Mistborn (The Final Empire #1) review with spoilers

Book: Misborn
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 5/5


Warning Review is filled with spoilers for Misborn book 1 in the Final Empire series!

I originally wasn't intending on writing a review for this but I loved the book so much that I just couldn't help myself.


The World
The magic in this world is amazing and incredibly unique.  Metals are used in different ways when "burned" a skill that Mistings and Mistborns can use to perform Allomancy.  All of the metals are used for something different, one pushes one pulls, one shows seconds into the future and one shows a version of you that could've been.  It isn't just about the magic in this world though, it is a broken world.  The Empire is ruled by the Lord Ruler, a powerful man that no one has been able to defeat.  Ever since his ascension there has been a dark feeling deep within the people of Luthadel.  The people are divided, there are the nobles who have nothing else better to do than hold a ball every night and the skaa and Terrisman who are forced to be slaves and servants.  Sanderson has a special way of giving you details about this world when you need them and not overwhelming you with them.

Plot
Kelsier, a mistborn and the leader of a gang of thieves recruits a half skaa girl named Vin to try and overthrow the empire.    To create a rift within the nobles Kelsier plans on assassinating them and infiltrating them sending Vin to pose as a noblewoman from House Renouax.  While learning to act like a noblewoman she also is being taught how to use her allomancy, with magic and proper etiquette stirring in her head she still has time to be wooed by Elend, the heir to one of the highest houses in Luthadel.

Characters
Vin She is that bad ass female character that all books need.  She's in no way perfect at all but she doesn't have to be.  She's strong and a fighter but she isn't the best at it and she's still learning but she's very smart.  She might not have the skill to overtake a lot of her competitors but she has the wits to win.  I can't wait to see how she grows in the series.

Kelsier Next to Vin, Kelsier is my next favorite character.  He was selfless and a true hero.  When he died I was hoping that something was different and he really couldn't be killed.  Kelsier is the survivor of Hathsin and was lead to believe that his wife betrayed him before she was beaten to death.  Kelsier is a natural leader and though people suspect his motives for power he proved in the end that all he wanted to be was a piece of hope for the people of Luthadel.

Elend He is a great love interest for Vin.  He's not a jerk or a dark brooding character but he's someone who is passionate about reading and about knowledge.  Even as a noble he was questioning things about skaa and about the empire. 

Overall
This book has become once of my favorites and I can't wait to continue reading this series.  If you are a fan of fantasy this is a must read as I'm sure the rest of the books in the series are.  The world building is amazing, you really care for these characters and I can't wait to see what happens.

Scarlet by A.C Gaughen review with spoilers

Title: Scarlet
Author: A.C Gaughen
Rating: 1.5/5

Warning! This review will have spoilers! Read at your own risk!

This review is the first one from my Beauty is only skin deep challenge so I thought I would write about why I chose it.  The cover is pretty simple but it's very captivating.  I love the color of Scarlet's eyes, I love what she's wearing it's gives you a feel for the setting of the book.  I also like how the dagger is angled in the picture. The thing I wish this cover had was Scarlet's scar, you can faintly see it on the shadow of her left cheek but if they flipped her around (or the placement of her scar) I think it would've set this cover apart from others and she wouldn't have just been this pretty girl on a cover but one with a history and a scar to show for it.

Story
Plot Scarlet is a girl and a thief disguising herself as a boy among Rob and his band of brothers. She has a scar on her left cheek that is a part of her past.  Scarlet, Rob and the other members of the band steal items and divide them out among the people in their town that need help.  Instead of being an action and adventure filled novel with a little bit of love on the side the entire story is mostly filled with arguing among Scarlet, Rob, and John about who Scarlet wants to be with.  When Scarlet's secret is revealed that she is Lady Marian and was to be wed to Gisbourne you'd think things would've gotten more exciting but they didn't.  Scarlet sacrifices herself to marriage with Gisbourne just to save Rob.  After she weds a battle ensues and she flees.

Writing Style It was a little hard to get used to the writing style.  Dialog shifts often from past and present tense and it gets confusing.  She say's were a lot replacing was and a few other things,  it does seem a little forced and often times is really hard to read. The other thing is Scarlet is talking this way on purpose since she was really a former lady and can speak properly without hesitation. 

Characters
Scarlet Is kind of a foolish girl sometimes, moments after narrowly being felt up and who knows what else she jumps off to another adventure with no regard for herself.  She holds the entire weight of the world on her shoulders and feels she should be blamed for everything.  She starves herself because there are others who deserve food more even though she's been stealing for them and providing them with things they couldn't have gotten otherwise.  Also wouldn't she need her strength? Seems stupid to me to skip out on a meal when it would've provided her with energy for the adventures she goes on.  She also allows herself to be beat when she couldn't save someone from jail which wasn't her fault at all but of course she feels like it is.  Scarlet is also way too  bad ass.  She throws daggers like a freaking circus act, she kills people more than once in the same manner of throwing two daggers at the same time and killing them through the back of the neck.  Once, okay could've been a stroke of luck and maybe believable, more than once, not so much.

Rob Is such a jerk!  He calls Scarlet names all the time and accuses her of being a whore.  He starts off as the typical brooding dark love interest when their isn't really anything special about him.  He's seen as a savior among the people in Nottingham but really doesn't ever do anything except be a jerk.

John Other than when he's being just a friend he's pretty much a jerk.  He's always making advances on Scarlet and doesn't care when she doesn't reciprocate but instead will follow up with another advance.  When he gets his moment to kill Gisbourne and free Scarlet from marriage he doesn't because he can not bear to see her with Rob.

Much Much is the only member of the band who seems like he could be good for Scarlet except I can't really remember how old he is so for all I know he could be 14.  He was one of the only likable characters in this book.

Romance

Love Triangle It is so painfully obvious from the beginning that a love triangle will bloom between Rob, Scarlet and John, John the third wheel as it's so obvious that Scarlet has feelings for Rob and not for John.  She's really pretty daft though when Rob confronts her about John seeing as he saw them lying down together after John comforts Scarlet she says that she didn't think John would even want to kiss her when not a few pages before John was advancing on her telling her how good she looked in her dress and how she filled it out. I don't know maybe Scarlet wasn't listening to him.  She also contradicts herself by saying she doesn't like John because he's a member of the band and she's argued with him and seen him gut deer but he's also not Rob... wait a second though isn't Rob a member of the band and someone she's probably argued with and seen gut a deer? 

Rob/Scarlet Rob obviously likes Scarlet and vise versa but neither of them are very honest about their feelings.  When Rob confronts her about John he gives her no opportunity to input anything or defend herself.  He gets angry at her easily and doesn't ever apologize but Scarlet never demands an apology either. He calls her a whore which really drew the line for me.  Scarlet never acknowledges her feelings for him until the end just when he's willing to share his feelings about her.

John/Scarlet In the beginning of the book I figure that Scarlet doesn't like John, he advances she denies (for the most part) but when they share their first kiss she pictures Rob and then thanks John because she might as well be polite.  No way.  She's giving off the wrong message not to mention this isn't the first time since in the beginning of the book she allows him to hold her to sleep.  She denied any feelings to him about Rob and doesn't tell him when he is making her uncomfortable. When she tells little John to try harder after saying the kiss didn't mean she was his really confused me because from what I've seen she doesn't like him. She also shares other moments with John actually more moments with him then with Rob, did she like the attention? 

Overall
I was hoping for more action and less romance but it was a pretty fast read so I didn't waste too much time.  If you're a fan of Robin Hood or Marian I say go for it, it was an easy read and could be a guilty pleasure but the writing isn't fantastic and neither is the love triangle. 

Memorable Quotes
Scarlet: "Someone told me that hands can heal.  I figure if they can kill, it ain't much a of a stretch that they can heal too."

Priest: "You've sinned, my lady, but if anyone ever did it for the right reasons, it's you and your fellows.  It will be for God to judge such a tangled web, not I."

Angel and Faith #10 Women Of A Certain Age review with spoilers

Title: Angel and Faith #10 Women Of A Certain Age
Written by: Christos Gage
Rating: 5/5

Spoilers for Issue 10 as well as previous issues in the series, Read at your own risk!

 This season Angel has been trying to right his wrong and resurrect Giles in a world without magic.  In the last arc Faith's father returned and destroyed the little relationship they had left leaving Faith nearly broken.  She went to a sane Drusilla who would help her forget, Angel came to save the day and that is where this issue begins. 

Angel and Faith return home to find Giles' two great aunts in their home.  They're obviously magically since they look like they've never aged which they hadn't up until Angel destroyed the magic in the world.  Apparently these two aunts have been making deals with people that they get to cash in when they get their first gray hair and that day has come, of course they expect Angel to protect them since it's his fault that the magic is gone.  It sounds sort of silly but this issue was really amazing.  We got to see a lot of different monsters that these ladies dealt with, and one in particular was pretty nasty. 

After Faith and Angel take care of the big bads they want to know more information about Giles' aunts and they tell a story about Giles when he was a much younger boy who just wanted to fly airplanes.  This is also where we see his nickname Ripper referenced to for the first time.  I always love seeing more into Giles' back story and this season of Angel is really hitting the mark.

This issue didn't end there, someone knocks on the door and Angel thinking he's about to face more monsters is shocked (as was I) to see Willow with Buffy's old scythe.  I loved this issue and can't wait for the next one. 

Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy #3) review with spoilers

Book Title: Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy #3)
Author: Mira Grant
Rating: 5/5

This review will not be spoiler free from any of the Newsflesh books Feed, Deadline and Blackout so read at your own risk. 

All three books in the Newsflesh Trilogy are fast paced addictive reads.  The books follow a blogging team in a post apocalyptic world where the cure for cancer and the cure for common colds created a virus that awoke the dead. Throughout this series you're never sure what is the truth or who you can trust, even when we see things we're not sure what to believe!  These books take you on a wild ride of speculations, conspiracies and a whole lot of suspense. 

Blackout starts right where Deadline left off, in a white room with a mirror and one woman who we all thought had left us in Feed, Georgia Mason.  We soon discover that this isn't our George but subject 7b, a 97% as close as they've gotten thus far, clone of Georgia.  Where Feed was in Georgia's P.O.V up until the end, and Deadline was in Shaun's up until the end, Blackout shifts between Shaun's P.O.V and Georgia's giving us insight into both worlds and linking them together perfectly.

Characters and Relationships: The characters in this story are really amazing.  The Georgia and Shaun in Blackout are two different people then who they were when this trilogy started, and in Georgia's case she is a whole new person struggling with her identity.  I truly grew to love and care for a lot of these characters.  I was devastated in Feed when George was shot with a syringe, I was utterly shocked when I read the final chapter in Deadline and Blackout just reminded me why I loved all these characters.  George II is struggling with being a clone and being this new person with this dead woman's memories and dna structure but she finds herself and who she is as Georgia's clone all at the same time.  Shaun was broken after Feed and though getting Georgia back doesn't repair him in the slightest it subdues his internal Georgia just a little bit.  Throughout Feed I thought to myself, these two really don't have the typical brother sister relationship and it's actually starting to get a little creepy.  In Deadline I was thrilled to see Shaun have a physical relationship with someone and then for him to mumble George after broke my heart probably just as much as it did Becks, so when Blackout literally blew the lid off the roof with revealing a kiss I was shocked that she went there. Georgia and Shaun's relationship is still creepy but in this weird crazy whacked out world where these two people only had each other I guess I could see where this love bloomed but still it's a little creepy (only made slightly less creepy that this isn't even his Georgia anymore and a clone but still weird) Becks is probably my favorite person along with George and Shaun and was so torn up that she stayed behind to help the others escape but it's totally her.  I loved the moments with her and Shaun and was actually hoping that he'd snap out of it, still can't get a grasp on G&S even if "other people" figured it out but Becks held her shit together pretty well after seeing the last guy she slept with kiss his sister cause I think I would've flipped.  I loved seeing Rick again I really missed him in Deadline and I think a part of me always thought (hoped) him and Georgia would've had a fling (or at least Georgia and Steve or even Mahir at one point, I don't think I ever thought that Mira Grant would've actually had Georgia and Shaun a couple) There were so many people who were introduced that I thought were pretty awesome too, all of the EIS who were helping Georgia (George, Gregory, Katheryn, Dr. Kimberley) and some of the crazies that Shaun and his team met (Fox, The Monkey) and it was good to see The Mason Parents redeem themselves albeit only slightly.  I really loved how much we saw of Buffy/Georgiette being mentioned, she wasn't my favorite in Feed but the people who knew her best still loved her so I guess I can't really hold anything against her but I love that even after her death people can not hack into any of her shit because she's just that damn good.  I can't leave out Maggie, Mahir or Alaric either.  We almost lose Maggie too and it was good to see them get to take over After the End Times in the end.

Plots Subplots and everything in between: Blackout shifts between Georgia II's story and Shaun's.  Georgia is being held captive in a CDC building in Seattle.   In the first chapter Georgia already identifies herself as a clone and throughout her portion of the chapters she starts to find trust in some of the EIS team and has to play along for the CDC.  Georgia is shown some of the other clone subjects and is told a lot of information about what the CDC is planning.  The EIS want to break Georgia out and ruin the CDC's plan they want her to get the truth out there just like the real Georgia would've done.  Before they can break her out they have to remove all the tracking implants in her and while drowsy from surgery she gets a visit from our old pal Rick.  Shaun on the other hand is trying to get the members of his team to safety first starting with Alaric's sister.  She was in Florida when the mosquito outbreak happened and Shaun and Becks are going to the Mason's for help.  The Mason's at first seem like they will turn the two in but change their minds and decide to help them out, even as far as getting Alaric's sister from Florida and temporarily taking care of her.  Becks and Shaun meet up with Mahir and Maggie in Seattle (surprise surprise) where they try to acquire some fake ids, in order to get these they need to break into the CDC.  Here is where the story links up.  Shaun is baffled when he realizes the others can see Georgia and in a moment of hysterical fear, he asks Georgia to prove herself in the one way that only she knows how or else he will blow his brains out, so she does and she lays a big kiss on him.  So shocked I re-read this paragraph over because I couldn't believe it!   It takes awhile for the group to trust her and believe her story but eventually they do and it's almost like the whole team is back together. 


The Ending:  Becks!  Poor Becks, and the scene with Shaun at the end was so sad.  I love that Mahir finished off the story for us and that After The End Times did continue without the Masons but I was so expecting to see one more word from them at the end.  I liked that this story ended with what they were trying to get the whole time the truth out there.  This trilogy is amazing and I truly hope that the Mason's decide to speak to Mira Grant again because I'd love to see something else from this amazing world.

Insurgent (Divergent #2) review with spoilers

Title: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Rating: 1/5

Well let me start off by saying that in order to read Insurgent if you haven't read Divergent in awhile you may want to check out 'But I read Divergent a year ago' Guide because this book doesn't recap hardly anything.

This book is around 540 pages but don't let that fool you because it doesn't feel like it at all.  I just read Bitterblue another book around 540 pages and each % I read in Bitterblue took a little while because their was an abundance of text on my Kindle, but with Insurgent there are so many large indentations that I think it pushes the book to appear at 540 pages but really is probably much shorter.

With all of that out of the way I loved Divergent and gave it 5 stars, looking back at my notes from when I read it I remember zooming through a lot of the book and then the end fell a little flat for me up until Tris killed Will and both of her parents died, really I probably would've given the book around a 4 but after just having read Good Omens I think Divergent was a delight for me so I rated it a 5 (I've since gone back and taken away a star because I think I was a little too generous).  So coming into Insurgent I was very excited, this was also one of my most anticipated books along with Bitterblue and Blackout.

Insurgent starts right where Divergent left off and Tris, Caleb, Tobias, Marcus and Peter are heading towards Amity.  Once they get there little happens but here is our first incident where Tris takes it upon herself to spy on people. Amity is attacked and Tris and Tobias escape.  This pretty much becomes a reoccurring theme, they go to one Faction something non major happens and Tris eavesdrops on someone else and then they move onto the next Faction.  This keeps happening until finally we find out some "Top Secret" information at the very end of the book and it wasn't even enough to save the book.

I can't stand Tris anymore, she's annoying, self-loathing, and selfish.  She get's angry at Christina because Christina is angry that Tris killed her boyfriend, because really who wouldn't be angry even if he was taken control of by some evil people.  Tobias was just as bad, he's going to beat his dad in front of people to gain respect? 

I am not excited at all to continue this series but I'll probably give the last book a chance only because it's the last one but I won't be reading it right away I'll probably wait for some reviews before I dive into another book filled with nothing.

Beauty is only skin deep

I am trying something new which is giving more thorough reviews which I haven't done since the Arts and Entertainment section in the high school news paper so I always see a lot of people choosing novels of a certain type and reading and reviewing them.  So, I want to go through some of my to read list and even some other lists and find 15 books with some freaking beautiful covers and read and review them.  I'll be saving the last 5 for ones that are currently unpublished.  So here is my Beauty is only skin deep challenge

1. Scarlet 
2. Born Wicked
3. Grave Mercy
4. The American Heiress
5. Everneath
6. Lady of Devices
7. Touch of Power
8. The Bronze Horseman
9. The Selection
10. The Tea Rose
11. Crewel 
12. Something Strange and Deadly
13. Monstrous Beauty
14. Innocent Darkness
15. Undeadly

Bitterblue review with spoilers

Title: Bitterblue (Graceling Realm #3)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Rating: 4.5/5




CAUTION SPOILERS AHEAD!  

Bitterblue was one of the books this year that I was looking forward to reading and it didn't disappoint.  Nine years after Graceling Bitterblue is now the Queen of Monsea.  Left to repair a broken city Bitterblue is trying to uncover the horrors that occurred during Leck's reign. 

Story
I think the story of Bitterblue was pretty spot on, there are a lot of things she doesn't know about what happened in her city and she's going to great lengths to find them out.  I loved seeing Bitterblue sneak out of the castle and meet new people.  Since Bitterblue isn't graced with fighting like Katsa this book isn't filled with as much action as maybe the first was (I can't recall Fire too well but I don't think it had a lot of action like Graceling either).  A lot of the action in this is mostly attempts made on Bitterblue's life but her being Queen that's very understandable especially when Leck still has advisers in the castle.  Bitterblue stumbles across ciphered books written by Leck that she thinks documents his time as King.  She gets the help of friends old and new to try and fix what Leck broke.

Characters
I was most excited to see Bitterblue in this book and I think she lived up to my hopes.  I think she's really grown and even though there were times her actions weren't honorable or even mature I really liked her.   I fell in love with a lot of the new characters too especially Saf, by far he was my favorite new character.  I felt so bad for him every time Bitterblue lied or anytime he'd ask about her mother.  I loved the mystery behind his grace and even though it wasn't as exciting as I was expecting I guess giving dreams is pretty cool and I think just the fact that he was graced but didn't know with what was pretty interesting. I also loved Saf's friends Teddy, Tilda and Bren.  Along with the new characters there were so many characters from previous books.  I loved seeing Giddeon and honestly didn't even remember him until he said he had feelings for Katsa.  I love how he has matured so much and his character was great, it was good to see him grown up and changed.  If I didn't like Saf so much I almost hoped Bitterblue would fall for him regardless of the age difference.  Po and Katsa also made a return in this book, I loved Po but sometimes I felt like his grace made it seem like he could see.  I read the acknowledgements and Kristin Cashore said she realizes it was a mistake to take Po's sight but give him a grace that gave him sight, making him neither able or disabled and I think I agree with her.  I often forgot that Po wasn't able to see because it seemed like he saw so well.  Katsa on the other hand felt like a totally different person, I didn't recognize her.  She was often whiny and annoying to me, I think I would've preferred the book if Katsa wasn't in it.  Her attitude almost made me think she was either pregnant or on her period.  You can't just have a book filled with good guys so there were a few bad guys to go along with it.  There were a lot of people in this book who were Leck's former advisers and who were continuing to scheme behind the scenes.  I felt pretty bad for Thiel especially hearing the things that Leck made him do.  Fox was an interesting character and I wasn't expecting her to be Gray although I guess I should've sensed something wrong with her.  Out of all these characters I was most shocked to see Fire, but it was pretty amazing.  I loved that we saw her portrait first and knew that it was her then to see Katsa return from the Dells with this old woman with graying red hair. 

Relationships
I loved Saf and Bitterblue's romance.  It wasn't instant love and they had a lot of lies that their relationship was built upon and they pushed through it.  Cashore's general themes with relationships are nontraditional and this one was no different.  Saf and Bitterblue may have held feelings for each other but they had two different lives that didn't meet in the middle.  Katsa and Po however were pretty annoying to me, I much preferred Po when him and Katsa weren't talking.  The way that they express their affection was too much for me, splashing in water, play fighting with others in the room I don't know it just wasn't my thing.  I also like that Cashore talks about same sex relationships too.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot and I wouldn't mind re-reading Fire and Graceling to see some of the things I may have missed in Bitterblue because I don't recall all the events in the previous books.  I hope that this series will continue I'd like to see some other characters stories and would love to see more of this world.

Things to knit/learn to knit

• 3 shark hats (2 dark blue 17 mo old 9 yr old and light blue 7 yr old)

• New baby stuff for new baby nephew 

1. cotton baby book
2. baby swaddler
3. mobile
4. baby blanket
5. other baby things yet to be determined

• start making hexi puffs in various colors and designs (has temporarily gone down in priority)
• Brown Bear mask for B (least priority)
• Purse with Stark emblem or Mockingjay

1. Learn to knit something involving beads
2. try something else with double knitting

 Currently knitting
 Baby swaddler almost finished with body.

On hold 
9 yr old's dark blue shark hat turned into B's hat since it's far too big for 9 year old, needs all finishing touches
17 mo old's dark blue shark hat everything knit needs to be put together
9 year olds dark blue shark hat everything knit needs to be put together
3 year olds hat is too small need more dusty blue yarn to try again



Finished items

• 2 piece dog sweater.  Piece 1 is a dog snood with wolf ears, piece 2 is a dog sweater for a small chiweenie dog dark grey heather

This post will constantly be edited 
Last edited 6/8/2012