House of Hades

Title: The House of Hades

Author: Rick Riordan

Rating: 5/5

Description: At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?

They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Review: House of Hades was definitely a book that kept me hooked all throughout and had me on the edge of my seat, unable to wait and see what was going to happen. This is the longest book I have ever read at 597 pages. In House of Hades, unlike the rest of The Heroes of Olympus series, we got to read through everyone’s point of view (although third person) which I loved a lot. And it was a very vivid story. Rick knew how to make Tartarus seem like a living nightmare as it should be. A lot of authors can’t actually put into words or think of a way to make things seem so evil and sinister and it ruins the whole story but Rick Riordan knew what he was doing.

And then we see Calypso with Leo. Oh, Leo. Oblivious, ignorant Leo. I think he started picking up on Calypso’s feelings at the end but too little too late. I totally ship Caleo, though. At first I was skeptical because Leo is one of my favorite characters and I was debating Calypso was really a good fit with Leo but then as their strange relationship started blossoming so did my shipping of them. I’m glad Calypso is back and I hope we see more of them in the next book.

Also, can we just take a minute and talk about Piper. She was never useless really, but I kind of wanted more from her rather than her Charmspeak and DID SHE DELIVER! I loved how she used logic and strength and a little bit of Charmspeak and saved Jason, Hazel, Frank, Coach Hedge, and herself from certain death. It was exactly what I needed from her to really make love her character and how strong she is.

Okay, I’m going to stop going off about little details and just gloss over everything. This book contained funny, sad, scary, and happy themes and I loved it all the way through. There was never a dull moment and I enjoyed the whole ride of reading this book. And, unlike Mark of Athena, I didn’t feel like there was a single dragging moment. I definitely recommend this book!

Audience: I think anyone who loves fantasy or a younger crowd would be perfect for this book. And by younger I just mean if you’re in school. Yes, that also counts college. I would, however, try out even if you are out of school and/or you aren’t into fantasy. I mean, of course start with the first book, but this series is wonderful and teaches you a lot.

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Hello everyone! Update: Sorry I have been absent, I've barely had time for eating between all the reading events I've been going to. Anyhow, recently I went to a Felicia Day book signing so I got a copy of her book, You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir, and got it signed, along with some pictures! So soon I will be doing a review on her book which I just finished.
Also, her book actually really inspired me so soon I should be starting up a booktube account. I have some footage right now that I need to edit but I'm not sure if I'll use it. Anyhow, I thought I should tell you I'll be having videos up soon. Talk to you soon, lovebugs! (Does anyone remember that song? It was my jam back in the day.)

- Nicole

Clockwork Prince - Book Review

Title: Clockwork Prince

Author: Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5/5

Description:

Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare exceeded all my expectations. The first book, Clockwork Angel, didn’t really sit with me as well as every other Clare book does and after reading reviews of this book having no development in the story and being completely pointless, I was set up for this book to be a 3 stars at best. However, I thought this book was really necessary because we still did resolve many issues and we progressed in the story. If they had found Mortmain in this book, there would be no content in the third book and all there would be is the triangle. Also, it would have been extremely unrealistic that they could find him in that allotted time with the little information they had. What were they going to do? Accidentally stumble upon him in a bar? So the reviews I read claiming the story didn’t progress and was just a fat load of love triangle were wrong.

I never ran into any issues with this book, either. There wasn’t irrelevant text, there wasn’t not enough detail. Everything in this novel was made really well and fulfilled what I wanted. This book also caused emotions in me. Typically I read a book with a straight face but throughout this story I laughed, I cried, I gasped in shock, I had to put down either out of anger or the awkwardness. All in a good way, of course. I absolutely love it when books can make me feel something.

All in all, Clockwork Prince is a great book that I would definitely recommend to anybody.

Audience: The book definitely has to be read by 12+ because there is a little bit of mature content (not horrible). And most readers these days are into fantasy, however if you strictly like non-fiction or realistic fiction or contemporaries or whatever, and you didn’t already, do not pick up this book. If you are into the fantasy, fiction, Victorian-era type of stuff, then definitely pick up the series.

 

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Hey everybody! Sorry for the major lack of posting. June was an extremely slow reading month for me and July was just overly busy. However, I do have 3 reviews coming your way. I think I'm going to try to post each week so just bare with me! Thanks!

-Nicole

Animal Farm Book Review

Title: Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Rating: 4.8/5

Description: Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union. (From Goodreads)

Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell is a clever, unique idea that satires that whole Russian Revolution issue. I’m not extremely educated on the topic but I read this book for my English class so I was given the basic idea of what happened. Although this is an extremely serious topic, Orwell finds a way to parody the whole situation while still making a statement, without sounding like a ridiculous buffoon. Orwell’s idea to use animals was very genius, if you ask me. Pigs are used to represent the bad guys. When have you ever heard someone call someone else a pig, meaning it as a compliment? Also, he saw Stalin’s secret police as dogs. Vicious and, once again, often used as an insult. Then he creates the most lovable animals as the side he is one. The working class are horses, hard-working animals that are adored commonly. The same goes to the animals like the donkey Benjamin and Muriel the goat. Even if someone who read the book didn’t realize these animals actually represented real people, they could still take away from the story. Humans are greedy and cruel and neglectful. Humans can really act like pigs. The only reason I docked off .2 points is because I wasn’t too appreciative of how many time jumps there were. Many chapters started off with “a year later” or “several months after.” Also, the end came quite abruptly. I wish there had maybe been a chapter or two to tie things better together between chapter 9 and 10. Other than that, I was impressed with the idea, plot, symbolism, and just the writing overall.

Audience: I think Animal Farm was originally directed toward people who shared Orwell’s belief or even targeted towards people he could persuade to join his side in this whole debate. Now, I think people read this book to understand history and to study forms of good literature. So, in conclusion, I believe Animal Farm is currently targeted towards schools, teachers, and students.

Welcome to my Blog

Hello, everyone!

This is going to be a bit of an introduction to my blog.
So, if it wasn't obvious, this is about books! I am in love with books and literature and it makes me very happy whenever I'm around or talking about these things.
Since this makes me so happy, I decided a blog about books would be the perfect thing for me. I would love to share recommendations, reviews, tags, and more with the people of the world who are involved with books!
Sorry this is an awfully lame intro. But it will be much better, I promise. So, with that, enjoy all of what I've got to share with the world involving my love of books.