Book Review: The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 2015
Pages: 336
Source: Library
For: Fun!
Series: Conspiracy of Us, Book 1

Summary (from goodreads):

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with. 

Things I Liked:
This was a super fun, fast-paced adventure book.  Definitely it will appeal to fans of Ally Carter (as all the marketing mentioned) - it reminded me of her Gallagher Girls books.  I like reading books that seem like an action film sometimes.  I don't think I could read many of them in a row, but it's a nice break.  I found the historical stuff a bit fascinating, if vague, and wished there was more to it.  I was entertained through the whole thing.

Things I Didn't Like:
It was heavy on story and action, not so much characters.  I didn't care much for Avery - she made some seriously stupid choices, including hopping on a plane to Paris with total strangers without telling her mom.  I don't think that's a spoiler, it's pretty early on that it happens.  The romance is ok, though I was swooning during some of the kissing. There aren't many twists I didn't see coming, but I still pretty much enjoyed the read.  I'll probably read the sequels and feel pretty much the same way :)

Read-alikes:
Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

Felt a lot like a National Treasure movie
It's also been compared to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
I think maybe one or two

mrg-factor: none
kissing!

v-factor: ->
a bit of action stuff

Overall rating: ***

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
Publisher: Hachette Books
Publication date: September 2012
Pages: 240
Source: Library
For: Book Group

Summary (from goodreads):

In this fable, the first man on earth to count the hours becomes Father Time.

The inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world - now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began - and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

Things I Liked:
Interesting thoughts about what time means and how much it rules our lives.  I am very much a clock watcher and I hate to be without my watch.  I can see how it sort of takes over my life in getting places at certain times.  An interesting look at humanity and the importance of individuals and relationships.

Things I Didn't Like:
I don't much care for the style of writing.  It's very simplistic and at times annoyed me that way.  I also thought it kind of ignored how we do have to pay attention to time to function in our world.  Not everything associated with keeping time is bad.  Not much nuance there.  There's a nice line between being obsessed by it and acknowledging it's importance.

Read-alikes:
I got nothing...

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ***

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication date: October 2012
Pages: 608
Source: Library
For: Fun
Series: Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Summary (from goodreads):

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Things I Liked:
The stories in Riordan's books always keep me entertained.  I also like how his characters have a bit more depth than I used to see.  Percy is still the same arrogant guy, but I like how they all have to work together to get anywhere.  Also, things don't always work out the way you want or expect for the good guys.  Also, Riordan's books are just entertaining.

Things I Didn't Like:
It was a bit long.  I kept hoping they'd get moving on their adventures and they'd run into more monsters or problems.  Sometimes it feels like they play the same thing out over and over and over.  Almost formulaic at this point.  I'm ready for the end of this series, which I will, of course, read. Eventually. (I appear to be several years behind in my Riordan reading...)

Read-alikes:
Anything Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson to start)

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor:->->
plenty of monsters to battle

Overall rating: ***

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication date: January 2015
Length: 6 hrs, 36 min
Source: Audiobook from publisher
For: Review
Series: Lunar Chronicles, Book 3.5?

 

Summary (from goodreads):

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Things I Liked:
I adore these retellings, though this one was a lot shorter and maybe not quite as complete a story as I would have liked.  I guess it's more like a novella.  It doesn't actually retell the whole Snow White story (as I assume Winter will be more along those lines), but the story behind the evil queen of that tale.  I felt very sorry for Levana throughout the book, and I found myself very sad at the choices she made. I listened to this on audio, and I thought the narrator, Rebecca Soler, was good but not great.  I also own a hard copy, cause I'm like that. I am excited to get to the next book (only a few weeks)!

Things I Didn't Like:
Too short :).  I found the narrator's voice was really great at young girls tones, but her male voices were...not good.  It sounded like a teenage girl's diary read aloud.  Which, I guess it kind of was.

Read-alikes:
Start with Cinder by Marissa Meyer

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: X
a bit

v-factor: ->

Overall rating: ****

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

This isn't What It Looks Like AND You have to Stop This by Pseudonymous Bosch

This Isn't What It Looks Like and You Have to Stop This by Pseudonymous Bosch
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 2011 & September 2013
Pages: 432 & 352
Source: Library
For: Fun
Series: The Secret Series, Books 4 & 5


Summary of Book 4 (from goodreads):

Cass finds herself alone and disoriented, a stranger in a dream-like, medieval world. Where is she? Who is she? With the help of a long-lost relative, she begins to uncover clues and secrets--piecing together her family's history as she fights her way back to the present world.

Meanwhile, back home, Cass is at the hospital in a deep coma. Max-Ernest knows she ate Time Travel Chocolate--and he's determined to find a cure. Can our expert hypochondriac diagnose Cass's condition before it's too late? And will he have what it takes to save the survivalist?

Summary of Book 5 (from goodreads):

I always feared this day would come. A secret is meant to stay secret, after all. And now we've come to this: the fifth and final (I swear!) book in my saga of secrets.
A class trip to the local natural history museum turns dangerous, or perhaps deadly--and I don't mean in the bored-to-death way--when Cass accidentally breaks a finger off a priceless mummy. Forced to atone for this "crime" of vandalism, Cass and her friends Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji go to work for the mummy exhibit's curator, only to be blamed when tragedy strikes. To clear their names--and, they hope, to discover the Secret--the trio must travel deep into a land of majestic pyramids, dusty tombs, mysterious hieroglyphs, and the walking dead. Egypt? Or somewhere much stranger . . .

In the midst of it all, the Secret still lurks. You're out there, reading and talking about it, and now my life--and chocolate supply--is in the greatest danger yet. So please, with a cherry on top, I'm begging you: you have to stop this!

Things I Liked:
I had a ridiculously hard time getting back into book 4.  I kept forcing myself for some unknown, crazy reason to finish.  I'm not sure why I felt like I had to read the whole series, but I did.  I'm not sure if it was just the book or if it was me, but I eventually hit the point of no return(ing the book to the library unfinished), so I kept going.  It was a good thing I had the last one too.  I kind of started getting an inkling of what was going to be the Secret before it arrived.  I'm glad to have finished this series.  It was atypical and rather humorous at times, if annoying as well.

Things I Didn't Like:
Yeah, I really struggled to care about anything going on.  It's been a super long time since I read the first three books, so I really didn't want to keep going.  But I pounded through and I'm done now.  I started to be really annoyed at how repetitive some of the descriptions of people became.  Max-Ernst, Cass, their parents, pretty much everyone was the same.  I liked some of the puzzles they had to figure out.  And I still think the series is really clever in conception and good in the execution as well.  Maybe too juvenile and annoying at times for me.

Read-alikes:
Not much, though it sometimes felt like Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ***

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: Longbourn by Jo Baker

Longbourn by Jo Baker
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date: October 2013
Pages: 352
Source: Library
For: Book Club

 

Summary (from goodreads):

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.
 
In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.

Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own. 

Things I Liked:
This was one of the most interesting and best spin-offs of a Jane Austen book I've read. Probably because it had nothing really to do with the story. Makes you think of the Bennet family much differently - maybe not love them as much. It definitely opened my eyes to the working classes at the time and the struggles they dealt with (ugh the description of diapers just about did me in - and I used cloth diapers! :).

Things I Didn't Like:
I really was annoyed with James and what he did near the end of the book - it seemed pretty stupid. Also, the ever switching of points of view got rather annoying sometimes. I didn't notice just how often it happened until someone pointed it out. It happened mid-paragraph sometimes!

Read-alikes:
Tons of Pride and Prejudice retellings and spin-offs out there :)

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
probably a few

mrg-factor: XX
some implied and not so implied stuff

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ****

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage