The Wolf Road: A First-To-Read Review

      The Wolf Road is an intimate cat-and-mouse tale of revenge and redemption, played out against a vast, unforgiving landscape—told by an indomitable young heroine fighting to escape her past and rejoin humanity. The world as we know it has come to an end. Governments, buildings and infrastructure have crumbled in something old-timers call the Big Stupid, leaving the few survivors to fight, to claw, for survival. 

    As we follow Elka on her journey North, we get a rare glimpse into the hardships of solo travel and the loneliness that abounds in an uncaring world.  The Wolf Road is a narrative about survival of the body and the mind. It is ruthless, chilling and dark; but at times it is also compassionate and merciful.

I became surprisingly invested in the characters and their motivations.   

      

 I really did enjoy The Wolf Road and am keeping my eyes open for what Beth Lewis has next.

All in all, I give this book
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (9 of 10) hearts and an "A" for effort.  If I had actually bought the book, it would be one of my go-tos.

 I managed to be one of the lucky few to get to read this book as a reviewer. These are my honest opinions. 

 

All These Perfect Strangers: Review

All These Perfect Strangers is narrated by Penelope Sheppard known as Pen.

Pen is an unreliable narrator and as I’m reading I’m asking myself “is any of this true?” She admits that she lies to her Psychiatrist, Frank, and the Police. I assume she is lying to herself as well.  I couldn’t connect with Pen or really feel anything for the cast of strange characters.

Aoife Clifford’s writing is ethereal as it weaves around events and truths, twisting and turning so we start to doubt what we have just read. Quite often I was questioning myself, “did I get that right?” Pen’s narration manages to twist the readers mind to think her way.  Aoife Clifford, an Australian author, pens her debut psychological thriller All These Perfect Strangers that traces the story of a teenager who wraps herself up in the world of deadly and strange murders in her university life. In this book, this young teenager uncovers herself from being a suspect to a key witness to a victim, while enjoying and experimenting the high and wild road of a university lifestyle.

Yes all throughout the book, the story will arise so many curious questions mainly due to the protagonists confession that she is lying and that she has the power to alter the truth. Sometimes Pen looks like the killer and sometimes everyone other than Pen look like the killer and sometimes someone apart from these characters look like the killer. What is the actual story behind Pen's past will claw and haunt the readers until the big revelation. I've never read anything before that left me thoroughly confused, curious and puzzled as the story developed further with the twists and the suspense.

I’m looking forward to More books by Aoife Clifford.  This would make a WONDERFUL movie or even a mini-series.

Verdict: Here comes an extremely dark, twisted and tantalizing as well as addictive psycho thriller that is an absolute must-read.

I rate this book ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (8 of 10) and an “A-“grade.  This book is excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it even if it does have a few flaws.

I was selected to be a Chatterbox participant and I received free e-book in order to give an honest review.

A Most Extraordinary Pursuit: First-To-Read Review

 .       

     I love a good historical mystery as much as the next person.  However, A Most Extraordinary Pursuit by Juliana Gray was NOT a historical mystery!

A Historical Mystery -by definition- is a sub-genre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder).
     I did find the plot a little convoluted and scattered, involving almost too many elements.   A Most Extraordinary Pursuit is too long, too slow paced and too confusing. The story did not make any sense at all. The author had too many ideas that were thrown together but did not work with one another. All different ingredients: historical mystery, time travel, ghosts, and Greek mythology were thrown in the pot but the stew that came out was hardly digestible. The story nor the characters, mystery, or romance worked for me. This book is 450 pages of confusing, convoluted story that bore me to death. This could have been a great story if only execution was better. Verdict: too many competing ideas made for a confusing story.  It was difficult to understand at first that the mini story related directly to the story at hand. It made the story difficult to get into.The names of characters alone remind me of a poorly written meladrama (Maximilian, Emmeline Truelove, Silverton?).
GAG!!!!!!

    A Most Extraordinary Pursuit  is NOT an historical mystery but a very silly book! I think there was a story in there, plodding along, but the writing was so over the top in an attempt at levity, that I felt as if I was sitting in a music hall watching talentless actors mug across the stage.  If you hunger for a good historical mystery, this novel will leave you famished. It's all empty prose calories that I gagged my way through with each page-turning swallow.
    Thanks, I think, to Penguin Random House for the free copy in exchange for a review. Thanks for saving me the expense of buying a book I'd regret wasting the money on.  I had high expectations for this book because I love historical mysteries and the blurb was very promising, so I was very happy to get my hands on an early copy. Unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations.  

I give THIS book ♥♥(2 of 10) hearts and a "D" grade.  This book is not the best I've ever read, but I begrudgingly finished it. 

My Book Reveiw Rating Scale 1-10

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
10 hearts: I'm speechless; this book is an extraordinarily amazingly wonderfully fantastically marvelous masterpiece (x)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
9 hearts: Loved it! This book has a spot on my favorites shelf (x)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
8 hearts: An engaging read; highly recommended (x)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
7 hearts: Not perfect, but overall enjoyable (x)

♥♥♥♥♥♥
6 hearts: Satisfying for a first read, but I'm not going back (x)

♥♥♥♥♥
5 hearts: Doesn't particularly light any of my fires; I feel indifferent about this book (x)

♥♥♥♥
4 hearts: So-so; reading this book may cause wrinkles (from frowning so much) (x)
♥♥♥
3 hearts: Not a fan; I don't recommend this book (x)

♥♥
2 hearts: Not completely a lost cause, but could not finish; I did not enjoy this book (x)

♥
1 heart: Could not finish and have nothing positive to say; use this book to see if your pens still have ink (x)


OR


A+ = This book is as close to perfect as it gets! I love it and will probably reread it a billion times.

A = This book is terrific and I really enjoyed reading it! It does have some minor flaws that take away from the story, characters, etc.

A- = This book is excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It does have a few flaws.

B+ = This book is good, and I enjoyed reading it. However, there are some flaws.

B = This book is good, and I enjoyed reading it. There are a few very noticeable flaws.

B- = This book is good, and I liked it okay. There are several noticeable flaws.

C+ = This book is okay, but certain aspects really grabbed me/kept me interested.

C = This book is okay, and I finished it relatively quickly. It didn't blow me away, and something was definitely lacking (characters, plot, dialogue, etc.)

C- = This book is okay, and I finished it in a decent amount of time. I didn't enjoy it very much, and two or more things were definitely lacking.

D = This book is not the best I've ever read, but I begrudgingly finished it. It was lacking in almost every aspect.

F = I hated this book. I finished it, but was not happy with it. It was lacking in every aspect.

Books for Needy Children

I could NEVER imagine my life growing up without books around. I love them and I love to read! In fact, Barnes & Noble is MY heaven. I'm a BIG advicate when it comes to kids and reading. Unfortunately, too many children don’t have access to resources that enrich learning and encourage reading. A recent study shows that there is only one age-appropriate book available for every 300 children living in underserved communities in the United States. That’s less than 1% of the number books available to children in middle-income neighborhoods..... This knowledge that I discovered at Soar with Reading made me sad. Fortunately, they, along with PBS and JetBlue, developed a grant program back in 2011 to help address this critical shortage. The program is desgined to provide books directly to children who need them most, giving age-appropriate books to THOUSANDS of children in the US, Central America, and the Caribbean. Knowing what I know now, I want to help in my own way..... Does anyone have any ideas?