late and that I had my phone if he needed me. He grunted at me, and then I dashed out to meet Jack.

My Review:

Alice and her best friend, Jane, are rescued from a dangerous situation by a mysterious, handsome guy that they've never met.  Jane is immediately entranced by the good-looking stranger, but he only has eyes for Alice.  As time passes and they become closer, Alice becomes equal parts head over heels for Jack and frustrated with him for not telling her the secret that she feels he is keeping from her about himself and his family.  When finally the truth can't be avoided any longer and Jack tells her the biggest of his secrets, Alice is in for the surprise of her life.  Jack and his family are vampires.

I really liked this book.  I admit, the first time or two I tried reading it years ago, I just couldn't get into it at first and ultimately put it down to read something else.  Now, I've finally come back to it, and I devoured the entire series - or at least the 4 out of 5 books that have been released. 

In My Blood Approves, I loved the dynamic between Alice and Jack.  Everything just seemed so easy between them.  I was definitely Team Jack the whole way through.  Peter was not my favorite.  He did grow on me later in the series, but I couldn't stand him in this first book.

The one character I could not stand was Jane.  She was just - for lack of a better word - a bitch.  She was so self-centered and shallow that it seemed impossible that she could be anyone's best friend but her own.  I really did not feel that she was good for Alice (just look at how we're introduced to her - dragging Alice along to a string of clubs, even though not only are they under age, but Alice just wasn't interested in being there, especially not for the reasons Jane was).

By the end of the book, I really just wanted Jack to turn Alice into a vampire already.  It seemed like the next logical step, but I understood why she didn't want to leave her brother behind, especially with the kind of mother they seemed to have.

Ultimately, I give this book a 4/5.  I would have given it a 5/5, but there were a lot of editorial mistakes in the book.  I loved the writing, and so far have loved all of Amanda Hocking's books, but as far as the Kindle books that she has self-published go, I feel that she needs a better editor.

BOOK REVIEW: The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window

Title: The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window
Author: Kirsty Moseley
Rating: 3/5

Description from Goodreads:
Amber Walker and her older brother, Jake, have an abusive father. One night her brother's best friend, Liam, sees her crying and climbs through her bedroom window to comfort her. That one action sparks a love/hate relationship that spans over the next eight years. Liam is now a confident, flirty player who has never had a girlfriend before. Amber is still emotionally scarred from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. Together they make an unlikely pair. Their relationship has always been a rocky one, but what happens when Amber starts to view her brother's best friend a little differently? And how will her brother, who has always been a little overprotective, react when he finds out that the pair are growing closer? Find out in The Boy Who Sneaks In My Bedroom Window.

Excerpt:

"I was talking about you," he said quietly.  My back tensed.  Me?  "I've been crazy about you since the first time I saw you, Angel.  But your brother wouldn't let me anywhere near you.  All this time it's only ever been you."  He looked at the floor like a little lost boy, and I couldn't breathe.

 My Review:

The Boy Who Sneaks in  My Bedroom Window surprised me.  I didn't really know what to expect based off of the title, but it was suggested to me by someone I trust when it comes to books (and anything else really), so I gave it a shot.

By the end of the first few chapters, I was in love with Liam.  I wanted to beat Amber over the head for not realizing what a great guy he actually was and that he was in love with her.  Liam basically plays the part of the perfect boyfriend, even before he and Amber were a couple.  He's sweet, caring, and protective.  He was a little too grabby for my taste, but everything else he did kind of made up for that.  He's one of those guys who would do anything - literally - for his girl.  You might go as far as to say that he's more than a little bit whipped, but it comes off as sweet.

I had mixed feelings about Amber.  I get that she went through a lot.  She went through more than any person on this earth ever should.  For this reason, she had previously been set against dating anyone.  At sixteen, she had never had a boyfriend, not even one of those silly little hold-hands-for-a-couple-days-and-then-call-it-quits kind of things we called "dating" in middle school - something that we all did at one point or another, whether we want to admit it or not.  Understandably, she's a little gun-shy about boys thanks to her father.

Liam is different though.  Anyone with eyes can see it in the way he treats her.  Yes, he is a man whore, but the way he treats her is different, the entire way through the book.  What he does with other girls is a distraction for him.  Amber is the real deal.  This is why, considering she has known him for literally most of her life, I wanted to beat her over the head with something for not realizing the truth.

But the mixed feelings aren't only from that.  She made so many dumb, rash decisions all the way through the book, putting herself in dangerous situations, including one in which her life was not the only one in danger and proved a fatal choice.  I liked her for the first half of the book.  I got past the Liam issue because she eventually did catch on, but when she made stupid decision after stupid decision afterward, I started to lose respect for her.

Don't get me wrong, the story is good.  I loved it.

However, I felt that some of the writing and descriptions could have been a bit better.  Too many phrases were used excessively and some didn't seem fitting for the scene and what was going on.

If you can look through the imperfections, the story is sweet and memorable.  I gave it three stars because of the writing, but no less because I loved the story line and fairly well thought-out plot.