*REVIEW* Thumped

Synopsis:

THE CONCLUSION TO ONE OF THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT NOVELS OF LAST YEAR.

It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day!

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous: Tell the truth.

Thumped is the conclusion to Megan McCafferty's Bumped and I have to say that it was a VERY satisfying conclusion to the story. While there were still some things that bothered me, much like in Bumped, I very much enjoyed this installment and was pleased and happy with where the characters ended up.

Thumped picks up many months after the ending of Bumped and we quickly learn that Melody and Harmony have become the hottest thing to ever hit the MiNet because both girls are pregnant with twins and should deliver around the same time. It's a story the world is following and both girls are the epitome of celebrity in their own worlds: Melody in Otherside, serving as role model for all teens hoping to hump and bump their way to fame and riches, and Harmony in Goodside, a role model on the power of redemption and coming back from a sinful past. If only everything was as it appeared to be...

Readers realize that Harmony and Melody are both living a lie, though of a very different nature. Will Harmony remain in Goodside, although deep inside, she knows that it's not the place for her or her twins to be? What will become of her and Jondoe if she never returns to Otherside? Will Melody tell the truth to the world, a truth that has the potential to ruin many lives but also may hold the key to radical change? Will she finally be honest with herself about her true feelings for Zen? Does a happily ever after await them all?

EEP! So many questions need to be answered and Thumped will answer them all. I think McCafferty does a good job pacing the story and letting the characters develop even more than they did in Bumped. I was able to discern a real difference between Melody and Harmony this time around, something that was lacking a bit in the first book. I like the direction the characters ended up going in and I'm happy to see growth in all of the characters, not just Melody and Harmony. I was most pleased with the growth in Ram and liked seeing more of him in this installment.

Unfortunately, it's not ALL positive... though I know it's a sign of the times in the book, some of the language of Otherside still plucked my nerves. I know that it's intended to be that way though so I don't truly fault the book for it. It just makes me feel a little neggy, if you know what I mean. My other complaint is something that should have been corrected and that was the number of errors in the text. I know that errors are common in books because authors and editors are human and it happens. But this book seemed to contain a LOT of them and my OCD-ness kept finding them as I scrolled through the pages (Kindle edition). Misspelled words, words being left out of sentences, ARGH. One or two or even three is one thing but I found NUMEROUS errors and that always bothers me.

The negatives of this book are definitely not reason enough to skip it though. Especially if you read Bumped and want to see all that happens. It's undoubtedly a strange world that McCafferty created but it's strange in an interesting way and it really makes you think what life could be like if something like "The Virus" were to become a reality. Enjoy! *XOXO*

FUN FRIDAY (12)

Happy Friday!! :) Welcome to FUN FRIDAY where I reveal something about me, some personal tidbit that will allow my followers to get to know me better. I follow several blogs and I sometimes wonder who the bloggers REALLY are behind the words, so I thought it would be a cool thing to open up a bit and to reveal more about who Karen really is.

Today I'd like to talk about my indecisiveness... cause it is HORRIBLE!!!! Even the most simple of decisions can leave me torn, confused and frustrated. Trying to choose a restaurant? Forget about it! What kind of chips do I want at the store?! Should I go to the gym or the park?! Simple choices can leave me debating for WAYYYY too long. And the big things? Talk about some anxiety! Big decisions are the WORST.

My case in point right now is bridesmaids. I'm getting married June 2013 and I CANNOT decide what to do. We're having a smaller wedding, we're hoping to keep the guests to under 90 so it doesn't make sense to have a wedding party of outrageous proportions. We've been saying three for the longest time but therein lies my dilemma because I can't choose between four of my friends. To further complicate matters, three of them already assume they will be in it because of previous conversations I've had with them. Which I know is MY fault but when I got engaged, there was so much excitement and, "Omigosh, of COURSE you'll be in my wedding" flew from my lips without me really thinking about it.

So now I'm stuck and I don't know what to do. The easy solution would be to have all four but my fiance really only has three people he wants up there and I am NOT one of those people who can roll with the unbalanced thing. That's a result of my slight OCD-like qualities. The other easy solution would be to choose the three people who already think they'll be in it. My problem with that is that the fourth friend is someone I really would like to have up there with me. We had grown a little distant but have been renewed our friendship as of late and she's one of the most amazing friends. UGH. Choices!

Anywho... hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend. I'll be posting the winner of my 250 Follower Contest later this weekend, or the beginning of the week, so be on the lookout for that. Cheers!

*REVIEW* Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Synopsis:

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation...

I really didn't know what to expect from this one... I have not read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so I didn't know what to expect from Seth Grahame-Smith. Couple that with my complete lack of history retention, and I assumed this one was not going to go so well for me. I'm happy to say I could not have been more wrong in my prediction. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a fantastic book full of history, action, horror, loss, and hope. It's also full of some ridiculousness but you had to guess that from the title!

The book starts out by introducing us to a very young Abe Lincoln who is about to lose his mother who he is extremely attached and devoted to. Later he learns that his mother's death was actually the work of a vampire. Yep, a VAMPIRE. Abe decides then and there that he will devote his life to the eradication of vampires in America. Early in his "hunts", he stumbles upon Henry Sturges, a vampire who decides to take him under his wing and teach him all there is to know about hunting and killing vampires. Henry says that not all vampires are created equal and hopes to see the more evil ones banished from the land.

The book treats us to a wide history that shows us how Abraham Lincoln became the greatest President of the United States. We see his rise in the legal field, his first dips into politics, and much much more. We also see his first experience of love, his eventual marriage, and the birth of several children. Unfortunately, Abe also deals with a tremendous amount of loss that is truly heartbreaking. Throughout all of this, we get to witness Abe's battle against the vampires. His numerous hunts and kills and his eventual alignment with the Union, a group of vampires intent on winning the Civil War for the North and destroying the South's most capable combatants.

I really, really liked this one. So much of this history had been lost to me. When I learned about Lincoln and the Civil War, I was one of those students who believed in memorization, then reguritation, and then it would all be lost to me not long after. Reading this book was like hearing these stories for the first time all over again. Then add into the mix the fanciful tales of the vampires and it became an engaging and interesting read that I struggled to put down. And the reality of slavery in the book? Horrifying!! It's easy to not think about those dark days of our country's past but being reminded about the things that went on back then was sobering. Once again, I am in awe of Abraham Lincoln and all the men who fought with him to turn things around.

So would I recommend this to a friend? I sure as heck would! I quite enjoyed the author's writing style and think this book would appeal to many. I think I owe it to myself to check out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies now!

*REVIEW* Fated

Synopsis:

The first book in a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before...but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.

I couldn't wait to read this book! I really enjoyed The Immortals by Alyson Noel... well, at least the first few books. The series went down a little for me towards the end but I still enjoyed them! So I was REALLY excited to dive into the new world Noel has created with The Soul Seekers. And although the book had a pretty slow start for me in terms of my excitement over it, I'm happy to say that things picked up and by the end I was quite pleased.

Fated introduces us to Daire, a teenage girl being plagued by strange visions and glowing people. Doctors are convinced that she is mentally unstable and needs to be institutionalized, but Daire knows deep inside that it's more than that. In an effort to save her daughter, Daire's mother sends her to live with her grandmother, Paloma, a woman that she has never met and who practices and believes in otherworldly things.

Daire quickly learns that she hails from a long line of Soul Seekers, individuals who work in the light to bring down the darkness that plagues the world, a darkness brought on by the Coyotes. The Coyotes stem from an evil family who control the entire town. As Daire is thrust into this world, she must learn to overcome her fears and to have faith in who she was always destined to be. The trick will be knowing who to trust, and who to avoid, and ensuring that she doesn't get in too deep. If she does, she may lose something more valuable than life itself... she could lose her soul.

I really don't want to spoiler this one for anyone! I can say that I did find the beginning VERY confusing and that at times, I felt like the author skipped some needed information about what is going on. It's like, BAM! Daire finds out she's a Soul Seeker, here comes a spirit quest, and then BOOM! She's got all these powers and is facing off against the bad guy. It's alluded to that she's received a great deal of training but you don't see much of it so for me, I felt very uninformed at times.

Other than that, once the story got going, and I pieced together what was going on, I found myself quite pleased with it. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes since a lot was left hanging. Definitely some mysteries that need to be unraveled in the next book! All in all, I very much enjoyed this book. Hope you do the same! Happy Reading! *XOXO*

Teaser Tuesday: Fated

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading!

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser comes from Fated by Alyson Noel:

The group presses forward, their gruesome faces naked with craving, as I brace for a big, messy pile of squishy gray matter. Figuring the brains will most likely be human, since, according to legend, that's the preferred undead/demon/monster treat. pg. 213

After a somewhat slow start for me, this book has really picked up some steam! I've only got a few chapters left and I cannot WAIT to find out what happens! BOO work!! Fans of Noel's The Immortals owe it to themselves to pick this one up. Happy Reading! *XOXO*

*REVIEW* Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1: The Long Way Home

Synopsis:

Since the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers - newly legion - have gotten organized and are kicking some serious undead butt. But not everything's fun and firearms, as an old enemy reappears and Dawn experiences some serious growing pains. Meanwhile, one of the "Buffy" decoy slayers is going through major pain of her own.

Buffy creator Joss Whedon brings Buffy back to Dark Horse in this direct follow-up to season seven of the smash-hit TV series. The bestselling and critically acclaimed issues #1-5 are collected here for the first time, as are their covers by Jo Chen and Georges Jeanty.

I have to admit that I'm not the HUGEST comic book fan. While I do enjoy some of them, especially some of the Marvel comics about my favorites (Iron Man and Thor), I just can't seem to get fully on the bandwagon. And it would be easy to assume this could be in part because I'm a chick and comics seem to be more favored by the male species, but I know several girls who quite enjoy comics so I'm not sure it's as simple as that. But more on that later, let's talk about BUFFY!

The Long Way Home picks up where the hit TV show left us, with tons of slayers joining the mix. No longer is Buffy THE slayer, she's more like the head slayer, the teacher, the Commander. Buffy and Co. have been working tirelessly, continuing to protect the world from evil. However, the government feels that Buffy and her crew are a major threat to the human race and plot to kill her. Joining the government is Amy and Warren, who has some serious revenge plans for Willow. And Dawn? Let's say she's got some supersized problems of her own!

While I really enjoyed getting back into the world of Buffy (cause let's face it, that show was awesomesauce!) I have to admit that I thought I would love this more than I did. While the artwork was great for the majority of the characters, I was left a little puzzled by how little Buffy resembled Sarah Michelle Gellar. The other characters looked MUCH more like the TV versions, so that was a little surprising and frankly, it pulled me out of the story because I couldn't help thinking, "wow, that so doesn't look like Buffy" at key moments. I'm hoping the next volume will be a little different in that regard.

I think the other thing that disappointed me is probably my own fault, and that was my confusion level. It's been a VERY long time since I've seen the last season of Buffy and I kind of felt like I was thrown into a movie at the midway point. I was LOST. But things have come back, with the help of Wikipedia, and I'm looking forward to picking up the next volume. Because the one AMAZING thing was that Joss Whedon's voice is THERE. The wit, the humor, the banter that made the show oh-so-enjoyable is completely present in the book. If you're a Buffy fan, you owe it to yourself to see what happens next. Enjoy! *XOXO*

FUN FRIDAY (11)

Happy Friday!! :) Welcome to FUN FRIDAY where I reveal something about me, some personal tidbit that will allow my followers to get to know me better. I follow several blogs and I sometimes wonder who the bloggers REALLY are behind the words, so I thought it would be a cool thing to open up a bit and to reveal more about who Karen really is.

Today's insight: I have an eating out problem. I eat out ALL. THE. TIME. I'd like to blame how crazy busy work has been for me lately but I think that would be a lie because this has ALWAYS been an issue. I think what is really to blame is my laziness. I am SO lazy! Yeah, I work hard and it can be exhausting emotionally and the last thing I feel like doing at night is cooking. So the easy solution? Take out, baby! But it's SOOOOOO bad for you, I've got to get a handle on it!

For example, this week alone: Monday night we had Chick-fil-a. Which is freakin' AMAZING. I am in love with their chicken strips and waffle fries? Yes, please!! Tuesday night we had Tropical Smoothie. Their strawberry beach smoothie is my ultimate fave! Wednesday night we had Hardees, which I wasn't that impressed with. I tried their jalapeno burger jank and it gave me heartburn like a champ. But their cheese and bacon fries were pretty good! And that all leads us to last night where we had Chinese. A LOT of Chinese. Yeah, yeah... I coordinate AP testing at the high school I work at and we've been giving tests all week and it's been super stressful but still. Eating out every single night? Not good for the wallet OR the waistline!

I'm hoping we correct this starting next week as we begin a 5K training program. We're participating in a Color Me Rad 5K in July and while 3.1 miles isn't hard to walk, I know there's NO way I'm going to be able to run even a small portion of it without some serious training. So goodbye fast food and take out and HELLO! eating at home. Joy. I suppose it's the grown up thing to do and it is sure as HECK more healthy than what I've been doing. Cheers! *XOXO*