Fire in Ice---Not Too Cheesy and All the Grits

picture courtesy of goodreads.com

*waves flag* Cheerio.

It's basically summer over here and I already hit the books. I am planning on some beach reads and definitely non-fiction.

And still talking about books: I just finished a fantasy book a few days back. All suspense, action, and a bad-ass female main character; Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs centers on Mercy Thompson, a were coyote, going on a rescue rampage yet again.

Married to an alpha werewolf, Mercy has her husband and a pack of wolves to worry about. She goes on an adventure to save her husband and the pack. Of course, as the series entails many are after her head and her life is now up for bidding to the highest bidder and the strongest fighter to fight her on a fight to the death.

I have followed this series for a while and have found myself an avid fan with all the action, back talking, supernatural characters, dark humor, and sweet romance. However in this volume Briggs cuts short. The plot involves conspiracy which is great but the conspiracy itself is a-typical and given to you the reader before you get the chance to figure out who it is. It's the equivalent of watching Dora and having Dora answer the question before you got a chance to answer back. Bad Bad. Swiping rights should be up when a book is 340 pages and it involves a typical cat and mouse chase like this one.

This book is perfect for a snack read, otherwise don't count on fireworks with this one.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

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.

Thank You & Some Hot Tamales!

Tally-ho Book Adventurers! I apologize for being M.I.A for the past few weeks. I have been caught in the tumults of life (school work) and a book I am reading which I will be reviewing very soon (hint: Santiago Gamboa). 

picture courtesy of memegenerator.net

Just want to state for the new followers: thank you for following and don't be scared to post a comment (whether good/bad). I welcome all opinions: as long as there are no insults. 

Books are a window to different worlds and universes; not everyone will like the same "trip" (OK, I don't make sense that much but bear with me >.<). So thank you again for following this blog :D

As for the hot tamales: some of you might be all too familiar with the movement that is going on online: indie self-published ebooks that have been posted on the kindle ebook section of amazon.com.

picture courtesy of Wiki Commons

So far, I have found myself confounded by 5 pages of the list of free ebooks online. I am still perusing as of this moment and have downloaded about 5 books. (And they're mine to keep *evil grin*). Oh, and for those of you who are always hesitant about hot books that are turned into movies (i.e Alex Cross, The Hunger Games): in the list of free books you will be able to find previews of those books. SOoooo, instead of buying the "hot" books you can preview them and see if you like them; if not you don't have to worry about wasting your money...cause its FREE!

And on another hot tamale: I just found out last week: the film adaptation for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl is expected for release on February of next year. For those of you who are fans of the series, the date on the IMDB.com (which is where I got my source of information) says February 13 2013 as the release date (just in case you want to mark your calendar). 

I also saw the trailer and as a film adaptation: doesn't look bad. Then again, trailers can deceive people. Anywaaaays, I suggest to start recommending reading the original books (yep, it's a series alright) to your friends who are fantasy/paranormal romantics because it is a love story AND it would suck for them to see the movie and then read the book that way: the characters will be defined by the actors rather than them choosing as to how they would look like when they read the book. My professor for Film Rhetoric once said that it is better for the reader to have the power on how the characters look like in a book than defining them in appearances to the actors in the film version. Definitely agree on that.

For now, that's it folks

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

"Why Be the Sheep When You Can Be the Wolf?"

picture courtesy of compassbookratings.com

Good Afternoon fellow book pirates! Just came through with a finished reading on a book that came out this summer.

Taking place in medieval Britain, the story centers on a girl named Ismae who escapes an arranged marriage by the hands of fate. Turns out she is destined to be the handmaiden of Death since the "mistake" of her birth and is sent to a convent in which she is trained to be an assassin.

However, as it may, things aren't always cut and dry when there are politics at hand, romance, and traitors in the midst of a potential war. What will Ismae do?

This is a unique story because its not your everyday medieval novel. I mean, the main character is trained to be an assassin which is a bit antagonistic. She is definitely not girly and kind of awkward when it comes to interacting with hot guys. And what I also like about this book is that the romance (yes there is romance) isn't the main focus of the novel. There is action and almost a textual game of Clues because when reading it, it isn't exactly clear who is the traitor in the group of people surrounding the duchess. I'd say its a great book for the beginning of the series but I think some of the supporting characters could have had a little bit more spotlight to add more mystery or something else. Otherwise, I recommend as a train read.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Stray (First Fall Book Review)

courtesy of rachelvincent.com

Hope you all are having a good week. The fall season has started and its time to collect some of those books for the time in between work and school.

And talking about books, today I finally finished an awesome adventurous one I was reading ebook style:

Written in first person narrative, Stray by Rachel Vincent is centered on Faythe, a girl doing her years in graduate school to escape her family life. Independent and stubborn, Faythe has spent her years in college studying and annoyed at the bodyguards her father sends to protect her. Being the only female daughter who is a werecat, she has always been a great concern of her parents. And as human girls start to appear dead within werecat territory, worry starts to bubble even more.

The concept of a “werecat” was interesting to find in this book since werewolves have been one of the famous fantasy archetypes along with the vampire. Here, werecats are very similar to werewolves in behavioral aspects but have different elements of stealth. For example, in this book werecats are impervious to silver.

I also found the main character, Faythe, to be a little too stubborn and crazy in the beginning but as the story progresses it becomes apparent the reason why she is that way and why she avoids her family. There is suspense in this book in which there are twists and unsuspected turns along with adventure and romance. And even the romance itself is intense and less sweet than your usual conventional one.

Finishing this book, I find myself highly intrigued and waiting for the next one since this book is the first in the series. However, I do have to say that this book was really graphic in the violence content and there were some scenes that I actually had to take a 2-day break before continuing reading. I definitely recommend to read this book for those of you who are shape-shifter fans and like some good suspenseful action. 

Beware: this book requires a certain tolerance to violence.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

City of Bones (update!!!)

picture courtesy of  http://cassandraclare.tumblr.com/

So, while I am reading a few books and classes in between, I have just stumbled upon some crazy news: City of Bones has started filming and the cast is set. The official website is up, so you guys can check out the full cast on the website along with their character and a small blurb of information on the character.

And for those who want confirmation, here is a list of who is playing who:

Characters--------- Actors who will be playing them

1. Clary------- Lily Collins 
2. Jace---------Jamie Campbell-Bower
3. Simon-------Robert Sheehan
4. Alec---------Kevin Zegers
5. Isabelle------Jemima West
6. Magnus------Godfrey Gao
7. Jocelyn-------Lena Headey
8. Luke----------Aidan Turner
9. Hodge--------Jared Harris
10. Valentine----Jonathan Rhys Meyers

You can check out the whole cast on the highlighted link: (city of bones)

I am highly interested how this movie is going to turn out. According to a FAQ On Cassandra Clare's main website/blog, they might make another one if this first movie is successful.

I really do hope that this film won't mess up the book too much but still be creative on how they interpret the book. OF COURSE, nothing is perfect and assuming that this movie will be the best book-into-film that has ever been released is a little too much to expect. However, other's might think otherwise and that means all these people contributing & working towards the release of this movie should work their ass off to make it the best work they have done (my opinion) anyway. 

Tiger's Curse (A Book Review)

picture courtesy of lytherus.com

I have spent quite some time reading this book called Tiger's Curse even while I posted the latest news on The Mortal Instruments film production.

Written in first person narrative by Colleen Houck, Tiger's Curse is the story of a girl who goes on an adventure with a tiger after working in the circus he was residing in. She gets pretty much ensnared by his "cobalt blue eyes" not realizing that the tiger has more of a story to tell. He is part of a curse that is up to her to break.

Reading this book, I found romance and adventure that reminded me a little bit of Indiana Jones. Even the main character herself, Kelsey, noticed it and made a comment in the book towards that respect. However, I found myself more interested in the adventure than the romance. The romance seems t0o cheesy for me to really get into. There is also some humor here and there but not enough to give the book more of the spark it deserves.

Nevertheless, Houck did a great job in including mystical parts of Indian culture within the book while still holding the main character's belief in the universe. I liked the fact that there was a theme with bringing spiruatility to life. Remembering those scenes now, I think adapting this book into a film will give it less credit than it deserves. (Then again you never know).  What was interesting to me is that there is a mixture of Asia and India at some point within some of the characters. The novels I have read that deal with curses have always been centered in one culture. Buuuuuuut......

Although this book may have been a New York Times Bestseller, it seems the content is more of a preteen to early high school material. I would say the equivalent of eating a gourmet cupcake from Bon. I can only recommend it as a snack you can finish within 3 days to a week. Of course since this is a series I would also recommend taking a break within books, the sugar (*cough* romance *cough*) may be a bit too much.

Hey there book lovers! Hope your summer is starting well. There is some interesting mysterious news going around lately. 

the book series (courtesy of hippiesbeautyandbooks blog)

For those of you who have read The Mortal Instrument series composed by Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instruments will be adapted into film. Yes, folks, adapted into film. It is now in the process of production to be later on released next summer. And there is already two actors assigned for the main characters.

Lily Collins
(courtesy  We Fancy Books Blog)

Lily Collins (Mirror, Mirror) will be playing Clary Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd) will be playing Jace Wayland. There are already rumors that Chris Riggi (Vampires Suck) will be playing Alec Lightwood. As for the rest, there is still a casting process going underway. The film is said to be mostly filmed in New York and Toronto but settings along with the role casting may still be changed since it is in its beginnings. 

However, for you New York and Toronto fans: there will be look outs and hiring of extras. If you want to be part of this production and maybe even get paid for it, you can check Acting-Auditions site for more news and updates.

Personally, I am not much of a fan of book-into-film transformation. BUUUUUT, I do recommend for those who haven't read the series, to check it out. This series is epic in delivering supernatural action packed adventure with some romance as a side dish. I haven't finished reading or keeping up to date with the series since City of Glass, but I will be finishing this summer with the accomplishment of keeping up to date with it (expect the review this fall!).

Jamie C. Bower
(courtesy of We Fancy Books  blog)

As for now, just hold on to your seats: this is going to be quite a surprise. (I really had to be corny! lol)

(Note: If you want to be kept directly in check with what's going on for The Mortal Instruments film, check out this website. If not you can always hit "like" on the facebook page

A Supernatural Drama Bomb Review

There are many people who are brave enough to admit they are into romance novels.  I am one of them. So when I find a supernatural romance, I get rapped up in it enough to spend a whole afternoon reading halfway through the book. This novel was one of those.

Written in first person narrative, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, takes place in a small town named Gatlin where most folks call the Civil War the Battle of Northern Aggression. Here everyone is the epitome of average normality, except for Ethan and Lena; (the main characters), who knew each other in dreams before they met each other. (Talk about love at first dream)

Although, I would have finished the book in one day and a half, there is so much intense supernatural drama mama that I had to segment the reading within days of the week. Yes, folks, I said days. There are so many twists in this novel than any sensational soap opera seen on TV; I wouldn't be surprised if this book is adapted into a movie. 

Be prepared for those cliche moments, because of course, this is a teen supernatural romance.  Nevertheless, for those who have read Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument series; you might just have found your fix with this one. 

(P.S. CHECK OUT THE TRAILER...DEFINITELY MUST READ!)

Vampires Can Evolve!

No you will not ever read a page where there is someone sucking someone’s blood in this series. This is more the general of the whole in between species romance than the the actual gory lifestyle of a vampire shown in series like Sookie Stackhouse and the Mercy series by Brashares. There is somewhat of an adventure within these pages. When it comes down to Raven, the main character, there is always some snooping. Think of her as the gothic version of Nancy Drew.

However, for this installment in the Vampire Kisses series, Raven is more worried about her vampire boyfriend’s family reunion after a surprise letter of their arrival comes in Alexander’s mailbox. Expectations and funny dinners start to happen and to top it all off Raven who is sixteen is now forced to face herself in what she really wants to do with her life.

This book isn’t as much of a ride for me, but rather a cliché goth fairytale romance with a moral to its continuation.