Trapped in a Bookstore

picture courtesy of ebooksmio.com

*cues R&B music*
Almost had you there didn't I.

Now the title may remind you of an infamous urban opera but I won't be writing or posting any parody of that.

This blog post is a book review on a book I finished recently titled Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux. 

As you can tell from the hands on the book cover and "zombie novel" on the bottom, it is a zombie story. It centers on the account of a girl, Allison Hewitt, who works at a bookstore and gets "trapped" there with her co-workers when a bunch of zombies attack the town. As she and her co-workers figure out a way to survive, Allison posts regularly on a blog in which she talks about her accounts of the day using the only internet network out there. 

To tell you the truth, when I looked at the cover of this book, I was really looking for a horror binge read. The equivalent of craving some candy corn when its not even Halloween. You just like candy corn (unless you don't then well..I am sorry T.T).

At first, I thought it would be one of those cheesy books where the whole book is following the main character in a library and surviving a day: like the premise of the film "The Day After Tomorrow." Once I read the first few pages, I found that it wasn't at all cheesy and that is when I got hooked. 

This book pulled me in with its narrative and writing style of "blog entries".  There were a few moments where I felt depressed reading, but once I got over that, I kept going. I was that hooked. I needed to know if Allison was going to make it and what happened to her life.

However there are a few cons (maybe?). There isn't extensive explicit gory details on how the zombies get decapitated or sex scenes. Yep, you read correctly this is a PG-13 type of book, which is surprising because I found this book in the adult fiction collection, but hey...whatever.
It hit the spot but it left a cliff-hanger ending of what happened to Allison. 



Point: if you're on a zombie fiction binge and you like strong female characters for main center, you can pick this one up. You'll find drama, loss, zombies, and different sorts of action. 


Til Next Blog Post,
Miss Bobo

P.S. By the way: check out this fan made trailer "based on the novel"

Boneshaker (A Steampunk Book Review)

picture courtesy of bartsbookshelf.co.uk

January has been an interesting month for me. So far I have finished 4 books and I am currently on reading some other books along with venturing on some non-fiction.

One of the 4 books, I finished was Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

Taken place in Civil War America, this steampunk story covers the journey of a kid who is trying to find physical evidence of who his father really was after 17 years of his life hearing all sorts of stories about him. So he goes underground to the other side of town where zombies, pirates, and all sorts of crazy action occur. Meanwhile, his mother goes after him worried he will die in the process.

There is quite some action in this book along with mystery and suspense. I loved the zombie parts and found myself engaged in some of the life-or-death situations. However, for some reason I found the book a bit bland. I finished it but felt like it needed more spice. The ending pretty much saved it from being "blah" (and the zombies too). Otherwise, I wouldn't really give it much thought.

Since it is a series, I am going to try the other books but I am still skeptical if it will be better or in the same line of "ok". Besides that, I'd say why not try it. Maybe you will find it greater than how I found it.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

P.S. Here is an excerpt of the audiobook. Courtesy of YouTube.

No One Wants to be a Burn Out

picture courtesy of adriennemariavrettos.com

Tallyho!

Along with reading about girls getting over guys I happen to finish a book about dangerous things like drugs and other stuff.

Written in first person narrative, Burnout by Adrienne Maria Vrettos tells the story of Nan who is confused with herself. The girl wakes up after Halloween with some weird costume on a train, not remembering how she got there. As the book progresses, Nan's story unravel the reader and her both find out what happened that night.

This book is one of those books that makes you feel like you are inside the book. And it's also a book that shows in a fictional way, the problem of drugs and its affects. I don't have much words for this book because of the fact that it was just so intense.

If you read Go Ask Alice, you will be swept in this one.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Everyone Likes a Pick Me Up (Book Review)

picture courtesy of abbymcdonald.com

Hello Hello,

Hope everyone is doing well on this month of January. 

Two days ago, I was able to finish this book -------->>>>

which is your typical YA unrequited love story. 

Now let me tell you something. 

I am not too sure if some of you BookGeekWeek followers are male but either way if you are out there: I am sorry. 

Written in first person narrative, this book centers on Sadie: a girl who meets the "love of her life" (a.k.a Garret Delaney) at a library and spends 2 years liking him.

 Throughout the whole entire time, she listens to him when he talks about his relationships, watches movie, and does all the things a girl does when she is friend zoned and in the best friend field (bare with me). When Garret gets accepted to some lit camp for the summer and she doesn't; things go down hill. Sadie gets all depressed and longs for him like no other. At some point, she clamps down and finally realizes to get over this guy and do something eventful for the summer. Then on, things happen that not even she could expect.

Maybe, I have mentioned this before: about the whole getting too old for YA books; but this book got me hanging on (even at the stereotypical girly emotional parts). Here is this girl pining for this guy for 2 whole years dreaming and expecting him to drop the L-bomb on her and reciting love poetry at any given moment they're alone. I am pretty sure there are many of us girls who are like that: pining for someone who doesn't get it and probably never will. The unattainable one.

a meme made by a fan and posted on tumblr

Don't get me wrong, the way this was written had me thinking the guy was actually going to. And despite the fact that a lot of the pages of this book were spent with Sadie moaning and whining that Garrett is the one; when she started to peel from that: realism began to show through the writing. I saw that Sadie isn't your typical girl. She is the typical girl who grew from her own emotions. 

The cons of this book that majorly got to me is how the male characters of this book are portrayed. Each one has some romantic position whether negative or positive. There is barely a positive male friendship in the view. Which in a sense, kinda makes the book look bad because its not showing the other side of the coin. 

Then again, the story is told in a female first person narrative about getting over a guy. I could be asking a little too much. Either way: I definitely recommend reading this for one of those days when you're sick of deucebaggery male behavior/getting over a break-up/it's girl's week/you need a little bit of grrrrrl power in your life. 

Til Next Blogpost,

Miss Bobo

P.S. If you want to read the first chapter of this book just to check it out, you can do so at Abby McDonald's website (click here)

Merry 2013 and a New Start (book review) (possible SPOILER Alert!)

picture courtesy of bookequals.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR *honks the horn and dances in confetti* Wish you all the best on this year of
2013. Oh and lets not forget we survived the impending doom of an apocalypse! WOOOO!

And to start off 2013. Here is a book review I promised before:

The second installment of Beautiful Creatures that follows the story of Lena & Ethan Wate. Lena is a Caster and Ethan Wate a mere mortal. When Ethan met her, Lena was in the midst of a countdown in which she had to make a choice
that will compromise members of her family. And to top it all off, Ethan gets caught in the plans of one of the Dark Casters.


In Beautiful Darkness, Ethan & Lena begin to separate while Lena goes deeper in her grief after loosing a loved one in a Caster battle of powers. After the funeral, Lena starts to change little by little. When Ethan catches unto signs that things are going to get worse, Lena disappears. From there on it becomes a quest for Ethan to find Lena and help her decide where she belongs.


What was cool about this book, is that you see character development even through the eyes of Ethan. Beautiful Darkness is written in the first person narrative of Ethan Wate just as the one before it. However, the way it is written seems more third person narrative than first person. I was a little bored reading the beginning because of the whole relationship drama that came from the first book. But as I continued to read, the mystery and action that followed got me more interested. As a matter of fact, I actually finished this book after I was on my way home from New Years at Time Square (talk about hectic). When finished, I thought it helped to finish my night in the right way: reading a book. I know this book is nothing like the Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare but it sure is similar in the action and adventure aspect. I would still recommend it for those of you who love a good adventure with some romance. 




Til Next Blogpost & Happy New Year Wishes,
Miss Bobo